Ukraine Open Thread 2022-79
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...
The open thread for other issues is here.
Posted by b on June 2, 2022 at 14:29 UTC | Permalink
next page »A variety of factors yesterday led me to compile comments and craft an article around this question, THE Question For Our Times: How Do We Stop Western Barbarity?
The one answer I received at The Saker's where I first drafted it was to threaten the West with nukes via a demonstration detonation. Hopefully, some other alternatives will be posited. I'll be away for 6-7 hours and unable to reply until I return.
Soros is leading hit man for international Neocon conspiracy whose goal is destruction of civilization and world depopulation.
Posted by: Richard | Jun 2 2022 14:46 utc | 3
I think people get so carried away with Soros that they lose sight of what he actually does and has done. I'm no fan of Soros for a lot of reasons but I don't see how it helps understanding issues to turn him into some kind of puppet master, when he's just one actor in an ecosystem.
sigh. there's no conspiracy involving Soros, he's an oligarch. like all the rest of them he's motivated by greed and power. like saying police brutality is a conspiracy, it's just the nature of the beast.
Posted by: Oso | Jun 2 2022 14:54 utc | 5
From IntelSlava
đşđŚâĄConscripts are tied up in pairs during a medical examination at the military registration and enlistment office so that they donât run away
Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2022 15:00 utc | 6
I'm no fan of Soros for a lot of reasons but I don't see how it helps understanding issues to turn him into some kind of puppet master, when he's just one actor in an ecosystem.
Posted by: Chip | Jun 2 2022 14:51 utc | 4
I've always referred to Soros as the Public Affairs Officer for the Rothchilds...
Trump's family is associated with him. Sure. It floored me, too...
Posted by: I'm no fan of Soros | Jun 2 2022 15:00 utc | 7
From IntelSlava
đŹđ§đşđŚđˇđş The absolute lack of training for mercenaries and sheer chaos in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - a former British officer about the Ukrainian armyA mercenary from the UK, and a former Navy officer, told how he went to Ukraine, and what came of it. According to him, there were many other "soldiers of fortune" from the UK, former military from the Navy, infantry, special forces, even from aviation. The vast majority are over 30 years old, but there were also 20-year-old youths who played enough of computer games like "Call of Duty" and decided to try themselves in a real war.
The British mercenary says that even people with experience in other armed conflicts were powerless in the face of what they saw in Ukraine: the absolute lack of training for mercenaries before being sent to the front and chaos in the ranks of the Ukrainian army.
"Even guys with experience from Afghanistan and Iraq were not ready for the war that is happening in Ukraine."
Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2022 15:07 utc | 8
The US has a history of using billionaires as a front for three-letter agencies.
- Howard Hughes: The cover story was that a custom-built ship, the Glomar Challenger, was going to mine ores on the sea floor. The real reason was raising a Russian submarine from the sea floor, and get access to Russian encryption equipment.
- George Soros: The cover story is an eccentric billionaire, engaged in spreading democracy and freedom. Along the way he does, as a private citizen, what one would not accept if done by the US government.
- Elon Musk: The cover story for the starlink satellites is giving internet access to the world. Suspiciously coincides with US political interests, e.g. Ukraine.
There is also the cautionary story of what happens to billionaires who do not cooperate.
- Joe Nacchio was CEO of Qwest, a US telco. When asked to house spying equipment, Joe Nacchio wanted to see a court order first. In a short time, Joe Nacchio went from billionaire to prison inmate.
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 2 2022 15:15 utc | 9
Official US Policy: 'We can win a nuclear war' by Breaking News - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D04jY96H8dQ spurred by this article https://monthlyreview.org/2022/05/01/notes-on-exterminism-for-the-twenty-first-century-ecology-and-peace-movements/.
An element of this current conflict is the change of US nuclear strategy over the last 30 years.
One item of interest to me was that the US reserves the right to a nuclear first-strike on any adversary regardless of their nuclear capability. The rephrasing of "NATO is a defensive alliance" to "NATO is a nuclear alliance" whose main protagonist reserves the right to drop nuclear weapons on whomever and whenever it so pleases is quite apt.
Posted by: eyeswideopen | Jun 2 2022 15:17 utc | 10
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 2 2022 14:44 utc | 2
'Demonstration' Atomic bomb?
Are you serious? Isn't that what the US did when it dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima, a warning to the Soviet Union?
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 15:48 utc | 11
Any thoughts on the relative non use of Russian airpower. Is it the efficiency of SAM's or something else?
Posted by: mark delmege | Jun 2 2022 15:52 utc | 12
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 2 2022 15:15 utc | 9
You may add Jeff Bezos to your list of " billionaires as a front for three-letter agencies."
He bought the wapo when JimMattis gave him the contract for putting the Pentagon in the cloud. Then he got similar deal from the CIA. By the way, like Elon Musk, he has its rocket and satellite constellation project.
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 15:55 utc | 13
Posted by: mark delmege | Jun 2 2022 15:52 utc | 12
Why expose valuable pilots (and planes) when you have excellent standoff weapons?
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 15:56 utc | 14
@mark delmege 12
Any thoughts on the relative non use of Russian airpower. Is it the efficiency of SAM's or something else?
It's now a missile world, a place where manned aircraft (and aircraft carriers BTW) have been obsoleted by missiles which are accurate, multi-headed, long-ranged and maneuverable. The US is wasting billions on F-35s, carriers etc. which is ample proof that they don't cut the mustard any more in effectiveness, only in profits for the MIC.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 16:02 utc | 15
12
Further itâs never been Russian doctrine to overwhelm the enemy with manned jets, thatâs a NATO thing. I think the number of daily combat sorties is in line with their current strategy of not activating more than 10-15% of their combat ready forces.
Posted by: Jayt | Jun 2 2022 16:04 utc | 16
Question: what is known about the sinking of the Russian flagship? Was the vessel protection system substandard? Are there other explanations for the loss of such a prime asset? While it is conceded that the U. S. supplied some info, the sinking of a ship a hundred miles away is impressive.
Posted by: Charles âLouâ Weissing | Jun 2 2022 16:05 utc | 17
Posted by: mark delmege | Jun 2 2022 15:52 utc | 12
Last I heard, Russian airforce is flying 200-300 sorties daily. I remember a mercenary/soldier complaining about incessant bombing and at the end he said something along the lines of "the artillery is bad but the sound of the planes was the worst"
Posted by: eyeswideshut | Jun 2 2022 16:09 utc | 18
...on fighter jets
The USAF currently has a shortage of about 1,100 fighter pilots (probably Russia too). Not only are ground threats a problem, but pilots, especially fighter pilots, are subject to all kinds of illness.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 16:13 utc | 19
Intel Slava Z, [02/06/2022 17:12]
đˇđşđşđŚâď¸Supplies of missile systems to Ukraine may provoke massive shelling from the Russian Federation - The New York Times.
There is no doubt that the decision to provide Zelensky with a weapon that he has been requesting for weeks (an American MLRS on a Himars wheeled chassis), designed to destroy Russian command posts and footholds in Ukraine, marked a serious escalation, the newspaper notes.
When the United States began negotiations with Ukraine for the supply of "one of America's most powerful and precision-guided weapons," Biden insisted that Zelensky agree to one important limitation: "under no circumstances should you shoot at Russian territory."
According to the newspaper, it will be a real test for Zelensky to keep his word given to Biden and not try to return fire on the territory of the Russian Federation when Russia launches new missile strikes on Ukraine.
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 16:15 utc | 20
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 2 2022 15:15 utc | 9
You may add Jeff Bezos to your list of " billionaires as a front for three-letter agencies."
He bought the wapo when JimMattis gave him the contract for putting the Pentagon in the cloud. Then he got similar deal from the CIA. By the way, like Elon Musk, he has its rocket and satellite constellation project.
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 15:55 utc | 13
Bill Gates...Kissinger....
I agree that such people don't just rise on their own steam. Of course there are layers and levels in all complex societies. What we have now is many state powers vested in 'private sector' operators beyond Congressional scrutiny and protected from any such due to 'privacy' laws etc.
