Monday, April 04, 2022

Today's News: Good news, of a sort

Russia has now withdrawn from Kyiv and northern Ukraine. Yes, that's the good news today. 
But now the fear is that Russia will be sending its troops and equipment to the southern and eastern Ukraine, making this fight more difficult.


Here's a fascinating interactive piece from the New York Times describing why the Russian attempt to take Kyiv failed so badly:
And maybe their attempt in the south ultimately won't work either: The entire Michael Kofman thread about Russian military preparedness is worth reading: The sadness and horror of the war crimes now known to have been committed by Russian soldiers in Bucha have shocked the world: At Daily Kos, Mark Sumner writes: 
 As for claims now circulating on social media along the lines of “bad things always happen in war,” or “the United States has done bad things too” or “this happened in other countries and we ignored it “ or “this is just an excuse to get us more involved in Ukraine,” the only answer worth delivering is simply this: Fuck that. 
...That bad things have happened in the past is no excuse for accepting them in the present. Even as the crimes being uncovered in Ukraine cannot help but generate anger and loathing, those emotions can’t overwhelm the need to prosecute the war itself in a way that seeks not just an end, the most humane outcome in an inhumane situation. 
Marching on Moscow, damn the nukes, full speed ahead, is no better an idea after seeing those bodies in the street than it was before. 
This is exactly the time to not go forward in malice, but with careful consideration and reasoned action. Hard as it might be to set aside anger and desire for vengeance, that has to be done because it remains the best way to reduce the threat of even more deaths, even more horrors. 
 Ukraine must be given everything it needs to draw this war to a successful conclusion. The U.S. and other nations must act to see that such evil—on every scale—can never produce the desired outcome. The leaders of all these nations are as human as the rest of us, and like the rest of us they cannot help but see their own parents, siblings, friends, and children when they look at those bodies on the streets of Ukraine. 
The pressure on them to do the right thing is immense. None of them knows what that right thing is. 
 Thank God that Joe Biden is president. 
This tweet links to an amazing story from Der Spiegel about the month-long occupation of the town of Trostyanets, Ukraine: 
 Two men slowly walk toward each other in the frigid wind, before recognizing each other and embracing in tears. "You’re alive!?" More and more men and women are beginning to emerge and wander through their own city as though it was completely foreign to them. Some are weeping as they view the destruction – the half-demolished buildings and burned-out factories. Others are crying in relief – relief that they have survived....
For the first time in a month, people were once again able to emerge last Sunday from their homes and basements in Trostyanets, finally able to believe that the nightmare had actually come to an end. The Russian troops had suddenly withdrawn on the last remaining passable road toward Russia on Friday afternoon – after having marched into this spa town of 20,000 residents in eastern Ukraine and occupied it on the very first day of the war. 
All telephones in town went dead, as did the cellular network, and walking through town had become a potentially deadly undertaking. Many simply waited at home, huddled in the candlelight as their rations slowly disappeared, not knowing what was happening in the rest of the country – or even just a couple hundred meters down the road.... 
An amazing story. And tonight Zelenskyy spoke to the Grammy ceremonies -- incredibly impressive that with everything he is dealing with, he and his staff maintain their positive approach and continue outreach to the millions of people around the world who are supporting them. In other news -- I don't know if anyone else is trying to follow the Nova Scotia inquiry now going on into the Portapique killer from 2020, but journalist Tim Bousquet is covering it all for the Halifax Examiner - here's his most recent summary on what the Inquiry is revealing:
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