For weeks since the invasion of Ukraine, the Western news media have painted Ukrainian as the winner, while the Russian as the loser. Ukrainian forces were seen as not only fiercely brave, but also invincible and undefeatable. The Russian forces, on the other hand, were being condemned as a coward, inefficient, corrupt, brutal and whatnot. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is also a propaganda war.

 

America is a champion in the waging propaganda war. And you can smell double standard miles away when Russian and pro-Russian news media such as Sputnik and RT – and even YouTube channels – were systematically blocked. The muffling of the megaphone of the Russian state media is against the freedom of speech, which the West claims to defend as part of democracy.

 

It’s puzzling why the West’s powerful news media cannot counter Russia’s so-called fake news or disinformation on the same playing field. While news from pro-Russian media is being labelled as propaganda, news produced by the West is considered as facts, even though the reverse could be true. Take for example Biden’s claims the chemical weapons that Russia was about to unleash.

President Joe Biden told, and Americans foolishly swallowed the hook, line and sinker, how tax dollars to the tune of US$14 billion needed to be sent to the Ukrainian government in order to fight Dictator Vladimir Putin. Later, NBC News revealed that Biden administration itself admitted that there is “no evidence Russia has brought any chemical weapons new Ukraine”.

 

Biden administration used disinformation to manipulate American public opinion, but when NBC found out, instead of condemning the fake news, has instead justified that the lies the U.S. had told is “bold and a successful strategy”. Journalists in the U.S. can actually ignore their job to tell the truth when the war is between the good guys – U.S. and its allies – against the bad guys – Russia.

 

Another favourite narrative that the U.S. media has been playing since the war started was how Putin has miscalculated the West’s solidarity with Ukraine, misinterpreted Ukraine’s resilience and overestimated the Russian army’s strength. Yet, till today, Ukrainian President Zelensky is still begging for weapons while Putin, who allegedly had gone mad, mentally ill and dying of cancer, has seen his popularity rating skyrockets.

Do you really think Putin gives a hoot about the Western news media? On March 25, Moscow announced that the first stage of its “special military operation” had been completed and said it will focus its invasion of Ukraine on “liberating” the east. The Kremlin also said the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces have been substantially reduced.

 

However, the American news media and analysts quickly trumpeted that Russia moves its war goalposts as part of Putin’s face-saving victory because the Russian army has suffered humiliating setbacks. But what if it was part of Putin’s plan all along to weaken the Ukrainian forces in the north and west before moving to the south and east in order to split Ukraine into East Ukraine and West Ukraine?

 

Some gullible analysts who said Russia has failed spectacularly because of failure to conquer Ukraine in a matter of days have no idea how huge Ukraine is. It is three times the size of the United Kingdom. It would be both mad and stupid for Putin to think he could occupy the whole of Ukraine (or three United Kingdoms) with a force of just around 150,000.

The shifting of Russian troops from west to east under the pretext of liberating the eastern Ukraine could be yet another tactic which Russian had used – twice – when it invaded and flattened Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, in 1994 (First Chechnya War) and 2000 (Second Chechnya War). The Chechens paid dearly for declaring independence and underestimating the Kremlin.

 

Like the Ukraine War, the Chechnya War also began with a shocking display of Russian incompetence. The Russian troops were met with highly motivated Chechen fighters, armed with anti-tank rockets that ambushed and killed hundreds of Russian soldiers. The Chechens celebrated their victory, the same way Ukrainians and American and British tabloids are doing now.

 

The Russian army then regrouped and moved to flank Grozny from three sides, unleashing a terrifying onslaught of air and artillery strikes on the city. They dropped lethal cluster bombs and bunker-busting bombs, which flattened through eight-story buildings right into basements. The city was reduced to a wasteland of destroyed buildings. Grozy was wiped out and Chechen fighters were exterminated.

 

Even though Russian forces appeared to have withdrawn from Kyiv to regroup, others have quietly spread out and begun flanking the capital of Ukraine. Why do you think a 40-mile-long (64 km) Russian military convoy, comprised tanks, artillery and armoured vehicles – which the Western media ridiculed as running out of fuel and food –  was stalling for weeks near Kyiv?