This is a soft or hybrid form of fascism. And of course we don't really know who facilitates the rise of such Titan-Secretaries so we have fascism without dictatorship, rather a hidden soviet/committee. Maybe. Maybe many secret Titans fighting among themselves. Maybe internationally linked, maybe not. And so on. Who knows....
But the opaque nature of the structure spreads a culture of ignorance (not knowing) blended with greed (aka success) and submissive dependency on those above for favors and advancement (begging dog mentality). It's a terrible model and inevitably leads to the sort of decadence and decline now so evident in Western polity from top to bottom.
Exhibit A. Witness the sad and sorry state of the private lives of the rich and famous Johnny Depp and Amber Heard who have nothing better to do with their combined hundreds of millions except torture each other in unending adolescent-style quarrel-fests. And how many millions apparently took the time to hang breathlessly on every word of these two performers on the witness stand whilst their entire way of life teeters on the brink of possible collapse.
@18 eyeswideshut
probably a bit less. Daily RF briefings typically report around 30-60 ish targets hit by army aviation. (ie under the category of air support, which is excluding any longer range guided missile strikes, which can also be air launched). Typically seem to be flights of 2 or 4 jets or helo's.
Posted by: ptb | Jun 2 2022 16:22 utc | 22
Biden should be impeached for giving weapons to Zionist mad man Zelensky and his psychotic regime with a âguaranteeâ they will not be fired into Russian âterritoryâ. This is negligence and incompetence and a moral hazard. Does Biden think the LPR and the DPR in Donbass arenât covered by UN Duty to Protect via treaties with Russia? I think Putin feels those are historically and culturally and now de facto Russian socio-political and independent sovereign states.
Posted by: FredF | Jun 2 2022 16:29 utc | 23
@18/@22
oh and that's strike missions. not sure if the term "sortie" include other stuff, like combat air patrol and suppression of air defense, isr (ie flying radar receiver), and various helicopter work like road convoy escort or transport
Posted by: ptb | Jun 2 2022 16:29 utc | 24
Yesterday's article on possible Ukrainian casualties. They're so high the Ukrainians are no longer counting, seems from some sources. Add to that those surrendering and those escaping the country by emigration and the loss of men of fighting age looks to be getting too high.
For another purpose, I looked up to confirm what Falkenhayn had been hoping to achieve a century ago. He "planned to use more than 1200 artillery pieces to destroy French units, whilst making limited use of German infantry to minimise his own casualties."
It's looked for some time that that's what's happening here. After the first costly flurry of activity the Russians and LDNR forces haven't moved around that far in aggregate. The diagrams of their supply lines show those lines to be short and capable of easily taking the immense quantities of ammunition etc they use. Kiev's supply lines are more fragile.
Falkenhayn reckoned that the French would be forced to carry on feeding troops into Verdun because it was an iconic location they didn't want to lose. Ils ne passeront pas guaranteed that continued supply of French troops to go under the enemy's guns.
Didn't work out for Falkenhayn. But the principle's the same here. The Ukrainian General Staff is said to be against squandering men and equipment so Kiev can keep a foothold in the Donbas. But NATO thinking is illustrated by Biden's recent op-ed. Kiev must hold on to as much territory as it can in order to be in a good negotiating position when it comes to peace talks.
So whether the Russians meant it to end up like this, or whether Zelensky did, this is in fact what we're seeing. Kiev putting up men and equipment against the Russians and losing both in great numbers. We don't know how many men the Russians and the LDNR forces are losing but given that they are using heavy artillery and air strikes presumably not as many as the Kiev forces.
Add to that what Falkenhayn could not have dreamed of, the Russian destruction of units and equipment and ammunition dumps well behind enemy lines, and it looks as if the Ukrainians are in an impossible position.
Some are saying, good. It's one way of denazifying. But it's not only the Azov and Aidar types who are being fed into the meat grinder. It's ordinary Ukrainian patriots being sacrificed to no purpose. NATO should now get out of the way. It should stop insisting that our proxies be fed into this pointless Ukrainian Verdun.
Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 2 2022 16:39 utc | 25
Yes, Soros, Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Schwab et al. are mere cogs in the machine. Kissinger, Brzezinsky, Bush 41, and others are/were closer to the top of the cabal. But the real powers are a small group of bankers operating in the shadows and tied to the Rothschild, Morgan and Rockefeller empires. They have enormous direct financial power and indirect power through governments and the courts and media, but they are also very out of touch with the New World Order now led by the Eurasian axis (e.g., China, Russia, and now India). Ukraine will be their Waterloo.
Posted by: FHTEX | Jun 2 2022 16:41 utc | 26
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 15:55 utc | 13
Resist the temptation to get hung up by Big Man Syndrome. He bought it cheap (because it is). Couldn't leverage masthead to secure the JEDI contract (because employees own it). And hasn't noticable influenced editorial management (because there is none).
WaPoo has been a federal company newsletter since its founding in the 19th century.
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 16:42 utc | 27
Does Biden think
Posted by: FredF | Jun 2 2022 16:29 utc | 23
No. He doesn't have to. Like every POTUS, his functional role is well-groomed front-man for whomever owns the odious US Congress this year.
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 16:49 utc | 28
@ Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 16:15 utc | 20
Which brings us to:
Shortly after the U.S. decision was announced, the Russian defence ministry said Russiaâs nuclear forces were holding drills in the Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.
Some 1,000 servicemen were exercising in intense manoeuvres using more than 100 vehicles including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, it cited the ministry as saying. The report did not mention the U.S. decision.
Posted by: whirlX | Jun 2 2022 16:49 utc | 29
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Jun 2 2022 14:42 utc | 1
Excellent overview of Soros in both Ukraine and US.
An extract touching on what I think is the biggest story, namely that Soros is allowed to operate this way. My assumption for years has been because he has people above him with more authority than mere nation-state Presidents most of whom are performers these days:
"Soros couldnât do it without a crooked American and British Media.
Soros is connected to more than 30 different media organizations, the NY Times, Washington Post, and many European media outlets can all be traced back to the name Soros in some way, he even outrightly purchased Time Warner media outlet. He runs NPR and uses it to spread the most outlandish anti-American views, Soros is behind the teaching of a genderless society to small children in school. Soros views traditional male and female households with children as âauthority drivenâ and to be rejected. Soros hates the America of apple pie and the Fourth of July, he would rather and open border and violent revolution in American streets like what happened in Ukraine in 2014.
It gets worse
How much does Soros control the Ukraine crisis with Russia? 2015 leaked memos show he amazingly had the authority to call the U.S Treasury and demand large monies and weapons be given to Ukraine; the memo could easily read like 2022!
Read it carefully and it is practically word for word Zelensky today!
Ukraine President Poroshenko, Soros lays out âA short and medium term comprehensive strategy for the new Ukraine,â expresses his confidence that the US should provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance, âwith same level of sophistication in defense weapons to match the level of opposing force,â and finally explained Poroshenkoâs âfirst priority must be to regain control of financial markets,â which he assures the President could be helped by The Fed adding âI am ready to call Jack Lew of the US Treasury to sound him out about the swap agreement.â
How many Americans knew that George Soros could call the US treasury and âsound him outâ and dictate what monies and weapons go to Ukraine? He is the one pushing the fight to the last Ukrainian happening today. Ask yourself if Zelensky is calling the shots in Ukraine or Soros?
Putin to the rescue
The only person blocking the grand plans of George Soros is Russian President Vladimir Putin, most people have no idea that Russia is the only country looking to finally end the 30-year corrupt reign of Soros in the failed state of Ukraine....
"
Soros authority in major corridors of power internationally cannot come only from his personal wealth or charisma. It's the wishes of whom he serves to which his interlocutors attend.
Posted by: FHTEX | Jun 2 2022 16:41 utc | 26
Well said!
Posted by: dh-mtl | Jun 2 2022 16:55 utc | 31
Phase 2 of the peacekeeping operation should be nearly complete by mid-late June.
Phase 3 then might begin early August. My guess phase 3 will be liberation of Odessa region.
