Russian Tensions
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I forgot I should have also have said, that whoever wishes to continue certain debates that have arisen from previous exchanges is free to begin a new topic thread.
1. The general topic of each forum is given by the posted forum description. Do not start a thread in a forum unless it matches the given topic…
I think we have already covered enough about the conflict between the Russian capitalists and the Ukraine capitalists. For me you can close it if you want. I posted certain messages in order to clarify certain distortions made about the Socialist Party, therefore, you can do whatever you want, even more, we have abandoned other topics and other issues
Covered the conflict enough? Are you serious? It’s the biggest news story in the world, is far from over and has massive geopolitical implications. If you’re not interested in the thread don’t participate. Simple as that.
I am not talking to you, I am talking to Alan
We are well aware of the propaganda war being waged by the pro-Ukrainian media. Less so the propaganda the Russian public is subject to.
Maxim Alyukov, a postdoctoral fellow at King’s Russia Institute, led a quantitative study of Russian television and social media coverage of the war to find that the number of television stories on Ukraine has decreased by half compared with February and March.
Russian TV managers are reintroducing shows that had been cancelled to make time for war propaganda.
Alyukov told Al Jazeera, “It’s back to normal – back to a pre-war style of reporting, with a balance of propaganda and entertainment … because if you lose [viewers], you lose control of them.”
Alyukov also found that mention of a key Russian justification for the war – “de-Nazifying” Ukraine – has decreased by a factor of six on TV.
“They almost abandoned this idea,” he said.“[The Kremlin] used four very specific ideas to justify the invasion: de-Nazification, demilitarisation, protecting the Donbas population and NATO expansion,” Alyukov said.
“They all fit into the general idea of fighting the West and restoring Russia’s greatness … but the idea of de-Nazification is something people struggle to comprehend.”
Despite being outlawed as a term for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the word “war” is used on social media almost four times more often than on TV, including by government supporters, Alyukov found.
Russia claimed to have destroyed Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, equipment Ukraine has not yet received.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/7/ukraine-celebrates-counterattack-success-russia-retaliates
I said I would take action to keep this topic on thread.
I have unapproved the last three messages from Moviemento Socialista, True Scotsman, and Lizzie 45 (who being a latecomer to the forum may have inadvertently not been aware of the full background)
14. Rule enforcement is the responsibility of the moderators, not of the contributors. If you believe a post or private message violates a rule, report it to the moderators. Do not take it upon yourself to chastise others for perceived violations of the rules.
The next level is to suspend posters that infringe the forum rules. So again be warned
On the same theme, an army of bots is spreading Ukrainian propaganda across the internet. Shout out to my hometown.
Wealthy European countries, which have provided roughly half the funding for UN Sustainable Development Goals program, a 15-year-long UN development drive to tackle global issues, are running low on aid money due to the cost of the Ukrainian conflict, Bill Gates said.
“The Ukraine war is stretching their budgets with defense costs, refugee costs, electricity subsidies and shipping costs,” the billionaire told the Financial Times.
New bande-dessinee history of the Makhnovshchina available from Editions libertaires.
Further to the evidence that there is a growing opposition to the war in Russia (albeit limited).
The petition, signed initially by 19 local Russian elected officials and published on Monday, contains a brief text that condemns Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and demands that he step down.
“We, the municipal deputies of Russia, believe that the actions of President Vladimir Putin are harming the future of the country and its citizens. We demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin from the post of president of the Russian Federation,” states the petition.
The petition makes four main accusations at Putin, namely that the invasion has resulted in:
the unnecessary destruction of Russian combat units;
the deaths of young Russian citizens, who could have otherwise contributed to economic development;
economic instability;
Ukraine now being better equipped militarily than ever after receiving modern arms from NATO, despite one of Russia’s stated goals being the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine.Despite the risks of speaking out, another 84 signatures have been added to the petition since its publication.
Not many names but they are local politicians signing it, not the general public.
(For some cyber mysterious reason my post on this story has not appeared.)
A Russian deserter explaining his reasons.
“I couldn’t just drop my weapons and run away, because for a warrior that’s cowardice. Not everyone understands this, but we’re held hostage by our own patriotism,” he said.
“No matter if it breaks the law, I think Russian society should demonstrate against the war by all possible means,” he said. “Every day, lives are lost on either side, and they’re not coming back.”
It may be propaganda or it may be a genuine story.
The “soldier’s” narrative is garbage proof positive being when he says…
“The equipment that was there was old and worn out.
“I only received a bulletproof vest at the very last moment before crossing the border,” he said. “Everyone knows such incidents when 10 men are sent out with two helmets and bulletproof vests, and told to sort it out between themselves. The situation is so absurd that a lot of people are buying their own clothing, equipment, boots, before being sent to war.””
This, no doubt paid, propagandist is riffing on the condition of the Tsarist army in WW1 and his recollections of the US movie Enemy at the Gates which showed two soldiers sharing one rifle. This is completely false. The Soviet army, like the modern Russian army was also very well equipped.
Aljazeera has been infiltrated by the US State Department. It is the equivalent of an Arabian CNN.
RAND Report on ways to weaken Russia published 2019.
4
Providing lethal aid to Ukraine would exploit Russia’s greatest point of external vulnerability. But
any increase in U.S. military arms and advice to Ukraine would need to be carefully calibrated to increase the costs to Russia of sustaining its existing commitment without provoking a much wider conflict in which Russia, by reason of proximity, would have
significant advantages.https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB10000/RB10014/RAND_RB10014.pdf
Ukraine has a “kill list” targeting its critics. Roger Waters and Scott Ritter are just two of the names on it. What more proof does one need that Ukraine is a fascist state?
https://www.rt.com/russia/562521-mirotvorets-list-ukrainian-extremists/
An interesting essay here.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/14/no-maga-republicans-are-not-anti-war-allies
“…The anti-war movement should be calling for an end to this proxy war and the NATO alliance which provoked the conflict. But this call for peace must be rooted in internationalism. We need an anti-war movement that opposes the war in Ukraine because it uses the Ukrainian people as cannon-fodder to settle a great power rivalry and subjects the entire world to rising costs of living…”
“…Trumpist Republicans calling out proxy-war with Russia and NATO expansion is a classic example of a broken clock being right twice a day. But what’s driving this Trumpist opposition to proxy-war is an ideology that is incompatible with serious anti-war opposition: isolationism…Far Right politicians call for withdrawing from military alliances and wars that they see as costing the United States more than benefiting.”
“…Anti-war activists need to have difficult conversations and educate our neighbors, friends, and families into empathizing with all humanity without ranking or separation based on arbitrary borders and nationalities. This means winning people away from a Far Right worldview, not finding common ground with it…”
It made me recall a Socialist Standard article from 2007 on the anti-war right-wing libertarians
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