Ukraine Open Thread 2022-75

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

The open thread for other issues is here.

As Things Fall Apart Biden May Want To Escalate

Is reality setting in? Is that why a Washington Post reporter, who has been on the frontline in Ukraine, was allowed to write this?

Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the east feel abandoned

[A]fter three months of war, this company of 120 men is down to 54 because of deaths, injuries and desertions.

The volunteers were civilians before Russia invaded on Feb. 24, and they never expected to be dispatched to one of the most dangerous front lines in eastern Ukraine. They quickly found themselves in the crosshairs of war, feeling abandoned by their military superiors and struggling to survive.

In mid February these people were still civilians in some town in west Ukraine. They then 'volunteered', to avoid a draft into the army, for the territorial defense forces with the hope to serve near their homes:

Lapko, built like a wrestler, was made a company commander in the 5th Separate Rifle Battalion, in charge of 120 men. The similarly burly Khrus became a platoon commander under Lapko. All of their comrades were from western Ukraine. They were handed AK-47 rifles and given training that lasted less than a half-hour.

“We shot 30 bullets and then they said, ‘You can’t get more; too expensive,’ ” Lapko said.

They were given orders to head to the western city of Lviv. When they got there, they were ordered to go south and then east into Luhansk province in Donbas, portions of which were already under the control of Moscow-backed separatists and are now occupied by Russian forces.

The men were put into a frontline ditch and have since been shelled again and again without any ability to respond. They then disregarded the orders from above and left. They have now be arrested.

Cont. reading: As Things Fall Apart Biden May Want To Escalate

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