U.S. Pushes Fake Stories To Goad Russia Into Escalation
The geniuses (not) at the National Security Council want to goad Russia into direct attacks on U.S. forces or interests. That would give the U.S. an excuse to further escalate the war in Ukraine into an open confrontation. It would also diverts the attention away from domestic problems.
To achieve this the NSC has pushed a number of stories to the media which claim that alleged Ukrainian successes are based on U.S. intelligence.
U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say, May 4, NYT
WASHINGTON — The United States has provided intelligence about Russian units that has allowed Ukrainians to target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war, according to senior American officials.Ukrainian officials said they have killed approximately 12 generals on the front lines, a number that has astonished military analysts.
The targeting help is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine. That intelligence also includes anticipated Russian troop movements gleaned from recent American assessments of Moscow’s secret battle plan for the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the officials said. Officials declined to specify how many generals had been killed as a result of U.S. assistance.
The United States has focused on providing the location and other details about the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which relocate frequently. Ukrainian officials have combined that geographic information with their own intelligence — including intercepted communications that alert the Ukrainian military to the presence of senior Russian officers — to conduct artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers.
The story is obvious bullshit because there are only two Russian generals who have died so far during the Russian campaign in Ukraine.
Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky was killed on February 28 and Major General Vladimir Frolov was killed in early April. Both deaths were immediately officially acknowledged and reported in Russian media. Both men were buried with military honors.
All other 'killed Russian generals' are victims of the 'ghost of Kiev'. The Ukrainian propaganda apparatus likes such stories because it knows that 'western' media will pick up on them.
Russia does not hide the death of high officers. It is impossible to do so over longer periods as such men are known by many others. It would be bad for any government to get caught in such a scheme. There is also no reason to do so.
Some U.S. sources claim that a general's death will demoralize the troops he led. The opposite is the case. Generals getting killed on or near the frontline demonstrate to frontline soldiers that they are not alone in their fighting and that their officers are doing the job while carrying the same high risk than they do.
The Pentagon denied any involvement:
The Pentagon denied Thursday that the U.S. has shared intelligence with Ukraine with the intent of targeting and killing senior Russian military leaders, stressing that the goal of U.S. intelligence is simply to allow Ukrainian forces to defend themselves against Russia's invasion.
The generals in the Pentagon are keen to not become targets for Russian reprisals.
Here is another such story:
U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say, May 5, NBCnews
Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin’s troubled invasion of Ukraine.A guided missile cruiser carrying a crew of 510, the Moskva was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It sank on April 14 after being struck by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.
It is in fact still not clear what has happened to the Moskva. Russia only said that the ship had an explosion on board that ripped the hull below the waterline and caused a fire. There are other possibilities but hits by two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles seem unlikely.
The Pentagon again denied any direct involvement:
In a statement released after this story was published, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. did not provide Ukraine with "specific targeting information for the Moskva.""We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out," Kirby added. "We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case."
The last sentence is incorrect as Russia destroyed all Ukrainian naval radars that were stupid enough to radiate.
Russia will not react to such stupid stories. It knows that the U.S. is pushing all kinds of battlefield information as well as weapons to the Ukrainians. It is also assumed that foreign generals are 'consulting' the general staff of the Ukrainian forces. Neither will help the Ukraine to win the war.
Over the longer term Russia may well seek revenge for the U.S. proxy war against it. But President Putin is a patient man and revenge is a dish best served cold.
Posted by b on May 6, 2022 at 15:29 UTC | Permalink
next page »More Trouble Every Day
Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Till my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess...
F.Z. (1974)
More Trouble Every Day
Posted by: La Bastille | May 6 2022 15:38 utc | 2
"US Intelligence". ??????? Surely an oxymoron.
There has been no evidence of "intelligent life" in Washington DC for decades. What the world now sees emanating from USA is like a chimpanzees' tea party. It is frantic neurotic obsessional and deranged. It is the collective disintegration of a society (one cannot say "civilisation" because the US is too modern a polity to have one.
It is at war with "civilisations" whether Persian, Babylonian, Russian, Chinese, European, Indian - and seems to want to set the world on fire like some deranged teenager on drugs.
There can be no peace on this planet until the USA is dismembered and broken up into sovereign states either individually or in regional blocs. It will probably come from within as I cannot see places like Texas wishing to remain shackled to places like California
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 3
There was a 3rd story too about US intelligence being used to shoot down a helicopter w 100 soldiers in the first days of the war. So 3 stories in the last week or so implicating the US in the death of Russians. Why?
You are probably right that they want to goad Russia into an attack that will allow the US to enter the war more directly.
Posted by: Joe | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 4
Or perhaps set up conditions to make a false flag more believable.
Posted by: Joe | May 6 2022 15:40 utc | 5
I really don't think that the US is eager to enter into a fight it might not win, despite the fantasy of the crazy neocons. If the US is assured that it can take on Russia directly and wins it would have manufactured a reason to do so. I think what we are seeing happening is the chasm between lunatic arm-chair warriors and the realists in the pentagon.
Posted by: Steve | May 6 2022 15:43 utc | 6
Not even that,
In german media politicians and (so-called) human rights activists are constantly spreading the "evidence" that russian military is intentionally committing war crimes in terms of:
- mass raping (russian soldiers admitting to wearing condoms during battle)
- mass deportation (over a million civilians "deported" to Russia)
- mass murder
Unfortunately I did not see any proof of these accusations, however it is constantly repeated in the media (TV and online newspapers).
Is there any independent source accessible through internet to collect these accusations including some kind of proof to these stories?
When I try to argue with friends and relatives that there is no proof I am regularly confronted with a stunned shake of the head.
It is really crazy how deeply infiltrated the people are through mass media propaganda.
Just to make myself clear. I don't think, russian soldiers are angels and do not do anything wrong but systematically doing war crimes is a big accusation and it should well documented.
Posted by: Rasta | May 6 2022 15:44 utc | 7
That would give the U.S. an excuse to further escalate the war in Ukraine into an open confrontation
We can't only spell for Russia to solve the problem.
Were is the antiwar movement?
Were are the mass protest? Berlin, Washington, Paris, London are just flood with blue/yellow ribbons...
Why are we proudly standing behind a keyboard?
Disarm our troops isn't Russian duty but ours.
Posted by: La Bastille | May 6 2022 15:45 utc | 8
not only will the russians be patient in seeking any supposed revenge, but i also doubt they'll limit it to the ukraine arena. there are all kinds of juicy targets just begging for it in syria, iraq and...like 800 other places. and those are just the ones we know of.
also just saw "investigation into sexual violence by russian soldiers" pop up on the local news (which just regurgitates wire service bullshit). that seems stupid enough on its face but is downright repulsive to anyone who saw the "swastika woman" video. or heard about the guy who got shot keeping an AFU/avoz(?) prick from raping his wife in a cellar.
also to anyone who is aware of the country's previous status as a sex tourism hot spot. maybe start the investigation by questioning every british football hooligan who had a stag party in the past 10 years.
