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THREAD: Matthew Rojansky is apparently being considered for NSC Russia director, but his recent writings & recommendations are a hot-mess illustration of the myopia & passive complicity of Putinversteher/appeaser conventional wisdom.
For more read on. /1 https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1381314745865805825
For more read on. /1 https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1381314745865805825
Context: Russia is illegitimately ruled by a brutally corrupt mafia-fascist dictator who lies all the time, is at war with us, & just installed Trump to hurt us. He's making direct threats to conquer Ukraine, as his close ally Xi is also doing vs Taiwan /2 https://twitter.com/propornot/status/1028006451548053505
But in his most recent Nov 2020 article, Rojanksy's framing embraces Russian propaganda's "importance of relations with Russia" trope. It's like talking about the "importance of relations" with the bully who's trying to steal your lunch money. /3 https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/20/opinions/joe-biden-vladimir-putin-kimmage-rojansky/index.html
The subtext of Moscow's "importance of better relations with us" line is: "You better get along with us, by getting out of our way, or else".
They're at war with us. No serious analyst should be prioritizing "relations" with Putin's regime over containment & rollback thereof. /4
They're at war with us. No serious analyst should be prioritizing "relations" with Putin's regime over containment & rollback thereof. /4
"Poor relations with Russia" right now are good, like "poor relations with 1936 Nazi Germany"! They just show that you're standing up to Putin. If he's not mad at you, you're not resisting him.
We should be making Putin long for good relations with us & afraid to provoke us! /5
We should be making Putin long for good relations with us & afraid to provoke us! /5
But for Rojansky, the "importance of relations with Russia" necessitates building "steady, sustained mid-level connections" between our DoS. & Putin's MoFA (a fascist enemy's propaganda organ), & our DoD Putin's MoD (a fascist enemy's war machine).
That's his priority!? /6
That's his priority!? /6
Rojansky's 1st substantive recommendation for Biden is to lay the groundwork for lifting sanctions on our fascist enemies in order to "improve relations" with them, by giving their spies lots of access to our commanders & diplomats.
Cool cool cool... /7
Cool cool cool... /7
Rojansky then dives headlong into both-sides false equivalency, & assumes that "accidental escalation" is the most relevant threat right now, at while Putin has been very deliberately threatening to nuke us.
He doesn't mention Putin's deliberate escalations at all. /8
He doesn't mention Putin's deliberate escalations at all. /8
This is another Russian propaganda trope: "The prospect of nuclear war with us is TERRIFYING!! Don't get in our way or else we might, uh, accidentally escalate!!"
Note how Putin isn't afraid of us accidentally escalating against him! Rojansky ignores that one-way street. /9
Note how Putin isn't afraid of us accidentally escalating against him! Rojansky ignores that one-way street. /9
Containment & rollback of Putin's fascist empire & its influence around the world should be the aim of our whole-of-gov efforts.
But in the face of that fascist empire's war on us, this is Rojansky's final recommendation (which is really the same as his first one). /10
But in the face of that fascist empire's war on us, this is Rojansky's final recommendation (which is really the same as his first one). /10
Rojansky assumes that Putin is merely "exploiting anti-Americanism for domestic political gain", rather rebuilding the Russian empire through covert political conquest.
...So his counsel for Biden is to, uh, hope to placate Putin's eventual successor?? That's his goal there? /11
...So his counsel for Biden is to, uh, hope to placate Putin's eventual successor?? That's his goal there? /11
Rojansky's next-recent (July 2020) article is an odd criticism of @CatherineBelton's excellent book on "Putin's People".
Belton accurately describes Putin's neofeudal fascist imperialism in historical context. Rojansky complains that it's a "cliche". /12
https://newrepublic.com/article/158616/problem-putinology
Belton accurately describes Putin's neofeudal fascist imperialism in historical context. Rojansky complains that it's a "cliche". /12
https://newrepublic.com/article/158616/problem-putinology
Notice how Rojansky denigrates Belton's accurate description of Putin's stealth-Pearl-Harbor installation of a human weapon in the White House.
Rojansky does not understand that Trump is a Russian intelligence asset, or that Putin installed him to capture or kill the US. /13
Rojansky does not understand that Trump is a Russian intelligence asset, or that Putin installed him to capture or kill the US. /13
Uh, "Primakov’s consequential ideas about a multipolar international order" are already pervasive in the Anglosphere because Russian propaganda launders them through their "alt-media" proxy ecosystem.
We know how Putin justifies his imperialism. Nobody should amplify it. /14
We know how Putin justifies his imperialism. Nobody should amplify it. /14
Putin runs the country through his old KGB friends & their successors, while positioning himself as the indispensable arbiter of all conflicts between the fiefdoms he grants them control of.
As we've seen with Navalny, there are no significant competing centers of power. /15
As we've seen with Navalny, there are no significant competing centers of power. /15
This is exactly how Moscow wants Americans to think & talk about itself: Ignore the KGB conspiracies they use to wage war on us, "Russia" is just "pursuing its interests" - never mind that Putin isn't Russia, & his interests directly contradict the Russian peoples'!
Yikes. /16
Yikes. /16
"People should take at face value the propaganda that Putin uses to justify his fascist imperialism" is quite the sentiment here...
