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Leaked stories from the Pentagon have exposed how mainstream media reports Russia’s conduct in the Ukraine war, in a bid to counter propaganda intended to get NATO into the conflict, writes Joe Lauria.



Consortium News
Consortium News
Volume 27, Number 84 — Friday, March 25, 2022
FOREIGN POLICY, INTERNATIONAL, MEDIA, MILITARY, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, PENTAGON, RUSSIA, UKRAINE
Pentagon Drops Truth Bombs to Stave Off War With Russia
March 23, 2022
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UPDATED: Leaked stories from the Pentagon have exposed how mainstream media reports Russia’s conduct in the Ukraine war, in a bid to counter propaganda intended to get NATO into the conflict, writes Joe Lauria.


The Pentagon. (Joe Lauria)

By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News



The Pentagon is engaged in a consequential battle with the U.S. State Department and the Congress to prevent a direct military confrontation with Russia, which could unleash the most unimaginable horror of war.

President Joe Biden is caught in the middle of the fray. So far he is siding with the Defense Department, saying there cannot be a NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine fighting Russian aircraft because “that’s called World War III, okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys. We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine.”

“President Biden’s been clear that U.S. troops won’t fight Russia in Ukraine, and if you establish a no-fly zone, certainly in order to enforce that no-fly zone, you’ll have to engage Russian aircraft. And again, that would put us at war with Russia,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier this month. (The administration plan is to bring down the Russian government through a ground insurgency and economic war, not a direct military one.)

But pressure on the White House from some members of Congress and especially the press corps is unrelenting to recklessly bring NATO directly into the war. (Secretary of State Antony Blinken who initially backed a plan to send NATO planes from Poland to Ukraine has backed down and now opposes any no-fly zone. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also supported the Polish planes scheme, which was shot down by the Pentagon.)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, hailed as a virtual superhero in Western media, has vacillated between openness to negotiating a peace settlement with Russia and calling for NATO, again on Friday, to “close the skies” above Ukraine. To save his country he appears willing to risk endangering the entire world.

Meanwhile, Western corporate media, depending almost exclusively on Ukrainian sources, report that Russia is losing the war, with its military offensive “stalled,” and in frustration has deliberately targeted civilians and flattened cities.

Biden has bought into this part of the story, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” He has also said that Russia is planning a “false flag” chemical attack to pin on Ukraine.

But on Tuesday, the Pentagon took the bold step of leaking two stories to reporters that contradict those tales. “Russia’s conduct in the brutal war tells a different story than the widely accepted view that Vladimir Putin is intent on demolishing Ukraine and inflicting maximum civilian damage—and it reveals the Russian leader’s strategic balancing act,” reported Newsweek in an article entitled, “Putin’s Bombers Could Devastate Ukraine But He’s Holding Back. Here’s Why.”

The piece quotes an unnamed analyst at the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) saying, “The heart of Kyiv has barely been touched. And almost all of the long-range strikes have been aimed at military targets.”

A retired U.S. Air Force officer now working as an analyst for a Pentagon contractor, added: “We need to understand Russia’s actual conduct. If we merely convince ourselves that Russia is bombing indiscriminately, or [that] it is failing to inflict more harm because its personnel are not up to the task or because it is technically inept, then we are not seeing the real conflict.”

The article says:

“As of the past weekend, in 24 days of conflict, Russia has flown some 1,400 strike sorties and delivered almost 1,000 missiles (by contrast, the United States flew more sorties and delivered more weapons in the first day of the 2003 Iraq war). …

A proportion of those strikes have damaged and destroyed civilian structures and killed and injured innocent civilians, but the level of death and destruction is low compared to Russia’s capacity.

‘I know it’s hard … to swallow that the carnage and destruction could be much worse than it is,’ says the DIA analyst. ‘But that’s what the facts show. This suggests to me, at least, that Putin is not intentionally attacking civilians, that perhaps he is mindful that he needs to limit damage in order to leave an out for negotiations.'”

A second retired U.S. Air Force officer says:

“I’m frustrated by the current narrative—that Russia is intentionally targeting civilians, that it is demolishing cities, and that Putin doesn’t care. Such a distorted view stands in the way of finding an end before true disaster hits or the war spreads to the rest of Europe. I know that the news keeps repeating that Putin is targeting civilians, but there is no evidence that Russia is intentionally doing so. In fact, I’d say that Russian could be killing thousands more civilians if it wanted to.”

