Autorenarchiv
G.M.F. - The lovely US - european friendship initiative
17. März 2022thats all about giving the europeans just enough rope to hang themselves, and then watch if their facial expressions are still the correct ones, despite coming out a bit delayed, because the european on the talk suddenly needs to mask them.
Hey, open talk initiatives to see if the other side is still in line with your assessment of them are great, arent they?
So whats the potential scenario here? Biden should be able to tell the chinese delegations in scheduled talks starting in april, that Europe will set them an ultimatum on trade, if they dont put more pressure on russia, because europe is really in a historic position here. To loose both chinese imports/manufacturing, and russian energy exports - while if they dont, and things work out fine, they get demoted to “tool status” in the process! Sorry, “historic tool status”.
Ah, transatlantic friendship initiatives.
Where you have to first mute yourself, then fake your reactions not to get ousted. Diplomacy among friends, at its best.
Oh, and btw:
US Senate unlikely to act on House-passed Russia energy import ban
Even though the US House passed a bill last week to impose a ban on Russian energy imports, Senate sources say it’s unlikely their chamber will move on the measure.
That’s because senators view the issue as essentially moot after US President Joe Biden took executive action to ban the imports.
Moreover, Sen. Joe Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, has contended that the House bill is weaker than the executive action — so they see little reason to move on a measure viewed as falling short of the current policy.
src: click
US back from bipartisan support to politics via executive action again.
edit: Oh, what an entirely unexpected surprise, DW has found a pundit that convinces them that this would be the exact thing we should stive for at the moment. Last sentence in the interview, btw - after that its just thank yous and signing off. Logic behind the argument this time? Well, listen, there is something we must have the US do, because, the liberal rights based order is in danger, and this has to be stopped and… You know the drill by now - values. Values other countries are so impressed by, that they congratulate european diplomats regularly on them, or at least have in the past, when they told them to scram without results. The values though…!
Am 30. Juni 2021 schied Heusgen aus dem Auswärtigen Dienst aus.[12] Er ist seit 2020 Honorarprofessor an der Universität St. Gallen[13] und Vorsitzender des Stiftungskreises der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz.
*shakefist* src: click
Putin-Zelensky meeting possible “if an agreement is achieved”
17. März 2022Turkish official claims a Putin-Zelensky meeting is possible “if an agreement is achieved”
From CNN’s Lindsay IsaacTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Lviv on Thursday, one day after his visit to Moscow where he met Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
In taped remarks, Çavuşoğlu said: “If an agreement is achieved about the issues that we see a rapprochement about, there is a possibility that two leaders can come together,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky.
Çavuşoğlu also said his hopes for a ceasefire increased after meeting with both parties, although “it is hard to talk about it when it comes to war.”
He said Ukraine had suggested Turkey and Germany as guarantor countries in a proposed “collective security agreement.”
“In my talks yesterday in Moscow, I saw that the Russian Federation did not have an objection to this and that they could accept such a proposal,” Çavuşoğlu said. He stressed an agreement has to be acceptable for both sides and their people.
Çavuşoğlu also said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to Putin on Thursday.According to a statement by Turkey’s Directorate of Communications, “Erdoğan reiterated his offer to host Putin and Zelensky in Istanbul or Ankara” during his phone conversation with Putin, saying “consensus on some issues may require talks at leadership level.”
The Turkish president also stressed the need of “assessing the humanitarian situation on ground” and of “humanitarian corridors to operate effectively in both directions.”
CNN bestätigt es vor 20 Minuten nochmal, einer der Hauptstreitpunkte könnte die Rückgabeforderung aller ukrainischen Gebiete (in den Grenzen von 1991 inklusive der Krim), oder zumindest der Rückzug aller russischen Truppen aus vor dem 24. Februar besetzten Gebieten. vor einem Waffenstillstandsabkommen sein.