Thoughts ? Timing ? Direction ?
Posted by: Exile | Jun 2 2022 16:57 utc | 32
@25 English Outsider
The analogy of Verdun is a stretch, but the no-retreat orders will reduce Ukrainian forces by tens of thousands by the time they are eventually expelled from Donbas. I know it's grim, but "fight to the last Ukrainian" is being taken literally by Kiev (with the detestable NATO cheerleaders pushing to prolong the whole affair, even though it's been months since they articulated any plausible benefit to doing so)
Posted by: ptb | Jun 2 2022 16:58 utc | 33
re post # 12
Is it possible that artillery is simply much cheaper than carpet bombing from the air? I tend to think without support that artillery 24/7 has more psychologic punch than occasional air raids. Just my .02.
Posted by: countrumford | Jun 2 2022 16:58 utc | 34
Hi Scorpion and Tim Rourke - Tim, thanks for the article. Great stuff. Scorpion, where can I find the 2015 leaked memos regarding the US Treasury?
Thanks! Rock on.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 2 2022 17:03 utc | 35
@English Outsider | Jun 2 2022 16:39 utc | 25
"Some are saying, good. It's one way of denazifying. But it's not only the Azov and Aidar types who are being fed into the meat grinder. It's ordinary Ukrainian patriots being sacrificed to no purpose. NATO should now get out of the way. It should stop insisting that our proxies be fed into this pointless Ukrainian Verdun."
Indeed, tragic.
I know that the Russians are paying attention to the Ukrainian dead as they are able - 300 bodies recovered from Azovstal following the 'evacuation'. I think they should try to obtain DNA and make note of cause of death and place of burial for as many as possible and then set up a procedure for Ukrainian families to inquire about their sons. I think it was John Dougan in one of his early videos from Mariupol that relayed how a woman asked him if they could locate her brother's body (I think it was) who had died in the fighting there and send it to his mother in Lvov and his Russian escort agreed to help with this. Respect for the dead.
Posted by: the pessimist | Jun 2 2022 17:04 utc | 36
Escobar's latest:
Pepe Escobar, [02/06/2022 18:01] HEGEL PLAYS âCROSSROADSâROCKâN ROLL DIALECTIC - in one minute.
War criminal Henry Kissinger kicked up a storm - on purpose - with his Davos mumbling on Ukraine. The whole Western commentariat fell for it.
That was Kissinger - always the reliable Rothschild asset - once again going for his only play: Divide and Rule.
What really matters for those who control the game is Agenda 2030.
Hardcore austerity mixed with hardcore social control of the impoverished masses. Central Bank Digital Currency. Social Credit on steroids. The Panopticon 2.0.The seamless transition from Covid-19 to war in Ukraine - complete with collapse in global trade, supply lines breakdown, food/energy shortages - itâs ALL engineered. A means to a - Great Reset - end (now re-billed at Davos as âThe Great Narrativeâ).
Kissinger worries that the war will become unmanageable (already is: and the Russians will make sure it stays this way for the collective West). As it stands the war is the only âstrategyâ the âNarrativeâ racket has.
Meanwhile, a Specter is looming: the multi-trillion tsunami of derivatives, about to get totally out of control.
https://t.me/c/1394010098/3774
He has a point, it does just all fit together seamlessly doesn't it?
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 17:06 utc | 37
@32 Exile
re: end of June ... Only if Kiev throws in the towel on its costly defense of the fortified prewar-LOC positions. So probably not.
Optimistaically, June sees liberation of Lysichansk and the area within its influence (ie including points North and Northwest of Popasnaya). Then will be possible to clear out the other side of the Donets river, which has proved hard to cross. Will that be fast or slow? No clue. Anyway going to smth like 15-20km of Slavyansk/Kramatorsk. The exact lines and direction also might not be obvious because of details of geography and which settlements are fortified etc. Then basically repeat everything of the past month, but in the Slavyansk/Kramatorsk area -- to be wrapped around 3 sides as has been the consistent pattern for all the tough spots. And going south from Popasnaya, breaking down positions west of Donetsk, Ugledar area, etc. These things may or may not happen simultaneously.
Posted by: ptb | Jun 2 2022 17:08 utc | 38
Regarding losses and the people involved.
Back in the day of the Battle of Mons Graupius (83 CE), the Roman army scored a decisive victory against the Caledonian tribes of Northern Britain. While it was fair politics to give far greater numbers of enemies than who were there, and slaying them by the thousands, this battle has some noteworthy details.
"According to Tacitus, 8,000 allied auxiliary infantry formed the centre, while 3,000 cavalry were on the flanks, with the Roman legionaries as a reserve in front of their camp. ...
It is said that the Roman Legions took no part in the battle, being held in reserve throughout. According to Tacitus, 10,000 Caledonian lives were lost at a cost of only 360 auxiliary troops. 20,000 Caledonians retreated into the woods, where they fared considerably better against pursuing forces. Roman scouts were unable to locate the remaining Caledonian forces the next morning."
That`s the story of many a modern account of the battle.
What Tacitus actually wrote was (Agricola 37:
"About 10,000 of the enemy were slain; on our side there fell 360 men, and among them Aulus Atticus, the commander of the cohort, whose youthful impetuosity and mettlesome steed had borne him into the midst of the enemy."
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Agricola#16
I am pretty sure that Tacitus was only listing the number of fallen Romans, rather than the dead amongst the auxiliaries, who were not counted as Roman citizens, as opposed to the legionaries, who were looking on and who`s lives Agricola spared. Yet, most of the commanding "officers" amongst the auxiliaries where Romans and the number may indicate that quite a few of the auxiliaries and their Roman centurions et al fell victim to the Caledonians' swords.
Posted by: CM of Berlin | Jun 2 2022 17:11 utc | 39
Post #30 by Scorpion is a good example of what I mean by people misunderstanding who and what Soros is/does.
Since my initial experience with Soros in the 90's was in spreading the gospel of the open society, I found it strange that he was funding ostensibly progressive causes in the US.
I see his actions in Ukraine and elsewhere stemming from his views on The Open Society. Since these threads are supposed to be short, I'll just confine myself to noting that I think Soros sees the Zhelensky government, and indeed the whole Maidan tendency as pro-EU, anti-authoritarian, etc. I think this is reductive to the point of being wrong but promoting the EU, neo-liberalism, etc. has been his agenda for quite a while. I don't see how you get anti-American out of all this.
17 -- The vessel sunk was 40 years old. It had not had any major electronic systems changes. Those systems were from the very beginning of computers, facing the most modern missile guidance systems. It hardly mattered if they were turned on.
Posted by: Mark Thomason | Jun 2 2022 17:16 utc | 41
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 16:42 utc | 27
"[Bezos] Couldn't leverage masthead to secure the JEDI contract (because employees own it)"
I didn't say that. There is no "Big Man" here. I speak about a strawman. What I mean is Bezos got the JEDI contract from Mattis as a payment for him keeping the wapo for the Pentagon.
"WaPoo has been a federal company newsletter since its founding".
Yes, and that's why the Pentagon wanted it. There is no such thing as "federal" unique entity today. The "federal" Washington is a battlefield where many competing interests are trying to push the policy in this or that direction. The Pentagon needs a tool to promote its own point of view.
It goes the same way for Elon Musk buying Twitter. He's a front for the Pentagon.
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 17:18 utc | 42
I think people get so carried away with Soros that they lose sight of what he actually does and has done. I'm no fan of Soros for a lot of reasons but I don't see how it helps understanding issues to turn him into some kind of puppet master, when he's just one actor in an ecosystem.
Posted by: Chip | Jun 2 2022 14:51 utc | 4
Perhaps true, but most parents of criminal children say that "he was such a good kid, but he got into a bad company". Someone had to set the tone, and here, Soros was definitely not a "naive kid". More visible than most, largely due to his own efforts.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 2 2022 17:20 utc | 43
... THE Question For Our Times: How Do We Stop Western Barbarity?
