SPIRIT ANIMALS
Pale raccoon siblings move to Denver Zoo after being found inside a wall
By Wade Sheridan
March 25 (UPI) -- The Denver Zoo is welcoming two pale, raccoon siblings who were rescued after being found inside the wall of a home.
The raccoons, named Cashew and Pecan, suffer from leucism, which makes them unlikely to survive in the wild. Leucism is an abnormal condition that causes partial pigment loss.
Cashew and Pecan were treated at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital and put in quarantine before they entered their new habitat at the zoo. The pair are located at the Harmony Hill section of the zoo, which highlights how humans can better co-exist with wildlife.
The Denver Zoo's animal care staff have already started working with the siblings and uploaded a video of Cashew and Pecan exploring their new home on Twitter.
Pecan, who has darker fur than his sister, is described as outgoing and confident. Cashew is described as being selective about the food she eats and is always on the lookout for treats given by the zoo staff.
Denver Zoo's Curator of Carnivores Rebecca McCloskey defended the decision to add two raccoons to the zoo.
"Harmony Hill is a place where we share the story about living with wildlife. Raccoons are an excellent example of a species we can teach our guests live alongside, so they were a natural fit for the space. Because of their light coloring, these two would not survive in the wild, so we're giving them a safe place to call home. And our visitors will learn a lot from these two, like how raccoons contribute to the ecosystem, and how we can live in harmony with wildlife," McCloskey said.
Friday, March 25, 2022
ECOCIDE
Houthis Launch Third “Siege Breaking” Operation in Saudi Arabia
For a third week in a row, the Iran-backed Houthis attacked an Aramco oil storage facility in the port city of Jeddah and other energy facilities in the kingdom.
Footage of the attacks shared on social media show a section of the Aramco oil facility in Jeddah set ablaze. Others show the aftermath of a strike against a water facility in Najran.
Following the assaults, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sare’e acknowledged the third “Siege Breaking” operation was launched against various targets inside Saudi Arabia using drones, ballistic and winged missiles.
“In response to the continuation of the unjust siege on our country and our people, and the inauguration of the eighth year of steadfastness the Yemeni armed forces carried out the third Siege Breaking operation with batches of ballistic & Winged missiles and drones,” Sare’e tweeted.
A statement by the official spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition, Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, stated that the Aramco attack in Jeddah was likely conducted by the Houthis and noted the goal of the assault was to “undermine energy security” of the global economy.
“A fire erupted in (2) tanks in the oil facility; the fire was controlled, and no injuries or loss of life were recorded. This hostile escalation targets oil facilities, and aims to undermine energy security and the backbone of global economy. These hostile attacks had no impact or repercussions in any way, shape or form on public life in Jeddah City,” al-Malki stated.
Friday’s strikes are a part of a broad and extensive operation primarily targeting Saudi oil facilities. Houthi statements have blamed Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen, specifically the prohibition of fuel imports as the reason for launching operations against the kingdom. [See FDD’s Long War Journal: Houthis Renew Attacks Against Saudi Arabia.]
However, this is likely a superficial explanation of the reason behind the assaults. Iran stands to benefit from soaring oil prices, primarily caused by last month’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. And as the Houthi’s main backer, it’s plausible Iran instructed its proxy to step-up attacks against Saudi oil refineries in order to cripple production, thus maintaining global oil prices at a high level to use as leverage while it negotiates a renewed nuclear deal with the United States.
Iran has long been suspected of using its proxies as a cover to launch assaults against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The recurrent attacks against energy facilities over the years including those in recent weeks appears to be straining the Saudi’s ability to keep up with the production of oil. A recent statement published by the Saudi’s Foreign Ministry signaled that continued Houthi strikes against its oil refineries will limit the production of oil to the global market.
While the Aramco facility in Jeddah continues to burn late into the evening, Iran has sent a clear message to Saudi Arabia and the United States who orchestrated the attacks.
The United States, United Kingdom, Qatar and others have published statements condemning the Houthi’s assault on Friday.
Saudi Aramco oil facility burns after attack by Yemen Houthi rebels
Yemen's Houthi rebels say they carried out several attacks on Friday, the largest being on an oil storage and shipping facility in Jiddah. Sunday's F1 Grand Prix there will go ahead as scheduled, say organizers.
The attack on an Aramco oil storage and shipping facility filled the skies over Jiddah black with soot
Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday attacked several targets in Saudi Arabia, including a Saudi Aramco oil storage and shipping facility in the coastal city of Jiddah.
"We did several attacks with drones and ballistic missiles," including an "Aramco installation in Jiddah [and] vital installations in Riyadh," the rebels said in a statement.
The Jiddah facility, which was previously attacked last Sunday, was struck by missiles before two storage tanks caught fire, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air. No casualties were reported.
