Ukraine War for Dummies

(with apologies to the publisher of the real “For Dummies” book series).

Much to my annoyance, there is much disinformation (in the old Soviet tradition) about same making rounds. I modestly herewith attempt to dispel such myths.

Likes, Damn Lies, and the Russian News Media

Back, oh so many decades ago as an undergrad at UC Berkeley, I took a Russian language class during the bad-old-days of the old USSR. There were 2 newspapers: Izvestia (“information”) and Pravda (“truth”). The joke went: Izvestia nye Pravda, Pravda nye Izvestia (information is not truth, truth is not information). I find the current behavior of Russian media to be not dissimilar to that of the old USSR media.

It Is Not a Civil War

This is not a conflict between the pro-Ukraine Kiev, and pro-Russian eastern provinces. What we have here is a simple, old-fashion military invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

There Are No Ukrainian “Fascists”

The native Ukrainians who toppled the pro-Russian Yanukovich government have been depicted (by the Russian Press) as fascists, e.g. neo-Nazis. Factually incorrect. Those few “fascists” that have been identified turn out to be Russian Military Special Ops.

The “Election” Results Are Faked

These “pop” elections are organized, coordinated, supervised, overseen, ballots counted, and results announced by Russian Military Intelligence. Pro-Russian votes were announced at 96.7%. You be the judge.

Regular Russian Military Forces Are Massed on the Ukraine Border

Analysts estimate that there are some 40,000 regular Russian troops massed along Ukraine border. They are conducting military drills so that, upon Putin's order, they can conquer all Ukraine quickly before Kiev knows what hit them. Not unlike Hitler's “blitzkrieg” during WWII.

Putin Also Covets the Baltic States, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus

It is to his advantage that not 1 in a 100 readers of this blog are able to accurately identify these countries on a map. These are previous USSR “satellite” countries, living under Soviet jackboots. He wishes to place them under his control once again.

Economic Sanctions Ain't Gonna Do Nuthin”

Western response to this military invasion seems to be limited to economic sanctions. These doo-hickeys did not stop N Korea from going nuclear, is not slowing down Iran's march to the nuclear bomb, and will be equally ineffective in changing current Russian military behavior.

Team Obama Response Is Feckless

There are many who say that O has no foreign policy, or that they cannot figure it out. Beg to differ. O is easy to understand. He makes a rather firm and belligerent speech, accompanied by concrete actions (even though these actions are ineffective pin-pricks). In his mind, he has addressed the problem, and, therefore, solved the crisis and moves on.

Real Ukrainians Could Care Less About Russia

Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainians are not champing at the bit to break away from that evil Kiev, and longing to rejoin “mother Russia”. They could care less if the occupant of the presidency is Yanukovich or Yatsenyuk. Having had a taste of democracy, they only wish to be left alone to live their lives in peace and, hopefully, prosperity.

The EU Could Care Less About Russia

Many of you are not old enough to remember the “Shining Path”. These were a powerful group of Marxist guerrillas (can you name the country?). The US response was indifference: we did not crank up our military response or send forces southwards to defeat the rebels. We viewed it as a rather distant conflict that did not really concern us, so we ignored it. Western parts of the EU have a similar yawn regarding the Ukraine War. However, former Soviet satellite countries bordering Russia are on alert and, to the best of their limited ability, strengthening military spending.