Lies, Damn lies, and 400+ days of Information Warfare

A one-year follow up to the online coverage surrounding the Russian SMO in Ukraine

By this point, most people in “the west” outside of those directly involved or otherwise connected, have already turned off their brains and stopped caring about the 2022-> Ukraine war. Understandably so, as these people have their own direct concerns that remain unresolved, and are seemingly worsening, with no end in sight.

Public opinion polls taken in these nations have seen support for Ukraine peak early, and then dwindle many months ago, as western nations rushed to spend tens of billions of dollars on armaments and intelligence and men to support Ukraine seemingly at the drop of a hat, all at once, all the while their own citizens suffered at home. All this in the span of a single year.

Few wars in world history could prove to be so unpopular and costly for nations that aren’t even directly involved beyond using Ukraine as a proxy, and that’s just the first year, with no signs of slowing up.

So, let’s take a look at some notable moments or otherwise notable shitheads from the last year, some of their predictions, and how they’ve shaken out. You’re always welcome to suggest more in the comments, I’ll do my best to cover them in upcoming pieces - or you can subscribe to our Counterspin Telegram community and let us know there.

A gallery of Clowns; mostly blue and yellow, some red, white, and blue

Over the past 400+ days of the Russian “Genocide” of Ukraine (or, denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, depending where you get your sources) we’ve seen some bewildering statements, comments, responses, with even stranger outcomes after.

From predictions of Russian retreat and loss of Moscow, and total economic collapse in Russia, and everything in between, this piece is a look back on some of the notable faces in the crowd and some of the very questionable or outright incorrect things they’ve said.

We can’t discuss all of them today, as the piece would take untold decades to write, but here’s a select few of my reigning champions of the Twitter Thought Tank intelligentsia, all of which is a total misnomer given the lack of individual thought and intelligence on display. At the end we will try to connect where we’ve been, where we find ourselves today, the web of broader connections and revolving doors, and where the trajectory of the arc of history is going.

Spoiler alert for those sympathetic to western capitalism and geopolitical influence: Game Over. You went bankrupt and the state closed your child labor mines.

So, without further ado, send in the clowns.

Sergej Sumlenny

Sergej is largely the inspiration for this article, but I don’t want to waste too much time on him. He’s largely an idiot, largely irrelevant as “Director of European Resilience Initiative Center”, whatever the fuck that is, and largely unknown to anyone of any relevance. Frankly I’d never heard of it or him until today and I consider myself largely well versed and aware. I think it’s something he conjured out of thin air as résumé filler and a nice way to cut down on taxes. So, to do due diligence, let’s get a glimpse and taste of who he is and where he came from.

A Google search identifies him as an infrequent contributor and author affiliated with CEPA, the Center for European Policy Analysis. Not particularly exciting or insightful but you do get a flavor for his venom and disdain for a strong Russia under Putin at the expense of an even marginally weakened or competed with west. I won’t bother linking to it piece by piece but those interested can follow the breadcrumbs I’ve left and make for themselves what they will from his, uh, charitably put, writings.

His LinkedIn indicates he worked as an office director with the Heinrich Böll foundation in Kiev, a German Bundestag Green Party affiliated organization, from 2015-2021. Before this he spent a year as head of PR for the murky Schneider Group, and prior to that spent roughly 12 years as a journalist, correspondent and or contributor with 3 other media outlets - mostly in the German language market. His CV indicates he studied at Lomonosov Moscow State University, FRDIP, and the Russian Academy of Sciences, ultimately obtaining a Ph.D in Government.

By no means an educational lightweight or someone unfamiliar with Russia, judging by the last 8 years or so he’s been deeply in bed with NGO/Think Tank la-la land, and this along with his personal experience in Ukraine and his time in academia and German media on top, has allowed him to become full on Team #CurrentThing. Go count the flags in his Twitter bio, and take note of the NAFO tag.

In researching Sergej, I found a podcast episode with Freddie Sayers where he made a bewildering prediction or positing that the nation currently known as Russia, or the Russian Federation more precisely, could or would be broken up into far smaller pieces that would be easier for the west (which is Sergei’s preferred axis and governmental structure - democratic neoliberal fiat capitalism) to manage and cannibalize; ala the Baltics and Caspian Sea states.

To say that this prediction is not only highly unlikely but full on delusional would be putting it politely. But, here he is

doing exactly that. This really starts to paint a picture of a man not just high on copium but absolutely dying from ucranium poisoning. This however lines up with the kind of things you can find written by the RAND corporation, hidden in little PDFs about dreams of breaking up any influence Russia has anywhere.

So, naturally, you get Tweets like this. (Hat tip and thank you to Levi3853 on Telegram) And oh boy is it a doozy - because it belies Sergej’s entire argument in supporting Ukraine as it stands today. Because the man he cites would not have stood proud to watch his nation fall to Banderite neonazis, at the behest of America, to get one over on Russia.

