@ circumspect 290
What is a false [chemical] flag going to accomplish? Is it even possible to have any more bad press?
Yes. Dropping bombs and firing artillery at civilians is allowed but chemical attacks are ungentlemanly. It’s the false charge that Syria’s president Assad is most remembered by, for example.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 16 2022 3:12 utc | 303

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 16 2022 3:05 utc | 291
I always gave Lang credit for knowing more about the Middle East than most, among other things he was knowledgeable about. But generally speaking, he was always an asshole you had to tiptoe around. He threatened to ban me because my user name was too long, for Christ’s sakes. Just a straight up asshole ruling his little blog like it was Monaco. Martyanov has a big ego, too, but he doesn’t ban people unless they are clearly straight up trolls. He will give a tongue-lashing, though.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 16 2022 3:16 utc | 305

When the Coalition was amassing forces in the ME prior to the first Iraq war invasion, I wondered why Saddam did not attack these beach fronts and congregation areas.
Why did he waste time observing his enemies gatherings without doing anything? He must have interpreted these gatherings as a show devoid of real bellicose intentions. What with Ambassador April Glaspie’s kind words regarding his legitimate his ambitions re Kuwait?
Likewise, all these convoys along Europe should not be allowed to reach a point of congregation close to Russian territory or Russian losses will be unacceptable.
A few nukes here and there would certainly sober the most bellicose.

Posted by: CarlD | Mar 16 2022 3:25 utc | 307

Don Bacon | Mar 16 2022 3:05 utc | 291
that term – hawks and doves – the Vietnamese waving goodbye as the yanks clung to helicopters flying of the embassy – I’m not sure they could be called doves.
‘Hawks’ is a bullshit term. A far more apt term is predator. They are generally shot or put in zoos. Unless there is some wide open spaces for them to roam in like Siberia.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 16 2022 3:37 utc | 309

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 16 2022 3:12 utc | 293
“Dropping bombs and firing artillery at civilians is allowed but chemical attacks are ungentlemanly.”
And if you are a real bastard you drop barrel bombs…

Posted by: ted001 | Mar 16 2022 3:39 utc | 311

Russians accused of using white phosphorus ammunition

Posted by: Railroad | Mar 16 2022 3:45 utc | 313

@ Peter AU1 299
‘Hawks’ is a bullshit term. A far more apt term is predator. They are generally shot or put in zoos. Unless there is some wide open spaces for them to roam in like Siberia.
Peter, I have a bird-feeding ground on my property. Feeding those little guys isn’t cheap but I don’t have a TV and I enjoy watching them. There’s a big guy who comes around occasionally, a Cooper’s hawk. He grabbed himself a small House Finch on his last visit. Had it in his claws, on the ground, looking around heroically before he took off with it. . . .I do see a resemblance with some humans.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 16 2022 3:50 utc | 315

The USA is an EMPIRE. Putting the word “EVIL” in front of the word “EMPIRE” is unnecessary as all empires of the past have been evil, all current empires are evil (including small ones like Israel) and all future empires will be evil. All empires are run for the benefit of their ruling classes the kleptoplutocratic oligarchs who own their government officials. The US is no exception, yes it has elections but since all candidates are bought and paid for by the overclass which party wins makes little difference.
The US is an empire in the process of falling, it is where the Soviet Union was in the mid eighties, it may collapse tomorrow or bumble on for another 40 years but I doubt that it still has the power it thinks that it has to rein in Russia and certainly not to contain the rising Chinese empire which may already have the right to claim the title of “SUPERPOWER”. PR China has a population of 1.4 billion the US a mere 300 million so certainly the US will be unable to match China within 10 years.
One empire rising, another falling, a world spanning war is inevitable. I advise everyone to get hold of some long lasting fast acting poison to use to prevent a painful death from famine or radiation induced cancer as NUKES WILL BE USED to a level that will result in total extermination of all higher vertebrates as too few a proportion will be able to survive to breeding age. The future belongs to mice, rats, tiny fish and invertebrates.

Posted by: Carlyle Moulton | Mar 16 2022 3:56 utc | 317

Carlyle Moulton | Mar 16 2022 3:56 utc | 307

The future belongs to mice, rats, tiny fish and invertebrates.

Maybe that’s why our elites and political class are being so belligerent. As puppets, like Gonzalo Lira says, they are invertebrates, and so figure they will survive.

Posted by: Kukulkan | Mar 16 2022 4:03 utc | 319

Mintpress News interview with David Lancaster and video from Donesk bombing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz4R0ns6F9k
sorry if this is already posted.