The one answer I received at The Saker's where I first drafted it was to threaten the West with nukes via a demonstration detonation. Hopefully, some other alternatives will be posited. ...
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 2 2022 14:44 utc | 2
A related question came up in a recent thread: that of how to force the geopolitical oligarchyâs skin back into the game for them, on the grounds that they might be able to ride out nuclear war in their billionaire bunkers while we perish.
I suggested that RF could retarget some of its strategic nuclear force onto global oligarchyâs doomsday bunkers, wherever they may be, then quietly let that fact be known to all concerned.
Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 2 2022 17:22 utc | 44
...on fighter jets
The USAF currently has a shortage of about 1,100 fighter pilots (probably Russia too). Not only are ground threats a problem, but pilots, especially fighter pilots, are subject to all kinds of illness.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 16:13 utc | 19
Somewhere I read an article that 500 Russian pilot lost jobs because China cut on the number of domestic flights. Very often, such pilots were trained in the military...
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 2 2022 17:23 utc | 45
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 17:18 utc | 43
Yes! See: https://www.mintpressnews.com/elon-musk-not-renegade-outsider-cia-pentagon-contractor/280972/
AUSTIN, TEXAS â Elon Muskâs proposed takeover of Twitter has ruffled many feathers among professional commentators. âMusk is the wrong leader for Twitterâs vital mission,â read one Bloomberg headline. The network also insisted, âNothing in the Tesla CEOâs track record suggests he will be a careful steward of an important media property.â âElon Musk is the last person who should take over Twitter,â wrote Max Boot in The Washington Post, explaining that â[h]e seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.â The irony of outlets owned by Michael Bloomberg and Jeff Bezos warning of the dangers of permitting a billionaire oligarch to control our media was barely commented upon.
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 17:23 utc | 46
The Russian pilot general, whose death looked like another Ukrainian fake (MoA wrote about it recently), really died, his plane was shot down by MANPADS.
The deceased was awarded the title of Hero of Russia posthumously.
>>>>: Down South | Jun 2 2022 15:07 utc | 8
The RF MoD is trying to get the same message across.
But most of the mercenaries are destroyed in the war zone due to their low level of training and lack of real combat experience.
The reason war in Afghanistan was so easy was that the Taliban didn't have artillery so most US and NATO bases were untouchable and Russia and China did not supply it to the Taliban . Now that US and NATO are supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons, I wonder if Russia will be so considerate next time round. The EU NATO members in particular are doing incredibly stupid things because of their arrogance, stupidity and overwhelming sense of entitlement. Perhaps some of those FH70s and M777 will be captured and passed on to the next country Europe decides to intervene in along with captured Javelins, etc.
BTW, don't remember where it was but ex-British soldier who led a tank hunter-killer team recounted one effort. Four in the team went looking but two didn't come back because direct fire from Russian tank(s) hit them.
All these wonder weapons are going to have no effect on the outcome of the war even the armed MQ-1C drones Ukraine is buying at $40 million each. After this operation is over with Russia winning why would anybody besides US and NATO countries want to buy American weapons when potential buyers have seen how useless and expensive they are when compared with Russian kit.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jun 2 2022 17:31 utc | 48
"Any thoughts on the relative non use of Russian airpower. Is it the efficiency of SAM's or something else?"
And you get this from? Every time the MOD puts out its daily updates there are listed many sorties by tactical aviation, as well as long range air launched missile strikes listed separately. So my thought is get better sources.
Posted by: nook | Jun 2 2022 17:33 utc | 49
I especially adore this come-to-Jesus moment from Amarynth's sizzing sitrep (at the Saker):
How long before people stop saying: Russia Should...Russia is picking up her own dead and injured and wounded, as well as Ukrainian dead and injured and wounded because the Ukrainians do not even pick up their own dead and injured. Even that! Russia must do for them.
Russia is feeding the people with emergency aid.
Russia is rebuilding areas, farming, villages and cities to a functioning state (Unlike the US NATO and partners in Afghanistan for example).
Russia is the only one that stood up against the odious Nazi ideology and its excesses against humankind, and again is clearing the world of that.
Russia and China are calling out the hypocrisy underneath the ugly and foolish faces of all in the hegemonic declining powers selling lies, by every method that is possible. They mock the evil, they speak against it, they expose it, and they are and will fight against it. That is why the ugly and foolish-faced are running the Cancel Russia campaign because they are being driven into a corner and cannot stand it any longer.
Whew!
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jun 2 2022 17:36 utc | 50
@1 following
Another volley of articles falling into the Soros trap.
Soros is a dying man, proponent of a dying ideology. It is true that he is influential in Ukraine, but how influential can an individual, with a narrow and primitive worldview, be? He still has to reconcile or to hide the contradictions between his neoliberal "open society" shit, and the nazi feces of those executing physical power in Ukraine.
As an oligarch, he is somewhat strong but no match to Bezos, Musk, Gates, not even Kholomoisky (who wields more real power in Ukraine, and juggles the balls of his different clients from Nazi to liberal more masterfully). What is more important, is his role as a poster boy of NED, and a target of hatred by GOP followers and Dem haters.
He is the classical honeypot attracting antisemitic and other ultra right wing hatred, thus giving legitimacy to him and the endeavours he supports in the eyes of progressives and other democratic people all over the world. "Anti Soros" that way immediately stinks of antisemitism, nationalism, racism and other ugliness.
It is forgotten that the NED he heads was founded as CIA spin-off by Reagan, and is in fact a public private partnership between Soros's tax evasion bodies like OSF etc., and CIA non military subversion activities. It will survive Soros when he is long rotten.
All that Soros ranting is moot and harmful. It was amusing how Kissinger brushed him away at WEF.
Posted by: aquadraht | Jun 2 2022 17:36 utc | 51
>>>>: ptb | Jun 2 2022 16:58 utc | 33
Often overlooked but German loses at Verdun were of the same order of magnitude as French. Casualties at Battle of the Somme were similar but not so close as at Verdun.
After Verdun, French largely switched to defensive use of their troops while British, battle-hardened and tested on the Somme moved more to offensive.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jun 2 2022 17:44 utc | 52
@51 well if you are not one of the privileged one of the western world you have to do that stuff I guess
Posted by: Macpott | Jun 2 2022 17:46 utc | 53
'Demonstration' Atomic bomb?
Are you serious? Isn't that what the US did when it dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima, a warning to the Soviet Union?
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 15:48 utc | 11
I didn't get the impression that was karlof1's suggestion; rather, that it was the only suggestion he received as an answer to his question.
Myself, a slightly less bad suggestion would be for Russia to invite the USA to fire a barrage of missiles at Russia (preferably without actual nuclear warheads) in order to demonstrate how easily Russia could shoot them down. Seeing as the USA's nuclear posture is in essence offensive -- everyone knows the USA believes in executing nuclear first strikes if and when the opportunity presents itself -- a demonstration of the uselessness of such a first strike might be of some value. But fraught with considerable risk (what if one of the missiles got through?), so don't think I'm offering this as a serious suggestion.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 2 2022 17:47 utc | 54
Are you serious? Isn't that what the US did when it dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima, a warning to the Soviet Union?Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 15:48 utc | 11
There is a theory that the 2 bombs dropped on Japan, and the island tests that preceded them, were fake. The bombs were conventional, with some radioactive material added.
How else do you explain the complete reconstruction of the Japanese cities in 4 years, except for the small memorial park? A real nuclear explosion is supposed to leave the area uninhabitable for centuries.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jun 2 2022 17:52 utc | 55
The Big Fucking Giant is here:
https://t.me/azmilitary11/5699
Poland,apparently, is already moving to seize territories in the west of UkraineThis was announced by Patrushev at a meeting on national security in the Volga region. Here are some more of his statements:âźď¸
A number of states are actively working on the dismemberment of Ukraine
Zelensky does not care about the sovereignty of the country;
the West is not against taking advantage of the situation in Ukraine for selfish purposesThis "seizure" is apparently moving forward following the recently-signed Zelensky "deal" that Poland shall be allowed to appoint governmental positions within the "existing" Ukrainian government.
