Bloodshed in Ukraine
After Two Years of Bloodshed in Ukraine, Neocons Are Desperate to Prolong War
In a recent CNN interview, the normally very confident U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland sounded a little desperate. She was trying to make the case for Congress to pass another $61 billion dollars for the neocons’ proxy war project in Ukraine and she was throwing out the old slogans that the neocons use when they want funding for their latest war. Asked by CNN whether she believes that Congress will eventually pass the bill, Nuland responded that she has confidence that, “we will do what we have always done, which is defend democracy and freedom around the world.” What Nuland is attempting here is what the neocons always do. They try to wrap their terrible policies up in the American flag and sell it to the American people as something reflective of “our” values. If you oppose another neocon war, well then you are unpatriotic, according to their trickery. But Americans are waking up to the lies of the neocons and more and more are realizing that there is no “we” when the neocons are trying to sell another war. It is “them.” The “we” in the equation are the people who are being robbed to pay for what will inevitably be another neocon failure. Does any American still believe that Washington was “defending democracy and freedom” when it used a pack of lies to get us into Iraq, where a country was destroyed and perhaps a million people were killed? How about when, after 20 years in Afghanistan, we managed to replace the Taliban … with the Taliban? And Syria and Libya and all the other interventions? Was Washington “defending democracy” when Nuland and the rest of the neocons successfully overthrew a democratically elected government in Ukraine in 2014? It’s getting harder and harder for the American people to choke down the war lies of the neocons. That is something that should make us feel optimistic. In the same interview, Nuland said she was confident that when House members return to session next week, “after they’ve been out in their districts hearing from the American people,” they will vote to send the $61 billion to Ukraine. Looking at public opinion polls, however, it is far more likely that any House member meeting with constituents during the break will hear the opposite. It is likely they will hear a demand that not another penny be spent on the brutal, futile, and disastrous Ukraine war. According to a Harris poll taken earlier this month, some 70% of Americans want talks to end the Ukraine war! Americans no longer support the neocon war project in Ukraine. That is something to celebrate. Perhaps in a last show of desperation, Victoria Nuland debuted another argument for keeping the war money flowing for Ukraine. She said, “We have to remember that the bulk of this money is going right back into this economy to make those weapons.” Is this supposed to be attractive to the American people? The middle class and the poor are being destroyed by inflation and squeezed by a debased currency so that the wealthy, politically connected weapons manufacturers can get even richer? Instead of money to rebuild this country and protect its borders, Americans should be thrilled to see their hard work go up in smoke, literally, in Ukraine?
A Special Inspector General’s Report on “Operation Atlantic Resolve”—the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine—released at the end of 2023 has provided the financial outlays and humanitarian costs of the war so far. To say the least, they have been massive. As the U.S. has rebuffed all negotiations for a peaceful resolution and while Congress is mulling over another aid package of some $60 billion, there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict. The report admits, as do most knowledgeable analysts, that without U.S. and Western aid, Ukraine would collapse, ending the war almost immediately: “To prevail on the battlefield, Ukraine will need continued military and security assistance, according to State [Department].” An understatement, indeed. Between February 2022 and December 2023, Congress appropriated approximately $113.4 billion to the Ukraine, divided into the following categories: $46 billion for economic and humanitarian aid; $45.2 billion for military aid; $15.2 billion for the U.S. military; $4.7 billion for aid to allies for weapons; and $2 billion for miscellaneous U.S. Defense Department expenses. This obscene amount of spending is going to have to be maintained to keep the current status quo on the battlefield and to prevent a collapse of the Ukrainian economy. Yet, the maniacal Biden administration refuses to engage in any meaningful peace talks willfully oblivious to the waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars, the incredible loss of life, and the massive destruction of property taking place in its support of an unwinnable war. More important than the staggering monetary outlays, without any apparent end in sight, has been the death and suffering taking place. Using U.S. officials’ comments to the press and a Dec. 2023 declassified intelligence report, the special inspector general asserts that 315,000 Russians have been killed or wounded while some 70,000 Ukrainians have been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 more wounded. The latter figures have been disputed by more objective observers who place Ukrainian losses significantly higher. The State Department has estimated that nearly 3.7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced, with some 6.3 million more classified as refugees. The report paints a grim picture of battlefield conditions. Despite the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) being “tested” over the two years of fighting, “the frontline of the war … has not moved significantly since the gains made in the fall of [the] 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive.” “Russian forces continued to occupy most of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea oblasts,” the report notes. In terms of firepower, the UAF is launching about 6,000 rounds of artillery per day with the Zelensky regime seeking to increase the figure to 10,000 per day through international contributions. This pales in comparison to the 60,000 artillery rounds that the Russians fire per day. The report does not mention the critical “kill ratio” of the two forces. While officials publicly contend there is parity between the two sides, leaked documents place the ratio of soldiers killed between 7:1 or even as high as 10:1 Ukrainian versus Russian losses. The special inspector general is critical of the Russian command structure, citing its “poor situational awareness,” “rigid command-andcontrol stovepipes,” “poor information sharing,” and “a toxic leadership culture.” “These failings,” the report continues, “have reduced maneuverability and the effectiveness of longrange strikes, and they have weakened overall Russian military battlefield capability.” While the failings are no doubt exaggerated, the shortcomings of the Russian military may stem from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deliberate and methodical policy toward Ukraine. It has, so far, never been Putin’s aim to conquer Ukraine, which he could have easily done. Fearing blowback from a full-scale military assault with the possibility of triggering a nuclear war with the West, and that a defeated Ukraine would require occupation of a hostile people for decades, the Russian president has moved cautiously to secure his limited objectives. This, no doubt, has caused friction among the Russian war hawks who want to punish Ukraine and bring a conclusion to hostilities, fearing a stalemate will affect the morale of the military. Anti-war commentators have rightly pointed out the injustice of the conflict and that had it not been for U.S. intervention from the beginning, with the orchestrated coup in 2014 replacing Viktor Yanukovych with a pro-Western regime in Kiev, there would likely be peace in the region. They have also shown the benefactors of the war, including the military industrial complex and war-mongering politicians such as Sen. Lindsey Graham and the rest of the usual suspects. What the war’s opponents have missed is that the fighting has tragically involved two predominantly white nations slaughtering each other. This is all taking place as white birth-rates are in decline precipitously the world over. This is not surprising since most of the anti-war commentators are from a libertarian bent who are rather touchy when it comes to race. It is also why they avoid speaking about the forces that have pitted Ukraine and Russia against each other. This has been a favorite tactic of the clique that has been in charge of U.S. foreign policy, as Blinken, Nuland, and now Zelensky are playing their roles to a tee.