Saudi Arabian state television told viewers that a "hostile operation" had targeted the Jiddah facility.
The US State Department condemned the attacks as "unacceptable," saying Washington would continue to help Saudi Arabia bolster its defenses.
Saudi-led coalition begins military operation
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launched a military operation on Saturday to stop the attacks, according to Saudi state media.
The coalition said it was carrying out airstrikes in the Houthi-controlled Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah It said it aims to "protect global energy sources and ensure supply chains." The operation would continue until it achieves its goals, it said.
While the operation was in its early stages, the coalition said Houthis should bear the consequences of their "hostile behavior."
Earlier, the coalition was quoted as saying it would "directly deal with sources of threat", urging civilians to stay away from any oil site or the Hodeidah facility.
Attacks target main Formula 1 sponsor at hometown race
The Red Sea city of Jiddah is also the site of Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. The country's Corniche Circuit is located just 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the storage facility.
Saudi Aramco is a major F1 sponsor, having opened its coffers to help lure race organizers to the kingdom. The state-run oil firm's 10-year deal, struck in 2019, is estimated to be worth between €535 and €800 million ($588-$880 million). Aramco is also the main sponsor of Aston-Martin racing.
The attacks occurred during a training session for the race, even causing reigning champion Max Verstappen to radio in to his crew: "I can smell burning ... is it my car?"
After a short delay in which race organizers conferred, training resumed.
"We are aware of the attack on the Aramco distribution station in Jiddah earlier this afternoon," said race promoter Saudi Motorsport Company in a statement. "Race organizers remain in direct contact with the Saudi security authorities, as well as F1 and [governing body] FIA to ensure all necessary security and safety measures continue to be implemented. The race weekend schedule will continue as planned."
The statement said organizers looked forward to welcoming fans for a weekend of "premium racing and entertainment."
McLaren Team Principle Andreas Seidl said participants had to trust organizers. Still, he added, "it is a very unsettling situation for all of us."
F1 CEO Domenicali (r) defended his organization's business relations with with
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Formula 1 sells presence as shining light on unpleasant issues
Formula 1 is no stranger to controversy and has often been criticized for working with authoritarian governments.
When asked about the fact that recently Saudi Arabia — whose young crown prince stands accused in the grisly 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — publicly executed 81 people on one day, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali attempted to deflect criticism by saying, "The fact that we are here shines a light on issues that would otherwise appear in a different part of the news."
The Jiddah attacks are part of a larger seven-year war in Yemen. The conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition is the source of one of the world's largest current humanitarian crises.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the country's internationally recognized government after rebels took the capital Sanaa in 2014.
The United Nations in late 2021 said that as many as five million Yemenis face starvation and some four million have been displaced as a result of the war.
Conflict since coup pushes Myanmar’s displaced to nearly 900,000
By RFA’s Myanmar Service
2022.03.25
2022.03.25
Refugees in Kayah state's Demawso township, Jan. 12, 2022.Widespread conflict since the military took control of Myanmar has increased the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to nearly 900,000, according to the United Nations, and aid workers say that worsening food shortages are pushing the country ever closer to the brink of a humanitarian disaster.
Earlier this week, the U.N. Humanitarian Office said that 519,900 people had been displaced by clashes between the military and anti-junta forces throughout the country of 54 million since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, bringing the total of IDPs in Myanmar to 890,300.
The estimate of IDPs, which adds to the 370,400 people who had already fled conflict zones in Myanmar prior to the coup, came as a rights group called on foreign governments to take stronger action against the military’s widespread abuses in the lead up to Armed Forces Day celebrations planned by the junta for the weekend.
The agency said that civilians are suffering the consequences of escalated fighting in northwestern Myanmar’s Magway and Sagaing regions and the southeastern states of Kayah and Kayin, while aid groups have been hampered by tight security. The four areas are centers of fierce resistance to junta rule and have seen some of the worst violence since the coup.
An aid worker who spoke to RFA’s Myanmar service on condition of anonymity said refugees in the isolated Kayah townships of Demawso and Phruso have only poor-quality rice to eat each day because roadblocks erected amid the clashes had led to food shortages.
“The situation in Phruso is particularly bad. There’s been a severe food shortage there for a long time because they don’t have rice fields in the area and no rice can be transported there,” the worker said. “Even if you have money, you can’t buy rice anywhere.”
The worker added that those who have sought shelter in makeshift camps are also suffering from shortages of drinking water and medicine.
In Sagaing region, where the military is engaged in a scorched earth campaign, junta troops have attacked villages, setting some on fire and forcing residents to flee.
A resident of Shar Lwin village in Sagaing’s Khin Oo township, where 63 houses were recently destroyed by arson during a military raid, said inhabitants are too frightened to return to the area and are facing a water shortage while in hiding.
