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Thanks to annieli, Mark Sumner, and Kos for their clear coverage of the war in Ukraine so far [1]

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Date: 2022-10-14

At the risk of being accused of apple-polishing, I felt moved this morning to say a word of thanks to the big three Kos contributors on the Ukraine War for their insightful and clear coverage of what is going on. This does not diminish the contributions of a lot of other writers as well, but annieli, Mark, and Kos have been the mainstay of coverage that has made me feel as though I knew what was going on and why through this stressful event.

It would take far too much text to fully give each of these writers full due for their work. Annieli’s granular detail gives a very informative picture of the day-to-day events, accompanied by clear connections to the strategies and goals of the combatants. Mark’s analysis gives perspective along with very up-to-date information on developments and how they fit the big picture. Kos supplies informed and experience-based perspective as well, along with new developments and particularly ways to put into context the highly conflicting accounts and opinions out there on the progress of the war.

I can’t help but contrast what they’ve given us on this site with the coverage by more traditional outlets. Usually we know here what is happening before it is covered in other news sources, although the caution Kos and his fellow writers display in announcing changes on maps and in text is a good counter to confirmation bias. When the newspapers or cable news networks report something, we usually know about it way ahead of time. I understand that they may be relying much more conservatively on confirmation of stories before they report (would that they had been that professional with Hilary Clinton’s emails in 2016), but practically everything I see here seems to eventually play out in the more traditional outlets later.

Kos especially provided an insight early on, based on his service, as to how logistics would be a decisive factor, and how it was becoming more obvious that Russia couldn’t do logistics to a 21st, or even 20th Century standard. That simple and confirmed principle of military science seems to have utterly eluded many journalists, which became more obvious to me as I saw commentators treating the 40-mile Russian convoy to Kyiv toward the outset as a huge threat rather than a huge target. I think conventional wisdom colored what was said in the press almost completely at the outset of the war, and still does to a great extent. It occurs to me that the source of this conventional wisdom is not just Russian deception and propaganda, but rather a nearly century-old tendency to exaggerate military threats around the world, mainly in the service of propping up the American military-industrial complex and its stranglehold on our country’s budget. I guess we’re seeing that all that spending gave us some effective and useful weapons, but I still think the US could have done much of what it has without spending more on defense than the rest of the world combined.

As events unfold in the coming weeks, I think Daily Kos will continue to provide the most timely and insightful coverage of this war.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/14/2128945/-Thanks-to-annieli-Mark-Sumner-and-Kos-for-their-clear-coverage-of-the-war-in-Ukraine-so-far

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