Posted by: ld | Mar 16 2022 4:23 utc | 321

See a bit in the change of narrative now; ‘room for compromise’ Ukraine never to join NATO.
have we stepped back from the brink?

Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 16 2022 4:29 utc | 323

@ c1ue | Mar 15 2022 18:37 utc | 124

Let’s cut to the chase: you assert that the oligarchy is getting its way.
Is this way the incompetence we see?
That’s the core of the difference between what Lira and I are saying and what I – possibly erroneously – understood you to say.

Again: the Oligarchs are competently and effectively executing their plans. &They are getting what they want. They are succeeding, and are satisfied with what is happening. They don’t care what happens to the rest of us, so long as they increase their power at our expense.
So there is no “incompetence,” only greed. There is a “master o er all,” and it’s a very small, exclusive committee that runs the CFR, “advises” the CIA, and keeps the highest, most wealthy echelons of the US leisure class in line via an expropriated (I.e.: corporately controlled) mass media, “academic” institutions, and a vast array of think tanks and astroturci.g initiatives.
What is happening will not hurt them in the near to mid~term.

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Mar 16 2022 5:05 utc | 325

* master over all
* astroturfing

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Mar 16 2022 5:16 utc | 327

@Oriental Voice
one could say as you do that the masses want to watch all this anti Russian disinformation, but I would emphasize instead (as the Frankfurt School reminds us) that the Culture Industry does not simply serve preexisting desires but also creates desires and conditions new needs.
you point to a racial component (or we might say a racist conditioning). I would agree if we are talking about anti china propaganda but in the case of Russians, the more nuanced view is Saker’s term Snow Niggers. yes they are white… but not the right white…
in any case, I would emphasize instead that the greater need is to bolster their sense of Exceptionalism, which the Europeans also participate in with their vomit about “values”. there is a racist and religious aspect to that, but Exceptionalism is psychically more powerful and more essential to imperialism. imperialism can turn away from overt racism and be woke and colorful but the core is still the sense of Exceptionalism. that is part not top-down propaganda but the foundational belief system.
that is why talking about neo Nazis among the Ukrainian military and ruling establishment just meets with cognitive dissonance. WE are the good guys, we defeated the nazis. that neo Nazis story does not fit with the Hollywood scripts and our Hollywood history — the Culture Industry.

Posted by: mastameta | Mar 16 2022 5:32 utc | 329

Regarding the interview with Col. Doug Macgregor by Max Blumenthal; I’m with Aaron Mate on his reservations vis a vis Macgregor. Don’t get me wrong, this discussion was so complete, so factual, that someone should email it to Biden as proof that Putin was not only justified in entering Ukraine militarily, but was provoked and given no alternative, although he previously attempted to use the diplomatic route, and maybe even exhausted that means. None of this discussion can be ignored or overstated since it represents all the reason necessary to end this stalemate of pure madness.
There is however one factor missing from the equation. When Putin went into Syria, his main reasons were to prevent another Libya with regime decapitation, and to secure Russia’s interests in Tartus, with the terrorist/ISIS angle giving him cover and complete legitimacy and protection for Russia from direct confrontation with the U.S. I’ll even add that his military operation in Syria was a kind of vindication for having been played by USNATO on Libya.
This Ukraine operation is very different and much more personal. The U.S. was taking Ukraine in a direction that posed at most an existential threat to Russia and would definitely lead to the destruction of the legacy for Russia that Putin created to secure it from foreign intervention.
Now some may say that the consequences of facing down USNATO by taking on Ukraine militarily will lead to the same destructive end the Empire intends, as we are already witnessing with the U.S. trying to destroy both Russia and Putin by means of the toughest sanctions ever imposed together with a propaganda campaign against Russia like we have never witnessed in our lifetime.
So the missing link in all this lies with what drove Putin to risk so much knowing that the outcome could be disastrous, not only for Russia and Ukraine, but could result in nuclear war with catastrophic consequences. What an unimaginable burden he took on and is carrying at this time!
Is he a man ready to burn the house down with him in it? This is not in his nature.
No doubt before this military undertaking Putin thought: I’m damned if I do this, and damned if I don’t.
Exactly what pushed Putin to take on this staggering challenge and risk of his life at this time?
I’ll leave the answer to unravel itself and return to what the Empire/USNATO is doing. The Empire is using the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder to destroy Putin and by extension, Russia, arming them to the gills to escalate and protract their suffering with a war that there is no chance in hell they can win without USNATO involvement. That’s how much the U.S. values Ukrainians!
And for what?! Because the U.S. refuses to acknowledge the reality of the following facts on the ground:
-that there are many people in Eastern Ukraine who never accepted the Maidan Coup; want no part of that imposed government, and who want their independence from Ukraine so much, they’re dying for it;
-that the people of Crimea want and voted to be part of Russia on land that historically belonged to Russia and finally,
-that the Russian people do not want NATO on their borders and refuse to be bullied by USNATO’s military and economic tyranny.
These are the undeniable facts on the ground that the U.S. refuses to accept because U.S. domination supercedes the terrible misery it is causing to Ukraine and Russia.

