Who woulda thought Russia’s Ukraine invasion from last Feb 24 would still be going on?? Not your Eyewitness!! Yet here we are – just a day from a full year on – and the missile attacks, tank warfare, skirmishes and aerial bombardment are not just continuing but intensifying!! All is NOT quiet on the European front!! Luckily there’s been no feared nuclear missile strikes – but who knows?? With ultra-nationalistic sentiments being stirred on both sides, you really can’t rule out the “ultimate doomsday machine” being rolled out.
So what’s really going on? Or what most really want to know – who’s winning? Now, as your Eyewitness has emphasised, the old aphorism “truth is the first casualty of war” has certainly been reaffirmed over the last year. So we gotta take what we hear from both sides with more than a pinch of salt!! And since in ole mudland, we get 99.9% of our news from Western media sources – and the West’s totally backing Ukraine – we should probably grab a handful of salt!! Your Eyewitness has strained mightily to get a peek at news from the Russian side, but it just brought home how – even in this age of global interconnectedness – how news from both sides is controlled.
An example is this excerpt from “The Conversation” – a site that your Eyewitness regards as fairly objective: “In a move that echoed the draconian censorship laws of earlier ages, the Russian government declared its media war just days after it invaded its neighbour. The new legislation meant journalists risked jail if they refused to follow dutifully the official line that the war was “a special military operation”, and not a war at all.” But has the Western media self-censorship been any different?? With social media’s ubiquity, one would’ve thought that alternate views would’ve been circulated. But it ain’t happening. So to our question?
For the Russians, they are winning and the war has dragged on because of Putin’s magnanimity in not wanting to level Ukraine into the Stone Age. And on “our” Western side, we’ve lapped up the narrative of the brave Ukrainians defending “democracy” against the Russian hordes. Ukrainian President Zelensky, being a comedian and very familiar with the media, has played them like a fiddle. This war has been his biggest role and he revels in it. The Commander in Chief Biden just dropped in personally to assure him NATO and Europe will support him to the last Ukrainian.
So who’s winning?? Reading between the propaganda lines, your Eyewitness believes in the inevitable settlement, Russia’s gonna control eastern Ukraine and keep its “strategic depth”!! But “peace” just allows preparation for the next war.
The West signalled China it’s willing to mix it up!!
…over Mocha squatters
As you’d know by now, Dear Reader, your Eyewitness stands with underdogs. But even there, he tries to ensure that the big picture is kept in mind at all times, since in this world, we just can’t all get everything we want. In every situation – even in a win-win scenario – some will feel their “win” ought to’ve been absolute. In other words, there will be those who’ll always want to be the winners in a “win-lose” scenario!
So, let’s take the situation that developed at Mocha Arcadia, where 35 squatters were offered alternative houses and land for livestock. Twenty-seven accepted and the homes of four were (unfortunately) bulldozed. But what was the Government to do about its “no squatting” policy?? Well, the holdouts have now taken their battle to the courts – after the Government balked at “mediation”.
This, of course, is the right of all citizens and your Eyewitness hopes both sides will respect the judgement of the court.
The Judiciary is supposed to prevent war!!
…by vigilantes??
The Police gotta act expeditiously when citizens take the law into their own hands. They are the State organ created specifically to enforce the law. The vigilante of Hopetown who torched that poor farmer must face the courts!!