Posted by: the pair | May 6 2022 15:46 utc | 9
The pentagon has already said this is BS. Clearly the state department and the Pentagon and the CIA are all running a different games, with little to no communication. The US is in really bad shape.
Posted by: Susan | May 6 2022 15:46 utc | 10
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 3
What did ever chimps do to you, to disrespect them so cruelly?
Posted by: Arganthonios | May 6 2022 15:46 utc | 11
People keep talking about a false flag. Isn't this whole war a false flag?
Posted by: Balkanizer | May 6 2022 15:46 utc | 12
Looks like another Russian ship has been hit and on fire.
If true Russians are a total joke at this point. Hopefully this is false
Posted by: Comandante | May 6 2022 15:47 utc | 13
New:
Who is shooting at Russians at the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol Ukraine? Young Russian said many female snipers are targeting them, apparently these are not Ukrainians.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXZNoMC_jXs
Posted by: Dean Oneil | May 6 2022 15:48 utc | 14
US intelligence is exemplified in the last three Presidents, the house leaders, Afghanistan, F35, and Elon Musk.
But then, the leaders lie cheat and steal so who would believe anything they say.
Russia meanwhile is on one of its dogged, intensive journeys and is unlikely to be distracted by running, yapping dogs.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 6 2022 15:49 utc | 15
La Bastille @ 2
Slightly pedantic here. Trouble Comin Every Day appeared on the debut Mothers of Invention debut album June 1966. Your link is to a later live performance. I know this because I bought that LP in early 1967.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 6 2022 15:50 utc | 16
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 3
"It is the collective disintegration of a society (one cannot say "civilisation" because the US is too modern a polity to have one."
I disagree only in the sense that America is part of Western Civilization anchored in Europe. It's demise will not destroy Europe but it is highly likely that if it breaks up etc. that Europe will be in a similar state at the same time so there might well be serious of risk of civilizational collapse, though I suspect this will be more of a decline and then reboot into a far better configuration though that might take many generations.
"There can be no peace on this planet until the USA is dismembered and broken up into sovereign states either individually or in regional blocs. It will probably come from within as I cannot see places like Texas wishing to remain shackled to places like California."
Well said. If it doesn't come from within it will come from without; if it comes from without there will be nuclear Armageddon in the mix. Not good! The Republic has already fallen though most American 'patriots' in both political camps fail to see this and keep hoping to 'get our country back.' Nope. The country is already no longer there. Best thing is to break up so that USG is no longer a viable or legal entity and then start over with a better federation with a truly minimally sized federal government albeit that shouldn't be constituted for at least a couple of generations.
Posted by: Scorpion | May 6 2022 15:52 utc | 17
There are several sources reporting Russian frigate Admiral Makarov has been hit with Neptune anti ship missile so its a blow if confirmed.
Posted by: Moon Dog | May 6 2022 15:55 utc | 18
thanks b..... the propaganda express, straight from the usa-nato heartland - the wire services, in service to the intel agencies.... same shit, different day....
@vetinLA and @ Antiwar Dinosaur - thanks for your comments on the previous thread...
@ nemesis calling... my problem with those who take everything in a literal, or materialistic way, is aside from creating the rampant fundamentalism we see in the world today -> the conclusions are wrong... it is like trying to understand a parable without having the eyes or ears to actually understand the message being conveyed..
Posted by: james | May 6 2022 15:55 utc | 19
Any story that features information from or about US Intelligence is almost certainly misinformation or only half the story. Thankfully, I only read about such stuff on sites like this where it is usually, and rightly, being challenged or debunked.
Break up the country. Dissolve all Federal Departments and the USG. No more Intelligence. World much better place!
Posted by: Scorpion | May 6 2022 15:56 utc | 20
A Chinese electronic pulse torpedo was used on on an American cruise ship 5 miles from an American aircraft carrier west of Mexico and again on an Australian amphibious landing ship bringing supplies to that volcanic explosion in the Pacific. Both times no one got even a paper cut but the ships hit were completely disabled.
Maybe China can have the North Koreans test them out on US warships, without hurting anyone?
Posted by: Carl | May 6 2022 15:57 utc | 21
Losing 2 ships in a matter of weeks is completely unacceptable and bordering on recklessness, especially after the way the 1st ship was lost.
Posted by: Comandante | May 6 2022 16:00 utc | 22
Rasta @ 7
It is almost the same here in US. I can’t even tell you how much of this narrative appears in MSM as that is so nauseating I read only a small amount. What happens is those who subscribe to the narrative fill in the details with long learned fantasies of Russians as savages.
The other difference would be there is a huge divide between the indoctrinated educated and the deplorables In flyover country. Many are not aware anything at all is happening, many on all sides presume this is far far away and does not concern them. Of course if the Americans ever decide to get involved and join the fight themselves Russia will be a smoking ruin. Or so they think.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 6 2022 16:03 utc | 23
All other 'killed Russian generals' are victims of the 'ghost of Kiev'.Yes, this stuff is coming from what I call the "Ghost of Kiev school of journalism".
Posted by: Norwegian | May 6 2022 16:04 utc | 24
Can't say for sure what caused the explosions on the Moskva, I read an article that said it fire radar system was in peace time mode, so it wasn't tracking anything coming in, another report claimed it was sabotage from within the ship, as no visible hull damage that resembled a missile strike could be seen.
Alternatively it could've just been an explosion on board that disabled and eventually sank the ship and the West and Ukraine have jumped on that and claimed Ukrainian forces caused the damage.
Living in the West I see the daily ramped up propaganda by the media which claims that Ukraine is if not outright winning, then its pushing back Russian forces, of late the UK media has been focusing on the civilians in the Azovstal Steel works, and how Russian forces are trying to kill them and not allow civilian corridors, or breaking a three-day ceasefire.
Any Westerner who is too lazy to go online and dig a little bit to find the truth, will easily be propagandised by the Western media into thinking Russia is the bad guy and Ukraine and Nato/EU are the good guys.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 6 2022 16:08 utc | 25
This... this is all thhe great satan's fault! Not the fault of the people who invaded another country...
The Americans and Europeans that back the Banderas nazis and their Jew President are as low as it goes. Defecating on your father's, Uncles, grandfathers service against the Nazis and Fascists in WW II shows the loss of any respect for family unity. There are no words that can express the Treason.
Killing Nazis
since 1941
has become an old Russian Family tradition
Funding Bolsheviks, Nazis, Terrorists and Fascists
since the 1800s
has become an old American tradition.
Posted by: GMC | May 6 2022 16:11 utc | 27
thank you b for these informed posts, and this forum's sane voices.
I really don't think that the US is eager to enter into a fight it might not win, despite the fantasy of the crazy neocons. If the US is assured that it can take on Russia directly and wins it would have manufactured a reason to do so. I think what we are seeing happening is the chasm between lunatic arm-chair warriors and the realists in the pentagon.
Posted by: Steve | May 6 2022 15:43 utc | 6
Steve, agree. Most Americans (led by their elected officials and media) still live with the perception that the US is militarily in the position it was in immediately following world war 2.
