Ukraine & USA's Massive Cyber Failures
Two days ago the tragic, predictable, Russian-led invasion of Ukraine became reality. Within hours it was riddled not only with named war crimes, but newly seen actions, so heinous that new war crimes will need to be defined. Putin and his oligarch are the sole blame. Attempts to blame Nato, US, or worse, Ukraine, is sheer victim blaming. Russian civilians and even army members have been clear this is not their fight, nor do most approve. It’s known that in the upcoming weeks more reports of Russian soldiers being beaten and tricked into fighting will emerge, as Russia pays off the UN and international groups from commenting on their crimes.
Attempts to blame US and Ukraine have come from both ends of the political horseshoe, where the alt-left and alt-right reluctantly meet. For days I’ve told far left, “You know, you sound a lot like Tucker Carlson and Fox News right now,” while I tell the far right, “You know, you sound a lot like ‘The Squad’ right now.” They dont love the comparison. Infuriated as these partisan-minded fools are at my assessment, there’s nothing they have said to disprove it. Both alt-sides have taken to Putin-apologies, proudly looking past Russian human rights violations, insisting that we should focus instead on domestic issues. It is not a one-or-the-other issue. And Ukraine’s issues are ours. Those I’m criticizing are not pascifists. They are vocal about wanting war elsewhere. Their rhetoric and actions are pointing for a subliminal love of Putin they will discredit, but not disprove.
It is bizarre that alt-left, who have been vehemently aggainst policing, suddenly have a stance that the US military is better served domestically. Could you previously imagine the alt-left saying the military has domestic (policing) duties? It is bizarre that the far right, who treats the word “Communism” like a boogeyman and slur, are pushing for a Capitalist-minded state to be taken over. Could you previously imagine the alt-right and MAGA supporting a Communist takeovers of a state? I hope you, the reader, agree that both these sides are pathetic, ignoring human rights violations and pushing false narratives. Double standards are their only standards.
Both alt-left and alt-right have gaslit that Ukraine has a “Nazi problem,” parrotting old Putin propaganda. Holocaust Museums, Jewish Organizations, and without exception, every Jew I know in US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia, knows ‘Nazi-Ukraine’ claims are complete nonsense. Not because Ukraine has a Jewish President, a feat that the greater Soviet thought impossible after pogroms and state-imposed religion. A Jewish President is indicative of the reality that Nazis are not a major percent of Ukraine, often estimated at 3% of the population. One Jew does not negate the possibility all together. Rather, the ridiculousness of these claims comes from Russia’s continued resistance to allow religious rights and LGBT+ rights. Simply put, Ukraine offers more freedom to Jews and Gays, as well as other groups persecuted by Nazis, than Russia does now or did prior. This is not up for debate because of memes about Football Hooligans being racist. If someone wants to tell you Russia is fighting Nazis, they are comfortable liars or completely ignorant. And we don’t need to see Chechnyan jihadists joining Russian forces to know of this farce… but we see that too.
I’m not writing to state the obvious, in a time where I can’t even think straight. For days I’ve cried at Telegram videos depicting the utter tragedy Putin, and only Putin and his oligarch, caused. I’m not writing to call anyone a Nazi, as so many antisemites regularly do to Jews in faux-Palestinian support. Nazi comparisons are unnecessary with the Soviet track record on human rights. And I’m not writing to talk about EWF conspiracies, though Putin did warn EWF of this invasion more than a year ago. I’m writing all this preface to simply get to my attack of the one legitimate concern I hear regarding US involvement in this war. I share this concern. Still, I will not fear stand in the way of freedom. We must address this concern without repeating history.
The concern is that US involvement will cost more lives, or even risk nuclear war. That fear is not paranoia. It is a legitimate fear. I do not let fear get in the way of logic. I will not let fear stop me from standing up to aggressors. Fear of reprucssions prevented US involvement with Europe during WW2, that could have mitigated countless deaths all around. This is not the time to be afraid and repeat previous war. It is the time to stand up.
In 1994, following the (possibly temporary) collapse of the Soviet, US, UK and neo-Russia made an agreement to Ukraine for protection in exchange for disarment. Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons in the Budapest Agreement. Russia broke that agreement, for decades attacking Ukraine. The US and UK previously did not. Now, US and UK have a commitment, even if it is not legally binding, and even if there are fears. Again, Putin and his oligarch are the sole blame, but other parties share guilt. And the only way to not be guilty is to act on promise.
