News & views related to the war in Palestine …

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

• Oct 29 – How Media Continue To Discredit Themselves
  Related:
  – Democrats have a plan if Trump prematurely declares election victory – MSN
  – Uh, Oh, Again: Homeland Security Role in Bizarre Election Day "Tabletop Exercise" Denied – The Racket

• Oct 30 – No Foreign Warplanes Have Entered The Skies Over Tehran
  Related:
  – Israel Inflicted Severe Damage on Iran’s Missile Program and Air Defenses (archived) – Wall Street Journal
  – Iran’s Khamenei warns of ‘crushing’ response to Israeli strikes – Washington Post
  – Iran says airspace remains open – MSN/JPost

• Nov 1 – The Wondersome Effects Of Weapon Sales And Sanctions
  Related:
  – Just Do It: Explaining the Characteristics and Rationale of Chinese Economic Sanctions – Texas University
  – Xi Jinping’s Axis of Losers – The Right Way to Thwart the New Autocratic Convergence – Foreign Affairs
  – China lifts all restrictions on foreign investment access in manufacturing sector – CGTN
  – Prejudice And China – Gavekal (Recommended)

• Oct 30 – Ukraine SitRep: Kurakhove Cauldron, Broken Deals
• Nov 2 – NY Times Announces Ukraine Narrative Change
  Related:
  – NY Times Concedes Ukraine is in Trouble – Sonar21
  – The Forest and the Trees: Ukraine's Strategic Dissipation – Big Serge
  – US Provides Proof that North Korean Troops are on the Ground in Ukraine – Sonar21
  – SITREP 11/2/24: Another Big Tone Change as West Now Fears Ukraine's Doom – Simplicius
  – The Ukraine War is Lost. Three Options Remain. – Counterpunch
  – NATO, Russia & the Endgame in Ukraine (video) – George Beebe (fmr CIA), Mercouris & Diesen

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-264

Below are a number of New York Times headlines which represent the propaganda narrative about Ukraine as it has changed over time.

'Ukraine is winning' was the direction of stories issued from April 2022 up to August 2023.

• Can Ukraine Keep Winning? – Apr 20, 2022
  As a new phase of the war begins, we look at Russia’s advantages — and Ukraine’s.

• For Ukraine, So Much Unexpected Success, and Yet So Far to Go – Nov 22, 2022
  Ukraine is on the offensive along most of the 600-mile front line, and the Russians are in a defensive crouch. But about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory is still occupied by Russia.

• Ukraine Makes ‘Tactically Significant’ Progress in Its Counteroffensive – Aug 12, 2023
  Troops advanced several miles along two main lines of attack in Kyiv’s drive to reach the southern coast and sever Russian supply lines, while explosions echoed at the vital Kerch Strait Bridge.

When it was finally acknowledged that the Ukrainian 'counteroffensive' had failed the narrative moved towards 'it's a stalemate' which was used to describe the situation up to the fall of 2024.

• Who’s Gaining Ground in Ukraine? This Year, No One. – Sep 8, 2023
  Although both sides have launched ambitious offensives, the front line has barely shifted. After 18 months of war, a breakthrough looks more difficult than ever.

• U.S. Officials Say Russia Is Unlikely to Take Much More Ukrainian Territory – Jul 9, 2024
  Russian forces continue to inflict pain, but NATO leaders gathering in Washington can say that their efforts to strengthen Ukraine are working.

We are now arriving at a phase where the narrative can no longer ignore the objective reality. Ukraine is losing the war. Russia is winning.

• As Russia Advances, U.S. Fears Ukraine Has Entered a Grim Phase (archived) – Nov 1, 2024
  Weapons supplies are no longer Ukraine’s main disadvantage, American military officials say.

Cont. reading: NY Times Announces Ukraine Narrative Change

In a world where everything is interconnected – economics, industrial production and global political competition – it becomes exceedingly difficult to use foreign policy instruments like weapon sales to proxies or sanctions. There will nearly always be some unforeseen backlash coming in an unexpected area that will hurt.

The European sanction policies against Russia may be the prime example for this. But hostile U.S. policies towards China may, over time, cause much more damage. Not to China but the U.S. and its desired policy aims themselves.

• China slaps sanctions on 3 US firms, 10 senior execs over weapons sales to Taiwan – Reuters, Oct 10 2024

> BEIJING, Oct 10 (Reuters) – China's foreign ministry on Thursday announced it had imposed sanctions on three U.S. military-linked firms and 10 senior excecutives over U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

The steps taken against the firms, including Edge Autonomy Operations LLC, Huntingdon Ingalls Industries Inc and Skydio Inc, became effective on Thursday and will freeze any property within China, the foreign ministry said in a statement. <

• US sanctions Chinese, Russians over attack drones used in Ukraine – Reuters, Oct 17 2024

• China opposes US sanctions on companies over attack drones for Russia – Reuters, Oct 24 2024

• Chinese sanctions against U.S. companies leave Ukrainian military drone supplier without batteries – Meduza, Oct 31 2024

> Chinese sanctions on Skydio, the U.S.’s largest drone maker and a supplier to Ukraine’s military, have blocked the American company’s sole battery supplier, reports The Financial Times. <

Given that war mongering, sanctions and other trade hindrances are now hitting back at the West one can expect that these will, after a while, lose their attractiveness as instruments of western foreign policies.