Biden Donates Counter Mortar Radar To Russian Weapon Exhibition
via TASS - The Technical Institute of the Army of the Russian Federation would like to express its gratitude to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for donating the AN/TPQ-48A Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar, NSN 5840-01-541-8783, Serial #369 to our museum. We intend to add the system, after a short period of technical evaluation, to our permanent public exhibition.
The above press release has not been written yet. But it might well soon be published. Consider:
November 21, 2014 - US delivers anti-mortar radars to Ukraine: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) - The US military has delivered three radars to Ukraine designed to detect incoming mortar fire, the Pentagon said Friday, amid appeals from Kiev for Washington to send weapons to help fight pro-Russian rebels.The counter-mortar radar systems were flown to Ukraine in a C-17 cargo plane that accompanied US Vice President Joe Biden, who paid a visit to Kiev on the first anniversary of protests that unleashed a year of upheaval.
Before Biden flew to Ukraine a Presidential Drawdown Notfication documented the serial number of the three counter mortar radars he took with him. The value of one such radar was noted as $117,968.
A recent photo of one of the boxes of the counter radar system with the serial #369.
The above picture is a screenshot from about 4:20min into this video which shows the collecting of battle field trophies by east Ukrainian federalists in Debaltseve. The video shows the opening of the box and a view of the packed system. It looks complete and unused. This is not astonishing as the battle was fought with heavy artillery over long ranges and not with rather short ranged mortars. In such a scenario the Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar is of little use.
It will still be an interesting addition to the Technical Institute's exhibition.
Posted by b on February 20, 2015 at 19:45 UTC | Permalink
Maybe they booby-trapped it. (If they had the sense to realize it was inevitably going to be captured.)
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 20:58 utc | 2
This comes after ISIS captured all kinds of U.S. equipment when it took Mosul.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 21:01 utc | 3
They blinked. Eurozone Agrees on Four-Month Extension of Greece Bailout.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 21:04 utc | 4
that Letter of Notification is another MoA scoop, yah?
...if no source is provided, it got be an exclusive leak, is it?
anyway, bloody ninja stuff, olé!
Posted by: citizen X | Feb 20 2015 21:50 utc | 5
The Letter of Notification was published last November here: http://www.whq-forum.de/invisionboard/index.php?showtopic=30187&st=5910
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 21:56 utc | 6
a couple of links pulled from the related FortRuss comments thread:
- Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR) - [pdf] - (fas.org)
- U.S. army delivered three AN/TPQ-48 LCMR Light Counter-Mortar Radar to Ukrainian army - (armyrecognition.com)
Posted by: citizen X | Feb 20 2015 21:59 utc | 7
The loss of Debaltsevo is an enormous and well-deserved embarrassment for Kiev. But my feeling is that it's not quite the disaster the rebels are claiming. Here's my analysis, which I admit is just a layman's read of the situation. I'm guesstimating 30% KIA/WIA/captured, with most of the discrepancy being due to desertion, and a loss of 50-70% of their mechanized equipment and heavy weaponry.
Meanwhile, it's the rebels and their families whose homes have been destroyed and who are surviving on crumbs. It doesn't look like a great victory to me. Though it might be enough to force Kiev to grant limited autonomy to the Donbas, as prescribed in Minsk 2.
Anyway, I am outsourcing further analysis to Moon. This is a very difficult story to follow, especially for this non-Russian speaker.
@7 Counter-mortar, counter-counter-mortar....I see a whole growth industry here.
Posted by: dh | Feb 20 2015 22:32 utc | 9
Methinks the Technical Institute of the Army of the Russian Federation might need to open a new building just to exhibit this counter mortar radar system and all the other battlefield goodies the rebels will be collecting from the Banderites. Enough to outfit a small Third World army at second-hand market prices.
Posted by: Jen | Feb 20 2015 22:36 utc | 10
Edifying video in which one first sees Ukrainian soldiers alive, and then one sees them dead. Ukrainian soldiers make football hooligans come across as opera goers.
The Soviet Union suffered terrible devastation during the German invasion, but they won the war.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 22:44 utc | 12
Enough to outfit a small Third World army at second-hand market prices.
First things first. First, learn enough from the captured equipment to be able to imitate the technology.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 22:45 utc | 13
I don't even hate what the US is doing as much as I hate what the Krouts are doing.
The US never did learn the hard way, the Krouts are on a path of relearning...
If I were Russia, and WW3 does indeed come (which it seems it will), I'd target Germany first.
That lot never seems to learn, and is always in an alliance against Russia. Wipe 'em off!
Posted by: S-true | Feb 20 2015 23:08 utc | 14
Here's a Polish map of what Europe will look like. According to this conception, a rump Banderastan centered around Kiev will remain. But it remains to be seen whether any trace of Banderastan will remain. By allowing themselves to be tricked by Obama and Victoria Nuland, thus showing their true fascist nature, Ukrainians lost their right to having any kind of country, no matter how tiny.
@ Demian 11
I see nothing edifying in this video. In fact it invokes sadness. I see some young guys laughing and joking (probably conscripts), then I see them dead, one blown to pieces. They have beards; the guy with the sunglasses looks like my son. Worse than football Hooligans? Show a little respect for the fallen.
Posted by: Lochearn | Feb 20 2015 23:24 utc | 16
@S-true #14:
If I were Russia, and WW3 does indeed come (which it seems it will), I'd target Germany first.
Yes, but you're not Russia. The Russians are inveterate Germanophiles. Even though I have said that Merkel's conduct in this crisis has been more disgusting than Obama's, I still can't hold anything against Germany.
Germany and Russia have deep cultural affinities, whereas the Anglosphere is alien to both of them. This has been obscured by Germany's nature being temporarily effaced by its current American occupation.
Here's a Polish map of what Europe will look like. According to this conception, a rump Banderastan centered around Kiev will remain. But it remains to be seen whether any trace of Banderastan will remain. By allowing themselves to be tricked by Obama and Victoria Nuland, thus showing their true fascist nature, Ukrainians lost their right to having any kind of country, no matter how tiny.
Screw that!
Kiev is "the mother of all Russian cities", and ending up in "Banderistan" ain't feasible. Many mighty empires throughout history have fallen, and the Bandera/ISIS/Israel backers are no different...they'll fall too.
Besides, anything that's coming from Poland or has an "Euro" prefix isn't something that should be taken seriously. It's Monty Python stuff.
This whole Ukraine/Syria/Libya/Iraq/Afghanistan/Bosnia/Kosovo/Serbia mess was a true eye-opener for me!
Posted by: S-true | Feb 20 2015 23:35 utc | 18
Speaking of Kosovo/Serbia, I read in Udo Ulfkotte's Gekaufte Journalisten that the decision to break up Yugoslavia was made by the Bilderberg Group.
