The western propaganda machine is spinning furiously and succeeds in exposing its descent into absurdity. I encourage you to read Andrei Martyanov’s latest, It Is Not Accidental, and Moon of Alabama’s healthy rant, Quality Of Ukraine Reporting Continues To Deteriorate. Both gentlemen perform a public service in skewering the pathetic display of journalism, especially the woeful product of the Washington Post.
The Washington Post article written by Greg Miller and Catherine Belton–Russia’s Spies Misread Ukraine and Misled Kremlin as War Loomed–is truly appalling. For example, it is rife with contradictions. Consider their first claim:
In the final days before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s security service began sending cryptic instructions to informants in Kyiv. Pack up and get out of the capital, the Kremlin collaborators were told, but leave behind the keys to your homes.
The directions came from senior officers in a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) with a prosaic name — the Department of Operational Information — but an ominous assignment: ensure the decapitation of the Ukrainian government and oversee the installation of a pro-Russian regime.
How does one “decapitate” the Ukrainian government if you order all of your key informants to get the hell out of Dodge City? We are not talking about low-level sources who are reporting on Zelensky’s preferred brand of toilet paper or best source for Colombian cocaine. These sources are high level with access to the Presidency and the Ministry of Defense. If Russia was serious about “decapitating” the Ukrainian leadership and taking over, then Russia’s security service should have been giving orders to seize communication centers and key power stations, to apprehend or kill the major political and military leaders. That is how an intelligence led beheading is supposed to occur. Yet, Ukrainian sources are telling the gullible Washington Post reporters that the FSB was telling its sources to beat feet from Kiev. Yeah, that makes sense.
Next up, this banality:
the FSB has spent decades spying on Ukraine. . . No aspect of the FSB’s intelligence mission outside Russia was more important than burrowing into all levels of Ukrainian society.
What next? Dog licks own testicles? Sun rises in the East? It is dark at night when there is no moon? C’mon man. Any intelligence agency worth its salt recruits human sources that are in very sensitive positions. What Miller and Belton fail to consider (or report) is that the FSB was using its sources to track what Ukraine was doing in response to the Russian invasion and identify key targets. For instance, the attack on Yavoriv–a defacto NATO base in western Ukraine–on March 13 killed a number of foreign mercenaries and disrupted U.S. and European efforts to send Ukraine military supplies.
This claim by Miller and Belton is jaw-dropping:
The humiliations of Russia’s military have largely overshadowed the failures of the FSB and other intelligence agencies.
Humiliations? What? You mean that taking Mariupol and capturing 2500 members of the Nazi fanatics knows as the AZOV battalion was really a humiliation? Are the Russians humiliated by their successful support of the Luhansk and Donetsk militias to push Ukrainian forces from the Donbas while killing an estimated 200,000 Ukrainian troops in less than six months? Sounds shameful to me. Perhaps Russia is humiliated by its failure to run out of precision guided missiles despite repeated predictions from western intelligence services that Russia was on the ropes. Could it be that Miller and Belton do not know the meaning of the word, “humiliation?” This calls for the Princess Bride:
Another “gem” from Miller and Belton is that the Russians are wildly unpopular in Ukraine:
Even so, officials said, the FSB continued to feed the Kremlin rosy assessments that Ukraine’s masses would welcome the arrival of Russia’s military and the restoration of Moscow-friendly rule.
I guess the intrepid Washington Post reporters are locked up with the January 6th defendants and do not have access to the media reports that show, in fact, the Russians are being welcomed enthusiastically in the cities they have liberated and are preparing to hold new elections. Note that there are no contradictory reports of a massive uprising of Ukrainians in the combat zones killing Russians. Notice that Miller and Belton steer clear of the Amnesty International report excoriating Ukraine for using Ukrainians has human hostages. Might explain why Ukrainians are seeking shelter in those communities still under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk Republic.
Then you get this stunner:
Six months into the war, neither side appears to have a clear upper hand.
Ukraine’s security agencies have scored notable victories.
