Battlefield Ukraine

Media Madness

For all the political wrangling in Washington about Russian collusion amongst the Gates Administration and the 2016 election, the mainstream media seemed oblivious to the fact that a full-scale war between NATO and Russia could be just days away. When the Pentagon announced the implementation of Operation Reforger, the press ran with the idea as a political stunt that the administration was enacting to distract from the special counsel investigation and the ongoing controversy with General Chris Joyner. Meanwhile, nearly 60,000 reservists and national guardsmen had been activated across the country and they all began to arrive at their various reporting stations to draw equipment and prepare to deploy to Europe.

Equipment from the 1^st Armored Division began to arrive at the ports on the east coast of the United States, along with the vehicles and equipment of the 4^th Infantry Division. Almost without drawing any attention at all, the 173^rd Airborne had already arrived in Ukraine, along with the 2^nd Cavalry Regiment out of Vilsack, Germany. While some networks began to cover this massive increase in military activity in the US and abroad, few if any took the deployments seriously.

It was not until the fourth day of the “cease-fire” between Ukraine and Russian forces that the media realized something more serious may be happening in the former Soviet Republic. At a political rally, the leading Presidential candidate for the People’s Republic of East Ukraine, Alexander Zakharchenko, was killed when an assailant opened fire on him. The attacker was quickly captured and arrested, and it was soon discovered that the attacker was a pro-Ukrainian nationalist who, at one time, had run for mayor of Kiev as part of an ultra-rightwing nationalist party ten years earlier.

The death of Zakharchenko caused a slew of anti-government protests across eastern Ukraine. The attack was viewed by many as a blatant effort by the fascist government in Kiev to interfere with the election. Tensions were high.

Then PM Groysman made a televised speech that was carried on all of the major networks across Europe and the United States. “We will not recognize the results of Saturday’s election,” he announced. “We are one country, one Ukraine. We will not allow our country to be divided by Russia and their goons. We call on Europe and NATO to help keep Ukraine united as one country, as we always have been.”

Once the speech went live, many people suddenly realized the significance of the massive military deployment underway to Europe. The media was caught by surprise with the abrupt awareness that a conflict with Russia could really happen, yet nearly 15,000 US servicemen had already arrived in Europe, with tens of thousands more on the way. Networks suddenly began to rush dozens of war correspondents to Kiev in preparation for what might turn into a clash between the world’s most modern militaries.