Die Wienerzeitung sieht es ebenfalls bereits länger “als eine erste zarte Hoffnung”, der Standard hat mal die Hetze zurückgefahren, schreibt in die Meldung aber keine Details rein, der französische Außenminister der vorgebracht hat, die russischen Ambitionen seien nur vorgeschoben hat wohl einen Jux gemacht - oder recht, je nach Ausgang, aber CNN bringts vor 20 Minuten wieder im Ticker.
src: click
edit: Die exakte Definition einer etwaigen Neutralität der Ukraine stellt ebenfalls noch ein Diskussionsfeld dar:
edit2: Einen Tag später stehts dann auch im Standard, Zusatz - Moskau schließt ein treffen der Präsidenten aus, bis ein Vertrag ausgehandelt worden ist, und die Ukraine pocht auf einen Abzug aller russischen Truppen aus der gesamten Ukraine inkl. der Krim. src: click
Aktueller Stand westlicher Postulate/Drohungen
17. März 2022Der Experte von Carnegie Europe hat ja vor drei Tagen im ORF verlautbart, dass es für Russland und insbesondere Putin sehr einfach wäre sich aus dem Krieg zurückzuziehen. Er kontrolliere ja die russischen Medien. Eine etwas längere Reorganisationsperiode auf beiden Seiten haben wir auch gerade hinter uns - also was ist hier so der aktuelle Stand?
- ICJ (Den Haag) fordert Russland auf die Kriegsmaßnahmen sofort zu beenden. Das nach einem schnellen Prüfungsverfahren des vorgetäuschten Angriffsgrunds und einer provisorischen Order die mit zwei Gegenstimmen (Russland und China) verabschiedet wurde.
- Biden verlautbart, er denke Putin sei ein Kriegsverbrecher (Hintergrund: Bisher bestand die theoretische Möglichkeit einzelne Kommandanten für Kriegsverbrechen verantwortlich zu machen, das ist eine Offramp weniger.)
- Selenskyj fordert, dass die Welt Russland offiziell als Terrorstaat anerkennt und Project Syndicate hat praktischer Weise die Argumentation dafür ausgearbeitet.
- Die Ukraine fordert für den Abschluss von Gesprächen über Sicherheitsgarantien die Ukraine in den Grenzen von 1991 zurück. Inklusive Krim und Donbas. edit: FT article
- In den österreichischen Medien vehöhnt man die verlautbarten Verhandlungspositionen Russlands, sowie den Versuch Russlands den Anwurf des Kriegsverbrechers zurückzuweisen. Weil Moral wieder mal alles andere aussticht und da man wieder eine ulkige Diplomatenaussage über Putin gefunden hat, mit dem man öffentlichen Hass am köcheln halten kann - eine personifizierbare Lüge nämlich: Putin ist ja garnicht weise und kultiviert! Und verlogen ist die Lüge obendrein! siehe: click
- Selbiges gilt für die Gegenreaktion Russlands die öffentliche Meinung im Land nicht kippen zu lassen. Diesmal keine Mediengesetze die 15 Jahre Gefängnis bei Nichtbefolgung zur Folge haben, nein, die Wortwahl “Selbstreinigungsprozess” wird von Gerhard Mangott als “neue Säuberungswelle” interpretiert, die entweder indirekt angekündigt, oder indirekt ausgelöst worden ist. Im OT wars erst mal das Hochdrehen des Chilling Effekts bezüglich öffentlich “geduldeter” Meinungsäußerung und ein Aufruf zur Denunziation bestimmter Meinungen, aber klar, eine Säuberungsaktion könnte es auch angekündigt haben. Also warum gehen wir nicht schon mal davon aus? edit: Video: click
Der Krieg geht dann erstmal weiter. Hat ja auch bereits das britische Außenministerium gestern anklingen lassen.
