It is a time honored axiom of the law that statements made against interest are regarded to be highly credible because that statement runs counter to the human motivation to lie. Indeed, so persuasive are statements against interest that they are exceptions to the hearsay rule, that is, they are admitted into evidence even though not subject to cross-examination because they are universally regarded to be credible.
In the wake of this Ukrainian success we have had many statements emanating from Russian soldiers, Russian politicians, Russian generals all, in effect, statements against interest which might be regarded to be credible. That is, they all testify to the stunning effect of the Ukrainian advance and the demoralization of the Russian defenders.
One might say that we should discount any news report of any kind so therefore it doesn’t matter whether the statements are made against interest, we simply can’t believe any statement. However, there are many, many statements, one confirming the other, and everyone counter to presumed self interest. I think we can believe the overall tenor of confirming statements coming from various sources especially when they run contrary to self-interest.
I think there is much to be accepted here, taken, of course, with a grain of salt which you so wisely recommend.
One must remember that the Russian government, no matter who is running it, lies about everything and has been for over a century. They lie reflexively even when the truth might do them some good.
I have a brother like that. His first instinct is to lie. And he will lie about anything even when everyone around him know he’s doing it. When confronted he will simply up the ante on his falsehoods. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.
Russia lied about shooting down that Korean air liner for months even after being caught dead to rights with radar and recordings of the Russian Air Force.
They lied about developing chemical and biological weapons even after the fall of the Soviet Union when millions of tons of the stuff was found and shown to the world.
The Venona Papers documented the depths of their dishonesty going back decades.
They lied about their intentions towards Ukraine for months claiming the preparations were simply training exercises right up to the moment that tens of thousands of Russian troops crossed the border and started killing people.
That does not make the Ukrainian government good guys by any stretch of the imagination. This war is tragedy brought on by two school yard bullies. They’ve been fighting over there for the last 500 years and they’ll be fighting each other for the next 500 years.
We should have stayed the hell out of this mess. It’s a European problem and that’s who should be dealing with it. Giving the Ukrainian government billions in US taxpayer money and American military hardware is insanity.
L