Say what? The Donetsk and Luhansk Republics, with Russian support, are moving inexorably forward. Russia controls the air and has not been push out of a single major defensive position. All of this while stacking Ukrainian casualties like piles of firewood that Europe will need, come winter, to heat their bath houses. It appears the only “notable victory” of Ukrainian security services is successfully bullshitting credulous folks in the United States and Europe. That success apparently gets them more weapons that they can in turn sell on the black market and build up their illicit retirement funds. Just a guess.
If you have a strong stomach and manage to read the rest of this rancid piece you will glean the real news–Ukrainian intelligence screwed the pooch:
The scenes fed doubts among security advisers to Zelensky, some of whom were understandably disinclined to believe that their country’s days might be numbered. Even now, months later, many continue to express disbelief that Russia pressed ahead so poorly prepared.
Yep. Zelensky sent his crack intelligence operatives into Russia and they reported back, “nothing to see here.” Miller and Belton actually report that Ukraine was caught off guard. So there you have it. Another tube of gargantuan lipstick being frantically applied to the Ukrainian pig masquerading as a 21st Century Napoleon. I thank the Post for at least being a dependable source of entertainment.
Clowns always come in twos. Just like cult figure and “worlds only WW1 flame thrower expert” Thomas Wictor and his clown in crime Saul Bradly.
I am not familiar with your reference. Please elaborate.
https://odysee.com/@QuodVerumTV:3/BB_128_13AUG22_Golden:e
Skip to the 2:24 mark. It’s hilarious
Mr Wictor was kind of a cult figure on Twitter and YouTube. He claims to be “The Worlds Leading Expert on WW 1 flame throwers “ and he would do videos on military secret weapons. The other guy is Saul Montes Bradley. I don’t know much about him but he claims to be good friends of Gen. Flynn.
They have a channel on YouTube and Odyssey called Beard Blather
https://odysee.com/@QuodVerumTV:3/BB_128_13AUG22_Golden:e
Skip to the 2:24:00 mark it’s sad
Good Lord! I’ve seen videos on paint drying that are more informative.
I could use some of that bullshit over here in Austria. Heating this winter and for my garden this spring. They’re spewing enough for both.
BF and I used to watch Beard Blather and were on SQV. Pathetic little cult — Thomas did some good work on music, pop culture and history back in the day. Now he is basically Beavis to Saul’s Butthead without the humor.
*buys popcorn
I always felt that Wictor had great potential, but was being used, and essentially intellectually castrated, by bloviating buffoon Saul Bradley, to get his personal website off the ground. They had quite a spat back in the day of the coof’s mandated ‘treatment’, which Bradley, and the entirety of his mindless followers, unlike Wictor, bought into with great enthusiasm.
I’ve always liked Wictor, though have not seen much of his stuff since getting banned at SQV.
A word of caution
Although it’s a widely known idiom – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_on_a_pig – by applying it to the Selensky, it might actually be construed as antisemitism…. no joke.
sic transit gloria mundi
Thank you for your work
THE LIES OF AUGUST, NOT THE IDES OF MARCH
IS THE UNITED STATES FACILITATING ITS OWN DEATH?
Why complain ?
I just watched Gonzalo Lira Roundtable #14 with Clayton Morris and Lindsey Snell. If Gonzalo let them talk more, it might be even better. Anyway, Lindsey Snell talks about Ukrainian soldiers and mercenaries there and she says that soldiers hate Zelenskiy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPWLtWHXIiU
The War Party for the last 30+ years has promoted the most preposterous lies. They knowingly lie about the most easily exposed subjects. It’s my guess that the leadership class knows it’s all lies. Journalists from regimist media only job is to communicate the latest party line to low level cadre. Regimist media’s only purpose these days is signaling what’s allowed and what’s taboo.
Honestly, expecting even a modicum of real analysis or truth seeking from regimist media is being naive. Fortunately independent media fills the gap.
BTW – I love the Princess Bride. You can find many more examples from this film that are pertinent or your argument.
If one really wants to understand the collective West, one must understand its ideological-philosophical history and its implementation in state actions since the times of the Greek city-states and try to explain it plausibly. Everything else is only temporary piecemeal.
You Sir have slabbered a bibfull as we say here so no need for me to elaborate.
