No. 13August 18, 2023
U.S./NATO Proxy War in Ukraine
Jeddah Peace Talks
Saudi Arabia hosted a forum in Jeddah on August 5 and 6 to explore avenues for finding a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. The Saudi Press Agency reported that national security advisers and representatives of more than 30 countries and 10 international organizations attended. In addition to Saudi Arabia, these included Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of South Africa, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the Union of Comoros, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union and the United Nations. Some of the representatives took part via video conference.
Russia was not invited because it does not accept the premise for a peace deal advanced by Ukraine. Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian president Zelensky’s office, said the meeting in Jeddah was a step toward the practical implementation of Ukraine’s 10-step peace formula.
“Each state participating in the consultations has the opportunity to show leadership in global efforts for peace. And most of them have already defined their role in the implementation of certain points of the formula,” Yermak said. “The parties agreed to continue working at various representative levels to establish a just and comprehensive peace.”
No official statement or communiqué, was issued following the event. News agencies report that while the initial intention was to discuss only Zelensky’s so-called peace plan, it seems that Saudi Arabia, backed by a number of other states, put forward its own proposal. This proposal was framed in the context of maintaining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, for a ceasefire on all fronts, the launch of peace talks under UN supervision, and the exchange of prisoners.
Chinese Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui reiterated the 12-point proposal China tabled in February. It calls for a ceasefire, respect for the legitimate security interests of all countries, and opposition to the imposition of unilateral sanctions without a relevant decision from the UN Security Council. Li Hui rejected speculation by Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and others that China’s presence in Jeddah signaled a change in its policy. Li said that such Western rhetoric is only seeking to sow discord between Beijing and Moscow. He said China’s attendance only signalled a “more mature timing for dialogue.”
The chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Leonid Slutsky, said the outcome of the Jeddah meeting on a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict has demonstrated that the attitude to the situation around Ukraine in the world is becoming more realistic. Slutsky said that attempts to present Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called peace plan at the meeting in Jeddah “turned into a complete fiasco.”
A U.S. official expressed “Washington’s appreciation to Riyadh for hosting the talks, describing them as ‘constructive,'” according to an Al-Arabiya report. “It was a good and constructive set of conversations with a range of countries who came together to exchange views and build common ground in support of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, discuss how to end the war in Ukraine and address the practical consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine and around the world,” the person said.
The fact is that while the U.S./NATO countries need to find an exit ramp, they think such meetings will put pressure on Russia to give up its security concerns, which is a pipe dream. The pressure is on the U.S./NATO countries to stop their proxy war in Ukraine.
Responsibility for Corruption in Ukraine
Seventy-seven per cent of Ukrainians polled believe that President Zelensky is directly responsible for corruption in the government of Ukraine and military administrations, according to a new poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) and reported by Interfax. The national survey “Socio-political moods of the population of Ukraine” was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in July 2023 by order of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation. Respondents living in 135 settlements of Ukraine were interviewed with a total of 2,011 interviews. Statistical error of the sample is within 3.3 per cent.
It is Zelensky’s “lack of action” in the midst of widescale corruption that has led to such an overwhelming condemnation of his government as being responsible for the corruption, those reporting on the poll results said. They say that blaming the Russians for all the ills in Ukraine and saying “the authorities do not have time” does not work after 16 months of war. It hasn’t convinced Ukrainians to look the other way, the commentators on the poll results say.
The poll also found that Ukrainians want soldiers wounded in action to return to civilian life and not be rehabilitated and redeployed. The results show “72.9 per cent support the discharge of wounded soldiers from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the payment of all due compensation for treatment and rehabilitation.”
Official Explanations from Germany and Britain About Lack of Progress in Ukraine’s “Counteroffensive”
Germany and Britain recently opined on the reason’s for Ukraine’s underwhelming spring counteroffensive, underway since early June.
German newspaper Bild on July 25 reported on a confidential document from the German military (Bundeswehr), which sums up the problem as troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “poorly assimilating Western training.” It says that the Ukrainian command staff sometimes demonstrates “considerable deficiencies in leadership and in the application of management processes at the respective level, which sometimes leads to wrong and dangerous decisions.”