On Day 3 of mass casualties, with death toll growing, there are few signs of US, UK or Nato joining the actual fight. They have allegedly sent weapons, but seem to be avoiding conflict. They skate around the talks of cyber attacks from Russia, but threaten none. It is time for the US to use its cyber superiority, in a war where Russian cyber attacks are consistently threatened, and Russian aggression is costing lives.
I am under the impression that the only way to truly end dictators is from within. This requires work of those subjected to the dictator. The Soviets did not fall because of war or foreign influence. It was the East German’s and others’ refusal to work, the destruction of the Berlin Wall, and internal conflict that were effective.
I very much care about US influence on the world. USA was once considered a Global Hegemony. Few still support this idea, after weak leaders, self criticism, extreme partisanship and more. The causes of the previous hegenomic image is what we should focus on. Why did the world love US? There are many reasons, beyond a committment to human rights before blind nationalism. Some are dumb reasons, like the influence of Hollywood movies and models. Some are dumber reasons, like US love of gluttony, advertising sex, drugs and rock n roll on just about everything. But there’s good reasons left, like ending WW2 and making allegiances to ensure democratic values are placed before allegiences.
The comparison of US military strength to Russia, China and other dictators is important. But these comparisons imply a need for fire fights and mass deaths. We should avoid such tactics, knowing that they are essential due to the brutalness of humanity and nature. Instead we want to discuss Germany ending SWIFT (payments), sanctions, and international condemnation. Cyber attacks are a misunderstood part of the discussion.
Currently, US’s greatest tool for influence is social media, including Meta’s services and Twitter. These tools were previously used by Russia to influence US elections — mentioned every week for the past six years. In spite of Russia effortlessly navigating how to effectively use social media to their political advantage, the US politicians and correspondants seem dumbfounded at the thought of doing something similar. We have been told Russia managed to use US services to their advantage, but the US can not figure out how to do the same.
Instead, the idea of cyber attacks seems to be focused on disruptions. When you hear about a cyber attack, it’s usually the idea of taking out a power plant or reactor. More dangerous options include poisoning water supplies, something Iran and its proxies attempted to do to Israel. Rarely, if ever, do we hear about cyber attacks in the form of informative campaigns, presenting true information and disrupting Russian propaganda machines.
The most clear social media power leveraged by Ukraine is documentin the destruction with real time videos, including geotags that help reporters verify the information. I have talked with new friends in Ukraine, who are sharing their stories. There’s still more ways to use social media.
The Fyre Festival managed to trick intelligent people into paying for a fraudulent festival by paying models. Those same models, like Bella Haddid with 60M followers, have been either silent on Ukraine or looked to deflect to their hate for Israel. The biggest accounts have not done enough to make it clear Putin is the aggressor, and the world must stand with Ukraine. Black Lives Matter, the organization with Marxist ties, that hijacked a social issue and stole funds intended for improving black communities, caused massive “protests” around the US by leveraging anger. They have done nothing in regards to helping Ukraine. Surely they could leverage anger again. The (mostly-conservative) Canada Trucker Protests used social media to rally donations and communicate needs. I guess freedom abroad is less important to them. [Yes, other groups are trying to rally donations. My point is that the largest, most famous orgs are not doing enough.]
What I’m hinting at is that the US must push their people and companies to nonviolent fighting. Even the greatest free market supporter can argue for the US to push Twitter and Facebook to ask ex-Soviet states to protest in mass. Putin is willing to capture, torture and kill his own, but there has to be a limit. Surely, more civilian dissent will have a crowd effect, and is the best chance for getting military refusal to continue war crimes. At best, it would cause a coup from military officials who truly place humanitarian rights before Soviet-revival, terrifying CCP and Iran. This is what I pray for.
Russian authoritarians are already acting to remove social media and similar tools from Russian states. They know the damage that will come if US simply had Facebook or Google add a banner demanding protest in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Siberia, Finland, Georgia and more. Massive corporations like Meta and Microsoft are not Nato or US. Rather, they are an amazing tool we will soon lose. The US needs to be creative to act without the same reprecussions of shooting missiles on Russian or Ukranian soil. Time is of the essence. We must share Ukraine’s messages immediately, and not allow Russia to continue to lie on US owned severs. If they need to propogate lies, they can do so with their own channels. Not ours!
I fear the ramifications on innocent people from any actions, but know action is essential. Rather than making the lives of civilians far worse in the long run, we need to act now and push for an end to this war. Each person who disagrees may not be responsible for war, but they are guilty of not acting. I am sickened by inaction.
