Biden Administration Again Plants False Nuclear Scare Stories
Last month I dissected the fear mongering the Biden administration released over alleged Russian nuclear threads:
[The report] quotes Biden as saying: "[Putin] is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is you might say is significantly underperforming."Fact is that Putin has not talked about the "potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons." Not. At. All.
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All the war mongering talk and reports about Russia's alleged threat of nuclear weapon use in Ukraine is totally unfounded. That 'western' media suddenly engage in it shows that it is part of a well directed propaganda campaign.
I speculated that the intent of the campaign was to prepare for some false flag incident in Ukraine.
Two weeks later the Russian secret services found out that Ukraine was preparing a 'dirty bomb' which would spread radioactive substances with the help of chemical explosives. Such bombs are not a meaningful military threat but have a high 'scare' value. If it would use one of those the Ukraine would surely blame Russia for launching such a bomb.
When the Kremlin found out what Ukraine had planned it order Russia's Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of its General Staff Valery Gerasimov to call their peers in the U.S., Turkey, Britain and France. Shoigu called U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin even twice:
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday for the second time in three days and held a flurry of calls with three other counterparts from NATO countries.Moscow provided no details on the conversation with Austin, which came after the two men spoke on Friday for the first time since May. Its readouts on the other calls said Shoigu had said the situation in Ukraine was worsening.
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Shoigu spoke separately to Turkey's defence minister, Hulusi Akar, and Britain's Ben Wallace.Shoigu's ministry said he had told his French, Turkish and British counterparts of Moscow's concern that Ukraine could detonate a "dirty bomb" - a device laced with radioactive material. Russia has provided no evidence to substantiate such a claim.
Calls on such high levels are only done for serious business. They are not done for propaganda value or to warn of non-existing threats. The fact that these calls happened means that the threat from Ukraine was real.
The calls seemed to have had the desired effect. For a few days the talk of a 'dirty bomb' calmed down. It has now been revived.
Today the Washington Post as well as the New York Times are back fear mongering about alleged threats which Russia has never made. Both stories are based on 'administration officials' meaning that the Biden administration has planted these stories.
Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ threats challenge the nuclear calculus - WaPo
U.S. officials still maintain that Moscow is unlikely to go nuclear in Ukraine. But Washington doesn’t have many good options to prevent Putin’s worst intentions.
The dirty bomb speculation is tied to comments made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and repeated last week by Putin, suggesting Ukraine planned to detonate a device loaded with fissile material on its own territory. U.S. officials believe it is more likely that Russia’s warnings were in fact the opening steps of a false flag operation, signaling the Kremlin’s intentions to use such a weapon and blame Ukrainians for the fallout, literally.
Russian Military Leaders Discussed Use of Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Officials Say - NYT
The conversations alarmed the Biden administration because they showed how frustrated Moscow had become over its battlefield setbacks in Ukraine.
Senior Russian military leaders recently had conversations to discuss when and how Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, contributing to heightened concern in Washington and allied capitals, according to multiple senior American officials.
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President Vladimir V. Putin was not a part of the conversations, which were held against the backdrop of Russia’s intensifying nuclear rhetoric and battlefield setbacks.
Russia has not intensified its nuclear rhetoric and, since the Ukraine's push into the empty east Kharkov region came to a halt in late September, has not seen any recent battlefield setbacks. All attempts by Ukraine to break through the front lines have since been defeated at high cost for the attacking Ukrainian units.
Russia is in fact strengthening its front lines as more and more of the 300,000 mobilized reservists join its forces. It has degraded the Ukraine's transport and communication infrastructure by destroying some 40% of the countries 330 kilovolt electric substations. The destroyed transformers are Soviet era equipment without a 'western' substitute and there is no timely way for Ukraine to replace them. Russia has done this on the cheap by using Iranian suicide drones. In exchange Iran will receive SU-35 fighter jets. The financial damage of these strikes to Ukraine is much higher than the costs are for Russia.
There is absolutely no reason for Russia to think of using anything nuclear. It would contradict its policies and doctrines without giving it any advantage.
If in mid October Russian military leaders indeed talked to each other about something nuclear it is much more likely that they talked about Ukrainian or U.S. weapons than of the ones their country owns.
The core question in all this remains the same as a month ago. Why is the Biden administration doing this? Why is planting stories about non-existing 'Russian threats'?
During a recent talk Russia's president Vladimir Putin gave at the Valdai Club he was asked the same question. He answered it:
Ivan Safranchuk: Ivan Safranchuk, MGIMO University.
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Nuclear rhetoric has intensified greatly as of late. Ukraine has moved from irresponsible statements to the practical preparation of a nuclear provocation; representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom are making statements with suggestions of the possible use of nuclear weapons.Biden, let’s say, speaks about nuclear Armageddon, and straight away there are comments in the US that there is nothing to fear. At the same time, the United States is hurrying to deploy modernised tactical nuclear bombs in Europe. It looks like they are rattling the sabre while refusing to acknowledge the lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Mr President, could you please comment, is it true that the world is on the verge of the possible use of nuclear weapons? How will Russia act in these circumstances, given that it is a responsible nuclear state?
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Look, as long as nuclear weapons exist, there will always be a danger that they could be used. This is the first thing.
Second, the goal of the current fuss around such threats and the potential use of nuclear weapons is very primitive, and I would probably be not mistaken when I explain what this is about.
I already said that the dictate of the Western countries and their attempts to apply pressure on all the participants of international communication, including countries that are neutral or friendly to us, are achieving nothing, and they are looking for additional arguments to convince our friends or neutral states that they all need to confront Russia collectively.
Nuclear provocation and the inflaming of the possibility that Russia might theoretically use nuclear weapons are being used to reach these goals: to influence our friends, our allies, and neutral states by telling them, look at whom you support; Russia is such a scary country, do not support it, do not cooperate with it, do not trade with it. This is, in fact, a primitive goal.
What is happening in reality? After all, we have never said anything proactively about Russia potentially using nuclear weapons. All we did was hint in response to statements made by Western leaders.
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As for Russia…We have the Military Doctrine, and they should read it. One of its articles explains the cases when, why, in relation to what and how Russia considers it possible to use weapons of mass destruction in the form of nuclear weapons to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and to ensure the safety of the Russian people.
The answer Putin gave seems plausible to me. I still have to find a better one.
To me this looks all very low-brow, demented and indeed primitive. When one reads these planted stories and checks their veracity one ends up shaking ones head. No serious person or foreign country will be influenced by such nonsense.
What the stories really show is that the neocons in the Biden administration have no real instruments left and no abilities to influence the execution of further Russian plans in Ukraine. In a month or two, when Russian troops will throw the Ukrainian army out of Donetsk and other regions, there will be nothing left for them to say.
Posted by b on November 2, 2022 at 16:16 UTC | Permalink
next page »Good analysis from b. Unfortunately, there are some people in America who do believe in 'The Elect' and many are in positions of power.
Posted by: Merkin Scot | Nov 2 2022 16:36 utc | 2
There is a great new book out, by one of the best german writers, Mathias Broeckers, called "Das Ende der unipolaren Welt" /The End of the unipolar world. His blog broeckers.com was one of the few pillars against the tsunami of western propaganda in Germany. From this book "Eight theses why the unipolar world is coming to an end" were posted today, well worth reading: https://www.broeckers.com/2022/11/02/acht-thesen-warum-die-unipolare-welt-zu-ende-geht/
Posted by: Tom | Nov 2 2022 16:38 utc | 3
There is a great new book out, by one of the best german writers, Mathias Broeckers, called "Das Ende der unipolaren Welt" /The End of the unipolar world. His blog broeckers.com was one of the few pillars against the tsunami of western propaganda in Germany. From this book "Eight theses why the unipolar world is coming to an end" were posted today, well worth reading: https://www.broeckers.com/2022/11/02/acht-thesen-warum-die-unipolare-welt-zu-ende-geht/
Posted by: Tom | Nov 2 2022 16:41 utc | 4
They are not attempting to have an effect on Russia. It is all midterm elections.
They wanted a big victory of any sort before Tuesday. Next option is puff up the chest and "show strength". Cheap theatre.
Or read the NYT, be dizzy with success.
Posted by: oldhippie | Nov 2 2022 16:51 utc | 5
I've thought since the opening week of the war that the most likely outcome when it finally became clear to enough people in power in the US that NATO and the neocons had lost, badly, was that the cliques/faction infighting would morph into internal purges and possibly hanging direct accusations of some sort of plot or unauthorized action by 'rogue elements' onto a handful of people, or on Biden himself if he were (un)lucky enough to pass away or become fully incapacitated during his term. It seems like there were enough people with a direct financial stake of some kind in a war happening (thinking here of the weird investment vehicle apparently Blinken and Austin are involved in, but also all the known Ukraine beak-dipping by the Bidens and Pelosis et al) to keep that from blowing up until now, but none of the schemes have turned out as expected.
Posted by: super extra | Nov 2 2022 16:55 utc | 6
It makes you wonder if there are any sane people left in the leadership in Washington?
