As long as the US government deceives and covers up its war crimes and perpetual warfare worldwide, folks with access and an agenda will spill the sordid beans.
One such is Jack Teixeira, the young Massachusetts National Guard airman arrested in the latest bombshell leaks that have blown the cover on US strategy in Ukraine.
We’ve learned the truth about US lies regarding a negotiated settlement there. The Biden administration promised negotiations when Ukraine takes back lost territory. Sounds encouraging doesn’t it? But the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment Teixeira coughed up, revealed its unlikely Ukraine can take back lost territory.
Worse? If they do, even inflicting massive Russian casualties, the assessment asserts negotiations still unlikely. That’s why it said the war, with all its slaughter and destruction, will surely continue into 2024. But only Ukraine will suffer; only Ukrainians will die. Can you say ‘another trillion dollar US perpetual war killing others’?
More worse? The assessment ponders continued stalemate may cause internal Ukraine tensions leading to leadership changes. Zelensky might consider his own personal exit strategy.
Worst of all? Prolonged stalemate may encourage Zelensky to seek long range missiles to bomb deep into Russia. That’s a prescription for nuclear confrontation the US doesn’t like revealed in leaked secret assessments.
Two of my heroes in the pushback to senseless US warfare are Daniel Ellsberg and Julian Assange. Ellsberg published the Pentagon Papers in 1971 which blew up US happy talk about our endless Vietnam War. Assange released US Iraq war crime video in 2010. While Ellsworth skated due to Nixon’s dirty tricks, Assange has been holed up with declining physical and mental health in an embassy and UK prison for the past 11 years. The US really doesn’t want an Assange trial. They likely want him dead.
While it’s too early to judge whether Teixeira will end up in the Leakers Hall of Fame, every peace loving American should ponder his revelations…and push back against senseless, self-destructive militarism that may cause our doom.
Walt Zlotow became involved in antiwar activities upon entering University of Chicago in 1963. He is current president of the West Suburban Peace Coalition based in the Chicago western suburbs. He blogs daily on antiwar and other issues at www.heartlandprogressive.blogspot.com.
Is he not just like Ellsworth albeit for a smaller audience?
Ellsworth wanted the American public to know they were being lied to whereas this guy just wanted his group of online friends to know the same.
One is a hero and the other who really did the same thing is being scorned by those in charge.
Where did he get the info? How?
1.Teixeira is nothing like Ellsberg or Assange. Those people disseminated unknown information very widely. Teixeira provided nothing really new, and he just gave it to a group of friends.
2. The real story here is how the corporate/establishment/mainstream media has not only been cheering on Teixeira’s capture, they actually aided in it. As Glenn Greenwald pointed out, this is the exact opposite of what the media is supposed to be doing, which is exposing what the government does, not helping to hide it. As much of a vile pig as Trump is, he’s right about fake news, just not for the reasons he says.
Except he didn’t just give it to a group of friends, who by the way, he was trying to convince to be anti-government, one of one who was thinking of joining the military. We all ended up with it because of him. And no, using government data to convince your friends not to enlist isn’t the same but it’s also a legit and even noble purpose.
Furthermore, there is in fact new information, which if not for Tiexeira we would not have known about. And Sure we suspect things like spying, but to actually have them documents, so that allies can do something about it, is different. Suspecting something is not the same as having it confirmed, not to mention that until it’s confirmed many will never believe it, not even people who are made aware of the claims.
If his motives were not the same, they were no less noble and his actions ended up leading to the same point. For that we should be thankful.
And yes, the coverup is often a bigger story than the leak, that much is true. I just don’t see any real purpose in parsing the difference in motive, when the outcome was the same and his own reasons for doing it were completely moral.
Countries that have the resources to do so all spy on each other, and they all know it. It’s simply not true that they only “suspect” it.
What other information do you claim is new? After seeing the headline, I was very disappointed to see the documents, which didn’t tell me anything I haven’t known for months.
We can agree to disagree on Tiexeira’s motives. The big issue there is whether this was a fake CIA “leak” or whether it’s legitimate.
Maybe the information wasn’t released specifically to you.
What information? I don’t understand your comment, and I don’t see how this has anything to do with me.
“I was very disappointed to see the documents, which didn’t tell me anything I haven’t known for months.”
Do you have any idea how little the vast majority of the American people know about the entire Ukrainian affair, or for that matter, virtually every other special op we’ve been conducting around the globe?
The news media already knew all this stuff, and could have reported it if they so chose. My info on this war comes from Americans like Jimmy Dore, Scott Ritter, and former Colonel McGregor, and none of this is secret. I realize that most Americans are ignorant on virtually every issue, because instead of doing the work to search for the truth, they just absorb the lies & propaganda spewed by the mainstream/establishment media.
My point was that if this were a real leak, as opposed to some sort of approved leak or CIA operation, we’d see facts we didn’t previously know about. I don’t see this here. The sources I mentioned above have been reporting all this stuff for many months.
My point stands, and you just made it for me. Of course everything is pretty much known for people who already know pretty much everything.
To people who do not pay attention, this leak says a lot – if they pay attention to it.
It may be that there is a lot more in the pipe, and the fixers may be hesitant to try to doctor the releases too much right now. Who knows, the IC may well be holding its collective breath.
That’s all I have to say.
I’m not saying one way or the other, but this whole thing is very suspicious. Maybe it’s a real leak, maybe it’s not. Definitely doesn’t seem like the Pentagon Papers, Wikileaks, or Edward Snowden’s information.
Countries that have the resources to do so all spy on each other, and they all know it. It’s simply not true that they only “suspect” it.
What other information do you claim is new? After seeing the headline, I was very disappointed to see the documents, which didn’t tell me anything I haven’t known for months.
We can agree to disagree on Tiexeira’s motives. The big issue there is whether this was a fake CIA “leak” or whether it’s legitimate.
From publically stated information by the Ukrainians themselves, the Ukrainians lost at least 50k soldiers (175 x 365) in the past year of war, implying total Ukrainian casualties of at least 150k.
This is in a country of 30-45 million people, of which 3 million were considered prime military call-ups.
The war will not last forever, because the Ukrainians will run out of fighting men sooner than the Russians will, and the Ukrainians will likely overthrow their government for committing them to a meat grinder as opposed to negotiating when the Russians were at their nadir.
It’s basically Bakhmut that made this obvious; the Ukrainians were hoping to grind down the Russians, who were tossing disposables (convicts) at the best and brightest of Ukraine and having acceptable casualty exchanges.
The Ukrainians basically have one or two counteroffensives left; if they lose the counteroffensive(s), at a substantial human cost, the war is over, the Ukrainian electorate revolts, Biden ends up with egg on his face.
The result shouldn’t be surprising given that Zelenskyy was a lame duck before the war started, became a hero when the Russians were repelled, and is about to roll the dice on becoming a legend or memorialized as the arch traitor and idiot in chief.
Don’t be silly Russians will suffer and die as well.