Podcast: Ukraine: against the 'Nazi' calumny

Submitted by WW4 Report on Fri, 12/02/2022 - 16:26

In Episode 152 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg calls out the relentless propaganda exploitation of the Azov Battalion to tar Ukraine as "Nazi" by the same pseudo-left hucksters (e.g. the inevitable Grayzone) who engage in shameless shilling for the fascist regime of Bashar Assad in Syria—which is beloved of the radical right and which employed fugitive Nazis to train its security forces. These hucksters also (of course) join with far-right figures such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and NickFuentes in openly rooting for Putin and opposing aid to Ukraine. And while hyperventilating about the Azov Battalion (which years ago purged its far-right leadership), they make no note of the Nazis fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine. This is both pseudo-pacifist war propaganda and fascist pseudo-anti-fascism.

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Production by Chris Rywalt

Hat tip for providing research fodder for this rant to Bob from Brockley

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Grayzone finds an excuse for DPR Nazi regalia (of course)

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Sat, 12/03/2022 - 20:39

Alex Rubinstein tweeted Oct. 25 about the photo above of Donetsk People's Republic (sic) fighter wearing Nazi insignia:

Left-liberal journalists seized on this photo to push a both-sides narrative regarding Nazism in Ukraine. Now the DPR soldier who wore the "operator skull" patch explains what's been obvious to anyone who actually understands the conflict: it's a trophy from a dead Azov fighter.

Except the link in the tweet to his supposed source is already dead, and it is not "obvious" at all. "Trophies" taken from the enemy are not typically worn on the shoulder of one's fatigues. We do, however, indeed reject "both sides" portrayals: Russia is the fascist state. Not Ukraine.