The level of the vitriol is important: “Putin, the baby killer”, as well as all of what Mr Johnson has pointed out. TPTB have painted themselves into a corner. How will they explain the complete collapse of the Ukrain-o-nazis at the end of August or end of September? (Putin and the Russians are being very pragmatic and not hurrying to meet anyone’s timetable – results, not headlines is their De facto motto). I fear that a nuclear incident, false flag is imminent. As for the propaganda, when, in which war, was it ever accurate. Now, my favorite philosopher, Korzybski
If a psychiatric and scientific enquiry were to be made upon our rulers, mankind would be appalled at the disclosures.
When we say ‘our rulers’, we mean those who are engaged in the manipulation of symbols. We must consider ourselves a symbolic, semantic class of life, and cannot cease from being so… those who control the symbols rule us…
Our rulers: politicians, ‘diplomats’, bankers, priests of every description, economists, lawyers, [media,] etc. and the majority of teachers [of our rulers] and work together. They do not produce any values but manipulate the values produced by others, and often pass signs for no value at all. … are ignorant of modern science, scientific methods, structural linguistic and semantic issues of [today] and … historical and anthropological background, without which a sane orientation is impossible. … as long as such ignorance of our rulers prevails, no solution of our human problems is possible. Scientists and teachers also comprise a ruling class. They produce the main values mankind has, but, at present, they do not realize this. They are, in the main, ruled by the cunning methods of the first class.
We read unconsciously into the world the structure of the language we use. The guessing and ascribing of fanciful, mostly primitive-assumed structure of the world is precisely what ‘philosophy’ and ‘metaphysics’ do. The empirical search for a world-structure and the building of new languages (theories) … of similar structure … is precisely what science does.… It develops in the natural order, while metaphysics of every description uses the reversed, and ultimately a pathological order.
Since Einstein and the newer quantum mechanics, it has become increasingly evident that the only content of ‘knowing’ is of a structural character.
The only link between the verbal and objective world is exclusively structural, necessitating the conclusion that the only content of all ‘knowledge’ is structural. Now structure can be considered as a complex of relations, and ultimately as multi-dimensional order. From this point of view, all language can be considered as names for unspeakable entities on the objective level, be it things or feelings, or as names of relations. In fact, even objects could be considered as relations between the sub-microscopic events and the human nervous system. If we enquire as to what the last relations represent, we find that an object represents an abstraction of a low order produced by our nervous system as the result of a sub-microscopic events acting as stimuli upon the nervous system.
If we consider that all we deal with represents constantly changing sub-microscopic, interrelated processes which are not, and cannot be ‘identical with themselves’, the old dictum that ‘everything is identical with itself’ becomes in [today’s understanding of the universe] a principle invariably false to facts.… and [we] must abandon permanently the “is” of identity.
‘Psychology’ and ‘logic’ have a very definite content – [humans], — and we should treat these disciplines in relation to the living organism.
Any organism must be treated as-a-whole; in other words, that an organism is not an algebraic sum, a linear function of its elements, but always more than that. It is seemingly little realized, at present, that this simple and innocent-looking statement involves a full structural revision of our language…
Let us repeat the two crucial negative premises as established firmly by all human experience: (1) Words are not the things we are speaking about; and (2) There is no such thing as an object in absolute isolation.
The main difficulty is found in the old Aristotelian habits of speech, which do not allow the use of structure…
… and [we] must abandon permanently the “is” of identity.
We should not be surprised that we find meaningless noises in the foundation of many old ‘philosophies’, and that from them arise most of the old ‘philosophical’ fights and arguments.
The main thesis of this non-Aristotelian system is that as yet we all (with extremely few exceptions) copy animals in our nervous processes, and that practically all human difficulties, mental ills … have this … component.
If, in spite of all contrary evidence, or the lack of positive evidence, [a person] holds persistently … such affective beliefs is seriously ill, and, therefore, no amount of evidence can convince him.
There seems only one thing certain, at present; namely, that the old theories and methods tended strongly to produce morons and ‘insane’ persons, while ‘geniuses’ were born only in spite of those handicaps. Perhaps in the future we shall be able to produce ‘geniuses’ while morons and ‘insane’ persons will be born only in spite of our precautions.
It is now no mystery that some quite influential ‘philosophers’ were ‘mentally’ ill.