“Putin steht mit dem Rücken zur Wand” stimmt aber sukzessive mehr als noch vor einigen Tagen.
edit: So sad, laut dem französischen Außenminister sei erneuet ausschließlich die andere Seite schuld, dass nichts weitergehe:
Le Drian: Russland “gibt nur vor zu verhandeln” - oberste Priorität sei ein Waffenstillstand
Der französische Außenminister Jean-Yves Le Drian sagte am Donnerstag gegenüber der Pariser Tageszeitung “Le Parisien”, Russland “gebe nur vor” mit der Ukraine “zu verhandeln”, während es den Einmarsch in sein Nachbarland in Übereinstimmung mit einer brutalen Strategie fortsetze. Eben diese Strategie habe Russland bereits früher anderswo angewandt.“Leider sind wir immer noch mit der gleichen russischen Logik konfrontiert - maximalistische Forderungen stellen, die Ukraine zur Kapitulation zwingen wollen und den Belagerungskrieg intensivieren”, führte Le Drian aus.
“Wie in Grosny (in Tschetschenien) und Aleppo (in Syrien) gibt es drei typische Elemente: wahllose Bombardierung, sogenannte humanitäre ‘Korridore’, die es ihnen ermöglichen, die andere Seite zu beschuldigen, sie nicht zu respektieren, und Gespräche, die kein anderes Ziel haben, als so zu tun, als ob sie verhandeln würden.”
Im Gegensatz zu Russland beteilige sich die Ukraine “verantwortungsbewusst und aufgeschlossen an den Gesprächen”, sagte Le Drian gegenüber “Le Parisien”.
Im Moment gebe es laut dem französischen Außenminister “nur eine dringende Angelegenheit - Waffenstillstand, Waffenstillstand, Waffenstillstand”. Russland verweigere das im Moment. “Die Sanktionen werden also entschlossen verschärft werden, bis Putin erkennt, dass der Preis für die Fortsetzung des Konflikts so hoch ist, dass ein Waffenstillstand vorzuziehen ist, und er echte Gespräche mit Präsident Zelenskyj beginnt.”
src: click
Und ich dachte es ist die Ukraine, die bei einem langanhaltenden Zermürbungskrieg Vorteile hat, da ihre Supportinfrastruktur leichter aufrecht zu erhalten ist… Da sieht man mal wieder wie sehr man sich täuschen kann.
Naja vielleicht trifft der Fall ja in zwei Wochen ein, wenn die “entscheidenen zwei Wochen” laut gut informierten US Kreisen vorbei sind und das Szenario in dem die Ukraine einen Vorteil in einem lange anhaltenden Zermürbungskrieg hat, endlich eintritt.
Zugeständnis, einen Waffenstillstand, bei den aktuellen Verhandlungspositionen wird Russland definitiv nicht wollen.
Am Freitag, wissen wir dann aber bescheid, denn -
Weiße[s] Haus: Telefonat von Biden und Xi zu Ukraine-Krieg und Wettbewerb am Freitag geplant
[…]
Laut dem Weißen Haus sei der Anruf Teil der laufenden Bemühungen der USA eine offene Kommunikation zwischen den beiden Ländern aufrechtzuerhalten.
Peking hat sich geweigert, seinen engen Verbündeten Russland aufgrund des Einmarschs in die Ukraine zu verurteilen. Hingegen hatte China die Vereinigten Staaten und die Nato-Osterweiterung für die Verschärfung der Spannungen verantwortlich gemacht.
src: click
Seht ihr, so einfach ist das.
edit: Ach nein, wissen wir, doch nicht - weil sich die US aus der Verantwortung gezogen hat das treffen öffentlich zu kommentieren. Gute Gründe nehme ich an.
Senior administration officials described the call as “direct,” “substantive” and “detailed,” but would not offer many details about the lengthy conversation. The bulk of the leaders’ discussion centered on the war in Ukraine and the implications the crisis would have for US-China relations and the “international order,” an official said. But the administration refused to publicly detail what those consequences would be.
src: click
Der Standard postet schon das Erwartungsmanagement für danach, ich mein - natürlich, sonst würden die Leute ja selbst überlegen was das bedeutet… “Moralisch verlogen.” “Muss sich der Westen zu seinen Werten besinnen, sonst…” Ihr kennt den Dreh.
