Let’s feed them 'Shahed' drones

The most recent example is a report published by the US’s Department of Defence (DoD) on June 12, which includes indications about what is happening to the military equipment that is sent to Ukraine almost every day, but no one can see the long-waited “improvement of the situation in favour of Ukraine”.

The report is titled "Evaluation of Accountability Controls for Defence Items Transferred Via Air to Ukraine within the US European Command Area of Responsibility (DODIG-2023-084)” and contains a brief survey over "the extent to which the DoD implemented accountability controls for defence items transferred via air to the Government of Ukraine (GoU) within the US European Command area of responsibility, in accordance with the Defence Transportation Regulations (DTR) and DoD instructions.”

Considering the shocking data provided by the report, it could easily be described as a bombshell. And that’s why Western mainstream media decided to maintain silence and say nothing.

According to the report’s findings, "DoD personnel effectively and swiftly received, inspected, staged, and transferred defence items to GoU representatives in Jasionka”, but the shock wave pops up as we understand that "DoD personnel did not have the required accountability of the thousands of defence items that they received and transferred”, as the report puts it.

In simple words, an avalanche of weaponry provided by the West and allies elsewhere has been flowing into Ukraine while DoD personnel have not been able to track its final destination!
The report believes the reason for this chaos is that “personnel did not fully implement their standard operating procedures to account for defense items and could not confirm the quantities of defense items received against the quantity of items shipped”.

To better understand what exactly has happened to billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, the report gives frustrating statistics, admitting that out of every 5 shipments surveyed, 3 had ended up somewhere the DoD has no information about. In fact, the DoD and allies have no idea what has happened to three-fifth of all the equipment they have sent to Ukraine!

Up to the time of writing the current report for the Tehran Times, the mainstream media has not made any comments about this report as a collective effort to push for accountability of those in charge of supplying Ukraine with military equipment. For those who are familiar with the dynamics of the media atmosphere in the West and especially the US, it’s not hard to comprehend the presence of a cartel backstage. But which cartel is running this show? To find the answer, let’s rewind the time a few months back to February when the American CNBC unwillingly tried to explain to its audience why the peaceful settlement of the dispute in Ukraine through negotiations and political measures is now far beyond impossible.

On February 24, CNBC published an article titled “Business is Very Good, Unfortunately: Arms Fair Spotlights Bonanza Year Ahead for Weapons Companies”. Much is said in the title and we don’t have to walk through the paragraph and try to read in between the lines. The war in Ukraine is filling up the pockets of military industry moguls, as the Covid Pandemic filled up the pockets of pharmaceutical industry moguls…

But the most disturbing part of the title, especially for Ukrainians, is where CNBC says the booming war economy has just started to boom! And to put it nicely, it uses the word “ahead” and simply moves on! So, yes. The bonanza year is “ahead” of the weapons company. And if you are one of those delusional optimistic peace lovers who still hope to see Putin and Zelensky one day sitting behind a table, signing a treaty, and ending a very miserable conflict, keep dreaming.

Now put the DoD’s report and CNBC’s piece next to each other to see the bigger picture. For the next coming years, you will see an endless flow of military equipment flooding into Ukraine without any concern over the final destination.

How, one might ask, the military complex can possibly escape the consequences of what can be considered one of the most skillfully designed deceptions of contemporary history? The answer is simple: scapegoats!

A few months after Russia’s SMO began, most of the observers were expecting the end of the conflict accompanied by a historical defeat for Russia. And the realities of the battlefield were partially strengthening this expectation. But suddenly news broke out about Russia employing new techniques based on new weaponry it received from a third country, resulting in a magnificent change in the course of the war in favor of Russia.

Soon, the secret weapon was unveiled, not by Russia, but by Western media. In no time, wherever you looked, you could see someone talking about an Iranian loitering drone which helped the prolongation of the war!
Someone, some very smart one in the West, had said: let’s feed them with Iranian drones…

This was the first scapegoat the West used to pave the ground for addressing the challenges predicted to pop up. The West used all the capabilities it had at its disposal to inculcate the Iranian drone into its answer for the questions like why the war is still ongoing. Why we should risk direct confrontation with Russia? And, were is all this money and equipment going? They even photoshopped Zelensky into the image of an Iranian Shahed drone without taking into account the dimensions of the drone, claiming the drone was captured over Kyiv!

A lot has already been said about why the narrative of “Iran’s military alliance with Russia” keeps being pumped into global public opinion. But one of the most important functions of this narrative was justification. It stood shoulder-by-shoulder with many other scapegoats the warmongers used to keep the flames of the war alive in Ukraine and to avoid the consequences of terrible facts like those of the DoD’s report.

Down the road, it’s the ordinary Westerners who have to realize the truth and push for the end of the war.

By: Ehsan Etesam

First published in Tehran Times