All of my articles on the Ukraine-Russia War — Part I, Part II, and Part III. American history is replete with examples of politicians, the corporate media, and the military-industrial complex using lies, pretences, and propaganda to sell a war to a public that would otherwise be hesitant to send their sons and daughters off to fight on foreign soil. President Lyndon B. Johnson lied about the Gulf of Tonkin to justify American military intervention in Vietnam. President George H.W. Bush used a fabricated story of Iraqi soldiers ripping babies out of incubators to start the Gulf War. President George W. Bush lied about “weapons of mass destruction”.From “Remember the Maine”, to the sinking of the Lusitania, to the Syrian gas attacks, the last century is filled with example after example of the United States government lying to its citizens to justify new wars. In all of these examples, the corporate press acted as dutiful stenographers of the military-industrial complex hypnotizing the American people with lies, deception, and propaganda. If the adage is true that the first causality of war is the truth then it should follow that the first battle between Russia and Ukraine was also won with lies. To turn this passion into a career, I need your support: subscribers who sign up for $5 a month will enable me to do this work full-time and empower us to reach an ever-expanding audience. subscribe is important to remember that the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine started in 2014 after the Obama administration and U.S. Congress members installed a new government in Ukraine, in what the head of the “private CIA” firm Stratfor called “the most blatant coup in history.” In response to the U.S.-backed coup, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbas held a referendum on seceding from Ukraine, in which 96% of Luhansk and 89% of Donetskvoted for the creation of two new self-described independent republics in eastern Ukraine. Moscow said the vote reflected the “will of the people,” but the European Union called the elections “illegal and illegitimate“, which quickly turned violent and descended into an all-out conflict between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatist forces of Luhansk and Donetsk. Between 2014 and 2022 the War in Donbaskilled an estimated 14,000 people, forcing millions of people to flee the region and turning the conflict zone into one of the world’s most mine-contaminated areas. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has had observers on the ground monitoring the situation in Donbas since the outbreak of open conflict began in 2014. The OSCE has been the only international civilian observer mission allowed to collect information from both sides of the contact line, and its data, while incomplete, remains the best available.Source: OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine OSCE observer mission provides maps in daily reports documenting the location of ceasefire violations and explosions along the contact line between the Ukrainian military and the Donbas republics. These maps clearly show that Ukraine began artillery strikes against the Donbas republics on February 16th, 2022. In other words, Ukraine began shelling the independent republics of Donetsk and Luhansk nine days before Russia announced its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. While the western corporate media remained completely silent, explosions documented by the OSCE increased from 76 on February 15th, to 316 on February 16th, to 654 on February 17th, and to 1,413 on February 18th. When you look carefully at the daily maps of these explosions, it is clear that the vast majority of explosions occurred on the Russian separatist side of the ceasefire line.Feb 14: 174 ceasefire violations, 41 explosions Feb 15: 153 ceasefire violations, 76 explosions Feb 16: 509 ceasefire violations, 316 explosionsFeb 17: 870 ceasefire violations, 654 explosionsFeb 18: 1,566 ceasefire violations, 1,413 explosions Feb 19-20: 3,231 ceasefire violations, 2,026 explosionsFeb 21: 1,927 ceasefire violations, 1,481 explosionsFeb 21: Russia recognizes the independence of Donetsk and LuhanskFeb 22: 1,710 ceasefire violations, 1,420 explosions Feb 24: Russia launches ‘special military operation’
I am a poet with a rare terminal illness called multicentric Castlemans Disease. Poetry breaks me away from the pain for a time. It takes me out of this world into my fantasy world full of funny thoughts and a never ending conversation with myself. I like haiku and I’ve made quotes. Words are a joy. I like to try poetry and think I get by. I don’t expect to become famous but if I can give someone a smile or a good feeling for just a moment, then I feel it was worth it.
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