WHO confirms health systems being attacked structurally
17. März 2022The World Health Organization slammed the unprecedented numbers of attacks on global health care systems Wednesday.
“This issue is more important than bricks and mortar. This isn’t just about the destruction of buildings,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, said while discussing Ukraine.
“This is about the destruction of hope. This is about taking away the very thing that gives people the reason to live. The fact that their families can be taken care of, that they can be cured if they’re sick, that they can be treated if they’re injured. This is the most basic of human rights, and it has been directly denied to people and we are then in a position where we can’t send assistance to those people, because the very act of attacking those facilities or not taking care to avoid those facilities means we can’t send the appropriate help when it’s needed,” he said.
Ryan said that attacks on health care, encompassing workers and facilities, means health systems are “becoming a target.”
“We’re only a very short part into this year, we have never seen, globally, never seen this rate of attacks on health care,” Ryan said. “Health is becoming a target in these situations; it’s becoming part of the strategy and tactics of war. It is entirely, entirely unacceptable. It is against international humanitarian law.”
Of the 89 attacks on health systems around the world this year so far, 43 have been in Ukraine, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
src: click
Less than a week ago the WHO had confirmed 18 attacks. src: click
edit: Thats 43 attacks with 12 people being killed in total.
What is manufacturing consent?
16. März 2022DW’s Washington bureau chief Ines Pohl, starting at 5 minutes in.
Entry point:
“This was about hearts and minds, if I can put it that way, he hit lots of emotional points, that particularly hit home to americans, he tailored that speech to his audience.”
“Absolutely, ah, ah Phil. He really understands, how to reach a specific audience, I mean - we mustn’t forget, he is a trained comedian [?], and he really knows how -, kind of, you know, which buttons to push to reach, as you say - the hearts and minds of the audience, and he did so - I mean, just by invoking all the tragedies in the american history, like the attack on Perl Harbor, or the 9/11 terrorist attack, with these - images - he invoked in the speech, he didn’t only reach out to the lawmakers and politicians, but also to every single american, and on top of that, he played this - very emotional, ah, video, so he also understands, how to use images. So in a way that was a very, very - modern [?] speech, we just heard from president Selenskyj.”
Advanced course -
Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.
Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi and Elizabeth Culliford in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates, Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill
src: click
Now retracted:
Meta Platforms, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, now says users cannot share posts calling for the death of Russian president Vladimir Putin or other heads of state after all.
The move came as Russia’s ban on Instagram came into effect on Monday, blocking access to the social media platform for some 80 million users across the country.
Meta’s latest policy, detailed in an internal company post seen by Reuters, marks a U-turn from a previous decision that was said to temporarily allow some posts on Facebook and Instagram calling for the death of Putin or his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.
“We are now narrowing the focus to make it explicitly clear in the guidance that it is never to be interpreted as condoning violence against Russians in general,” Meta global affairs president Nick Clegg wrote on Sunday in a post on the company’s internal platform that was seen by Reuters.
“We also do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state…So, in order to remove any ambiguity about our stance, we are further narrowing our guidance to make explicit that we are not allowing calls for the death of a head of state on our platforms,” Clegg said.
src: click
Background:
[Walter] Lippman argues that, when properly deployed in the public interest, the manufacture of consent is useful and necessary for a cohesive society, because, in many cases, “the common interests” of the public are not obvious except upon careful analysis of the collected data, a critical intellectual exercise in which most people are uninterested or are incapable of doing. Therefore, most people must have the world summarized for them by the well-informed, and will then act accordingly.
