Lots happening today on the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the Leningrad Siege with Lavrov giving his presser reviewing 2022's foreign policy accomplishments. Currently the transcript only provides most of his peroration prior to the Q&A, which is long and very detailed as is his usual practice. Here is an excerpt from the body that encapsulates much:

I will not talk in detail about the actions of the West in other geopolitical areas. Today we consider the position of the United States and the West to be the main problem that creates difficulties in all azimuths. In short, it goes something like this. Washington's policy of dictate in international affairs literally means the following: Americans are allowed everything they want and wherever they want (at least on the other side of the Earth). What they think is necessary, they will do. Everyone else cannot do anything without American consent, even in response to direct security threats that the United States itself creates on the borders of countries.

Just as Napoleon mobilized almost all of Europe against the Russian Empire, just as A. Hitler captured, put most European countries "under arms" and threw them against the Soviet Union, the United States formed a coalition of almost all Europeans who are members of NATO and the EU, and through Ukraine "by proxy" is waging war against our country with the same task - the final solution of the "Russian question". Hitler wanted to finally solve the "Jewish question."

Now Western politicians (not only from the Baltic States, Poland, but also from more "sane" countries) say that Russia must suffer a strategic defeat. In some publications, political scientists are actively arguing that it is necessary to decolonize Russia. Like, again our country is too big and "interferes". Just the other day I read an article in the Telegraph, which calls for the liberation of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, leaving Karelia, Koenigsberg and the Kuriles for negotiations. Clearly, this is a tabloid. We read the yellow press forcibly, because sometimes it pops up on the front pages of the news.

Lavrov's analogy is very clear and echoes what myself and a few other barflies have written over the last year. Later today when the transcript's completed, I'll post it to my VK and provide the link here.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 18 2023 16:50 utc | 1

I know you know of Andrei Martyanov and he is scathing of the shallowness of the Western political elites and importantly many of the military Generals who somehow take losing in almost all the wars the West has fought as a sure sign they can defeat Russia. Books will be written and will describe in detail how Russia defeated NATO and forced a new security architecture.

Posted by: Antipropo | Jan 18 2023 16:51 utc | 2

Also at Larry Johnson, Jan.17, 2023

Facts On The Ground In Ukraine Force Shift In Media Narrative
LINK

What a difference a couple of weeks make. Remember the meme that “Russia is losing” or even “Russia has already lost.?” Exactly one month ago the U.K.’s chief of defense staff said the following:

The head of the UK’s armed forces says Russia is losing in Ukraine, offering a blunt assessment of the state of the war as Moscow’s unprovoked invasion creeps toward its 10-month mark.

“Russia is losing” and the “free world is winning,” Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the United Kingdom’s chief of defense staff, said Wednesday during a speech at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.

That was then. Now, in the wake of the fall of Soledar and intensifying pressure on Bakhmut, some journalists are starting to sing a slightly different tune. Leading Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman grudgingly admits Russia is not losing on the battlefield and may be on the verge of taking over Kiev and ousting the Zelinsky government:

“Don’t write off Russia” — that was the muttered warning of a European diplomat,with long experience in Moscow. It is a fair point. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has gone badly wrong. But Russia remains a huge country, with plentiful resources and a ruthless, brutal government. Ukraine’s intelligence services think that further conscription drives may allow Russia to deploy an army of 2mn for a renewed offensive later this year. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently warned that Moscow might soon make a fresh attempt to capture Kyiv.[.]

I think the Russians have discovered they can live without Starbucks and MacDonalds and their lives are not damaged. In fact, if Russia is deprived of Western junk food they just might have a healthier population.[.]

[Larry includes this The New Atlas Video in his piece]

Will Western Main Battle Tanks Turn the Tide?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13MBwNsFWLs

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 18 2023 17:01 utc | 3

the corporate msm is '''losing it'''... lol...

Posted by: james | Jan 18 2023 17:27 utc | 4

what is up with U.S. News saying such a thing?? they are going on the ukee kill list, lol...

Posted by: james | Jan 18 2023 17:28 utc | 5

The head of the UK’s armed forces says Russia is losing in Ukraine

Radakin is a nonentity appointed by Johnson BECAUSE he was a windbag blowhard like himself.

He used Royal Navy sponsorship to take a Law degree and become a Barrister.........a barrister which involves pupillage and no income - so he basically had a free ride to getting a nice qualification before doing any naval service.

He has no combat experience and is there to boost the Royal Navy with its Carriers, SSBNs, SSNs and leave the Army short of funds.