"Zelenskyy came to power because he convinced the Ukrainian people he was The Servant of The People as his TV show was called, portraying him as the opposite of what he would become. He was going to end the feud with Russia, he promised the people. Everything was going to be great. Instead, he has treated Ukraine as his personal fiefdom, acting as a feudal lord, threatening everyone, banning all dissent, banning media and political parties, using a ruthless secret police to keep the people cowed. And amazingly he has tried to goad NATO into a nuclear war with Russia. Many elites in America and Europe agree with him. They say that NATO attacking Russia, trying to bomb the Kremlin, and so on is not a problem" From Whom the Gods Would Destroy They First Make Mad
Posted by: Kali El | Nov 2 2022 16:56 utc | 7
"No serious person or foreign country will be influenced by such nonsense".
Yes, but most Western civilians will be.
I am reminded of this amusing anecdote:
'The first election I recall between Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson imprinted this exchange: “Governor Stevenson, you have the vote of all the thinking people,” to which he replied, “That’s not enough, madam. I need a majority”'.
- Joseph Natoli, “Bottom-Feeders with Low Information” https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/09/bottom-feeders-with-low-information/
Posted by: Tom Welsh | Nov 2 2022 17:07 utc | 8
I worry about what desperate neocons will do as their plans for Russia collapse.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 2 2022 16:36 utc | 1
This is indeed the worry! The neocon brain trust has been wrong forever, but never suffers any consequences. They just get another job in the next Administration, or are recycled in and out of think tanks and defense contractors. Maybe the psychic stress of knowing what colossal failures they and their garbage ideas will lead them to doing something stupid. Senile Biden will sign anything, press any button.
Posted by: miklos | Nov 2 2022 17:06 utc | 12
Why is The West so eager to start nuclear war?
It's not "The West" trying to start the war.
It's the tiny elite controlling "The West".
Can they win?
Don't think of it in terms of "winning" and "losing".
Think of it in terms of "profit" and "loss".
Whichever way the war goes, they profit.
The only question is "how much?" ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Nov 2 2022 17:22 utc | 10
"No serious person or foreign country will be influenced by such nonsense".
Yes, but most Western civilians will be.
I am reminded of this amusing anecdote:
'The first election I recall between Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson imprinted this exchange: “Governor Stevenson, you have the vote of all the thinking people,” to which he replied, “That’s not enough, madam. I need a majority”'.
- Joseph Natoli, “Bottom-Feeders with Low Information” https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/09/bottom-feeders-with-low-information/
Posted by: Tom Welsh | Nov 2 2022 17:30 utc | 11
It's increasingly hard to analyse anything in a world gone mad, but I would be interested if anyone here has any views on the Kim Dotcom "hack", re Liz Truss "It's Done" message on her iphone to Antony Blinken, very shortly after the Nordstream Pipelines were "blown up"
I am not even convinced that they were "blown up", but even if they were, I find it hard to believe whoever did it if anyone would tell Liz Truss, though I guess its possible.
I can only apologise for our atrocious British politicians, though the Americans are even worse, as are The Germans.
I never liked either Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel, but they at least gave the impression that they were trying to represent the people who elected them, and even I had some respect for them. They didn't appear to have been totally brainwashed and lobotomised.
I feel sorry for Putin and Zacharova having to occasionally communicate with the current morons.
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 2 2022 17:32 utc | 12
Another answer to the question, why?
The NYT and the WP have been used by US administrations to make Big Lies. Recall Sadam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The purpose then was to justify the US invasion and destruction of Irak. It worked then and now the US wants a war with Russia. And by the way it's Washington who wants to (or is itching to) use its own tactical nuclear weapons against Moscow.
Putin is right to believe that the current Washington goal is to rally other countries against Russia. This is part of the preparation phase before the hot war starts.
Strauss has explained his theory of the Big Lie in one of his books and the Straussians know about it.
Posted by: Richard ' L | Nov 2 2022 17:38 utc | 13
I agree that, apart from black prop, this is about projecting strength, pretending to have diplomatic strength and intelligence, pretending to be able to discourage Russia by deterrence.
Russia takes Ukraine, but stops there. At least we didn't get a nuclear war, due to NATO deterrence, strength and resolve. They will try for that narrative when all is lost.
This is also the recent troll line. Russia weak, West strong. West can win a nuclear war. One of the resident gaslight trolls pushed that narrative a few weeks ago, and a newcomer daily in primitive fashion.
Posted by: veto | Nov 2 2022 17:38 utc | 14
Besides using it for sanctions propaganda, it would provide an excuse for Ukraine instantly developing nuclear weapons. Giving them US/UK nukes to use would be very dangerous.
After the next false flag, the US would hope that Ukraine can be convinced to retaliate against Russia without triggering MAD for the dying empire.
Posted by: Jesrad | Nov 2 2022 17:40 utc | 15
Besides using it for sanctions propaganda, it would provide an excuse for Ukraine instantly developing nuclear weapons. Giving them US/UK nukes to use would be very dangerous.
After the next false flag, the US would hope that Ukraine can be convinced to retaliate against Russia without triggering MAD for the dying empire.
Posted by: Jesrad | Nov 2 2022 17:44 utc | 16
Another answer to the question, why?
The NYT and the WP have been used by US administrations to make Big Lies. Recall Sadam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The purpose then was to justify the US invasion and destruction of Irak. It worked then and now the US wants a war with Russia. And by the way it's Washington who wants to (or is itching to) use its own tactical nuclear weapons against Moscow.
Putin is right to believe that the current Washington goal is to rally other countries against Russia. This is part of the preparation phase before the hot war starts.
Strauss has explained his theory of the Big Lie in one of his books and the Straussians know about it.
Posted by: Richard L | Nov 2 2022 17:45 utc | 17
Thanks for the posting b.
Are we in that civilization war I keep writing about yet? If we are at the "primitive" level then perhaps that is a clue.
Since the US use of nukes at the end of WWII the Might-Makes-Right threat of nuclear has been used to keep the public fear level up and as the "penultimate" destruction threat....I write penultimate because, until/unless we go through such we can't say for sure but it gets back to agnotology BS.....are we sure, we are sure, we are sure, we are sure, we are sure that smoking causes cancer?
I studied the future with a cultural anthropologist 50 years ago and am quite happy to see humanity in the civilization war I keep writing about. As a species, IMO, we need to evolve into forms of social organization that are more humanistic than the top/bottom (worst of patriarchy, Might-Makes-Right, no sharing, etc.) meme.
Exposing the Western God Of Mammon social structure for the anti-humanistic cult that it is has been going on for ever but none have had the power to stand up to that reality until China, now with the "Bad Cop" Russia backing are doing so...what a time to be alive.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 2 2022 17:47 utc | 18
IMHO the American policy makers figured out after 9/11 they can keep the American people terrorized, thinking emotionally, and therefore not rationally by running from one external crisis to the next. The value is that it keeps the people distracted from what is really going on, keeps us divided, and covers up their ineptitude and BS.
The trick is to not watch or listen to any broadcast news, as it is difficult to process rationally, due to the limitations of human auditory processing.
I recall that according to a Russian expat I knew in the 90s, that the Russians figured the same trick used by their government and just quit listening and watching. The TV ratings for so bad in order to get viewers, they had nice women doing the weather broadcasts.
Posted by: Michael.j | Nov 2 2022 17:52 utc | 19
The Wastern Propaganda Machine softens the Plebs up for Nuke use. Its that simple!
Posted by: NoOne | Nov 2 2022 17:52 utc | 20
I worry about what desperate neocons will do as their plans for Russia collapse.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 2 2022 16:36 utc | 1
This is indeed the worry! The neocon brain trust has been wrong forever, but never suffers any consequences. They just get another job in the next Administration, or are recycled in and out of think tanks and defense contractors. Maybe the psychic stress of knowing what colossal failures they and their garbage ideas will lead them to doing something stupid. Senile Biden will sign anything, press any button.
I worry about what desperate neocons will do as their plans for Russia collapse.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 2 2022 16:36 utc | 1
This is indeed the worry! The neocon brain trust has been wrong forever, but never suffers any consequences. They just get another job in the next Administration, or are recycled in and out of think tanks and defense contractors. Maybe the psychic stress of knowing what colossal failures they and their garbage ideas will lead them to doing something stupid. Senile Biden will sign anything, press any button.
None of the schemes have turned out as expected.
Posted by: super extra | Nov 2 2022 16:55 utc | 7
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Nice post - I completely agree. As Arch noted upstream, this is all just one big game for certain groups of bored people.
If Ukraine had achieved the desired effect of collapsing Russia, and laying them prostrate and bare for rape & pillage, every hog would be trying to shoulder in at the trough.
I myself was reserving judgment, preparing to bank on another dizzying 20 year run of amazing levels of immigration, capital investment and ridiculous ROIs.
But, just as I had/have a fall back plan* in case things went/go south, the differing factions are positioning themselves to survive to play another day.
