When journalist Tucker Carlson presented his February 6, 2024, interview with Vladimir Putin, he was met with a wave of criticism and disparagement from the established media. You can of course have a different opinion on the content, but this is about a principle that the American civil rights activist Martin Luther King (1929-1968) recognized as essential to survival - that you have to understand your enemies - which of course does not mean condoning their actions.
This basic rule is being systematically violated, particularly in the Ukraine war. Tucker Carson took a step in the right direction with the interview - regardless of any assessment of the. Representatives of the mainstream media have dubbed him, among other things, “Putin’s useful idiot.”
But they themselves have reason to look into the mirror, which would show them their lack of democratic vigilance. For decades, they have passed on the reports pre-filtered by the few major news agencies to the audience in an editorially designed form - far too often in an uncritical tone. Reference https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/13/ukraine-us-war-russia-john-pilger.
The fact that this lack of criticism led people to accept unacceptable policies only comes to light in retrospect. In an atmosphere of muted criticism, definitive long-term tragedies could take place - for example, the military adventures in Afghanistan (1979 to 1989 and 2001-2021) and in Iraq (2003-2011), each costing around one trillion dollars. The consequences of these “investments in security” are destructive: the announced liberation was perceived by the residents as a brutal conquest and the democratization as the insensitive imposition of corrupt puppet governments - a disgrace to the reputation of the USA and, above all, of free democracy.
Tucker Carlson was able to become America's most popular journalist because he had the idealism not to bow to the "politically correct" commendation of questionable decisions. His employer, Fox News, fired him in April 2023. This example and many parallel cases show the urgent need for relief funds to compensate journalists who have lost their jobs because of their political positions. These coffers would have to be filled by the media.
In the atmosphere of limited willingness to criticize, the mistakes of past military adventures and reporting have not been worked through adequately. The West intervened in the Syrian civil war that has been raging since 2011. Even in this case to this day lacks establishing a final, stable order as well as critical journalism denouncing this renewed ongoing failure with sufficient force. There and elsewhere, the rule recognized by Niccolo Machiavelli that unavoidable military strikes and other punitive actions must be completed within the shortest possible time and with lasting success is blatantly violated. Israel's 6-Day War of 1967 provided an example, even if it also remained without a final peace settlement, especially due to the partiality of the UN. – The Ukraine war is about other mistakes that were not learned from:
- The key points of a ceasefire had already been negotiated at the beginning of March 2022 through the mediation of the then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. However, the American and British governments have dissuaded the Ukrainian side from this agreement. Reference https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/open-source/naftali-bennett-wollte-den-frieden-zwischen-ukraine-und-russland-wer-hat-blockiert-li.314871. This connection has largely been kept in the dark by the media.
- On May 17, 2022, the negotiations were permanently terminated by the Ukrainian government. In the mainstream media, however, it is implied that one should “force Putin to the negotiating table”.
- For over half a year, cluster munitions have been sent to Ukraine, which the majority of states have condemned because of the terrible injuries and because of the many unexploded bombs left behind. The result of the deliveries is simply a brutalization of the fighting, while there is no military benefit because Russia also has such weapons in its arsenal and can counteract accordingly - which was previously known.
- Weapons deliveries make the supplying countries a party to the war not only in fact but also under international law if weapons training is carried out. This red line has already been crossed without causing adequate protests.
- According to loud proclamations, the basic democratic values of our free civilization are being defended in Ukraine – the country with the most widespread corruption in Europe. Reference https://consortiumnews.com/2022/07/22/servant-of-the-corrupt/
- The fact that several opposition parties were banned and critical television channels switched off long before the Russian invasion also disqualifies the narratives of defending democracy. Reference there.
The latest warning signal was the replacement of the Ukrainian military leadership, which is expected to be accompanied by a still secret change in strategy. The secret seems to have already been revealed since the German MP Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) announced the motto in an interview during his recent visit to Kiev - “to bring the war to Russia”.
What is really secret, however, is what Zelensky had to discuss with 'leading journalists' in a closed circle. In controlled media, you become a 'leader' by ensuring citizen’s acceptance even for unacceptable government policies. – Wanting to bring the war to Russia requires particularly compelling narratives that make the crazy escalation into a major war appear to be without alternative. Western citizens can therefore expect an unprecedented wave of propaganda.
Noam Chomsky recommended “courses of intellectual self-defense” against such manipulation of opinions. Information about the 125-year history of “modern” war propaganda also helps. Reference https://www.frieden-freiheit-fairness.com/blog/124-theses-sustainable-peace-freedom-and-fairness.
The Munich Security Conference (February 16th to February 18th, 2024) proved the need. Among the many events in the 20-page program, there is not a single one that takes up the ideas of the Charter of the United Nations, i.e. the peace concept that was adopted a few weeks after the end of the Second World War in order to prevent such madness in the future. Instead, there appears an event entitled “Fighting Fatigue: Whatever It Takes for Ukraine’s Victory” – This is getting ready to take the war to Russia now. Reference https://securityconference.org/en/msc-2024/agenda/ Download: file:///F:/NEUESTES%20Material/240215_MSC2024_Agenda.pdf.
The above-mentioned claims were already made in advance. Martin Luther King's rule of having to understand one's enemies was violated by expressly not inviting Putin. So little understanding of the psychological side of war gives rise to fears that it is nothing more than just a militarist meeting where the participants prepare each other for the MIC's hardcore course. At the very first day of the event the message of Navalny’s dead burst in. The widow who was there announced Putin's punishment. But for what? The Carlson interview certainly shows a fairly naive Russian president, but not a fool who would have an opposition figure well-known in the West killed, especially on the opening day of the big militarist meeting in Munich. In any case, the emotional propaganda ammunition that delivered the death announcement will be used for weeks to come.
One glimmer of hope is that many will still remember Zelensky's Munich speech two years ago. On February 19, 2022, he assured that his government would aim to bring Crimea back into the Ukrainian state using peaceful means alone. In doing so, he implied a negotiated solution with an internationally supervised referendum, but not attacks on the Crimean Bridge, the peninsula or even on Russia itself.
The Western community of values is at a crossroads. Will it be possible in time to get politicians to agree to the negotiated solution that was already within reach in March 2022, or will people succumb to the wave of propaganda that is now rolling in and allow themselves to be led down the suicidal path of bringing the war to Russia?
An effective means of helping the peace solution to break through is to revive a historical awareness of a highly constructive treaty - the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997. This document states: “NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries. They share the goal of overcoming the vestiges of earlier confrontation and competition and of strengthening mutual trust and cooperation.”
Just two years after this constructive agreement, NATO's eastward expansion began, but this was presented to the Russians as not being directed against them. - Now is the very last and at the same time the very best opportunity to revive the cooperative spirit of the still valid NATO-Russia Founding Act. This can start with a one-sided confession from one of the two parties or by finally communicating with each other again.