I warned y'all (a wee bit, to be sure): Poland has been looking to expand its hold over Galicia--but this is overkill.
My worries about the "overkill" part have now been confirmed: Poland is looking to declare, based on its phlegmatically contrived "agreement" (read: Ukrainian Surrender") with/to Poland,that the current territory of "Western Ukraine" is now "Polish territory."
The global implications of this declaration are written large.
Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Jun 2 2022 17:52 utc | 56
.. THE Question For Our Times: How Do We Stop Western Barbarity?
The one answer I received at The Saker's where I first drafted it was to threaten the West with nukes via a demonstration detonation. Hopefully, some other alternatives will be posited. ...
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 2 2022 14:44 utc | 2
A related question came up in a recent thread: that of how to force the geopolitical oligarchyâs skin back into the game for them, on the grounds that they might be able to ride out nuclear war in their billionaire bunkers while we perish.
I suggested that RF could retarget some of its strategic nuclear force onto global oligarchyâs doomsday bunkers, wherever they may be, then quietly let that fact be known to all concerned.
Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 2 2022 17:22 utc | 45
Take away their money and property, we did it to Russia, we can certainly do it to a plutocrat. I'm not saying we will, but we certainly can. Misuse your wealth, and you lose it. Sensible, I think.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 2 2022 17:59 utc | 57
To Karlov1 re #2 viz yr article https://vk.com/@580896205-the-question-for-our-times-how-do-we-stop-western-barbarity:
Some of the remarks about Royalty and the French Revolution are over-simplifications but the nub of the article revolves around various Russian and Chinese expressions of how the current world order should be run in a manner that treats all nations as equal and each nation respects every other nation's sovereignty and security.
Fair enough.
Here is the conclusion:
"Now, we should again ask how do we stop what's clearly madness yet has existed since 1945? An institution and mechanisms were developed but weren't capable of doing the job then or now. Can anything better than the UN and its Charter be devised? IMO, the answer is no, although the institution can be improved and democratized. The main point at issue is the UNSC Veto which prevents humanity from holding the Outlaw US Empire accountable for its many crimes. Pacify the Outlaw US Empire then renegotiate the purpose of the UNSC? Good hypothesis but how to implement? Eject the Outlaw US Empire from the UN and move its HQ?
I've mulled over those and other possibilities for the last three decades. IMO, as with Ukraine, the USA must be demilitarized and denazified to the point where a new Constitution is written and new institutions established. Russians ought to return the 1990s favor provided by the Outlaw US Empire."
OK, leaving aside the fact that the author is clearly biased against the US (not without good reason but hardly something which a US official or citizen is going to find palatable!), and leaving aside the suggestion that somehow the US should be made to demilitarize and denazify ('must be') because barring a massive military invasion and occupation involving the death of millions that can only happen voluntarily from within, the question remains: how to reform the UN so that it fulfills its mission?
Clearly the unbalanced Security Council has to go. Also any other group with resolution powers that does not include all nations.
But before that is the issue of what powers should the UN have or not have, what should it be doing?
I believe the UN should have NO executive powers whatsoever, collect no taxes and run no ground operations of any sort anywhere. Instead it should be a highly respected advisory body whose powers are that of the pen, not the sword or gold. Nations who act against a UN Security Council (reformed) resolution can expect to be sanctioned or otherwise punished but these actions cannot come from the UN itself rather by various nations, some of whom will respect the resolution, others of whom will not. However, the process of coming to a resolution to be published and the terms of the resolution itself will not be without significant influence and thus play a part in future events involving this controversy or whatever.
Why no plenary powers?
Because if the UN has executive power it will be subject to unending politicking to take over its decision-making and at some point bad actors will create the same sort of deceit-filled charade we see now in the USA and Europe. It will be corrupted as the first go-around was with the emphasis in 1946 on creating Israel. Displacing a people was an inauspicious beginning (which is why I personally think it should be disbanded and something entirely different created in its place and in a different location).
Why no Central Government:
A world central government is a terrible idea. First, it will be corrupted like all central governments for the same reasons as just mentioned earlier but second, how can you set up needed checks and balances for the UN? A UN Supreme Court? Who appoints them? If you want to reform the UN AND make it an executive central world government then along with all the high-sounding egalitarian language in various proposals you must first offer practical suggestions for checks and balances, for how to identify and then eliminate corruption. Without that it's just more fancy ideation without practical applicability. I humbly suggest that without a universally respected higher power - such as a World Monarch - there is no way to do this. That being the case, it's simply a bad idea even if the motivation behind is excellent.
Personally, I think better than than the UN is for like-minded nations to form associations (as is currently the case in various Eurasian groups) and then create financial and other interchange mechanisms apart from the BIS Central Bank network which is perhaps the root of most evil here (rather than simplistic concepts like US, UK, EU etc.).
But the main thing is that if, for example, a new Eurasian zone is established and moves forward and moreover does well politically, financially and culturally and is open to new partners then that in itself will solve most of the current problems and provide momentum forward out of them entirely. In other words, get out from under the bankster system and steam forward independently using a new one and leave the old order and its old bankster-led systems floundering in its wake.
I am not convinced that there is any need for a UN per se if the evils of the current hegemon are simply left behind. So perhaps the simplest way to start is for Russia and China et alia to leave the UN, abandon any centralized world government notion and chart their course forward into a brave new world without one. The best way to slay the dragon is to stop feeding it by believing in its power or accepting its terms; so just dissolve such fixations, cut relations and move forward into a brave new world free of such impediments.
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 17:06 utc |Â 38
Pepe Escobar yet again using a lot of buzzwords without tying it into a more cohesive narrative.
And Kissinger wasn't with the Rothschilds, he is a Rockefeller errand boy.
Posted by: v | Jun 2 2022 18:04 utc | 59
Misuse your wealth, and you lose it. Sensible, I think.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 2 2022 17:59 utc | 58
Yep, confiscated as criminal instrument.
Posted by: John Kennard | Jun 2 2022 18:07 utc | 60
An interesting article by Valdai Club director Timofei Bordachev. Perhaps another reason Russia is using minimal forces in Ukraine.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/kissinger-and-the-fight-for-russia/
However, in the event that the acute phase of the conflict in Ukraine really turns out to be very long, which, apparently, is the case, then the elementary needs of survival will force Russia to get rid of what binds it to Europe. This is exactly what those Russian scholars and public figures are calling for, who in every possible way emphasise the existential nature of the confrontation taking place on our western borders.The inevitable redistribution of resources and power on a global scale cannot happen in a completely peaceful manner, although the irrationality of an offensive war between the great powers, given the nuclear deterrence factor, provides us with some hope for the preservation of humanity. Amid the struggle now gaining momentum, Russia, like Europe, is, despite its military capabilities, a participant inferior in strength to the main warring parties â China and the United States. Therefore, there is a struggle for Russia, and there is a dwindling opportunity for the West to win, which Henry Kissinger is now trying to say.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 18:13 utc | 61
Phase 3 then might begin early August. My guess phase 3 will be liberation of Odessa region.
Thoughts ? Timing ? Direction ?
Posted by: Exile | Jun 2 2022 16:57 utc | 32
Plug the West.
Posted by: John Kennard | Jun 2 2022 18:14 utc | 62
26
I know it is not politically correct to say this, but Jews are strikingly represented in your list.
There surely is a reason why Soros has been banned from China for 30+ years.
I think decent countries should jointly make a list of individuals and organizations (NGO's, foundations, companies etc.) that will be completely blocked from their territories.
Posted by: Nico | Jun 2 2022 18:17 utc | 63
John Kennard | Jun 2 2022 18:14 utc | 63
I suspect that if there has been no change of government in Ukraine by the time Luhansk and Donetsk are cleared there will be a long pause to give time for that to occur.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 18:28 utc | 64
If the enemy doesn't have air support, missiles or heavy artillery, you do what you please with your M777 and HIMARS MLRS.
But if your adversary has not only air support, but absolute air superiority and all the rest, you'd better think carefully about what you're going to do.
