(Photo credit: Canadian Press).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: As we welcome Ukrainian refugees, the propaganda war rages

Jun 11, 2022 | 6:50 AM

AS KAMLOOPS WELCOMES a growing number of Ukrainian refugees, I’m proud of our community for stepping up. According to media reports there are now more than 50 who have arrived in the city, a good number of whom are already finding employment as they settle in.

On the other hand, I’m astonished at the private messages I frequently receive defending Russia’s invasion.

The general thread is that NATO and the West are to blame for provoking Russia, that Ukraine deserves the war because of its treatment of the Russian-speaking population in Donbas, and that the media are to blame for demonizing Russia. Oh, yeah, and Ukraine is full of Nazis.

These claims are unfailingly supported with articles written by analysts with varying credentials and accepted as the “real” truth by the doubters who send them out over the Internet.

A friend sent me an article by a Canadian academician who makes the rather astonishing claim that Russian troops were ordered to do the least damage possible to Ukrainian infrastructure and to try not to not harm civilians, and who denies the bombing of Ukrainian cities, comparing this to the “Shock and Awe” tactics used elsewhere by the U.S.

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The U.S., in fact, becomes a demon in the view of many writers who like to recount all the things that country has done wrong in Ukraine.

Another resident sends articles that prove, in his mind, that anyone questioning Ukraine’s actions is censored and that Western media have bought in holus bolus to the American-Ukrainian propaganda machine.

Of particular concern to such folks is the Azov Regiment. That’s the Ukrainian military group that held out for weeks in Mariupol before surrendering to the Russian army. Trying to understand the Azov Regiment takes quite a bit of reading but there’s no question it espouses right-wing views and is heavily influenced by neo-Nazis. This is justification in the minds of some for this invasion, even though Russia has its own share of neo-Nazis.

Another article, this one by a U.S. military veteran, acknowledges that Russia under-estimated Ukrainian resistance and claims it initially went easy on Ukraine in an attempt to avoid civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.

Unexpectedly stiff resistance from Ukraine forced Russia to change tactics and start shelling the hell out of targets before moving in with ground forces, according to this theory, which is certainly more plausible than the frequent claim that bombings of civilians are exaggerated or that their targeting is being “staged.”

There’s a degree of truth mixed with the fallacies within some of these articles even if their fundamental premise is wrong. One of my favourite sayings is “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Oscar Wilde wrote it in The Importance of Being Earnest and I used to use it as subtext at the top of every column.

Another good one is “The first casualty of war is the truth.” California Senator Hiram Johnson is credited as having said it in 1918 and it’s been repeated ever since every time there’s a disagreement over just about anything.

So, reading opposing opinions is a good thing. Choosing to digest only those opinions that agree with our own is a big problem in today’s world of easy access to information.

But unless one believes that the scenes of destroyed hospitals and schools, the mass graves in Bucha, the shooting of civilians in the back, the video of a Russian tank blasting a man on a bicycle, and so many more war crimes, are “staged,” it’s impossible to justify this invasion.

Maybe the millions of Ukrainian refugees are really just actors, part of the world’s biggest propaganda offensive. Maybe invading a sovereign neighbour and reducing its cities to ruins and killing thousands of civilians is all justifiable due to historical grievances.

But I don’t think so. Certainly, the records of Western democracies are hardly unblemished. Ukraine has, in the past, been plagued by political corruption. Undoubtedly, not everything either side says is true.

Yet seven million Ukrainians have had to flee their country, leaving everything behind, sometimes including parents, sons and daughters. They now face learning new languages, customs and livelihoods. Another eight million forced from their homes, towns and cities remain in their country but with very uncertain futures.

All of them rely on the kindness of strangers. Nothing justifies what Russia is doing.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.