Misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda are military tools as old as war. While both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war exaggerate their battlefield gains, American taxpayers expect the United States government to calibrate those claims and report progress honestly for the $116 billion in funds donated to the war effort. Along with NATO forces, America operates a vast regional intelligence network. With America’s advanced electronic surveillance capabilities, even hard-to-reach areas of the theater should be within reach.
The Biden administration has repeatedly said that American operatives are not active in Ukraine except to provide logistics support, training, and advice regarding battlefield strategies. Western media, meanwhile, has been reporting from the frontlines since the war began.
Americans expect that media reports should accurately reflect the truth. So we examined ten New York Times headlines and the bylines that appear when one searches the newspaper’s search page. We limited reporting to one battle only: Bakhmut. And we focused on a relatively short reporting period, from May 1 to May 25.
We found that the Times and its propaganda press cousins it leads are so aligned with the Biden and Zelenskyy administrations that daily reporting is horrendously and deliberately inaccurate. Ukrainian gains and Russian losses are vastly exaggerated; Russian gains and Ukrainian losses are heavily minimized, even not reported.
May 5: Russia and Ukraine each claim gains in Bakhmut.
May 12: Ukraine’s advances near Bakhmut expose rifts in Russian forces.
May 14: Although the Ukrainians are making small gains, Russia still controls about 90 percent of the largely ruined city.
Our comment: This is the first time that the Times acknowledges the scale of the battle in the subhead, showing Russia’s lopsided advantage.
May 17: Gains near Bakhmut raise Ukraine’s hopes of a turning tide. The advances have been small, and Russians still hold most of the city, but Ukrainians say they see a meaningful shift in momentum.
Our comment: We are not military planners, but how could small gains erase Russia’s dominant position holding the city and raise Ukraine’s hopes? Isn’t “hope” somewhat imprecise in war reporting?
May 17: Ukraine, this month, pressed ahead with three days of maneuvers that gained ground on the flanks of Bakhmut. But Russian forces still appear to hold the center of the strategic city.
Our comment: Notice how the reader is led to believe that Russia is only controlling the center of the “strategic” city, indicating demonstrable Ukrainian gains all around.
May 20: The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said his forces had captured the eastern city, a claim Ukrainian officials were quick to deny even as they called the situation “critical.”
Our comment: A lot has changed in three days of reporting. The reader is first introduced to the idea that Bakhmut is almost lost, but sufficient credence is given to the Ukrainian claim. Meanwhile, independent posts on social media all confirmed that Bakhmut had fallen.
May 22: Russia claims Bakhmut, but some see a ‘Pyrrhic Victory.’ A top Ukrainian official essentially acknowledged that the devastated city had been lost. Experts say that thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers died there, but the cost for Moscow was especially steep.
Our comment: What was a “strategic” city five days ago is no longer important. Had Ukraine taken over Bakhmut, would the Times have called Ukraine’s victory Pyrrhic?
May 24: Ukraine lost in Bakhmut. But it has much bigger plans.
Our comment: Final acknowledgment about a battlefield fact. But the propaganda continues. Since when have “much bigger plans” been more crucial than on-the-ground-reality?
It is impossible to scan any Western media outlet and not find similar styles of reporting. That the fourth estate, an independent entity with enormous powers vested in it by our Constitution, is not fairly reporting what is happening on the ground ought to shock the average American. How does one even know if America’s intense entanglement in a foreign war is successful?
That answer came in a trial balloon released by the Times in Friday’s late editions: Publicly, American and European officials are leaving any definition of success to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. For now, Mr. Zelensky has not laid out any public goals, beyond his oft-stated demand that Russian troops must leave the whole of Ukraine. He is known as a master communicator; any perception that he is backing off that broad ambition would risk undermining his support at a critical moment.
So, American taxpayers are funding a foreign country’s leader whose definition of success is entirely elastic. For $116 billion, Washington has refused to say what America’s goals are. The average American can’t even demand what they will likely get for their investment.
In the meantime, Zelenskyy will continue to shame America into funding this war.
“If Ukraine would lose, if Russia would occupy Ukraine, Russia will continue going towards Baltic countries, Poland, etcetera,” Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News. “And they will start war with one of the NATO countries, and at this moment, the U.S. would have to choose the collapse of NATO or go to war.”
And when Zelenskyy says that “victory” is accomplished, Washington will invite him back to the White House and a joint address of Congress on a U.S. military plane. Next steps: How to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
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Geopolitics And Geoeconomics
1. Zelensky Rejects Peace Talks With Russia As African Delegation Visits Kyiv – WION
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has clarified that his country won’t engage in any peace process with the invading nation.