Incontrovertible fact is, the US military is now a near-peer to Russia,rather than the other way around. It is a generation behind in most aspects and only gutting the MIC (which is an impossibility) would allow it to catch up. Nato's best trained force was its proxy army in the Ukraine. In short, the US and Nato are incapable of engaging Russia militarily.
tactically would be like pitting the Showtime 80's Lakers at their present age against any present day NBA team.
Posted by: Oso | May 6 2022 16:11 utc | 28
I would just add a big caveat to be careful in believing what the Pentagon says when what they say is comforting.
Posted by: bjd | May 6 2022 16:17 utc | 29
WTF is happening around Kharkov? The Russians have left several of the villages there like S. Saltovka. Hopefully to pull AFU further away from Kharkov proper and then destroy them. Otherwise, a counterattack is forming and it might be true that there are not enough Russian forces there.
Posted by: Bloke from block 8 | May 6 2022 16:23 utc | 30
@ oldhippie | May 6 2022 15:50 utc | 16
Thanks for update, I found my vinyl [1974 edition] last weekend at a flea market. Impressive discovery.
Posted by: La Bastille | May 6 2022 16:24 utc | 31
Only the intellectual lightweights can’t see that these stories are planted whether true or not. And the Russian leadership - being well versed in disinformation themselves - know the routine and aren’t fooled. The players all win. Intelligence drops a story for whatever goal they are seeking here, the reporter gets their scoop and the Pentagon denies so as to absolve any suggested wrongdoing. Yet I went to the NBC intelligence beat reporter’s twitter and people were like OMG, they shouldn’t be reporting this...(headslap). Sad.
Posted by: GS | May 6 2022 16:33 utc | 32
The event is now beyond the Hegelian dialectic as comprising of three dialectical stages; it now appears more and more to fit..
Fichte's 1800 economic treatise The Closed Commercial State had a profound influence on the economic theories of German Romanticism. In it, Fichte argues the need for the strictest, purely guild-like regulation of industry.
The "exemplary rational state" (Vernunftstaat), Fichte argues, should not allow any of its "subjects" to engage in this or that production, failing to pass the preliminary test, not certifying government agents in their professional skills and agility. According to Vladimir Mikhailovich Shulyatikov, "this kind of demand was typical of Mittelstund, the German petty middle class, the class of artisans, hoping by creating artificial barriers to stop the victorious march of big capital and thus save themselves from inevitable death. The same demand was imposed on the state, as is evident from Fichte's treatise, by the German "factory" (Fabrike)...
Fichte opposed free trade and unrestrained capitalist industrial growth, stating: "There is an endless war of all against all ... And this war is becoming more fierce, unjust, more dangerous in its consequences, the more the world's population grows, the more acquisitions the trading state makes, the more production and art (industry) develops and, together with thus, the number of circulating goods increases, and with them the needs become more and more diversified. What, with the simple way of life of nations, was done before without great injustices and oppression, turns, thanks to increased needs, into flagrant injustice, into a source of great evils. The buyer tries to take the goods away from the seller; therefore he demands freedom of trade, i.e. freedom for the seller to wander around the markets, freedom not to find a sale for goods and sell them significantly below their value. Therefore, he requires strong competition between manufacturers (Fabrikanten) and merchants."
The only means that could save the modern world, which would destroy evil at the root, is, according to Fichte, to split the "world state" (the global market) into separate self-sufficient bodies. Each such body, each "closed trading state" will be able to regulate its internal economic relations. It will be able to both extract and process everything that is needed to meet the needs of its citizens. It will carry out the ideal organization of production. Fichte argued for government regulation of industrial growth, writing "Only by limitation does a certain industry become the property of the class that deals with it".
Posted by: SailorsWife | May 6 2022 16:36 utc | 33
Does anyone get the feeling that the neocons actually feel that a nuclear exchange is acceptable if required!
There's a deranged decoupling from facts and consequences that's becoming more and more brazen.
Plus you have a senile octogenarian with a diversity box check idiot as a backup president.
There's no sane/rational individuals in authority in the US government.
This is genuinely frightening times.
1962 again.
Posted by: Jpc | May 6 2022 16:43 utc | 34
Posted by: GMC | May 6 2022 16:11 utc | 27
The Americans and Europeans that back the Banderas nazis and their Jew President are as low as it goes.
Meh, screw them all.
Here is something to cheer you up, from liberated Melitopol. Awesome!
Do you like it? ;-)
Posted by: hopehely | May 6 2022 16:47 utc | 35
"The New York Langley Times says..." versus "The Pentagon denies..."
Ah! That ol` CIA-Pentagon infighting again!
Just to remind everyone the Pentagon is the closest thing to a rational actor anywhere near the levers of control of the Empire of Chaos and Lies... and they are not all that close. The fact that the Pentagon is pushing back against this stupidity very strongly reinforces our host's analysis.
Of course, this doesn't mean that the Empire wasn't behind the sinking of the Moskva and the general assassinations, only that the Pentagon didn't do it. The CIA has more than enough resources to pull off those kinds of attacks, though.
This suggests to me that the CIA is trying to goad the US military into the fight as much as they are the Russians.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 6 2022 16:55 utc | 36
Off-topic but the Colonel has directly commented on Patrick Armstrong and Larry Johnson. It appears that some folks here were right in their assessment.
Here is the exchange from post linked below:
"Pacifica Advocate says:
May 6, 2022 at 4:42 am
I find it really fascinating how Patrick Armstrong’s “Russian Sitreps” no longer appear on this blog.
Those were always a key part of why I attended to this place. Then there’s also Larry Johnson–
The Good Colonel seems to have jettisoned him the moment his analysis failed to prop up the propaganda. I’ve read what he has to say on his new blog (and I remember the old, pro-Hillary anti-Obama one, “No Quarter”–available on the Wayback Machine, showing how he helped start up the whole “Obama isn’t an actual American Citizen” line of Rethuglican critique), and it’s pretty clear that this blog has suddenly turned into a place where “analysis” shifts with the winds of prevailing DC rhetoric.
Reply
TTG says:
May 6, 2022 at 7:57 am
Pacifica Advocate,
Patrick Armstrong’s sitreps haven’t appeared here since the start of the invasion because Patrick stopped writing them. He stated on his blog that he was “going to pause this site and my other activities for a while until I see how things break out.” The Russian invasion took him by surprise, just as it took many of us here by surprise. I would welcome his comments and sitreps here if he chose to start writing them again. I would hazard a guess that Colonel Lang feels the same.
Reply
Pat lang says:
May 6, 2022 at 8:15 am
Both PA and LJ chose to stop posting. pA would be welcomed back any time.
Reply
Pat Lang says:
May 6, 2022 at 8:49 am
Johnson is unable to control his personl insults against people who disagree with him (including me) and will never be posted on Turcopolier again. Suggest you follow his example and absent yourself.
