Forum Topic

In 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea, Colonel Douglas Macgregor appeared on the Russian state-owned network RT, advocating for the annexation of Ukraine's Donbas region by Russia. He characterised the residents of that area as "in fact Russians, not Ukrainians." During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Macgregor made several media appearances where he expressed support for Russia's actions. He predicted a swift Russian victory and suggested that Ukrainian forces would be "annihilated" if they didn't surrender promptly. He also described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "puppet" and criticized the U.S. and NATO for "demonising" Russian President Vladimir Putin. These statements led to criticism from various quarters, including Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin, who accused him of "distorting" facts and acting as an "apologist" for Putin.
Macgregor's nomination in 2020 by President Trump for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Germany faced significant opposition due to his past remarks. He had referred to Muslim immigrants in Europe as "Muslim invaders" aiming to transform Europe into an Islamic state. Additionally, he criticised Germany's approach to its Nazi past, labeling it a "sick mentality." This is a man who for the last decade at least has been willing to pedal talking points originating from the Kremlin which are patently false such as the 'Mexican cartels have Javelins' nonsense. Can you give a satisfactory explanation for this behaviour other than they have kompromat on him? 

Francis Rowe ● 19d

It's interesting to note how the volume of Russian disinformation has increased in recent weeks with the GRU presumably directly or indirectly giving encouragement to its assets to push certain talking points. We may never know how they manage to get people like Brigden and Zerohedge to increase their output on cue but they can rely on lower level assets like Anna to amplify the message. As I have said before I don't think she does this because she hates her country, loves Russia or even understands the issues she posts about but she is desperately lonely and this is the only way she can interact with others.The hope would be that this sort of concerted disinformation works less well that it did under a democratic administration in the US. It is all very well to spread fanciful tales about Ukrainian Nazis and weapons being sold to Mexican drug dealers when it would be down to Biden to do something about it but now this is Trump's responsibility.As would be expected, Russia's talking points get zero traction in this country with only some far left groups adopting them but they have been otherwise roundly rejected across both the full spectrum of the press and political parties.Interestingly there seems increasing evidence that the preposterousness of some of the Russian fabrications are proving too much for American public opinion with a very negative reaction to the 'Zelensky is a dictator' line which Trump has been repeating.I'm not convinced that Trump is a Russian asset but he has got it into his head that a deal can be done regarding the Arctic which seems to be his main strategic priority. Both negotiating teams in Saudi had experts in this area. He is bashing Zelensky because he is frustrated that he won't compensate him fully for the loss of revenue if Trump gives up his ambitions in the Arctic.However, Trump was put gently but firmly in his place by Macron yesterday who told him publicly that American isn't going to be repaid in full by Ukraine for the aid given to Ukraine and that the US has contributed less than half of what has been given so far.This leaves Trump with the option of pursuing a bilateral deal with Russia. He might do it but it sounds like the Europeans will pull the trigger on using Russian reserves to fund the war if he did which would more than outweigh the loss of American support. This probably would be enough to collapse the Putin regime which means any deal that Trump made with him would be worthless. Hopefully Keir Starmer reinforces this message and brings some sense of reality back to the White House.

Francis Rowe ● 35d

It is interesting to see, at this pivotal moment, how Russia has reactivated its misinformation assets. Brigden and Anna may be unaware of the purpose they are serving, and what they are saying gains little traction in the UK but the constant repetition of Kremlin talking points are continuing to be adopted by the MAGA movement which does much to explain the current farce over the Ukraine 'peace process'. The invitation issue to Jack Posobiec, messages from whom Anna will have shared with us over the years, is an indication how embedded this dangerous nonsense has become in US government thinking.As a proud shill for the rules based order and democratic freedoms I'd like to apologise for not posting actively on this subject recently. As this is a local forum I'm not inclined to post on foreign policy matters unless someone posts misinformation.The continuing decline of Brigden into tin foil hat wearing territory is sad in one way but I feel little sympathy for a fool that is making himself an instrument of an amoral, brutal and criminal regime which has attacked this country with chemical weapons and continues to pay agents to do damage to our interests of us and our allies.If you are genuinely concerned about child-trafficking in Ukraine you should read the report linked to below compiled by the US government (when it was functioning sufficiently well to produce good quality research). This concludes that there is an issue in Ukraine (as there is in every country in the world sadly) and government attempts to tackle it have not been adequate. However, the main reason for the failure is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia which has meant that the resources of the state and the justice system are, understandably, directed elsewhere.https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/ukraine/

Francis Rowe ● 42d