I did have the impression from Bill Clinton's expression and body language that, when he announced he was going to start bombing Serbia, his heart was not in it. Somebody made him do it, or act as if it was he that was doing it.
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20 2015 23:46 utc | 19
@Damian
Look like the guys I served with many moons ago, trying to laugh off an effed up situation. Pawns in a game over which they have no control. That said, what I also take from this is how undertrained and under armed the average Ukrainian grunt is. They are but fodder for USNATO. Where was Vickie Nuland in a flak jacket and helmet passing out cookies?
None of these people had to die.
Posted by: chuckvw | Feb 20 2015 23:51 utc | 20
@15 and 18,
Who is to say it will be a nation-state? I could see the borders as the areas no one wants. If Poroshenko and Yats flee tomorrow, the Azov types will still be there, but is their enough strength and organization to form a government? The Kiev rump state might just become Libya/Somalia/Afghanistan in Europe, and given the state of Europe and the U.S., there won't be much stomach for reconstruction.
Posted by: NotTimothyGeithner | Feb 20 2015 23:52 utc | 21
Mortar detection radar in the hands of a suicidally incompetent US-trained & advised army adds insult to injury. It's probably not uncommon for soldiers to worry that they could be killed in a current battle, but I can't imagine anyone being comforted by the feedback from a device which provides 5 seconds warning of the precise moment of demise.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 21 2015 0:11 utc | 22
@Lochearn #16:
I see some young guys laughing and joking
Yes, that is a large part of the problem. Ukrainians see exterminating Russians as fun and a laughing matter. There are countless posts on social media in which Ukrainians laugh and express glee about Ukrainians massacring innocent Russian civilians. That began with the Odessa Union Building massacre, in which Ukrainians joked on social media about the Colorados getting barbecued. This is what makes Ukrainians more ineffably evil than the original Nazis.
@chuckvw #20:
Look like the guys I served with many moons ago, trying to laugh off an effed up situation. Pawns in a game over which they have no control.
This is not like US grunts killing Vietnamese. It is like boys from New Jersey thinking that killing Bostonians is a fun joke. Would you have any sympathy with such people? Their being branewashed by their educational system and mass media does not exculpate them. If they had any grain of basic human decency, they would not think that killing their own people is a joke.
Yes, but you're not Russia. The Russians are inveterate Germanophiles. Even though I have said that Merkel's conduct in this crisis has been more disgusting than Obama's, I still can't hold anything against Germany.Germany and Russia have deep cultural affinities, whereas the Anglosphere is alien to both of them. This has been obscured by Germany's nature being temporarily effaced by its current American occupation.
Oh, please don't tell me about the "Slavic curse", as I used to suffer from it too.
See, this is how it goes: You hate the ones that resemble you most (Ukraine vis-a-vis Russia is an excellent example, but there's also Serbia/Croatia, Macedonia/Bulgaria, Serbia/Macedonia, Montenegro/Serbia, Serbia/Bulgaria etc.), and you bend-over to the ones that have always tried to annihilate you...
That's why we (Slavic peoples) are *very* easy to play the divide et impera game with.
Until it's not, that is. Remember that it was the Russians that beat Germany, and took Berlin.
PS
Poland being the loudest for "tougher actions against Russia" is also a sad part of the said curse...
@demian
Are they laughing about slaughtering civilians? I don't know the language, so I can't say. The Kiev junta, at the behest of USNATO, sent thousands of conscripts into a meat grinder. Some them were probably real assholes, as in all armies. But most were just regular folks.
By the way, I see no difference morally between slaughtering unarmed civilians in Vietnam or slaughtering them in Boston. I have sympathy for all of the average people who were drawn into this USNATO created maelstrom. For banderistas and junta members I have no sympathy.
Posted by: chuckvw | Feb 21 2015 0:54 utc | 26
@S-true #24:
Look, my parents were White Russians who grew up in Latvia. They were able to escape the Soviets because the Germans took them with them when the Nazis retreated. Thus I never thought that the Germans tried to annihilate me. When it comes to my family history, the Germans saved me from communism. As for the Poles, something in me now compels me to reach out to them, despite my having a lot of anti-Polish prejudice, most of it on the level of Polish jokes. I think that the Poles have a sufficiently significant culture for them to find a place between the Germans and the Russians. As for the Balts and the Ukrainians, there is no hope for them.
@ALL:
What this is is a civil war. There are two civil wars that I have an understanding of: the American Civil War, and the Russian civil war between the Reds and the Whites that occurred after the Bolshevik Revolution.
I personally find it difficult to imagine how I could fight in either of those two wars, but then, I never thought I could be a soldier. But still, I can see how soldiers on both sides in both of those wars were motivated. In the case of the Union army, the soldiers fought for the Union and against the barbarism of slavery. In the case of the Confederates, the soldiers were defending their land and their way of life. In the case of Red Russians, the soldiers were fighting for human progress and a Utopia. In the case of the White Russians, the soldiers were defending the old order and fighting against a monstrous oppressive ideology.
But what of this Ukrainian civil war? What are the Ukrainians fighting for? That is what the republicans keep on asking their POWs. I have no idea of what the Ukrainians are fighting for, thoughtlessly killing their own innocent people. As far as I can tell, the Ukrainian fighters are nothing more nor less than mindless, ravenous, bloodthirsty, hate-filled zombies.
@Demian
Look, my parents were White Russians who grew up in Latvia. They were able to escape the Soviets because the Germans took them with them when the Nazis retreated. Thus I never thought that the Germans tried to annihilate me. When it comes to my family history, the Germans saved me from communism. As for the Poles, something in me now compels me to reach out to them, despite my having a lot of anti-Polish prejudice, most of it on the level of Polish jokes. I think that the Poles have a sufficiently significant culture for them to find a place between the Germans and the Russians. As for the Balts and the Ukrainians, there is no hope for them.
Well, since we seem to be sharing family histories here, listen to mine: My grandfather was a communist partisan, and could never forgive me for becoming an Orthodox Christian (which was/is/will be my choice). The poor bugger still read Marx, and believed that "Religion is opium for the masses". I never did hate my grandfather though, neither do I thank the current occupiers who seemingly made it available for me to make my choice. I prefer my grandfather to them. I still like the partisan songs like this one, and respect the sacrifices made by people like my grandfather who just wanted to have a free country to raise their kids in...as misguided an ideology as I feel that communism was/is - the communists had their heart in the right place, and that REALLY counts for me! The Wehrmacht/SS Germans that *USED* your family for a political purpose were thinking about their own ideology/country, just like Donald Rumsfeld and other neocons *PRETENDED* to be a true friend of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (but in reality they just wanted to beat *RUSSIA* and not Communism). That's why Solzhenitsyn chose to return home to Russia, and spoke frequently with Putin. If you haven't understood that by now Дамјан, than I'm sorry, but you just don't get it...but here I am - hoping that you will.