That's why I concur that alternative story lines are already being crafted, that unauthorized approval and other traitorous plots will represent the standing accusations to enable a wholesale purge of targeted players.
* I would advise everyone to carefully consider what happens when not only food and energy shortages accompany raging inflation, but how the failure of the welfare state will be exacerbated in countries that have undergone "cultural enrichment".
Do you get out, or do you stay? Can you spirit savings out of country looking for alternative safe harbors? Do you get actively engaged in the coming social disintegration? Etc
Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 18:06 utc | 23
It's spurious reasoning to suggest that the Russian reaction to whatever intelligence they gathered on the Dirty Bomb(tm) automatically validates that intelligence. What it does show, is that they took the threat seriously enough to coordinate their response with other world leaders. At that point, whether the threat is real or imaginary only matters in terms of the ever diminishing stature of Ukraine in international affairs and, God forbid, if plans involving such a weapon ever come to fruition. For the intents and purposes of the topic at hand, which is the manufactured nuclear scare narrative, it makes no difference whether there is such a device or whether Russian intelligence was spoofed with disinformation.
The key take-away, which should be apparent to all those who bother with primary sources, is that Russia has only brought up the topic of nuclear weapons, including the Dirty Bomb(tm), in the context of working to prevent their use, avoiding escalatory steps where there's a risk of a nuclear exchange and reserving them always for retaliation. For Russia, nuclear weapons are the ultimate end of the line and, even if Ukraine somehow became a flashpoint for their use, they would undoubtedly target installations of strategic utility in Western countries and not Ukraine.
Posted by: Skiffer | Nov 2 2022 18:12 utc | 24
@D you just have to post once--ignore the error message, wait a few minutes (it varies how long).
Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 2 2022 18:13 utc | 25
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 2 2022 17:32 utc | 21
I find this intriguing as well. Russia has accused the UK of being involved in both Nordstream and Black Sea attacks and would not do this I think if they did not have strong intelligence about both. The iCloud accounts of various high-ranking officials in the UK including Truss would certainly be strong intelligence.
I am also interested in b and others’ take on Kim DotCom’s recent thread which argues that there are no secrets for state level intelligence agencies, as they all have back doors into so many platforms that nothing can really be kept secret from anybody operating at this level.
Posted by: WJ | Nov 2 2022 18:15 utc | 26
It's spurious reasoning to suggest that the Russian reaction to whatever intelligence they gathered on the Dirty Bomb(tm) automatically validates that intelligence. What it does show, is that they took the threat seriously enough to coordinate their response with other world leaders. At that point, whether the threat is real or imaginary only matters in terms of the ever diminishing stature of Ukraine in international affairs and, God forbid, if plans involving such a weapon ever come to fruition. For the intents and purposes of the topic at hand, which is the manufactured nuclear scare narrative, it makes no difference whether there is such a device or whether Russian intelligence was spoofed with disinformation.
The key take-away, which should be apparent to all those who bother with primary sources, is that Russia has only brought up the topic of nuclear weapons, including the Dirty Bomb(tm), in the context of working to prevent their use, avoiding escalatory steps where there's a risk of a nuclear exchange and reserving them always for retaliation. For Russia, nuclear weapons are the ultimate end of the line and, even if Ukraine somehow became a flashpoint for their use, they would undoubtedly target installations of strategic utility in Western countries and not Ukraine.
Posted by: Skiffer | Nov 2 2022 18:16 utc | 27
The repeated posting of comments has made this blog even more unreadable.
Posted by: Michigan Dude | Nov 2 2022 18:22 utc | 28
I will share some findings with you: When you Post, wait 10min for your Post to appear....;-)
Posted by: NoOne | Nov 2 2022 18:25 utc | 29
Russia possesses literally, actually, incontrovertibly thousands of nuclear weapons in all sizes and formats.
I think they should build a primitive "dirty" nuclear bomb because [fill in the blank].
Posted by: Elmagnostic | Nov 2 2022 18:28 utc | 30
Speaking of the Biden administration, "Dems Brace for GOP Rout as Biden Gives Train Wreck Gaffe-filled Speech in Florida", his utter uselessness has seen the resurrection of the criminal Obama and praise for his campaign lies that will be just as ineffective:
Democratic politicians and strategists are reportedly terrified that they may have made a big mistake in their midterm strategy, focusing excessively on side issues like abortion rights and threats to democracy instead of kitchen table matters such as the economy, gas prices and inflation.“The truth is, Democrats have done a poor job of communicating our approach to the economy,” Michigan Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin said. “I have no idea if I’m going to win my election – it’s going to be a nail biter. But if you can’t speak directly to people’s pocketbook and talk about our vision for the economy, you’re just having half a conversation,” the politician said.
According to media tracking company AdImpact, the president’s party spent a whopping $320 million on abortion rights-focused advertisements, and just $31 million on inflation-related messaging.
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey (D) expressed fears that the party has not been aggressive enough in blocking Republican attacks on bread and butter issues. “If Republicans are going to attack on inflation, you should turn to them and say, ‘What the hell have you done?’ The answer is ‘nothing.’ And I think Democrats should talk about that more," Casey said....Republican candidates ranging from run-of-the-mill George W. Bush-era neocons to adepts of former President Donald Trump have spent months campaigning on issues like gas prices, the economy, inflation, violent crime and immigration, and blaming Democrats for either causing the problems or failing to do enough to address them.
The "our vision of the economy" would also be a BigLie since we know it has nothing to do with the promotion of common people and everything to do with the continued fattening of already fat cats. Yes, it's true the Rs would be just as bad, but the current policy promoters don't merit being voted for and didn't attempt to argue that they deserve a second chance.
What can be said is the overall Macro policy, both foreign and domestic, is attaining the planned results; it's just that those plans were not those told to the public--they're plans based on the actual behavior of the actors implementing them, which are consistent with ongoing Neoliberalism since Reagan.
The nuke threat BS is part of the election debacle where voters see billions wasted on another forever war instead of being invested at home. Zakharova's point about the utter failure of Biden to revive Atomic Power was well made and would make an excellent R-Party talking point.
b
can you make a note for those posting here to post once only, in spite of the delay on typepad for the post to go thru?? this is kind of nuts!
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i agree with your conclusions and position.. @ veto | Nov 2 2022 17:38 utc | 23 also articulates all this quite well.. thanks b..
Posted by: james | Nov 2 2022 18:50 utc | 32
"In a month or two, when Russian troops will throw the Ukrainian army out of Donetsk and other regions, there will be nothing left for them to say."
Correct. At that point the false narrative that the Russians are losing and desperate will appear as farcical to the global population as it already appears to those of us who have, thanks in large part to our host, have been paying close attention to developments in the Ukraine.
That's good, but it also means the window is closing on the Empire's opportunity to do something stupid in a desperate attempt to disrupt Russia's relentless operation to prise the Ukraine out of the Empire's stranglehold. It is the Empire's proxies that are radically underperforming and it is the Empire that is desperate for a "Hail Mary" play that can shift the initiative back to their favor.
While I am confident that the Russians have no intention or need to use WMDs of any sort in the Ukraine, I am not so sanguine about the behavior of the Empire of Lies & Delusions. On the contrary, the depth of the delusion among the population and leadership of the Empire is such that it almost guarantees some sort of incredibly irrational and nasty spasms before the Russians launch their big offensive next month.
Remember, we are absolutely not dealing with rational actors running the Empire.
Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 2 2022 18:57 utc | 33
WAIT FIVE MINUTES!
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 17:58 utc | 36
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 18:00 utc | 37
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 18:00 utc | 38
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 18:02 utc | 39
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 18:05 utc | 41
Posted by: IronForge | Nov 2 2022 18:13 utc | 44
Wait at least five minutes after pressing the "Post" button, before trying to post again. If you get the 503 error, then most likely your post has been accepted. It may take over five minutes for your comment to appear.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Nov 2 2022 19:07 utc | 34
The people in control are monsters.
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 2 2022 18:28 utc | 51
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Oh brother, yet another innoncent zebra complaining about the rapacious lions.
The people/predators running the show are just as much the result of natural selection and competition over scarce resources as the great masses of prey animals aka "useless eaters".
I admit I'm forever amazed as to why for the mere fact of being born and reaching adulthood, so many then seem to assumme they are unique, that they possess some kind of inalienable rights, and that they are free to express agency and free will.
???
Seriously, how does one even reach the point of having the confidence to post such tripe? Never study history? Have no knowledge of government, finance, religion, etc?
What a shit way to go through life, to always be complaining and being on the losing side of the match. Well, maybe this time around, if you just play it smart, you might possibly emerge among the winners.
Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 19:21 utc | 35
Posted by: Skiffer | Nov 2 2022 18:12 utc | 43
I think it’s possible that the Russian dirty bomb claim is a reaction to the NS1 sabotage, which was clearly conducted by a western state actor (but blamed on Russia). It’s a message to the NATO countries that “if you f**k with us in underhanded ways we can f**k you right back, should we choose to do so.”
