#SaveGonzalo
Of Plurality of Opinion
It’s sad to see that so few seem to value a plurality of opinions and display a wish to exclude one against the other. When challenged Scott Ritter purportedly said[1] that he believed Gonzalo Lira worked for the SBU because he (Scott Ritter) was “in intelligence”. On another occasion he said it was his “gut instinct”; Eva Bartlett wrote much the same thing. I’m sure Saddam Hussein would have seconded both; he was all about “gut instinct” and not much else. Evidence, Saddam would have said, who needs evidence? Everyone is guilty until hanged…
The question is: do we really need “influencers” who talk like Saddam Hussein and act like Judge Dread?
There is much that can be said against Scott Ritter concerning his dishonourable and extremely dubious role in the destruction of the people of Iraq, the fact that he still seems to think his role a worthy one and that he still isn’t willing to admit his guilt in the genocide, his admiration of the mass murderer Henry Kissinger etc. but the aim of this piece is not to attack Scott Ritter but rather to praise him.
Scott Ritter has been an extremely able, vocal and articulate commentator of the current war in the Ukraine. To the best of my knowledge his method is to take analysis done by (mainly) Russian analysts and then to filter their opinions. This conforms to his classical military training and that of an intelligence officer whose job it is to put “intelligence products” at the disposal of his superiors. Scott Ritter, for all his virtues, is a follower and not a leader.
Most important of all: Scott Ritter cannot accept, for whatever reason, criticism. This is a grave weakness and one reason why it’s unwise to place too much weight on his words. Nevertheless, his voice is a valuable one, just as is that of Col. Douglas Macgregor, also a military man.
What is lacking is a plurality of opinion. Not enough commentators are asking important questions such as: is Putin working for the Deep State? Why is Putin sacking so many generals? Was the aim of Putin to cause a stalemate all along?
On the face of it, it oughtn’t have been too difficult for the Russians to defeat Zelensky. The Ukrainian army was in the east, poised to commit genocide against the populace in the breakaway republics (Ukrainian officials were saying at the time that there were 2m excess people in the Donbass who needed to be got rid of).
The logical place for the Russians to strike was in the West, to block the flow of arms and support and in the centre, along the Dnieper River, to divide the East, which has been traditionally Russian from the West where Polish and Hapsburg influence has traditionally abounded.
What made little sense was the current war of attrition. In fact: war never made sense at all and Russia has long had the economic tools available (oil & gas) to influence policy in Kiev. Why didn’t Putin turn off Ukrainian gas as he has done before? Why didn’t he impose an oil embargo, which would have been devastating? Why is he still selling oil to the Ukraine? These are all questions which need to be (but aren’t being) asked.
Is Gonzalo Lira a Deep State asset? Was he all along? Has he become one?
These are all legitimate questions, which can’t, at this point in time, be answered. Given that this is a possibility (the same applies to Scott Ritter, Eva Bartlett etc.) extreme caution must always be exercised when dealing with him.
I have to admit (and this explains my engagement) that I identify with Gonzalo to a certain extent. A friend of mine at school was the son of the Chilean air force attaché (who was fully aware of the horrors of the Pinochet regime and indeed: a witness to them), I attended an elite university and come from a conservative “establishment” family. I think that I understand Gonzalo (however much I abhor many of opinions) and believe that I know where he is “coming from”.
The essential difference between him and Scott Ritter is that he is an original (if somewhat erratic) thinker and he’s a (wannabe) leader rather than a follower. There is a large amount of ego involved, an awful lot of vanity and a good deal of foolishness but what he seems to be seeking, after his own fashion, is his own form of truth. And he says what he thinks. That he has purportedly clashed with Ritter hardly surprises. That Ritter would try to get him killed as a consequence does. Perhaps one shouldn’t be surprised. Perhaps Ritter has been simply a killer all along.
For a Gonzalo Lira update, go here: https://robertmorningstar.substack.com/p/gonzalo-lira-update-proof-of-his
This 'he said, she said' business is exhausting. I am going to sit this one out and wait either for GL to be 'freed' and obtain asylum, repatriate to his homeland or turn up in a body bag.