Posted by: S-true | Feb 21 2015 1:28 utc | 28
Posted by: lysias | Feb 20, 2015 6:46:54 PM | 19
Nailed it, bigdog but it didn't matter he knew were the $ was coming from when he wasn't potus any more just like bush the lesser and 0.
Posted by: jo6pac | Feb 21 2015 1:33 utc | 29
Demian, well, I'd say some of them are ideologically motivated. they have bought completely into the Ukraine-the true-Russia myth, where Russia represents fro them all the mongolic barbarism. they call Russia the Horde, just like numerous other Eastern and Central European societies try very hard to distinguish themselves in the level of proximity to the Western European idealized core. So you have a lot of Russian speaking youth, many of them from the Eastern regions embracing this nationalistic myth of the birth of a new nation out of the bloody sacrifice against the overwhelming beast, pretty much representing all their negative sides.
But then when you watch interviews with the wounded Ukrainian conscripts in captivity they look just lacking any sense of will or personal ideology, they just did what they were told, set like sheep for slaughter and they went without giving it much thought, because those with brains all managed to dodge the draft one way or another or are busy carving for themselves a warm place near the feeding trough, like all those battalion commanders with no military education, all the people who exploit this national tragedy for personal gain. And those people deserve to die, but in reality they keep prospering while the weakest, the poorest and the dumbest are sacrificed en masse.
Posted by: Al | Feb 21 2015 1:37 utc | 30
@Demian
Sorry, forgot to mention my favorite communist song (it's Russian).
Posted by: S-true | Feb 21 2015 1:51 utc | 31
@4
Yes, the Greeks 'blinked'. Complete collapse. A disaster for Syriza and the Greeks.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 21 2015 2:41 utc | 32
@4 & @32
Yes I agree...I thought Syriza would pull it through...stick it to the empire...Call me a sucker...but I was truly an optimist about Greece.
Posted by: S-true | Feb 21 2015 2:45 utc | 33
@S-true you pretty much nailed what I was going to say. Painting all Ukrainian solders as blackhearts who are evil is just a mirror of the fascist greedhead inspired media coverage which reports everything Russia does as 'evil' and which alleges Putin micro-mananages every decision that comes outta Russia.
I get hot under the collar at the way ordinary amerikans even those who claim to be opposed to the invasion and occupation of the ME all 'support the troops'.
How about supporting those impoverished young amerikan men and women who forgo one of the few robust methods of exiting amerika's cycle of poverty by refusing to join the military?
Despite that not all amerikan troops are evil motherfuckers set on 'doing their bit' to ensure amerikan hegemony continues.
Many of the young kids in that video will have had their heads filled with jingoistic claptrap - this is why military the world over prefers to use boymen. They have the capability to develop a warrior skillset, but lack the RW knowledge to screen out bullshit.
Sure there may have been some real assholes in that phone-vid but the odds are good that most of those soldiers were just confused and manipulated as soldiers everywhere are.
Each death is a cause for grief not celebration. I dunno if you have ever been in a real fight, but I was taught to respect my enemy - otherwise it is too easy to underestimate them.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 21 2015 2:47 utc | 34
Sorry that last bit refers to Demian the OP not S-true.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 21 2015 2:52 utc | 35
#34 Mr Debs thank you for your thoughtful comment. Appreciate your sentiments.
Posted by: wolfin howl | Feb 21 2015 3:24 utc | 36
@S-true #28:
The Wehrmacht/SS Germans that *USED* your family for a political purpose were thinking about their own ideology/country
Sorry, I think that's completely wrong. This is for two reasons. (1) My father told me that when the Germans abandon a country they have occupied, they take their non-German collaborators with them. This is in contrast to the Anglos, who abandon their collaborators, because they are of no further use. Just think of those scenes of the US helicopters flying away from Saigon, with Vietnamese trying to get on and the Americans kicking them away. (2) My father wanted to enlist with the Germans to fight against the Soviets, but a German officer talked him out of it, telling him that he was crazy for wanting to do that. What I conclude from all that is that the Germans are like the Russians in that if you speak German, you are part of the German world, even if you are not ethnically German, and that means that you are equal to a German. (Of course, that doesn't work for Muslims, since the German world is Christian, so that hanging on to Islam is a vehement rejection of Germanness. Being Jewish is OK because there is a long tradition of Jews assimilating into German culture.) That is to be contrasted with the English, who are obsessed with ethnicity, and hence, ironically, are racists in the loose sense of the word, whereas the Germans (and Russians) are not.
@Al #30:
I think you're right on all points. Yes, Ukrainian nationalists have an ideology of pseudo-racist supremacy, and yes, the non-nationalist conscripts are just grunts. The reason the republicans (rebels) keep on asking their Ukie POWs "What are you fighting for?" is that being Russian, like me, they simply don't take the idea of a Ukrainian nation or people seriously, and so can't understand what it's all about.
@S-true #31:
Thank you so much for the link to that performance. Of course I loved Katyusha, even as a boy. But I think of it as Russian, not communist, song. I recall someone telling me, "You know, that's actually a Soviet song", and both of us thought that was funny, because everyone we knew loved the song. That's one reason why it's hard for a Russian to understand Ukie nationalism. To a Russian, if something is good, why not like it, no matter who created it? The Ukies in contrast reject and abhor everything Russian, no matter how good it is.
@Debs is dead #34:
Sure there may have been some real assholes in that phone-vid but the odds are good that most of those soldiers were just confused and manipulated as soldiers everywhere are.
Each death is a cause for grief not celebration.
Sure they are brainwashed, but if they had any brains, the brainwashing wouldn't have worked. These people have no moral agency; they are zombies in the philosophical sense of the word. Whether zombies have a right to live is a complicated question. Personally, I think that it is speciest to believe that someone fighting for the Kiev junta has more of a right to life than a random cat.
Agreed with Al#30 and Debs#34.
The Poles, the Germans, the Russians, the Ukranians, the Greeks.... whom exactly? The 0,01%, the 1%, another percent, all percent?
Especially when demonizing, 100% is just a stupid figure of speech.
Posted by: citizen X | Feb 21 2015 4:57 utc | 38
Looks like they found all three units of the mortar radar judging from the video. Jackpot.
But the separatists better be careful with this stuff and the humvee they captured in case the US has tracking beacons on them.