Posted by: Circe | Mar 16 2022 5:50 utc | 331

mastameta | Mar 16 2022 5:32 utc | 319

you point to a racial component (or we might say a racist conditioning). I would agree if we are talking about anti china propaganda but in the case of Russians, the more nuanced view is Saker’s term Snow Niggers. yes they are white… but not the right white…

We don’t need to adopt a more nuanced view. The attitude is explicitly based on Nazi Racial Theory, which drew on the work of racial theorist Hans F. K. Günther.

Günther divided the European populations into six races, the “Nordic” (“Nordische”), “Phalic” or “Phalian” (“Fälische”), “Eastern” (“Ostische”), “Western” (“Westische”), “Dinaric” (“Dinarische”) and “East Baltic” (“Ostbaltische”) race. “Western” and “Eastern” were, in practice, alternatives for the more widely used terms “Mediterranean” and “Alpine”. The “Phalic” race was a minor category regarded as a sub-type of the Nordic race, and was dropped in many of his writings.[8]
[…]
Günther believed Slavic people to be of an “Eastern race” separate from Germany and Nordics and warned about mixing “German blood” with Slavic one.

So, Slavs are a different race, separate from the European races. Straightforward racism.

that is why talking about neo Nazis among the Ukrainian military and ruling establishment just meets with cognitive dissonance. WE are the good guys, we defeated the nazis. that neo Nazis story does not fit with the Hollywood scripts and our Hollywood history — the Culture Industry.

Well, if we’re going to invoke the Frankfurt School, we might as well as just as well skip their meanderings and go straight to Freud. The support for the Ukrainian Nazis is the return of the repressed. Many in the West have been conditioned to hide their inherent Nazism because publicly expressing it earns social opprobrium, but are now presented with a situation in which it is not condemned, but praised, so you get a massive eruption of a previously hidden sentiment.

Posted by: Kukulkan | Mar 16 2022 6:06 utc | 333

Upon what timeframe do folks think the Ukrainian army will be surrounded and forced to surrender?
Posted by: Julian | Mar 16 2022 1:25 utc | 259
Two possible catalysts leading to UAF collapse and negotiated settlement are presented. These are based on scraps collected from Telegram accounts particularly that of Colonel Cassad who reports RF MoD statements of positions occupied.
1) After a pause the RF appears to have made a series of breakthroughs. The first is from the south into the area of Stepove, Novomykolaivka, Vorone. In the north the RF appears to be south of the Izyum, Sviatohirsk area. The distance between the north and south positions is 90 miles.
If the RF has achieved a breakthrough, and if they are well equipped and iffuelled, then they should be able to make 20 miles a day and close the kessel in four to five days.
In addition, the DPR militia forces appear to have punched west through the UAF LOC and reached the area of Kurakhove.
It is reported the UAF suffers from mobility problems due to a lack of fuel and a loss of transport due to air attack. The UAF has been reported to be seizing civilian transport. They are also likely to be low on small arms ammunition and other supplies.
If the UAF should abandon its bunker system along the LOC in order to avoid encirclement then they leave themselves vulnerable to air attack. The UAF would likely seek refuge in Dnipro but that city is about 170 miles from the LOC bunker positions and any UAF retreat would be subject to attack on its flanks by the RF forces to the south, by RF air interdiction, and by the forces of the DPR militia following the UAF in its westward move.
The UAF forces on the LOC are reported to number 60,000 and be the best equipped and trained UAF troops in the field. A comparable operation would be the 1944 Allied closure of the Falaise pocket which destroyed German Army Group B and resulted in German losses of an estimated 60,000 killed and captured.
The loss of this fighting capacity would make it obvious to all parties that Zelensky has nothing left apart from his lies, and his comedic routines. The question then becomes “Who controls Zelensky?” The two possibilities are the US and the Azov fascists.
2) The second possibility comes with the fall of Mariupol. This city is reported to hold the bulk of the Azov forces. The capture of these troops might result in other UAF forces realizing their cause is lost. The Azov is reported to provide “commissars” to stiffen the moral fibre of UAF conscripts. If Azov controls Zelensky this loss of its “heartland” may reduce Azov control of the state apparatus.
At this point I think it unlikely NATO or any other state will seek to intervene. If they were to make the attempt they invite RF attack; RF missiles have a long reach. NATO air involvement would face the RF layered air defence. All prior US air superiority was obtained against states which lacked any degree of sophisticated AA capabilities. Would the NATO nations accept significant loss of pilots and aircraft for the glory of Ukraine? How would they respond if RF missiles destroyed Ramstein or Lakenheath? How would they explain this loss to their electorates? Would the US tolerate the shoot down of an F-35 and the recovery of the wreckage by the RF? I think not.
Would NATO intervention change the facts on the ground? I do not think so. Operating under their defensive AA umbrella the RF have the ability to annihilate the 60,000 strong UAF force escaping from the LOC. Does NATO have the land forces necessary to intervene? No. There is no sign of NATO accessing any pre-positioned stocks. It took almost four months for the US to position forces for Desert Storm. I think the end game in Ukraine will be evident within a week.

