When it comes to events in Ukraine, my heart bleeds for the ordinary citizens who, just weeks ago, lived peaceful, relatively prosperous Western-style lives. They’re now wounded, dead or, if they’re “lucky,” they’re refugees with nothing but the clothes on their backs. What we are witnessing is a terrible crime against humanity. Having said that, I keep finding myself reserving judgment about everything else. I’ve learned that many stories are fake (even if the truth is equally sad and bad) and I don’t trust what’s coming from the Biden administration, the media, or our politicians. My confusion was worsened yesterday with news that, not only is Russia an important negotiating partner in the disastrous Iran deal Biden so badly wants, but it’s also going to get massive contracts to build nuclear sites.
I’m always distrustful of hysterical rushes to judgment. I find it completely unnerving when the same people who were protesting non-stop against the Iraq War (which was, at least ostensibly, meant to protect America from Islamic terrorism) are desperate to have us get into a shooting war with nuclear-armed Russia to protect Ukraine, something that confers no obvious benefit on us at all. That may ultimately be the right thing to do, but I’m deeply worried and suspicious when the push comes from radical activists who have spent the last 20 years hating America and protesting wars.
I’m also disturbed by the bizarre relationship the current administration has with Ukraine. We all know that Hunter Biden, who spoke no Russian or Ukrainian and knew nothing about oil and gas, got an $83,000/month job on the Burisma board, just when an anti-corruption prosecutor was looking into Burisma. And we know because he boasted about it, that Joe Biden used the threat of withholding American funds to get that prosecutor fired. Hmmm.
The biolabs bug me too. Victoria Nuland, the current Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, in 2014, when she worked for Obama, was heard on a leaked private phone conversation with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, talking about reorganizing the entire Ukrainian government. Just last week, Nuland admitted under oath that there were biolabs in Ukraine that were in the path of Russian troops, something very “concerning.” It’s known that more than 30 years after the Cold War ended and the U.S. stepped up to get rid of dangerous pathogens in Ukraine, there are still dangerous pathogens in Ukraine and the U.S. is somehow involved with them.
Image: Putin meets with Ayatollah Khamenei in 2015 (edited). YouTube screen grab.
If America is going to start World War III over Ukraine, I’d like to know more about these things.
But then there’s the question of whether Russia really is America’s enemy—and I say that despite Biden’s gloating about destroying Russia’s economy. The reason it’s a question is that, for Biden, as for Obama, one of his biggest foreign policy goals is to enter into an agreement with Iran (that would be the “Death to America,” exporter of worldwide terrorism Iran) that will give Iran billions of dollars while speeding its nuclear development.
That’s bad on its own terms but what’s really weird is that Biden is using Russia to negotiate the Iran deal:
Despite the serial humiliations doled out by the regime in Tehran, including escalating terrorist attacks on America’s allies in the Middle East and a refusal to meet directly with U.S. counterparts, the Biden team (led by Special Envoy for Iran Rob O’Malley) has persisted through third-party intermediaries, including the Russians. In fact, the relationship between the U.S. and Russian delegations has been described as “cordial” and the Russian lead, Mikhail Ulyanov, while hardly a household name, has become something of a celebrity owing to his colorful English-language Twitter feed. When the negotiations foundered in late December of last year, Ulyanov was credited with bringing them back on track and setting the conditions to reach a new deal in 2022.
You can read here about all the disastrous terms of the agreement—all while keeping in mind Russia’s current role in making the Iran agreement possible.
But as with Ginsu knives, just wait! There’s more. Not only is Russia a major negotiating partner. It also expects to profit from making Iran more nuclear:
Russia’s top state-controlled energy company is set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted.
Russian and Iranian documents translated for the Washington Free Beacon show that Rosatom, Russia’s leading energy company, has a $10 billion contract with Iran’s atomic energy organization to expand Tehran’s Bushehr nuclear plant. Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so that Russia can make good on this contract.
(As a reminder, Rosatom purchased Uranium One, thereby assuming control of approximately 20% of America’s uranium production capacity. This sale—which required State Department approval—occurred after several Uranium One owners coincidentally or not donated $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.)
Couple that news with Europe’s refusal to give up Russian oil and gas, and you can see where I might be very dubious about anything and everything reported in the news and social media about the war. Again, I’m not saying Russia’s not evil and Ukraine’s not a victim. I’m just saying that we also seem to be victims, in our case of massive propaganda and manipulation, because nothing is as it seems.
Massive disinformation will affect far more western societies, that have everything of what is left, to lose.