…a few philosophers really do important work. This applies to the so called ‘critical philosophy’ and to the theory of knowledge or epistemology. This class of workers I call epistemologists to avoid the disagreeable implications of the term ‘philosopher’.
…provided we could define all terms. But this is impossible… We thus see that all linguistic schemes, if analyzed far enough, would depend on undefined terms.
“Any organism must be treated as-a-whole; in other words, that an organism is not an algebraic sum, a linear function of its elements, but always more than that. It is seemingly little realized, at present, that this simple and innocent-looking statement involves a full structural revision of our language…”
Perhaps your seemingly little realised is a function of lateral processes of varying purposes, trajectories and velocities?
“If we consider that all we deal with represents constantly changing sub-microscopic, interrelated processes which are not, and cannot be ‘identical with themselves’, the old dictum that ‘everything is identical with itself’ becomes in [today’s understanding of the universe] a principle invariably false to facts.… and [we] must abandon permanently the “is” of identity.”
Perhaps a more contextually relevant and precise presentation would read :
Lateral change is a constant not universally perceived, facilitated by aversion to doubt assuaged by reliance on precedent, whose lateral variables include but are not limited to, trajectory and velocity – which even applies to algebra and revisions perceived as linear whilst being lateral; attempts at denial facilitating opportunities to transcend the deniers ?
“It is now no mystery that some quite influential ‘philosophers’ were ‘mentally’ ill.”
The concept of “madness/mental illness” seeks to rely on precedents of obfuscation of not-like-usness and denial of “Lateral change is a constant” in the hope of extending the half-lives of aversion to doubt assuaged by reliance on precedent – sometimes known as the Rubbing Sticks school of thermo-dynamics.
Hence NotRubbingSticks says
21 August 2022 at 03:51 above.
“THE LIES OF AUGUST, NOT THE IDES OF MARCH
IS THE UNITED STATES FACILITATING ITS OWN DEATH?
Why complain ?”
Nice, well said, Jimmy Walter.
Yes, to what you say. Behind that is the nihilistic, materialistic, social science notion that we are all nothing more than programmable meat robots. So no surprise that a bunch of egotistical psychopaths would seize the opportunity to manipulate symbols/our programming in the furtherance of their own profit seeking and self-glorification. None of them level on the line. They justify what they do by saying amongst themselves that if you’re stupid enough to be programmed, then you had it coming. And it doesn’t matter anyhow.
Thanks Larry for your excellent articles.
Bernard from southern France
Now THIS is a beautiful sentence:
“All of this while stacking Ukrainian casualties like piles of firewood that Europe will need, come winter, to heat their bath houses.”
Snarky and succinct. Really nice.
If body counts won wars Russia woulda lost WW2.
Exactly you’re a mind reader I am sure that thats what Larry meant to write.
My theory is that the WP authors are ghosting for an AI written article. Just enter the themes and the software assembles the article from already written text.
Seriously, though, AI written articles are getting hard to detect – hacks like these will be unemployed (and hopefully homeless) soon.
Here is the article mirrored to get around the paywall.
https://iowa.forums.rivals.com/threads/russia%E2%80%99s-spies-misread-ukraine-and-misled-kremlin-as-war-loomed.397346/
Larry Johnson — I am always amazed by how WELL you write!
The MSM and MICC has lot’s of experience putting lipstick on corrupt, cream puff pigs, that they use as proxies. Ukraine, Afghanistan, ISIS and South Viet Nam are all examples of military incompetence by the US armed forces.
A good comment. They let loose a fire hose of money which allows the local con men to get rich. An article in the Atlantic (sometimes by mistake they get things accurate) describes how local commanders in Afghanistan were pushed to spend the millions. A typical project was a 2 room school house of cinder blocks a local contractor delivered for $5 million. Problem was there were no teachers so it sat empty.
I am concerned that is going on in Ukraine — $10 billion a month to pay pensions with zero effective over sight. I am sure the cafe life in Kiev and Lviv is booming. Apparatchiks zooming around in late model cars their wives dressed in Paris fashions.
Question for Larry!
What will happen if Russia says return or money or else in 3 days? Bismarck said Russians always get their money! Thanks so much for all your posts!
