In the following article, Alessandro Orsini criticizes the strategic miscalculations of European leaders, particularly Mario Draghi, in handling the Ukrainian crisis. He argues that their approach has worsened Ukraine’s military situation and inadvertently expanded Russia’s territorial ambitions, leading to a larger conflict and European recession. Orsini highlights Zelensky’s frustration with the West’s insufficient support, noting the potential for Ukraine to lose more regions. He accuses the major Italian newspapers of being too intertwined with political power, failing to hold leaders like Draghi accountable for their errors, and instead promoting them for higher EU positions, despite their evident lack of crisis leadership. The article presents a stark picture of a misguided European strategy and media complicity in the face of a deepening Ukrainian tragedy.
Oracles: In Ukraine’s graveyard, Draghi & Co. have blundered everything
Not a single day passes without the Ukrainian army’s situation worsening. With hopes of victory faded, Zelensky vents his frustration towards the West for the catastrophic developments. After acknowledging Ukraine’s inability to defend against Russian missiles, Zelensky lamented: “I wonder how our Western allies can sleep soundly, knowing they have dozens of Patriot missile systems, and are aware that just seven more given to Ukraine could prevent civilians from being killed in Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa.”
When Corriere della Sera and its lesser affiliates were rooting for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, this column, besides predicting its colossal failure, explained that NATO’s escalating investment in the war would prompt Russia to raise its strategic ambitions: “The more NATO invests in weapons, the larger Russia’s territorial aspirations will become.” Regrettably, battlefield evidence confirms this forecast. Since Russian cities are being hit from Kharkiv and Sumy Oblasts, Putin has started to focus on their conquest. Ukraine risks losing not five, but seven regions. Beware: it’s conceivable Ukraine might lose seven Oblasts if things go well since strategic logic suggests that Ukraine’s gradual collapse will incentivize Putin to also seize Odessa. Proof? Oleksandr Sirsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, has announced that Putin is amassing numerous enraged troops, including Storm-Z units, for a breakthrough in the northeastern sector. Where, exactly? In Kharkiv, the Oblast from where Zelensky launches drones killing civilians in Russian cities.
NEWSPAPERS
AMID THE CHEERING FOR UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE,
WE WERE WARNING OF THE RISKS
In the face of Ukraine’s transformation into a vast graveyard, the press of a free society should relentlessly target those responsible for this debacle that has plunged Europe into recession, starting with Mario Draghi, the most radical and extremist European leader. Draghi, on June 7, 2023, two days after the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, proclaimed that the only viable path was Russia’s uncompromising defeat on the battlefield. Draghi got everything wrong in Ukraine, including the cap on Russian oil at 60 dollars a barrel, another spectacular failure. How can Draghi, having shown no leadership ability in the most tragic crisis in European Union history, be touted by the Italian press as Ursula von der Leyen’s successor? There are three main reasons.
The first is that the so-called ‘major Italian newspapers’ are groups of friends, exclusive salons, or circles, of which Draghi is a member. The second is that the most important positions in the European Union are not decided by voters. Since Draghi wouldn’t even receive a single vote, the major Italian newspapers consider him the ideal successor to Ursula von der Leyen. It is indeed a great act of friendship to help a failed politician stay afloat by acquiring more power. The third reason is that the major Italian newspapers are ‘corrupted’ in the sense of being infiltrated by political power. All written documentation, scrutinized using the method of historical-social sciences, shows that they have simply functioned as conduits for White House propaganda in Ukraine. They cannot criticize Draghi; otherwise, they would have to criticize themselves. In these salons, favors are exchanged, not criticisms.
Il Fatto Quotidiano, January 16, 2024