Reply"
My comment: I don't see any reason why the Colonel treated Pacifica Advocate's comment with disdain. His comment was right on target. Note that TTG seemed to appreciate the comment by PA.
Posted by: morongobill | May 6 2022 17:02 utc | 37
Sometimes I think one should feel sorry for the Pentagon having to put up with the political BS from other parts of the Washington establishment but then I think nah, just look at the benefits they get, mostly ones people in western Europe regard as their birth right, free medical care, free education, 30 days paid annual leave, decent pay, basically a welfare state, which the people they're there to defend don't get.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 6 2022 17:07 utc | 38
Posted by: Jpc | May 6 2022 16:43 utc | 34
This is genuinely frightening times.
1962 again.
No need to validate your arguments and opinions by expressing your feelings and emotions.
I know it is a part of your liberal upbringing, just be aware that lot of us here do not share that trait.
Posted by: hopehely | May 6 2022 17:09 utc | 39
Sorry, b, I just can't agree with this.
It's blindingly obvious US/NATO intelligence is orchestrating the war from behind the scenes, and we just don't know if the Moskva sinking was paret of it, but the evidence leans in the direction that it had involve non-Ukrainian assistance (if indeed it wasn't simply a case of spontaneous combustion).
Deceiving ourselves into thinking the US is not behind (almost) every major tactical maneuver by the AFU is simply sticking head in sand.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | May 6 2022 17:09 utc | 40
I think there are two possibilities.
The first is RSH's thesis that the neocon aim is to produce a kinetic war between NATO and Russia in which NATO is destroyed and yet in which, somehow, the US is not kinetically involved. This would wed Europe to the US for the next two generations, would lead to lots of $$$$ for US arms makers (who would resupply NATO), and would hopefully weaken Russia significantly in the process. What remains unclear on this view, though, is how NATO might become involved in a kinetic war against Russia WITHOUT the US becoming kinetically involved, given the command structure and force makeup of NATO. Also unclear is WHY, assuming the US does stay out of kinetic warfare, the European countries would then turn to the US for aid and arms ability, seeing as how the US just went ahead and let them get destroyed by Russia.
The other option is that there are some neoncons in State--probably Blinken and Nuland among them--who actually desire kinetic warfare between the US and Russia. They have gamed out that this warfare could be *limited* to conventional and even to tactical nuclear strikes, and they believe (somehow) that the US would come out of this warfare victorious. The problem with this thesis is that it's difficult to understand how anybody could believe that any part of this plan will work out. But then again, these are neocons, and so--ex hypothesi--very deluded people.
Posted by: WJ | May 6 2022 17:10 utc | 41
Scott Ritter reports on the realities related to the arms being sent to Ukraine, from quality to overall serviceability. Here's the word on the M777 155mm towed howitzer:
"Take the M777 155mm towed howitzer the US is providing to Ukraine – some 90 in total. Intended to be a lightweight, easily transportable replacement for the workhorse M198 howitzer used by the US Army and Marines from the mid-1980’s through the mid-2000’s, its design made sacrifices to reduce weight which, under combat conditions, resulted in 'serious problems with metal fatigue, instability while firing, and damage inflicted by recoil quickly became apparent,' according to a fact-sheet about the system. Many of the problems faced by the M777 revolve around the materials used in its production. 'There are many problems with using titanium instead of steel,' the fact-sheet notes, 'rooted in the fact that while it is similarly strong, titanium alloys are much less flexible (making them more prone to metal fatigue).' Moreover, the fact sheet concludes that 'this artillery piece is too light for the powerful 155 mm ammunition. The lighter a weapon is that fires a given projectile and propellant charge, the more violent its recoil is. This has resulted in the recoil-absorption mechanisms in the M777 wearing out dangerously fast in combat conditions.'"
Lighter so easier to destroy as well, the reports don't say. Ritter continues his M777 report:
"The US Army experience at the National Training Center, in Fort Irwin, California, shows that the combat effectiveness of an M777-equipped artillery unit begins to degrade around the fourth day of operations, primarily due to maintenance issues. Left unresolved, an M777-equipped unit could find itself completely combat ineffective within a week. The US Army solution—extensive field-level maintenance supported by forward-deployment of critical spare parts and highly trained personnel—is one that can only be conducted by units trained to do so, and with the logistical infrastructure in place to allow it.
"The Ukrainian Army, which is undergoing training on the M777 system at the US Army training center in Grafenwoehr, Germany, will be focused on the manpower-heavy requirements of M777 operation (which needs an eight-man crew, as opposed to the five-man crew of the M198), and not how to maintain the system in combat. But even if these weapons make it to the front lines, the complexity of the system will ensure inefficient operations which sooner rather than later will result in the M777 howitzer breaking down with no means of repairing it." [My Emphasis]
Being in the logistics part of the military when I served, Ritter's report demonstrates how badly the MIC has crippled the US Military--it replaced a very functional weapon system with one that isn't and is likely more expensive given its exotic components. And the remainder of his report is just as sad or sobering or laughable depending on your POV. Ritter ends his report on a note of bitter irony:
Biden and Pelosi are doing little more than feeding the Ukrainian military suicide pills and calling it nutrition. [My Emphasis]
Yesterday, I linked to an article that detailed the types and amounts of artillery systems being given to Ukraine by NATO. Much of what Ritter reports is valid for those as well. I've read some items proclaiming NATO arms to be superior in quality and quantity to Russia's which as we're seeing is 100% bullshit.
@21
Why would China attack civilian ships?! That doesn't make any sense.
Posted by: Nico | May 6 2022 17:18 utc | 43
>>>>: the pair | May 6 2022 15:46 utc | 9
Not only will the russians be patient in seeking any supposed revenge,Revenge for what?
The Russians know what happened to the Moskva and if they don't they'll set up a board of inquiry t6o find out what did happen, which will most likely find that it really was an accident.
The dead senior officers? Just Kiev BS via Washington.
Why bother? Revenge is something the infants in Washington do.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 6 2022 17:20 utc | 44
Zio American propganda has become so stale it no longer triggers.
Posted by: ld | May 6 2022 17:22 utc | 45
I wouldn't be surprised if those high ranking officers indeed where killed with US help. Those MSM stories are to taunt Russia obviously. There is no doubt the Moskva was sank with British and US help since Ukraine didn't have the capabilities anymore. Fortunately Russia hasn't acknowledged that (yet) because if not it would necessitate a reaction.
I wonder how long it will take before Russia starts targeting US oligarch Elon Musk's Starlink system which is actively used against its troops.
Satellites can easily use communication channels to guide missiles and control unmanned aerial vehicles. It is clear that the StarLink equipment sent to Ukraine was intended not for civilians, but for the military. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that such satellites are constantly passing over the territory of Russia, which causes serious concern.
The mercenary in the video thanks the oligarch so clearly it isn't subject to Russia's electronic warfare.
https://avia-pro.net/news/sputniki-ilona-maska-pomogayut-ukraine-navodit-rakety-i-drony
Posted by: xor | May 6 2022 17:25 utc | 46
IMO, this is a CIA-DoS op through and through. The latter is just the public face of the former at this point. What the pentagon is saying is that *it* didn’t help. It likely produced the SIGNIT but it was some other agency that acted on it.