Posted by: J. Bradley | Feb 21 2015 5:09 utc | 39
@Demian
Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Posted by: WG | Feb 21 2015 5:20 utc | 40
02/21/2015-02:42
Donetsk district Kiyevskiy was under enemy bombardment for several hours. District Petrovskiy (Donetsk’s west) was bombarded from Kurakhovo (west to Donetsk) where artillery reserves were received yesterday.
Clashes errupted near positions of Donetsk Republic army in area of Donetsk airport as units of punitive troops advanced toward terminal.
In Yasinovataya region (north of Donetsk), settlement Makeevka was mercilessly shelled. A combat took place on outskirts of city Yasinovataya – the sides fired machine guns and small arms.
Outskirts of Gorlovka (north-east to Donetsk) and Dokuchayevsk (south to Donetsk) were hit by artillery.
Situation grows tense on the south front (Mariupol`), where the nazi storm units organize senseless attacks on Donetsk Republic positions securing the shore.
Millitary journalist “Step`” (“Steppe”)
Posted by: Fete | Feb 21 2015 5:22 utc | 41
@37 demian - i have to agree with debs is dead and s-true and @16 lochearn much earlier. it is summarized well by the quote @ 40 from wg.
@39 j. bradley.. hopefully they thought of that already... like walking around with a cell phone these days, everything is packaged with a backdoor to keep tabs on one.
@41 fete.. the fuckers just don't know how to stop..
Posted by: james | Feb 21 2015 5:38 utc | 42
wg @ 40:
Thank you for this quote. Even with atrocities committed by ISIS and the revelations about Abu Graib, the admonition applies. I would also apply it to a different degree for watching mainstream news and commentary. The perturbation of one's mindset is insidious. It is far far better to look away, whilst taking in the sad realities, than to expose one's soul to the depravity of war. Early days in the invasion of Iraq, I remember watching embedded reporters give accounts on tv talk shows - they had a terrible look, that Samantha Powell look. Sent shivers up my spine. I don't look at those videos or watch those news shows any more, and I pray for the young men Demian has described, and for their poor mothers, very few of whom (I am sure) wanted their sons to die this way.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 21 2015 7:15 utc | 43
Here's a version of the giggling soldiers video with English subs. What I get from all of that Beavis-and-Butthead neanderthal giggling is that they're trying to act cool when they're really scared shitless. One guy, I think it was the one with the glasses, seemed kind of depressed.
Here's an interview with someone from the Azov Battalion who became disillusioned and gave himself up voluntarily. What's striking about it is how shallow his motives were - mostly peer pressure infused with the propaganda-inspired notion of patriotism and fighting a Russian invasion. He wasn't inspired by the hard nationalist, genocidal ideology that Azov is known for, and when he figured that he'd been brought into an awful business on the basis of lies, he quit.
When we consider the moral position of Kiev's grunts, we might want to consider this aspect of their experience.
One interesting thing that's come to light in the most recent mobilization is that the hardcore Nazi areas of the Ukraine - Lviv, Volyn, and such - are producing the lowest success rates. For all their viciousness, Galicians look like a bunch of punks willing to slaughter those they regard as inferior while someone else - the Wehrmacht or the UAF regulars - takes the real risks.
Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 21 2015 8:34 utc | 44
@S-true #28:
My grandfather was a communist partisan, and could never forgive me for becoming an Orthodox Christian (which was/is/will be my choice).
That relates to contemporary Russian identity. I think that the Asian influence from the Mongol occupation (which the Saker writes about), Orthodoxy, and Communism are all constitutive elements of Russian culture. They are just given; there is no point in liking or not liking them or accepting or rejecting them. (Of course, as an individual, one makes the choice of being or not being an Orthodox believer.)
And there is another thing I would like to say about Orthodoxy. I used to think of Russian Orthodoxy as kind of a joke, what with all the incense and not pushing moral doctrine onto parishioners. (I believe that abortion is against Orthodox doctrine, but if someone gets an abortion, no one makes a fuss.) But that changed when the Ukrainian civil war started. In an episode of Battlestar Galactica, Starbuck says to Adama in reference to a crew member who has joined a mutiny: "That is the enemy, sir." What do you do with the enemy? You kill him. That is the American way. But it is not the Russian way. Russians try not to kill the enemy if they don't have to. To me, that is not rational, but nevertheless, I have been very impressed with the Russians (i.e., republican Ukrainian rebels) trying as much as possible to preserve the lives of the enemy and to treat him humanely in the midst of a brutal civil war. This has made me take Russian Orthodoxy very seriously and admire it greatly. Russians really do try to follow Christ, even in war. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants have never bothered with that.
Russian Orthodox look at Christianity from the point of view of Christ. I look at it from the point of view of Hegel. That is why I am not Orthodox, even though I am Russian and identify with Christianity.
..but I was taught to respect my enemy - otherwise it is too easy to underestimate them.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 20, 2015 9:47:15 PM | 34
Yes indeed. And so easy to forget.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 21 2015 10:20 utc | 46
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31561769
Ukraine crisis: Moscow rally against 'coup' one year on
There's a short video with the article that tries to make the protest look small in numbers (other propaganda in the short piece as well) but the cameraman inadvertedly had a long shot that showed thousands.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 21 2015 13:29 utc | 47
Sen J. Biden on Yugoslavia, 1993. C-span. Not very long.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?40657-1/conflict-former-yugoslavia
==========
When discussing the Ukrainian conscripts / volunteers one should recall that the country never really ‘worked’, that Ukraine as a new entity, post 91, lost a consequent part of its population, the economy was in the pits, healthcare oops, oligarchs and corruption were rampant, outlook was very dim.
This exaberated a new Ukrainian Nationalism, which is perfectly understandable - reinforce unity to pull together, join and do better. The other side of the coin was scape-goating (Russia, Russians) and the weight of images and opinion in tight circles, rather than a reasoned, cohesive, Nationalist discourse or plan.
Add on that the Donbass was, besides its ‘Russian character,’ (language etc.) historically a Wild-West sort of place, because of its industry (or viewed as such, rather than as from the W as a region under the claw of the evil Russkies), inhabited by ppl who were seen as ‘barbarians’ who never really ‘integrated’, mavericks out for themselves, individualists, etc. - and in a way they did not because the Central State Policy never took, never functioned, and Kiev scape-goated as well.
What can we do? Most social aid goes to the Donbass!
Not tryin to excuse, obviously. But the difference between US soldiers killing Viet peasants and what we see here is…slim to nil, see chuck at 26.
