Will Schryver Profile picture
Aug 6 9 tweets 3 min read
Short 🧵

The more I research this "Russia Is Imploding" "study" produced by Sonnenfeld et al. from Yale, the more it is revealed as a poorly argued, logically fallacious propaganda piece, and Sonnenfeld as an amateurish (but ubiquitously published!) #EmpirePropagandist.

1/
In consequence of my nascent research into this embarrassing (for the authors) “study”, the topic of western fantasies of Russia’s imminent economic collapse has jumped to the top of my future blog post list, and I will be working exclusively on that in coming days.

2/
But I just have to share two comical gems I’ve stumbled upon after just a bit of casual research into the coordinated roll out of this story into western media in recent days – a sure sign we’re dealing here with an intelligence agency-produced propaganda undertaking.

3/
First of all, it is ominously stated in the nearly identical reports of the study that “Russia is running out of semiconductor chips”. They are even kind enough to link to a presumably authoritative source for this claim: a March 30, 2022 report from Bloomberg! 🤣

4/
And what does this report in Bloomberg say about the impending “implosion” of Russia’s economy for lack of chips?

Russia Internet Giant Risks Running Out of Vital Tech in a Year

Nothing but empty conjecture and wishful thinking.

5/

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Indeed, virtually all the prognostications of “impending doom” for the Russian economy are based on projections of what will happen in Russia IF the entire world submissively obeys US edicts on exports to Russia: not what HAS happened, but what some believe MAY happen.

6/
There is no empirical evidence that chip shortages do or will exist, or that existing Russian stockpiles of such chips are on the verge of exhaustion.

It reminds me of the predictions, since early March, that Russia would run out of missiles in mere days.

7/
The Sonnenfeld et al. “study” is replete with such unfounded assumptions, baseless assertions, and “authoritative conclusions” reached at the end of long chains of laughably transparent logical fallacies.

More on that in my upcoming analysis.

8/
For now, I end by sharing a link to my favorite (so far) Sonnenfeld propaganda piece -- about Ukraine’s Comedian in Chief (no doubt with solemn Churchillian gravitas) regaling western CEOs with his business expertise and inimitable statesmanship:

9/end

fortune.com/2022/06/14/ukr…

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More from @imetatronink

Aug 3
Short but important 🧵

You have to hand it to the Ukrainians. They have truly taken to heart their new national motto:

"If you can't win a real war, win an imaginary one."

And they have impressively mastered the art of the wartime propaganda psyop.

1/
The voluminous series of threads linked above are all based on alleged “personal accounts” and “intercepted phone calls” of Russian soldiers.

Of course, this “intelligence treasure trove” emanates solely from Ukrainian sources.

2/
And, in a series of stories almost as impressive as the tales woven by the famous WW2 spy Juan Pujol Garcia, the full compendium of Russian military and logistical ineptitude, senseless brutality, and low soldier morale are conveniently confirmed in exhaustive detail.

3/
Read 7 tweets
Jul 5
🧵Pompeo's Bats in the Belfry

My reactions to Gonzalo Lira’s commentary on Mike Pompeo’s recent “Three Lighthouses for Liberty” speech – a brazen compendium of transparent lies and cynical projection:

1/

I am not yet persuaded Pompeo is “speaking for the entire American foreign policy establishment.” I continue to believe there is a powerful contingent of realist-leaning wiser heads, at least in the Pentagon.

Pompeo is only speaking for the #EmpireAtAllCosts death cult.

2/
It remains to be seen whether or not these would-be Praetorian Guards of American hegemony have or will yet attain decisive policy-making power within the US government. If they continue ascendant, I believe they will be forcefully opposed at a critical juncture.

3/
Read 14 tweets
Jul 5
🧵Playing With Fire

Over the course of the past several weeks we have learned the following:

* US intelligence operatives and special forces have been deployed in Ukraine throughout the ongoing war.

* These US troops are *directly* involved in attacking Russian targets.

1/
* US-provided intelligence of various types, combined with US “hands-on” training and (almost certainly) even direct operation of US advanced weaponry, has resulted in:

- the killing of Russian field commanders
- (allegedly, but not yet confirmed) the sinking of the Moskva

2/
- the terrorist-style attacks on Russian cities
- very recent attacks on Russian ammo depots

To emphasize: US military personnel are DIRECTLY involved in battlefield strikes against Russian forces and terrorist strikes against Russian civilians.

3/
Read 8 tweets
Jul 3
🧵The Strategic Irrelevance of Kiev

Given the myopic focus of the "Ukraine is winning" crowd on the alleged (and fallacious) Russian "defeat" at Kiev, I am reminded of how, during the US Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was ceaselessly frustrated with his early cadre of generals.

1/
Much like the vast majority of current western military “experts”, Lincoln’s early generals were illogically focused on the objective of “taking Richmond” – the capital of the Confederacy. This obsession dominated the strategic focus of the Union for most of the war.

2/
Lincoln, on the other hand – notwithstanding there is no evidence he ever read von Clausewitz – intuitively and correctly understood that it was not a city, nor any piece of territory, per se, that was the objective upon which his West Point-trained generals should focus.

3/
Read 19 tweets
Jul 1
🧵Why the US/NATO could never win and will never fight a war against Russia – unless the #EmpireAtAllCosts cult somehow seizes the reins of power, in which case, it will become the biggest catastrophe in US military history, and likely result in a nuclear war:

1/
For me, one of the most intriguing aspects of the unprecedented levels of propaganda beclouding the ongoing Ukraine War are the incessant claims, from the very beginning, of the alleged strategic, tactical, and logistical ineptitude of the Russian military.

2/
The theme of the bumbling Russians was clearly preconceived and coordinated, and commenced in earnest within the first 24 hours of hostilities. It is also apparent, to me at least, that it has emanated almost exclusively from the CIA/MI6 analyst/think-tank complex.

3/
Read 35 tweets
Jun 28
🧵Observations on the Ukraine War
2022-06-28

I've watched a LOT of drone footage from this war. I've seen, from a bird's eye view, the construction and logic of the field fortifications Ukraine constructed, with US guidance, over the course of eight years.

1/
The logic of these ubiquitous pre-prepared fortifications harkens back to the 1864-65 Battle of Petersburg (US Civil War), with many WW1 innovations – a logic where victory depends on:

- you not running out of men and ammo

- the enemy being comparatively stupid

2/
Of course, when you think about it, the revealed logic of Ukraine’s long-prepared strategy for this war is, in many ways, a reflection of American military delusions and vanities, which multiplied and solidified over the course of the brief and fleeting “unipolar moment”.

3/
Read 29 tweets

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