Monday, May 23, 2022

Today's News: Ukraine update

Here's a collection of recent items from Ukraine. 
Now that Ukraine is winning this war, we are seeing some odd reactions - almost as though pundits can't wrap their heads around the prospect of Russia losing its Evil Empire status quo. 
Is the West really unable to credit the possibility that Ukraine will win, or are we also seeing a 
"second front"of pro-Russia disinformation, using Putin's Incredible Hulk image 
("Don't make him angry, you won't like him when he's angry!") to provoke a cowardly 
appeasement?  
Here are some of the comments I am reading today: The nuclear danger is still a real concern, and perhaps there is fear that as Russia weakens it will lash out: I still remember Emily Gorcenski's tweet from March 1, where she gave this ranking of her primary fears about what disasters might ensue from the then-week-old Ukraine Russia War :
 - protracted insurgency
 - mistargeted/overflying cruise missile hits NATO country
 - US gets caught with a Joint Special Operations Command team
 - tactical nuke is used but doesn’t rise to retaliation 
 - does 
 That still seems to be a pretty accurate worry list. 

But the West cannot be cowardly. The New York Times recently posted an editorial about how maybe the war could just end if Ukraine and Russia agreed to a ceasefire, which of course would freeze the lines at their existing locations and let Russia keep the cities it already occupies. Twitter's reaction was a scathing NO! Kyiv Independent published an interview with former Ukrainian defense minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk: ‘Those who say Ukraine can’t win don’t understand the situation’ 
 The key wrong assumption is that Ukraine can’t win, therefore, it has to make a deal. 
We believe it’s a weak argument for two reasons. First — Ukraine can win, and this, in many ways, depends on how our partners, including the U.S., are going to be sending weapons, hardware, and munitions. And second — we see absolutely no chances for a negotiation process. Russia has not demonstrated the slightest signs of altering its strategic goals regarding Ukraine.
...There’s a window of opportunity now as Russia is in its weakest condition in its history. We need to take this chance and not miss it. You can’t fight a war always looking back and being afraid of making an extra step.

TRIGGER WARNING: I am reading some terrible stories now about Russia's horrific war crimes in Ukraine - I don't want to sandbag anyone with these tweets, but these stories are sickening: here, and here, and here, and here are some examples. 
As I read these stories, here is my conclusion:  
If Russia ever expected to be respected again in Europe or to be admitted back into international organizations like the G7, Putin has now destroyed that chance. He and his military command have let, or even encouraged, Russian soldiers to torture, rape, loot and kill innocent men, women and children across the occupied areas of Ukraine. As well, Russia is shipping thousands of Ukrainian to their evil "filtration" camps where they have to try to prove their innocence, and often then transferring them to the Russian interior for treatment as political prisoners or virtual slaves.
Oh, and since Russia didn't hesitate to rape children and shoot civilians for sport, why would anyone believe they would treat any captured Ukrainian soldiers as prisoners of war, regardless of what the Red Cross is telling them?  All of those brave Ukraine soldiers from Mariupol have likely already been executed.  
The world should never forget nor forgive what Russia is doing.
Here is an important 25-tweet thread here from Mick Ryan - I thought these were the most interesting comments: Trying to find something that will actually work, Russia is now apparently considering barrel bombs. And no, these won't work either: More Russian flailing as they try to come up with something to intimidate the West:
Getting to other news tonight - and speaking of courage too -- here's something great:
Finally, some funny stuff:
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