… if any of it is true. Once upon a time, journalists confirmed statements with at least multiple sources. Now anything an anonymous government source says is treated as true. Since we know that CIA’s most successful penetration of an organization is its efforts with US media, the likelihood off the source being CIA or someone at State is high. And I generally assume that those sources speak to media in order to influence political opinion because politicians are media oriented. What CIA could never get through in a real briefing can be said anonymously to the NYT and all of a sudden presidents and senators take it as gospel.
Posted by: Lex | May 6 2022 17:26 utc | 47
"The vast majority of Austrians are against becoming part of NATO, a poll has revealed. In a survey conducted earlier this month by Austria’s Institute for Opinion Polls and Data Analysis and commissioned by the Austria Press Agency, 75% of respondents replied in the negative when asked if they thought their country should join NATO, with another 14% in favor of such a scenario."
So, the two core nations of what was the Hapsburg Empire are against the EU's stance and NATO, although Hungary is a NATO member. IMO, that's a spanner in the spokes.
1. As a provocation, the US saying they helped sink Moskva is at least plausible: enemy action still seems to be a valid hypothesis, the US was/is monitoring the location of all RF warship, accurate location info would greatly assist some plausible attack scenarios.
RF hasn’t said what caused Moskva to sink, RF might not know, thus US claiming to have conspired in the sinking might be believable.
2. Claiming to have helped kill 12 generals when RF only admits to losing 2 is problematic: RF absolutely knows how many generals have been lost, US can hardly seek to increase the level of provocation by claiming to have conspired in the deaths of more RF generals than have died in action.
Thus, either the US claim of 12 is a moronic attempt to boost themselves, or RF has lost more generals than it admits (certainly possible) and the US claim might be believable.
3. Either way, it’s all an attempt as provocation, US is still in the bargaining stage of Azovstal Derangement Syndrome (ADS).
Posted by: anon2020 | May 6 2022 17:28 utc | 49
RE: Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 3
"There can be no peace on this planet until the USA is dismembered and broken up into sovereign states either individually or in regional blocs."
I agree wholeheartedly. But the first thing that must be done if there is to be peace in the world is the absolute and total destruction of the CIA. Their thousands of murderers -- and mass murderers -- must be done away by whatever means is deemed necessary.
Posted by: AntiSpin | May 6 2022 17:30 utc | 50
More on the worldwide fertilizer shortage. Needless to say why.
Then, two things made that worse:China: The country, which supplies 24% of the world's phosphates, 13% of nitrogen and 2% potash, halted fertilizer exports this past summer.
War: Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted trading in the Black sea, putting the global food supply in peril generally (for instance, the wheat disruption). Russia and its ally Belarus also produce a lot of fertilizer. In 2020, Russia provided 14% of urea (a nitrogen fertilizer), and, with Belarus, 41% of potash, a potassium fertilizer.
https://www.axios.com/2022/05/06/fertilizer-prices-food-securtiy
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2022 17:31 utc | 51
Atomic Cherry's analysis (14/4) on the Moskva "incident" seems fairly accurate https://t.me/atomiccherry/429 (used Yandex translator)
...The attack of the Moskva was not an accident or an improvisation – the cruiser was chosen as a target for both technical and propaganda reasons. On the one hand, it is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, on the other – a deeply outdated, worn-out ship with long service and chronic underfunding.
The strike on the "Moscow" was perfectly planned and thought out: it was inflicted in stormy conditions in order to maximally complicate operations to fight for the survivability of the ship and the evacuation of the crew; moreover, it was located at a distance from other ships of the Black Sea Fleet.
According to transponders, only 5 boats of an unknown type could come to the aid of the cruiser.As I assumed earlier, the operation was carried out in full cooperation between the Navy and the Alliance forces: for example, according to airspace monitoring data for April 12, a British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was actively operating in the Black Sea area, and RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV flights were recorded at various times (map attached). On this day, the Alliance's intelligence confirmed the presence of the "Moscow", verified the signatures, and received comprehensive data on the location of other ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.
On April 13 (the day of the attack), some kind of military magic occurred – data on RC-135 and RQ-4 flights are simply not available. The reason for this is that air scouts flew missions with transponders turned off, and civilian means of monitoring airspace could not detect them, which in itself is more than a bright intelligence sign.
The missile strike on the cruiser was carried out using the Neptune missile system, a modern missile system made using military microelectronics manufactured in Western Europe (and, naturally, it had the ability to receive external targeting from NATO reconnaissance aircraft). Various conspiracy theories about the use of the Norwegian PKR "Penguin" are complete nonsense. This missile is intended only for aviation and naval carriers and, doubly important, it has an extremely limited range of application (34 km in mod. Mk2).
...
Judging by a number of data, Bayraktar UAVs also took part in the attack on the cruiser, acting as a means of conducting a diversionary maneuver.
...
Posted by: xor | May 6 2022 17:39 utc | 52
On the alleged attack on the frigate Admiral Makarov:
The attack supposedly happened over 15 hours ago. Yet no comparable spike in Russian communications in the area comparable to that following the sinking of the Moskva has been observed. Careful pro-Ukrainian Twitter sources are being cautious about this one.
Alleged video of the Admiral Makarov burning appears to be footage from a video game. Details on the ship in the video do not match the known appearance of the Admiral Makarov.
See Katherine Hersch on twitter, @ThatKHersch
Posted by: Cesare | May 6 2022 17:41 utc | 53
On the energy front of our Hybrid War, Gazprom has decided to use NS2's land-based infrastructure to service Russia's regional needs, which is being reported by all Russian media. Here's Sputnik's brief item on the decision. Also announced is IF Germany ever allows gas to transit through the pipe, only one of the two lines will be used. As we know, Gazprom/Russia will suffer no ill effects, but Europe certainly will. And with this development, both Russia and Gazprom stand to win at Europe's expense.
Seeing talk of another boat hit by "neptune" or more likely a munition of a more western origin. Only 2 posts of it here ao far I've read in comments. Too early to determine if there's any truth to it I suppose.
Posted by: NJH | May 6 2022 17:48 utc | 55
On the Moskva, the photos depicting the damage detail it wasn't caused by any type of missile. Plus, the position of the ship's radar array prove no drones were present. It would be good if talk about the Moskva's demise sank beneath the waves too as it only serves to keep Ukrainian propaganda alive.
@56
Looks like rrussia is so far denying claims of new attack on Makarov boat.
Posted by: NJH | May 6 2022 18:04 utc | 57
@16
The live version on Roxy and Elsewhere is superb. Napoleon Murphy Brock is frikkin hilarious!
In regard to the seemingly endless series of provocations, I assume RF forces will just keep steaming ahead.