Radakin is clueless.

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Jan 18 2023 18:02 utc | 6

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Jan 18 2023 18:02 utc | 5

"the Royal Navy with its Carriers, SSBNs, SSNs and leave the Army short of funds."

The Royal Navy is a busted flush - a pale shadow of its former might - likewise the UK Army and Air Force. Despite spending as much as Japan on the arms industry, the UK, like the US, gets a mere 'pop' for its money instead of a bang. Further details can be found by searches at 'Military Watch Magazine' - which as far as I can ascertain, has no particular bias.

Posted by: Jams O'Donnell | Jan 18 2023 18:19 utc | 7

Losing in Ukraine ...

Translated:

Summary by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine (18.01.2023)

💥 In the Kupyan direction, artillery of the Western Military District inflicted fire on units of the 14th and 92nd mechanized brigades of the AFU and the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of Dvurechnoye, Krakhmalne of Kharkiv Oblast and Novoselovskoye of Luhansk People's Republic. Over 60 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored personnel carrier, two pickup trucks, two vehicles and one US-made M777 artillery system were destroyed.

💥 In the Krasno-Limansky direction, artillery fire from formations of the Central Military District and Airborne Troops and strikes by army and assault aviation on accumulations of manpower defeated units of the 92nd Mechanized, 80th and 95th Airborne Assault Brigades of the AFU near the settlements of Stelmakhivka, Chervona Dibrova of the Lugansk People's Republic, as well as Serebryansky forest area. Total losses of the AFU in this direction during the day amounted to more than 90 Ukrainian soldiers, infantry fighting vehicle and three armored fighting vehicles.

◽️ In addition, two US-made AN/TPQ-50 and AN/TPQ-48 counter-battery radar stations and an ST-68 target detection and tracking radar were destroyed.

💥 In the Donetsk direction, volunteer assault squads, with fire support from tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Southern Military District, liberated the settlement of Sol in the Donetsk People's Republic. During the day, up to 90 Ukrainian servicemen, three armored fighting vehicles, four vehicles, an Msta-B howitzer and a Grad MLRS combat vehicle were destroyed in this area.

◽️ In addition, a warehouse of HIMARS and Grad multiple rocket launcher ammunition was destroyed near the city of Kramatorsk.

💥 On the South Donets direction, artillery units of the Eastern and Southern Military Districts, as well as marines of the Pacific Fleet thwarted attempts by the AFU to attack with up to three assault groups in the direction of Stepnoye, Sladkoye and Urozhaynoye settlements of the Donetsk People's Republic. Total losses of the enemy were up to 90 Ukrainian servicemen, four armored fighting vehicles, one pickup truck and seven vehicles.

💥 Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of groups of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the day struck 76 AFU artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 103 areas.

💥 Fighter aircraft of the Russian Air Force shot down an Su-25 aircraft of the air force of Ukraine near the village of Yablonovka, Donetsk People's Republic.

💥 The air defense forces destroyed seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Krivosheyevka, Kremenna, Chervonopopovka and Krasnorechenske settlements of the Luhansk People's Republic, as well as intercepted an Olha multiple-launch rocket near Vladimirovka settlement of the Donetsk People's Republic.

📊 In total, since the beginning of the special military operation destroyed ((+?) over preceding 24hrs):
373(+1) aircraft,
200 helicopters,
2,898(+7) unmanned aerial vehicles,
401 anti-aircraft missile systems,
7,563(+14) tanks and other armored combat vehicles,
985(+1) multiple rocket launcher combat vehicles,
3,855(+2) field artillery and mortar guns, and
8,101(+20) pieces of special military vehicles.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 18 2023 18:19 utc | 8

I've mentioned elsewhere but the successful psyop of the 'Russiagate' conspiracy (Which has never been refuted by the MSM media in the West, just not ) conjured up after Trump's statements on Syria, how the state department created ISIS and fuled the civil war there and how he wasn't inclined to get directly involved (This context is totally forgotten by the sheep who seemingly couldn't, before the self-fulfilling prophecy of Russia attacking Ukraine after it was baited to, actually tell you why they hated Putin, they just did because 'orange man bad') has had unforseen consequences.

This was all set up to just be a proxy war, if Ukraine won, great, if it lost, who cares, just make sure they lose well and we prop them up to fight to the last Ukrainian. But then social media hysteria took hold and suddenly this was all a bit of a test of US hegemony in a way it wasn't before and a test of neocon control of narratives and what was or wasn't a 'conspiracy theory' or 'misinformation' (The favoured words of the greatest liars and propagandists in human history), those hysterical teenage girls and low information adults set this up to be a must win for the neocons when it was previously supposed to be a bet with house money (Ukrainian lives and territory) only. But they didn't know how to stop it, they couldn't back down on their media narrative.