& "Putin is just doing imperialism for domestic popularity" ignores how Putin could do things VERY differently if he just wanted popularity /17
& "Putin is just doing imperialism for domestic popularity" ignores how Putin could do things VERY differently if he just wanted popularity /17
While Rojansky notes that Putin's imperialism has not completely succeeded in politically capturing the West, he ignores the MASSIVE effects of covert Russian influence & operations - like how Putin drives refugees into the West while supporting anti-refugee front orgs/mvmts. /18
More Rojansky refusing to take Kremlingate seriously, & ignoring how those Trump "campaign promises" (like removing support for Ukraine from the RNC platform) came to be...
(this is still from Rojansky's 2nd most recent article, here: https://newrepublic.com/article/158616/problem-putinology)
/19
(this is still from Rojansky's 2nd most recent article, here: https://newrepublic.com/article/158616/problem-putinology)
/19
Rojansky's view, right after Russia installed their intel assets in the WH (& shut down Mueller's investigation of them) & launched an insurrection to keep them in power, is that Russian influence on US politics is.... Weak?
Hint: Moscow wants you to underestimate them.
/19
Hint: Moscow wants you to underestimate them.
/19
This is just the official Russian state propaganda line.
That's literally all it is.
Moscow constantly blames the West for damage caused by Russian attacks on us. Their covertly stoking racial tension & extremism here, while blaming us for it, is a great example. /20
That's literally all it is.
Moscow constantly blames the West for damage caused by Russian attacks on us. Their covertly stoking racial tension & extremism here, while blaming us for it, is a great example. /20
This is just dangerously wrong. We are living through a crisis of Russian-threat-underestimation, which has already killed over 560k Americans.
People like Rojansky have been encouraging underestimation of the threat this whole time. /21
People like Rojansky have been encouraging underestimation of the threat this whole time. /21
We are now getting to the conclusion of Rojansky's review of "Putin's People".
Rojansky is illustrating the official Russian state propaganda line here perfectly: "The fall of the USSR was a tragedy! Western hubris & lies are the problem, not Putin's fascist regime!"
Yikes. /21
Rojansky is illustrating the official Russian state propaganda line here perfectly: "The fall of the USSR was a tragedy! Western hubris & lies are the problem, not Putin's fascist regime!"
Yikes. /21
Rojansky's next-most-recent article (also from July 2020) is in a magazine run by a Russian spy - Dimitri Simes' "The National Interest".
Rojansky counsels against confronting Putin, & for "cooperation", "understanding", "acceptance" & "engagement" /22 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/third-neighbor-can-america-live-putins-russia-163806
Rojansky counsels against confronting Putin, & for "cooperation", "understanding", "acceptance" & "engagement" /22 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/third-neighbor-can-america-live-putins-russia-163806
Rojansky's next-most-recent article, from Feb 2020, is an agenda for the Munich Conference on Ukraine. He suggests letting Russian spies back into the JCCC, & says Ukraine should take down defensive minefields & give occupied zones "special status". /23 https://euobserver.com/opinion/147453
Another recent Rojansky article is from Nov 2017. It is a case study in both-sides-ism, elevating "the relationship with Russia" over human dignity, whines about the US's "Cold War-style paranoia", assumes Putin can't be countered with hard power, etc. /24 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2017/11/28/dysfunction-in-us-russia-relations-a59722
Finally, & this is the kicker: In 2018, Rojansky wrote an argument for Trump's notoriously traitorous Helsinki summit in... The infamous Russian propaganda outlet Zerohedge.
How does that even happen?? Rojansky should explain how this got published! /25 https://web.archive.org/web/20180626053859/https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-25/these-are-benefits-us-russia-summit
How does that even happen?? Rojansky should explain how this got published! /25 https://web.archive.org/web/20180626053859/https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-25/these-are-benefits-us-russia-summit
Writing in Zerohedge, Rojansky puts "Russia investigation" & “Russian meddling” in skeptical scare quotes, while cowering in fear of Russia nuking us if we so much as look at them funny. /26
Rojansky closes his argument for the Trump's traitorous no-interpreter's-notes Helsinki meeting with this twofer whopper of bad analysis with a bad prediction.
Remember, this was JUST AFTER Russian forces attacked us & we destroyed them in the Battle of Kasham. /27
Remember, this was JUST AFTER Russian forces attacked us & we destroyed them in the Battle of Kasham. /27
For background on Zerohedge, the Russian propaganda outlet that Rojansky published his argument for the Helsinki "summit" in, see here:
https://newrepublic.com/article/156788/zero-hedge-russian-trojan-horse
We have a detailed analysis here:
http://www.propornot.com/2016/10/zero-hedge.html /28
https://newrepublic.com/article/156788/zero-hedge-russian-trojan-horse
We have a detailed analysis here:
http://www.propornot.com/2016/10/zero-hedge.html /28
In conclusion, Rojansky's consideration for Biden's National Security Council Russia Director raises questions like:
* How does he have a security clearance?
* Who recommended him, & how do they have security clearances?
* Who all has been defending his nomination, & why? /END
* How does he have a security clearance?
* Who recommended him, & how do they have security clearances?
* Who all has been defending his nomination, & why? /END
