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2022-05-31 Home Front: Politix
The New York Times' Shift on Victory in Ukraine
[Consortium News] As the war becomes less popular and it takes its toll, an electoral disaster looms ahead in 2022 and 2024 for Biden and the Democratic Party, for which the Times serves as a mouthpiece, writes John Walsh.

On May 11 The New York Times ran an article documenting that all was not going well for the U.S. in Ukraine, and a companion opinion piece hinting that a shift in direction might be in order.

Then on May 19, the editorial board, the full Magisterium of the Times, moved from hints to a clarion call for a change in direction, declaring that "total victory" over Russia is not possible and that Ukraine will have to negotiate a peace in a way that reflects a "realistic assessment" and the "limits" of U.S. commitment.

The Times serves as one the main shapers of public opinion for the elite and so its pronouncements are not to be taken lightly.

US LIMITS
The editorial contains the following key passages:

"In March, this board argued that the message from the United States and its allies to Ukrainians and Russians alike must be: No matter how long it takes, Ukraine will be free. ..."

"That goal cannot shift, but in the end, it is still not in America’s best interest to plunge into an all-out war with Russia, even if a negotiated peace may require Ukraine to make some hard decisions."

And, to ensure that there is no ambiguity, it went on:

"A decisive military victory for Ukraine over Russia, in which Ukraine regains all the territory Russia has seized since 2014, is not a realistic goal. ... Russia remains too strong..."

The, to make certain that President Joe Biden and the Ukrainians understand what they should do, it adds:

"... Mr. Biden should also make clear to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster. It is imperative that the Ukrainian government’s decisions be based on a realistic assessment of its means and how much more destruction Ukraine can sustain."

As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky read those words, he must surely have begun to sweat. The voice of his masters was telling him that he and Ukraine will have to make some sacrifices for the U.S. to save face. As he contemplates his options, his thoughts must surely run back to February 2014, and the U.S.-backed Maidan coup that culminated in the hasty exit of President Viktor Yanukovych from his office, his country and almost from this earth.

Alexander Mercouris of The Duran explains the shift in Western media reporting:....
Video and more at the link
At the bottom of the article at the link it notes that it was originally published at the Paleocon site Antiwar.com. We’ve had their articles here from time to time — they tend to be controversial.


Posted by DooDahMan 2022-05-31 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11142 views ]  Top

#1 Not just the New York Times. Virtually every single American and British media outlet has shifted from embarrassing jingoism to cold hard pragmatism -- recognizing that Russia is winning and trading territory for peace will be essential -- during the last 2-3 days.

Another poster gave a roundup yesterday of the many backflips in the formerly (hilariously) compliant US/UK press. Here are some of them:

Ukraine Is in Worse Shape than You Think - Time Magazine

Ukraine suffers on battlefield while pleading for U.S. arms - the Washington Post

Russian Wins in Eastern Ukraine Spark Debate Over Course of War - Bloomberg

Russia’s ‘cauldron’ tactic may be tipping Donbas battle in its favour - Guardian

Shrapnel in the forests and shells from the sky: ‘I’ve never seen such hell.’ - New York Times

Boris Johnson warns Russia is 'chewing through ground' in eastern Ukraine as he urges more support for Kyiv forces - The Daily Mail
Posted by Slineling Chusong5031 2022-05-31 00:13||   2022-05-31 00:13|| Front Page Top

#2 No more exploding tanks videos. Today the Daily Mail features tales of gallant but doomed heroism:

Ukrainian soldier's heroic last stand against Russian troops who have killed everyone else in his trench is caught on video in bloody fight for Donbas
Posted by Slineling Chusong5031 2022-05-31 00:43||   2022-05-31 00:43|| Front Page Top

#3 from The New York Times today:

The War in Ukraine May Be Impossible to Stop. And the U.S. Deserves Much of the Blame.
May 31, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET
By Christopher Caldwell


Posted by Palmerston 2022-05-31 11:36||   2022-05-31 11:36|| Front Page Top

#4 "...the United States has helped turn this tragic, local and ambiguous conflict into a potential world conflagration. By misunderstanding the war’s logic, [French presidential advisor Henri] Guaino argues, the West, led by the Biden administration, is giving the conflict a momentum that may be impossible to stop. ...

"One can argue about Russian claims to Crimea, but Russians take them seriously. Hundreds of thousands of Russian and Soviet fighters died defending the Crimean city of Sevastopol from European forces during two sieges — one during the Crimean War and one during World War II. In recent years, Russian control of Crimea has seemed to provide a stable regional arrangement: Russia’s European neighbors, at least, have let sleeping dogs lie.

But the United States never accepted the arrangement. On Nov. 10, 2021, the United States and Ukraine signed a “charter on strategic partnership” that called for Ukraine to join NATO, condemned “ongoing Russian aggression” and affirmed an “unwavering commitment” to the reintegration of Crimea into Ukraine.

