Do people who think the Russian war in Ukraine should be ended for "humanitarian" reasons not understand what is happening in Russian-occupied Ukraine? They haven't read about the torture chambers? The mass murders? Deportation of thousands of children?
There may be less bombardment of occupied Kherson or Donetsk provinces at the moment, but an even uglier, bloodier and more terrifying humanitarian crisis is unfolding there. You want to make that crisis permanent? You want more people to die?
You say you want to stop the suffering in Ukraine. Do you have any idea what kind of suffering would follow a Ukrainian capitulation? Or even a decision to hand over more Ukrainian territory?
Also, what makes you think Putin has given up on his original plan to occupy Ukraine, kill Zelensky, carry out genocide and install a puppet government? How is your negotiation going to persuade him to give up that imperialist dream? What's your plan?
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Polish state TV, controlled by the ruling party, repeatedly shows opposition leader Donald Tusk with a gun target on his chest, body outlined in red, under negative slogans - as if they want someone to kill him. He is suing. wyborcza.pl/7,75398,293086…
A recently released convict did actually murder the Mayor of Gdansk in 2019, after watching similarly hateful propaganda on state television while in prison. So this is more than just a theoretical possibility.
State television, to repeat, is controlled directly by the ruling party and funded through the tax system. It's as if the BBC were showing pictures of the Labour party leader with a bullseye on his chest.
Ukraine's survival, Zelensky's triumphant speech - none of this was inevitable. Let's try to imagine what would have happened if the US and Europe had not helped Ukraine, if Russia had occupied the country. What would the world look like now? theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
Zelensky, his wife and his children would have been murdered by one of the hit squads that roamed the capital city. The Ukrainian state would have been taken over by the collaborators who had already chosen their Kyiv apartments.
Ukraine would now be pockmarked with the concentration camps, torture chambers, and makeshift prisons that have been discovered in Bucha, Izyum, Kherson. A generation of Ukrainian writers, artists, politicians and civic leaders would already be buried in mass graves.
Imagine reading about Ukraine, a country where people are living without heat and light, where incredibly brave men endure bombardment and artillery fire every day, where the whole nation has pulled together to stop barbarism of a kind we haven't seen in Europe since 1944...
And then when the president of Ukraine, after months of planning, finally manages to cross the ocean to visit, you respond with...a snarky complaint about his timing. Or his clothes.
The war against Taiwan is well underway. But it isn't, yet, a kinetic war. Just as Russia once hoped to conquer Ukraine without firing a shot. Beijing also wants to convincing Taiwanese that their democracy is flawed, their allies will desert them... theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
The Taiwanese call this "cognitive warfare": the point is to convince them surrender before the battle. But grassroots groups, from @doublethinklab to forward.org.tw, Taiwanese activists identify Chinese information operations, and galvanize the public to be prepared
.@audreyt, Taiwan's innovative digital minister, describes this as a kind of asymmetric warfare: To fight China's heavy-handed, centralized information/ economic operations, she thinks Taiwan need a decentralized, transparent, open-source response.
Contemplating your end-of-the-year charity donations? Here are some ideas:
you can fund anti-drone systems to help protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks. @TimothyDSnyder is leading the campaign u24.gov.ua/shahedhunter
World Central Kitchen, led by @chefjoseandres, is feeding displaced and refugee Ukrainians, including in recently liberated territory. I saw their efforts all over Ukraine last summer wck.org
you can help keep Ukrainian hospitals running by donating to this fund organized by @LievSchreiber