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

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

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

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

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

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

@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

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 “Lou” Weissing | Jun 2 2022 16:05 utc | 17

…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

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.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 2 2022 16:16 utc | 21

Biden should be impeached for giving weapons to Zionist mad man Zelensky and his psychotic regime with a ‘guarantee’ they will not be fired into Russian ‘territory’. This is negligence and incompetence and a moral hazard. Does Biden think the LPR and the DPR in Donbass aren’t 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

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

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

@ 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 Russia’s 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: FHTEX | Jun 2 2022 16:41 utc | 26
Well said!

Posted by: dh-mtl | Jun 2 2022 16:55 utc | 31

@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

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

Escobar’s latest:

Pepe Escobar, [02/06/2022 18:01]
HEGEL PLAYS ‘CROSSROADS’
ROCK’N 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 – it’s ALL engineered. A means to a – Great Reset – end (now re-billed at Davos as “The Great Narrative”).
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 “strategy” the “Narrative” 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

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

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

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

…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

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.

Posted by: alaff | Jun 2 2022 17:23 utc | 47

“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

@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

@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

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 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 oligarchy’s 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 oligarchy’s 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

Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 17:06 utc | 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

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 — 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

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

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

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

@ 67
Büchner: “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

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

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

From the webs – U.S. will provide precision rockets to Ukraine. “Biden: 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.”
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

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 “powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
But 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 — 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. It’s 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. That’s giving Moscow time to find other markets — such as commodity guzzling behemoths China and India — to limit any to damage to export revenue, and its financial war chest.
That means the money is gushing into Russia’s 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. Russia’s 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 — at higher prices — 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

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

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 ]
🇷🇺🇺🇦❗️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’.
https://t.me/intelslava/30633

Posted by: Barofsky | Jun 2 2022 19:17 utc | 81

…
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

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

@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 – actually more symbolic violence – 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

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

https://youtu.be/lfZ7SiRdBDk
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

@ 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

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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

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

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. It’s 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 “open” neoliberal economy.

Posted by: Rob | Jun 2 2022 20:08 utc | 99