I spoke recently with a freedom fighter in the Donbass call sign “Texas”, who enlightened me further as to this civil war’s idiocy. Make no mistake, at one point in this Ukraine crisis I actually thought the OSCE might make a difference. Not anymore, for now it’s clear my original negativity toward blow hard observances of nil was correct. (Stay on the post to the end for coverage under fire in Donbass – If you’re an American, stand up and fight like a Texan)
To give you an idea how frustrating the OSCE has become, let me recall my first engagement with this organization about the time of the MH17 catastrophe in July 2014. That event, which really catapulted the spanking new “west versus east” conflict into hyper-drive, is as much the fault of outfits like the Organization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe (OSCE) as it is the neo-cons in America tied to the arms dealers. In short, it took me 3 and a half months just to get a spark out of communicators at the OSCE even in my capacity as an analyst at RT. When finally I emailed in frustration a man named Roland Bless, who is the Director at OSCE Freedom of Media, praise all holiness somebody finally answered. But of course Bless only directed me to the man on the scene, one Michael Bociurkiw, spokesperson for with the SMM in Ukraine. The good Mr. Bociurkiw was and is, far too busy and important to answer emails however, but a really nice lady named Cathie Burton (The OSCE PR Director) did manage to sooth my aching for even a courteous response. I know she’ll forgive me by now for naming here, as the last several mails to her went unanswered too. That’s all well and good, but I guess as a PR myself I should not have been so easily soothed. Enter Russell Bonner Bentley (Texas) and my friend, journalist Graham Phillips. They’re supporting witnesses to yet another waste of taxpayer money, an organization so impotent to help suffering people in Donbass as to be criminally unfit.
Yep, they finally pissed me off with the ultimate PR bullshit game – pretending to be on the side of truthful media, when they cannot even report heavy weapons properly. Case in point this time, Russell tells me the OSCE is more interested in happy hour at a Donetsk hotel than in figuring out who is killing whom in east Ukraine. To make matters worse, the very same Roland Bless who passed me off to the next man in line, he’s the mastermind behind a two day summit in Vienna, get this: Journalists’ safety, Media Freedom and Pluralism in Times of Conflict. Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy, it’s not only happy hour in Donetsk, but all over Europe for a bunch of worthless windbags who sold out to the western party line. If you think I’m being too harsh here, stand in a DPR warfighter’s shoes when he’s sent to survey blown to pieces little kids shelled from afar by the Kiev Nazis.
To end this first of several rants on the OSCE, let’s turn back briefly to our SMM hero Michael Bociurkiw. Now pay attention. Today Bociurkiw is tweeting for Ukraine Today about our rebels using kids to fight:
OSCE monitors spot ‘underage children’ with arms at militant roadblock in Shyrokyne http://t.co/XCFcsxFhVO
— Michael Bociurkiw (@mikeybbq) June 12, 2015
For those who’ve forgotten, Bociurkiw was one of the first OSCE people on the scene of the MH17 crash site, the man who told the CBC the plane looked like it had been hit by 30 mm cannon fire and not a missile. I recall back then, and trust me on this, Bociurkiw disappeared for a spell from view after that, then re-emerged later a spiffy new man in the eyes of some. Rather than spell this out, let me share more tweets from him these last days.
JUST NOW: Deputy Chief Monitor Hug greets @AmbassadorPower & @GeoffPyatt at SMM HQ in Kyiv ahead of briefing #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/CnqYqQkjEY
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) June 11, 2015
I’m short of time for now, but let me finish here by telling you Graham Phillips is the only reporter who has even tried to show the truth of the fighting in the Donbass. If someone can come up with another, I’d love to meet them. Graham told me some days ago that the best he could say about the OSCE monitors in Ukraine is that they “showed up”. They showed up for cocktails and some rubbing elbows with US and UK dignitaries all right. Shells falling daily on civilians in Donbass, 99 percent of all civilian casualties in this conflict having been on the Donbass side of the line, and Vienna summits and Donetsk luxury hotels are on the OSCE’s mind. As for their spokesperson at the Ukraine SMM, he is now a BBC celebrity somehow. He does seem happy, now doesn’t he?
Let me leave off with a report from my two friends mentioned previously. Expect more OSCE, I am on you now.