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 21 2015 13:46 utc | 48
Lets be honest demian
You're more than just a little bit Nazi-ish yourself, almost drooling on yourself in your efforts to be the first and the loudest to cheer on each new act of slaughter
And dont bother trying to deny that is what you do, because we have all seen you do it
Personally i suspect you are nothing more than a parody, a
pathetic sockpuppet invented to descredit supporters of Russia, or
Some sort of clever satire, but then i remember that theres really not much about you and the tripe you post that could ever be described as "clever"
Posted by: TLC | Feb 21 2015 14:30 utc | 49
NY Times' neocon 'reporters' are increasingly creative in their Ukraine war reality inventing. Here's one paragraph of the latest, emphasis added:
The troops and equipment were headed for the town of Novoazovsk, about 25 miles north of the port city of Mariupol, the last major city in southeastern Ukraine not in rebel hands and the greatest impediment to establishing a land bridge from Russia to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia last March.
One paragraph earlier this is just another allegation by a Ukraine general, but now troops and equipment definitely "were headed" somewhere? Is the NY Times aware that what Ukraine's generals say are not always facts, that war propaganda is 'a thing'? And, yes, we've heard the "land bridge" charge by map-deprived people before, but Mariupol is 300 kilometers from the potential northern land bridge to Crimea, and Russia is already building a land bridge across the five kilometers separating Russia and Crimea on the south edge of the Azov Sea. In other words, The Claim Donbass Rebels Are after Crimea Land Bridge Is Absurd (Did the people making the claim ever take a look at the map?)
Posted by: S-true | Feb 20, 2015 9:45:54 PM | 33
No, the Greeks did not blink. They got what they wanted. They have four month extension. The discussion on the reforms they offer has been kicked down the road.
The institutions will, for the 2015 primary surplus target, take the economic circumstances in 2015 into account.
Greek win.
The Greek authorities commit to refrain from any rollback of measures and unilateral changes to the policies and structural reforms that would negatively impact fiscal targets, economic recovery or financial stability, as assessed by the institutions.
Open to further discussion.
"Troika" has become "the institutions"
But
In this light, we welcome the commitment by the Greek authorities to work in close agreement with European and international institutions and partners. Against this background we recall the independence of the European Central Bank. We also agreed that the IMF would continue to play its role.
ECB background here.
The political detonating pin for Greek contagion in Europe is an obscure mechanism used by the eurozone's nexus of central banks to settle accounts. If Greece is forced out of the euro in acrimonious circumstances - a 50/50 risk given the continued refusal of the creditor core to acknowledge their own guilt and strategic errors - the country will not only default on its EMU rescue packages, but also on its "Target2" liabilities to the European Central Bank. In normal times, Target2 adjustments are routine and self-correcting. They occur automatically as money is shifted around the currency bloc. The US Federal Reserve has a similar internal system to square books across regions. They turn nuclear if monetary union breaks up. The Target2 "debts" owed by Greece's central bank to the ECB jumped to €49bn in December as capital flight accelerated on fears of a Syriza victory. They may have reached €65bn or €70bn by now. ... An identical debate is raging in Holland and Finland. Yet the figures for Germany dwarf the rest. The Target2 claims of the Bundesbank on the ECB system have jumped from €443bn in July to €515bn as of January 31. Most of this is due to capital outflows from Greek banks into German banks, either through direct transfers or indirectly through Switzerland, Cyprus and Britain. Grexit would detonate the system. "The risks would suddenly become a reality and create a political storm in Germany," said Eric Dor, from the IESEG business school in Lille. "That is the moment when the Bundestag would start to question the whole project of the euro. The risks are huge," he said. Mr Dor says a Greek default would reach €287bn if all forms of debt are included: Target2, ECB's holdings of Greek bonds, bilateral loans and loans from the bail-out fund (EFSF).
Wikipedia explanation of Target2
Posted by: somebody | Feb 21 2015 15:53 utc | 51
@somebody
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31559752
Greece saved from disaster - for two days
Greece and Germany have stepped back from the brink. And for now Greece remains in the eurozone.
But there will be months of fraught negotiations before it will be clear whether the economy and finances of this recession-battered nation have been put back on a stable footing.
In fact, what was agreed on Friday night guarantees there will be no fresh crisis - no fears of Greece quitting the eurozone - for a full two days.
Because by Monday night, the Syriza government has to submit a preliminary list of proposed economic reforms - which will form the basis of negotiations till the end of April on a new financial settlement for the country.
If the Eurogroup were to reject that preliminary list, well in theory all bets would be off - and we would be back to wondering whether Greece is in or out of the euro.
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 21 2015 16:45 utc | 52
Posted by: okie farmer | Feb 21, 2015 11:45:07 AM | 52
:-))
If the Eurogroup were to reject that preliminary list, well in theory all bets would be off - and we would be back to wondering whether Greece is in or out of the euro.
As I understand it the ECB will continue to support Greek banks so no Grexit, whilst Greece and the EU will negotiate if/when credits will be served/paid back or not.
Greece has a household surplus so can pay their own costs. To be negotiated to what extent they have to use the surplus to pay creditors, or can spend it on kickstarting Greek economy. More credit would be used for Greece not to default, the Greece government does not really want that but wants to restructure the debt.
I think Grexit is no political option as it would destroy trust in the Euro, which would have huge repercussions nobody can fortell.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 21 2015 17:06 utc | 54
Mortar detectors are not weapons as such, they are a means of detecting weapons, where they come from, and perhaps even who is firing them. The sort of news that a lot of people don't want revealed...
Posted by: ralphieboy | Feb 21 2015 17:14 utc | 55
Isn't it "strange" that there is absolutely NO talk (anymore) of foreign mercenaries trapped in Debaltsevo?
My understanding is that the Russians don't really want to stir up shit about this and that any "annoying" foreigners will be either killed or exfiltrated (very discreetely in both cases).
It might even be part of the suspected "secret clauses" of Minsk2.
Posted by: acrimonious | Feb 21 2015 18:06 utc | 57
“The West needs to make its decision. This is one of the most important decisions in this century: to support or to abandon Ukraine,” Mr. Yatsenyuk told The Globe and Mail on the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the Kremlin-supported government of Viktor Yanukovych. “If I say to support, it means a large-scale and comprehensive Marshall Plan. A part of which has to be a defence issue … call it defensive weapons supply.” ... In an interview marked by moments of high rhetoric and blunt honesty, Mr. Yatsenyuk also called on the United States and Canada to play more active diplomatic roles – a remark that could be interpreted as a swipe at the efforts of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande. The two European leaders mediated talks earlier this month between Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that resulted in the signing of a ceasefire that disintegrated almost as soon as the leaders left the negotiating room.Mr. Yatsenyuk criticized the ceasefire pact reached in the Belarusian capital of Minsk because it “legitimized a new border” between Ukraine and the rebel-controlled regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, while at the same time leaving Russia’s border with Ukraine unsupervised until the end of 2015. The deal also requires the Kiev government to pay for the restoration of services in Donetsk and Lugansk, a step Mr. Yatsenyuk said would “severely effect” an already ailing Ukrainian economy.