Posted by: Sushi | Mar 16 2022 6:12 utc | 335

@ mastameta | Mar 16 2022 6:06 utc | 324 with the response to my rant about zombie American web sites
Thanks. Yeah I keep going back and skimming the headlines/stories but it is has become so shrill it is hard to ignore. I suppose I should be happy that it squeals of desperation but who like to hear nails across a blackboard?
@ Sushi | Mar 16 2022 6:12 utc | 325 with the Ukraine updates …thanks for your efforts
It is nice to read a continuation of progress across all fronts and that a culmination would occur within a week. I agree with the fear expressed that if this becomes viewed as a protracted effort, it will lose “support”.
You didn’t rise to the false flag scenario bait and I will take that as a vote for it being less likely

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 16 2022 6:32 utc | 337

psychohistorian | Mar 16 2022 2:02 utc | 272
re unregulated derivatives…I recall about 1988 Brooksley Born was tossed from her .gov oversight position after doing her job by warning that unregulated derivatives must be regulated to avoid massive risk failures. Greenspan, Rubin et al had overruled and driven her out.
Hat tip to Brooksley for her prescience.

Posted by: chu teh | Mar 16 2022 6:59 utc | 339

Posted by: Circe | Mar 16 2022 5:50 utc | 321
“Now some may say that the consequences of facing down USNATO by taking on Ukraine militarily will lead to the same destructive end the Empire intends”
“Some may say” doesn’t necessarily add up to “it will”. Turn it around. What happens when Russia takes Ukraine, reorients its government to be pro-Russian, the sanctions cause a certain amount of pain to the Russian economy, but in 2-3-5 years that’s over with and Russia with China are sitting pretty and the US is in a Depression (which we were headed for anyway, according to a lot of people)?
“Exactly what pushed Putin to take on this staggering challenge and risk of his life at this time?”
Would you believe careful assessment? Would you believe consultations with all the experts in his administration (and possibly outside his administration)? Because that’s what he undoubtedly did. You’re falling for the same mistake that Scott Ritter keeps pointing out: It’s NOT Putin! It’s RUSSIA! Russia made the decision to do this. Which is why his approval rating is up to 74% or more. Putin got input from his economists and his military that Russia can survive this and come out the other side better off than it is now. Now is NATO on Russia’s backside and the EU hates Russia. Later is NATO off Russia’s backside, NATO countered with strategic missiles in Ukraine and Belarus, and Russia and China and the entire Central and Eastern Asian economy eclipsing the EU and the US.
Now could this all go wrong? Of course. Nothing is certain. But this move has undoubtedly been in the planning, in concert with China, for probably years. Had NATO backed down, maybe Ukraine wouldn’t have happened. But that’s something Putin and his team also knew – NATO wouldn’t back down because the US has an agenda, which Russia knew controls NATO and the EU. So Russia decided to sacrifice the EU market for the eastern market. It’s that simple.
Read what everyone else here and elsewhere is saying: This is the Great Schism between East and West. It’s way more than Ukraine and NATO. The Ukraine war is just the first step.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 16 2022 7:11 utc | 341

the more things change, the more they stay the same?
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge, they’re the chosen whites
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you’re under control
And now you do what they told ya
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me
Motherfucker!
Ugh!
-Zack de la Rocha

Posted by: Rae | Mar 16 2022 7:25 utc | 343

Then everybody came running
Everybody said, “Lord! Lord!”
Everybody was gunning
They’re gonna divvy up the reward …
UK Security Services to Look for Alleged Putin’s Assets in London – Reports – 16.03.2022, Sputnik International https://sputniknews.com/20220316/uk-security-services-to-look-for-alleged-putins-assets-in-london—reports-1093916434.html

