Recently, I’ve noticed a new trend in Western media narratives. It may be connected to the apparent dawning on the media and political ‘elites’ in Europe that they are going to have to surrender pretty soon. As well as the usual narrative overlay – the news is filtered through a prism, not of theoretical analysis, but of wild phantasies about Putin re-imaging the Russian Empire, gearing up to “invade a European country” by 2029, and so on. Amongst all this I notice the dirty little lie is creeping in. Consider:
Those goals amount to sweeping demands that would severely erode Ukraine’s sovereignty, including deep cuts to its armed forces, a ban on western military assistance, far-reaching limits on political independence, and the handover of Ukrainian-controlled territory in the east of the country. [1]
No. The 28 point plan did not involve “far-reaching limits on political independence” over and above the limits on Ukraine’s military, (which were probably more than they would be able sustain anyway). Anyone can check the plan. In this document the question of language rights for Russian speakers was handled sensitively; Ukraine was not obliged to make Russian an official language; just not discriminate against it, and this was put in the context of EU policies to support minorities. The document envisaged Ukraine joining the EU. In reality; the document offered a realistic pathway for a country living next to a Great Power to have as much independence as is feasible. In no rational world would a country bordering a Great Power be permitted by that Great Power to play host to the forces and intelligence services of that Great Power’s strategic rival. “far-reaching limits on political independence” is just not the case. The document, was a serious attempt to reach peace, with every effort made to preserve Ukraine’s dignity, while accepting the inevitable demands of the neighbouring Great Power.
Or, consider this, in Reuters:
Russia has denied any plans to attack NATO, as it denied any plan to attack Ukraine before its full-scale invasion.
This is one of the familiar heuristic analogies. Yes; the Kremlin did deny that were about to attack Ukraine before they did. As the US claimed its force build-up in the Gulf prior to the 2003 Gulf War was a training exercise. It is called military surprise. This – a little bit of tactical lying to try to create a military advantage – is simply of a different order than either geo-political intentions, or statements about geo-political intentions. It is basically babyish. But this is the level at which what passes for journalism these days takes place on.
Notes