I found the news story that Russia sought military aid from China for its bogged down invasion of Ukraine pretty interesting.
Until I dug a little deeper.
Russia has turned to China for military equipment and aid in the weeks since it began its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, did not describe what kind of weaponry had been requested, or whether they know how China responded.
The development comes as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans to travel to Rome on Monday to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi.
Sullivan told CNN that the administration was “communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences” for any Chinese efforts to assist Russia in evading sanctions.”
Do you see the problem? It’s right there in the first sentence.
Russia has turned to China for military equipment and aid in the weeks since it began its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
“Officials familiar with the matter.”
Remember that phrase?
Remember that phrase (and similar ones) a lot from those endless “sources say” hit pieces on President Trump that turned out to be complete garbage made up out of whole cloth?
Because of that, we can never take anonymously sourced pieces that promotes the latest Democratic Media Complex line at face value ever again. How can we be sure you’re not making things up again?
We can’t.
We can never take any anonymously sourced piece in the Washington Post at face value. So we have no idea if Russia sought military aid from China or not.
That’s the problem with institutional trust. Once it’s gone, it can’t easily be replaced.
Any time you read “source says” in a piece in an MSM outlet, you should read that as “just trust me, bro!”
And we don’t.
And absent a clean sweep in management and a complete turnover of current staff, we never will again.
Tags: China, Foreign Policy, Jake Sullivan, Media Watch, Military, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, Trump Derangement Syndrome, Ukraine, Washington Post, Yang Jiechi
Last Week’s Hotness: Chinese truck tires are the reason the Russian drive on Kiev has stalled out.
This Week’s Hotness: Russia asks China for military aid.
Do we see a disconnect? The Russians discover Chinese tires are crap and a week later are asking China for more goods. Does that make sense?
On the other hand, with all the sanctions, it’s not like Russia has a lot of other places to buy from…
Surely you’re not suggesting that media apparatchiks are willing handmaidens for regime propagandists?
The hell you say!
If the regime has a (D) after their name…
“Trust, like the soul, never returns once it is gone.”
– Publilius Syrus
For the most part, this does seem fishy. Russia has sold lots of weapons to China, but it’s very rare for stuff to go back the other way. Complex weapons, unless identical, can’t just be used immediately: they take months of training. Low tech consumables are fine, but they aren’t all compatible (the two armies use incompatible small arms calibres for example). Of course, the word on the street is that half the trouble the Russians are in is due to them using cheap Chinese Michelin knock off tyres, but since the original supplier won’t sell, perhaps there’s no alternatives :-)
If it’s in the NYT and/or in the WaPoo… It’s a LIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Seawriter wrote:
“Do we see a disconnect? The Russians discover Chinese tires are crap and a week later are asking China for more goods. Does that make sense?”
OTOH, where else are they going to get more truck tires?
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