Dear Gillian
The US under Clinton (who hid out like a coward in the USSR to avoid Conscription into the US Army) and the UK under Blair – rolled out the usual anti-Socialist rhetoric (none of which was ever proven or substantiated), bypassed the UN and blanket bombed Yugoslavia into consumer capitalism, competing nationalisms and racist interactions! In other words, what the West managed to do to the USSR in 1991 – but through the use of high explosives! Ironically, the Russian author of the below (included) article does not make it clear is that a capitalist Russia was part of the ‘International Community’ that tacitly supported the bombing of Yugoslavia – the author so rightfully pours scorn upon! A capitalist Russia lent its voice in the NATO destruction of Socialist Yugoslavia and did absolutely NOTHING politically or militarily to stop it.
I come across this refined ignorance virtually all the time on the Russian language internet – usually in tandem with animal cruelty and casual racism. This is the damage capitalism has done to Russia in just 31 years – whilst Amazon has unblocked Hitler’s Mein Kampf and is busy shipping hundreds of thousands of copies to Ukrainian Schools, Colleges and Universities! Modern Russia is more likely to counter not with Marx, or Lenin (any mention of which is usually met with an embarrassed ‘silence’ by the average Russian today), but rather Adam Smith or a plethora of right-wing ‘Russian’ writers! Russians are now brainwashed to believe that a routine ‘lack of things’ is part and parcel of being genuinely ‘free’ in the capitalist sense (a ‘holy poverty’ as the opulent Russian Church terms it) – whilst having access to a ‘Socialist’ stock of necessary objects and services (manufactured by the Workers and distributed by the State) whenever and wherever such entities are needed – is the height of physical and psychological servitude!
It strikes me that if the West simply removes ‘Hitler’ from the capitalism it is inflicting upon the Ukraine – then this Ukrainian capitalism will match perfectly (through their competing warmongering) with the already operating (and correctly functioning) capitalism in Russia! Then we can stop bombing one another’s cities and go back home to watching the latest Dow Jones Index and see how little Johnny’s inheritance is looking! It’s that pesky insistence upon ‘Hitler’ as an agency for US Hegemony that is getting in the way due to WWII, the Holocaust and the genocide! Yes – this is getting in the way of US troops raising giant Xmas trees of ‘NATO Freedom’ (just like on ‘Iwa Jima’) in the squares of Lugansk and Donetsk – followed by ‘live’ Firing Squads (just ‘Press’ the Red Button for Gary Linkeker’s in depth Commentary and statistics regarding Russian War Crimes) in a 1989 ‘Putting the Past Behind Us’ Romanian style!
The world could all be so different if only ethnic Maoris could be allowed to meet, train and educate ‘crack’ Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Units – who would probably look on slightly bemused – thinking ‘Shouldn’t we be eradicating these savages?’ Certainly, their Russian counterparts would treat this development (in the unlikely event Maoris would be convinced to aid and abet a variant of the very White ideology that nearly wiped out their ethnicity), with the racist scorn it deserves! (Most modern Russians are so ignorant of the world – they think Maoris are cannibals). Of course, all this is hypothetical as it could never happen! Whatever the case, Russia did NOTHING to stop NATO in 1999 – and this author would have his audience believe that modern Russia’s military aggression in 2022 is ‘different’ to that of NATO’s as inflicted in 1999 – and yet both emerge from the same capitalist ideology – regardles of which version of bourgeois morality we all choose to align ourselves with! Russia wants ‘Hitler’ out of the Ukraine – but does not want ‘capitalism’ out of the Ukraine!
In this regard, modern Russians appear very ‘insular’ and intellectually naive – no doubt a symptom of treating the 74-years of ‘Soviet’ history between 1917-1991 as being an ‘error’ and a period of their existence that must not be explored, explained or understood. As a consequence, many Russians are encouraged to view the political left in the West as their enemy – seemingly obvilious to the fact that the left in the West was moulded, developed and directed by the Marxist-Leninist ideology (and ‘actions’) of the USSR! It would seem that modern Russia spends as much time battling with its past – as it does with its external enemies!
Best Wishes
Adrian
The Russian Article:
Hypocrisy of the West 2.0
“The fact that 70% of the country is without electricity shows that we have our finger on the switch. We can turn electricity on and off where we need it and where we want it.”
Whose words do you think? One of the Russian military correspondents? Talk show experts? Or maybe Dmitry Medvedev?
No, friends. These are the words of NATO spokesman Jamie Shea. But they were said not now, but in 1999 during the bombing of Yugoslavia.
In 1999, NATO, with the support of the “international community”, carried out airstrikes on power plants in Serbia, which led to a blackout in the whole country for several weeks. This was proudly reported by Western media, including CNN and the Washington Post. They savoured the name of every power plant that was put out of action and proudly reported on the use of the newest type of ammunition – graphite bombs.
Now the West is demanding that Russia stop strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But how do our strikes differ from NATO strikes? We do not destroy the power plants themselves that generate energy. We do not turn entire cities into ashes. Let me remind you that carpet bombing and rocket attacks on Serbia lasted 78 days. More than 3,000 civilians were killed and tens of thousands were injured. The 19 NATO Allies involved in this war crime are responsible for these actions. We, on the other hand, use high-precision missiles, and select distribution nodes of the power grid as targets.
The hypocrisy of the West has no limits…
@ukr_leaks
Лицемерие Запада 2.0
“То, что 70% территории страны осталось без электричества показывает, что мы держим палец на выключателе. Мы можем включать и выключать электричество там, где это нам нужно и там, где мы этого хотим”.
Как думаете, чьи это слова? Одного из российских военкоров? Экспертов ток-шоу? Или может Дмитрия Медведева?
Нет, друзья. Это слова официального представителя НАТО Джейми Шеа. Вот только сказаны были они не сейчас, а в 1999 году во время бомбардировок Югославии.
В 1999 году НАТО при поддержке “мирового сообщества” наносило авиаудары по электростанциям в Сербии, что привело к блэкауту в целой стране на несколько недель. Об этом с гордостью сообщали западные медиа, в том числе CNN и Washington post. Они смаковали название каждой электростанции, выведенной из строя и гордо рапортовали о применении новейшего типа боеприпасов – графитовых бомб.
Теперь же Запад требует от России прекратить удары по объектам энергетической инфраструктуры Украины.
Только вот чем наши удары отличаются от натовских? Мы не уничтожаем сами электростанции, вырабатывающие энергию. Мы не превращаем в пепелище целые города. Напомню, что ковровые бомбардировки и ракетные удары по Сербии длились 78 дней. Погибло более 3000 мирных жителей, десятки тысяч получили ранения. Ответственность за данные действия несут 19 стран НАТО, участвовавших в этом военном преступлении. Мы же применяем высокоточные ракеты, и выбираем в качестве целей распределительные узлы электросети.
Лицемерие Запада не имеет границ…
@ukr_leaks
THE SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 