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 16 2022 7:30 utc | 345

NATO was planning to start a nuclear war, says ex-Ukrainian PM
09:29 04.03.2022 (Updated: 10:11 04.03.2022 )
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov spoke of NATO’s plans to start a Third World War, the key role of which was destined for kyiv. The Russian operation in Ukraine has saved thousands of lives, underlines the politician.
NATO was planning to start World War III by using nuclear weapons against Russia, a former Ukrainian prime minister has said.
As Mykola Azarov, Prime Minister of the country from 2010 to 2014, specified on Facebook on March 4, “the key role [in these activities] has been given to the current ruling group in Ukraine, under American control, and to the nationalists “.
“In order to prevent a Third World War and an attack on Russia with the use of nuclear weapons, the Russian government has taken the decision to bring order to Ukraine,” he said. And to add that “since December 2021 Russia has been obtaining data on NATO’s plans to deploy four military brigades on Ukrainian territory (two on the ground, one at sea and one in the air).
“What’s more, the air brigade has the capacity to carry nuclear warheads. NATO wanted to agree on this deployment of troops during the meeting of the UN Security Council in the summer of 2022. Then, very probably towards the end of this year they would have provoked a conflict and started large-scale military actions against Russia with the use of nuclear weapons,” Mykola Azarov said.

Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 16 2022 7:36 utc | 347

Re: Posted by: Sushi | Mar 16 2022 6:12 utc | 325
Thanks Sushi, very comprehensive. Certainly once the threat from 60,000 Ukrainian army folk in the Donbas is eliminated surely they will have to surrender at that point, or soon after?
The destruction of Azov is also an important part of this. Perhaps Zelensky is even hoping for that to happen as he might then gain greater freedom of “movement”.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 16 2022 7:43 utc | 349

Re: Posted by: imo | Mar 16 2022 7:21 utc | 332

I’d put a dollar on the scenario that Trump is president by Xmas. Appointed as Speaker of the Republican-rout House and two impeachments (of Biden & Bimbo) and “Bingo!” — job done. The question would be: could he run for the 2024 as a 2nd term? Or would it be a 3rd term? If the latter, then perhaps there is a sit-in temp option?

The new House won’t be seated until January 2023.
So the earliest Trump could be Speaker would be early 2023 and then it would presumably take 2-3 months (at best) for Biden & Harris to be impeached and removed.
Trump can run for a third term in 2024 – no problems.
Frankly, it’s unlikely, but not impossible if Biden & Harris continue bumbling along for the next 12 months.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 16 2022 7:52 utc | 351

Re EU leadership,
These are unelected appointed representatives of their respective countries. They are not representing the people in any way other than indirectly. They are extremely well paid far in excess of norms in the EU receiving 110,000 Euros a year as of 2021. Most also get second salaries from either the USA directly or indirectly through Soros. This is not illegal for than but it brings into question just who exactly they are representing.
Within the Eu which is supposed to be really a trade organization, there is a vast difference between Eastern or Southern EU members and the richer Northern EU members. For example here in Hungary, we cannot export many goods into the EU but we are forced to accept Northern European goods. Hungary being GMO-free and agriculture subsidized by the government cannot trade so they go to other markets in particular Russia. However, many companies set up factories in Hungary to take advantage of the extremely low labor costs. There is no concept of an EU minimum wage which is the root cause of workers from places like Hungary seeking higher-paying jobs in richer countries. This was the impetus for Brexit as there were so many eastern Europeans working there at drastically lower wages than the Brits. Then you have the issues of sovereign status (what we might see as State’s Rights in the US) and resistance to accept neo-liberal social norms. When a country resists the US creates a scandal to remove the leadership or interferes in the elections resulting in the same thing. All that is left now is Poland and Hungary. We have an election in 2 weeks and the US is flooding Hungary with massive amounts of advertising for their puppet Marki-Zay. However, yesterday we had a holiday (1848 Revolution) and massive crowds in excess of 100,000 people assembled in support of the current government, and the opposition rally had roughly 10,000 in attendance. Hungarians lie brazenly on any polls so these are completely unreliable. But, it looks like Fidez (Orban’s Party) will win comfortably. What the US will do after that is anyone’s guess but a dying empire is extremely dangerous.