Posted by: Chevrus | May 6 2022 18:05 utc | 59
I checked the online editions of some of America's biggest regional news outlets such as the Chicago Tribune and LA Times. The war in Ukraine merited one headline buried among other headlines. However, CNN, Washingtonpost, and NYtimes the war is major headline stuff with multiple daily articles/reports. Only the abortion controversy pushed Ukraine off the top headlines on msnbc.com.
It is the national media outlets which have really been pushing war propaganda. The regional outlets barely mention it now.
Also, checked online sites for regional television stations such as WGN in Chicago. Again war barely mentioned. Depressing--lots of local coverage on multiple daily shootings. America is consuming itself with daily violent crimes of citizens on citizens.
Posted by: Erelis | May 6 2022 18:08 utc | 60
#---Raste wrote
- mass raping (russian soldiers admitting to wearing condoms during battle)
Unfortunately I did not see any proof of these accusations, however it is constantly repeated in the media
What kind of pervert are you, and is that even possible?
Posted by: Anne B | May 6 2022 18:11 utc | 61
It seems to me as though the West is so blinded by its own propaganda and hubris that it has lost the plot completely. Totally and utterly. They know Russia has won this but there isn't one Politician who has the humility to admit this openly. The UAF is FUBAR. They also have got Russia and Putin completely wrong. Putin and his brilliant Team no doubt are fully aware that the West/NATO are piling on the provocations to get Russia to react so the West can enter the War. Putin and his team are much smarter than that. If they have to be patient and not bite they will be. All I can see is the EU USA and the West are absolutely in hysterical desperation. People say Russia is taking things slowly and criticise them for that but, in my viewan that shows that intelligent, serious, sincere strategic thinking is taking place on the Russian side which, in a war situation, is crucial and critical to success. The collective players in the West however, are making hysterical decisions almost like children in a temper tantrum when they haven't got what they want. No critical analysis or thinking just throwing all the toys out of the pram with the baby in tow. Deep desperation is no substitute for calm, logical and reasoned strategic thinking. Russia won't react to the provocations at this stage because they are thinking straight. Patience is certainly a virtue in this case. However, when they have won this which will be sooner rather than later, then they will take the gloves oFflint in relation to these provocations. God bless President Putin and his Team. What I do know is that the West has shown its truly evil face truly evil and this evil must be eradicated from the world. China, India and other SCO members have enormous capacity to assist Russia if they need to but Russia doesn't need it right now. Common human decency will prevail.
Posted by: Jo Dominich | May 6 2022 18:13 utc | 62
I seriously doubt that the Moskva was taken out by a missile since defence against anti-ship missiles was one of the Moskva's primary roles. A missile launched from 60-80 km distant Odessa would have taken over 10 minutes to reach the Moskva while avoiding detection. A torpedo, a mine, or simply an accidental fire are much more likely to be responsible.
Posted by: Victor Scarpia | May 6 2022 18:19 utc | 63
But President Putin is a patient man and revenge is a dish best served cold.
This reminds me of a saying I hear recently: beware the fury of a patient man
Posted by: Down South | May 6 2022 18:24 utc | 64
Highest ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler
sees his dream realized nearly 90 years later.
(can be read archived at Wayback Machine for those hitting a pay wall)
"Himmler sought to sow suspicion among the Allies as a preparation for his much‐desired Nazi‐Western coalition against Moscow"
Today we are witnessing a Nazi‐Western coalition against Moscow.
---
Heinrich Himmler was captured in May of 1945. He soon bit into a hidden capsule of cyanide and died.
Posted by: librul | May 6 2022 18:26 utc | 65
Jo Dominich @62--
I wrote the following comment at the end of the previous thread, which is applicable to your's. I do suggest reading the commentary I replied to:
Scorpion @301--
Thanks for your reply. I see you anticipating William Gruff's excellent comment @319--your moral authority being equivalent to Gruff's delusion and what I've called a moral disease of pandemic proportions infecting the West.
I will argue with Gruff on the point of Russia trying to attain a goal, that being its long-term security, which is something that can't really have a monetary value placed upon it since it's essentially priceless. And that's why it's existential, something it appears NATO heads within the Empire are finally beginning to realize because the outcome is also existential for the West--Either Russia gains its security or the West will be destroyed since Russia's loss of security will result in its destruction, and Russia will not suffer that outcome alone.
There is a huge divide between the indoctrinated educated and the deplorables In flyover country.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 6 2022 16:03 utc | 23
Your use of the Coaster term of contempt "The Flyover" and Hillary's "deplorables" for mere high-school diplomates insufficiently worshipful of Hillary makes me wonder if you sneer at the "Rust Belts" too.
Posted by: John Kennard | May 6 2022 18:31 utc | 67
Isn't it reasonable to recognize that the Ukraine military is essentially NATO? They are trained by NATO generals and probably led by NATO generals. Are there any other EU nations with a military as battle-experienced as the Ukrainian army? No. And of those experienced Ukrainian soldiers, the most experienced have been the ones shelling Lugansk and Donetsk for the past eight years. So these guys are the best/most experienced and trained NATO fighting force.
And they are getting shredded.
The Pentagon must be making the same evaluation. When the Ukrainian forces are totally denazified, what will the DoD do? Send good resources after bad?
Posted by: Richard Whitney | May 6 2022 18:31 utc | 68
Interesting description of Avostal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_iMChr2T-A
Posted by: the pessimist | May 6 2022 18:32 utc | 69
US Military officers are notorious for leading from behind. It’s been a morale problem since WWII and nearly destroyed the Army during Vietnam.
There have been many studies on the topic over the decades.
Posted by: Exile | May 6 2022 18:38 utc | 70
Speaking of hiding deaths of high-ranking individuals, has anyone seen or heard from Ayatollah Mike in the past year or two?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2022 18:40 utc | 71
Posted by: alzabab | May 6 2022 16:10 utc | 26
Not the fault of the country that regime-changed and sparked a civil war in a far-away country in which it sponsored Nazis and other disgusting elements, right?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2022 18:42 utc | 72
Posted by: Jpc | May 6 2022 16:43 utc | 34
I'd like to see that bloody bitch Pelosi pitchforked into the Presidency, she's been immersed in all this all along, let her deal with the mess.
Posted by: John Kennard | May 6 2022 18:44 utc | 73
#---Posted by: xor | May 6 2022 17:25 utc | 46
I wouldn't be surprised if those high ranking officers indeed where killed with US help. Those MSM stories are to taunt Russia obviously. There is no doubt the Moskva was sank with British and US help since Ukraine didn't have the capabilities anymore. Fortunately Russia hasn't acknowledged that (yet) because if not it would necessitate a reaction.
Why do you assume a higher level of competence in secretly conducting operations, than in preserving their own ships and equipment?
If recent history tells us anything - it's how humans ability to mess up are infinite.
Maybe they just won't tell us about their own f*** ups?
Posted by: Anne B | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 74
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 6 2022 15:39 utc | 3
"It is the collective disintegration of a society (one cannot say "civilisation" because the US is too modern a polity to have one."