The Bundeswehr gives the opinion that the more combat experience a Ukrainian soldier has and the higher their rank in the Ukrainian army, the less they learn or apply the principles of training they are receiving from NATO countries. In many cases, soldiers with no recent combat or military experience have been found to be more successful in training than experienced and trained soldiers, analysts estimate. According to the Bundeswehr’s assessment, “combat experience” does not mean “that a soldier is a good leader in a battle.” The Ukrainian military trained in Germany, especially the young cadets, had a good understanding of the “principles of fire and movement,” but after returning to Ukraine, they faced a problem because they were commanded by officers who did not follow NATO procedures.
“Although during the four-week training, the cadets had a ‘high level of understanding and high success in training,’ Ukrainian operational doctrine and Ukrainian senior officers who did not participate in Western training often hindered the progress achieved. In this regard, the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army is still rather slow,” Bild quotes the Bundeswehr report.
The German military also considers that another main problem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the division of combat units and that “a joint battle leadership is not recognizable.” Not only does this division of troops “increase the risk of friendly fire” but it also leads to “manoeuvring elements lacking in focus [because the soldiers are trying] to build up [their] own momentum or establish fire superiority.” This division of Ukrainian troops into brigades which have undergone NATO training into groups of 10-30 soldiers, isolated from the rest of the troops, creates diffuseness which ensures that neither NATO training, superior arms, nor a large number of troops can be brought to bear in an effective manner.
Only a week earlier, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army informed at the most recent Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein, Germany on July 18 that those countries backing the U.S./NATO proxy war have “trained 17 combat brigades for this offensive and more than 63,000 military personnel. The United States alone has provided training for 15,000 of them, and the training is still ongoing.” Milley claimed that this training “allowed us to develop tangible skills that allowed us to create combat-ready Ukrainian units led by talented commanders,” adding that “this has a tangible impact on the battlefield today.”
An August 2 report from the New York Times corroborates the report from Bild. It writes, “Ukrainian military commanders have changed tactics, focusing on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire. A troop surge is underway in the country’s south, with a second wave of Western-trained forces launching mostly small-scale attacks to punch through Russian lines.
“But early results have been mixed. While Ukrainian troops have retaken a few villages, they have yet to make the kinds of sweeping gains that characterized their successes in the strategically important cities of Kherson and Kharkiv last fall. The complicated training in Western manoeuvres has given the Ukrainians scant solace in the face of barrage after barrage of Russian artillery.
“Ukraine’s decision to change tactics is a clear signal that NATO’s hopes for large advances made by Ukrainian formations armed with new weapons, new training and an injection of artillery ammunition have failed to materialize, at least for now.
“It raises questions about the quality of the training the Ukrainians received from the West and about whether tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including nearly $44 billion worth from the Biden administration, have been successful in transforming the Ukrainian military into a NATO-standard fighting force.”
The change in tactics means a return to a war of attrition, which real life has already shown to be unwinnable because Ukraine stocks of ammunition are already low and NATO countries cannot replenish them at the level they are being consumed.
For its part, the British Ministry of Defence on August 3 issued a Defence Intelligence update blaming slow progress in the counteroffensive on the growth of vegetation on the battlefield. The update states:
“Undergrowth regrowing across the battlefields of southern Ukraine is likely one factor contributing to the generally slow progress of combat in the area.
“The predominately arable land in the combat zone has now been left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions. The extra cover helps camouflage Russian defensive positions and makes defensive mine fields harder to clear.
“Although undergrowth can also provide cover for small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances.”
A war of attrition is not only a matter of ammunition, but of troops. Indications are that Ukraine is increasingly short and desperate for troops to be thrown in battle on behalf the U.S. and NATO. Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky said on August 2 on his YouTube channel that Ukrainians should expect a large mobilization of conscripts for the military by winter 2024:
“This protracted counteroffensive, which needs to be made meaningful and realized, will require the mobilization of a large number of military personnel. The accumulation of equipment that you can see […] this is the accumulation for carrying out if not a total, but a very large mobilization. The purge among military commissars [who are responsible for finding conscripts], retraining and sending new people is preparation for a big mobilization.” He also said that martial law in Ukraine would be very likely prolonged until the end of next year and parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for October, would be postponed to late 2024.