These Pentagon sources confirm what Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense have been saying all along: that instead of being “stalled,” Russia is executing a methodical war plan to encircle cities, opening humanitarian corridors for civilians, leaving civilian infrastructure like water, electricity, telephony and internet intact, and trying to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible.

Until these Pentagon leaks it was difficult to confirm that Russia was entirely telling the truth and that corporate media were publishing fables cooked up by Ukraine’s publicity machine.

No Evidence of Chemicals

The Pentagon’s mettle will be tested if there is a chemical weapons attack in Ukraine. Biden has said Russia would pay a “severe price” but who the perpetrator would be might be murky. Whoever might be behind such an attack, the calls for direct military action are sure to increase in the U.S. media, the Congress and perhaps internally at the State Dept.

The second mainstream article directly undermines Biden’s dramatic warning. Reuters reported: “The United States has not yet seen any concrete indications of an imminent Russian chemical or biological weapons attack in Ukraine but is closely monitoring streams of intelligence for them, a senior U.S. defense official said.”

It quoted the Pentagon official as saying, “There’s no indication that there’s something imminent in that regard right now.” Neither The New York Times nor The Washington Post published the Reuters article, which appeared in the more obscure U.S. News and World Report.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story — even if it could lead to the most devastating consequences in history.

Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He can be reached at joelauria@consortiumnews.com and followed on Twitter @unjoe



https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/23/pentagon-drops-truth-bombs-to-stave-off-war-with-russia/

Drenimarcus:
These Pentagon sources confirm what Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense have been saying all along: that instead of being “stalled,” Russia is executing a methodical war plan to encircle cities, opening humanitarian corridors for civilians, leaving civilian infrastructure like water, electricity, telephony and internet intact, and trying to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible.

Until these Pentagon leaks it was difficult to confirm that Russia was entirely telling the truth and that corporate media were publishing fables cooked up by Ukraine’s publicity machine.



Well, well, well. What do we have here.

They had better keep their ego in check. $30 trillion in debt, rising inflation and disgruntled citizens. Besides, this is Russia not some Laos country. They escalated it to this point already.

I am not ready to be nuked out of existence cos of some foolish egos.

Drenimarcus:
These Pentagon sources confirm what Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense have been saying all along: that instead of being “stalled,” Russia is executing a methodical war plan to encircle cities, opening humanitarian corridors for civilians, leaving civilian infrastructure like water, electricity, telephony and internet intact, and trying to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible.

Until these Pentagon leaks it was difficult to confirm that Russia was entirely telling the truth and that corporate media were publishing fables cooked up by Ukraine’s publicity machine.



Well, well, well. What do we have here.

They had better keep their ego in check. $30 trillion in debt, rising inflation and disgruntled citizens. Besides, this is Russia not some Laos country. They escalated it to this point already.

I am not ready to be nuked out of existence cos of some foolish egos.

huptin:
Can i ask a question? This $30tn you mentioned as debt, who did America borrow it from? Remember that the US owns the dollar? How can a country borrow its own currency from elsewhere?

The concept of America's debt is very different, do not take it at the surface level.

huptin:
Can i ask a question? This $30tn you mentioned as debt, who did America borrow it from? Remember that the US owns the dollar? How can a country borrow its own currency from elsewhere?

The concept of America's debt is very different, do not take it at the surface level.

Japan is the largest foreign creditor of the US. Since March 2020, its holdings have ticked up by less than $5 billion, to $1.28 trillion at the end of June, zigzagging up and down without going anywhere.

China is the second-largest foreign creditor of the US. In June, its holdings fell by $16 billion from the prior month to $1.06 trillion bouncing into the multi-year low of $1.05 trillion achieved during peak capital flight in December 2016. Since March 2020, China’s holdings fell by $21 billion:

The 10 biggest foreign holders after Japan & China are mostly tax havens and financial centers, some of them tiny countries. The exceptions are Brazil and India. At some of them, US corporations have established corporate entities where some of their Treasury holdings are registered, such as Apple’s holdings in Ireland.