Many suggest that social media creates hysteria itself but I don't think so. (Why does #DefundTheIDF never trend or create a situation the media has to respond to? Why does nothing Israel does ever cause a problem or media reaction?) I think it takes both, the MSM egging people (In essence giving them 'permission' to goes insane) on and social media responding, creating a feedback loop. One operating on it's own does not have the power to turn into pure hysteria like we've been seeing since 2016 and then intensified after May 2020.

I salute the brave low information useful idiots who have turned a situation where US hegemony wasn't in question to one where it is and a test it will surely fail under.

The power users of the internet are teenage girls and young women with cluster B personality disorders, if you want to understand what has been happening since 2014 you need to understand that.

Posted by: Altai | Jan 18 2023 18:35 utc | 9

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has become the new Baghdad Bob, saying Russia is losing 500-600 soldiers/day while Ukraine is only losing one tenth of that number (50-60).

Posted by: Mark Mosby | Jan 18 2023 18:36 utc | 10

I thought that the Biden classified docs scandal was a nothing-burger, but I might be wrong. It may well be that Biden is soon to be ousted from the White House. The reason will be for losing the war in Ukraine, the justification will be the classified docs scandal.

Its one thing for a sitting US president to lose one foreign war, but Biden will be the first US president to lose two foreign wars, and in a single term to boot.

Posted by: Monos | Jan 18 2023 18:38 utc | 11

The main reason why US News reports on the Russian military industrial complex spinup, quoting Putin, is that they wish to convince USA to engage in the same.

Posted by: TIT FOR TAT | Jan 18 2023 18:49 utc | 12

One of the people who can see a Russian victory is Emmanuel Todd. He has a piece in Die WeltWoche, which while behind a paywall, is an interesting read:

Emmanuel Todd

Posted by: Hereward | Jan 18 2023 19:04 utc | 13

Blinken ‘Surprised’ Biden Classified Documents Found at Center He Directed

Posted by: Jonathan W | Jan 18 2023 19:10 utc | 14

Posted by: TIT FOR TAT | Jan 18 2023 18:49 utc | 11

Now here's the joke, hidden elephant room if you will, on those neo-libtards and what they did to their own society.

Maybe they shouldn't have "wokeized" the education system, and instead of just training woke political scientists and historians and safe spacers, they should have educated more STEM graduates instead of relying completely on Chinese and Indians who are systematically being harassed in the US and will jump ship the first decent opportunity comes.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 19:20 utc | 15

File this under "Stuff you couldn't make up":

"Aryeh Deri, Israel's interior and health minister, has been disqualified from holding his office by the High Court in a bombshell judgement that has implications for the future of Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the judiciary itself.

"Deri is one of Netanyahu's most experienced allies and head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.

"Ahead of the judgement, his Shas ally Yaakov Margi, who is welfare minister, told an Israeli radio station if Deri is disqualified then "there will be no government".

"If the court disqualifies him, the prime minister will have to decide what to do," Margi said. "We have said all along that there is no reason for Aryeh Deri not to serve as a senior minister in Israel."

"Deri was convicted of tax crimes in 2022 and submitted his resignation from the Israeli parliament.

"He struck a plea bargain with the courts, in which he said he would quit parliament and political life, only to return to it nine months later and take the position of interior and health minister.

"The Israeli high court was deliberating whether Deri's appointment contravenes his plea bargain.

"Deri has a controversial legal history. In 2000, he was sentenced to three years in prison for taking $155,000 in bribes while serving as interior minister.

"He served 22 months in prison, and though remaining an influential figure didn't rejoin public life until 2011. He was re-elected to parliament in 2013...."

That is chutzpah...

Posted by: bevin | Jan 18 2023 19:23 utc | 16

Who wound up with egg on their faces when Kharkiv oblast and the city of Kherson fell?

How decisive was Hitler when he claimed the Third Reich would last 1000 years, and how decisive were Bush administration officials in calling the Taliban a spent force?

And do we really want to praise someone boasting about the military industrial complex?

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jan 18 2023 19:39 utc | 17

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 19:20 utc | 14

It's curious to a website cited by Noam Chomsky get praised by someone who attacks "lib tards" and who buys into the "woke" rhetoric of hardcore right wingers.