That charter “convinced Russia that it must attack or be attacked,” Mr. Guaino wrote. “It is the ineluctable process of 1914 in all its terrifying purity.”
Posted by Palmerston 2022-05-31 11:39||   2022-05-31 11:39|| Front Page Top

#5 Perpetual leftist idiot Tom Freidman has a column out today (I won't link to it) saying that Kissinger is wrong on Ukraine. That's pretty much all I need to hear to decide Kissinger is exactly right.
Posted by M. Murcek 2022-05-31 14:01||   2022-05-31 14:01|| Front Page Top

#6 I think the tipping point in the US was Rand Paul’s protest. Many Americans because less enthusiastic when they discovered there would be no general ledger for the dollar pipeline. This is like a Clinton Global Initiative on steroids with missiles.
Posted by Super Hose 2022-05-31 16:12||   2022-05-31 16:12|| Front Page Top

#7 ^ Thanks to this bill, the American people are on the hook to fund all the operations of the entireUkrainian government. A notoriously corrupt regime that never had any oversight or scrutiny to begin with.

Administered by Biden and his Freakshow -- that would be the same Joe Biden who boasted about forcing the Ukrainian regime to fire their prosecutor who was looking into his son's illicit dealings with a criminal enterprise.

This isn't Clinton Global Initiative, this is the Mother of All Boondoggles. Iraq and Afghanistan combined, on an accelerated timeline so that Hunter, Jimmy and The Big Guy can grab their loot while they're all still alive and in power.
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 16:31||   2022-05-31 16:31|| Front Page Top

#8 Thanks to this bill, the American people are on the hook to fund all the operations of the entireUkrainian government.

That is what's known as a giant fucking lie. Anything Oye Como Va says from now on should be treated as such. Watch the switch to a new lying nym
Posted by Frank G 2022-05-31 19:27||   2022-05-31 19:27|| Front Page Top

#9 The bill "also provides for $6 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, which can be used to buy weapons directly from contractors and then provide those weapons to Ukraine.

"On the surface, this would appear to be simply about weapons. However, buriedin this funding is up to a billion dollars earmarked to pay the salaries and pensions of Ukrainian government workers and soldiers.

🤡

This is just the beginning, folks. Remember Karzai? Remember SIGAR's report?
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 21:00||   2022-05-31 21:00|| Front Page Top

#10 Giant fucking ... boondoggle, agreed.

$8.96 Billion, suckers!
🤡
Read it and weep:
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ADDITIONAL UKRAINE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2022
From Title V:

"• $8.766 billion for the Economic Support Fund to respond to emergent needs in Ukraine, provide needed budget support to assist with Ukraine’s continuity of government, and counter human trafficking. Includes $760 million to prevent and respond to global food insecurity.
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 21:12||   2022-05-31 21:12|| Front Page Top

#11 #10 Giant fucking ... boondoggle, agreed.

$8.96 Billion, suckers!
🤡
Read it and weep:
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ADDITIONAL UKRAINE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2022
From Title V:

"• $8.766 billion for the Economic Support Fund to respond to emergent needs in Ukraine, provide needed budget support to assist with Ukraine’s continuity of government, and counter human trafficking. Includes $760 million to prevent and respond to global food insecurity.
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 21:14||   2022-05-31 21:14|| Front Page Top

#12 Don't worry. Plenty of graft to come. Did you like "Build Back Better"? Wasn't Iraq Reconstruction a blast?

How about $1 TRILLION for "Build a Greener Denser Carbon-Neutral Ukraine"?

"We can also look at other measures and similar efforts that were done in the past. For example, what was the cost of reconstructing Iraq or Afghanistan? If you look at the size of these countries, the level of damage, and scale it to the Ukrainian case, you come to somewhere between $500 billion, maybe $1 trillion."

How should Ukraine rebuild?

Although Russia's invasion has caused massive damage, some experts also see reconstruction as a once-in-a-generation chance to modernize Ukraine.

Gorodnichenko believes the country's newly rebuilt cities should be carbon-neutral and dense, with much needed upgrades to housing and public transport.

Are we having fun yet??
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 21:39||   2022-05-31 21:39|| Front Page Top

#13 Screwed up HTML fixed in #10 so it wasn’t breaking the Burg, though you fixed it nicely in the next comment, Oye Como Va.

A billion dollars here, a billion more there, eventually you’re talking real money. Seriously, the way the current administration is throwing money around in trillion dollar amounts, any specific item isn’t worth getting upset over.
Posted by trailing wife 2022-05-31 21:46||   2022-05-31 21:46|| Front Page Top

#14 ^ No offense but that's a really mindless comment. They are indeed "worried about trillions." In fact Biden is meeting with Jay Powell to pressure him to REDUCE a trillion or more in money supply now.

Rand Paul nailed it: it's utterly insane to be slamming the brakes on credit and money supply via the Fed's shock therapy interest rate hikes while they're contemplating the exact opposite, in the form of sending a trillion dollars overseas for yet another idiotic intervention + kleptopalooza
Posted by Oye Como Va  2022-05-31 21:56||   2022-05-31 21:56|| Front Page Top

#15 /\ But it was 'offensive.'
Posted by Besoeker 2022-05-31 22:00||   2022-05-31 22:00|| Front Page Top

#16 No, it's defensive. A trillion for defending "freedom and democracy" ... by paying for Zelensky & Co's offshore accounts salaries and pensions.
Posted by Oye Como Va 2022-05-31 22:04||   2022-05-31 22:04|| Front Page Top

#17  Biden is meeting with Jay Powell to pressure him to REDUCE a trillion or more in money supply now.

Let me unpack my statement a bit: The issue, as I see it, is endlessly increasing government spending on anything and everything. Until that drive to spend is stopped, fixing this or that particular item will make no difference whatsoever.
Posted by trailing wife 2022-05-31 23:57||   2022-05-31 23:57|| Front Page Top

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