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News24 reader Justin de Swardt responds to a column written by Oscar van Heerden, writing that the columnist has a stunning aversion to details.
In his latest pseudo-academic rant on what he calls "the Ukrainian war with Russia," Oscar Van Heerden treats us to a breathtaking display of mental gymnastics. That's not to mention the incredible intellectual contortions he manages to pull off without breaking a sweat!
This time, we get a lesson on whistleblowing, the American media landscape, and the battlefield situation. We learn that Jack Teixeira, the American air national guardsman who leaked sensitive military files on Ukraine, is a heroic whistleblower revealing some great truth. In fact, Van Heerden says: "…we ought to hail persons such as Jack Teixeira for their bravery in exposing it."
READ | Oscar van Heerden | Telling the truth is the only real sin in Washington these days
This is a lovely sentiment. It’s a shame that it appears Teixeira's reason for sharing these secrets has nothing to do with the truth, exposing government misdeeds, or making a political statement of any sort. Instead, it’s alleged that the 21-year-old shared the documents on a Discord server because he was trying to impress his teenage friends.
Perhaps van Heerden missed that small fact in the news coverage. After all, I don't think it was covered in last week's Kremlin newsletter. Maybe Mr Van Heerden thinks everything published in Western media is a lie.
Either way, he must know something we don't because he confidently asserts the young man felt his government was doing something illegal and dishonest. He also adds that he "won't get into the details," which is a rather weak effort at excusing the discrepancy between his version of the story and reality.
Why didn't he inform the media
If Teixeira is a whistleblower, why didn't he inform the media? Contrary to Van Heerden's view, there is a wide range of opinions in the United States, with news sources on both left and right who oppose the further provision of US aid to Ukraine.
So, why did Teixeira choose to share his 'bombshell' information with a bunch of gamer kids instead of Fox News? Unfortunately, Van Heerden’s opinion article both fails to address how the documents were leaked and makes no effort to interrogate what they say.
Instead, he concludes that some great deception has been perpetrated without getting into the details. Details, details, details… They are awfully inconvenient, aren't they?
READ | The US has arrested a 21-year-old it says is behind a massive, embarrassing intelligence leak
While telling you about how horrible the media landscape in the West is, van Heerden won’t mention that criticising the war gets you prison time in Russia. However, he will defend Jack Teixeira's right to share military secrets to impress his buddies. He won't mention the persecution of Russian journalists, but he'll tell you all about how CNN is basically a propaganda arm of the White House. He will go on and on about American interference in foreign, but he won't mention the Russian mercenaries infesting Africa like a new East India Company, nor will he get into the details on how Russian intelligence agencies have been manipulating elections and perpetrating assassinations.
Van Heerden will mention that Ukrainian people have suffered and talk about the immense destruction wrought on their country. He just won't talk about how Russia's invasion has inflicted all that suffering and destruction.
On the one hand, you have a reductive narrative that serves an agenda. On the other, you have the details.
No time for details
It seems details aren’t van Heerden's thing. If they were, he might spare a paragraph or two to reflect on the numerous credible reports of Russian war crimes both in Ukraine and elsewhere. These include systemic rape, torture, the execution of whole villages full of civilians, the beheading of prisoners of war, the mass kidnapping of children, and the use of vile bands of truly abhorrent convicts as mercenaries both in Ukraine and across parts of the world. Yes, those are the details. Pesky little details.
READ | Natalia Novikova: My family history is full of tragedies caused by Russian rule over centuries
As such, van Heerden won’t waste any time on them. Instead, he’ll tell you about the coup in 2014 without mentioning the democratic elections that followed. He'll talk about so-called NATO encroachment without reminding readers that NATO is a voluntary defensive alliance and that sovereign nations are entitled to pursue membership if they so choose. Yet, he will complain about imperialism. Any and all imperialism, except Russian imperialism.
America and the West are the great evil in the world. It's their fault Wagner mercenaries are shooting little girls in the head. At the same time, Russian propagandists talk openly about the purging of Ukraine and Russian soldiers plan the rape of whole villages.
A simple narrative
If you brush past the details, you might even say the bombs being dropped on playgrounds are a direct result of Joe Biden's choice of tie. Obviously, Ukraine should surrender and embrace a new Russian way of life, free from silly little things like freedom of expression, democracy, and any nation's right to determine its own destiny.
The simple narrative van Heerden is trying to sell is undoubtedly successful with many people. They are sceptical of US foreign policy, as one should be. However, as van Heerden himself always reminds us, it’s Ukrainians who are doing the fighting. They aren't mindless puppets; they're people who are willing to do anything to protect their families and their way of life.
What Jack Teixeira did will not make their lives any easier; it will only prolong their struggle for freedom.
- Justin de Swardt, Gauteng
