Meet Code Pink's new allies

Recently, the Ukrainian armed forces have been liberating Ukrainian cities and towns at a rapid rate as a result of their very successful counter-offensive against the Russian invaders. Their soldiers have been cheered as liberators.and the war crimes evidence left behind by the fleeing Russians tells us why. 

First visit to the liberated territories east of Kharkiv. Hrakove, 70 km from Izyum, was deoccupied two days ago. Today Kharkiv police is documenting Russian war crimes there. Territory still heavily mined. Hope to see other strategic cities in Kharkiv region liberated soon. pic.twitter.com/6TE03Lr4km

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) September 9, 2022

While Ukraine, with the help of western arms, has been making great progress in turning the tide of the Russian invasion, Code Pink and others in the misnamed "Peace in Ukraine Coalition" hope to put a stop to that. They just wrapped up a week of actions around these demands:

CEASEFIRE Now.
DIPLOMACY to End the War in Ukraine
$$$ for Climate, Jobs, Healthcare, & Housing
NOT Weapons for Endless War
DO NOT RISK NUCLEAR WAR! 

They are demanding a ceasefire in place so that the current Ukrainian counter-offensive has to stop and no more Ukrainian lands will be liberated, except through negotiations. Elsewhere they make clear that by DIPLOMACY, they mean Biden should overrule Zelenskyy and make a deal directly with Putin. They also oppose any weapons or military support for Ukraine, and they amplify Putin's nuclear saber-rattling at every opportunity. Others in this white Left coalition include Veterans for Peace, Democratic Socialists of America IC, and United National Antiwar Coalition. They should more aptly be called the "Piece of Ukraine Coalition" because not one member envisions a peace agreement that doesn't involve Ukraine making some territorial concessions to Russian, and not necessarily limited to Crimea and the Donbas.

Well, they should be embarrassed to know they have many notable allies on the extreme right. Most prominent among them is probably Fox New's Tucker Carlson. The Friday before Ukraine kicked off the current counter-offensive, Carlson had on his show military "expert" Doug MacGregor who said the Russians were clearly winning, and predicted that by the end of September, 

"this entire war may be over. Right now things are going very, very badly, which is why Ukrainians are so desperate...But this desperation is very dangerous right now because they're losing once again just south of Kharkiv, and people in Washington are talking about "What else can we do?"

He sure got that wrong! But Carlson used that false picture to argue against the Biden administration funding the Ukrainian liberation effort, asking:

"Where's all this money going? Where are the weapons going? Why are we doing this?"

Before introducing MacGregor to explain how it was all so futile.  Tucker Carlson, like Code Pink, opposes any weapons shipments to Ukraine, and wants Biden to step in and enforce a DIPLOMATIC solution. He says, 

"Why not settle this war, return energy prices to normal, and stop the economic catastrophe we're facing?"

The Heritage Foundation also opposes weapons for Ukraine and echos these coalition demands: "money for climate, jobs, healthcare, & housing not weapons for endless war" Executive director Jessica Anderson put it this way:

“America is struggling with record-setting inflation, debt, a porous border, crime and energy depletion, yet progressives in Washington are prioritizing a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine.”

Even among Republican Senators, only eleven took the Code Pink position on the Ukrainian aid package, but they are among the most Trumpyist and include Josh Hawley "What America needs is not nation-building, but nationalism." (Mo.), Rand Paul (Ky), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mike Lee (Utah), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), and Mike Braun (Ind). All of them Putin supporters and white supremacists to the core. Is it any surprise that they support great Russian chauvinism in Ukraine?

The same can be said of the 69 Republic Congressional representatives that, like Code Pink et al. oppose US military aid to Ukraine. Is it any wonder that they include the most extreme election deniers and Trump supporters, and include Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), Louis Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Lee Zeldin (R-NY)?

The Proud Boys also support the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with many member pretending they were going there to fight along side Russian troops. Oathkeepers also parrot Putin's line on Ukraine by republishing ZeroHedge, a known Putin mouthpiece. 

Code Pink—It's said that you are known by the company you keep. These are your new allies.

Clay Claiborne

20 September 2022

 

UPDATED: As Putin's position in Ukraine collapses, Code Pink rides to his rescue

On Background

200 days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his "Special Military Operation" to complete the conquest of Ukraine he started in 2014 with the occupation of Crimea, and the militarization of much of the Donbas region in the East. It has been a catastrophe for Ukraine and its people. Russia has targeted civilian structures with long range weapons, and murdered civilians up close and personal, dumping  their bodies into mass graves, or just leaving them to rot on the streets. It has deported millions of Ukrainians to unknown fates inside of Russia, while it burns the Ukrainian wheat it can't steal. All of this is part of a program to liquidate Ukraine as an independence nation, and annex its territory and people into a new Russian empire, just as Putin outlined more than a year ago.  For Russia, it is a war of genocide.

This war hasn't gone well for the Russians either. The very Ukrainian nationalism Putin claimed had no right to exist, and the Ukrainian unity, he claimed could never exist, have risen up as a mighty fist to smack him down! Much of the world, especially its European neighbors, have rallied to its defense as well. 

The Russians started out with a grand scheme to conquer the whole country by taking and occupying its capital—until their 40-mile long armored column got decimated on the road to Kyiv. Then Putin claimed they had more limited goals all along—just parts of Ukraine in the South and the East—leaving what remains of Ukraine—for now—a land-locked country—if possible. So, they abandoned the attempt to take Kyiv and concreted their forces in the South and East, where they have managed to gain very little ground in return for great loss of life on both sides. Frustrated by  their lack of success against the Ukrainian armed forces over these many months, Russia has take to pounding Ukrainian civilians with every available asset, threatening the world food supply, and now even using a Ukrainian nuclear power plant to threaten Europe.

