On Friday, June 23, 2022, The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission is going to hold an online briefing with the title, DECOLONIZING RUSSIA: A Moral and Strategic Imperative.
In all probability, you have not heard about this briefing, nor, like most Americans, you don’t know about the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. My contemporaries might remember the Helsinki Commission and non-binding Accords that were agreed and signed to improve détente, though only vaguely.
Well, what is the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission? According to its website it “is an independent commission of the U.S. Federal Government. For over 45 years, the Commission has monitored compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advanced comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental, and military cooperation in the 57-nation OSCE region.”
That it calls itself “An independent commission of the U.S. Federal Government” is questionable as all the current commissioners are members of the U.S. Congress.
In reality, the organization seems a sinecure farm.
As evidence, let us discuss how we came to know about the Commission through the actions of one of its most active sinecuristas, Paul Massaro.
I first heard him righteously chattering about the “Rule of Law.” I don’t exactly remember the context, but it was enough to follow him on twitter. He is, to say the least, prolific.
Below are several of his tweets:
“We need to fund Ukraine’s defense with Russia’s money”
“The most affordable thing to do is help Ukraine reclaim every inch of its territory. This also happens to be the most moral and strategic thing as well”
“If it weren’t for the valor and resolve of the Ukrainian people, we’d already be in WWIII”
“I fear German elites will be screaming, “But Russia is our neighbor!” even as democracy dies”
“Russian strategic corruption is deep and pernicious. Even now, many western elites remain captured. Unable to imagine a life off the dole”
“Blocking all Russian energy: 1. Prevents coercion 2. Fights climate change 3. Reduces corruption”
(The European peoples should be glad for this opportunity to freeze for the greater good that will be no skin off of Massaro’s nose.)
“The fastest way to end this war for GOOD and have it DONE is to flood Ukraine with all the weapons they need and isolate Russia. That’s it”
(To which another Twitter commenter (Dr. Strangelove @_michalis12) replied: “Weapons are no substitute for a well trained, disciplined army. Ukrainians are suffering catastrophic losses and are refusing to fight en masse. Russia is far from isolated. US is creating a nightmare scenario of a Russia-China alliance that will end US hegemony once and for all.”)
“There are no “future ties with Russia.” There is only the isolation of Russia for the foreseeable future. We need to recognize this reality and plan for it”
On some of his tweets, I have asked, how does this at all benefit the average
American? Unexpectedly, there is never a reply. Everything he tweets is straight up propaganda.
And what is Paul’s association with The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission?
Here is the opening paragraph of his bio:
“Paul Massaro is the senior policy advisor for counter-corruption and sanctions. Paul’s work has advanced the recognition of corruption as a national security threat. He has been described in the media as “one of America’s foremost corruption experts” and an “endless source of democratic ingenuity." His work has been similarly described as "breathtakingly prescient.” He has worked on over 13 pieces of counter-corruption legislation and facilitated the founding of the Congressional Caucus against Foreign Corruption and Kleptocracy and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance against Kleptocracy. Paul also covers German-speaking Europe and East Asia.”
Little of his vast twitter posts are much ado regarding the bio. It seems only to support a get Russia twitter agenda. Is he AWOL as to any real purpose, or is he AWL (absent with leave)? As it seems all twitter all the time, is he taking a salary and doing no actual work as regard his official sinecure?
But back to the briefing as mentioned at the beginning. The agenda is to:
“Russia’s barbaric war on Ukraine—and before that on Syria, Libya, Georgia, and Chechnya—has exposed the Russian Federation’s viciously imperial character to the entire world. Its aggression also is catalyzing a long-overdue conversation about Russia’s interior empire, given Moscow’s dominion over many indigenous non-Russian nations, and the brutal extent to which the Kremlin has taken to suppress their national self-expression and self-determination.
Serious and controversial discussions are now underway about reckoning with Russia’s fundamental imperialism and the need to “decolonize” Russia for it to become a viable stakeholder in European security and stability. As the successor to the Soviet Union, which cloaked its colonial agenda in anti-imperial and anti-capitalist nomenclature, Russia has yet to attract appropriate scrutiny for its consistent and oftentimes brutal imperial tendencies.”
As far as one can tell, there has never been a Helsinki Commission discussion of our involvement with the Saudis as to the genocide in Yemen, and who started the debacle in Libya and who is still occupying part of Syrian…oh, never mind.
This briefing is war mongering and your tax dollars at play. It is time to close down the so-called Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission and many others. Wasting tax payer money in this era is especially insulting. That we use it to bug a nuclear power is mindless.
Should anyone doubt what a joke this organization is, The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, has as a couple of their issues, Freedom of the Media, and Freedom of Speech and Expression. In searching through the related pages, I saw nothing about Julian Assange.
Still, dear reader, if you have an interest in the topic, you can register for the briefing here.