Martial law was established in Ukraine on February 22, 2022 and the decree on general mobilization was signed the next day. Both have been extended multiple times and are presently in force until November 15.
U.S. Deploys 3,000 Marines to Persian Gulf
Thousands of Marines backed by advanced U.S. fighter jets and warships are slowly building up a presence in the Persian Gulf. According to Voice of America, the Buildup of American forces in the Persian Gulf is “a New Signal of Worsening U.S.-Iran Conflict.” The U.S. claims it is keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping in the name of ensuring stable energy prices. It calls this a priority. Reports indicate that 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. has been stepping up its military presence in the region for some time. Now, it “will have part of a Marine expeditionary unit in the region for the first time in nearly two years. The deployment of thousands of Marines and sailors consists of both the USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship,” VOA says.
Senior Iranian military commander Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that providing for security in the region has nothing to do with the United States. “What (does) the security of the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean have to do with America? What are you (U.S. forces) doing here?” the commander asked, adding, “All the countries in the region are capable of establishing security in these waters.”
Hands Off the DPRK
DPRK Strengthens Its Preparedness for Defence of Homeland
The Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) convened an enlarged meeting to discuss an important issue of making the army more thoroughly ready for a war given the grave political and military situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula. The enlarged meeting analyzed the military moves of the chief culprits in the deteriorated situation that disturb peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity. The meeting adopted plans for offensive military countermeasures to thoroughly deter them.
The meeting also discussed as its major agenda item the issues of making full war preparations “to neutralize at a blow the enemy attack with overwhelming strategic deterrence and launch simultaneous offensive military actions in contingency,” the report of the meeting carried by the newspaper of the WPK said. “The meeting examined a plan of forming frontline operation groups reinforced to overwhelmingly contain and destroy the enemy with absolutely superior military strategy, tactics and muscle in contingency, including specific operational tasks to be fulfilled to carry it out,” the report said.
On the basis of the results of the discussion, measures were taken and guidelines given to enlarge frontline units of the Korean People’s Army, to change the front line operational sphere and plans, to equip these forces with the latest weapons and equipment and for undertaking military exercises to raise the fighting capacity of the forces,” the report said. Several changes were also made in the military command, the newspaper reported.
Canadians Celebrate 70th Anniversary of Korea’s Victory in Fatherland Liberation War
Painting of the signing of the armistice ending the Korean War.
The Korea Truth Commission (Canadian Chapter) held an informative online seminar on July 27 discussing the significance of the victory in the Korean War, known as the Fatherland Liberation War, and developments on the Korean Peninsula today. It was one of many events held internationally to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the Korean people defeating the U.S. imperialists and 16 other countries, including Canada.
The 70th Anniversary celebrations are taking place at a time when the U.S. and NATO forces are relentless in threats, provocations and war preparations on the Korean Peninsula. The seminar took a firm stand against these developments, calling for the U.S. to end the conflict, sign a peace treaty with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and withdraw its armed forces from the Korean Peninsula.
Quoting from a recent DPRK statement, the moderator noted that in summing up their experience of the Fatherland Liberation War, the DPRK is well aware of the historic contribution it made to peace on the world scale. By stopping the U.S. in Korea, the U.S. drive to another world war was averted. This gave confidence to the Korean people in standing up for their sovereignty and independence and set the stage where today the DPRK continues to affirm its right to be under all conditions.
Philip Fernandez, spokesperson for the Korea Truth Commission (Canadian Chapter), presented on the historic causes of the Korean War. The U.S., he said, must be held to account for creating the conditions and triggering the Korean War in order to keep control over the Korean Peninsula for its self-serving geopolitical aims of world domination.
The U.S. forcefully overthrew the Korean People’s Republic, established by the Korean people themselves on September 6, 1945. From then until the outbreak of the war in 1950 the U.S. ruled over the Korean people with an iron fist, setting up a puppet government and later the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1948 to deprive the Korean people of a united country.
