The Syrian Playbook…again
If you are going to listen to one podcast this week, please make it this episode. I have made it available to everyone because the information is too important to keep behind a paywall.
Olga and I are joined by Syrian activist Mouaz Moustafa and Ukrainian activist Michael Sawkiw to discuss Russian war crimes.
Mouaz Moustafa is currently the Executive Director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), Political Director of United for a Free Syria (UFS), and serves on the Government Relations Committee of the Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS).
Mouaz on Twitter: @SoccerMouaz
Michael Sawkiw, Vice President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Director of the Ukrainian National Information Service - the UCCA’s public affairs bureau in Washington DC. The UCCA is the formal representative body of Ukrainians in America following the efforts of generations of immigrants, with an estimated 1.5 million Americans having roots in Ukraine.
UNIS Twitter: @UNISdirect
UCCA Twitter: @UkrCongComAm
Further Reading
President Zelensky Address Aug 25
Today, for the first time in history, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant stopped. The emergency protection of the power unites worked- after Russian shelling damaged the last working line of the station’s power output to the Ukrainian power system.
Diesel generators were immediately activated to provide energy to the station itself, to support it after the shutdown. The world must understand what a threat this is: if the diesel generators did not turn on, if the automation and our station staff did not work after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident.
Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans one step away from a radiation disaster.
The south of Ukraine- the occupied regions- is already in a state of humanitarian disaster. Russia has brought degradation to our land, the likes of which have never been seen here.
The key is that such international pressure is needed that will force the occupiers to immediately withdraw from the territory of the Zaporizhzhya NPP. The IAEA and other international organisations must act much faster than now.
Every minute that the Russian military stays at the nuclear plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster.
Sean Lyngass, US 'actively defending against foreign interference and influence' in midterms, Cyber Command says- CNN Politics
Officials are "actively defending against foreign interference and influence operations in U.S. elections," US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency said in a statement, "specifically by focusing on how adversaries seek to undermine U.S. interests and prosperity, the will to vote of the populace, as well as their belief in the sanctity and security of their elections."
US intelligence officials are warning that Russia, China and Iran may seek to interfere in the US voting process or shape voters' perceptions, according to the command.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Ukraine Support Tracker
The Ukraine Support Tracker lists and quantifies military, financial and humanitarian aid promised by governments to Ukraine between January 24, 2022 and currently through August 3, 2022. It covers 40 countries, specifically the EU member states, other members of the G7, as well as Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Taiwan and India. The database is intended to support a facts-based discussion about support to Ukraine.Â
Matt Bernardini, Online Propaganda: A Gateway into the 'Pro Russian Ecosystem'- Byline Times
When Julian Assange tweeted out a graphic about the Council on Foreign Relations and its links to major media outlets called ‘the media navigator’ in 2018, it appeared that he was circulating a thoroughly researched diagram from a reputable academic organisation. Instead, he was amplifying a little-known and secretive organization that has spread disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a plethora of other topics involving Russia.Â
Anders Aslund, Ukraine’s six key conditions for peace talks with Putin’s Russia- The Atlantic Council
The fundamental fear is that Putin will try to secure an early ceasefire and consolidate his gains, as he did with the two Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015. This would merely set the stage for a new war in the coming years once Russia has licked its wounds and regrouped militarily.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rightly insisted, the first and most obvious condition for future peace talks is the recovery of all occupied Ukrainian territory. This means Crimea and the so-called people’s republics of eastern Ukraine as well as regions occupied during the past six months. Re-establishing Ukraine’s territorial integrity is the only way to secure a sustainable peace.
Thread by Brian Whitmore- The Second Liberation of Eastern Europe
A Ukrainian victory against Russia will be a paradigm-shifting event for European security - similar to what occurred in 1989. In fact, it could be something of a 1989 redux.
Just as a weakening of Soviet power in the late 1980s led to the fall of pro-Soviet regimes across the former Warsaw Pact, today, the weakening of Russian power will likely have repercussions across the former Soviet space.
The fallout would be felt in Russian clients like Belarus, where Alyaksasndr Lukashenka's grip on power may not survive the defeat of his patron in Moscow. A Ukrainian victory could very well lead to a free Belarus.
The fallout will also be felt in countries struggling to free themselves from Moscow's influence like Georgia and Moldova, weakening the influence Moscow is able to wield through oligarchic structures.
Ukrainians are fighting not just for their own sovereignty and independence, but also for the second liberation of Eastern Europe, finishing the process that began in 1989.
And finally, the West needs to prepare itself to manage this potential contingency. We still need to get there and this is, of course, by no means guaranteed. But we should not succumb to a failure of imagination on this.
Aug 27- KF- The Syrian Playbook...Again