Moon of Alabama Brecht quote

Monthly Archives

May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 22, 2025

Palestine Open Thread 2025-112

by Debs is Dead
lifted from a comment

Lately I've been avoiding reading about Palestine being genocided by zionists as I'm too old and too crook to get out & do anything about it and it seems words which ain't worth SFA are the only thing I can do now.

However today is too much. Lookit the silly fuss from every western fishwrap & googlebox about a pair of dead zionists on today, a day when Gaza health report the first official notice of five children dying of starvation, the zionist army shot at a bunch of western diplomats to chase them away from a spot where the zionists were indulging in the usual rape, torture and murder of Gaza civilians and that same army today announced the evacuation order for all people in Northern Gaza, in the region of more than 500,000 human beings being chased off their land - again.

In the light of that how can anyone see the dc shooting of a brace of zionist diplomats as anything other than a deliberate set-up by the entity's propaganda machine. Like I said up-thread the photo the zionists released of the two dead apologists for genocide just happened to be much more than a corporate portrait as it showed the pair arm-in-arm in a posed shot standing in front of the embassy logos; a seemingly ideal PR portrait of two photogenic young people, as if the picture takers knew they would need something sympathetic for zionism as for the past few days western fishwraps haven't been nice about zionists (they'll get over that now but), so this is a pic for the front page of every western fishwrap once these two are shot & killed.

The timing stinks far too much to be coincidental, just like the opportune appearance of the picture.

Even starmer had something 'anti-semitic' to say to media yesterday.

Hmm ...

The Israel Embassy Shooter Manifesto - 900-word document cites Gaza as motive - Ken Klippenstein

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 12:30 UTC | Comments (204)

Ukraine Open Thread 2025-111

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 12:26 UTC | Comments (96)

Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-110

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine ...

Posted by b at 12:25 UTC | Comments (114)

May 20, 2025

Ukraine Negotiations Still Hover Around Its Root Cause

The most important sentence from President Trump about yesterday's phone call between President Putin and him is this:

Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.

The most important sentence by President Putin about yesterday's phone call is this:

Notably, Russia’s position is clear. Eliminating the root causes of this crisis is what matters most to us.

Russia will not fall for ending the war without having achieved its main goal.

Western media, here the NY Times, continue to play dumb (archived) about what the Russia's main goal is:

[Putin] repeated his mantra that a peace deal needs to “remove the root causes of this crisis,” referring to Russia’s pursuit of wide-ranging influence over Ukraine.

David Ignatius, a CIA spokesperson at the Washington Post, makes a similar (archived) nonsensical claim:

He still wants victory, which he described once again after Monday’s call with the phrase “eliminate the root causes of the crisis.” That’s code for his conviction that Ukraine cannot be a European country, as it wants, but must remain under Russian hegemony.

Russia as well as Ukraine are European countries. Russia has no interest in having 'hegemony' or 'wide-ranking influence' over Ukraine. Its interest is the defense of the Russian Federation. It had to prevent Ukraine from becoming a U.S. (NATO) spear tip aimed at its heart.

A different NY Times piece about the Russian northern defenses build up after Finland joined NATO is far more correct when it states (archived):

From Moscow’s perspective, the Russians need to bolster their defenses to protect themselves from NATO expansion, which has always been a sore subject. The Baltic nations were the first members of the former Soviet Union to join NATO, bringing large stretches of Russia’s border up against NATO’s. The prospect of Ukraine, an even bigger former Soviet republic, following suit was so threatening to Moscow that it became one of the causes of the most devastating land war in generations.

It is NATO expansion, not Ukraine the country, that is the root cause of the war. It is NATO expansion that has to be eliminated.

The U.S. and its European allies are still in denial of that. To ignore that the U.S. has, for over 30 years, been driving the NATO expansion that led to the war, allows Trump to play a 'mediator' in war in which the U.S. is a dominant participant.

It is stupid for western media to accept Trump's claim (archived) of such a role:

Cont. reading: Ukraine Negotiations Still Hover Around Its Root Cause

Posted by b at 12:23 UTC | Comments (423)

May 19, 2025

Gaza 'Aid'

Amid US pressure, Netanyahu announces resumption of Gaza aid without Cabinet vote - Ynet News, May 18 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday authorized the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a decision made without a cabinet vote and against the apparent will of a majority of ministers. The move came amid mounting pressure from the United States to prevent a worsening humanitarian crisis in the territory.

