"Challenging the Lies About Russia and the War in Ukraine"
by Larry Johnson
sonar21.com (July 28, 2023)
https://sonar21.com/challenging-the-lies-about-russia-and-the-war-in-ukraine/

Fighting lies is a tiring business, but it must be done. My recent public debate with Andrij Dobriansky is a real oddity because there have been few opportunities like this during the past 18 months where critics of NATO’s policy towards Russia and challenge the lies of the Ukrainian and Western propagandists. I only scratched the surface with Mr. Dobriansky’s mendacity. The propaganda lies churned out by U.S. and British intelligence, which are plentiful and audacious, cover the gamut — e.g., Putin has a terminal illness; Putin is weak and hanging by a thread; Ukraine is advancing steadily in its counter offensive; Russia is isolated; Russia’s economy is collapsing; Russian conscripts are being dragooned against their will to join the army; Russian prisoners are being coerced to join paramilitary forces and fight on the front lines; the morale of the Russian Army is collapsing; Russia’s Generals are incompetent; Russia is suffering more casualties than Ukraine; and Russia is a colonial imperialist.

I want to touch on the ridiculous claim by Dobriansky that Russia is guilty of colonialism in Africa. For those of you who watched the video of my exchange with this gentleman you saw that he declined my challenge to name just one country in Africa that was colonized by Russia, controlled and exploited for years. He could not respond because Russia is not guilty of this defamatory accusation.

Here is a break out of the Empires and colonies in 1920 following WWI:



You will note that Russia stayed home. It was not romping across the globe snatching up territories and planting its flag.

The reality for Africa is the one region in the world that has suffered the most from the colonial exploitation of European nations for more than 200 years. France and Britain were the two big players, controlling almost two-thirds of Africa. But other European states also staked claims over the people and territory of countries across the African continent — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

It is true that many African nations actively participated in enslaving and selling other Africans to the Europeans and Americans. And it is true that Britain tried to put a stop to the international slave selling business with passage of the Slave Act in 1807. But that one act of decency does not erase the injustice and pillaging of the African colonies by the Brits during the 19th and early 20th Century. The same holds true for the other European colonizers who used the African nations as their personal piggy banks.

There was a time that we Americans firmly believed in the ideal of self-determination and sternly rejected the idea that a foreign nation could impose its will on another. Thanks to World War I (sarcasm alert) America got over that and began to see the benefits of controlling and exploiting weaker nations. Since the end of World War II the most active imperial power in the world has been the United States. Just ask Panama, Cuba, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Libya and Yemen. Try to convince the folks from those nations that the American people once held firm to the belief of isolationism.

If you watch Judge Napolitano’s interviews with former CIA officer Jack Devine or free-lance mercenary Matt Van Dyke (it takes a strong stomach to listen to the tsunami of lies that spill from their lips), you hear them repeat the mantra that Russia is suffering huge casualties. This lie is easy to debunk. Just compare the social media posts from Ukraine with those from Russia that show graveyards and military funeral ceremonies. The thousands of graveyards with fresh mounds of dirt are ubiquitous on Ukrainian channels. Not so on the Russian side.

Yes, I know that the apologists for Ukraine will not be convinced and are likely to claim that Russia, as an authoritarian state, will not allow such posts. Nonsense. Just tune in to the latest podcasts from Alex Christoforou and AniaK. Both are in Moscow on separate business (they are not working together) and are posting daily videos as they each stroll around Moscow doing their political commentary and analysis. Where are those dastardly FSB officers tackling them and stomping on their cell phones? Just one more piece of circumstantial evidence that the Western propaganda describing Russia as a dictatorship and its citizens chafing under authoritarian diktats is a myth.

I will leave you with this rule of thumb for those who monitor Western media — whatever you read in establishment media always assume that there is a purpose — usually nefarious — behind the information you are being allowed to read. Here is a very recent example — Joe Biden, after years of silence, finally acknowledged the bastard grand daughter from Hunter’s one night stand with a stripper. Why now? Is there concern among Biden’s campaign staff that his prior refusal to embrace that little girl paints him as the angry, spiteful little man that he is? That is small potatoes compared to the manipulation of the Ukraine/Russia narrative. Remain alert. Question everything.