A Special Inspector General’s Report on “Operation Atlantic Resolve”—the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine—released at the end of 2023 has provided the financial outlays and humanitarian costs of the war so far. To say the least, they have been massive. As the U.S. has rebuffed all negotiations for a peaceful resolution and while Congress is mulling over another aid package of some $60 billion, there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict. The report admits, as do most knowledgeable analysts, that without U.S. and Western aid, Ukraine would collapse, ending the war almost immediately: “To prevail on the battlefield, Ukraine will need continued military and security assistance, according to State [Department].” An understatement, indeed. Between February 2022 and December 2023, Congress appropriated approximately $113.4 billion to the Ukraine, divided into the following categories: $46 billion for economic and humanitarian aid; $45.2 billion for military aid; $15.2 billion for the U.S. military; $4.7 billion for aid to allies for weapons; and $2 billion for miscellaneous U.S. Defense Department expenses. This obscene amount of spending is going to have to be maintained to keep the current status quo on the battlefield and to prevent a collapse of the Ukrainian economy. Yet, the maniacal Biden administration refuses to engage in any meaningful peace talks willfully oblivious to the waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars, the incredible loss of life, and the massive destruction of property taking place in its support of an unwinnable war. More important than the staggering monetary outlays, without any apparent end in sight, has been the death and suffering taking place. Using U.S. officials’ comments to the press and a Dec. 2023 declassified intelligence report, the special inspector general asserts that 315,000 Russians have been killed or wounded while some 70,000 Ukrainians have been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 more wounded. The latter figures have been disputed by more objective observers who place Ukrainian losses significantly higher. The State Department has estimated that nearly 3.7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced, with some 6.3 million more classified as refugees. The report paints a grim picture of battlefield conditions. Despite the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) being “tested” over the two years of fighting, “the frontline of the war … has not moved significantly since the gains made in the fall of [the] 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive.” “Russian forces continued to occupy most of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea oblasts,” the report notes. In terms of firepower, the UAF is launching about 6,000 rounds of artillery per day with the Zelensky regime seeking to increase the figure to 10,000 per day through international contributions. This pales in comparison to the 60,000 artillery rounds that the Russians fire per day. The report does not mention the critical “kill ratio” of the two forces. While officials publicly contend there is parity between the two sides, leaked documents place the ratio of soldiers killed between 7:1 or even as high as 10:1 Ukrainian versus Russian losses. The special inspector general is critical of the Russian command structure, citing its “poor situational awareness,” “rigid command-andcontrol stovepipes,” “poor information sharing,” and “a toxic leadership culture.” “These failings,” the report continues, “have reduced maneuverability and the effectiveness of longrange strikes, and they have weakened overall Russian military battlefield capability.” While the failings are no doubt exaggerated, the shortcomings of the Russian military may stem from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deliberate and methodical policy toward Ukraine. It has, so far, never been Putin’s aim to conquer Ukraine, which he could have easily done. Fearing blowback from a full-scale military assault with the possibility of triggering a nuclear war with the West, and that a defeated Ukraine would require occupation of a hostile people for decades, the Russian president has moved cautiously to secure his limited objectives. This, no doubt, has caused friction among the Russian war hawks who want to punish Ukraine and bring a conclusion to hostilities, fearing a stalemate will affect the morale of the military. Anti-war commentators have rightly pointed out the injustice of the conflict and that had it not been for U.S. intervention from the beginning, with the orchestrated coup in 2014 replacing Viktor Yanukovych with a pro-Western regime in Kiev, there would likely be peace in the region. They have also shown the benefactors of the war, including the military industrial complex and war-mongering politicians such as Sen. Lindsey Graham and the rest of the usual suspects. What the war’s opponents have missed is that the fighting has tragically involved two predominantly white nations slaughtering each other. This is all taking place as white birth-rates are in decline precipitously the world over. This is not surprising since most of the anti-war commentators are from a libertarian bent who are rather touchy when it comes to race. It is also why they avoid speaking about the forces that have pitted Ukraine and Russia against each other. This has been a favorite tactic of the clique that has been in charge of U.S. foreign policy, as Blinken, Nuland, and now Zelensky are playing their roles to a tee.
By: Jewel Staite
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