“Many villagers are in trouble. We are hiding in the forest and … as summer approaches, the major problem is water scarcity,” he said.
“There are health problems due to the change in climate. Not just our village, but all the villages in the area are suffering. I’m praying for a quick end to these troubles.”
In Khin Oo’s Kala Lu and Shar Lwin villages alone, troops set fire to at least 327 homes during the month of March, displacing an estimated 2,500 people.
In Southern Chin state’s Kanpetlet township, a week of intense fighting between the military and the anti-junta Kanpetlet Chin Defense Force (CDF) from March 10-17, forced more than 1,000 people from 10 villages to flee to the jungles, residents said — most of them with only the clothes on their backs.
“Fighting has been going on for some time between the junta and the CDF and the military fired heavy weapons randomly into the area several times,” said one of the township’s residents, who also declined to be named.
“All the elderly, children and disabled are now hiding in the forests and mountains. When fighting broke out, people were not prepared, so they had to flee to safety in a rush with nothing they needed. Everyone is having a hard time without any food.”
An official with the Chin Affairs Federation, who asked to be identified only as Mary, said the junta is actively blocking supplies to the area, exacerbating food shortages.
“People in the country are now living in fear. As soon as the soldiers enter a village, their priority is to destroy rice mills, if there are any. They always burn the rice mills first and then the barns,” she said.
“This is their strategy. When they cut off the food supplies, it becomes very difficult for people to survive. That’s the main problem facing IDPs in the country.”
She added that it was impossible to provide adequate assistance to refugees because of blocked food supply routes.
Ko Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Group, which helps refugees in Kayah state, called on the junta to reopen supply routes to alleviate hunger in the region.
“Food embargoes should never be imposed on IDPs emerging from conflict zones, regardless of the political situation,” he said. “The blockades must be reopened so that international aid can flow freely. These [IDPs] are the people of Myanmar, not enemies of the state.”
Ko Banyar also urged the U.N. to hold talks with the junta to ensure that refugees receive the help they desperately need.
The U.N. Humanitarian Office said staff have assisted refugees in northern Shan State but warned that the number of IDPs has increased drastically, as fighting intensified between the military and ethnic armed groups.
Last week, the agency said in a statement that despite an influx of humanitarian aid for 6.2 million non-IDPs in need of assistance, Myanmar has yet to receive funding for key sectors.
Also on Friday, New York-based Human Rights Watch called on concerned governments to strengthen economic sanctions against junta members and other senior military officers, as well as military-owned conglomerates, as it highlighted the military’s atrocities ahead of Armed Forces Day, observed in Myanmar on March 27.
The group also called for the United Nations Security Council to adopt a global arms embargo against Myanmar and refer the country situation to The Hague-based International Criminal Court over atrocities targeting civilians since the coup.
“Governments joining Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day celebrations are celebrating the military’s brutal suppression of its own people,” said Manny Maung, Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Governments should instead participate by enacting targeted sanctions against the generals and military businesses.”
On March 27, 2021, Myanmar security forces killed as many as 163 anti-coup protesters in deadly crackdowns in what is thought to be the bloodiest day of violence since military takeover.
Since the coup, security forces have killed people more than 1,700 civilians and arrested more than 9,900, according to Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
On Thursday, a joint report by Fortify Rights and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School identified 61 senior military and police officials who ordered abuses or are otherwise directly implicated in what it designated crimes against humanity in the first six months after the coup.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Biden administration had imposed sanctions on five Myanmar nationals and five entities in response to the junta’s crackdown on civilians.
In a statement that highlighted the deadly violence in Myanmar on Armed Forces Day last year, Blinken said that the sanctions were levelled by the administration “to show our strong support for the people of [Myanmar], and to promote accountability in connection with the coup and the violence perpetrated by the regime.”
Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
‘Crimes against humanity’ after Myanmar coup warrant ICC referral, new report finds
By Joshua Lipes
2022.03.24
2022.03.24
Family members of a protester killed during a crackdown by security forces on demonstrations against the military coup escort their body outside a morgue as mourners hold up the three finger salute at Thingangyun Hospital in Yangon, March 15, 2021.In the six months after seizing power in a coup, Myanmar’s military regime committed widespread and systematic crimes against humanity, according to a damning new report that identified dozens of junta officials it said should be investigated for their alleged roles in the atrocities.
The 193-page report, entitled "Nowhere is Safe" and published Wednesday by the Southeast Asian rights group Fortify Rights and the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, draws on more than 120 testimonies and leaked documents to detail how the junta murdered, imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, forcibly displaced, and persecuted civilians for months following its Feb. 1, 2021 putsch.