And think fast, before the bombs start falling on your head.
It seems these American weapons work well if your opponent is a dispossessed Afghan soldier with a sandal and an old AK47.
Not the case here, huh?
Posted by: SCan | Jun 2 2022 18:29 utc | 65
No wonder the world is totally fucked up. This from Germany:
German government spokesperson BĂźchner:"Chancellor Scholz has announced the decision to supply Ukraine with the most advanced air defence system, the Iris-T system."
Journalist: "As far as I know, it's an air-to-air missile system. But there are almost no serviceable aircraft left in Ukraine to mount it. So there is no point in supplying such missiles?
BĂźchner: "I will have to skip this question because it is technical in nature."
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 18:33 utc | 66
Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 18:33 utc | 67
Even if Ukraine did have planes, they would require some upgrades to be able to use those missiles. The choice is I think deliberate, same as sending those anti aircraft guns with no ammo. Germany/Scholz does not want to supply weapons so they make empty gestures.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 18:39 utc | 67
Reports of OPEC+ death are greatly exaggerated
To deflect attention from Lavrovâs successful trip to Riyadh, the US-led âinformation warâ has concocted the fake news that Saudi Arabia is âreportedly consideringâ Russiaâs removal from the OPEC+. Lavrovâs talks in Riyadh underscore that on the contrary, Russia and Saudi Arabia are signalling that OPEC+ is indeed going strong. The message cannot be lost on Washington.This sidewiding plot development is comical conclusion to the Daniel Yergin Bibble. (1) KSA has always been the #1 producer; price-maker of light-sweet oil majors' distro (2) RUSSIA has always been the #2 producer, heavy crude price-maker, ie. cheap diesel demand in EU, Global South (3) FF>>| 2010, Anglo-american wildcat price takers enter the market with expensive TX,CA tar sands, shale; US declares self #1 'net oil producer" chasing yield, US fed assissinates VZ and lesser OPEC economies; (4) KSA creates worldwide glut, US rig count credit crashes with price; (5) US brokers restate obv "OPEC+" market power 2016, when KSA resets price floor (6) FF>> | 2020 peak mpg demand destruction, "OPEC+" supply chain discipline resumes (ex US consultation). And here we are: rapidly Blinken at US, EU demand destruction d/b/a an "oil embargo" that liberated OPEC+ vol, val.
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 18:42 utc | 68
@ 67
BĂźchner: "I will have to skip this question because it is technical in nature."
That's classic. . ."I don't do technical . .how about financial?"
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 18:44 utc | 69
@Nico | Jun 2 2022 18:17 utc | 64
I want to remind that Vladimir Solowyev, Yevgeny Satanovsky, Arkady Rotenberg, just to name a few, are Jews too. Does that strengthen your prejudice?
Posted by: aquadraht | Jun 2 2022 18:51 utc | 70
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 18:28 utc | 65
I was thinking more in terms of Rosgvardiya on the Polish border.
To make things perfectly clear.
Posted by: John Kennard | Jun 2 2022 18:51 utc | 71
John Kennard | Jun 2 2022 18:51 utc | 72
I checked back and realized my answer should have been addressed to exile.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 18:55 utc | 72
Early in the campaign Western sources claimed that Russia was flying 200+ sorties a day.
Many of the jets took off from Russian territory and launched long range missiles without
crossing over into Donbass or other parts of the Ukraine. I think the Israels do the same
when attacking Syria in many cases.
In the Western propaganda media and pro-war democratic party websites the Russian air force is described as inept. It is probably because they are used to US/NATO massive bombing campaigns on defenseless targets as their models. Witness Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan. Especially Raqqa. The Russians have no need to devastate large cities as they want few civilian casualties. I have no doubt that Russian bombers could level Kiev any time they wanted.
Posted by: Erelis | Jun 2 2022 18:57 utc | 73
Posted by: Parisian Guy | Jun 2 2022 17:18 utc | 43
o, rly? Y U hate Larry, Sergey, and Bill?
Sept 2020 DOD Reaffirms Original JEDI Cloud Award to Microsoft
"While contract performance will not begin immediately due to the Preliminary Injunction Order issued by the Court of Federal Claims on February 13, 2020, DoD is eager to begin delivering this capability to our men and women in uniform."
July 2021 Pentagon cancels $10 billion JEDI cloud contract that Amazon and Microsoft were fighting over
"Pentagon is launching a new multivendor cloud computing contract."
Oct 2021 Pentagon finishes research for JEDI replacement as Supreme Court dismisses final legal challenge
Enter the "Joint Warfighter Cloud Cabability (JWCC) program"
Nov 2021 DoD picks Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle for multibillion dollar project to replace JEDI Cloud
win-win-win-win!
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 18:58 utc | 74
From the webs - U.S. will provide precision rockets to Ukraine. âBiden: The rockets are to be used solely in Ukraine, not against targets within Russia. Kyiv has given me (the United States) assurances that the new weapons will be used in Ukraine and not against targets in Russia.â
Everyone knows that 'elensky will pop one of those missiles into Russia the moment he gets his queer fingers on them. What will be Putin's response? A hypersonic missile into a US carrier will do nicely.
Posted by: Earl | Jun 2 2022 18:59 utc | 75
As to Russian aviation, there is question as to type of sorties run. I believe the original post was referring to high altitude bombers? Low altitude gravity bombing is seen, also missile launches from same. MiGs, Su. I also wonder why the Tu high altitude carpet bombers donât seem to be utilized. It sure looks like RF does not truly have air superiority. Manpads dont reach that high, so other systems must be in the AOP?
Posted by: Rk | Jun 2 2022 19:01 utc | 76
from Bloomberg
How the World Is Paying for Putin's War in Ukraine
In early March, as the US and its allies unleashed a wave of sanctions on Russia, President Joe Biden stood in the White House and said they wanted to deal a âpowerful blow to Putinâs war machine.âBut as the war in Ukraine approaches its 100th day, that machine is still very much operational. Russia is being propelled by a flood of cash that could average $800 million a day this year â and that's just what the commodity superpower is raking in from oil and gas.
For years, Russia has acted as a vast commodity supermarket selling what an insatiable world has needed: Not just energy, but wheat, nickel, aluminum and palladium too. The invasion of Ukraine has pushed the US and the European Union to rethink this relationship. Itâs taking time, though the EU took a further step this week by hammering out a compromise agreement on Russian oil imports.
Russia is far from unscathed by the sanctions. . . Corporate giants have fled, many walking away from billions of dollars of assets. . . But Putin can ignore this damage for now, because his coffers are overflowing with the revenue from commodities, which have become more lucrative than ever thanks to the surge in global prices driven in part by the war in Ukraine.
Even with some countries halting or phasing out energy purchases, Russia's oil-and-gas revenue will be about $285 billion this year, according to estimates from Bloomberg Economics based on Economy Ministry projections. That would exceed the 2021 figure by more than one-fifth. Throw in other commodities, and it more than makes up for the $300 billion in foreign reserves frozen as part of the sanctions.
The US has already banned Russian oil, but Europe is only slowly weaning itself off this dependency. Thatâs giving Moscow time to find other markets â such as commodity guzzling behemoths China and India â to limit any to damage to export revenue, and its financial war chest.
That means the money is gushing into Russiaâs accounts, and the financial figures are a constant reminder to the West that dramatic change is needed. Oil-export revenue alone is up 50% from a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency. Russiaâs top oil producers made their highest combined profit in almost a decade in the first quarter, Moscow-based SberCIB Investment Research estimates. And wheat exports continue â at higher prices â as sanctions on Russian agriculture aren't even being discussed because the world needs its grain. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 19:04 utc | 77
Erelis | Jun 2 2022 18:57 utc | 74
SU-25's are constantly working over the frontlines. Russian Mod list the number of air launched precision missile strikes and I would guess a single aircraft would be cable of launching more than one missile per flight. That makes the vast bulk of the sorties ground attack by I think mostly SU-25's and helicopters.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 2 2022 19:05 utc | 78
Regarding the posts about Russia using a nuke as a message to the West that their idiot game is getting out of hand, Dmitry Orlov says he thinks Russia might abrogate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and test an above ground nuke at some point. The YouTube interview with Orlov is very interesting and typically wry, it's from around the start of the SMO.