Kharkiv Oblast residents welcoming Ukrainian troops. in recaptured territories.

This is true liberation. Instead of a handful of professional citizens speaking in front of the cameras for propaganda purposes, whole households take to the streets to wave hands the military. https://t.co/h51EV2Vkac

— Hiro's gallery (@HiroGallery) September 8, 2022

Current Events: The Russian position is collapsing on several fronts 

Recently, Ukrainian armed forces have launched its biggest counter-offensive against the Russian occupation. They have met with great success both in the South where the Ukrainian forces are posed to retake Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city taken by Russia, and in the East, north of Kharkiv, where they have pushed panicked Russian soldiers more than 50 miles in two days. They have driven the occupiers from dozens of towns and villages, and liberated over a thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian soil. At that rate, they will have pushed the Russians back across their border north of Kharkiv. Also, two Russian troop concentrations, one north of Kherson, and one centered on Izyum are threatened. [Update: Izyum has fallen! Russians fled without a fight.]

Recon troops of the 25th Airborne brigade of AFU and 3rd regiment UASOF in Izyum pic.twitter.com/SJPsnMaRyl

— 0_0 (@_Th3_Sp3ctr3_) September 10, 2022

These dynamic Ukrainian advances have been possible because millions of Ukrainians have rallied to the defense of their nation. Many have volunteered for quick training to join the fight, even as Russia tries to forcibly conscript Ukrainians in the occupied territories who were foolish enough to accept Russian passports earlier.

These breakthroughs are also possible because the Ukrainians have benefited from a steady supply of advanced weaponry from the West, especially from the US. While the Ukrainians have done much with the supplies they had accumulated before the war, and with those they have captured from the Russians [which is quite a lot in the current counter-offensive😀], this current reversal would not be possible, in what Russia has turned into a big artillery war, without a steady supply of weapons to Ukraine to meet the challenge. At the same time, sanctions against Russia are denying them the chips & technology they need to build new weapons to support its occupation.

At what is looking more and more like a turning point in a war that many told the Ukrainians was unwinnable, Russia badly needs three things:

1. A time-out so its forces can regroup and stop losing territory.
2. An end to weapons supplies to Ukraine.
3. An end to sanctions against Russia.

Putin can see this, and so can his minions in the West. Hence, Code Pink's newest "Peace" campaign.

On Friday, Amy Goodman, on Democracy Now, announced the campaign with the headline:

Antiwar Groups Plan Week of Protests Demanding Diplomatic End to War in Ukraine

On Monday, a coalition of peace activists will kick off a nationwide week of action on Ukraine, demanding a ceasefire and diplomatic solutions to the crisis. CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said in a statement, “The White House and Congress are fueling this war with a steady stream of weapons instead of pushing for talks to end the conflict. That’s why we, the people, have to rise up with a demand of negotiations, not escalation.”

The world saw in Bucha and Mariupol just how the Russians treat the Ukrainians they have conquered. Now that the Russians are fleeing, the people are cheering the return of their soldiers and the Ukrainian flag—now that Ukraine is winning, these "antiwar" groups are calling for a timeout, a ceasefire, and an end to weapons shipments to Ukraine—all items on Putin's wish list.

They talk as if only they want a "diplomatic" end to this war. Ukrainians, more than anyone else, wants an end to this war.  The question is: on what terms? Ukrainians are fighting to expel these invaders from their land.  Others, like Code Pink, favor giving Russia an even bigger piece of Ukraine, if it will buy "Peace" in Europe for a while. They want Biden & NATO to step in and force Ukraine to accept such a rotten deal. Their demand is that the West stop supporting this war of national liberation, and force Ukraine to give Putin the victory, through "diplomatic" means, that he can't win on the battlefield.

Because Ukraine is now winning this war on its 200th day, Code Pink is launching its own four day campaign to help Putin out. They are calling on activists to contact Congress, the White House & State Department, and the Media, to demand:

1. "Freeze the weapons shipments!"
2. "that President Biden engage in direct talks with Russia"

This is their two-pronged approach to "peace" in Ukraine. Biden & Putin should divide up Ukraine in the imperialist spirit of Sykes-Picot, and force it down the Ukrainian's throats by cutting off their supply of weapons, because it has become clear that there's no way the Russians can beat the Ukrainian spirit as long as it receives adequate material support.

This is war, and very much a war of logistics and supply lines. So, just to be clear about what is going on here: Ukrainians have been able to advance, in large part, because they have been able to use the HIMARS, and other advanced artillery systems to go after Russian supply lines. Russia is using Code Pink, and these other less "advanced" antiwar groups, to go after Ukrainian supply lines. Code Pink is like Putin's HIMARS, except they keep missing the point.

Clay Claiborne

10 September 2022

UPDATE: 9/10 22:10 PST: I just received an email from the Democratic Socialists of America International Committee:

What you can do now:

1. Sign our letter demanding your own members of Congress oppose weapons shipments to Ukraine.

2. Join an action happening in your area or organize your own:

So, apparently now DSA is joining this desperate, last ditch, effort to cut Ukraine's supply lines just as they are engaged in a historic roll-back of the Russian invasion and liberating dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns every day. I would ask: "Which side are you on?," but they have made that very obvious. They are on the side of the Russian imperialists/