If this is the case than the claim doesn’t have to be 100% true and verified, the point has been made and the west has been warned.
Posted by: spud farmer | Nov 2 2022 19:33 utc | 36
Another tip:
Close the page instead of refreshing, then after five minutes open the page from the link on the front page and look for your comment somewhere towards the end of the recent comments.
And please remember which thread you actually commented in :P
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Nov 2 2022 19:39 utc | 37
US has revised its nuclear doctrine
All the talk is conditioning people to be accustomed to nuclear weapons
If there is a nuclear incident, it will either be a false flag to precipitate action before analysis
OR, nato will use nuclear weapons to pre-empt the Russian "plans" and avert the danger
Posted by: Webej | Nov 2 2022 19:49 utc | 38
On taking out power stations in Ukraine, here it's thought that the Russian military chiefs consulted power engineers who actually work at, and repair this type of equipment, on where best to attack to do the most damage, that's why the strikes are so devastating.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 2 2022 19:51 utc | 39
I see questions asking why the emphasis from Russia is to place the blame for the sabotage and the drone attack on the Black Sea fleet.
It could be part of a divide and conquer strategy.
The US cannot declare war without approval of Congress, and the attacks on the Nordstream pipelines, the Crimea bridge and the Black Sea fleet, were clearly acts of war.
To place the blame the US,would be to force Biden into Congress and seek a declaration of war, which he most likely would get in the current atmosphere.
To blame Britain however, gives the two main players more wriggle room, and don't forget how Boris Johnson is being hung out to dry for his role in stopping the ceasefire negotiations earlier in the conflict, which has resulted in the needless loss of tens of thousands of lives since.
When news of the Truss Blinken text emerged, most people said, Yeah, they are that dumb.
The number of people who are now casting doubt on it, or downplaying it, without either of them denying it yet, seems a bit manufactured.
What it looks like is that Johnson is being set up as the scapegoat, while the US can turn around to Britain when Russia retaliates and say, your attack was not sanctioned by NATO, you're on your own.
I don't know if other have heard any if it, but there is already speculation that Russia hass preparing and is finalising it's retaliation and retribution for the actions of the UK Forces.
Indeed they told Britain explicitly several months ago what such retaliationmight look like, when they gave details of the tidal wave that one of their underwater nuclear missiles could create.
Didn't a Russian submarine go missing over the last few weeks.
Anyone seen it lately?
Posted by: Orchard1 | Nov 2 2022 19:51 utc | 40
From ZH about Biden
In other news, Joe Biden said that inflation is a problem because of the "war in Iraq... excuse me, the war in Ukraine," adding "I'm thinking about Iraq because that's where my son died."Biden's son was never in Iraq and died on US soil of brain cancer.
And what did the regime media (NYT) call Biden's lie about his son? 'Verbal fumbles'
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 2 2022 19:57 utc | 41
Another answer to the question, why?
The NYT and the WP have been used by successive US administrations to make Big Lies. Recall Sadam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The purpose then was to justify the US invasion and destruction of Irak. It worked then and now the US wants a war with Russia. And by the way it's Washington who wants to (or is itching to) use its own tactical nuclear weapons against Moscow. No weapon in the US arsenal is left unused.
Putin is right to believe that the current Washington goal is to rally other countries against Russia. This is part of the preparation phase before the hot war begins. The UK is already in as well as NATO headquarters and the Five Eyes.
By the way, Strauss has explained his theory of the Big Lie in one of his books and the Straussians know about it and they use it.
Posted by: Richard L | Nov 2 2022 19:59 utc | 42
Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 19:21 utc | 57
I agree with most of what you wrote B9k9. I could be wrong, but I am guessing, that you were in the Military - American, possibly British SAS, but probably one of the Dogs of War...(I have had them crying on my shoulder when they got back from Iraq - one guy mentally destroyed - the other guy - missing his legs. I live not far from Headley Court. I cry with them too)
Whilst I trying to emulate George Carlin, one of the true Great Americans, I just went to see bands like Pink Floyd - before even the US Army had heard of woke, whilst You Americans cause the vast majority of problems in this world, and blame us British. I admit we are not entirely innocent.
My Dad, and My Grand Dad, did all this war stuff. Whilst it appealed to both my older brothers - they joined The British Territorial Army, it didn't appeal to me.
Anyhow, thanks for your reply, and check out Christian and the Lion, if you want a clue about working in Chelsea, when I was young.
It was a lot of fun, and I didn't kill any one.
Just chill mate. Us Brits probably won't nuke you with your own bombs.
You will probably do that to yourselves.
I could never understand what is wrong with Americans.
You have got an enormous Beautiful Country, with everything you could want, and you still want more.
Why?
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 2 2022 20:02 utc | 43
Dear b:
Perhaps the Ukraine war theater could spare a S-300 air defense launcher to shoot down some of these duplicate posts. Could be effective. What do you think?
Posted by: Zed | Nov 2 2022 20:11 utc | 44
@b9k9 52
not quite. Your idea of natural selection sounds rather primitive. Kropotkin has been mentioned before on this blog, maybe you should go and read him. And personally, I'm far from the complaining sort, but I will express myself freely and fight for the right of others to do likewise even when I do not agree with them. That's one of the basic tenets of civilisation and if you deny it, why, you must be some Biden, or Allen Dulles, Idi Amin or Caligula, pick your choice....in that case however, you should watch out for spontaneous combustion, dementia or murder you know...
Posted by: Anthony | Nov 2 2022 20:12 utc | 45
ridiculous turns sublime, with this Sun post
https://www.the-sun.com/news/6391144/ukraine-news-war-russia-latest-putin-2/
Bernard,
are you going to bother putting together a list of ridiculous articles from last 6 months with 'Ol' Vlad about to drop dead' spin? I must have seen at least 12
Posted by: GT | Nov 2 2022 20:16 utc | 46
Why are western elites so eager to start nuclear war?
What can they gain?
Can they win?
Posted by: marko | Nov 2 2022 20:22 utc | 47
We see a conflation -- two streams merging -- between apocalyptic false-flag preparations, such as Biden giving voice to his self-image as the USA's thin blue line facing down Armageddon, and the amazing electoral wipeout pending for Dims next Tuesday, as their vacuous, spasmodic pseudo-patriotic vanity seems unlikely to cut any electoral mustard.
US Americans are already voting. I can hardly stand to participate in meaningless exercises, so I sheepishly donate my mail-in ballot to the other human being living in this house. Still and all... as November 8th gets closer, the pressure gets tighter. Wouldn't it be nice to get though the next week without this nuclear provocation we see shuffled through the cards displayed on the agitprop machine?
(Posting equanimity might be commended as a prophylactic against some of the redundancy diminishing our MoA experience lately. Just hit "Post" and then the heck with it! It's not the end of the world if my post didn't get through -- or rather, if it is the end of the world, that event almost certainly cannot be attributed to the failure of my post, here.)
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Nov 2 2022 20:22 utc | 48
Why are western elites so eager to start nuclear war?
What can they gain?
Can they win?
Posted by: marios | Nov 2 2022 20:24 utc | 49
B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 19:21 utc | 38
lol. as my favorite Christian Scientist musician (until Isaac Hayes converted) said now so long ago, "I can drive here. I am a winner."
don't ever grow old. i don't think the world can handle your inevitable whining when your dentures fall out.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 2 2022 20:24 utc | 50
One nice thing about the technical difficulties with the site is that the trolls and paid CIA stooges have all but disappeared.
Seems that trolls and paid stooges have a low threshold for inconvenience. I would go as far as to say ZAnon and his ilk have been outed by technological failure. I will hit submit and go away for a while.
Posted by: Chris | Nov 2 2022 20:31 utc | 51
"...There is absolutely no reason for Russia to think of using anything nuclear. It would contradict its policies and doctrines without giving it any advantage."
This is true enough. But there is more to it than that. As Biswapriya Purkayast@|3 (on the Ukraine thread) points out, the Russians have diminished enormously the size of their armed forces. They maintain only a relatively tiny standing army. They have done this for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is their view that NATO would wilt away and the need to maintain large forces on the western border would come to an end.
They reached this conclusion after numerous assurances by German, French, American and other governments that this was the case. They watched the expansion of NATO in disbelief. I suspect that they thought that their own experience would be that of other countries, and that maintaining large armies, ready for war with formidable state adversaries, would involve too many sacrifices by the citizenry to be viable politically.
In other words the Russians, with far more urgent claims on public resources than keeping an expensive military museum with hundreds of thousands of men, concluded that the Poles, Germans and British would reach the same conclusion. And that conventional wars of the sort waged before 1945 were out of date.
Russia put all its eggs in the aerospace basket- diverting its military expenditure to the missile and air defence programmes which appear to be at least equal to and probably superior to any competitors.' In this sense Washington's recognition of the importance of nuclear deterrence to Russia is reasonable: it is indeed the case that Russia is not interested in the Quisling's challenge to match its conventional forces with those at NATO's command.