That the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements no one, I think, denies. The process by which public opinions arise is certainly no less intricate than it has appeared in these pages, and the opportunities for manipulation open to anyone who understands the process are plain enough.… [a]s a result of psychological research, coupled with the modern means of communication, the practice of democracy has turned a corner. A revolution is taking place, infinitely more significant than any shifting of economic power.… Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the old constants of our thinking have become variables. It is no longer possible, for example, to believe in the original dogma of democracy; that the knowledge needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to self-deception, and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify. It has been demonstrated that we cannot rely upon intuition, conscience, or the accidents of casual opinion if we are to deal with the world beyond our reach.
— Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, Chapter XVThe political elite are members of the class of people who are incapable of accurately understanding, by themselves, the complex “unseen environment” wherein the public affairs of the modern state occur; thus, Lippmann proposes that a professional, “specialized class” collect and analyze data, and present their conclusions to the society’s decision makers, who, in their turn, use the “art of persuasion” to inform the public about the decisions and circumstances affecting them.[5]
Public Opinion proposes that the increased power of propaganda and the specialized knowledge required for effective political decisions have rendered the traditional notion of democracy impossible. The phrase “manufacture of consent” was introduced, which the academics Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman used as the title of their book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988). Chomsky has extensively criticized Lippman’s thesis as deeply opposed to democracy.
src: click
edit: More background: click
ZDF Frontal hat die Verteidiger Europas gefunden!
16. März 2022https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWL0mxewelk
Kritisch, investigativ, unerschrocken. Was der Reporter sonst so gefunden hat: Ein gepanzertes Fahrzeug zum rumfahren. Die Personenschützer in dem Fahrzeug, die aber jetzt humanitär tätig sind, und “Leute aus Kiev herausholen, und Medikamente aus Odessa besorgen”, und nicht mal das ist ihnen jetzt möglich… Russland bekämpft sogar humanitäre Hilfe! Einen ehemaligen bekannten Fernsehmoderator, jetzt in Uniform (Daniel Salem, beliebtes Motiv, der war schon öfter vor der Kamera, Journalistennetzwerke, nehm ich an), eine inspirierende Ansprache (“Wir leben auf einem Planeten, der Erde heißt, …”), die seit den permanenten Ansprachen von Selenskyj populäre Forderung, dass die Nato den ukrainischen Luftraum sichern soll, sogar in populärer Ausprägung - von vielen die das fordern! Agentur Bilder aus dem von Russland beschossenen, westlichen Militärstützpunkt nahe Polen, obwohl der Reporter gerade noch auf dem Weg nach Odessa war, eine Ansprache Selenskyjs, Claudia Major von der Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin, Anna und ihre Kinder im Keller in Kiew, Agenturbilder von flüchtenden Menschen, das Philharmonieorchester in Kiew auf dem Freiheitsplatz, das die Europahymne spielt. Ode an die Freude. (Ton aus dem off: “Gegen die Ohnmacht, die Stille und die Angst.”)
Very moving speech by Selenskyj
16. März 2022from 20 minutes ago:
Have: Perl Harbour, 9/11, terrorists, I have a dream, a live videofeed directly into US congress on a cinema sized videowall, encrypted video communication out of the Ukraine provided by the US military, preproduced video package (close the sky over Ukraine, scored to violin music);
Need: No fly zone, if not possible, S-300 anti air systems, companies leaving russia, new tools to be created to be able to respond quickly. Justice to history.
Searching for: “Sense in life, if I can not save lives”.
Will get - another 800 million USD released as security assistance.
edit: Also this:
Slovakia has preliminarily agreed to provide Ukraine with a key Soviet-era air defense system to help defend against Russian airstrikes, according to three sources familiar with the matter, but the US and NATO are still grappling with how to backfill that country’s own defensive capabilities and the transfer is not yet assured.
According to two of the sources, Slovakia, one of three NATO allies that have the defense systems in question, wants assurances that the systems will be replaced immediately.