Also, I think he would have known that Russia was in fact a land that in no small part formed what was known as the Soviet Union. Shame on Sergej for making a meaningless obfuscation such as this, and trying to use the memory of an extremely virtuous Red Star recipient who liberated concentration camp victims, just to run cover for Azov, Pravy Sektor, and the rest of their ugly, incoherent, drug addicted friends that want more free guns and bombs and trucks while scratching swastikas into everything everywhere they go.

Just gross. This is basically Holocaust revisionism, considering how many Soviet soldiers died in the camps and at places like Stalingrad. Absolutely shameful stuff. I can’t even begin to understand what illogic leads someone to make a social media post like that, but I guess the gilded cage of academia and corporation will rot your brain too.

Then, just a few hours ago, this. Deliberately not understanding the Maidan coup to pretend it didn’t happen. Unforgivable.

Anyways. Public stocks for this clown, let’s just pelt it with rotten fruit until it understands just how spiteful and wrong it has been. On to the next clown.

Julian Röpcke, aka SS Jihad Julian

Well, this has been a wild ride of an article so far, hasn’t it? The next clown, which I should set expectations for before we jump right in, is more of a sad clown. He sometimes tells the court and council and peasantry what it doesn’t want to hear, and for that it he is an often abused clown - but since he can occasionally say an inconvenient truth once in a while, I feel just a twinge of sympathy. Not a lot, but enough to be worth mentioning. He’s sort of a canary in the coal mine, but one that occasionally looks the other way so long as the boss says to.

Julian finds himself in a strange position. Today, for instance, he finds himself unable to apply the same rules to the suffering of Palestinians under the horrors of Neocolonialist Zionist Settler states, to the horrors of the of the Maidan coup or its consequences. The juxtaposing of the Ukrainian flag and this text makes me just a little sad for Julian, who isn’t wrong - but he is unable to connect the ideas together, even to this day.

There have been other moments of clarity regarding Ukraine over the last year. Various Ukrainian held cities that could (officially) never waver in the support of western allies have been reported as occupied or in the stages of being rebuilt by Russia (see also: Mariupol). More often than not, these events are reported by Julian are regarded as nothing more than Russian propaganda (until CNN confirms it).

At best he can hope for a cacophony of caterwauling idiots who don’t want to hear the bad news. At worst he gets added to Myrotvorets. It’s not an easy spot to be in, and I don’t envy him, so let’s move on quickly to the last media prolific think tank idiot, and send this one to the hunds.

Suckerpunched bedfellows

It sure is a strange world when the rotting corpse of John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Richard B. Spencer (of getting punched fame), Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and George W. Bush all agree on something. But not really, when you remember it’s a proxy war with an information war on top.

This political establishment class describes a very murky hot tub that seems to grow based mostly on their investments held in Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, et al - a war profiteer swamp, but more of a flooded wetlands. The proverbial DC swamp was never drained under Donald Trump, rather restocked with his preferred new fish not unlike a fish tank. Then he supercharged their abilities by giving them untold sums of money, more and more every year from 2017-2021.

This leads Rambling Joe Biden to exactly where he found himself in January. But, the difference here is Biden and his dynasty had personal business dealings with Ukrainian oligarchs. And, to obfuscate his problems at home in 2021, and to visibly bolster his own dealings on top of Congressional member stock options, worked with people like Victoria Nuland and Samantha Powers into taking the Maidan to the next level. Setting it into full warp speed (pick a number) to avoid the problems and complications from Operation Warp Speed. Attempting to fully demolish the Russian Federation and its economy. Blowing up Nord Stream (as speculated by Joe Biden himself before it happened). Poaching German industry. Destroying Europe’s economic blast furnace.

Where does Richard B. Spencer, the pro-Trump pro-oil and gas Pepe Nazi guy, fit into all of this? And more importantly, why?? Well dear reader, it should be obvious by now. Richard B. Spencer wishes to be part of the political establishment class - proving once and for all that his fealty to MAGA or putting America first was a facade. He will use whatever is necessary to gain power. He openly mocks it now on Twitter.

MAGA was just a rung in history on his way up the proverbial ladder to power and influence, and so to make friends, gotta kiss ass and rub elbows with people you supposedly couldn’t stomach 20 minutes ago. This is why he shares the same geopolitik - it’s because he follows power wherever it goes. He has no moral philosophy, he is a power seeker, nothing more. And certainly no less.

He and Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are all the same pieces of warmonger shit for largely the same reason. They truly believe that only through American geopolitical military and strategic economic dominance lies our strength - to the contrary, I find it to be our own undoing. I find it to be the makings of a Fourth Reich, I believe the neoconservatives would call it the New American Century.