The report provides some of the most in-depth legal analysis of the atrocities in the aftermath of the coup to date and asserts that they meet the standard required by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant. It comes a week after a U.N. report concluded that the Myanmar army was responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The junta has yet to respond, but has previously dismissed such accusations as foreign interference based on falsehoods.
In a statement accompanying its release, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews said that Fortify Rights and the Schell Center had compiled key evidence that could one day be used to deliver justice to the junta’s victims.
“Published just days prior to the first anniversary of the Armed Forces Day Massacre, this report provides the international community a better understanding of the junta’s crimes, the individuals responsible, and their battalions’ locations in relation to attacks,” said Andrews, Robina Senior Fellow at the Schell Center, and author of the foreword to the report.
“This pivotal report on the junta’s horrendous crimes can help guide efforts to ensure accountability,” he added, calling on United Nations member states to “ensure accountability for these ongoing atrocities.”
On March 27, 2021, Myanmar's security forces killed more than 100 pro-democracy protesters in the bloodiest day since the coup, as the junta staged a show of might on its annual Armed Forces Day. In the nearly 14 months since seizing power, authorities have killed at least 1,700 civilians and arrested more than 9,870 – mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights organization based in Thailand.
In their report, Fortify Rights and the Schell Center identified 61 senior military and police officials they said are potentially liable for crimes against humanity, including junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander in Chief Vice Senior General Soe Win, and the Joint Chief of Staff General Mya Tun Oo. The men are also responsible for what the U.S. Biden administration on Monday determined to be genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017.
Other military and police suspects identified in the report are 19 Regional Commanders of the Police Force, 13 Regional Commanders from the military, and 27 other senior officials from the junta.
Only 20 of the 61 officials have been sanctioned by at least one government, according to Fortify Rights and the Schell Center.
“All individuals responsible for these crimes should be sanctioned and prosecuted,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights and co-author of the report.
“Governments should revamp and calibrate their foreign policies to support the people of Myanmar in ending the military’s attack. Governments should acknowledge the [shadow] National Unity Government of Myanmar, end weapons transfers to the military, and create conditions to ensure international jurisdiction over these crimes.”
The report also provides new details of the junta’s chain of command during the crackdown, including Min Aung Hlaing’s establishment of a “Special Command” in Naypyidaw, led by four senior generals, that had sole authority to deploy and command troops in civilian areas.
Active-duty military personnel critical of junta rule helped Fortify Rights and the Schell Center to establish the locations of 1,040 military units nationwide in their report, which could be used by prosecutors and policymakers geo-locate alleged perpetrators vis-a-vis crime scenes throughout the country.
In addition to collecting testimonies, Fortify Rights collected 1,153 data points of open-source information about specific incidents of human rights violations uploaded by Myanmar citizens.
In its examination of the evidence, the Schell Center found that from February to July 2021, forces under the junta’s command conducted “a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population with knowledge of the broader attack.” Based on its findings, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the junta committed crimes against humanity” as defined by the Rome Statute, the international treaty that led to the establishment of the ICC.
Among 28 recommendations made in their report, Fortify Rights and the Schell Center called on governments to ensure international justice for past and ongoing atrocity crimes Myanmar and to push the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation there to the ICC.
The report also urged U.N. Security Council member states to support a resolution to impose a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military – a recommendation U.N. Special Rapporteur Andrews made to the council in a report last month, saying that weapons purchased by the junta are almost certainly being used to kill innocent people.
Additionally, the report said governments should impose targeted sanctions against military-owned enterprises and block the junta’s access to natural gas revenues and access to financial services.
“The Myanmar military poses a threat to international peace and security,” said Roger Polack, Schell Center Visiting Human Rights Fellow and co-author of the report.
“The Security Council must live up to its mandate to respond to such threats—and must discharge its responsibility to protect—by putting forward a resolution that imposes the recommendations in this report.”
Polack said that absent action by the council, its member states should coordinate a similar response.
“Without a concerted effort to stop ongoing atrocities and to hold the junta accountable for the crimes it has committed to date, the junta will undoubtedly continue to persecute its opponents, murder civilians, and devastate the social, health, and economic well-being of Myanmar,” he said.
Peru community plans oppositionto Las Bambas mine expansion
By Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrun
LIMA (Reuters) - A Peruvian community has threatened to oppose the expansion of MMG Ltd's major Las Bambas copper mine, according to a document seen by Reuters, hinting at a new flashpoint for the project shortly after the state approved the increase in production.
Located in the Apurimac region of southern Peru, the Chinese-owned mine has been at the center of protests and road blockades since it started operations in 2016, which have caused it to frequently curtail its operations.
In a meeting on Thursday after the government's approval for the Las Bambas expansion was announced, the local Huancuire community said it would take all necessary "legal and social" measures to prevent the development of a second open pit copper mine called Chalcobamba.