"America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization." - Georges Clemenceau
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 75
For the US, if attacking Iran was a terrible idea before, it would be absolutely catastrophic now. Iran is a dangerous adversary by herself. With Russian assistance, Iran would deliver to the US the worst strategic defeat of its 250 year history.
Posted by: Lysander | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 76
Moskva - flagship or not, this ship was over 40 years old, and that is old, ship-wise. I sailed on a 900 foot US container ship that wasn't yet 30 years old, had been rigorously maintained, and was still becoming a heap of rust (and went to the breakers in her 29th year as a result). o this old ship had been reworked and required for newer and newer systems, cables and wires run through utlity runs and along beams, all exposed to the marine air....in my mind a ship fire was certainly caused by wiring issues or shorts. Furthermore, an old ship has an old fire hose system, gates and valves that unless exercised regularly freeze up, hoses that wear and rot, pumps that refuse to work, and I have done enugh fire drills to know after a while it all becomes routine, and generally half-assed, unless the Coast Guard lowers the boom. So the Moskva could have had trouble fighting the fire, too.
All the videos and photos of the ship have turned out to be fakes or bogus or from other ships. The days just before the Moskva was lost there were many reports of mines adrift in the Black Sea, off Odessa, and if you ask me - nobody has but as an old sea dog this is my belief - the Moskva caught firew and then struck a mine. Or maybe the mine started the fire. Either way, the ship ended up sinking, yet most of the crew got off.
All the blather about missile attacks and now the US directing all this is propaganda, all of it, total bullshit, one story after another spun to make a point and build a narrative. Just like the Ghost of Kiev. Now there is talk of another ship struck, or sunk, and again we are hearing great heroic tales....
The fog of war...
Posted by: Boomheist | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 77
Caitlyn Johnstone on various empire-related news, including the Ukraine-NATO-Russia war.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/05/06/caitlin-johnstone-empire-news-roundup/
If Lula pushes forward in creating a new currency for Latin America so as to end 'dependence' on the dollar, he can expect to be regime-changed shortly after taking office (so long as the Bolsonaro regime doesn't rig the vote).
Excerpt on the Western media's pivot w/r/t Russia and officially calling it a "proxy war" finally. Langley must have signed off on that...
The New York Times is reporting that U.S. intelligence has helped Ukrainian forces “target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war,” citing anonymous senior U.S. officials.This incendiary claim may or may not be true as U.S. officials have already admitted that they’ve been pouring out a deluge of disinformation about this war with the loyal facilitation of the Western press. If it is true, it would mean yet another dangerous escalation in the U.S. proxy war against Russia.
Oh, and on that note, it would appear that we are indeed allowed to refer to this as a proxy war now.
The New Yorker has come right out and declared that the U.S. is in “a full proxy war with Russia,” a claim that before this narrative pivot caused social-media users to call me a Kremlin stooge and more obscene varieties of that same slur. It’s hilarious that it was ever controversial to say that pouring billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry into a foreign nation to be used by C.I.A.-trained fighters with the direct ongoing assistance of U.S. military intelligence is a proxy war.
Speaking of the U.S. empire’s world-threatening proxy war with Russia, I would like to highlight an important new dialogue between The Socialist Program’s Brian Becker and a scientist named Greg Mello, who is the co-founder and executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group and an expert on nuclear war. The interview is just as valuable for Becker’s insightful commentary as Mello’s. Together they provide a lot of sorely needed insight into the nature of the horrifying games the empire is playing with our lives in this nuclear standoff.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2022 18:47 utc | 78
Goading is acceptable behavior by the empire.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/23/diana-johnstone-us-foreign-policy-is-a-cruel-sport/
Posted by: mantooth | May 6 2022 18:47 utc | 79
well basically anyone already noticed I guess - if u cope with the mongolians you better have walls or stay nice :)
Posted by: Macpott | May 6 2022 18:48 utc | 80
Posted by: Boomheist | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 77
After reading numerous theories, I too think it was a mine. There were both private shipping industry reports of loose ones floating around as well as government reports, I think from Romania.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2022 18:51 utc | 81
There is one possible reason for the US to keep the propaganda pot boiling, and that is the use of the dollar as a "refuge" in times of trouble. Scaredy-pants put their faith in the US treasury.
I use the word "possible" as I am not sure of being correct. However, with the Rouble rising the opposite is happening. The longer the fight goes on and Russia is NOT losing, the more "second world" Oligarchs and Governments will be trying to find some sort of refuge for their reserves and billions in spare cash.
China is more difficult to place money in, although with their new ""not-at-all-SWIFT", it could well become a placement of last resort. Russia providing the entry. There are also bargains to be had in commodities.
*****
Re; the game of "battleships". The US can't be seen to be losing. The more their weapons don't tip the balance, the harder it is to keep the myth of military supremacy alive. They have 800 to 1000 bases to support, (buddy, can you spare a billion or two..) which only remain largely intact as long as the opposants think they are backed up with effective military might.
Thus the PR is changing to we "secretly" did this, (but it wasn't really us, honest...) from a more assertive, "we done it, so what"?
****
One end game I can imagine in the distance is; Poland gets it's bit (as there will be "no more frontiers between it and Ukraine"), as does Hungary (transcarpathia). Belarus gets a bit too (for good neigbourliness), and Russia gets ALL the rest. Bingo. No more Ukraine at all. No previous debts will be "honoured". What is there not to like?
Z =elensky can join Guaido on the bench of the "wannabe but ex-presidents, supported by the US/EU".
Posted by: Stonebird | May 6 2022 18:55 utc | 82
#---Posted by: John Kennard | May 6 2022 18:31 utc | 67
Ever heard of irony? As an old hag I have learned the best way to treat stereo-types is to play with them.
Posted by: Anne B | May 6 2022 18:56 utc | 83
@ Boomheist | May 6 2022 18:45 utc | 77 - good post.. ditto your thoughts.. thanks..
Posted by: james | May 6 2022 19:06 utc | 84
Anyone notice this? NATO propaganda shops are shaping the public opinion battlefield with plenty of reasons (many fake) of why Russia would be infuriated with Ukraine and NATO. Reminds me of MSM-supplied 'reasons' how Syria's President Assad had become desperate - just before the Ghouta CW false flag. Likewise, the current MSM 'unnamed defense official' efforts seem to be an attempt to get public opinion used to the idea that Putin is desperate and about to act irrationally.
Poland figures in here somehow. Weird rumors of a defense treaty with Ukraine? Poland moving into Galicia/Volyn (or all the way to Kiev) on some kind of security mission? Poland taking over some of Slovokia's domestic air patrolling missions in exchange for a dozen MiG 29s 'gifted' to Ukraine? Poland moving it's German-supplied Patriot batteries to the Ukraine border? Poland possibly letting Ukraine MiG 29s operate from Polish airfields? It sounds like Poland is EXPECTING to become a belligerent. Is NATO really going to use the 'Ukraine and Russia are not technically at war' excuse to insert Polish cannon-fodder into the mix?
