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American journalists have a long, ignoble history of being willing conduits for pro-war propaganda. Usually, that behavior is in service to a military crusade that Washington has launched or wants to initiate. At times, though, such a betrayal of journalistic integrity occurs on behalf of a foreign country that both U.S. political leaders and news media elites have adopted as a favorite cause. We are currently witnessing the latter phenomenon with respect to news coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The dominant media narrative is that the US government (and all Americans) must "stand with Ukraine" in the latter's resistance to Russian aggression. The identification with Ukraine's cause is now nearly total, and it is infused with arrogant righteousness. Noticeably missing is any sense, once so powerful in US foreign policy and general discourse, that America's interests often are – and should be – distinct from the interests and objectives of any foreign country.
The emotionalism and shallowness is most evident with the television coverage of the conflict. American viewers are inundated with images of exploding shells from the invading Russian forces, sights of desperate, tearful refugees (mostly women and children) fleeing the invaders, and shots of other determined Ukrainian civilians arming themselves to defend their country.
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CIA paramilitaries had been training Ukrainian forces on the frontlines of the Donbas war against Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and were only pulled out by the Biden administration last month, Yahoo News reported on Wednesday, citing former US officials.
The CIA first sent a small number of paramilitaries to eastern Ukraine when the war started in 2014, which was sparked by a US-backed coup in Kyiv and the Donbas separatists declaring independence from the post-coup government.
As part of the training, CIA paramilitaries taught Ukrainian forces sniper techniques, how to operate US-provided Javelin anti-tank missiles, and how to avoid being tracked on the battlefield by using covert communications and other means. The former officials said at first the CIA was surprised at the capability of Russia and the separatists compared with US adversaries in the Middle East.
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We did get that right. At an intense seven-hour session in Rome, Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told the Chinese in no uncertain terms they are next in line for the sanctions hit parade:
Jake Sullivan told CNN the US had been “communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to back-fill them” amid the Ukraine war.
For want of doubt, the rest of the US government has not been loath to reinforce Sullivan's edict:
Officials of the United States and other countries have sought to emphasize in recent weeks that siding with Russia could carry consequences for trade flows, development of new technologies and expose China to secondary sanctions.
Chinese companies defying U.S. restrictions on exports to Russia may be cut off from American equipment and software they need to make their products, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last week.
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On Thursday, Lithuania's parliament unanimously passed a resolution urging for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, joining its fellow Baltic state Estonia in calling for the action, which would require shooting down Russian planes and bombing anti-aircraft missiles inside Russia.
The Lithuanian resolution "urges the United Nations to take immediate action to secure a no-fly zone over Ukraine to stop mass civilian deaths."
The resolution makes Lithuania the third NATO member to have a body or official endorse the idea of a no-fly zone. Estonia's parliament passed a similar resolution earlier this week, and, according to The Associated Press, Slovenia's prime minister has also publicly called for a no-fly zone.
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On Monday, the State Department signaled that the US is discouraging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from making concessions to Russia in negotiations that are aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Zelensky has "made it very clear that he is open to a diplomatic solution that does not compromise the core principles at the heart of the Kremlin's war against Ukraine."
When asked to elaborate on his point, Price said that the war is "bigger" than Russia and Ukraine. "The key point is that there are principles that are at stake here that have universal applicability everywhere," he said.
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Amid a mass exodus of Western companies from Russia, the US conglomerate Koch Industries is defying the pressure and has decided to continue operations in the country.
Guardian Industries, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, operates two glass manufacturing plants inside Russia that employ about 600 people. Outside of Guardian, Koch Industries employs 15 other individuals in Russia.
Dave Robertson, the president and COO of Koch Industries, released a statement explaining the conglomerate’s decision and denouncing Russia’s invasion. He stated, “The horrific and abhorrent aggression against Ukraine is an affront to humanity.”
"While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them," Robertson said. "Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good."
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