"We are adamant in pointing out that we will not allow, or tolerate the start of operations in the unconsulted Chalcobamba project," the Huancuire community said in a document seen by Reuters and signed by local leaders on Thursday.
Peru's energy and mining ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
MMG, which controls Las Bambas, said it will complete work on Chalcobamba within five months to begin production in the second half of 2022.
The company expects the development of the project to increase its production to 400,000 tonnes of copper concentrate per year in the medium term, up from 380,000 tonnes.
Peru is the world's No. 2 copper producer after Chile and Las Bambas produces 2% of the world's supply of the red metal.
Huancuire's community leaders claims that the Ministry of Energy and Mines authorized the construction of Chalcobamba without having completed due diligence procedures with the community to start the project.
Most of those living near the mine are indigenous people of Quechua descent and have repeatedly accused the Chinese company of failing to provide enough jobs and money to the region, one of the poorest in Peru, despite the vast mineral wealth.
Later on Friday, the federal government said in a statement it would send more national police troops to the region, an effort it says will free up the movement of vehicles and people and avoid disruption to regional economic activity. The move is a shift in strategy by the government of leftist President Pedro Castillo, who was attempting to avoid police confrontation with communities in the area.
"The Ministry of the Interior maintains a dissuasive police presence, guaranteeing the normal development of activities, both for communities and for companies in the public and private sectors," it said.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrun; Writing by Steven Grattan and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Op-Ed: Ukraine media coverage – Euphemisms uber alles ad nauseam, but…?
ByPaul Wallis
Published March 25, 2022
Map of Ukraine locating the humanitarian corridors agreed between Ukraine and Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians from areas hit by shelling. Updated as of March 19. — © AFP
The coverage of the Ukraine war has now reached an astonishing level of prim and proper euphemism. According to Reuters:
Russian troops are now falling back due to overextended (aka destroyed, non-viable, and non-existent) supply lines. This is now considered an explanation for the total failure of the Russian offensives.
The Russians will now focus on the Donbas region claimed by separatists. Presumably meaning the entire stated object of demilitarizing Ukraine is no longer a subject for discussion.
The New York Times says Russia is shifting focus to a “recalibration” of war aims. According to NYT, Russia now says the first stage of the operation has been “mainly accomplished” and Ukraine’s combat capacity “significantly reduced”. By the same sort of numbers and logic, Russian combat capacity has been “significantly obliterated”.
Russia doesn’t exclude forces “storming” major cities, though, in case anyone was wondering. (With what and when, one may ask? The Kamchatka Infant’s Bible Class? When the buzzards return to Novosibirsk? You can just hear the spiritual orgasms all across Russia, can’t you?)
Russia needs an out from this war. Euphemisms seem to work better than the Russian army in this regard. Realistically, they have no hope whatsoever of taking Kyiv and really never had. Their forces are basically evaporating. One Russian commander was killed by his own troops. The troops are said to be furious about their losses.
The credibility gap between official Russian casualty figures and other estimates is now extreme. According to Russian figures, they’ve lost 1300 killed in Ukraine. That number barely covers the number of drivers in destroyed vehicles. NATO says losses are around 7,000 to 15,000. Ukraine says about 16,000.
(In practice, while casualty figures in all wars are notoriously unreliable, the sheer lack of activity around Kyiv and other regions tells a simple enough story; no troops. An all-out offensive suddenly turns into apologia and evasions. No real need to guess what’s happening.)
…So this obviously so successful operation has now decided to withdraw to focus on the Donbas. (Withdrawal makes sense. There’s no military point in staying. Maybe to Irkutsk, near Alaska, where spring is just arriving? Or some nice gulag in the area?)
Another interpretation would be somewhat less rosy:
The overall operation is a disaster.
The large scale military effort is not sustainable.
The ridiculous 60km convoy and troops got eaten up northwest of Kyiv.
The north eastern attack on Kyiv is being pushed back.
Bombardment is their only ground option due to lack of troops.
Mariupol hasn’t been taken because they simply can’t take it.
They haven’t got anywhere with Odessa.
Russian deserters are a much bigger issue than admitted.
The dead and wounded are coming back from Ukraine in their thousands, it’s unavoidable news that can’t be suppressed for the Russian people.
There probably is a reason for this demure media babble
Russian government statements are still receiving the courtesy of anyone bothering to report them. Mainstream media isn’t being as hostile as it easily could be. There has to be a reason for that. The media is playing nice, perhaps just to maintain access to Russian government sources.
A more likely reason is that Russia is trying to redefine its diplomatic position for negotiations, and the Western media is cooperating. So it should, and so should Western governments. That’s crucial to ending this war. Russia must have an out.
