Rensselearville
U.S. Out Now! Remains Our Anti-Imperialist Antiwar Credo
And what about Ukraine Today? And what of the role of the US? Have we entered a new era wherein the US imperialist behemoth has instantly transformed itself, repudiating its bloody past to stand before us as the champion of truth, justice and freedom? The corporate media and the bi-partisan war parties would have us believe it. Their full throttle war propaganda ranges from blatant falsification of history, to daily Orwellian-like media fabrications to jailing truthtellers like WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange to banning Russian Television (RT), including its renowned broadcaster Chris Hedges.
Here’s what Western leaders need to remember about Zelensky’s emotional appeals – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Throughout, the West has responded with an emotional display of moral outrage. From the West’s point of view, this emotional display signals its virtue to other countries. And this virtue, in turn, enhances its reputation. At the same time, the West also wrote policies—policies that incurred costs—sanctioning Russia.
Every time Zelensky repeats his call for a no-fly zone, the West must repeat its refusal to help those under siege from the sky. With each refusal to help, the indignation cycle repeats. The West experiences more guilt and is spurred to atone for its refusal to support a no-fly zone. In this feedback loop, the West imposes more sanctions or, for example, sends more Javelin missiles.
Zelensky also deploys powerful images, including one that summons an image of what his wartime death might look like: a Jewish president abandoned by the West and Germany in particular. In the process, he does not suggest that Western values are inherently bad. Rather, he calls out the West for its failure to act—and suggests that it can do better.
Violent conflicts like the current war in Ukraine are deeply imbued with emotion. Still, NATO and Western leaders must not be held hostage by emotions while making policy decisions. Policy is not a means for relieving guilt or signaling virtue. Rather, NATO and Western policies should be driven by a pursuit of the West’s and Ukraine’s best interests. The best outcome of this war for both Ukrainians and the West might hail from a negotiated solution in which clear heads, rather than emotions, prevail.
Why I’m not particularly sympathic to the Ukraine cause 🇺🇦
Why I’m not particularly sympathic to the Ukraine cause 🇺🇦
War is a terrible thing. The United States shouldn’t be subsiding it through handing over weapons to warring powers, taking sides or sympathies in fights where the United States has no dog in the fight. There really is no moral difference between giving bombs to Russia or Ukraine – they’re just being used to kill people.
War hurts all involved. It’s not just the Ukrainian people who are suffering, so are many ordinary Russians including those trying to flee their country to avoid political prosecution and those are struggling to make ends meet. Not the oligarchs but the ordinary people. War hurts all, especially the common man.
To say nothing of the Americans who are paying for the war with inflation, high gas prices and energy bills, fear of the United States being attacked either in Cyberspace or the real world with nuclear weapons or other methods. Just imagine if potent high levels of dioxins or radioactive materials were spread into public places.
Americans should focus on their homeland first. What’s happening in Ukraine is awful but a lot of ordinary Americans are suffering. Rather than send aid to Ukraine, why aren’t we helping children in Appalachia or the ghetto get healthy meals, decent housing and health care and a good education? Maybe helping our neighbors is boring compared to vivid color images of those suffering from war, but we should care about our neighbors just like people in Ukraine and Russia do themselves during their time of suffering.
Snowmobile Trail
I’m just so disappointed that the Washington politicians care more about Ukraine than our own country ⛽
I’m just so disappointed that the Washington politicians care more about Ukraine than our own country ⛽
It sucks to the Ukraine families but it’s their problem not ours. The US government shouldn’t be putting the interest of Ukraine over America’s interest. Affordable energy and global stability should be the president’s priority not meddling in a foreign conflict. We need Russian oil and natural gas on the market, and keeping it flowing should be the president’s priority.
Sanctioning Russia is a boneheaded move that only hurts American families.
How international law applies to attacks on nuclear and associated facilities in Ukraine – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began to unfold, Russia’s swift occupation of the Chernobyl reactor complex and the surrounding exclusion zone sparked widespread speculation and concern.[1] The concern was not limited to whether the occupation would cause further radioactive release from Chernobyl;[2] it also included possible Russian military action against other Ukrainian nuclear facilities. These fears were further accelerated when Russian forces shelled and apparently occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power complex near Enerhodar, Ukraine.[3] There have also been reports of attacks on a former Radon disposal site near Kyiv.[4]