...
Despite his criticisms of the Minsk deal, Mr. Yatsenyuk said his government would press ahead with was the construction of what he has dubbed the “European Rampart” – ditch and sand berm wall along Ukraine’s eastern frontier with Russia. The wall, he said, would be connected to fortifications along the front line in Donetsk and Lugansk in order to prevent infiltration by “terrorists.”He denied the government was creating a de facto border in doing so. “Territorial integrity matters for every Ukrainian,” he said, though he added it would “take years” to regain full control over Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed last March following a controversial referendum there.
...
Mr. Yatsenyuk, who is somewhere between a partner and a political rival of Mr. Poroshenko, said the next round of political negotiations over the war in eastern Ukraine needs to involve more players.“I’m not happy – neither with [the deal reached in] Minsk, nor the format of talks. I always reiterate that the Americans have to be on board. The U.S., as one of our closest allies – with the support of Canada, [Britain] and other G7 member states – has to play a crucial and important role in these talks. It will make it easier for Germany, France and Ukraine to hammer out the right deal,” he said.
Wider talks seem unlikely, however. Russia has indicated that it sees the United States and Canada as outsiders with no constructive role to play in resolving a European crisis.
Great.
Posted by: somebody | Feb 21 2015 18:33 utc | 58
re brainwashing, implants, etc.
To understanding this subject, consider a human's first 3 years.
Because the intake of data during that period is most difficult to inspect later by the recipient, those years are the source of very deep ideas that later act as automaticities. And can manifest as strange or irrational or illogical behavior or ideas.
Posted by: alice | Feb 21 2015 18:46 utc | 59
This is terrific- just get over your fears and join our suicide mission. We have already destroyed our own country so we have nothing to lose. Straight from the addled brain of Victoria Nuland
"The stakes are really high," Prystaiko says, pointing out that Ukraine has now closed its border crossing with Russia. "We don't want to scare everybody, but we are preparing for full-scale war." What to do in the face of such a threat? For starters, get over your fears, he says. "What we expect from the world is that the world will stiffen up in the spine a little," he says. "Everybody is afraid of fighting with a nuclear state. We are not anymore, in Ukraine — we've lost so many people of ours, we've lost so much of our territory. "However dangerous it sounds, we have to stop [Putin] somehow. For the sake of the Russian nation as well, not just for the Ukrainians and Europe." Prystaiko says Ukrainians are blunt when it comes to what they need. "We would like Canada to send lethal weapons to Ukraine," he said. "Weapons to allow us to defend ourselves."
Posted by: Nana2007 | Feb 21 2015 19:36 utc | 60
@55
If it's part of a weapons system it's a weapon. it's defensive function is to provide warning for incoming rounds but the offensive capability is to provide location for counter battery fire. One would have to know where your batteries are so you don't shoot at your own troops but beyond that you wouldn't know who fired. So even with this a false flag attack is still possible.
http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/wsh2013/216.pdf
Posted by: anon48 | Feb 21 2015 19:38 utc | 61
@ 57 if Russia has captured any foreign merc they are too valuable to kill or just let go. They are tradable for Russians such as Victor Bout who are still in US prisons.
Posted by: Lysander | Feb 21 2015 19:57 utc | 62
Actually, Demian @ 45, Russian Orthodox look at Christianity not from the point of view of Christ, but from the point of view of the good thief on his cross:- "In thy kingdom remember us, O Lord. . ." It is that perspective of humility (which is indeed in complete harmony with Christ's own emptying of his divine nature into human form) which enables Orthodox Christians to empathize with the downtrodden, with captives of any sort, with the sick and the suffering. On the crosses were three prisoners, and Christ allowed himself to be among them. As, we feel, he is among the prisoners of this conflict, be they from the west or from the east.
You are correct; Hegel has overall a very different attitude, as I remember his philosophy. But still, the quotation is very apt. His message about the abyss is a powerful one. It reminds me of the Greek warning about looking directly at the Gorgon. (And sorry, in my post above I misstated; the lady I mentioned is Samantha Powers, not Powell.)
Posted by: juliania | Feb 21 2015 21:30 utc | 63
@57 acrimonious / @62 lysander. i asked that question on a previous thread.. interesting conjecture on both your parts. thanks. one of the videos i watched suggested there were approx 600 polish fighters in the debaltsevo area..
@58 somebody... "Mr. Yatsenyuk" as stooge for the empire speaking in canada's national paper.. i understand why it is nulands man, but i hope the g&m reminded its readers of his pedigree here..
Posted by: james | Feb 21 2015 21:58 utc | 64
The poor bugger still read Marx #28
yes, Georg Lukacs in _the destruction of reason_ foresaw that Pindostani (US) obscurantism would bring us to such a pass, that irrationalism would be held in great esteem, ignorance valorized, and those who sought wisdom would be pitied or held in contempt
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Feb 21 2015 22:37 utc | 65
@juliania #63:
Thanks very much for the correction. As I have noted before, I have a very superficial knowledge of (Russian) Orthodoxy.
Do you know if Wikipedia is any good as a source on Russian Orthodoxy? (I expect at least the Russian Wikipedia must be decent; I don't expect the CIA/State Department would bother to screw that up, the way they do articles about Ukraine.) Or can you name any other good sources? I expect the Moscow Patriarchate has a Web site explaining Orthodoxy, the way ELCA has a Web site explaining Lutheranism.
After Hegel came up with his philosophical system, he projected it onto Christianity. He did that to deflect charges of atheism, but also because it made perfect sense to affirm Christianity from within his system. This is a major difference between German philosophy and Anglophone philosophy.
i really do think that the way the rebels fight is heavily influenced by Orthodoxy, even if not all of them are believers. You hear all the time on the blogosphere people complaining about the rebels letting Ukrainian fighters caught in cauldrons go free if they leave their weapons behind, back home to their families, instead of just killing them all, or at least keeping them as POWs. But the NAF's resources are limited: they can only keep so many prisoners.
i was surprised by #28, and lo #66 appears--someone who claims to be a Hegelian, who tells us that Hegel "projected his philosophical system" onto Christianity "in order to deflect charges of atheism."
Guy Debord tells us that in the Society of the Spectacle everything is permitted and nothing is possible; apparently anyone can say anything about anything, and claim to be an expert
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Feb 21 2015 22:47 utc | 67
@Cu Chulainn # 65:
Georg Lukacs in _the destruction of reason_ foresaw…
Actually, that wasn't hard to foresee at all, since the Anglos rejected reason starting with David Hume.