Nobody really knows what the situation in Russia is, either. What really happens in Russia usually only emerges in history books next century, anyway. The only unarguable information is that Ukraine has had a blast effect in the higher Russian government and military echelons. That’s hardly specific.
A “shift in focus” is probably the greatest euphemism of them all. This war is effectively winding down, if not yet over. Withdrawal makes more sense than anything else at this point, from military and political perspectives.
With a bit of luck, the past will finally get over itself and move on to the present. It’d be a nice change.
ByPaul Wallis
Published March 25, 2022
Map of Ukraine locating the humanitarian corridors agreed between Ukraine and Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians from areas hit by shelling. Updated as of March 19. — © AFP
The coverage of the Ukraine war has now reached an astonishing level of prim and proper euphemism. According to Reuters:
Russian troops are now falling back due to overextended (aka destroyed, non-viable, and non-existent) supply lines. This is now considered an explanation for the total failure of the Russian offensives.
The Russians will now focus on the Donbas region claimed by separatists. Presumably meaning the entire stated object of demilitarizing Ukraine is no longer a subject for discussion.
The New York Times says Russia is shifting focus to a “recalibration” of war aims. According to NYT, Russia now says the first stage of the operation has been “mainly accomplished” and Ukraine’s combat capacity “significantly reduced”. By the same sort of numbers and logic, Russian combat capacity has been “significantly obliterated”.
Russia doesn’t exclude forces “storming” major cities, though, in case anyone was wondering. (With what and when, one may ask? The Kamchatka Infant’s Bible Class? When the buzzards return to Novosibirsk? You can just hear the spiritual orgasms all across Russia, can’t you?)
Russia needs an out from this war. Euphemisms seem to work better than the Russian army in this regard. Realistically, they have no hope whatsoever of taking Kyiv and really never had. Their forces are basically evaporating. One Russian commander was killed by his own troops. The troops are said to be furious about their losses.
The credibility gap between official Russian casualty figures and other estimates is now extreme. According to Russian figures, they’ve lost 1300 killed in Ukraine. That number barely covers the number of drivers in destroyed vehicles. NATO says losses are around 7,000 to 15,000. Ukraine says about 16,000.
(In practice, while casualty figures in all wars are notoriously unreliable, the sheer lack of activity around Kyiv and other regions tells a simple enough story; no troops. An all-out offensive suddenly turns into apologia and evasions. No real need to guess what’s happening.)
…So this obviously so successful operation has now decided to withdraw to focus on the Donbas. (Withdrawal makes sense. There’s no military point in staying. Maybe to Irkutsk, near Alaska, where spring is just arriving? Or some nice gulag in the area?)
Another interpretation would be somewhat less rosy:
The overall operation is a disaster.
The large scale military effort is not sustainable.
The ridiculous 60km convoy and troops got eaten up northwest of Kyiv.
The north eastern attack on Kyiv is being pushed back.
Bombardment is their only ground option due to lack of troops.
Mariupol hasn’t been taken because they simply can’t take it.
They haven’t got anywhere with Odessa.
Russian deserters are a much bigger issue than admitted.
The dead and wounded are coming back from Ukraine in their thousands, it’s unavoidable news that can’t be suppressed for the Russian people.
There probably is a reason for this demure media babble
Russian government statements are still receiving the courtesy of anyone bothering to report them. Mainstream media isn’t being as hostile as it easily could be. There has to be a reason for that. The media is playing nice, perhaps just to maintain access to Russian government sources.
A more likely reason is that Russia is trying to redefine its diplomatic position for negotiations, and the Western media is cooperating. So it should, and so should Western governments. That’s crucial to ending this war. Russia must have an out.
Nobody really knows what the situation in Russia is, either. What really happens in Russia usually only emerges in history books next century, anyway. The only unarguable information is that Ukraine has had a blast effect in the higher Russian government and military echelons. That’s hardly specific.
A “shift in focus” is probably the greatest euphemism of them all. This war is effectively winding down, if not yet over. Withdrawal makes more sense than anything else at this point, from military and political perspectives.
With a bit of luck, the past will finally get over itself and move on to the present. It’d be a nice change.
France, Greece and Turkey plan mass evacuation of Mariupol’s survivors
Seen from space, the shattered wreckage of Mariupol's Drama Theatre where Soviet bombs are believed to have claimed at least 300, most women and children. Photo: Getty
The New Daily@TheNewDailyAU11:09am, Mar 26
France is planning a humanitarian operation with Turkey and Greece that will defy Russia’s siege of the devastated southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan on Friday evening after an EU summit in Brussels.
There were already concrete talks with the mayor of Mariupol and co-ordination with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Macron said.
The key question will be Russia’s response to the evacuation initiave as its troops continue to mount a campaign of attrition to gain control of the historic and strategically vital Black Sea port.