If a country provided its S-300s, the supplying country is likely to receive the US-made Patriot air defense missile system to backfill the capability it would be giving up, according to two other sources familiar with the negotiations.
Germany and the Netherlands have already publicly announced that they are sending Patriots to Slovakia. But integrating a new, complex air defense system into a country’s existing military architecture, as well as training its forces to use it, can take time, one source familiar with the matter cautioned.
src: click
and this:
US to provide Switchblade drones to Ukraine, sources say
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday additional US assistance to Ukraine including drones, and two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that, specifically, the US will be providing Switchblade drones, which are small, portable so-called kamikaze or suicide drones that carry a warhead and detonate on impact.
src: click
More military deterrence would have prevented this
16. März 2022- need a proponent of that lovely theorem no one can verify, but that usually represents the most hawkish position possible?
Look no further than the former ambassodor to the Ukraine, ousted by Trump, Marie Yovanovitch.
She has a new book out.
Also a proponent of the “Putin is not going to stop with Ukraine, and this is a serious threat for Nato countries” thesis of course --
Oh, and dont forget the CNN moderator that leads in with the following question, referencing a specific paragraph in Yovanovitchs book:
“We have failed to call out Russia’s behavior in a way that Russia finds persuasive or taken steps to stop it that Moscow finds compelling. If we continue to fumble around [always a great sign, when you make arguments non specific], we will someday, maybe soon, find ourselves in a serious confrontation in a context not of our choosing and not to our advantage.”
- then states, that this was prescient, then asks, how is what we are seeing today a consequence of what she wrote - this is the answer that follows:
“I think its the culmination of what we’ve seen coming from the Putin regime, over the last 20 years - 2008, the invasion of Georgia, then we had Ukraine in 2014, and now Ukraine again in 2022, and I think Putin will continue to expand, ah, the russian empire, the former soviet empire as he sees it, unless he is stopped.”
What follows next is a news anchor that starts prancing around and miming a closed fist vs. open hand metaphor into camera, giving an exact image, of how serious the former ambassador was when she wrote
- someday, maybe [we’ll] find ourselves in a serious confrontation in a context not of our choosing and not to our advantage
to then end his inquiry, by finishing his question - “Is this [what we currently see] that, that we are meeting Putin with a closed fist now, instead of an open hand?”
You know - the urgent question, for the public debate, that gets broadcast on CNN these days… Oh, and could I interest you in a book thats indeed very prescient?
Almost as prescient as DWs interview with the former US Army Europe Commander Lt. General Ben Hodges, who understands that the coming two weeks will be decisive, and is also a proponent of the thesis, that… Ah, listen for yourself:
This was Ben Hodges at the Munich Security conference three weeks ago, btw.:
You know - DW and him are good friends.
Oh, and Amanpour of course… (See click and click.)
Oh, and the Ukraine will succeed in a war of attrition of course especially longterm:
Which the same CNN moderator then calls “slow annihilation, as US officials were telling Jim Sciutto”. (Probably in this video, if not, limit the youtube search filter to the last month and start digging.)
Yeah, who could want that… Nobody could want that, right?
Now, look at the cute little doggy! Is it a moral obligation?
Look at the doggy once more.
(Theres a second, entirely unrelated, puppy dog shot in the video, btw. just for good measure.)
edit: Two dogs in this report. Very popular motive for camera crews these days. But this time, at least not in the attract image.
The unhinged meeting
16. März 2022Can we get some mood music, and some people admitting in perfect reality TV script style, that that was the moment, when they realized that this would become a war? Maybe add a few “they are afraid” and “he’s unhinged” soundbites to it?
Thank you PBS.
Also - at the same time the official narrative on the scientific side is, that US intelligence circles warned about the strong possibility of a war at least two weeks prior (see: click). Which then is a little bit embezzled by the Hoover Institute for gerneral pundit consumption, and made into the reasoning for the narrative, that the one good aspect that came out of this is, that europe is now closer in terms of policy positions than ever before. Of course some people also call BS on that, because it is unity by necessity, but those are just mad wierdos.