The African delegation includes Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, South Africa, and Comoros leaders.
African leaders are visiting Ukraine and Russia in the wake of the rising energy and food crisis across the African continent, prompting the African leaders to take the peace deal initiative.
2. “Highly Likely” Russia Behind Ukraine Dam Collapse: International Experts – Reuters
It is “highly likely” that the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was caused by explosives planted by Russians, a team of legal experts assisting Ukraine’s prosecutors in their investigation said in preliminary findings.
Ukraine is investigating the blast as a war crime and possible criminal environmental destruction, or “ecocide.”
They dismissed the theory that a catastrophic dam breach could have been caused by mismanagement alone.
3. Putin Confirms First Nuclear Weapons Moved To Belarus – BBC
Vladimir Putin says Russia has already stationed the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russia’s president told a forum they would only be used if Russia’s territory or state was threatened.
The U.S. government says there is no indication that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.
4. Russia’s Putin Calls Ukraine’s Zelenskyy A ‘Disgrace To Jewish People’ – AFP
“I have a lot of Jewish friends,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg. “They say that Zelenskyy is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.
Moscow claims Ukraine’s treatment of Russian speakers in the Western-backed country is comparable to the actions of Nazi Germany.
These allegations have been contested by the Ukrainian government and the country’s Jewish community.
5. Why U.S. Continues To Pay Billions To Russia’s Nuclear Agency: Report – ANI
American companies pay around U.S.D 1 billion a year to Russia’s state-owned nuclear agency to buy the fuel as no firm owned enriches uranium, New York Times Reported.
U.S. companies pay a huge amount to Russia to buy the fuel that generates more than half of the United States’ emissions-free energy.
Roughly a third of enriched uranium used in the United States is now imported from Russia, the world’s cheapest producer.
6. NATO Focuses On Underwater Assets Amid Russia Sabotage Concerns – Al Jazeera
NATO has established a new center focused on protecting undersea pipelines and data cables following the apparent attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and as concerns mount that Russia has mapped vital Western underwater infrastructure around Europe.
The defense ministers of NATO members approved plans for a NATO “maritime center for the security of critical underwater infrastructure” at a meeting in Brussels, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
7. Blinken Says Aim Of China Trip Is To Build “Empowered Communications” – Kyodo News
Blinken said such a development is needed and desired by the rest of the world so that the U.S. and China can “responsibly” manage their differences, address misperceptions and avoid miscalculations.
U.S. officials do not anticipate a breakthrough in the country’s complicated relations with China just by Blinken’s trip. But they hope the visit paves the way for increased communications between U.S. and Chinese officials.
8. Taiwan Can Propose Governance Ideas After Unifying With China: PLA – WION
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lieutenant general He Lei said that after unification with mainland China, Taiwan could give its own governance ideas as they do not violate the “one China” principle.
The same proposition about reunification with Taiwan was raised by Chinese President Xi four years ago when he chaired an anniversary session in Beijing, said Andrew Yang Nien-dzu, a former Taiwanese defense minister.
9. U.S. Given ‘Unimpeded Access’ To Papua New Guinea Bases In Defense Agreement – RFA
The full text of the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), signed last month, shows that U.S. forces can station troops and vessels at six ports and airports, including the Lombrum Naval Base and Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport.
The bases may also be used for “staging and deploying forces and material,” bunkering vessels, security assistance, and humanitarian and disaster relief.
10. Iranian Oil Is Quietly Flooding Into The Global Market Again – Bloomberg
Iran is shipping the most crude in almost five years, fortifying its re-emergence on the geopolitical stage while posing risks for a fragile global crude market.
Exports have surged to the highest level since U.S. sanctions were re-imposed in 2018, according to a range of analysts. The vast majority flows to China, as the world’s biggest importer scoops up cut-price barrels from the Islamic Republic.
11. New Renewable Energy Capacity To Surge By A Third In 2023: IEA – Kyodo News
The amount of newly added renewable energy capacity in the world is expected to grow by one-third this year, driven by energy security concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a recent report by the International Energy Agency showed.
Total added renewable energy capacity is likely to increase by record 107 gigawatts from 2022 to more than 440 gigawatts, led by the strong deployment of solar and wind power generation systems.
12. EU Lawmakers Lay Groundwork For Historic Regulation Of Risky AI – RFI
EU lawmakers passed a draft law known as the AI Act, the first of its kind in the world.
It massively curtails generative AI, requiring content created by systems like ChatGPT to be labeled and requiring AI makers to reveal more about the data used to create their programs.
It aims to protect civil rights and safeguard against AI threats to health and safety while putting Brussels on a collision course with U.S. tech companies investing billions in the technology.
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Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