I would have guessed NATO would stick with the Polish Ho Chi Min trail scheme outside of Ukraine to stoke the war, but there's way too many airpower-related shenanigans in Poland for this to be coincidental. The public has been further primed to accept that 'a desperate Russia' would resort to tactical nukes or CWs. Casus belli for Poland to move in to Western Ukraine with plenty of air defenses?. I can't believe Poland would be that oblivious to the risk of invoking Russia's ire.
Maybe a conventional weapons false flag on Polish soil taking out arms stockpiles destined for Ukraine. See? The Ruskies started it! No need to convince to Poles to jump into the Ukraine meat-grinder. They would do it themselves if they were convinced Russia attacked them.
NATO: "Damn, we're losing again. Release the Poles!"
Posted by: PavewayIV | May 6 2022 19:07 utc | 85
Regarding dishes best served 'cold'... just like the author of this blog, i live in Germany... coming into next winter, i am really, really, really hoping Russia will not be taking that saying literally... and cutting off our heating gas!
Posted by: Et Tu | May 6 2022 19:13 utc | 86
But the US (and UK) are certainly providing intelligence and real-time satellite
imagery, etc. to Ukraine although they may not be actively planning and
choosing targets.
Posted by: Ivan | May 6 2022 19:14 utc | 87
La Bastille #2
Thanks for the FZ flashback!
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end....
Posted by: JohnT | May 6 2022 19:18 utc | 88
JK @ 67
I am in the Rust Belt. Not remotely a Republican or a MAGA. Still wear deplorable and flyover with pride.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 6 2022 19:23 utc | 89
in response to Paul Greenwoood, #3:
"US Intelligence". ??????? Surely an oxymoron.
yeah.
the same "US intelligence" that said the Taliban were "months away" from threatening Kabul.....
Posted by: no green bananas | May 6 2022 19:36 utc | 90
Frank Zappa said it best, from 1976. I'M THE SLIME.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdtGo2Ib9oI
Posted by: BroncoBilly | May 6 2022 19:36 utc | 91
PavewayIV | May 6 2022 19:07 utc | 86
"Damn, we're losing again. Release the Poles!"
That's it! Send in Von der Lyin and Pelosi to do pole dances, that'll scare the russians.
On second thoughts.... the idea scares me too..
*****
Rumour. May 9th is when they will try to hit the Crimea-Kersch bridge.
Posted by: Stonebird | May 6 2022 19:36 utc | 92
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And industry too For I am destined to rule And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin' out From your TV set You will obey me while
I lead you And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks.. Don't touch that dial Well,
I am the slime from your video Oozin' along on your livingroom floor
I am the slime from your video Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
I was very lucky to see Zappa in concert, one of the very best.
It was in 1980, France, Theatre d’Orange
Posted by: FromFrance | May 6 2022 19:39 utc | 93
@53 Cesare
Thnks for your details.
@86 paveway
If you are the f4 paveway, welcome back!
Posted by: y | May 6 2022 19:47 utc | 94
Tulsi Gabbard put it nicely https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1522535121915588609
We're already in a hot war with Russia, and it's going to get a lot hotter because the Biden Admin's stated goal is the complete destruction of Russia's economy & military. Russia has made it clear that if faced with this prospect they’ll have no choice but to use tactical nukes. Once the nuclear Pandora’s Box is open, it'll be impossible to close. The path the Biden Admin has us on will lead to WWIII & nuclear Armageddon. ...
As much as I want to believe Moskva was an accident (out of so many) or that it was a drifting mine that miraculously only struck and sank the Russian Black Sea flag ship and so far not a single random merchant vessel, the ugly reality is that this is a NATO proxy war against Russia where the goals by NATO military and officials are stated openly.
Fortunately Russia has been acting very cautiously and reserved while trying to contain the conflict geographically to Ukraine. USA and its NATO minions on the other hand are trying hard to escalate it beyond.
Posted by: xor | May 6 2022 19:48 utc | 95
These are signs that the public opinion on the USA is becoming increasingly suspicious both to the media and the government. Repeated denials from the WH if what media days makes them both of them potential liars. Where is,the truth if both are potential liars abd both have proven during in the gulf war.
Afghanistan's fiasco must be hidden under a tempestuous propaganda against Russia. The USA has become so pathetically predictable. It's foreign policy is so amateurish that one does not doubt that debilitated Biden and Pelosi are behind it. Pathetic!
Posted by: Virgile | May 6 2022 19:50 utc | 96
This is genuinely frightening times.
1962 again.
No need to validate your arguments and opinions by expressing your feelings and emotions.
I know it is a part of your liberal upbringing, just be aware that lot of us here do not share that trait.
Posted by: hopehely | May 6 2022 17:09 utc | 39
No liberal hand wringing hopehely
A reality that a lot of idiots don't realize/respect that they are up a far more capable opponent than they normally pick on
Who's pissed with the meddling and fuckaboutery on their immediate border.
So where do you think it's going to stop
Posted by: Jpc | May 6 2022 19:58 utc | 97
Considering ones emotions;
"I know it is a part of your liberal upbringing, just be aware that lot of us here do not share that trait."
Posted by: hopehely | May 6 2022 17:09 utc | 39
Well, I guess, no more, no less, than your being an ass-hole because of your Conservative upbringing.
Posted by: vetinLA | May 6 2022 20:05 utc | 98
"There can be no peace on this planet until the USA is dismembered and broken up into sovereign states either individually or in regional blocs. It will probably come from within as I cannot see places like Texas wishing to remain shackled to places like California."
Please read Tragedy and Hope, 101, by Joseph Plummer. It's a consolidation of the world political reality standing behind the visible governments as describe in Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope, which is 1300 pages long. Joe Plummer consolidates the key points of political manipulation and control. The US is only one of the facades and tools hiding those who actually control the world.
It is so easy to get caught up in the visible political world and assume those in position of state actually control anything. They are all puppets on a string, especially Biden, and all the rest.
Posted by: Al | May 6 2022 20:11 utc | 99
@42 Scott Ritter reports on the realities related to the arms being sent to Ukraine, from quality to overall serviceability. Here's the word on the M777 155mm towed howitzer:
now, finaly, after 50 years after my compulsary army service (howitzer battery, electronic repair engineer for communication equipment) I understand finally, why we had 6 mechanical engineers for the 24 howitzers. How many times did I help this colleges to lift this heavy boxes with tools and compressed gaz bottles for the repair of this shock absorbers. During all this training, hardly any howitzer fired a shot and not one of this shock absorber ever needed replacement. I have seen only once the full display of howitzers: we had a simulated full war mobilization (empty the warehouse, no sleepingbags, no food for 3 days etc, etc), but during the first night of the mobilisation we had all the batteries firing for several hours illumination rounds and lightning up the mountains for many square miles around us.
Posted by: Gertrud Fud | May 6 2022 20:19 utc | 100
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Thanks for the reporting b
Empire is getting desperate to get a war on to cover all the lies nipping at their heels.
This shit show can't end soon enough for me.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 6 2022 15:35 utc | 1