According to the Elysee Palace, France is in contact with the Ukrainian authorities, the Greeks, the Turks and the relevant international organisations in order to specify the needs to be met.
The action should start in the next few days, according to Paris.
On Friday, local officials, citing witness accounts, said as many as 300 people may have been killed in the bombing of a theatre in Mariupol on March 16.
The city council made clear it was still not possible to determine the exact death toll after the incident, in which it said a powerful Russian air strike hit the Drama Theatre where hundreds of people had been sheltering in the encircled city.
Russia has denied bombing the theatre. The Kremlin says Russian forces have not targeted civilians during their invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.
-with AAP
Seen from space, the shattered wreckage of Mariupol's Drama Theatre where Soviet bombs are believed to have claimed at least 300, most women and children. Photo: Getty
The New Daily@TheNewDailyAU11:09am, Mar 26
France is planning a humanitarian operation with Turkey and Greece that will defy Russia’s siege of the devastated southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan on Friday evening after an EU summit in Brussels.
There were already concrete talks with the mayor of Mariupol and co-ordination with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Macron said.
The key question will be Russia’s response to the evacuation initiave as its troops continue to mount a campaign of attrition to gain control of the historic and strategically vital Black Sea port.
According to the Elysee Palace, France is in contact with the Ukrainian authorities, the Greeks, the Turks and the relevant international organisations in order to specify the needs to be met.
The action should start in the next few days, according to Paris.
On Friday, local officials, citing witness accounts, said as many as 300 people may have been killed in the bombing of a theatre in Mariupol on March 16.
The city council made clear it was still not possible to determine the exact death toll after the incident, in which it said a powerful Russian air strike hit the Drama Theatre where hundreds of people had been sheltering in the encircled city.
Russia has denied bombing the theatre. The Kremlin says Russian forces have not targeted civilians during their invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.
-with AAP
Extremists have their fingerprints all over the GOP
Opinion by Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst
Fri March 25, 2022
Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book "The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment." Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.
(CNN)It was quite a week for the Republican Party. If anyone was still holding out hope that the GOP would shift away from its Trumpian pull, the last few days should serve as a powerful wake-up call.
Julian Zelizer
During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, a number of conservative Republican senators who appear to have an eye on 2024 raised the specter of conspiracy theories in an attempt to sidetrack a well-qualified and highly respected nominee.
Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, for example, went after Jackson by trying to paint a misleading picture that she had been particularly lenient toward sex offenders.
While the "soft on crime" line of attack might seem like a predictable extension of a decades-long Republican "law and order" strategy, commentators have pointed out that the senators may have been trying to appeal to those who follow QAnon and believe the conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump is locked in a battle against a group of elites who run a child sex ring.
Others fell back on another Republican bogeyman: critical race theory. Sen. Ted Cruz's version of "gotcha" was to hold up books that had been assigned or recommended at a private school in Washington where Jackson is a board member, trying to make the case that they covered radical concepts unfit for children.
Throughout the confirmation hearings, Republicans tried to score cheap political points by delving into bizarre lines of argument -- all of which revealed how fringe talking points had become mainstream. Top elected officials were espousing claims that in earlier eras would have been considered too far off base to focus on during a televised proceeding.
And then news broke that the January 6 committee had text messages sent by Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff at the end of his presidency.
Since New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer first broke the story about the ethical clash between Virginia Thomas' high-level participation in right-wing organizations and the cases her husband participates in, more troubling details have emerged.
Thomas, who has ties to right-wing activists who have brought forth issues before the very court on which her husband sits, texted Meadows 29 times between the 2020 election and January 2021, urging him to continue the fight to overturn the election results.
"Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down," she wrote on November 19, 2020. In other texts, she made references to Trump's often-repeated lie that the election was stolen and called Biden's victory "the greatest Heist of our History."
"Release the Kraken," a catchphrase from the 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans," had been repurposed by conservatives to refer to sprawling claims of voter fraud. Virginia Thomas' use of this kind of rhetoric is one thing -- even more troubling is her involvement in an anti-democratic campaign by the incumbent President and his allies to stifle the decision of the electorate.
The way in which the far right has influenced the mainstream Republican Party has been one of the pivotal stories in American politics in recent years. This radicalization has created a situation in Washington where one party has shifted further from center than the other. Norms of restraint, civility and governance have taken a back seat to raw partisanship. Lawmakers are increasingly performative and eager to throw red meat to their followers without any concern for the consequences. Indeed, January 6 was a product of this mentality, as Republicans repeated Trump's dangerous lies and those of his allies about a "stolen election."