UK (“City of London” financial center): $453 billion
Ireland: $323 billion
Luxembourg: $302 billion
Switzerland: $270 billion
Brazil: $249 billion
Cayman Islands: $244 billion
Taiwan: $239 billion
Belgium: $228 billion
India: $220 billion
Hong Kong: $219 billion

https://wolfstreet.com/2021/08/17/who-bought-the-5-trillion-piled-on-top-of-the-monstrous-us-national-debt-in-15-months/

https://wolfstreet.com/2022/02/02/the-incredibly-spiking-us-national-debt-hits-a-monstrous-30-trillion/

ayindejimmy:
Actually, The US debt is $28t.
Now, tell us a country in the world without debt.
And all those debt are in $. Even all foreign reserves of countries are either in gold or $.

So forget about the US owing any debt. That economy must never crash, because if it does... I don't think I need tell you what that means .

huptin:
Add all these together is it up to $22tn? These are trade credits, mostly short term. The majority of the debt who borrows the United states? How can China borrow US dollars when China's currency is Yuan for instance?

Why can't US just print dollars to pay these creditors off? You think the US cannot do that? Infact do you think they dont?

huptin:
Add all these together is it up to $22tn? These are trade credits, mostly short term. The majority of the debt who borrows the United states? How can China borrow US dollars when China's currency is Yuan for instance?

Why can't US just print dollars to pay these creditors off? You think the US cannot do that? Infact do you think they dont?

budaatum:
First, get a new calculator. The one you are using isn't working well.

US can't just print dollars to pay their creditors. They issues treasurys to raise money, which is debt they owe plus interest. Anyone who buys it is paid in dollars. If they just print dollars their currency will lose value and interest will rise to compensate. And yes they have done that, somehow, and that's why interests are now going up.

Drenimarcus:
It’s $30 trillion. Nope, the US dollar isn’t back by gold. President Nixon changed that. Well, the economy crashed in 2008 and they never fully recovered from it. This is what happens when you keep printing money out of thin air.


In fact last year September or October , the US government almost defaulted that they couldn’t pay to keep the govt running. They had to raise the debt ceiling.

huptin:
Can i ask a question? This $30tn you mentioned as debt, who did America borrow it from? Remember that the US owns the dollar? How can a country borrow its own currency from elsewhere?

The concept of America's debt is very different, do not take it at the surface level.

ayindejimmy:
You didn't get my point.
If the $ crashes, what will happen to all other countries foreign reserves that are in dollars? Won't their values also crash?

So it's in our best interest that the $ doesn't crash

huptin:
https://fb.watch/b_fxaMathG/ please watch

huptin:
Can i ask a question? This $30tn you mentioned as debt, who did America borrow it from? Remember that the US owns the dollar? How can a country borrow its own currency from elsewhere?

The concept of America's debt is very different, do not take it at the surface level.

huptin:
Add all these together is it up to $22tn? These are trade credits, mostly short term. The majority of the debt who borrows the United states? How can China borrow US dollars when China's currency is Yuan for instance?

Why can't US just print dollars to pay these creditors off? You think the US cannot do that? Infact do you think they dont?

chronique:
It's in the interest of the whole world that the truth about events in Ukraine is told so we don't have a situation where decisions are taken due to propaganda. It would be very disastrous for all. I have refused to pay attention to msm all these while cos they have been reporting a hoard of lies about the situation in Ukraine. When the Russians say something, they provide video evidence to back them up. I have 100s of videos on my phone from the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately for the Ukrainian side, they hardly post factual video evidence to back up their stories. Most times, they use visuals from video games(just like the ghost of Kiev story that the whole world bought into).

seunny4lif:
China dream is to destroy Dollar as world currency and the USA just helped it.
Now that Russia has said it’s Ruble for oil and gas, then all things can follow meaning Russia is about to make all trading with Russia in Ruble and Turkey already said they will start trading with Russia in Ruble as Turkish citizens comes first before anyone and even due Turkey support Ukraine government but Turkey still need Russia cheap gas and since many Turks have massive businesses in Russia.

Many countries are USA allies because of fear not because they like USA.
USA will not be destroy from outside, just like all empires, big empires most get destroyed from inside from inflation.

Appleyard:
It is a real shame to behold. The mainstream media [/b]have lied and decieved so many people. They're not even hiding the fact that they're [b]anti-Russian anymore. The coverage is so bias that it feels so shameful watching stations like BBC and CNN. What you hear is riveting and outright lies.