Russian lying and bullying. Life lessons for the children.

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Russian lying is on full display in the sinking of the Moscva. They have claimed:
o   The problem was a fire on board the ship – it had nothing to do with Ukrainian missiles
o   The Russians were able to save all 500+ sailors on board
o   The ship was sunk by NATO munitions – the Ukrainians could not have done it by themselves
o   Sinking the Moskva was an unprovoked attack by a vicious Ukraine on an innocent Russia, justifying a declaration of war

These statements are self-contradictory. Moreover, it appears that the 54 sailors who did survive were picked up by the Turks, responding to an SOS. There are pictures and eyewitness accounts.

The Russians have claimed that the atrocities in Bucha and Irpin were committed by the Ukrainians themselves. Incredible amounts of evidence immediately give the lie to this. 85% of the dead were shot rather than killed by artillery or bombing. They died during the period that the Russians occupied the towns. People in those settlements were describing in real time what was going on.

The Russians claim that Ukrainians shelled their own railway station at Kramatorsk to create victims they could blame on the Russians.  They claim that the Azov Battalion shelled Mariupol to create such victims. Outrageous fantasies.

A century ago the Soviet Union had a number of apologists in the United States, but they were continually frustrated by the Soviets changing their lies in midstream.  It was impossible to keep up.

The Russian habits of lying and dealing in bad faith have their consequences. They have long been untrustworthy trade partners for Ukraine. They would sign a deal for delivering gas, for instance, and invent excuses such as broken compressor pumps for not doing so when the price went against them. In international diplomacy, they have never seemed to be able to conclude a deal. They now feel paranoid as the world realizes that the bully was a paper tiger.

Even as they are fighting in Ukraine, Putin continues to menace Japan with regard to the Kuril Islands, which have been disputed since World War II. They continue to threaten Azerbaijan in its confrontation with Armenia. They continue to menace Sweden and Finland, as they join NATO, and the NATO nations such as Great Britain and Poland that are delivering arms to Ukraine. There is such a flurry of impotent threats that they are increasingly easy to ignore.

Even longtime trade partners, Germany heading the list, are reluctantly concluding that the Russians are not going to be reliable partners and that they can live without Russian resources.

Russia's bullying here in Ukraine is similarly unfocused and unproductive. They are bombing Lviv not for any strategic objective but simply because they can.  Air defenses are too strong in Kyiv and Odessa. They targeted the train station in Lviv with missiles to terrorize the refugees coming and going, not for any strategic objective.

Russia has kidnapped tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of civilians, disproportionately children, and taken them to Russia. What for? They cannot conceivably reeducate the adults to be Russian sympathizers. Most of the children will long remember the destruction of their families and homes by Russians. Taking care of them properly, even providing the poor living conditions that they certainly will offer, will be a major expense. Their mere presence should raise significant questions among the Russian civilian population. What is their government doing?

Russia has bullied its Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) partners. The five remaining are Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. There are three former members: Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia.  Characteristically, Russia has managed to initiate wars with the latter two.

Russia has threatened to invoke the mutual defense provisions within the treaty on the ludicrous pretext that Ukraine’s attack on the ship Moskva was unprovoked. Belarus is actively backpedaling, unenthusiastic and embarrassed by its forced participation in the war against Ukraine so far. Kazakhstan has outright said that the war in Ukraine is a mistake. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which would have almost nothing to offer in the first place, are keeping their distance. Armenia has its hands full with its Russian-provoked war against Azerbaijan.

China is a more prudent bully than Russia, also more skillful and possessed of more leverage. They have carefully kept their distance as Putin continues to dig himself deeper into a hole in Ukraine. China will smugly exploit its leverage as the only country to which Russia can sell its natural resources, but will not offer much if any material support for this ill-fated war.  The bottom line is that bullying is not going to bring Russia useful assistance from its supposed friends.

Russian bullying no longer has a significant dampening effect on Ukraine and the rest of Europe. It used to keep reluctant allies in line. It has historically restrained dissidents within the Soviet Union itself.   Threats of reprisals have kept soldiers from deserting and sailors from mutiny. Terror has compelled subject peoples to do things Russia's way. But perhaps no longer.

The useful idiots in the United States have been vociferously supporting Russia, with headlines such as Mariupol: 1000 Gay Satanic Terrorists Surrender in a Single Day.  They have been  fond of pointing to the sham referenda in Crimea and the Donbass to justify Russia's control over these areas.

These idiots should pay close attention to the fraudulent elections being thrust on the people of Kherson to justify the establishment of a people's republic there. This time there are real-time reports of the fraud. People living there are able to talk by telephone with contacts in the West. They describe the ways in which they are being forced to vote. The charade is totally transparent, and it should make the extent to which previous such referenda were shams appreciable by all.

This war has revived discussion of the religious concept of pure evil. We tend to dismiss or invent psychological excuses for it, but it seems in this instance to be a reality.

Her legacy of deceit, bullying and bluff is having a significant negative impact on Russia's prosecution of the war. But that's a topic for tomorrow.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the strong men discuss the topic daily, the good looking women are politically involved as never before, and the children are being introduced to the real world at a young age. It may be all for the better that it is so crude and obvious with regard to the Russians. It will make it easier to understand the subtleties of the World Economic Forum and the New World Order agenda.

Graham