BTW most USSR tests were in now independent republics, maybe Novaya Zemlya island is sadly available, which I googled and people do actually live there now but not many. Stock up on UHT milk.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 2 2022 19:07 utc | 79
Someone wrote there is a "soft" form of fascism. No, there's not. These people would just as soon kill you as look at you.
Posted by: Richard | Jun 2 2022 19:14 utc | 80
Posted by: SCan | Jun 2 2022 18:29 utc | 66
Re the US Howitzers:
They're already being taken out!
Intel Slava Z, [02/06/2022 19:19]
[ Album ]
đˇđşđşđŚâď¸The Russian army destroyed a battery of American howitzers M777 of the 406th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the village of Zhovtenoe, - source
Two photos, one before and one after a 'visit'.
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 19:17 utc | 81
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 19:04 utc | 78
"a vast commodity supermarket" LOL! Bloomberg, Mike and his army of $trolls, is so trashy
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 19:18 utc | 82
...
Journalist: "As far as I know, it's an air-to-air missile system. But there are almost no serviceable aircraft left in Ukraine to mount it. So there is no point in supplying such missiles? ...
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 18:33 utc | 67
It is an air-to-air missile but there is a ground-based launcher truck for the air defence role. OTOH, it seems like it might also be able engage land targets and surface vessels ... Odessa, anyone?
Perhaps the real news, as with Yankee MLRS, is that this tech is getting to the point where only NATO personnel will be able to operate it?
Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 2 2022 19:19 utc | 83
Barofsky@ 67
The reporter is incorrect and the German spokesman is ignorant of German weapons systems.
Germany will be delivering the surface-to-air IRIS-T missile defense system rather than the European short-range air-to-air IRIS-T
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-send-iris-t-air-defence-system-ukraine-scholz-2022-06-01/
Specifications of the IRIS-T SL system:
https://pafsymposium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DIEHL__brochure_compressed.pdf
The IRIS-T is a family of three surface-to-air guided missile systems:
IRIS-T SLM with 40 km range/20 km altitude coverage
IRIS-T SLS with 12 km range/8 km altitude coverage
IRIS-T SLS Mk III with 12 km range/8 km altitude coverage
The top-of-the-line IRIS-T SLM will not likely be sent to Ukraine as it is the most capable system and thus reserved for only the German military. The latter two IRIS systems differ in mobility as the IRIS-T SLS MkIII has fire on-the-move capability. In either case, "It will take a while, months," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told lawmakers, adding the system, made by arms manufacturer Diehl, had initially been intended for "another countryâ.
The capabilities of the IRIS-T SLS and IRIS-Y SLS Mk III are actually less than the Russian Buk-M2E which has a missile range of 20 km
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/buk-m2e-air-defence-missile-system/
The German IRIS-T systems cannot stop hypersonic missiles and the Buk-M2E in Russian hands does not have to.
Posted by: Krollchem | Jun 2 2022 19:27 utc | 84
Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 2 2022 19:19 utc | 84
You know, it really doesn't matter whether they can or can't be used by Ukraine, or whether or not they have trained personnel or that they even fire the damn things, that's not the objective of arming the Fascist government with whatever weapons, the real reason, or at least the major reason, is to keep the conflict going for as long as possible, Ukrainians are expendable. And of course there's all that money for the weapons and the lend/lease deal which will put Ukraine in hock to the US moneylenders forever (the UK only finished paying back its lend/lease WWII deal, I think sometime in the 1980s).
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 19:29 utc | 85
@ sln2002 83
The point is that Russia is raking in the rubles.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 19:29 utc | 86
@2 karlof / The question for our times: how do we stop western barbarity?
Like most of the barflies here, I have wondered abut this myself. As a US citizen, I know all too well the culture, the psychological makeup, of the country. American society is individualistic and competitive, and sometimes overlaid with a veneer of civilized culture. But it is barbarous at the core and there is nothing that can be done about it. It may be possible though, to change its behavior. One of the key factors that leads it to act (out) as it does is the feeling of invulnerability. The ruling class controls the government, the police, the courts, and through its control of the media, public opinion. As Ralph Nader and others have pointed out, today the legal system such as it is cannot touch corporate criminals. They are immune, and free to oppress the working class, commit assassinations, start wars, destroy the environment, anything to make a buck and no one can do anything about it. IMHO this is the source of the rage that is breaking out more and more frequently in violent sects that often lead to mass shootings - for a barbarian blind violence briefly calms the hatred. Internationally the US has oceans on either side that, until the advent of guided missiles, made it practically immune to attacks from abroad.
The hoi palloi rises up every now and then in response to some current outrage but it doesn´t last, nothing happens. Those who live where the riots occur are inconvenienced, but those with the power to actually change things are not affected at all. The BLM movement, the environmental movement, Roe/Wade demonstrations, anti-war demonstrations make a lot of noise but they do not touch those in power. This has to change.
Out in the wider world, aggrieved groups have resorted to the slaughter of innocent people as a symbolic means of expressing their outrage. Of course, those responsible are not affected and nothing changes. To actually stop the barbarity we (we know who we are) have to begin inconveniencing the ruling class. Personally.
The old Weather Underground opted for political violence â actually more symbolic violence â that got the attention of the public but ultimately was beaten down by the police in the absence of popular support. Terrorism, the slaughter of innocents for political purposes, really doesn´t work even when done by the US Air Force. Political assassinations, maybe. Those vermin, though worthy of assassination, are just the puppets of the people who need to be influenced. To stop war, the logical conclusion would be to attack those who benefit, say the CEOs of the arms industry. To go after neoliberalism, it would be logical to start picking off the heads of the leading hedge funds and too big to fail banks. You get the idea. Pharmaceutical companies don´t exactly have clean hands. Once you start making lists you see this is a target rich environment. Killing innocent people is wrong, but stepping in to give the guilty, people who really do have blood on their hands, a taste of their own medicine is the only way to apply violence to the situation. The Russians can´t do it, it is our problem and we have to do it ourselves.
For such a campaign to not generate horror and resistance it has to be accompanied by a political justification which would be very difficult when the ruling class controls the media. There would be blow-back, serious blow-back that could turn into a civil war. Political violence has had success in the past. Just in the 20th century the Brown shirts, the black shirts, the Falange were all armed wings of political parties. What is currently happening in Ukraine is another example of an armed wing of a political movement taking power. It is a slippery slope. By adopting their methods do we become as them. Where does it stop?
Posted by: c | Jun 2 2022 19:32 utc | 87
Did you guys see the youtube video today of Ukraine requesting the assassination of Ritter?
Posted by: Stranger_1 | Jun 2 2022 19:39 utc | 88
re: karlof1 | Jun 2 2022 14:44 utc | 2
You suggest that Russia should "threaten the West with nukes via a demonstration detonation" ?
I assume you would define a "demonstration" to mean the weapon would be detonated over the sea or a desert area, which is uninhabited by humans? But such a detonation would release a lot of radioactivity that would kill or damage all the animals and people (basically all living things) it comes into contact with. There are no benign nuclear detonations.
Unless the brain-dead Western leaders were on hand to view the detonation, I doubt they would act to stand down their forces, rather the opposite. The nuclear weapon states would all go to alert levels one step below actual nuclear war (DEFCON 2 in the US). Somehow this doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
How about sending Spetsnaz out to make house visits for the all the "leaders" in the West? This would be a gift to the oppressed peoples of the West . . .
Posted by: Perimetr | Jun 2 2022 19:39 utc | 89
Blowback
Eurasia & Multipolarity, [02/06/2022 20:01]
âĄď¸Sources from Syria confirm that US Javelin delivered to Ukraine are now flooding the Middle-East/Central Asia, they are already in the hands of HTS, former Nusra front, in Idlib, Taliban in Afghanistan got some more after those they acquired after defeating the US and vassals, Syrian govt forces obtained a batch of them, maybe even Hezbollah lol
https://t.me/EurasianChoice/14596
Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 19:39 utc | 90
I thought threats of murder violated TOS for youtube LOL
Not if your are Russian or speak the truth about the war, evidently
So this means us gentlemen!