I’m not there so I don’t know who to believe. I do know math. Putin’s lack of mobilization is causing more death than need be. It’s simple math – 1 on 1 you lose more than 10 on 1 in a fight. Also, NATO would not have armed and continue to escalate arms if he came in with overwhelming force as all in West would have been recognized as lost very quickly. Anyone that thinks Russia is doing well who still have not even captured Donbass in 6 months in their back yard is drinking coolaid too. Arms continue to flow in and kill Russians and looks like a stalemate to me outside looking in. Maybe 200,000 Ukrainans died? So What? We killed 3 million Vietnamese and lost interest and lost. So long as Ukraine does not give up they have not lost.
It’s working for Russia. Russia has committed a fraction of its total forces, is killing 500 or more Ukrainian troops per day (even Ukraine admits to numbers around that level) and it is, therefore, accomplishing its [Russia’s] stated mission of demilitarizing Ukraine with, at this point, minimal risk and loss to itself. Why would Russia change its strategy? if Ukies want to keep dying in increasingly large numbers the Donbas, then that works out perfectly for Russia. If the US wants to bleed itself of money and ordnance in support of the Ukies, then better yet. If Germany wants to freeze to death this winter, well that’s a hard lesson they have to learn. Maybe Russia hits the trifecta and Ukies tired of being sent to the slaughter decide to kill Zelensky and set up a new government with positive ties to Russia. Why rush things? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
One point that’s of some significance, Steve, you are missing it.
When the Americans fought in Vietnam, in Iraq (both the 1st and 2nd), in Syria … in fact everywhere, they were facing 100% of an enemy, a homogenous bunch of people all against them, some of the enemy were armed, the majority of the population wasn’t, but it wasn’t keen on the American invading their country either, the unarmed people sided with the armed part of the population, often helped them, they had no choice, they live there, the Americans were bound to pi$$ off.
For Russia the fight is totally different, they’re facing an armed bunch, more often that not hidden amongst the population that’s predominantly Russian, the further you go east from the Dniepr river the greater the density of true Russians, people who identify as Russians, speak only Russian, have affinity not with the West of Ukraine but with Russia. You don’t want to slaughter them, not even be seen killing them, which is tricky as even the Amnesty Report acknowledges that the Ukrainian Armed forces and the Azov plus volunteers hide in the buildings of the ordinary people in every city, town or a village. This is the major factor in the painfully slow progress, but progress it has been.
If you speak Russian go to u-tube, look for Anatoli Sharij, he’s done few videos on the subject, watch him, he’s an Ukrainian blogger, a leader of a political party, a journalist, top of the tree on things Ukrainian.
And another point that you seem to be totally unaware of, it’s not mighty Russia against a poor Ukraine, it’s Russia against NATO with Ukraine furnishing only the majority of the bodies, not all of them, needed for the fight, many of the sophisticated gear (drones, HIMARS) are manned by retired NATO combatants, one can direct a drone over the Ukrainian battlefield sitting in Florida, as you well know.
” I do know math. ”
But don’t “know” evaluation horizon or purpose, and hence don’t know the maths.
They let loose a fire hose of money too. The commanders in Afghanistan were constantly pushed to spend the millions available. A typical project was a 2 room school house of cinder blocks a local contractor delivered for $5 million. Problem was there were no teachers so it sat empty.
I am concerned that is going on in Ukraine — $10 billion a month to pay pensions with zero effective over sight. I am sure the cafe life in Kiev and Lviv is booming. Apparatchiks zooming around in late model cars their wives dressed in Paris fashions.
Excellent. It rivals the NYT “What Russians See in the News: A War Over Western Plans to Subjugate Them” where authors feel sorry for gullible Russian being fed propaganda such as “the EU faces shortages of gas this winter”, that 50 prisoners in a Russian internment camp were killed by American HIMARS, how sanctions hurt Westerners far more than the Russians [ whose energy bills went 300%?], that Ukraine is probably behind car bomb of in Moscow [ or other assassinations and attempt]. The list is long. In sum, smart Russian should be able to discern that Russians shell their OWN prison, town under their control, and of course a nuclear power plant under their control. [ I love that the solution is NOT to stop shelling, but for Russia to leave the plant]. GREAT BLOG.