The hearings this week were another case in point, showing how even familiar arguments like the appeal to law and order (itself a tool of partisanship from past eras that now seem quaint by comparison) have morphed into a world of extremism once reserved for the far reaches of the internet. Now, the logic seems to be that if you want to run for the Republican presidential nomination, you don't play to the center but court the conspiracists.
Unless Republican leaders pull back, they will never be able to move in the direction that some more moderate GOP members, such as former Texas Congressman Will Hurd, have championed. In his new book, "American Reboot: An Idealists Guide to Getting Big Things Done," Hurd urges his fellow party members to shed the conspiracy thinking and attempt to broaden their electoral coalition. The GOP, he writes, "must stop peddling conspiracy theories like those that led to the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021."
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While Hurd's vision would offer the best bet for the Republican Party to strengthen its future and safeguard our democracy, party members continue to move the GOP in a very different direction, as we saw this week. And the closer we get to the 2022 midterms, the more likely it is for prominent Republicans to double down on extremist ideas rather than internal reform. It could be that Hurd is the voice of the future, but right now, that future is far off.
Opinion by Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst
Fri March 25, 2022
Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book "The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment." Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.
(CNN)It was quite a week for the Republican Party. If anyone was still holding out hope that the GOP would shift away from its Trumpian pull, the last few days should serve as a powerful wake-up call.
Julian Zelizer
During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, a number of conservative Republican senators who appear to have an eye on 2024 raised the specter of conspiracy theories in an attempt to sidetrack a well-qualified and highly respected nominee.
Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, for example, went after Jackson by trying to paint a misleading picture that she had been particularly lenient toward sex offenders.
While the "soft on crime" line of attack might seem like a predictable extension of a decades-long Republican "law and order" strategy, commentators have pointed out that the senators may have been trying to appeal to those who follow QAnon and believe the conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump is locked in a battle against a group of elites who run a child sex ring.
Others fell back on another Republican bogeyman: critical race theory. Sen. Ted Cruz's version of "gotcha" was to hold up books that had been assigned or recommended at a private school in Washington where Jackson is a board member, trying to make the case that they covered radical concepts unfit for children.
Throughout the confirmation hearings, Republicans tried to score cheap political points by delving into bizarre lines of argument -- all of which revealed how fringe talking points had become mainstream. Top elected officials were espousing claims that in earlier eras would have been considered too far off base to focus on during a televised proceeding.
And then news broke that the January 6 committee had text messages sent by Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff at the end of his presidency.
Since New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer first broke the story about the ethical clash between Virginia Thomas' high-level participation in right-wing organizations and the cases her husband participates in, more troubling details have emerged.
Thomas, who has ties to right-wing activists who have brought forth issues before the very court on which her husband sits, texted Meadows 29 times between the 2020 election and January 2021, urging him to continue the fight to overturn the election results.
"Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down," she wrote on November 19, 2020. In other texts, she made references to Trump's often-repeated lie that the election was stolen and called Biden's victory "the greatest Heist of our History."
"Release the Kraken," a catchphrase from the 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans," had been repurposed by conservatives to refer to sprawling claims of voter fraud. Virginia Thomas' use of this kind of rhetoric is one thing -- even more troubling is her involvement in an anti-democratic campaign by the incumbent President and his allies to stifle the decision of the electorate.
The way in which the far right has influenced the mainstream Republican Party has been one of the pivotal stories in American politics in recent years. This radicalization has created a situation in Washington where one party has shifted further from center than the other. Norms of restraint, civility and governance have taken a back seat to raw partisanship. Lawmakers are increasingly performative and eager to throw red meat to their followers without any concern for the consequences. Indeed, January 6 was a product of this mentality, as Republicans repeated Trump's dangerous lies and those of his allies about a "stolen election."
The hearings this week were another case in point, showing how even familiar arguments like the appeal to law and order (itself a tool of partisanship from past eras that now seem quaint by comparison) have morphed into a world of extremism once reserved for the far reaches of the internet. Now, the logic seems to be that if you want to run for the Republican presidential nomination, you don't play to the center but court the conspiracists.
Unless Republican leaders pull back, they will never be able to move in the direction that some more moderate GOP members, such as former Texas Congressman Will Hurd, have championed. In his new book, "American Reboot: An Idealists Guide to Getting Big Things Done," Hurd urges his fellow party members to shed the conspiracy thinking and attempt to broaden their electoral coalition. The GOP, he writes, "must stop peddling conspiracy theories like those that led to the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021."
Get our free weekly newsletter
While Hurd's vision would offer the best bet for the Republican Party to strengthen its future and safeguard our democracy, party members continue to move the GOP in a very different direction, as we saw this week. And the closer we get to the 2022 midterms, the more likely it is for prominent Republicans to double down on extremist ideas rather than internal reform. It could be that Hurd is the voice of the future, but right now, that future is far off.
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