While our media and the political scum floating on our societies protests that Russia wants to recreate the USSR and build a new empire, the reality is that Russia is not only not doing so but is disarming itself of the means of doing anything much more than defending itself and providing a nuclear umbrella for other nations afraid of imperialist aggression.
Developments in Ukraine make sense if viewed in the light of this analysis: Russia had no conception of NATO devoting its entire energy to maintaining Ukraine's fascist regime. It still finds it hard to believe that the British, for example, with far more pressing problems facing them, are ready to waste their declining resources- the empire's burial funds- playing silly buggers in the Black Sea.
As to western Europe-the heartland of the EEC/EU- it beggars belief that it is actually, as we speak, consciously presiding over its own socio-economic demise. Preparing to shut down its industry. Ready to call on its electors to freeze themselves to death this Christmas.
In fact many Russians are now engaged again in the fools errand that kept Bolsheviks busy a century ago: looking westwards for signs of a revolution. An uprising. A riot. A large public meeting. A petition. Anything. And like the 'comrade' in Radek's old joke they are finding that the job is permanent. Nothing will ever happen.
The basis of NATO strategy in the Cold War was to force the Soviet Union into self isolation in the west and to close its southern and eastern borders by surrounding it with hostile states, garrisoned with US bases. Now, in this new cold war, Europe is scorching the earth around Russia's border. But in the south and east the trade routes are wide and welcoming. Russia has no need to man these long borders, no need to spend money or energies in keeping the west's allies at bay because the west's alliances are dissolving daily. Even new minted puppet regimes such as that in Pakistan are refusing to implement US foreign policies, because they are untenable. It mattered little to Russia who won the election in Brazil, because there was no chance that any Brazilian government would think of boycotting trade with China or refusing to import OPEC+ oil.
And Africa, for all that its militaries are staffed by graduates of French, British and US academies and its governments full of politicians trained by imperialists, is showing the same kind of instinctive support for multipolarity- the doctrine of equal sovereignty and post colonialism.
And then, finally, there is the slow recognition in the imperial metropoli that, right at the centre of power, there are increasingly serious movements aimed at redressing the-long taken for granted- grievances of the descendants of those who were cheated when they took a bushel of wampum for Manhattan, and the millions who would have died in the lands that they were born in, but for the fact that there was a market, among creoles, for their kidnapped persons in the west, over the ocean.
A perfect storm is brewing for the empire. And Russia feels quite confident that it need only wait, guardedly, but with a degree of certainty as to what the next few decades will produce.
Posted by: bevin | Nov 2 2022 20:31 utc | 52
Hi Tony!
People get a lot of ideas from the British. The Japanese got their idea for Pearl Harbor from the Taranto Raid - they sent diplomats from their Rome the moment it happened, to survey the damage to the Italian fleet. The British also invented Agent Orange, and were first to use it in a combat situation - clearing foliage around railways during the Malayan insurgency. Britain had an Iraq war in the early 1920s, cost a fraction of the later Gulf Wars. Successful, but at least one British officer resigned in disgust at Britain's disregard for human rights. The British pioneered bombing the villages that were furthest from the action. Churchill wanted to use gas against the Iraqis, but it never came to that.
Posted by: Technophobe | Nov 2 2022 20:33 utc | 53
I remembered this from early in the war after the Truss "It's done" thing blew up again. Remember this?
"But the principal cluster of emails – dated from August 2018 to July 2019 – instead appears to show a group of Brexiters frustrated with May’s willingness to seek compromises with the EU and their attempts to campaign against it."
So was the entire Tory interregnum an attempt to keep Blighty primed and ready for the war? Britain had to be out of the EU if they were going to participate in the economic looting of Europe at the hands of the US. Trump was already completely nonfunctional in terms of actual policies due to the stupid Russiagate bs by the time these emails were going around. I remember at the time we wondered how May's 'Brexit In Name Only' failed to get passed and an even crazier group of hardliners got in when she was turfed out because it seemed really defeatist since the hardliners didn't have concrete plans for their 'sunlit uplands', it was just getting Brexit done as fast as possible.
Was the Dearlove group colluding with US State department people who were still keeping the seats warm during Trump's tenure? It's almost forgotten now, but Trump's first impeachment was over a phone call with Zelensky. Was that just a favor done by Nuland's standover gal in State while she was out to get the 'right people' back in to get the war started? Zel had to be in place for the war too, Trump couldn't be allowed to win again...
Posted by: super extra | Nov 2 2022 20:37 utc | 54
Hi Tony!
People get a lot of ideas from the British. The Japanese got their idea for Pearl Harbor from the Taranto Raid - they sent diplomats from their Rome the moment it happened, to survey the damage to the Italian fleet. The British also invented Agent Orange, and were first to use it in a combat situation - clearing foliage around railways during the Malayan insurgency. Britain had an Iraq war in the early 1920s, cost a fraction of the later Gulf Wars. Successful, but at least one British officer resigned in disgust at Britain's disregard for human rights. The British pioneered bombing the villages that were furthest from the action.
This is may favourite Guardian article, describing the British in Iraq over 100 years ago:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/apr/19/iraq.arts
Posted by: Technophobe | Nov 2 2022 20:38 utc | 55
Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 2 2022 18:47 utc | 34
It's amusing that the Dem Representative Elissa Slotkin thinks it will be a "nail biter". Unbelievable.
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Nov 2 2022 20:44 utc | 56
I also wonder if Charles knew about the Nord Stream plan in advance? QE2 died September 8, Nord Stream explodes September 26. On October 12, Truss has her first weekly meeting with (now King-to-be) Charles where he blurted out 'You again? Dear oh dear'. Was her very short tenure just to get the sabotage signed off on so that later the King and others could leave her with all the blame?
Posted by: super extra | Nov 2 2022 20:46 utc | 57
A bar worthy read, contrasting FJB and Putin recent speeches:
https://www.thepostil.com/one-month-two-speeches/
Posted by: Theodore Roosevelt | Nov 2 2022 20:47 utc | 58
Whenever I hear talk about a “dirty bomb” (ie a non-nuclear explosive intended to disperse radioactive materials), I immediately know I am being bullshitted. These weapons would be more hazardous to their makers and handlers than their intended victims. Anyone smart enough to build one already knows this which is why they haven’t been used and likely never will be used. The US considered such a device to contaminate German crops during WW2 if they were unsuccessful in making a fission bomb work. They concluded it would be more dangerous to the bomber crews than the Germans.
Posted by: Kevin | Nov 2 2022 20:50 utc | 59
US has revised its nuclear doctrine
All the talk is conditioning people to be accustomed to nuclear weapons
If there is a nuclear incident, it will either be a false flag to precipitate action before analysis
OR, nato will use nuclear weapons to pre-empt the Russian "plans" and avert the danger
Posted by: Webej | Nov 2 2022 20:53 utc | 60
The quality of the material provided [@MoA] beats unz.com and it's content many days. Most individuals have no more then half a page of content left, to be curated, over a life-time. Narratives and dinosaures conflate. My comment (first) was inspired by the inferior quality of the P. Escobar article on unz.com of today.
Posted by: PetrOldSack | Nov 2 2022 20:58 utc | 61
Correct if wrong; as far as I am aware there is only one corporation on earth w a nuclear 1st strike posture on the table?
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Nov 2 2022 21:03 utc | 62
Even the Mighty Wurlitzer has "slow news days." They're just churning out "content" rather than reporting on any real developments. Of course it so happens that this content is designed not only to fill space on the page and draw clicks and shares, but also to perpetuate and drill home the Empire's preferred narrative for the PMC class of news consumers domestically.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 2 2022 21:05 utc | 63
Am I wrong here? There is only one corp w a first strike nuclear weapons on the table. Correct?
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Nov 2 2022 21:07 utc | 64
The quality of the material provided [@MoA] beats unz.com and it's content many days. Most individuals have no more then half a page of content left, to be curated, over a life-time. Narratives and dinosaures conflate. My comment (first) was inspired by the inferior quality of the P. Escobar article on unz.com of today.
Posted by: PetrOldSack | Nov 2 2022 21:13 utc | 65
Re: The British inspiration for Pearl Harbor
But the Americans also "predicted" it.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/pearl-harbor-1930s-naval-exercise.html
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 2 2022 21:14 utc | 66
Democrats dare not lose the election. To win is to steal. To steal is probably too difficult except perhaps for a Senate seat and a couple close governor races. Martial law is impossible without some catastrophic event. US troops are in Ukraine. Sacrifice them with a tactical nuclear weapon on November 6.
Posted by: Stegiel | Nov 2 2022 21:17 utc | 67
«Russia has only brought up the topic of nuclear weapons, including the Dirty Bomb(tm), in the context of working to prevent their use»
There are many other things that could be used in alternative to a dirty bomb, e.g. a truck that gets parked and then starts spraying dioxine (an accidental release in some part of Italy made the area uninhabitable for many years) or some other persistent nasty; if the attack against the Kherson bridge was possible, many others could be. But I guess that “the Dirty Bomb(tm)” has the greater propaganda value that attaches to anything "nuclear".
