West Experiences Blowback From Fostering Fascists In Ukraine

At the start of the Special Military Operation in February 2022 I warned of the blowback that, I asserted, would likely come if the West continued to pamper Nazi groups in Ukraine:

The U.S. aim is to create an insurgency in the Ukraine.

The Coming Ukrainian Insurgency - Foreign Affairs
Russia’s Invasion Could Unleash Forces the Kremlin Can’t Control

Since 2015 the CIA has trained Ukrainian groups for exactly that purpose.

CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades - Yahoo

CIA support for Ukrainian Nazis has a long history.

Op-Ed: The CIA has backed Ukrainian insurgents before. Let’s learn from those mistakes - LA Times

A new Nazi insurgency in eastern Europe is an exceptionally bad idea. Fascist groups from everywhere would join in. A few years from now it may well lead to Nazi terror in many European countries. Have we learned really nothing from the war on Syria and the ISIS campaign?

Me and Ivan Katchanovski were probably the only ones who had warned of this:

Katchanovski adds that, “This is also going to have a dangerous effect on Ukraine and potentially other countries because now, basically, Nazis in Ukraine are made into national heroes.” He also noted that Azov (as well as Western governments) has consistently pressured Zelensky — including with threats, and even before Russia invaded — not to seek a peace deal with Russia or withdraw forces from the Donbas region. In February, Azov branded Zelensky a “servant of the Russian people” after he suggested that he might negotiate with Moscow.

Katchanovski said that the valorization of the Azov Regiment is comparable to how the West initially supported the predecessors of the Taliban in their fight against the Soviet Union’s intervention in the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and also risks inspiring yet more far-right activists from other countries to join the conflict in Ukraine in order to gain military experience, potentially causing a blowback effect if they make it home.

Yesterday one avid U.S. supporter of the fascists in Ukraine tried to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump:

Cont. reading: West Experiences Blowback From Fostering Fascists In Ukraine

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Ukraine Open Thread 2024-220

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The MoA Week In Review - OT 2024-219

Ukraine:

• Sep 11 - Ukraine SitRep: End Of The Kursk Incursion - Long Range Missiles - Ending The War
  Related:
  - Zelenskyy’s power grab is bad for Ukraine - Politico
  - The NATO/Ukraine Defeat in Kursk (and Beyond) - Gordon Hahn
  - Ukrainians warn of being surrounded as Russia advances in east - BBC
  - Ukraine’s Kursk offensive was seen as a major success, but it came at a huge cost - CNN

War with Russia:

• Sep 8 - Ukraine - CIA/MI-6 Chiefs Push For New Terror Campaign Against Russia
• Sep 13 - Vladimir Putin Does Not Make Empty Threats
• Sep 14 - Biden Admin Decides - For Now - Against Long Range Strikes On Russia
  Related:
  - RAY McGOVERN: Conditioning Americans for War With Russia - Consortiumnews
  - Putin Calls for Sanctions Revenge, Threatens to Cap Uranium Exports - Naked Capitalism
  - A True Shock? Economist Jeffrey Sachs Reveals Secret at Heart of U.S.-Russian Relations - The Racket

Election:

• Sep 10 - Harris And Trump Debate Whatever
  Related:
  - THE HOLES IN HARRIS'S DEBATE VICTORY - Seymour Hersh
  - Evangelicals for Harris is Astroturf - American Conservative

Palestine:

• Sep 9 - Zionists Are Calling For More War And May Well Get It
  Related:
  - Infected wounds, maggots and no escape. Gaza’s humanitarian crisis hits new lows as sanitary conditions plummet - CNN
  - Israel seeking to close down Unrwa, says agency’s chief after school bombing - Guardian
  - Why did a British Jewish newspaper publish fake Israeli intelligence? - 972mag
  - Ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis hits Israel sparking fire - AlJazeerah
  - Inside the Movement to Settle Southern Lebanon - Jewish Currents

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2024-219

Biden Admin Decides - For Now - Against Long Range Strikes On Russia

It seems that Biden administration for once decided to listen to what President Putin of Russia had to say.

Putin had warned of a war between Russia and NATO should the U.S. and its allies allow Ukraine the use the long-range weapons they donated against targets in Russia. Putin correctly asserted that these weapons can only be programmed and fired by trained personnel from the donor country.

Deciding against allowing such strikes was the right thing to do but it could unfortunately be revised on a later day:

Sir Keir Starmer was set to leave Washington on Friday night without any announcement on allowing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russia.

The Prime Minister held talks with Joe Biden in the White House to discuss pleas from Volodymyr Zelensky to let the country use the Storm Shadow missiles.

But John Kirby, a spokesman for the US national security council, said there would be no announcement on long-range missiles after the meeting. He did not rule out one at a later date.

Foreign Office sources had briefed against expecting the green light at the end of Starmer’s visit, but it will come as a disappointment to leave without a decision.

After the meeting, Sir Keir said the pair had come to a “strong position” but suggested a final decision on Storm Shadow had been deferred to the UN General Assembly at the end of the month.

