Saying that 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin is misled by his generals about the poor performance in Ukraine, U.S. intel officials say that Russian officials are afraid to tell him the truth. If that’s not the kettle calling the pot black then what is? Biden too doesn’t like to get negative feedback from anyone, let alone his generals. When he was told that his gaffe in Warsaw saying Russian President Vladimir Putin must leave office, was just one example. Instead of taking constructive feedback from just about everyone foreign and domestic, Biden said he stands by his remarks that Putin must go. Biden doesn’t see how that undermines the Ukraine War effort, certainly exposing for all to see the U.S. mission in Ukraine. Yet the White House thinks it’s winning the propaganda battle with the Kremlin, saying Putin’s angry with his generals over the lack of progress on the ground in Ukraine.
White House Communication Director Kate Bedingfield said Putin is not only misled about the war progress but “how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because, again, his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth.” Bedingfield’s the last one to be trusted knowing she’s fighting the propaganda war with the Kremlin. Bedingfield would have the world believe that Putin has done no damage in Ukraine, when, in fact, he’s already reduced much of the country to rubble. Bedingfield’s the first to say how well Ukraine has done to resist Putin’s assault. With nearly 5 million citizens displaced to neighboring countries and much of Ukraine’s infrastructure destroyed, Bedingfield says Putin, not Ukraine, is not meeting its military objectives. White House officials think making intel public helps push Putin to end his war in Ukraine.
U.S. officials claim the war has “ground to a bloody stalemate,” despite the widespread destruction done by Putin’s air superiority. U.S. officials want Putin to know that he’s losing the war, forcing him to throw in the towel. But when White House officials admit they’ve declassified intel on the war’s progress but only from anonymous sources, it tells the whole story. “What it does is underscore that this has been a strategic blunder for Russia,” Bedingfield staid about the latest intel. “But I’m not going characterize how . . . how Vladimir Putin might be think about this,” Bedingfield said, knowing that whatever she says would be dismissed as White House propaganda. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 59, said that Putin’s underlings can’t speak to the boss with any candor. How did it go for Blinken when he told Joe last Friday that his incendiary rhetoric about Putin wasn’t helpful?
Information warfare goes both ways, grossly overestimating Russian military casualties, some as high as 15,000. Kremlin officials say they’ve lost under 2,000 soldiers in 35 days of battle, echoing the kind of distortions that goes on both sides. Where the true picture stands is anyone’s guess. Believing that the White House is more truthful about the war’s progress is wishful thinking. “One of the Achilles’ Heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems that speak truth to power or have the ability to speak truth to power, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in Russia,” Blinken told reporters in Algiers. Blinken has been one of the most anti-Russia White House critics, accusing Moscow from Day One of human rights abuses, demanding that Putin release 45-year-old dissident Alexi Navalny from prison, knowing how that would antagonize Putin.
When you listen to Bedington and Blinken, they sound like real neophytes fighting a propaganda battle, not realizing that less-is-more. Giving declassified intel does nothing to convince the enemy of anything. “We need peace, and its will be achieve it only when we have a strong position on the battlefield. Our morale is firm, there is enough determination , but we need your immediate support,” Zelensky reportedly told Biden. Zelensky has been asking for more fighter jets, something that Poland, U.S. and other NATO countries haven’t figured out. Zelesnky thinks that only one more weapon system, only more fighter jets, only one more antiaircraft weapon would turn the tide in Ukraine’s direction. Zelensky pretends that morale is high in a country that’s been bombed into rubble by Putin’s air force. Zelensky needs to stop talking about weapons and start talking about a ceasefire.
As long a Biden continues to throw more cash at Zelensky, the war will trundles on, creating more destruction and carnage for Ukraine. Whether Biden wants to topple Putin or not, it’s not fair to Ukraine to fight a proxy war with the Russian Federation at the expense of Ukraine’s infrastructure. Zelensky is kidding himself that all he needs is more weapons, when, what he really needs is a ceasefire agreement. Biden let Putin know he wants him out of the Kremlin, something Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said is up to Russian voters not Biden. Whatever information warfare the U.S. uses, it’s not making much difference. Putin continues to bomb Ukraine into submission, despite the Pentagon’s statements about how he’s losing the ground war. Biden and Zelensky have their best opportunity to end the destruction and carnage in Instanbul, not by giving Ukraine more lethal weapons.
