A Ukraine Miscellany XVII: Orwell's Ghost and Western Double-Speak

The Orwellian nature and blatant contradictions of the Western narratives surrounding The Ukraine War continue to become more pronounced – sometimes to the point of being comic.

Western leaders like US president Joe Biden continue to insist this is a war about democracy and the liberal values of the West – ignoring the fact that prior to the February 2022 invasion, the Kyiv regime was notable for its corruption and Zelenskiy in particular faced censure for his anti-democratic moves and attempts to manipulate the political and judicial system. This corruption continues as the recent cabinet firings demonstrate – as well as the reports of Ukrainian arms ending up in foreign markets. The government once decried for being dirty and anti-democratic stood condemned and had virtually no hope of admittance to organisations like NATO or the EU.

But today, Ukraine is the epitome of democracy and Western values and has become a de facto member of NATO.

NATO General-Secretary Jens Stoltenberg continues to argue that more weapons for Ukraine will translate into peace, even while he and his American handlers continue to thwart any attempt at serious peace negotiations – even calling for a Nuremberg-style tribunal for Russian officials, as well as the abandonment of Crimea. These are not even remotely realistic negotiating points and they know it. More weapons will translate into but one thing – more war and more death. And yet leaders like Stoltenberg make nonsensical comments like this every day and the media just allows it to pass unquestioned. It's unbelievable. More weapons simply mean a prolonged conflict and more death.

At this point many (perhaps most) scholars, political scientists, analysts and the like argue that the war will only end with some kind of negotiated settlement. By painting Russia's invasion as pure aggression Western leaders and commentators are also able to side-step Moscow's grievances about NATO expansion – once dismissed as ridiculous conspiracy theories. And yet over the past year, every one of Russia's fears and grievances has proven true.

Boris Johnson during his tenure as British PM, did all he could to intervene and dissuade Zelenskiy from negotiating any kind of peace, and the former PM even appeared at the January 2023 WEF meetings at Davos insisting that NATO members 'give them the tanks' – a call for German-made Leopard and American Abrams tanks to be sent to Ukraine. He dismisses any notion that Putin would resort to nuclear weapons. The would-be Winston Churchill has apparently failed to note his famous predecessor's long list of miscalculations and failures – many of which resulted in massive loss of life. But like his esteemed forebear, it seems clear enough that Johnson simply doesn't care. His statements regarding piles of bodies in reference to Covid speak volumes about what sort of person he is.

The now decade long disinformation campaign has grown so intense, that it's no wonder that many of us didn't believe that Russia was poised to invade. The record of lies was well established and yet as we enter 2023 – it's like we're entering the Twilight Zone. One cannot honestly believe anything they hear.

Every story must be spun and anyone who questions the official line is denounced and blacklisted. The people of Ukraine are cannon fodder and their blood is a stage prop for the media campaign. More weapons will only generate more blood. When dozens recently died in an apartment building, this received heavy play in Western media and once again there was a call for ICC involvement for the deliberate targeting of civilians. When a Kyiv official suggested the missile that hit the apartment building was actually one shot down by Ukrainian anti-missile defense and therefore the missile's hit on the apartments was accidental as opposed to a deliberate Russian targeting of civilians – he was fired. This is instructive to say the least and is indicative of the level of manipulation and distortion of the truth. The narrative trumps all.

And yet they can't even keep their own stories straight. We saw this in the lead up to the war and now that actual combat rages, the spin, pivot, and sometimes retraction is even worse than what we witnessed before.

Just months ago those of us who said the US was engaged in a proxy war with Russia were dismissed as cranks and crackpots, purveyors of conspiracy and yet now in addition to the public statements made by US cabinet members about a desire to 'weaken Russia', we have US senators calling for Putin's assassination, a congressman admitting on the BBC that the US is in a proxy war, the German foreign minister stating plainly that NATO is at war with Russia, as well as other American and European politicians openly calling for a dismantling of the Russian Federation – in other words all the things the Putin regime has been claiming and protesting for years, and a driving force behind Moscow's continued resistance to NATO expansion and its invasion strategy regarding Ukraine.

Just months ago, those who questioned Western media's claims that Russia was responsible for the September 2022 sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines were ridiculed as kooks and conspiracy theorists. And yet now both the New York Times and Washington Post openly admit there's no evidence of Russian sabotage. And so once again we must ask, who did it? Poland and Ukraine are possible choices. Moscow has suggested the UK had a hand in it. And yet any of these actors wouldn't have dared to make such a move without the assent and most likely the participation of the United States.

And what will change tomorrow? It's anyone's guess. Stay tuned for more lies, contradictions, and shifting narratives. Orwell is apparently more relevant than most people realize.