Posted by: Old Microbiologist | Mar 16 2022 7:59 utc | 353

Re: Posted by: HZ | Mar 16 2022 7:43 utc | 340
Yep. If these speculations are true it makes sense. Also the suggestion that Ukraine was about to attack the DPR & LPR in early March. March 8 I believe.
From the Russian perspective I had thought that the time to move would be 2023-24.
Why?
Because it definitely had to be during the Biden-Harris Presidency – so sometime in 2022-23-24.
Why 2023-24?
A few reasons.
1) Republicans are likely to win control of Congress at the 2022 Mid-Terms and in 2023-24 Biden would be mired in chaos and likely being impeached. Perhaps Harris too.
A disorganized US with a split Congress and a President & Vice-President being impeached? Seems the perfect time to move so either 2023-24.
2) Germany will be (or would have been) even more dependent on Russia in 2023/24 than it is now as it is set to close it’s three final nuclear reactors at the end of 2022.
3) Elections. Orban re-elected, at present he is being careful and doesn’t want to rock the applecart. In France – perhaps Macron loses? Who knows. It is unlikely and I rate the chance Macron loses at about 1-2%. But, it is possible. Trump was given a 1-2% chance of winning in 2016.
So those were the 3 reasons. If the West/NATO/Ukraine were planning an imminent attack on Donbas/Russia though that completely changes everything – perhaps that attack was planned for 2022 precisely because they could see these unfavorable conditions coming in 2023/24.
Perhaps they are connected. Who knows.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 16 2022 8:13 utc | 355

China choose its side as the US threatening in Rome to isolate it even more than Russia. No chance to fool China, says Global Times:
„ US Air Force General Kenneth Wilsbach blatantly threatened to teach China a lesson from the Ukraine situation, which could be applied to the Taiwan question. Such conceit was defied by the first direct high-level engagement between Chinese and US officials over the situation in Ukraine on which Washington had tried to misguide Beijing to serve its own interests, although failing to do so as the Chinese side stressed its consistent stance on the issue and urged the US side to correct its wrong words and deeds. US Air Force General Kenneth Wilsbach blatantly threatened to teach China a lesson from the Ukraine situation, which could be applied to the Taiwan question. Such conceit was defied by the first direct high-level engagement between Chinese and US officials over the situation in Ukraine on which Washington had tried to misguide Beijing to serve its own interests, although failing to do so as the Chinese side stressed its consistent stance on the issue and urged the US side to correct its wrong words and deeds.“

Posted by: njet | Mar 16 2022 8:26 utc | 357

Top 5 most agricultural regions of Ukraine https://bakertilly.ua/en/news/id41660
Ukraine productively incorporated into the Eurasian Economic Polity would certainly be a game changer.

Posted by: Laurence | Mar 16 2022 8:36 utc | 359

I think that very often central coordination is perceived where people just do similar things because they think the same. Hence B. his examples of china articles “the dark side of”, “the dirty hidden secret” do not require much centralized coordination or even no plan at all, once there is consensus that China has a bad reputation everyone comes up with the same articles spontaneously.
Likewise the claim “Russian (bio)Chemical Attack” will instantly catch on and lead to massive parallel messaging, which will similarly be perceived as well planned and coordinated. It is possible that there was such a plan to start with but I find it hard to conclude this. However.
– the claim may start as an improvisation but quickly turn into an actual plan
– the claim will certainly inspire people in Ukraine to try and make a chemical attack happen.
– a very serious question is what have the nato players, specifically UK/US been planning for?
– To make the ascension of Ukraine into nato so fast that the window for Russia to respond is passed and they have to accept it?
-Did they plan for the war to happen and since military dominance is so clear, what will happen now?
– Let the war drag on into insurgency, while the regular army has been defeated?
– Split up Ukraine into a NATO and a non -NATO part? I imagine a chemical attack could play into that. “forced to at least protect part of ukraine”
– Sacrifice Ukraine just to weaken Russia and make Europe fully subservient?

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Mar 16 2022 8:47 utc | 361

Posted by: Julian | Mar 16 2022 8:15 utc | 346
“Surely you can appreciate there is no possibility of having NATO related military exercises in Ukraine now or anytime this year?!?!?”
Yes, of course, but what I’m interested in is where all the information on them has disappeared to. They completely swept all that off into the bit bucket except for a couple mentions on Ukrainian government Web sites late last year. That’s why I think there was something being planned around those exercises. I thought that the minute I heard about them last year – that they might have been intended to be in progress to cover a Ukrainian attack on Donbass this year, or even participate in such an attack. Now it’s like they never existed.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 16 2022 8:57 utc | 363

I think that Russia will be forced to involve themselves in the Ukraine for many years. What I wonder about is whether the west will sanction Ukraine and commit agricultural suicide by cutting themselves off all those grain exports (which will happily go to China). The WWest already want to cut themselves off from oil and gas, and they are stupid enough to go for the food as well.