Posted by: Blissex | Nov 2 2022 21:19 utc | 68
Tony 12....unconvinced/sceptical/won't believe re pipelines .. couple weeks ago photo published
...today more evidence released. Please search .
UK Ambassador called in today to be presented with evidence.
Posted by: Jo | Nov 2 2022 21:25 utc | 69
It’s embarrassing that US media credulousness is chronic and resistent to reality testing. I loved thru the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the current situation is far more dangerous given the behavior of the US/NATO/EU.
Posted by: erniesfo | Nov 2 2022 21:34 utc | 70
This is an update, on all these war maps, whilst all sides are stuck in the mud.
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 2 2022 21:37 utc | 71
From Intel Slava:
The UN Security Council did not adopt a draft Russian resolution on the establishment of a commission to investigate US military biological activities in Ukraine.
The draft did not get the required nine votes out of 15. Russia and China voted "for" the resolution, while the United States, Britain, and France voted against it. The rest of the countries abstained.
Ah the courage of the French! Inequalité, Servage, Fratricide! De Gaulle's grave has barbecue spit properties now.
Posted by: Anthony | Nov 2 2022 21:48 utc | 72
Posted by: erniesfo | Nov 2 2022 21:34 utc | 77
Posted by: erniesfo | Nov 2 2022 21:35 utc | 78
Posted by: erniesfo | Nov 2 2022 21:37 utc | 80
Posted by: erniesfo | Nov 2 2022 21:38 utc | 81
For fucks sake, post once and close the window. Reopen MoA and wait for you post to appear.
This isn't rocket science
Posted by: JoeDontSurf | Nov 2 2022 21:58 utc | 73
No nukes being deployed. Yep.
No chemical weapons being spread. Good.
I wish we could talk about directed energy. Everywhere, everywhere, these things are in use. Disgusting to me.
Posted by: HelenB | Nov 2 2022 22:04 utc | 74
bevin@55 "the fools errand that kept Bolsheviks busy a century ago: looking westwards for signs of a revolution. An uprising. A riot. A large public meeting. A petition. Anything. And like the 'comrade' in Radek's old joke they are finding that the job is permanent. Nothing will ever happen." The truth of course was that crowns did roll in the gutter and there was indeed a wave of revolutions in the west, in Germany and Hungary, and astonishing events like Italy's "hot summer" and the British General Strike. But reactionaries like to pretend the left is a fraud, an appetite that prompted this rewriting of history. bevin may wish nothing will ever happen in the west but this right-wing vision of the future is no more plausible than this version of the past is true.
More than anything, what killed the revolutionary wave in central Europe was nationalism. You know, the ideology behind multipolarity, insanely upheld as the utopia that mere stupid social revolution can't achieve. The victorious imperialist powers were of course less likely to be weak enough to fall. But the rise of fascism, a phenomenon that really wasn't anticipated by Marx, did the rest. But here, the cryptofascists are all chums, or at least colleagues in the great struggle for multipolarity, so long as they are too obviously "Sieg Heiling" or metaphorically burning crosses on the lawn.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 2 2022 22:07 utc | 75
RT Russia issues calls to other nuclear powers
The rest of the big five need to match Moscow’s commitment to avoiding nuclear war, the Foreign Ministry insists .
This is a huge political error. It shall be seen a s a sign of weakness.
Posted by: marko | Nov 2 2022 22:09 utc | 76
bevin@55 "the fools errand that kept Bolsheviks busy a century ago: looking westwards for signs of a revolution. An uprising. A riot. A large public meeting. A petition. Anything. And like the 'comrade' in Radek's old joke they are finding that the job is permanent. Nothing will ever happen." The truth of course was that crowns did roll in the gutter and there was indeed a wave of revolutions in the west, in Germany and Hungary, and astonishing events like Italy's "hot summer" and the British General Strike. But reactionaries like to pretend the left is a fraud, an appetite that prompted this rewriting of history. bevin may wish nothing will ever happen in the west but this right-wing vision of the future is no more plausible than this version of the past is true.
More than anything, what killed the revolutionary wave in central Europe was nationalism. You know, the ideology behind multipolarity, insanely upheld as the utopia that mere stupid social revolution can't achieve. The victorious imperialist powers were of course less likely to be weak enough to fall. But the rise of fascism, a phenomenon that really wasn't anticipated by Marx, did the rest. But here, the cryptofascists are all chums, or at least colleagues in the great struggle for multipolarity, so long as they are too obviously "Sieg Heiling" or metaphorically burning crosses on the lawn.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 2 2022 22:09 utc | 77
On taking out power stations in Ukraine, here it's thought that the Russian military chiefs consulted power engineers who actually work at, and repair this type of equipment, on where best to attack to do the most damage, that's why the strikes are so devastating.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 2 2022 19:51 utc | 42
.
.
Don't forget one thing!
Each individual power plant 85% of the network in Ukraine were built by Russian engineers and financed or paid for by Russia.....every single drawing can be found in Russia!
The Ukraine was and has never been financially able to renew or build anything on this infrastructure itself!
From this point of view, all nuclear power plants in Ukraine belong to Russians!
And so you should know every single screw in power stations and substations!
Posted by: mo2 | Nov 2 2022 22:13 utc | 78
Vassily Nebenzia addresses the issue of non-stop false scare stories at the UN
via RT
Moscow’s UN envoy compared the barrage of ‘fake news’ about the Ukraine conflict to city shelling
Western countries are waging an information war not only against Russia but also the entire international community,
Vassily Nebenzia noted that Western coverage of the conflict is typified by “a huge number of ‘fakes’ about the activities of the [Russian] military, as well as about the goals, objectives and motives” of its campaign in Ukraine.“It’s no secret that the West has launched a real information war against us, which affects not only the residents of Russia and Ukraine but also people around the world,” he reiterated.
UN shown preview of RT documentary ‘Journalists Under Fire’
He went on to compare Western media coverage with actual Ukrainian bombings of civilian infrastructure. “Just as Western weapons are now targeting cities in the Donbass and the liberated territories, Western propaganda is firing ‘information shells’ at its own citizens,” he claimed.
According to Nebenzia, the media onslaught is harmful to ordinary people, who “are losing touch with reality, become distressed and confused” when being overwhelmed with an endless barrage of falsehoods. They also lose the ability to think critically, he claimed.
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 2 2022 22:23 utc | 79
39 ; spud farmer
An interesting counter theme-Nord Stream as against a proportional counter (metaphorical) claim from Russia with 'dirty bomb'-it makes logical sense whether it is true or not.
Thank you for the profound perspective.
We live in 'interesting times'.
But the White House again counters the NYTs report the same day-
Does the left hand not know what the right is doing and saying - or are there competing power centres operating (trying to take over) the deep state now? These pseudo-journalist creeps that operate in the msm media space are really pathetic and and their handlers deadly.
via RT
No sign Russia preparing to use nuclear weapons – US
The comments from the White House came as the New York Times claimed the Russian military had been discussing potential nuclear strike options
The US does not see any indications that Russia is getting ready to use its nuclear arsenal in the conflict in Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. However, he added that Washington considers such a possibility “deeply concerning” and takes it “seriously.”Earlier on Wednesday, the New York Times published a piece citing “multiple senior American officials,” who claimed some Russian generals had been discussing “when and how Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine.” Russian President Vladimir Putin was not involved in these discussions, the paper said. The conversations took place at some point in mid-October, it added.
This is not the first time the White House has made such a statement. Last month, Kirby said that Washington saw no indications that Russia was preparing to deploy a nuclear weapon.
[ I guess one day Typepad might fix their system, it's very frustrating still ]
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 2 2022 22:32 utc | 81
Tony 12
let alone the seismic proof and acknowledgement by Denmark and Sweden of sabotage explosions....gas coming to surface vids photos etc
Posted by: Jo | Nov 2 2022 22:39 utc | 82
the title - Biden Administration Again Plants False Nuclear Scare Stories ???
Is it really the White House or some other section of the 'govt institutions' or someone else entirely pulling the strings / leaking fake stories now?
I have no idea, but the possibilities are extensive given recent history eg RussiaGate lies and distortions, Jan6, etc .... imho the entire US Gov Judicial law enforcement system is fractured internally with politicization and self-interest... nay utterly corrupt and dysfunctional. (nothing new there of course, just venting)
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 2 2022 22:41 utc | 83
the title - Biden Administration Again Plants False Nuclear Scare Stories ???
Is it really the White House or some other section of the 'govt institutions' or someone else entirely pulling the strings / leaking fake stories now?
I have no idea, but the possibilities are extensive given recent history eg RussiaGate lies and distortions, Jan6, etc .... imho the entire US Gov Judicial law enforcement system is fractured internally with politicization and self-interest... nay utterly corrupt and dysfunctional. (nothing new there of course, just venting)
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 2 2022 22:42 utc | 84
US troops on the ground in ukrane?
Don't be fooled by this clever washington ploy designed to boost the confidence of the ukrane army.