It was only when every avenue to reunify the country peacefully was blocked by the U.S. that the DPRK was established under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea, with Kim Il Sung at the head, on September 9, 1948. Founding the DPRK ensured that the Korean people have the base from which to continue their historic struggle to reunify their country and advance their nation-building project.
Fernandez said that since the end of the Fatherland Liberation War, the Korean people have continued to strive for peace and have opposed the continued U.S. occupation of the south. On this occasion of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, it is important for Canadians and everyone to step up efforts to support the Korean people and initiatives taken by the DPRK to maintain peace on the Peninsula.
In the next presentation, Nick Lin addressed the current situation of war preparations by NATO and the U.S. as well as Canada’s role in Korea. The U.S. violated the terms of the Armistice Agreement from the outset by refusing to sign a Peace Treaty with the DPRK, he noted. It brought nuclear and conventional weapons to the Korean Peninsula after the war and imposed the U.S.-ROK Mutual Defence Treaty in order to remain and dominate the ROK. Today the U.S. is militarizing the entire Asia-Pacific under its so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy. Lin also outlined NATO’s encroachment into East Asia using the ROK and Japan as their agents.
Canada’s aggression against Korea did not end with the signing of the Armistice. Canada is fully integrated into the U.S. war machine. Canada works to keep Korea divided and to use the Korean Peninsula as a U.S. forward position to threaten China and Russia today.
Lin cited the recent visit of Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to south Korea and that of Prime Minister Trudeau ahead of the G7 Hiroshima Summit which were used to ratchet up the rhetoric for war against the DPRK. Trudeau highlighted Canada’s military contributions to the illegal U.S./UN Korean War and Canada’s efforts to impose a naval blockade against the DPRK. Lin condemned Canada’s stance, upheld the DPRK’s right to be and opposed the expansion of NATO in East Asia.
Margaret Villamizar of the Windsor Peace Coalition also spoke at the seminar to bring to light the role of the anti-war movement in the ROK. The people in south Korea vigorously oppose the ongoing U.S./ROK/Japan war exercises directed against the DPRK and the Yoon puppet government that is servile to the U.S.
Villamizar said the media silence on this movement is aimed at trying to isolate the DPRK and disorient the anti-war movement in Canada and around the world. She noted that Canada must make amends for its participation in the Korean War, normalize relations with the DPRK and support all activities which promote peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.
The leader of the U.S. Marxist Leninist Organization, Kathleen Chandler also participated in the seminar, giving an overview of political efforts by the American people to end the Korean War by organizing for the Biden administration to sign a peace treaty with the DPRK. She pointed out that on that very day various actions were taking place in Washington, DC, to demand the 28,000 U.S. troops and their weapons return home from the Korean Peninsula.
Actions in Washington DC on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice demand the U.S. sign a peace treaty and end the Korean War.
She recalled the International War Crimes Tribunal held in New York in June 2001 which brought down a verdict of guilty on successive governments in the U.S. from the time of the Second World War till then. U.S. crimes against the Korean People include crimes against the peace, the most serious of crimes in international law, which was also the main charge brought against the Nazis for initiating the Second World War. Chandler said that in the unstable international situation today in Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific region, it is the peoples who are the decisive force. The peoples’ struggle in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere is the path to peace and a secure future for all.
The final contribution to the seminar came in the form of a written submission from Peggy Morton, a long-time anti-war activist and a member of the Edmonton Committee Against War and Racism. She recalled the trip she made as a young activist with the Canadian delegation to the International Women’s Democratic Federation Conference in Budapest, Hungary in 1970 as part of ongoing work to support the Vietnamese people’s liberation war. There she met a delegation of women from the DPRK who distinguished themselves with their deportment, high political culture and fighting spirit. The Canadian delegation was invited to visit the DPRK Embassy in Budapest and Peggy recalled the warm reception and the delegation receiving a gift of the Works of Kim Il Sung, leader of the DPRK and architect of the Korean People’s victory in the Fatherland Liberation War.
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