Lies, Hypocrisy and Cowardice — the Motto of the Collective West*

*Editor’s Note: On March 4, Russia enacted a law that criminalizes public opposition to, or independent news reporting about, the war in Ukraine. The law makes it a crime to call the war a “war” rather than a “special military operation” on social media or in a news article or broadcast. The law is understood to penalize any language that “discredits” Russia’s use of its military in Ukraine, calls for sanctions or protests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It punishes anyone found to spread “false information” about the invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

In response to one of the Western media’s empty and ridiculous questions regarding Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov briefly recalled the war the United States waged in Iraq. Let’s remember the facts.

In 2003 the United States and its allies invaded the sovereign, independent country of Iraq to overthrow its legitimate government, brutally and ruthlessly execute its head of state and seize control of the mineral deposits in which the U.S. had an interest. Iraq did not threaten the U.S. or Europe in any way. The invasion was triggered by information about weapons of mass destruction that turned out to be falsified.

Recently, a Turkish diplomat, in conversation with a Russian journalist, mentioned the horrid number of victims of America’s aggression in Iraq: 3 million people. This number likely represents all demographic and collateral losses. But information exists on direct losses and casualties. Reports about civilian casualties range from 116,000 to 655,000 people. According to the World Health Organization, 151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed by American troops and their allies.

Let’s inhale, exhale and read that again: 151,000. Not 151 civilians. But 151,000 civilians. Imagine this pile of corpses. This happened in just three years, from 2003 to 2006. As military actions continued, the number of casualties increased. Every year 50,000 civilians were killed. And there was no political or military need for this.

Did the world unite against the aggressor during those terrible years? Were unprecedented sanctions imposed on the U.S.? Did hundreds of countries interrupt their diplomatic relations with the U.S.? Did the world’s journalists form a united front against the military campaign? Were American students expelled from universities all over the world? Were American professors fired from their jobs? Were American tourists kicked out of their hotels? Did airlines refuse to transport them or refund their money? Did sensible citizens deny service to Americans in stores all over the world? Were protests held in big cities in support of Iraq? Did artists from every country raise funds to support the struggling-with-aggression regime of Saddam Hussein? Pornhub ran a promotion: Saddam, we are with you! Did Pornhub’s services become free for Iraqis? Were these services blocked for Americans? Did global brands announce their withdrawal from the American market? Were the foreign assets of Americans and the American government blocked, seized or confiscated? Did the world experience an unprecedented sense of unity in the desire to punish and stop Washington? No.

In fact, the civilized world quietly agreed with the U.S. After all, these matters are different. Lies, hypocrisy and cowardice — this is the motto which should appear on the emblem of the democratic West.

In 2001, in response to 9/11, the U.S. began an operation in Afghanistan. Where was the logic? What did Afghanistan have to do with this? No one really knew. This war lasted 20 years. Until 2021, when the Americans hastily withdrew, leaving behind military equipment. It is reported that up to 34,000 civilians were accidentally killed. Not 34 civilians, but up to 34,000 civilians. Most likely, this number is much higher.

By the way, regarding the losses suffered by the U.S. and its allies: according to various sources, between 3,482 and 11,834 NATO troops and private military contractors were killed in Afghanistan. It is very likely that the death toll in Iraq was 25,128. Or more. The U.S. is constantly waging some kind of war somewhere. Coffins covered with America’s star-spangled banner arrive in the U.S. every year. But American society is kind of used to it. Mass anti-war protests stopped after Vietnam. You remember Vietnam, right? The U.S. continues to kill. People continue to die. This is the price of being America. Young American men and women join the army and many of them return home disabled or in coffins. No one is surprised or upset by this. Except for the families of the dead and wounded. But the families receive compensation, so they are okay too.

Given the above, should this anti-Russian insanity, orchestrated by the global media, and this anti-war hysteria be taken at face value? Where were these pacifists all these years while the U.S. flattened country after country, killing countless civilians?

Only those few journalists who reported on war victims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia and other countries subjected to American aggression have the moral right to say anything about the military operation in Ukraine. But these journalists could have traveled to Donbass, where they also would have seen victims and destruction. They should know that the war did not begin on Feb. 24, 2022, but in 2014, and has been ongoing since then, taking the lives of innocent people.

I watched Sergey Lavrov’s press conference from beginning to end. I did not see a single professional, honest, objective journalist from the Western media. Only agitators, drama queens and propagandists. The collective West looks more and more like a collective Goebbels.* They are in a state of some kind of ideological agony. This means that morally, Russia’s enemies have already lost.

*Editor’s note: This appears to be a reference to Joseph Goebbels, a German Nazi politician and chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933-1945.