Russia Intensifying Attacks Signals Peace is Coming

Have you seen headlines about the war in Ukraine going badly for Russia and peace talks going backward because Russia is escalating? About that.

December 18, 1972: Nixon announces start of “Christmas Bombing” of North Vietnam

On December 13, peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam collapsed. The North Vietnamese and American negotiators traded charges and countercharges as to who was to blame. Infuriated, President Nixon ordered plans drawn up for retaliatory bombings of North Vietnam. Linebacker II was the result. Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. The United States lost 15 of its giant B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks. North Vietnam claimed that over 1,600 civilians were killed.

The bombings continued until December 29, at which time the North Vietnamese agreed to resume the talks. A few weeks later, the final Paris Peace Treaty was signed and the Vietnam War came to a close, ending the U.S. role in a conflict that seriously damaged the domestic Cold War consensus among the American public. The impact of the so-called “Christmas Bombings” on the final agreement was difficult to assess.

Nixon wanted peace. It took him 16 days to get it.

Nearly all Western media coverage of Ukraine is not only propaganda, but lies. Some propaganda has truth behind it, or is meant to heighten emotions. It is propaganda for either side of any issue to show a dead child, for example, but there may be a dead child. Western media coverage of the war approaches the level of "there is no child."

Intensifying the campaign going into peace talks is normal, particularly if one side is dragging their feet. I have seen no evidence of Russia being bogged down or suffering serious setbacks. They weren't as aggressive at first and focused on targeting the Ukraine military, in particularly the Nazi militias. Now a broader invasion is underway, with a more "normal" wartime attitude towards civilian causalities and infrastructure damage. I see no sign that peace is getting farther away. If anything, it looks like it's getting closer in part because Russia is completing its military objectives.