Posted by: Stranger_1 | Jun 2 2022 19:42 utc | 91
71
I am not prejudiced, I am merely comparing the percentage of Jews in the general population with the percentage of Jews in certain circles...
I think we should simply stop that false narrative that Jews are good people just because there was the Holocaust. Many Jews these days are just horrible people, among the worst the world has to offer. And it is not really a new thing, they were already very busy in African slave trade for instance...
Posted by: Nico | Jun 2 2022 19:44 utc | 92
@ karlof1 | Jun 2 2022 14:44 utc | 2
How to stop western barbarity? a very interesting and important question.
I have two suggestions:-
Firstly, from the point of view of most of the world the Ukraine situation is a total disaster. A lot of the world's population will be experiencing extreme hardship due to the food and fertiliser situation alone. If the thing goes full on nuclear then billions will perish, mankind will probably survive but technological civilisation will be gone, possibly permanently. An appeal to the UN is unlikely to work since the UN is mainly controlled by the west and the general assembly includes a sizeable contingent of western aligned micro states which will always vote with the NATO countries. The only real diplomatic hope is that enough countries get together and refuse to deal with the NATO countries (ie sanctions and embargos) Not only would that cut NATO off from the materials it needs but it would send a clear message to the populations of western countries that not everyone sees the conflict their way. However, I seriously doubt that that is going to happen, not in time anyway.
The second option, some sort of nuclear demonstration, is fraught with all sorts of dangers but there are several options:-
1) Exploding a nuke somewhere on RF territory. Forget it, it won't work on any level, Mad Vlad memes would abound and it would be ignored as a bluff.
2) A tactical nuke in Ukraine. What happens when they get one back? do they use two next time? I'm sure the US crazies would simply love a tit for tat tactical nuke exchange confined to Russia and Ukraine. Forget about it, its a non option.
3) One single strategic nuke, with warning in advance, targeting a substantial US ally (I would choose the city of London myself) with a warning that the next strikes will be on US cities. Will the US launch a nuclear apocalypse to avenge their ally, knowing they will be next? They might do unfortunately but equally they might not and choose to de-escalate. At least this way they obey the gamblers maxim 'always leave the last guess to your opponents'. Full disclosure, I actually live in the UK so I really really don't want that to happen but If I were Russian and convinced that nukes were the only way, that would be my move. Yes I know, I am a monster for even thinking that way but I am convinced that the west is ruled by monsters and there will be no civilised solution.
Posted by: MarkU | Jun 2 2022 19:49 utc | 93
re: Opport Knocks | Jun 2 2022 17:52 utc | 56
you say "There is a theory that the 2 bombs dropped on Japan, and the island tests that preceded them, were fake. The bombs were conventional, with some radioactive material added.
How else do you explain the complete reconstruction of the Japanese cities in 4 years, except for the small memorial park? A real nuclear explosion is supposed to leave the area uninhabitable for centuries.
The two atomic bombs detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both air bursts, detonated at an altitude calculated to maximize blast and thermal (fire) effects. The fireball in an air burst does not touch the surface of the earth, so the radioactive fallout is minimal compared to a ground burst, where hundreds of thousands or millions of tons of surface material is vaporized and then becomes heavily radioactive by the ionizing radiation in the fireball.
That is why it was possible to continue to live in these cities, although many people who lived there wound up becoming ill or dying from the effects of radiation (includes prompt radiation as well as longer-lived radioactive isotopes that became ubiquitous in the environment.
For photos of Hiroshima before and after the bomb to to this link.
Posted by: Perimetr | Jun 2 2022 19:51 utc | 94
Head Up - New Javleins now for sale, Only $30,000us!
Never used and crypto accepted!
We can safely assume Biden and Co. new this would happen and therefore this is the plan.
https://t.me/Murad_Gazdiev/448
Posted by: Stranger_1 | Jun 2 2022 19:54 utc | 95
@ MarkU
One single strategic nuke, with warning in advance, targeting a substantial US ally (I would choose the city of London myself)A few days ago I was rather partial to Davos myself. Extra added advantage of Switzerland's not being an official NATO state.
This much said, there are only two ways to stop Western barbarity. One is to destroy the West; the other, which entails somewhat less risk to the continuation of life on earth. is to allow the West to destroy itself. The first Enlightenment failed and there won't be a second one.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 2 2022 20:02 utc | 96
I find this hard to believe, we could be looking at increasing hostilities.
"U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said that the states will not regulate the firing range of THE HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems that will be delivered to Ukraine, this will be done by Kiev.
"We are talking about yesterday's $700 million aid package, including HIMARS systems ... The Ukrainian side will regulate the distance at which they will shoot,""
https://ria.ru/20220602/rszo-1792735619.html
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jun 2 2022 20:02 utc | 97
The point is that Russia is raking in the rubles.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 2 2022 19:29 utc | 87
That's another reason why Bloomberg is so trashy! Management deliberately limits total information awareness to short-term gains!
The Kremlin is plotting to curb ruble speculation, as I type RUB "carry trade" manipulation is heating up. Helmer
Nabiullina was reappointed to run the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) on March 18. Three weeks later, Glazyev published his most detailed plan yet for the war economy; it is also a comprehensive attack on everything Nabiullina stands for. In interview form on Glazyevâs website, read the original Russian text here.
[...]
âNow the Bank of Russia, on the contrary, has sharply raised the key rate, and blocked the operation of the exchange, giving commercial banks the opportunity to speculate on the foreign exchange market without restraint. Thus, [the Bank] blocked the increase in credit to enterprises which could increase the output of import-substituting products, and instead allowed banks to profit from currency speculation. The government, not having sufficient opportunities to stimulate the growth of production and investment, has taken the path of deregulation of imports to the detriment of domestic producers. Instead of increasing the output of domestic products now to replace European and American goods which have left the Russian market, the bet is on filling it with substandard cheap imports from other countries.â
[...]
âRight now what is necessary is to make sure that they [Nabiullina, the CBR and the Finance Ministry] do not disrupt the execution of the instructionâ of the President on the transfer of payments for gas to rubles. If this is fulfilled, the Europeans themselves will resort to our market with their goods and euros, and the ruble will finally be quoted as a fully fledged currency; direct quotations of the ruble and yuan, ruble and rupee will begin on the Moscow stock exchange; a fully fledged market for settlements in national currencies with our main partners will be created, in which the ruble will take its proper place as one of the reserve currencies. And it will no longer be possible to steal foreign exchange earnings undetected through cut-out companies.â
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 2 2022 20:03 utc | 98
One thing Soros is not is a liberal. Rather, he is an billionaire neoconservative/neoliberal who is willing to use his fortune to further his personal and ideological interests. All the talk about open societies is cover for a self-serving and pernicious agenda. Itâs totally reminiscent of the neocon blather about bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East by overthrowing Saddam Hussein. That was cover for raping the country by creating a radically âopenâ neoliberal economy.
Posted by: Rob | Jun 2 2022 20:08 utc | 99
Great update again today from the Military Summary youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lm-8QNcnPY
He switches from flat maps to google type map views to really show the terrain and position elevations involved. If you are a bit of a war nerd like me you can't get any better coverage. Seems to be very much plugged in to the military side to get up to date changes to the front lines.
The rate of change seems to be really picking up in the Lisichansk/Severenodonetsk and Kramatorsk/Slavyansk areas with the Ukrainians buckling under the pressure. The former position could be untenable within a week, and in the latter the Russians may be entering Slavyansk within days. There have to be huge losses for the Ukrainians given the small distances involved in the salient, Russian gunners can hit anything in there.
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All signs point to George Soros directing the West response to the Ukraine Russia conflict
HERE
https://abrahamstein.substack.com/p/proof-george-soros-controls-ukraine
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Jun 2 2022 14:42 utc | 1