Dear CCI Friends,

If there is a bright light to be seen in the gathering dark clouds of war that hang over us, it shines out from those who speak for sanity, rationality and respect between nations. Is sanity, rationality and respect too much to ask of those who demand war?

The attached video features Garland Nixon speaking at the United Nations. His plea for peace is especially poignant as it comes not from a politician, an academic nor a media pundit but from one who can authentically speak for the people, the working class, who actually die fighting our wars to “promote democracy.” It is a short piece with a sharp point. We look forward to hearing your comments.

The Directors
The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Garland Nixon at the UN

October 13, 2023

By Garland Nixon 

[Continue to Watch]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Ambassador Charles Freeman, a distinguished US career service officer, recently wrote an important article on the lessons that we have learned from the Ukraine war. The article is quite compelling in its insights, and we felt it important to share it with you. The lessons apply not only to the US but also to NATO, Russia, and the EU. 

In lieu of us providing our comments on the article, we feel it best to forward it to you for your consideration. There are some important insights here that may be worthy of further reflection. 

Regards, 

Director CCI

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Chas W. Freeman, Jr.

The Many Lessons of the Ukraine War

September 26, 2023

By Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.)    

I want to speak to you tonight about Ukraine – what has happened to it and why, how it is likely to emerge from the ordeal to which great power rivalry has subjected it; and what we can learn from this.  I do so with some trepidation and a warning to this audience.  My talk, like the conflict in Ukraine, is a long and complicated one.  It contradicts propaganda that has been very convincing.  My talk will offend anyone committed to the official narrative.  The way the American media have dealt with the Ukraine war brings to mind a comment by Mark Twain: “The researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject, and it is probable that, if they continue, we shall soon know nothing at all about it.”

It is said that, in war, truth is the first casualty.  War is typically accompanied by a fog of official lies.  No such fog has ever been as thick as in the Ukraine war.  While many hundreds of thousands of people have fought and died in Ukraine, the propaganda machines in Brussels, Kyiv, London, Moscow, and Washington have worked overtime to ensure that we take passionate sides, believe what we want to believe, and condemn anyone who questions the narrative we have internalized.  No one not on the front lines has any real idea of what has been happening in this war.  What we know is only what our governments and other supporters of the war want us to know.  And they have developed the bad habit of inhaling their own propaganda, which guarantees delusional policies.

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Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Patrick Lawrence continues his analysis of the overall situation, combining his knowledge of history with his keen observation of current events. Although at first glance, seemingly small events previously deemed “unnewsworthy” by the mainstream media may have been hard to connect, Patrick now presents a potential emerging trend taking shape and gaining momentum.

In addition to the lukewarm reception of Zelenskyy in Washington DC recently, there have been other indications of waning “Western” unity for continued support,

To quote,

“The mood elsewhere appears to be no brighter. That astonishing debacle in the Canadian Parliament—presenting an old  SS man as a hero because he fought the Soviets?—cannot have done Zelensky’s constituency in Canada any good. Across the pond there are signs of impatience as roughly eight million Ukrainian refugees settle in Europe, displaying little interest—and who can blame them?—in going home when the war is over. War or no, solidarity or no, the Poles have blocked imports of cheap Ukrainian wheat. There are signs of buyer’s remorse among the Finns a matter of months after their impulsive decision to join NATO. And now the Slovakians and their new leader’s alarming display of political and intellectual independence.” 

As always, we appreciate your thoughts and comments. We read all of them and although we may not respond, we are thankful for the time and consideration you give the subjects we select to share with you.

The Directors

Center for Citizen Initiatives

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SCHEERPOST

Patrick Lawrence: Depleted Ukrainium

October 5, 2023
What Comes After Failure?

By Patrick Lawrence 

You cannot name the last time you read anything about a parliamentary election in Slovakia, so I won’t bother asking. But you are reading about one this week, assuming you still follow mainstream media—if only to understand what you are supposed to think about one or another event, as against what has actually occurred. 

In results announced in Bratislava Sunday, a leftist party whose primary platform plank is opposition to the war in Ukraine won 23 percent of the vote. On Monday the Slovakian president, Zuzana Čaputová, formally asked Robert Fico, who leads the SMER party, to form a government. It looks like he will do so in a coalition with either Voice, a social-democratic party that took 15 percent of the vote, or with Progressive Slovakia, a liberal-centrist party that finished with 18 percent of the vote. 

Fico is an interesting figure. He has served as prime minister twice over the course of a decade, during which time he proved sufficiently European to bring Slovakia into the euro. To one or another extent, his likely coalition partners favor keeping Slovakia as a card-carrying member of the Western coalition supporting Ukraine. But they did not win the election: Fico did. And Fico is all business in his opposition to Slovakia’s support for the U.S. proxy war tearing Ukraine and its people to pieces. 

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Dear Friends and Colleagues,

When the Prime Minister and entire Parliament of Canada stood to applaud and cheer a Nazi – a living, breathing veteran of the German SS in WWII – many of us were left speechless. How could this happen? Over one million Canadians – 10% of the population at the time – allied with Russia, the US and Great Britain, fought the deadly German machine in that war. Surely some members of the Canadian House of Commons today are aware of that, wouldn’t you think?

In the aftermath of that surreal episode, Aaron Maté at the Grayzone has posed a relevant question: if applauding an antique Nazi is repellant, how is it that arming, training and providing financial support to the modern-day Nazi equivalent is acceptable? Mainstream media told us for years what was going on, but did we care? Please see Aaron’s article below.

In response to the article by Andrew Korybko that we posted last week – “Jews, Poles & Russians Have United to Condemn Canada for Glorifying A Literal Nazi” – some of our readers were indifferent to the subject. Two well-known voices, one a Scot, the other American, make separate but equally eloquent cases for why we should take the matter seriously, very seriously indeed.

Please, as always, give us your thoughts on these matters. And please accept our apologies if we do not reply to each of your responses. We read all of them and we are truly thankful for the time and consideration you give the subjects we select to share with you.

The Directors

Center for Citizen Initiatives

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New Kontinent

Arming and Applauding

September 28, 2023

By Aaron Maté

Canada’s parliament has apologized for celebrating a Ukrainian veteran of a World War II-era Nazi military unit. Yet NATO’s current alliance with Ukrainian neo-Nazi units remains unscathed.

The Canadian government has apologized after giving a Ukrainian veteran of a World War II-era Nazi military unit a warm reception in parliament. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, was honored following an address by visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the entire House of Commons in a standing ovation. Hunka, Parliamentary Speaker Anthony Rota declared, is a “Canadian hero” who “fought [for] Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”

Ottawa’s applauding lawmakers overlooked that the Russians, at that time, were Canadian allies against Hunka’s Nazi commanders. Hunker served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as SS Galichina, a unit of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing.

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For your consideration:

(1432) Neil Oliver: ‘…unforgivable!’ – YouTube
Patrick Lawrence: Tampering With History – scheerpost.com

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

We all walk different paths in life and we all have the right to our own thoughts, opinions and beliefs.  There are times however when facts are indisputable and one example is the real history of WWII.

Included is an article reflecting the current attitude of some towards that history and the growing, united response to those who are attempting to distort and re-write that history.

Please let us know your comments.

Center for Citizen Initiatives

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