https://substack.com/home/post/p-149527804

 

In the early months of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, Trump acknowledged that it was a genocide, or attempt at genocide. He was pressed by a reports.

Unfortunately, Trump’s more recent comments have been following a pattern of never blaming Russia, never acknowledging their ubiquitous genocidal rhetoric, always exaggerating Russia’s strength, and referring to the war as a tragedy only in general terms.

This probably gets some traction with people who have no context. Here are four points of reference which I wish MAGA supporters would consider.
1. Using threats to take things has ALWAYS been a strategy of Moscow, as well as the absence of compromise and always demanding the maximum.

Here is Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas quoting an ex-Soviet Prime minister about this strategy. It is stated as explicitly as could be stated:

2. The Russians always press for “peace” when they are losing in order to regroup and attack again later.

The cultural difference between Russia and the West is underappreciated. The West regards war as an extremely costly and last-resort way to settle problems, and thus, consistent with Trump’s speech, attempts to find peace as soon as possible. Russian propagandist know this.

In Russia’s paranoid worldview, war is constant and never-ending, and people speaking about long-term peace are either naive, or, more likely, attempting to trick the Russians who will refuse to be fooled and will prepare for war anyway.

In this video, one of the Kremlin’s propaganda chiefs has a rare candid moment where he says that Russia must invade as many countries as possible if and when there is a golden era of US withdrawal.

Here is Dudayev, leader of the Chechen separatist movement, talking about how Russia always sues for peace in order to regroup:

Russia pressed for peace after losing the First Chechen War, leaving the region with some autonomy, but one suspicious apartment bombing later, they launched the Second Chechen War.

People don’t appreciate that somewhere perhaps between 10% and 15% of the Chechen population was killed in the war. Atrocities were rampant, and several Russian journalists who attempted to cover them were murdered.
3. Part of the Russian mentality views treaties and their observance as an insult, which is why Russia often breaks treaties as flagrantly as possible.

Examples abound. The DAY AFTER a grain deal was reached in Ukraine, Russia bombed the Odesa port that handles grain. The DAY AFTER a ceasefire in Syria, Russia infamously bombed numerous hospitals.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Budapest Memorandum put no restriction on Russia’s use of conventional military force in Ukraine – a flagrant and laughable lie. That is not the type of lie to say to convince people of anything. It’s the type of lie designed to intimidate and demonstrate your lack of regard.

Before the Heritage Foundation’s creepy partnership with the Danube Institute and their 180 degree pivot on Russia coverage, they had this to say about Russia:

Russia has rarely, if ever, signed an arms control treaty that it did not violate. Russia is in violation of the Helsinki Final Act, the Istanbul Commitments of 1999, the Presidential Nuclear Initiatives, an agreement to remove its military from Georgia and Moldova, the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, the Budapest Memorandum, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Russia is possibly in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as interpreted by the United States. The U.S. should itemize, publicize, and emphasize all of these violations and refuse to negotiate additional agreements or renew previous agreements until the original Russian violations are corrected.

In Russia, treaties are an insult to the idea of an all powerful and unconstrained Czar, who is viewed as a necessary protector.
4. Where the hell are the patriots?

Russia has never stopped threatening the West (or its East, or its South). This has been true for centuries. Here are some recent statements and old observations:

Unfortunately, this brutal, imperial mentality seems to permeate large parts of Russian Society. See this hour-long compilation.

So, WHERE THE HELL ARE THE AMERICAN PATRIOTS? It would be complete coherent and patriotic to respond harshly to Russia’s constant threats and claims to the sovereign territory, not to mention their lack of gratitude for always feeding them when they are starving, and supplying them when they were invaded by the Nazis.

Instead we get, albeit indirectly, calls for appeasement, exactly playing into Russia’s century old strategy.

Why don’t these self-described patriots favorably contrast American society with Russia’s, as Regan did?

Why doesn’t Trump use his infamous capacity for ridicule to ever target the genocidal little tyrant whose propagandist who so richly deserves it. One of many ripe targets would extent to which their propaganda attempts to create an alternate reality, including the reality of Putin’s height:
Conclusion

As former KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov details in his famous interviews, Moscow takes a very studied approach to their propaganda.

I’ve heard one of their tenets described as “reflex control.” They begin by identifying the reaction they want a target society of have. Usually, it’s fear. And then they make ridiculous claims to ensure they achieve that reflex. Using a nuclear-bomb-triggered tsunami to destroy Istanbul, or a nuclear bomb to set off the Yellowstone volcano are among the more explicit examples of this. The statements, though dubious, are too interesting for journalists to ignore.

Similarly, they seem to have achieved the talking points they sought among many conservatives. Instead of pointing out the unmitigated disaster for Russia’s military, and the exposure of the many lies of their arms industry, conservatives simply echo the fear propaganda, even in the face of Russia’s persistent claims to US territory, and threats to the lives of millions of Americas.

Please scroll up and watch Estonian Prime Minister Kallas’s comments again to appreciate what is happening.

The true American patriotic reaction would be to respond indignantly and harshly instead of appeasing the mad little bully.