There are no US troops on the ground in ukrane. The US could not RISK such troops being attacked by Russian artillery and killed?
Why? Because such an incident wd mean the US has to do something about it. And that means WW3.
So, just make public statements about those troops being in ukrane. In this way US troops wont be dragged into the conflict on the ground in reaction to an attack whilst at the same time appearing to give support to ukrane.
So, dont be fooled by washington's fakery.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Nov 2 2022 22:45 utc | 85
President Putin has every right to attack the revival of Nazism, and his righteous and legal action has the support of many Muslims in the Russian Federation.
So Biden isn't his own electoral constituencies, but Putin's electoral constituencies who would regard nuclear war as total insanity.
The devil's plan is weak / kaida shaytana dha'eefa. Some dinosaurs of the unipolar, unicorn fantasy of US exceptionalism think daft talk about nukes and Putin will cancel Putin's claim to having a just cause in Ukraine.
Nobody believes in Unipolar unicorns any more, so the strategy of tainting Putin with nukes won't work. We know exactly who is dominating the world through nukes.
Posted by: Giyane | Nov 2 2022 23:01 utc | 86
https://t.me/milchronicles/1267
The Armed Forces of Ukraine canceled the attack on Kherson due to problems with artillery. Details
According to the Military Chronicle, Operational Command "South" postponed for an indefinite period the offensive planned for the end of October in the area of Kirov and Pravdin, on the border of the Kherson and Nikolaev regions, due to a shortage of 155 mm caliber guns.
In this area, to suppress the defense of the RF Armed Forces, Ukrainian troops planned to actively use German self-propelled guns PzH-2000 and AN / TPQ-36 Firefinder radars.
However, the counter-battery fight of the RF Armed Forces and the high activity of Russian aviation led to the fact that 70% of the PzH-2000 self-propelled guns delivered near Kherson were disabled. Some were worn out by intensive use and sent for repair.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have to compensate for the lack of modern guns in the Kherson region with the guns of the Second World War. In n. Pribugskoye and Luparevo settlements (15 km from Pravdin and the line of combat) are deployed American towed M114 howitzers manufactured in 1942, transferred by Portugal.
In addition, the increased activity of Russian artillery in the Pravdinsky direction forced the Armed Forces of Ukraine to request additional self-propelled guns from NATO. However, the alliance cannot yet quickly supply modern weapons. Instead of disabled PzH-2000s, Italian self-propelled guns OTO Melara M109L can be delivered to the Kherson direction, for which the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not yet have shells.
The emergence of two new 155 mm gun systems may complicate the supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and aggravate the shortageammunition of 155 mm caliber, which the Military Chronicle reported earlier.
@milchronicles
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military chronicle
Artillery chaos. The Ukrainian army is confused in calibers The
United States announced the supply of 105 mm caliber shells to Ukraine. Thus, it will be the ninth caliber in the ammunition system of the Ukrainian army. Prior to this, the APU used installations of eight calibers: ...
Finally organizational matters catch up with them...
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Nov 2 2022 23:30 utc | 87
THE GRAIN SHOW must not go on
#OPINION #GRAIN
It's finally come together for me, thanks to Rybar (https://t.me/rybar/40500).
The Ajalyk substation in the Odessa region: it feeds, among others, the port Yuzhny, which I wrote about here (https://t.me/sevmob/515). It was hit on 22 October. Power was soon restored with volumes supplied from Romania.
Here is a high-resolution map of strikes on Ukraine's power hubs (https://rybar.ru/piwigo/upload/2022/10/22/20221022085248-bb488ec1.jpg), which confirms this. While Russia is hitting the infrastructure, all three of Ukraine's major grain ports are stranded and will not be able to operate as usual.
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We are still anchored in the Dardanelles—there are many ships with us. In the Marmara Sea, more than a hundred vessels are waiting, just the same as us for passage through the Bosphorus and onwards, some of them have to go through the grain corridor in the Black Sea. There is a lot of traffic.
The grain deal will end on 22 November. NATO has requested a continuation of the banquet (http://t.me/sevmob/568) but the UN Secretariat has still not responded to Russia's request (http://t.me/sevmob/537) on the movement of grain to the consumer. Vasily Nebenzya hinted (http://t.me/kstati_p/23968) that (http://t.me/kstati_p/23968that) in order for the deal to be extended at all, it is time to drop the shark sanctions against our own vessels in the Euro-ports, about our own grain exports. That is to say, to set the West such an impossible bar that they will not jump over without giving up their position by a little more than half.
That's what I'm explaining now, the slowdown of the entire grain shipping corridor. Ships are waiting. Ukrainian port infrastructure is in agony. The deal will not be extended unless sanctions are lifted. Geraniums fly into targets. Cargo is stuck in Ukraine.
Are you following Grandmaster's hand (https://t.me/sevmob/683)?
The black mark operation in the Black Sea continues. The grain show must not go on.
Source: @SevMob / https://t.me/sevmob/693
@Slavyangrad / SLG Spetsnaz Detachment (Inna)
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Nov 2 2022 23:33 utc | 88
@marko 50
From my article, Wars of Depopulation explaining this. The article is supported by appropriate citations, references and footnotes.
Rand researched [what would happen when we run into resource based limits], essentially confirming the Club of Rome's predictions, having determined that the carrying capacity of Earth fell in the range of 500 million to 2 billion depending on the assumptions made. As the population had already exceeded 3 billion in 1960 and was on track to reach 4 billion by the mid 1970s, their brief was extended to analyse what would happen, how to avoid the situation and failing that, how to extend the time to criticality, and of course, to determine the best course of action when it became apparent it had occurred. Rand Corp. created an extensive range of models and used game theory to analyse the possible outcomes and responses.In 1972 they delivered their report to the President. In essence they confirmed that the onset of criticality would be detected in the rear view mirror, through sharp rises in the price of goods, followed by widespread famines and general economic collapse. Governments would fail, revolutions would occur, and wars would break out on a global scale. The Westphalian system and international structures might collapse and the collapse would probably be rapid in onset and deep. One critical resource they identified was potable water resources, which they predicted might become visible as the most serious challenge in the 2020 period, due to the difficulty in finding alternatives (!), and modelling which reflected that it would probably become critical across the world, including in the USA, due to groundwater depletion and consequent rises in salination.
All models reflected that the problems could not be avoided, except through reducing populations to the sustainable level, and that the only way to delay its onset would be heroic steps to manage populations. When it happened, a sudden depopulation would be vastly preferable to a long slow decline, as a decline would lead to wasteful fighting which would destroy resources that would otherwise be available to survivors.
This lead to adoption of a military plan for this eventuality where US competitors would be encourage to reduce the US population before the US eliminates theirs. Some oligarchs believe that the time has arrived to implement this plan, while they camp out on their comfortable bunkers.
The oligarchs are missing the point that artificial ecosystems tend to be too simple to be stable, which is why the longest that any group has survived in a largely closed environment is less than 2 years (Biosphere 2 Project). Meanwhile, since at least 2014 we have known to the limits of scientific certainty, that the detonation of 100 nuclear warheads over cities would be sufficient to eject some 5 teragrams of black soot into the earth’s stratosphere where it never rains. That means that soot would remain blocking sunlight from the earth for decades, preventing photosynthesis and cooling the Earth to levels not seen since the Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian) 250 mybp which did the same as forests burned due to comets and vulcanism. That was, until now, the Earth's largest extinction event and killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 81% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects). With the sun blocked out, photosynthesis by plants, including plankton, would be impossible, and with most seeds deteriorating within years, most vegetation would be driven into extinction.
Humans could not survive the ensuing extinction event.
As there are some 18,000 known ready-to-use nuclear devices and the IAEA estimates that pits exist to assemble another 50,000 or so devices on short notice, inter alia, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and World Economic Forum both consider the detonation of these devices both the most likely and most serious near-term threat to continued human existence.
It may be too late to make meaningful changes, but then again, nobody with any significance has held the desperately needed conversations we should be having if we don't want wars of depopulation. It is too inducive to panic - and far too prone to lead to redistribution of the vast sums of money carefully set aside by the 0.1% against the day when the rains turn deadly - to say nothing of interfering with the apocalyptic eschatological visions of some of the world's religions and religious - who hold many of the reins of power.
Russia which has developed far more sophisticated and effective weapon systems than the West, is aware that even a moderate thermonuclear exchange would end life on earth. In so far as some of the oligarchs' puppets masquerading as politicians are aware of anything, they seem to believe that they and their families will be safe in the government bunkers while the rest of us are disposed of, and if they are wrong that so long as the last person to die is an American it will count as a victory. They are wrong, but by the time they realize that. It will be too late.
Posted by: Hermit | Nov 2 2022 23:43 utc | 89
steven t johnson@87
You're new to the business of pretending to be a revolutionary aren't you, Steve?
If you knew the history of the Communist movement you would realise that I, like Radek in his jokes, am referring not to the period of the Revolution itself but to the years afterwards, in the 1920s, in which, increasingly losing hope, the Russian revolutionaries looked westwards for the German, British, French and Italian revolutions that theory told them would come to the rescue of a proletarian revolution in a peasant country.