@Cu Chulanin #67:
Instead of pretending to be clever by making a personal attack on me, why don't you tell us what you think is wrong with my assertion? (You should probably do that in the open thread.)
P.S. to #66:
The Saker has put up a video contrasting the treatment of POWs by the NAF and UAF.
Human beings are great at denial. Like me, most draftees are naïve and avoid the hard decision to leave one’s birthplace and run. Vietnam by the time I got there had been fought over for years. There was no horseplay or bravado. There was respect for Charlie. It all was all a matter of survival; trying to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of the Silent Mutiny there, the USA switched to volunteers and mercenaries to fight its wars. It also consciously decided to screw the lower classes that had provided the draftees. They are no longer needed.
To make money and to have “Others” to fight, the fault lines between Western Christianity and Orthodox Christianity and Islam are being exploited for the Elite’s gain at our expense. In Greece, Italy, Spain or Ireland the shooting hasn’t started yet. Just economic plundering at this point. Sovereign states are using their people’s taxes to pay back bad loans that go to insolvent French and German banks to keep them afloat.
Posted by: VietnamVet | Feb 21 2015 23:20 utc | 70
@Demian
These dufus guys are kids. Dingleberries. Cannon fodder. Your claims of Christian-ness ring hollow when you gloat over their deaths, objectifying them and and talking psychopathically about them being "zombies." It's wrong, Damien.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 22 2015 0:10 utc | 71
Guy Debord tells us that in the Society of the Spectacle everything is permitted and nothing is possible; apparently anyone can say anything about anything, and claim to be an expert
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Feb 21, 2015 5:47:52 PM | 67
Ahh! Thanks for this timely reminder. I hadn't read this since college. It's definitely worth the time for a re-read.
Posted by: Benu | Feb 22 2015 0:46 utc | 72
@Demian #15
That partition map reminds me of the incident where Sikorsky claimed that Putin had proposed partitioning Ukraine. Regaining the westernmost Ukraine is apparently a popular idea in Poland for more more sentimental than rational reasons, but there's a real problem presenting that idea to the world without coming across as expansionist. It looks like Sikorsky floated the idea internationally without accepting responsibility for it.
Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 22 2015 2:26 utc | 73
As I have noted before, I have a very superficial knowledge of (Russian) Orthodoxy.
What ya shoulda said was that, as frequently demonstrated by the many many definitive sounding (but ultimately clueless) statements, on diverse subject matter, you have equally superficial knowledge on almost every subject about which you pontificate
demian, you're an endless source of amusement
Posted by: TLC | Feb 22 2015 3:35 utc | 74
@Thirdeye #73:
You could well be right. Speaking of Sikorski:
Marshal of the Sejm, former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the "Normandy format" is not appropriate for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. …The uppity Pole is unhappy that Germany and France are negotiating with Russia to bring peace to the region, without the US participating in the process to screw everything up."There was a moment when Russia was ready to return to the "Geneva format": Russia, Ukraine, the USA and the EU. Why this did not happen? I think it was a mistake of the Ukrainian party," Sikorski said.
According to him, "Geneva format" is more appropriate for solving the Ukrainian crisis. And in the "Normandy format" peace initiatives are actively promoted by Germany and France.
02/21/2015-23:09
Eduard Basurin, deputy of Commander in Chief of Donetsk Republic corps of Defense Ministry announced during a briefing that military activities had stopped along entire line of engagement. Registered were merely local provocations by the Ukrainian National Guard.
“It has been noted a tendency of subsiding activity of Ukrainian forces. The offensive operations have stopped. Those registered were individual strikes at our positions.
Provocative strikes were only observed in areas, where so called volunteer battalions of National Guard are stationed”, commented Basurin.
The deputy of Commander in Chief of Donetsk Republic corps of Ministry of Defense added that hard drinking and lack of leadership plague the National Guard.
Posted by: Fete | Feb 22 2015 4:13 utc | 76
By the way, I see no difference morally between slaughtering unarmed civilians in Vietnam or slaughtering them in Boston. I have sympathy for all of the average people who were drawn into this USNATO created maelstrom. For banderistas and junta members I have no sympathy.
Hear hear. To all of it.
Guy Debord tells us that in the Society of the Spectacle everything is permitted and nothing is possible; apparently anyone can say anything about anything, and claim to be an expert
Well, that pretty much sums up the internet. Of course, he forgot the part where everything you've ever said get stored in some giant database for when Phoenix Program 2.0 needs some fodder for the kill matrices.
Posted by: guest77 | Feb 22 2015 4:43 utc | 77
now for a big surprise...guess who orchestrated the coup in Ukraine....youll never guess!
'The script of a coup d’etat that occurred a year ago in Ukraine had not been written by oppositionists in Kiev but was in the US embassy, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said on the NTV television channel.
"The script was not written in Kiev. It was in the US embassy," Azarov said. "And the key puppet masters were not on Maidan [Independence Square in Kiev - the symbol of Ukrainian protests]. These dummies did not really manage anything and did not influence anything."'
etc
http://tass.ru/en/world/779095
Posted by: brian | Feb 22 2015 6:55 utc | 78
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Feb 21, 2015 5:37:18 PM | 65
greeks not withstanding, Reason and Wisdom are two different things
Posted by: brian | Feb 22 2015 6:58 utc | 79
In January 2015 a German poll fully validated Crimea's referendum to re-join Russia http://orientalreview.org/2015/02/10/german-sociologists-on-crimeas-choice/ … #Ukraine
Posted by: brian | Feb 22 2015 8:33 utc | 80
Brian @ 80:
A useful rundown of Crimea's troubled history in Ukraine since 91:
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2015/02/a-not-so-brief-history-of-crimea.html
Posted by: Oddlots | Feb 23 2015 0:22 utc | 81
Demian @66
Coincidentally, I have just today finished a long read of an article written in 1933 by Fr. Georges Florovsky entitled "The Limits of the Church" which opened up a pandora's box of possible links - the article can be found at
http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2012/…
It mightn't be exactly what you are looking for, but Father Florovsky's theological writings in general most resonate with me, and I was very interested to read of his admiration for St. Augustine.
The comments on the article were very helpful also.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 23 2015 3:29 utc | 82
Sorry on 82 - that seems to have been an error linkage. I will try again:
That looks better.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 23 2015 3:39 utc | 83
02/22/2015-14:03
Commander of unit “Varyag” (“Varangian”) Alelksandr Matyushin summarized situation for agency news-front.info:
Cities Gorlovka, Makeevka and capital of Donetsk Republic Donetsk were subjected to shelling by the punitive troops.