There seems to have been a fight within the Biden administration where a hawkish part within the State Department and National Security Council had been briefing media towards a decision in favor of deep strikes while the Pentagon was strongly against any further provocation of Russia.

The generals know what Russian weapons could do to their assets should Russia decide to let someone shot back at them.

 

Vladimir Putin Does Not Make Empty Threats

A few month ago a leak of a call between high ranking German officers appeared. They were discussing the possible deployment of a German Taurus cruse missile to Ukraine to be used against Russian targets.

It became obvious from the leak that any such deployment, aiming and firing of such a weapon can not happen without the participation of staff from the country that donated the weapon. This applies to the U.S. ATAMCS missiles, to the French/British SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles just as it would apply to the German Taurus cruse missile:

Gerhartz, [commander of the Luftwaffe], and his subordinates discussed how much Taurus training and support Germany might need to provide if Taurus missiles were sent to Ukraine, and whether this would include targeting and programming information.
...
Gerhartz  said: ″When it comes to mission planning, for example, I know how the British do it, they do it completely in reachback [i.e. with support from people who are not forward-deployed]. They also have a few people on the ground, they do that, the French don't. So, they also QC the Ukrainians when loading the SCALP, because Storm Shadow and SCALPS are relatively similar from a purely technical point of view. They've already told me that, yes, for God's sake, they would also look over the shoulders of the Ukrainians when loading the Taurus.

The U.S. is currently discussing (archived) to allow Ukraine to use of long range weapons against targets within Russia, that is beyond targets on Ukrainian and former Ukrainian ground.

This would be qualitative transformation of the war in Ukraine into a NATO war with Russia.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin made this unequivocally clear.

Answer to a media question, September 12 2024, Kremlin.ru

Question: Over the past few days, we have been hearing statements at a very high level in the UK and the United States that the Kiev regime will be allowed to strike targets deep inside Russia using Western long-range weapons. Apparently, this decision is either about to be made, or has already been made, as far as we can see. This is actually quite extraordinary. Could you comment on what is going on?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
...
[T]he Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West. They cannot do that. These weapons are impossible to employ without intelligence data from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This can only be done using the European Union’s satellites, or US satellites – in general, NATO satellites. This is the first point.

The second point – perhaps the most important, the key point even – is that only NATO military personnel can assign flight missions to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this.

Therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not.

If this decision is made, it will mean nothing short of direct involvement – it will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine. This will mean their direct involvement in the conflict, and it will clearly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict dramatically.

This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.

Russia has many means to respond to such threats. This includes direct fire on targets within France, the UK and the U.S. itself.

Vladimir Putin is not known for making empty threats.

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Ukraine SitRep: End Of The Kursk Incursion - Long Range Missiles - Ending The War

The Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk oblast is coming to an end.

The Ukrainian command had sent its best troops and equipment into the area. It had even pushed its last motorized reserves into the operation. Last week it reinforced the contingent. But four weeks of steady Russian bombing and artillery attacks have taken their toll.

Whatever the aim of the incursion was has not been achieved. It created a short sugar-high in Ukrainian morale but that has already dissipated. 

The price was high. Half of the troops and material invested in the incursion are now gone.

Russia seems to believe that there is not much more for it to gain from this trap and started to shut it down. Yesterday a fast attack by Russian Marines and paratroopers cleared ten towns and hamlets of Ukrainian forces. Today at least three additional towns were liberated.

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Most of the tanks and armored fighting vehicles the Ukrainians had brought to the fight are gone. They will have to retreat in whatever vehicle they may find. This while being under steady bombardment. In two or three weeks the Ukrainians who survive will likely be back inside of their borders.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken is in Kiev today. He will likely inform the Ukrainians that they will now be allowed to use U.S. weapons, especially longer range missiles, against targets in Russia.

There are two questions:
- How many U.S. missiles with longer reach does Ukraine still have?
- How many military targets are there left in Russia that have not yet been evacuated or have not received additional protection?

I believe that both of those numbers are low.

There was a fight within the Biden administration about the issues. The Pentagon was reportedly against allowing Ukraine to do such. The generals know what Russia can do and fear that it will retaliate. The warmongers in the State Department though seem to have won the discussion.

But it is the Pentagon that will, or will not, carry out any resupply. The Ukrainians wont get any additional missiles if the generals are determined to block those.

The Wall Street Journal reports about pressure on Ukraine to think of an endgame:

Some European diplomats say Ukraine needs to be more realistic in its wartime aims. That could help Western officials advocate to their respective voters the need to funnel arms and aid to the country.
...
Senior European officials say Kyiv has been told that a full Ukrainian victory would require the West to provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of support, something neither Washington nor Europe can realistically do.

Zelenski will have to present a Plan B, something that is more realistic than his current uncompromising stand on negotiations. For any ceasefire or peace Ukraine will have to give up on land, on quite a lot of it, and will have to fulfill additional conditions.

Should Zelenski be unable to come to such a solution someone else will be found to take up his role.