 

Putin’s real target is Ukraine’s east from the beginning, and never about conquering the entire Ukraine. The second phase of reorienting its forces to the east is probably to secure its gas reserves. As of late 2019, known Ukrainian reserves amounted to 1.09 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, second only to Norway’s known resources of 1.53 trillion cubic meters.

 

The enormous reserves of energy, which remain largely untapped, are like a goldmine to Moscow. Strauss Centre estimates suggest Ukraine holds as much as 42 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable reserves in its shale deposits, and international oil companies like Shell have agreed to explore and develop those resources. This is the reason why Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.

The annexation of Crimea saw how Ukraine has lost 80% of oil and gas deposits in the Black Sea to Russia. One of the reasons Ukraine was struggling to attract foreign investment to extract its energy resources was due to corruption, red tape and dominance by state monopolies. Of course, the Western media will not highlight the corruption that plagued Zelensky government.

 

So, while Crimea has huge offshore energy fields, the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk possess an enormous shale-gas field. It was by design, not coincidence, that before the invasion of Ukraine, Putin declared his recognition of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and neighbouring Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) – an area collectively known as the Donbas.

 

The seizure of Crimea also allowed Russia to gain full control of Ukraine’s territorial waters in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Connecting the dots – strategic port of Sevastopol, seizure of Ukraine’s offshore oil and gas assets, recognition of the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, control of most or all of Ukraine’s coastline – and Putin’s plan becomes crystal clear.

Canadian energy expert David Knight Legg said – “Under the guise of an invasion, Putin is executing an enormous heist“. If Biden still doesn’t know Putin’s real intention of launching the “special military operation”, then he is stupider than he looks. The U.S. intelligence should have briefed President Biden, and all the previous presidents, including Barack Obama.

 

Washington probably has been playing along since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 as there’s nothing they could do – unless they are ready to start World War 3. But the U.S. is also a big winner by provoking Putin to invade Ukraine from the beginning. As NATO sends old weapons to Ukraine, it will also be forced to increase their defence spending, benefiting American companies.

 

Additionally, the European Union – spooked and terrified – is under pressure to buy oil and gas from the United States. Even if Ukraine will eventually be divided the same way Germany was once separated by the Berlin Wall, it provides a win-win solution to both the U.S. and Russia. East Ukraine will provide Moscow a buffer zone, the same way North Korea acts as a buffer state to China.

The biggest sucker is still the Europe, which has to pick up the tab for resettling Ukraine’s refugees. The West Ukraine, which will have its competing gas transportation route to Europe terminated, will be quite useless to Russia thereafter. In fact, West Ukraine may need to buy oil and gas from East Ukraine. And it will be the Western powers who need to aid impoverished West Ukraine.

 

Likewise, Zelensky, who had initially criticized the West, telling them not to create panic unnecessarily, was clueless about the chess game of Putin (or the U.S. for that matter). Zelensky was also encouraged and led to believe that the U.S. and NATO would help to fight the Russian. That also did not materialize. Now, he concedes that his country will not join NATO and agreed to engage in peace negotiations with Putin.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• U.S. Sanctions Fail – How Russian Currency Emerges Stronger Than Pre-War With A New Gold Standard
• Pay Gas In Ruble Or Else – Europe In Serious Trouble As Putin Retaliates Against Western Sanctions
• Is U.S. Really That Powerful? – Zelensky Frustration Grows Over Biden Foot-Dragging In Helping Ukraine
• Bypassing US Dollar – India And Saudi Arabia To Turn To Chinese Yuan In Trades With Russia & China
• Russian Sanctions Could Backfire On The US Dollar – Why It’s Worthwhile To Diversify To Chinese Renminbi
• Global Recession And $300 Oil – Russia Threatens To Weaponize Oil, Biden Scrambles For Help From Other Dictators
• From Wheat To Oil & Gas – How Russia Invasion Of Ukraine Affects Europe’s Food Supply, And Even Your Loaf Of Bread
• U.S. Unlikely To Start A War With Russia Or China – But The Bluffing Game Has Driven Them To Unite Against The U.S.
• China Creates Digital Currency – Here’s Why It’s A Big Deal To The World’s Economy, And A Big Problem For The U.S.
• Economic Destabilization – How China Prepares For American & Japanese Military Interference In Taiwan Conflict
• North Korea’s 10 Clever Tactics To Evade Economic Sanctions

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April 11th, 2022 by financetwitter

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