They fire from Avdeevka.
Subversion-reconnaissance groups of the opponent were working in Donetsk again. Strikes at residential districts of city Donetsk were heard periodically.
The combatants routinely continue mopping up of Ukrainian occupants in Debal`tsevo area, where some punitive troops are still hiding.
This sector is confidently controlled by the army of Novorossia. Yesterday, a humanitarian aid from Russia arrived to Debal`tsevo.
Posted by: Fete | Feb 23 2015 3:46 utc | 84
@juliania:
Thanks much. That looks like just the ticket for getting a feel for Russian theological thinking. I would hear the name of Alexander Schmemann when I was a boy, but unless I'm mistaken, I ran across some quotes which show him to have been a clear Russophobe, so as far as I'm concerned, he can be safely ignored.
@Oddlots:
Thanks for that. It looks very helpful. I had not heard of this person. Wikipedia describes him as a "Burkean conservative". So it makes sense that this Englishman would break with the vast majority of his people, especially elites, and be sympathetic to Russia.
I always suspected that Lech Walesa is a Nazi:
Former Polish President: 'We Can Quickly Win against Putin'
Like most Russia haters, Walesa envisions Putin being overturned by oligarchs.
Another brave woman who stands up against senseless killing is oppressed by the fascist junta:
#Ukraine MP facing 8 years in jail for giving anti-war speech: http://t.co/SkduFPZ2vF pic.twitter.com/LDb1v5u4kM
— Robin Monotti Arch. (@robinmonotti) February 21, 2015
By unremittingly supporting a regime that is openly and unapologetically Nazi, NATO has shown itself to be nothing more than a militantly Nazi organization. And unfortunately, I don't see how one can avoid concluding from that that all states which do not leave NATO have Nazi governments.
I watched a video of this woman (French subs). She is remarkably articulate and well spoken. I could understand every single word, something which is rarely the case with the rebels, because virtually all of them mumble. No wonder the junta wants to put her away.
Where are Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch?
Ah, here's the video the junta is going after her for:
Do Ukrainians Want War? Deputy Dnipropetrovsk city council Victoria Shilova says – NO! – ENG SUBS
I have never heard a better orator. ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH. She explains how Ukraine has become totalitarian and its constitution is being brazenly violated by the junta.
She is young and pretty, so just the type that Nick Kristof adopts as his one of his causes. And she self-identifies as Ukrainian, and Kristof has written columns extolling the Ukrainian people. So why has he not come to her defense? Oh, wait… She is a self-empowered. young woman. Kristof would be totally intimidated by her.
If you want to see the full documents I've posted a link to the Cyber Berkut webpage: http://www.cyber-berkut.org/en/
It's interesting that they published these documents on the 25th November after hacking the smartphone of one of Joe Biden's assistants. Now, three months later we have official confirmation that Joe Biden brought these radars in with him and even that the one captured in Debaltsevo is the same serial number as listed in the document. What's even more interesting is the other weapons shipments listed in the documents, which disproves US Government claims that they're only delivering "non-lethal" aid to pro-US militias. The other documents list 2,000 assault rifles, 400 sniper rifles, 720 grenade launchers, 200 mortars with 70,000 shells, 150 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 420 anti-tank missiles. I don't think that can be considered "non-lethal" aid. There is also a list of Scuba gear for 150 combat divers for the "Ukrainian Navy". So if there are sabotage attacks by "unknown people" in Crimea then you know who's responsible.
The documents listing the "Ukrainian Army" expenses are signed off by a woman named Cynthia Matuskevich, on behalf of the US Embassy in Kiev. A quick internet search reveals that she is a US Army Colonel who from 2011-2013 was "Chief of Defence Cooperation" in the US Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. So it certainly seems plausible that she would now be performing a similar role in the US Embassy in Kiev. Her LinkedIn page says that she has "Over 20 years experience as a U.S. Army officer specializing in foreign affairs with services as chief of defense cooperation, political-military advisor, intelligence analyst and non-proliferation operations officer". Apparently non-proliferation means supplying US client states with massive amounts of weapons!
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/cynthia-matuskevich/26/3a6/478
http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/40960/defence-minister-awarded-chief-of-defence-cooperation-of-the-us-embassy-in-lithuania-201340960/
Posted by: Alieu | Feb 23 2015 9:26 utc | 88
Also wanted to post a link to this video: Link to video - showing American-made M4 assault rifles along with NATO ammunition captured in Donetsk Airport about a month ago. The M4 is the standard rifle in the US Military, and has never been used by the Ukrainian Army. It uses NATO standard 5.56mm ammunition which is incompatible with the Soviet weapons used by Ukraine.
The Kazzura channel is an excellent source for videos about the war in Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG2L5r9T5iYCH0Mmgq85jNQ
Posted by: Alieu | Feb 23 2015 9:48 utc | 89
#87 thank you Demian
Victoria Shilova, what a beautiful woman, surrounded by ugliness
Posted by: Cu Chulainn | Feb 23 2015 10:19 utc | 90
02/23/2015-23:09
"America has already begun large-scale shipments of ammo and weapons. No one in Ukraine means to make peace”, asserted Aleksandr Zakharchenko.
“By very method and effort they are upsetting the arrangements reached in Minsk”, added the leader of Donetsk Republic.
“Statements from Pyotr Poroshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk make impression that Ukraine is in no need for peace. Let alone shelling, which continue nonstop. 21 such incident happened just today”, said Zakharchenko.
“We are pulling hardware back. Ukraine, in contrary, arranges its delivery from Khar`kov and Dnepropetrovsk. To me, it is like going to be a provocation. Ukraine will go offensive by the end of March – beginning of April”, said Zakharchenko.
02/23/2015-22:10
Combatants of Donetsk Republic army secured settlements Pavlopol` and Pischevik, which are on south front near Mariupol`.
They were a neutral zone. Then, fighters of regiment “Azov”, exploiting the situation in Debal`tsevo, took over the settlements and raised flags.
The Ukrainian media reported a major victory, but following a counterattack by the army of Novorossia, the nazis had run away.
Posted by: Fete | Feb 24 2015 4:37 utc | 91
Well the manufacturers still got paid for the three of them, that's 300 000 or so 'Gs',thanks crazy uncle Joe.
Meanwhile the Russians after inspection the Russians are thinking what's this useless shit doing here, anti mortar tools - hell, just send up some big arse Hind Russian choppers and have a look where it's coming from!
Posted by: bob | Mar 14 2015 2:41 utc | 93
The comments to this entry are closed.
lol.. looking forward to the exceptional nations response if they offer to provide one..
Posted by: james | Feb 20 2015 20:37 utc | 1