Media Hypocrisy, Cluster Bombs and the Arming of Ukraine

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1083616770/russia-is-using-controversial-cluster-munitions-in-ukraine-humanitarian-groups-s

The NPR story – but one of an endless stream – attacks Russia for its alleged use of cluster bombs. The weapon has long been condemned because of the high percentage of 'bomblets' that don't actually explode and left exposed on the ground, they lead to future injuries in the months and years following the conclusion of the war. People are maimed and killed long after the fighting has stopped.

It's true. It's an evil weapon and it's hardly unique in the evil inventions of the industrial age and the means by which it wages war.

The article goes on to point out that Russia was using these weapons in Syria as recently as two years ago – we presume they mean either 2019 or 2020.

It then goes on to mention that in 2008, more than 100 countries signed a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs and yet neither Russia nor Ukraine signed the agreement.

The article neglects to mention that neither did the United States. In fact the United States only signed the treaty in 2017 and was actively using them up to that time. I think most people would agree the US doesn't really have any moral standing on this point and apparently the reporters at NPR are either too lazy or too corrupt to point this out and at least have the integrity to mention that the US was also using them up until just five years ago. Presumably to this very day people are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq from contact with American bomblets – not that you're going to hear about it.

We could go on about the US employment of Depleted Uranium and the horrors it has created. We could also talk about America's use of phosphorus or the widely condemned aerial spraying of glyphosate over Colombia – a practice that only ended in 2015. A defoliant meant to combat drug production, it was really a form of biological warfare, and like Agent Orange and Depleted Uranium the resulting deformities and deaths will continue for decades after the actual practice has stopped. Nearly fifty years after the conclusion of the Vietnam War the people of Indochina are still dealing with the effects of US spraying and other malicious practices. Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere will be dealing with the effects of Depleted Uranium for decades to come.

Where's the outrage? Where's the coverage?

We can speak of Russian misdeeds in Syria – when after all they were invited there by the legitimate government. But what about the fact that the USA has carved out a large swath of territory in the oil rich northeast of the country and presently holds it with around a thousand troops who occupy multiple bases? Where's the outrage? Where's the coverage and controversy? What about the international rules based order? Who gave America the right to just carve out an enclave and hold it by force?

We understand that Assad isn't liked but the country was stable until the US started to pour fuel on what was relatively controlled protests. The US turned it into a full civil war resulting in mass death and a refugee crisis. Do the media criticize this meddling and adventurism? Not at all. They led the way and worked with Washington and various propaganda arms like the White Helmets to promote it.

There's talk of hauling the Russians before the ICC. This strikes many as hypocritical coming from US political and media mouthpieces as Washington has refused to ratify the treaty and is not a member. Russia for its part also withdrew its signature. But in the case of Russia, they're not allowed to claim that their nation is 'exceptional'. Only the US has the power to insist other nations accept its claims of being above and outside the law.

Fine, haul the Russian generals and Putin before the court but it's meaningless unless Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden are also held to account along with every living Defense Secretary and a numerous top generals in the American command structure. War crimes were committed by the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Iran – and that's just in the past twenty years. And let's remember, the US continues to support one of the worst purveyors of all – the state of Israel.

I spent the day working in someone else's house and the television ran throughout the duration. I don't have regular television and so my contacts with it are limited and always somewhat shocking. There was something particularly obscene in hearing and watching (out of the corner of my eye) the Hollywood stars celebrate their debauchery, sodomy, and whoredoms and yet at an awards ceremony they made sure to wear their Ukraine colours and they proceeded to moralize about the war, freedom, and America's duty. A preview ran for another show in which the guest Hillary Clinton argues that the state must pursue those who are giving Putin aid. The media campaign is simply relentless and for any thinking and informed person it is absolutely alienating. The propaganda machine runs all the time but it hasn't reached this pitch since 2003. It's starting to feel somewhat like the frenzy associated with 1914. People drink it in. It's very dangerous. Even my Evangelical extended family is getting worked up. People that don't know anything about the region or really much of anything about geopolitics (or even geography) are suddenly experts on it and sadly this is often combined with haphazard Dispensational commentary related to 'end times' events.

And right on time the other day I heard what I was expecting – an ad for NPR's Fresh Air. The guest – Anne Applebaum, a relentless Anti-Russia campaigner and propagandist. I knew she was going to be trotted out before long and she's but one on a growing list.

Because it suits the propaganda campaign and for other reasons, there's a great deal of attention given to the refugees and the neighbouring states (some of which have been very hostile to immigrants) are quick to welcome them. And yet the multitudes of non-Europeans fleeing NATO's wars and the military and economic machinations of America and the West – remain unwelcome.

The media continues to cover the heroic resistance of the Ukrainians. No one can doubt their commitment but it's also worth mentioning that their successes are largely due to NATO weapons systems such as the Javelin anti-tank missile. And now the US is reportedly sending Stinger missiles which were the scourge of the Soviet Air Force in 1980's Afghanistan.

Biden has enough sense to shut out the maniacal voices calling for a no-fly-zone. It would lead to open war between the US and Russia. But the state of war exists nonetheless. It's simply that the US is utilising a proxy force and arming it. I was not surprised to hear American commentators suggest the war is going to be a long one. It's clear to me that's what they're hoping for – a meat grinder. It's their plan to bring Putin down. Lindsey Graham only voiced the official (and yet unspoken) policy of regime change and preferably by assassination. They speak of wanting peace but they're doing all they can to fuel and prolong the war. American's can't pray for peace when they're feeding the war and escalating the danger.