At the same time it is acknowledged, that the entire meeting was made up for PR purposes, that it was prerecorded, yet it shows with absolute certainty, how distant Putin is to his advisers, and how unhinged, even crazy he is, and that everyone in his own “balance of power circles” is afraid of him.
Wait - do I need historical experts for that purpose, that are exactly dumb enough not to understand that should a balance of power in Russia exist, it is not “argued for freely” in the open, in a prerecorded PR production? Do I need experts just dumb enough not to notice, that the fact that Putin put down the SVR intelligence chief, was reported by the same media outlets (PBS) as a public display of the notion, that the foreign security sector within russia has lost influence?
Sorry - not dumb enough, just situated in the right talking circles of course.
People speaking in the video:
“What was especially weird and creepy was the way he dressed down the head of his foreign intelligence service, [Sergey] Naryshkin,” says Daniel Fried, currently a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Poland from 1997 to 2000 and as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs from 2005 to 2009.
“[Putin] seemed to go off the rails, angry and berating his intelligence chief,” recalls Schake, who previously served at the U.S. State Department, the Department of Defense and the National Security Council. “It was such a strange and such an orchestrated performance, that that’s the moment when I realized that Putin was actually going to attack Ukraine.
src: click
Oh, just for comparative purposes, lets see how france reacts to stuff similar to this:
US intel paints Putin as aggrieved, angry over Ukraine war
Washington (AFP) – US intelligence chiefs on Tuesday branded Russia’s Vladimir Putin an “angry,” isolated leader grappling for global clout, frustrated about how his Ukraine invasion has not gone to plan, and lobbing provocative nuclear threats at the West.
The long-standing president in Moscow has been “stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years,” CIA Director William Burns told US lawmakers.
He called the invasion of Ukraine a matter of “deep personal conviction” for Putin, his latest defiant clash with Europe and the United States.
“I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said at a congressional hearing on global threats.
The Russian strongman has encountered a tidal wave of opprobrium for the deadly invasion, leaving him isolated like never before.
The US intelligence community warned of the potential for Putin to lash out, especially noting an elevated nuclear threat.
Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russia under Putin has been working overtime to modernize its weaponry, particularly smaller-yield nuclear weapons.
Putin has “invested in tactical nuclear weapons,” Berrier said. “I believe that he thinks that gives him an asymmetric advantage.”
Putin took the shock step last month of putting Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.
Some US officials have privately expressed concern that, in a worst-case scenario, he might order deployment of such mini-nukes on a city.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said “Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling” has put the West on notice.
“We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference, and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose,” Haines told the panel.
“But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time,” she said.
Putin’s invasion has produced “a shock to the geopolitical order with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand, but are sure to be consequential.”
With Putin under immense pressure, the “system” the Russian president created of a circle of close advisors is getting “narrower and narrower,” the CIA’s Burns said.
In such a system, “it’s not proven career enhancing for people to question or challenge his judgment.”
france24 via AFP
Wait paints?
Oh, and can I get some mood music for that - and a reality TV production setup, with people commenting on how they felt, when they saw it?
Thanks.
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Media studies, Communication studies, Theory of Communication
Published by: Факултет по журналистика и масова комуникация, Софийски университет „Св. Кл. Охридски”
Keywords: Russian television; personalization; propaganda; political talk shows; international relations; public opinion
Summary/Abstract:This article shows how Russian media use personalization to increase pro-Russian influence on every Russian-speaking community. Based on the examples it gives an understanding, why such manner of representing the news can be dangerous as it increases nationalism and xenophobia, making the stereotypes rule over the facts. The long-term objective of [this] work is to prevent the development of such kind of personalization and to decrease the negative influence upon other countries.
src: click
Oh, shit, wrong country, wrong country…