Posted by: Kaiama | Mar 16 2022 8:59 utc | 365

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Mar 16 2022 8:47 utc | 351
“Let the war drag on into insurgency, while the regular army has been defeated?”
Probably. Won’t work.
“Split up Ukraine into a NATO and a non -NATO part? I imagine a chemical attack could play into that. “forced to at least protect part of ukraine””
Probably. This is why I think Russia will go all the way to the Polish border. They don’t need this crap. Everyone assumes, even Colonel Macgregor, that Russia doesn’t want to go past the Dneiper. I disagree. I think Putin and his team have decided to solve the Ukraine issue completely – and that’s going to require going all in.
“Sacrifice Ukraine just to weaken Russia and make Europe fully subservient?”
Of course. That’s the plan. Which is why the US isn’t negotiating.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 16 2022 9:05 utc | 367

@Richard Steven Hack , 357, noted.
Then, what was this guys plan: get into NATO so fast that it is too late for Russia to react, or get into NATO after Russia reacts?
https://twitter.com/SDyorin/status/1503626407309713411

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Mar 16 2022 9:21 utc | 369

What Lira revealed about himself.
He is from Chile. He graduated from Dartmouth (Ivy League). Hence his excellent American English.
His wife is Ukrainian. He has 2 kids, 7 and 9 year old. He mentioned riding a motorcycle from Amsterdam to Kharkov 2 years ago, seemingly visiting Ukraine for the first time. Not sure how this squares with his Ukrainian children. He mentioned that his wife and children were in Kharkov ,then that they were safe.
Maybe he met his wife in the West and eventually went to Ukraine to do some business. Hard to believe that he didn’t learn any Ukrainian or Russian, but he keeps saying it. Maybe he has to camouflage his real persona.

Posted by: RJB | Mar 16 2022 9:56 utc | 371

@Richard Steven Hack, I will hold my judgement, this is not a betting game. Maybe Arestovich believes Russia will be defeated in a long insurgency type/sanctions type war, not in a short head on war. And maybe Ukraine has been preparing for that.I don’t see straightforward Russian victory.
I just read that Ukraine has 17000 manpads – evidently already there before the war. That could point to a different type of insurgency from Afghanistan, and the material for the insurgency can already be on the ground. I mean , just combined with american intelligence any man on the ground can be sent coordinates of a target to blindly point some missile at.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Mar 16 2022 10:17 utc | 373

so Arestovich is an advisor to Zelensky? why would we believe him?

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 16 2022 10:38 utc | 375

according to wiki (admittedly not the best source) Arestovich is
Oleksiy Arestovych ( Ukrainian: Олексій Миколайович Арестович; born 3 August 1975) is a Ukrainian presidential adviser, blogger, actor, political and military columnist. Arestovych is an organizer of psychological seminars and trainings and a charity fund for psychological support to the military.
blogger, actor, columnist, advisor to Zelensky, organized psychological seminars, I’m not seeing anything in his background to justify giving him credibility on the subject of this war.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 16 2022 10:44 utc | 377

well yes, everybody anticipated the possibility of war except the idiots running the us and Nato. why do you think this blogger/actor/presidential advisor person should be listened to at all?

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 16 2022 10:51 utc | 379

From Donbass Insider…

The Russian Ministry of Defense showed a missile and artillery depot in the Kherson region that came under the control of the Russian military: there are more than 10 thousand boxes with F-1 grenades, hundreds of boxes with shots for anti-tank grenade launchers, thousands with cartridges – this will be handed over to the forces of the DPR and LPR

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 16 2022 11:00 utc | 381

Concerning beliefs about capabilities and so on.
Putting aside technology “the west” ought to be absolutely horrified about something as simple as how well the various Russian intelligence agencies are operating.
My impression is that everybody is very active but despite that it seems no one quite understands how the Russians do it. I haven’t noticed any public discussion about this but since I’m a nobody I could be missing everything.
Given the topic(s) I guess it is to be expected but it’s still a little bit strange 🙂
– – – –
Also:
· “The west” was far less dismissive of all sorts of possibilities during the cold war.
· I believe/suspect “the west” have already got their “public” demonstrations of various Russian hardware years ago for at least one of the new Russian systems; the nuclear-propulsion missile (although the following might be two different systems):
·· Unexplained trace amounts of radioactivity possibly consistent with nuclear reactor propulsion.
·· Whole hemisphere satellite imagery (if not fake, the source is dubious) of a what could be a very fast flight across most of the north-south height of the pacific ocean (“UFOs” aren’t known for leaving contrails).
– – – – –
I know hardly anything about them but the Russian detection systems must be good. Remember the Russians getting angry/annoyed about the small Norwegian test launch in the nineties when Yeltsin was in charge.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 16 2022 11:16 utc | 383

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez#Early_life Sorry, he’s mis-informed about AOC. She was an intern for Ted Kennedy who died in 2009.