Tobias Cole comments:

Bibi and the War Cabinet are clinically insane........30 trucks per WEEK, to feed a population of 2.3 million people, is not nearly enough and they clearing know that.

If the EU is dumb enough to fall for this charade, then I have a bridge to sell them.......these officials like Smotrich are engaged in massive war crimes and are admitting so in the media daily......they have now issued orders to evacuate the second largest city in Gaza - Khan Yunis and have already completely destroyed in the entire municipality of Gaza City.

In the midst of these evacuation they continue missile attacks on refugee tent cities and hospitals.....

The IDF is now flying drones near hospitals to specifically ID persons with wish to assassinate - including individual public servants, doctors, nurses, emts, ambulance drivers, police officers, firefighters, journalists, every one with a public service duty is now be marked for elimination by the IDF.....

Massive war crimes......all in the name of rump state of Israel..........

I could not verify the tweet below. But as Zionist sadism has no bounds whatever, it is certainly a possibility  ...

Sarah Wilkinson @swilkinsonbc - 12:18 UTC · May 19, 2025

It looks like flour, but it’s shrouds, which do NOT classify as “basic aid” morally or under any law: 9 lorries of burial clothes #GazaDeathCamps
Pic (of truck load)

Posted by b at 15:01 UTC | Comments (293)

May 18, 2025

Palestine Open Thread 2025-109

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 12:01 UTC | Comments (115)

Ukraine Open Thread 2025-108

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 12:00 UTC | Comments (328)

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2025-107

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

---
Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2025-107

Posted by b at 11:59 UTC | Comments (191)

May 16, 2025

Ukraine - Negotiation Failure Plus Other Items

After some diplomatic gyrations, talks between the Russian Federation and Ukraine took place today in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Russian side had sent largely same delegation which had negotiated with Ukraine in March and April 2022. It sees the current negotiations as a continuation of the older ones, provided that new facts on the ground are taken into account.

The Ukrainian delegation was headed by its Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov. Its task was to demand an immediate ceasefire and to prepare a meeting between the presidents of the two countries.

The talks ended after just two hours.

The Russian side is said to have demanded a Ukrainian retreat from the four oblast the Russians have largely conquered and integrated into their country.

The Ukrainian side demanded an immediate ceasefire, the return of children the Russians had removed from the areas involved in military operations and the exchange of all prisoners (of which Russia has many more than Ukraine). It is obvious that Ukrainian side is not interested (yet) in making peace.

Both sides rejected the other side's demands and that was it. For now ...

The balance of power in the war is clearly on the Russian side. The Ukrainian army will thus continue to bleed and lose on the battlefield.

---

Another exchange of dead soldiers also occurred today. Thirty four corpse of Russia soldiers were exchanged against 909 Ukrainian ones. The rather absurd relation of 1 to 27 has been the case for quite a while. Indeed it seems that Russian side has limited the number of Ukrainian corpses it is willing to release per exchange to 909.


bigger

There are three reasons that contribute to the strong divergence of the numbers of dead on each side.

  • For the Ukrainian side the evacuation of dead (and wounded) soldiers is not a priority.
  • The Russian side is moving forwards winning control of areas that the Ukrainian side has lost. This allows to collect all dead while not being under fire.
  • The Ukrainian losses are in general much higher than the Russian ones.
---

Lieutenant-General Andrey Mordvichev, who the Ukrainians had claimed to have killed on March 19 2022, has become the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces in the rank of a Colonel-General.

---

The Ukrainian government 'lost' over $700 million buying arms and munitions which were never delivered or unusable.

How Ukraine lost hundreds of millions on arms deals gone wrong (archived) - Financial Times, May 16 2025
Desperate to source munitions, Kyiv paid foreign brokers for weapons and shells that were sometimes unusable or never arrived

A Financial Times investigation, based on leaked Ukrainian state documents, court filings and dozens of interviews with procurement officials, weapons dealers and manufacturers, and detectives, has uncovered how hundreds of millions of dollars Kyiv paid to foreign arms intermediaries to secure vital military equipment has gone to waste over the past three years of war.
...
To date, Ukraine has paid out $770mn in advance to foreign arms brokers for weapons and ammunition that have not been delivered, according to figures from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, as well as documents seen by the FT.
...

Most the deals have (presumably) involved large bribes.

Posted by b at 14:04 UTC | Comments (445)

May 15, 2025

Palestine Open Thread 2025-106

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 12:14 UTC | Comments (221)