First of all: It means absolutely nothing and is insulting to take my detailed and complex response, and the thinking and studying that I have put into it, and reduce it to that empty "Kremlin narrative" trope.
It is the lazy person’s discounting of the opposing perspective, a reflection that they are at blindly beholden to the opposing official narrative.
First—to respond to your Ukrainian family “credentials”—stated as if they somehow provide an imprimatur of correctness to your political position.
My mother (Polish/Ukrainian) arrived here from Poland (via Austria) and married a Ukrainian man. I grew up in New York City but didn’t learn to speak English until I went to school at St. George Ukrainian Catholic School.
My extended family here was rabidly nationalistic—with relatives who would not allow English to be spoken in their homes. My mother was even reprimanded from reading Polish authors.
From my teen years this planted an opposition to nationalism in general—especially as I was facing the draft for the Vietnam War.
Nationalism was being proclaimed by Americans = Love It or Leave It.
Instead I refused their demand of killing or being killed in a war on the other side of the planet.
This country has continued invasions and other political interventions in democratic countries around the globe for the 50 years since then and I have stood up and opposed each one.
We need to stop pretending that we are the police of the world—with 800 military bases.
We have NO moral high ground to do that.
The conflict in Ukraine/Russia is at least between neighbors.
Consider this—just one of endless examples: the USA bombed Iraq, killing potentially millions, on false pretenses, on the other side of the world.
The war criminals who perpetrated this were never put on trial—they live comfortable wealthy lives. Where were the people — who nover virtue-signal with yellow/blue stickers — to speak up about that and demand trials?
A great example of the War Racket.
I oppose the USA sending billions of dollars in weaponry (basically profits for our weapons manufacturers) in what I feel cannot be denied is a proxy war with Russia.
Ukraine is nothing but a tool and the USA is about to do the same with Taiwan in is militaristic approach to China.
It is a joke to think this is being done because of some love of democracy since we can’t even make that work here.
My mentioning the Nuland/Pyatt phone call—and Professor Mearsheimer’s prophetic 2015 discussion of the West’s involvement in Ukrainian politics—are not Russian talking points, they are insights into what this war is really about.
Which is often very hard to figure out—and that’s the way those who are moving the pieces around the board like it.
As Major General Smedly Butler so wisely pointed out in his speech “The War Racket”:
“A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”
I did not really get to know my father but I do know he was born and lived in Galicia.
Considering the Ukrainian collaboration with Nazis—in that area a Ukrainian SS division was formed, attracting many volunteers—I will never know on which side my father fought.
History—especially in that area—is complicated and filled with nations taking turns at genocide—basically against their brothers.
Russia was primary in winning World War Two, defeating the Nazis—under whom they also suffered horrible genocide.
I make no excuses for Russia’s invasion. None.
I am in opposition to all war, thinking it to be a racket to make the wealthy richer, using nationalism and idealism to pull in the populace, to fire up the boys to kill and be killed.
I approach this discussion as a citizen of the USA. I am calling it out on what it is doing—fueling the war for its own interests.
For perpetual war—what the weapons manufacturing industry and the military-industrial complex want/need!
Every corporation from Black Rock to Monsanto is getting ready to move in to “rebuild” (co-opt) while we continue supporting its destruction.
That propaganda machine is working better than any other point in my life — with dozens of computer keyboard warriors cheering the death machine on with calls for escalation and revenge.
The USA could use its position to push for a diplomatic resolution — now! — but that’s not in its militaristic approach to solving problems to do so.
Instead they want to pull in every other country into the war, creating economic devestation and havoc everywhere. All for the USA empire. Not Ukraine.
The media loves war and there’s money to be made. The main thing this manufacturing of consent has done is to make people believe that a solution can only come from continuing military action—and as long as they have the populace fired up this way the War Racket can keep on rolling.