Posted by: Sepoy | Mar 16 2022 11:25 utc | 385

Likklemore, you need to review the Platt Amendment, and Bautista and then tell me about dictators. Explain how 3000 assassination attempts isn’t dictatorial. Bautista killed 50,000 Cubans in 7 years of rule, twice closing the University of Havana, the CIA says Castro killed 5,000 in 50 years of rule. The use/abuse of labels only leads to equivocation and confusion

Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 16 2022 11:41 utc | 387

Gottlieb: no, it’s not enough, and not clear enough, I wouldn’t interpret it as deescalation.
Actions rather than untrustworthy words from known liars:
· They need to withdraw forces rather than pile in.
· They need to get the MSM to read the damn memo if they’ve sent one.
· They need to end the sanctions.
· They need to end the censorship.
That would constitute at least the beginnings of deescalation. In the longer term they need to abandon their policy of belligerence.
Perimetr: thanks! I read that as a not necessarily correct (or deliberately wrong) public but unofficial message from Russia to both the US/NATO and the world at large and to anyone reading between the lines (like here) that the game is up/over, ie. that they know.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 16 2022 12:03 utc | 389

Arioch, it’s chemical castration, puberty disruptors. Of course some are born with indistinct genders, doctors have long chosen a gender that may not fit. Of course even gender doesn’t fit into a simple dichotomy; but here you are, false dichotomying all over the place. Again, we’re talking about .001% of kids; now, I understand “conservative gov’t” to be small gov’t; a gov’t that pries it’s way between a doctor and family isn’t small gov’t. See, even your stance isn’t simple; but your arguments are; too simple.

Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 16 2022 12:12 utc | 391

Posted by: Old Microbiologist | Mar 16 2022 7:59 utc | 343
Thanks for the “ground truth” re Orban and Hungary. My sense is Hungary may be the first EU area state to embrace the emerging EUAC trade area / RMB-ruble currency block. Also relieved to hear of a populace unswayed by US / Soros advertising dollars. The world needs this sanity as an example of “normal” state behaviour.
Finally, thank you for your expertise re bio-warfare as published at UNZ and elsehere. Very helpful insight into an arcane area of knowledge. Stay safe.
Cheers!

Posted by: Sushi | Mar 16 2022 12:24 utc | 393

Deepak Raju writing for the Blog of the European Journal of International Law

Ukraine v Russia: A “Reverse Compliance” case on Genocide
Disputes before international courts and tribunals typically arise out of an allegation by one State that another State has violated international law. The State making the allegation takes the initiative to bring the dispute before an adjudicator. The new dispute initiated by Ukraine against Russia is novel in this respect, since Ukraine invokes the International Court of Justice’s (“ICJ”) jurisdiction under the Genocide Convention, asking the ICJ to find that the allegations of genocide against it by Russia are unfounded (see EJIL: Talk’s discussion here, here, here and here). While Ukraine also asks the ICJ to find, as a consequence, that Russia’s use of force against Ukraine with the purported justification of genocide, is unlawful, the crux of the dispute under the Genocide Convention is Ukraine’s assertion of a negative – that Ukraine did not commit genocide.
In this piece, … https://www.ejiltalk.org/ukraine-v-russia-a-reverse-compliance-case-on-genocide/

Posted by: too scents | Mar 16 2022 12:40 utc | 395

ptb | Mar 16 2022 12:38 utc | 384
Nato…peace keepers !!!!
Russia…. Yeah-Na,we brought our own National Guards.
Nato…. We’ve given you heaps of spare Weapons!!!
Russia….Thanks, Donbass and Luhansk appreciate your generosity.

Posted by: Kim | Mar 16 2022 13:01 utc | 397

Boo 258; the Senate voting unanimously to condemn Putin is every bit as significant as the Senate voting unanimously to make Day Light Saving Time permanent. I keep reading about the coming false flag, and yet, I wonder, what is the benefit? I dare say we may have already seen the false flag, but if it’s not trumpeted, it doesn’t matter. Fortunately, most false flags are as significant in their actual damage as the recent Senate votes; but, NATO has been clear, they’re not willing to sacrifice one life for Ukraine; so the false flag will waft with no audience.

Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 16 2022 13:09 utc | 399