So why do I mention him at all in this piece? Beyond being a prolific Twitter fuckwit and all around easy soft target, I want to make him like a reminder of sorts to some who may read or stumble on this - that this is the worst possible sort of ally in a fight, a shapeshifter. You do not want him on your side, it is not only a kiss of death in a sense, but it highlights the biggest flaws with the entire premise of what he argues for. If he joins your side, it should make you do some introspection - you should not give him applause for joining you.

This man stands for nothing at all, really, and if he did he would not find himself holding the positions that he does. In holding them, and standing dead center between the German Green Party and Hillary Clinton to his left and pravy sektor and the Maidan coup itself to his right - he puts America last in pursuit of some misguided understanding of human physiology and ideology, and puts our own influence over the long term in sincere danger by overextending our actual ability right up to the thermonuclear exchange. He emboldens the worst intrinsic values of everything he touches in order to get ahead. And that will destroy us all in the medium to long term. He is a cancer on humanity in a sense, but in a cuddly TV talking point package, but just that - a clown among many.

Strange bedfellows. And they’re all working in tandem to undo the work done by generations before them, all out in the open on social media and cable news. They’ve taken us back to the height of the Cold War and then beyond, according to the Russian MFA. Tensions have never been higher, and business has never been better - for some. And it comes at the great expense of the entire planet in the long term.

For America to be first, in any sense, it cannot be the world police and cannot be the arbiter through unilateral sanctions, ecological terrorism and destruction of economies - nor never-ending military base expansions, or becoming over reliant on manufacturing and exporting munitions as a primary driver of economy - of which we would, if not for our consumer technology industry. This would be the premise for a failed society, no matter how industrialized or technologically advanced.

But that’s the real problem, we’re rattling with sabers we don’t even have, and a manufacturing industry that’s long gone. As shown by recent failed American hypersonic missile testing, America is picking a fight with Russia it couldn’t possibly begin to win - and if we tried we would be devastated to the point of total collapse in the first day. This is a fight we do not need, and should not want. Instead of dominance, we should have chosen diplomacy - but we wanted to cancel Russia for a war that couldn’t even match the horrors of the first hour of Operation Shock and Awe.

So why does the clown Richard B. Spencer go on Twitter day after day, and bang on every war drum he can find? Why does he cozy up with men like Adam Kinzinger, and carry the water of war pig Democrats he otherwise ideologically disagrees with? Because it’s good for business. And that’s all this is. A business transaction where someone else’s kids die, while men like Richard make a buck and show how morally virtuous they are online.

A charlatan, at best - but with a follower count. And a bank account.

To the gallows with that one, posthaste.

Summer of Love

Which takes you and I dear reader, to the end. This is the tying of ends together to make a more conclusive picture. So far we’ve got two German media clowns and an American nobody with Twitter accounts, but all serving the same sort of central goal - one where America doesn’t just excel, but succeeds at the expense of others and is maintained at the barrel of a gun and never ending sanctions. That’s a collapsing empire trying desperately to retain influence and win what friends they can - or rather, who they can bully into joining the fight.

As the Kamala Harris trip to Africa and following quad recently proved, that’s not going to work for long - and it may not even work that long given how fast countries are asking the French to GTFO. On top of that, Uganda seems especially hostile to the west as of late and I doubt we’re going to be making any friends there.

Further north, Iran and Russia are having major impacts in east Asia diplomatically, ditto China. Saudi Arabia has politely told us to fuck ourselves twice, once for fuel, once again just for fun - because they can! This overextension of our influence has backfired spectacularly, not only did it not isolate China or Russia or Iran or anyone else involved, it fostered our own undoing and will serve to ultimately isolate us in the worst possible ways. That much is obvious.

For a more nitty gritty explanation of why, just take any of the men mentioned and give a through look over of their financing through these illustrious think tanks. It’s all coming from the same weapons manufacturers that profit handsomely every time a fighter jet, bomb, gun or bullet is sold. The American economy is fueled by it, while Americans gawk and cry about the horrors of war.

I wanted to cram a mention of Michael McFaul in here and a link back to my piece from this time last year. It’s the same very stupid, very plain sight tactics as a year ago, though the broader public seems to have wised up to it. Public support in the US for Ukraine is down from previous highs and seemingly unlikely to rebound any time soon. Other crises are stacking up and beginning to sag on the Biden administration, to say nothing of the public confidence in him or his mental health.

You can’t go into a war with hypersonic missiles you don’t have, led by a man who can’t lead because he has visible neurological degradation. This is not destined to win and we should avoid it at all costs. You are destined to lose spectacularly in this situation, and it would be inconceivable that you would even want to prove otherwise. The fact that you’ve brought us to this point is a great shame on the species and I for one am just a little disgusted. Two thumbs down. Do better.

Then there’s Germany, which has depleted most every piece of equipment it had, is stuck buying more from America, Germany who is now paying 4x more per unit of LNG, and is watching its industries move their manufacturing to America. What a trade, right? Scholz must be so proud.

But thank god we had the clowns to entertain us in the meantime.