Radek's joke, that I heard from Ygael Gluckstein himself, was as follows:
A veteran comrade, with an impeccable record of service to the Party and the working class, needed a job.
"You're in luck" he was told "the Party is establishing an early warning system in the west. Observation towers are being placed on the borders of Poland. And people just like you are needed to man them: when you see the revolution approaching you phone up Moscow so we are ready."
The old comrade had his doubts but he needed a job. And, a Trade Unionist by every instinct, he asked what the job paid.
"Oh the pay is minimal" he was told "but the job is permanent."
And now Steve, why not deepen your carnal self-knowledge, and go back to DNC HQ where you came from?
Posted by: bevin | Nov 2 2022 23:44 utc | 90
they're doing it because:
1. a flimsy pretext for NATO invasion and/or use of western nukes and/or
2. f_cking boomers. they spent their "glory days" immersed in cold war bullsh_t, came out of it "triumphant" when history "ended" with the USSR and never felt the urge to update it. these are the assholes who still listen to the beatles for f_ck's sake. biden is technically pre-boomer according to the 1944/5 starting point but he's honorary and shares their outlook (plus his middle-aged son acts like a junkie college student so age groups be damned).
the US is ossified because of them in any case. how are pelosi and her prick husband even still alive to be attacked with hammers in the first place? they're like literally a thousand years old. retire and crawl into a "home", jackasses.
Posted by: the pair | Nov 2 2022 23:49 utc | 91
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Nov 2 2022 20:24 utc | 53
Thanks For posting Beck. It cheered me up.
"Pink Floyd - The Dogs Of War"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g3-Zej43rw
Posted by: tonyopmoc | Nov 3 2022 0:39 utc | 92
I'm going to try my hand at this double/triple posting, looks like fun!
Russia's nuclear doctrine is absolutely clear!! There will be NO unleashing of the hounds unless there is a direct and alarming danger to the motherland. Even though the Russian Nuclear Forces are years ahead of most nuclear nations they are loath to set off their missiles unless completely sure of an incoming strike. The US obviously knows this so they want to get their pricks in as close as possible to Moscow so their first strike ends the Russian threat. It's going to be a sad day when the Neocons decide to annihilate because they can't assimilate.
Posted by: Safe | Nov 3 2022 0:51 utc | 93
Re: "All the talk is conditioning people to be accustomed to nuclear weapons.."
Seems plausible enough, as per WMD/Nukes in Iraq 2003 .... the people / media cannot argue against such dire immediate threats (right?) - "they" wouldn't lie to us about "that" is usually the default general public belief.
on the other hand I do not see these things as important vs actual military capability and the willingness to deploy them.
----
All this desperate hype out of the media, and the desperate terrorist sabotage attacks indicates to me that the Ukraine and the US know for certain they are too weak / unprepared that Russia could win outright any sustained battle/war in a cantor.
iow the US possibly lack confidence in their own ability to counter Russia's military power and response capability? They look as if they are always up to some distraction of ' buying time '
If that is so maybe the best thing for Russia to do now, sooner than later, is an all out sustained attack across the board - no quarter - but I don't know that's for sure.
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 3 2022 1:01 utc | 94
The "winner" of a US - Russia nuclear exchange: the CCP in their tunnels in PR China.
The biggest loser: the EU, as collateral damage.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 3 2022 2:00 utc | 95
@ Antonym | Nov 3 2022 2:00 utc | 115
thanks for the ultra nationalist viewpoint from india antonym...
Posted by: james | Nov 3 2022 2:09 utc | 96
Re: Hermit | Nov 2 2022 23:43 utc | 107
you have some factual errors in your statements, you wrote, " since at least 2014 we have known to the limits of scientific certainty, that the detonation of 100 nuclear warheads over cities would be sufficient to eject some 5 teragrams of black soot into the earth’s stratosphere where it never rains. That means that soot would remain blocking sunlight from the earth for decades, preventing photosynthesis and cooling the Earth to levels not seen since the Permian–Triassic extinction event . . . That was, until now, the Earth's largest extinction event".
You are confusing the findings of a peer-reviewed study about a war in which a total of 100 atomic bombs were detonated in megacities of India and Pakistan with a different study on a full-scale nuclear war between the US and Russia.
Scientists predict that the India-Pakistan nuclear war (100 Hiroshima-size bombs detonated in cities) would put 5 teragrams (5 million tons of soot and smoke) into the stratosphere. In a conflict where the US and Russia detonated their strategic nuclear arsenals in conflict (about 4000 warheads), the nuclear firestorms ignited by the detonations would put 150 million to 180 million teragrams (million tons of soot and smoke) into the stratosphere.
As you indicated, the soot and smoke would remain above cloud level for many years; in the full-scale US-Russian nuclear war, the stratospheric smoke layer would last for a decade or longer (the sun would heat the soot/smoke, creating a self-lofting effect; the heated smoke would act to facilitate the destruction of most of the Earth's protective stratospheric ozone layer).
In a matter of weeks after the war, a global stratospheric smoke layer would form, blocking about 70% of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere and 35% in the Southern Hemisphere. The loss of warming sunlight would create daily temperatures below freezing in central North American and central Eurasia for up to 3 years; extremely cold weather in the following years would prevent crops from being grown for perhaps a decade. Most people and land animals would starve to death.
Not all life would be destroyed, but most humans would die; any survivors would likely have a poor long-term prognosis.
Posted by: Steven Starr | Nov 3 2022 2:13 utc | 97
Sorry for the double post, I got an error message from MoA and thought the original was gone.
bevin@108 is indignant that his chums the crypto-fascists are not treated the way bevin feels crypto-fascist comrades should be, The insolence about the DNC is first, a confession of defeat, substituting insult for impossible arguments in favor of the indefensible; second, politically required, as deep respect for crypto-fascist fellow travelers toward the multipolar utopia equally requires foaming-at-the-mouth fury at communist sympathizers (which I am, for the record never claimed to be a "revolutionary" as opposed to the murder-mouthing right-wing nutjobs around here); third, completely stupid since it is bevin, his masters and the DNC which are convinced there will never be a revolution in the white countries...and "the Bolsheviks" also looked to colonial revolutions, if not the Trotskyist types bevin likes to refer to. Revolutionary struggles in Turkey, Mexico, China.
My original comment specifically mentioned the General Strike of 1926 in the UK. In truth bevin is a counter-revolutionary ashamed of it, but officially Trotskyists like to blame Stalin for the failure of the western European revolutions, ranting not just about the General Strike and the Anglo-Russian Committee but disasters in Germany in 1923 and Austria in 1927. If bevin has concluded Trotskyists have been making stuff up, that white workers actually like capitalism and never like communism, again he is in agreement with the DNC, not me.
As for Radek's alleged belief there would "never" be a revolution in Europe, soundly based on the long experience of part of the decade of the twenties, the Spanish revolution in the Thirties exploded that soon enough. bevin not noticing this is natural enough, since bevin is no friend, ever, of social revolutions, only multipolarity. Whenever Radek told this joke is hard to tell. Radek was touting "National Bolshevism" nearly as soon as the war ended. (And yes, "National Bolshevism" was an ugly dream of right-wing/left-wing unity, a cynical pretense like "National Socialism.") Radek capitulated to Stalin later, so cheap shots in favor of "socialism in one country" might be expected from a sycophant. (It didn't save Radek, who was executed in 1939.) Gluckstein by the way has an unsavory career of his own, under the name of Tony Cliff he bragged of "independently" rediscovering the supposedly left-wing state-capitalist theory. This of course is and has always been fundamentally right-wing, with a left cover, like bevin. I suppose training in that misbegotten tradition is the counter-revolutionary experience bevin says I don't have. I don't have that BS in my head, thank God.
While writing this, Iron Forge showed the hostility to the DNC et al. that bevin admires so much. Says it all, or should.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 3 2022 2:32 utc | 98
PR China support for Russia till date: words only, but weapons or personnel zilch. Makes sense as Communist brotherhood is just a slogan for the plebs: the US and Russia slugging it out is seen as beneficial by Xi Jinping. One little problem: China in north in the Northern Hemisphere, so Steven Starr| 119 projection might throw a spanner in his works.
Posted by: Antonym | Nov 3 2022 3:53 utc | 99
I am not surprised that the US is again talking about Russia using nuclear weapons. It's like a schoolyard bully trashtalking from a distance afraid he will get his ass kicked, as his gang gets beaten up one by one. Kherson was a failure. Kharkov was a failure. Kerch...Yup! Sevastopol. Yup! BRICS seems to have a brigher future, with Brazil joining up and other countries. Russia is on a roll as I write here:
https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/russia-is-on-a-roll
Posted by: julianmacfarlane | Nov 3 2022 4:34 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
I worry about what desperate neocons will do as their plans for Russia collapse.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 2 2022 16:36 utc | 1