Ukraine Open Thread 2022-74

Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...

The open thread for other issues is here.

Open Thread (NOT Ukraine) 2022-73

News & views not related to Ukraine ...

Ukraine Propaganda - BBC Tries To Sell Telegram Rumors That Make No Sense

Do they really think that the people are dumb enough to believe such shit?

Russian media: retired Russian major general killed in skies over Ukraine

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Which 'Russian media' one might asks:

Cont. reading: Ukraine Propaganda - BBC Tries To Sell Telegram Rumors That Make No Sense

Flag Abuse And Other Bits On Ukraine

The Pentagon reports about the continuing efforts to sell new U.S. weapons to those nations which discard their old ones in Ukraine.

Austin Hosts Ukraine Defense Contact Group to Continue Support for Beleaguered Country

To express the seriousness of the situation in Ukraine the Pentagon decided to hoist Ukraine's blue-above-yellow flag upside down.

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Hanging a flag upside down is a sign of either dire distress or cultural ignorance. Given that this was a Pentagon event the later is the more likely to be the case.

The Baltic nutters have a another great and of course completely impractical idea.

Cont. reading: Flag Abuse And Other Bits On Ukraine

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-72

Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...

The open thread for other issues is here.

White House Rejects President's Foreign Policy

U.S. President Joe Biden apparently pursues different foreign policies than the White House.

October 23 2021:

'Strategic Ambiguity' on Taiwan Apparent as White House Walks Back Biden Comments

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday appeared to walk back President Joe Biden's statement on Thursday that the United States was committed to defending Taiwan should it come under Chinese attack.

"The president was not announcing any change in our policy, nor has he made a decision to change our policy," Psaki said during a White House news briefing. "Our defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act."

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act states that the U.S. will provide arms for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability. It does not say the U.S. would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

Psaki's statement stands in contradiction to Biden's comment at a CNN town hall Thursday night. When asked if the U.S. would come to the defense of Taiwan, Biden said, "Yes, we have a commitment to do that."

November 17 2021:

Biden Struggles to Stick to the Script on Taiwan

Cont. reading: White House Rejects President's Foreign Policy

Ukraine Open Thread 2022-71

Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...

The open thread for other issues is here.

The MoA Week In Review - (NOT Ukraine) OT 2022-70

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

• May 16 - British Info-Warriors Kill Abroad And Sabotage Politics At Home
  - How UK military and spy agencies are weaponising social justice - Declassified UK
  - Leaked emails expose UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s connection to MI6-style ‘research and influence operation’ - Grayzone
  - Unlocked: Order of Battle: US Spooks Clone Australia Anti-Influence Campaign in UK - Peter Lee's China Threat Report

• May 17 - Ukraine - For Laughs
  Related:
  - Ukraine War Day #85: Up Close Look At Azovstal Surrender, I Mean Evacuation - Awful Avalanche
  - Ukraine War Day #86: The Condition of Mariupol POWs - Awful Avalanche
  - In the wake of Russian victory in Mariupol - Indian Punchline

> Above all, this is an operation of necessity for Russia, not of choice. Paradoxically, the choice was entirely up to the US and NATO to appreciate that there is nothing like absolute security. Wasn’t it the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who once said, “Absolute security for one state means absolute insecurity for all others.” <

• May 18 - How Europe Was Pushed Towards Economic Suicide
  Related:
  - EU diplomat: ‘We are reaching our limits with sanctions against Russia’ - Euractiv
  - Michael Hudson: Interview with RT – Transcript - The Saker
  - Insight Vox: Col. Richard Black on Ukraine - UK Column

• May 20 - Ukraine SitRep - Russians Break Through U.S. Bolsterism
  Related:
  - The second coming of Nato - Will the revived alliance survive in the new world order? - Adam Tooze / New Statesman
  - US experts skeptical of Finland, Sweden NATO bid - Asia Times
  - Joining the West - New Left Review

• May 21 - No, The Ukraine War Has Not Stoked A Global Food Crisis.
  Related:
  - Supply chains are never returning to ‘normal’ - Freight Waves

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - (NOT Ukraine) OT 2022-70

No, The Ukraine War Has Not Stoked A Global Food Crisis.

Russia is falsely accused of blocking Ukraine's sea ports and thereby increasing a global food shortage:

The United Nations has warned that the war in Ukraine has helped to stoke a global food crisis that could last years if it goes unchecked, as the World Bank announced an additional $12bn in funding to mitigate its “devastating effects”.

UN secretary general António Guterres said shortages of grain and fertiliser caused by the war, warming temperatures and pandemic-driven supply problems threaten to “tip tens of millions of people over the edge into food insecurity”, as financial markets saw share prices fall heavily again on fears of inflation and a worldwide recession.

Speaking at a UN meeting in New York on global food security, he said what could follow would be “malnutrition, mass hunger and famine, in a crisis that could last for years”, as he and others urged Russia to release Ukrainian grain exports.
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Before the invasion in February, Ukraine was seen as the world’s bread basket, exporting 4.5m tonnes of agricultural produce per month through its ports – 12% of the planet’s wheat, 15% of its corn and half of its sunflower oil.

But with the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and others cut off from the world by Russian warships, the supply can travel only on congested land routes that are far less efficient.

It is not Russia that is withholding Ukrainian grain or cutting off its seaports. Ukraine does that all by itself. As the Russian Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine reports:

Cont. reading: No, The Ukraine War Has Not Stoked A Global Food Crisis.

Ukraine SitRep - Russians Break Through U.S. Bolsterism

On May 14 I noted that the U.S. had asked Russia for a ceasefire in Ukraine:

The U.S. readout of the call says:

On May 13, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu for the first time since February 18. Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication.

Austin initiated the call and the U.S. is seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine!!!

Yesterday the top officers of the U.S. and Russia had a call which, again, the U.S. side had initiated:

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, held a conversation that the Pentagon declined to further detail beyond acknowledging it had happened.

Thinks must be bad in Ukraine for this to have happened. Indeed if one trusts the daily 'clobber list' the Russian Ministry of Defense puts out all positions of the Ukrainian army are under heavy artillery fire and it is losing about 500 men per day. There are additional Russian effective strikes on training camps, weapon storage sites and transport hubs all over the country.

On top of that the tactical situation at the eastern frontline has changed after Russian forces broke through the heavily fortified frontline.

Source: liveuamap.com - bigger

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep - Russians Break Through U.S. Bolsterism