Dear CCI Friends,

The recent New York Times article on the previously opaque nature of direct US involvement in the Russia/Ukraine war was a revelation to some, an acknowledgement of the truth of the reporting on the subject that has been coming from alternative media for the past three years for others.  It is especially important  given the size and reach of the Times readership but the question is, how do we interpret it?

Matt Taibbi has taken a deep dive into it and come up with a provocative analysis titled: 

“Biden Lied About Everything, Including the Nuclear Risk, During Ukraine Operation”

https://www.racket.news/p/biden-lied-about-everything-including

Is it possible to glean truth from the propaganda, spin, manipulation and outright lies and how do we tell the difference?

A British parliamentarian has, coincidentally, tackled just that subject.  Robert
Skildelsky presents an atypical view from the House of Lords.  

These are head-spinning times, friends.  Let us know how you sort wheat from chaff in the information/disinformation/misinformation overload environment, please!

The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

(NB:  we ask for your thoughts and we read each and every response – thank you so much for taking the time to share.  We do not respond to each of you each time you write only because of time constraints but you are much appreciated!  PD)

Dear CCI Friends,

There was an 80th anniversary commemorative event held at the Livadia Palace in Yalta last week to celebrate the Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin plan for a post-WWII peace agreement.  Many people and organizations from around the world were invited to attend and comment, including CCI. 

One participant in particular gave a speech that cannot be surpassed for candor and heart.  Roger Waters acknowledged the best laid plans of the original Yalta attendees; he also expressed his deep pain for humanity as a result of the subsequent failure of most of those good intentions.  

If we compare the goals of the original Yalta plan (as Waters sees them) to the reality of the present, are we doomed to the paralysis of despair?  Or may we hope we still have time to make the world a better place?

Your thoughts?

Sincerely,
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives

“Yalta 80 Years On”
https://scheerpost.com/2025/03/29/roger-waters-we-will-not-move-one-solitary-inch-towards-your-armageddon/

Dear CCI Friends,

Censorship (regulating what we are allowed to hear or say) and propaganda (sculpting the reality we are allowed to know) are defining our lives in this era.  Insisting on truth is the only antidote.  For those of us in the trenches it feels like a silent and uphill battle, but there are names and faces in the spotlight who are calling out the ‘official narrative’ for what it is – baloney. 

Rick Sanchez is an award-winning American journalist who worked at Russia Today for three years until the 2022, Special Military Operation in Ukraine.  Recently interviewed by Tucker Carlson, Sanchez said he was not censored by Russia while at RT, but finds censorship in the US ubiquitous; so ubiquitous he was censored right out of a job.

Tucker and Sanchez explore the issues: the neocon chokehold on corporate media, free speech in America, Russia’s perspective on the war, and things you can’t say if you work for big business media in the United States of America, Land of the Free.  Luckily for us, we are still the Home of the Brave thanks to voices like Sanchez and Carlson.

What does this chokehold on truth mean to ‘we the people’ who, we are told, have the ultimate say in guiding the largest, most powerful military in the history of the world?  Please let us know your thoughts on this critical issue.

“Rick Sanchez: Fired and Threatened With Jail for Refusing to Spout Zelensky’s Talking Points”

https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-rick-sanchez

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues:
 
At this critical stage in the quest for peace in Ukraine, and the unfolding saga in Europe where many of its leaders want to keep the war going till the last Ukrainian, we felt that the interview between Richard Sakwa and James Carden would be important to share with you. 
 
https://usrussiaaccord.org/acura-qa-richard-sakwa-trumps-perestroika/ 
 
Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent in the UK. He has published widely on Soviet, Russian, European and post-communist affairs. Books include The Crisis of Russian Democracy: The Dual State, Factionalism and the Medvedev Succession (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky – Yukos Affair (London and New York, I. B. Tauris, 2014) and Putin Redux: Power and Contradiction in Contemporary Russia (London and New York, Routledge, 2014). His latest book is Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands, which was published in 2016. He is currently working on Russia against the Rest: The Crisis of the Post-Cold War International System.
 
James Carden is senior adviser to ACURA (American Committee for US Russia Accord). He previously served as an advisor to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and to the Special Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs at the US State Department. A contributing editor and columnist at The American Conservative and a contributing writer for foreign affairs at The Nation,  his articles have appeared in publications on the left, right, and center including The Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Spectator, Quartz, among many others.
 
In this interview, Sakwa and Carden reflect on the quest for peace by the US which is being opposed by many European countries, even against the wishes of their own people. It is ironic that in spite of so much death and destruction, many of the so-called leaders in the Collective West wish to keep the war going. The implications of this, and some pathways forward for all parties concerned, are discussed in this thoughtful, engaging, and timely interview. 
 
We welcome your thoughts on this critical subject.
 
Regards, 
Paula Day and Krishen Mehta, Directors CCI

Dear CCI Friends,

Jack F. Matlock, Jr., our friend who served as U.S. Ambassador to the USSR from 1987-1991, was a participant in the negotiations which assured Soviet President Gorbachev that NATO would not move to the east if the Soviets would agree to the reunification of East and West Germany.  He speaks plainly and clearly about how the West’s renunciation of that policy provoked the conflict in Ukraine.  

Now, after three bloody years of needless waste of life and treasure, we may be looking at the possibility of an end to that conflict.  Please read the following by Ambassador Matlock; it gives us hope.

“…anyone interested in peace rather than the threat of nuclear war should be congratulating President Trump.After all, if the war does end and Russia is brought back into cooperative economic relations with Europe and the United States, everyone will benefit. If the war and the attempted isolation of Russia continues, all will suffer and cooperation to deal with common problems such as environmental degradation, mass migration and international financial crime will become impossible.

I say this not as a Trump supporter — I did not vote for him and have been critical of most of his moves. But in regard to the war in Ukraine and relations with Russia, I believe he is on the right track.”https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-ukraine-zelensky/

For reference, here is a timeline of the conflict created by Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News.

We welcome your comments.

The Center for Citizen Initiatives