The Truth Will Out

By David Sole

Shakespeare wrote that “at the length truth will out” (Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 2).

A month has passed since the start of the Russian Federation’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine. The vast propaganda machine of the United States government, its military establishment and subservient capitalist mass media have been churning out the “official story” to direct public opinion into opposing Russia. Now it is being forced to admit that their story is a pack of lies.

The source that is bringing the truth to light is not from Russia. Those sources have been silenced in the West and totally discounted by the press and politicians under U.S. and European control. No, the new information is directly from the Pentagon itself.

A major article in the mainstream Newsweek magazine by William M. Arkin appeared in the March 22 edition, titled “Putin’s Bombers Could Devastate Ukraine But He’s Holding Back. Here’s Why.”

Slowing down the Anti-Russian Hysteria to Keep Ukraine a Proxy War

Arkin interviewed several Pentagon analysts including one from the Defense Intelligence Agency who said “The heart of Kyiv has barely been touched. And almost all of the long-range strikes have been aimed at military targets.”

Another analyst explained that “the Russian military has actually been showing restraint in its long-range attacks.” According to Newsweek: “…as of the past weekend, in 24 days of conflict, Russia has flown some 1,400 strike sorties and delivered almost 1,000 missiles. (By contrast the United States flew more sorties and delivered more weapons in the first day of the 2003 Iraq war.) The vast majority of the airstrikes are over the battlefield, with Russian aircraft providing ‘close air support’ to ground forces.” This completely exposes the false picture painted of massive Russian attacks on civilians.

The DIA analyst admitted “I know it’s hard…to swallow that the carnage and destruction could be much worse than it is. But that’s what the facts show. This suggests to me, at least, that Putin is not intentionally attacking civilians, that perhaps he is mindful that he needs to limit damage in order to leave an out for negotiations.”

A U.S. Air Force officer told Newsweek “I’m frustrated by the current narrative – that Russia is intentionally targeting civilians, that it is demolishing cities, and that Putin doesn’t care. Such a distorted view stands in the way of finding an end before true disaster hits or the war spreads to the rest of Europe.” The DIA analyst commented “I know that the news keeps repeating that Putin is targeting civilians, but there is no evidence that Russia is intentionally doing so.”

Why is the Pentagon leaking a bit of the truth out at this time? It must be because the anti-Russia faction’s campaign to escalate the war, involve NATO and create a no-fly zone has been whipped up to a frenzy. The propaganda machine has been too successful.

But the Pentagon does not want to get dragged into a war with Russia at this time. Having Ukrainians die in a proxy war and attacking Russia with economic sanctions is the top brass’ game plan. They realize they must cool down the hotter heads among the politicians, Wall Street and the public at large. So a small dose of the truth is being sent out to the U.S. mass media.

NATO and the Donbass Region

Two issues compelled the Russians to intervene. One was the insistence by the Ukrainian government, pushed by the United States, to join the anti-Russian North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Such a move would have put U.S. troops, military bases and nuclear missiles right on the 1200 mile long border between Ukraine and Russia.

The second issue involved Ukraine moving large numbers of troops and heavy weapons to the borders with two areas that had broken away from Ukraine after the 2014 U.S. sponsored right wing coup in Kyiv. For eight years the Lugansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics in the Donbass region, with a majority Russian speaking population, have endured military attacks and shelling from the Ukrainian armed forces, including the pro-Nazi Azov Battalion. Over 14,000 people in those republics have died from these assaults.

Too much truth, however, cannot be allowed to damage U.S. imperialism’s “official story.” Zoom has cut off access to its platform in the eastern Donbass region. The Detroit News reported “Ukraine has banned reporting on troop and equipment movements….The restrictions come after Ukrainian authorities criticized social media users…a Kyiv resident was accused…of posting images on TikTok showing Ukrainian military vehicles near a shopping mall that was later destroyed by a Russian missile strike. Russia alleged Ukraine used the site to resupply rocket artillery.” (DetNews.com, March 28, 2022).

U.S. president Joe Biden has repeatedly labeled Putin a “war criminal.” On March 26 Biden called for Putin’s ouster in a speech in Warsaw, Poland. Biden said “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” exposing again the U.S. strategy of regime change. The goal is to subordinate the Russian Federation to the dictates of Wall Street bankers and U.S. generals.

The Ukrainian government forces have also been exposed as endangering the civilian population. In a March 27 webinar titled “Voices from Donbass – Stop the War Lies” which was able to work around the Zoom blockade, an eyewitness named Svetlana in eastern Ukraine reported that Ukrainian troops had occupied several floors of a functioning hospital in the city of Mariupol. She went on to describe how the Ukrainian army was massacring civilians as revenge for their being forced out of areas.

Mariupol – the Azov Battalion NAZI Cauldron

Intense fighting around Mariupol was recently reported on by the Greek City Times. Mariupol is a port city on the Sea of Azov with a population of around 432,000, about 49% Ukrainian, 44% Russian and 4% Greek, with a small percentage of other nationalities. (Wikipedia.com). A report in the Greek City Times printed interviews with Greek Ukrainians from the Mariupol area that denied the propaganda in the western media. “As soon as the Russians came here, they immediately brought us help. .,, No one is shooting at civilians here” and “…the Russians do not kill any [civilians].”

“Now no one asks us if you are Ukrainian or Greek, about your origin, what language you speak” the Greek City Times reporter was told. “The Russians do not discriminate, while the Ukrainians [government troops] did, they forced us to speak only Ukrainian.” According to the same report, “Only days before the Russian troops started crossing into Ukraine, the Azov Battalion [Ukrainian fascists incorporated into the Ukrainian army] killed an ethnic Greek and shot another two only for speaking Russian.”

It took years for the U.S. public to learn some of the truth about Vietnam and build an effective anti-imperialist, anti-war movement. Despite the overwhelming unity among the pro-capitalist media and the confusion existing among some in the anti-war movement it may be possible for the truth to come out more quickly this time.