As a Physics instructor, I never would want to see the STEM fields ever used as a contrast to some fake "woke" bogeyman.

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jan 18 2023 19:45 utc | 18

@16 Inkan1969

You are totally right.
The way the US left Afghanistan was pretty appalling chaos that killed a lot of people.
Luckily with Kherson city Russia was able to complete a strategic withdrawl. No Ukrainians flying Russian blackhawks around at the end of that one.

And we totally should not praise a country whose layer of Neocons are well lobbied for. The American military industrial complex like Lockheed, Raytheon and Boeing and the like are way too represented for the worlds well being.

Posted by: One commenter | Jan 18 2023 19:49 utc | 19

I like how B resists the World War III label that's so alluring these days. Everyone calls them World Wars, but it would be more accurate to describe them as European wars of colonial dominance. They all have become accustomed to plundering the world and living at its expense, so much so that they consider any conflict of theirs to become the worlds foremost concern. Can’t really blame them, for half the planet is named after a shady European slaver named Amerigo Vespucci. Tell me, how many other continents are named after some shady guy and who decided this? Anyway, in each case Russia finds itself unwittingly pulled into aforementioned conflicts. In the latest two iterations of The European Wars it was and will be Russian weapons that decide the outcome.

Posted by: liveload | Jan 18 2023 19:59 utc | 20

Inkhan69: [16]

I will not hesitate to praise Vladimir Putin, who rescued a dying society, economy, and nation from the clutches of the Western imperialists in 2000. Russia was/is in an existential fight, with 46 biolabs on its Ukrainian border, the Ukrainian army hordes last February about to invade what was left of the Russian-speaking population in the Donbass, NATO chomping at its bit to digest Ukraine, and Russia soon left with "nowhere to retreat".

The West made a massive blinder in thinking: 1) the Ukrainian military was larger, better, and better armed than it was; 2) Ukrainian air defenses could handle the astonishing array of Russian cruise, hypersonic, and other missiles; 3) US satellite intelligence would dominate the battlefield; 4) Russia's economy would fold with punitive sanctions followed by 5) unrest in Russia and its neighboring allies. Not only did none of this happen but it actually backfired on the West, leading to the suicidal predicament it is now facing. Slava Z!

Posted by: FHTEX | Jan 18 2023 20:25 utc | 21

At this juncture, within the late capitalism cor(ps)e of the Imperium, what we're seeing is merely content generation for clicks, churned out by people desperate for money and unable to find more satisfying work.

This, of course, includes "reportage" about "Putin's war" - and, also by necessity, this content must align with the prevailing allowed narrative(s). Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if some of those stories were generated by "AI", as a minor scandal has emerged in the last 24 hours related to artificial intelligence penning articles at sites like CNET.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-news-site-used-ai-to-write-articles-it-was-a-journalistic-disaster/ar-AA16s6lC

I think it's fair to describe the articles b has linked above as "journalistic disasters" too, but that's the new normal.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 20:47 utc | 22

If Russia is winning, why are preparations being made to institute martial law and mobilize another 500,000 Russians? The truth is that Russia is losing. Any type of Russian offensive will only result in the West giving Ukraine more advanced weaponry. The so-called "war on Ukraines infrastructure has failed, can anyone point to any gain except for Russia to be denounced as the terrorist country it is? What about the "winter offensive"? Western Europe has all the energy they need and I don't any offensive by Putin.

So, failure all around. Except when you come to MoA...here Russia is winning. Keep jerking boys!

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 20:55 utc | 23

Who wound up with egg on their faces when Kharkiv oblast and the city of Kherson fell?

Nobody except maybe a few minor bloggers who attributed outsized importance to those places and misrepresented the strategic nature of the retreat in part by leaving out important context.

How decisive was Hitler when he claimed the Third Reich would last 1000 years, and how decisive were Bush administration officials in calling the Taliban a spent force?

It was only a matter of time before you invoked Godwin's Rule, LOL. Who cares what Hitler said without considering the context of what was being written about WWII and the Third Reich?

The Bush-Cheney administration were known liars and destructive clowns waging unprovoked wars on innocent countries thousands of miles from the USSA. Putin is acting on behalf of his people and elected government to fight off an existential threat to their country and has a long history of speaking truths with very little fanfare or exaggeration. Hence, I think it's safe to conclude that what he says has nothing to do with what American liars and warmongers have said.

And do we really want to praise someone boasting about the military industrial complex?

Who's "praising" their MIC? Even Putin was merely speaking truth; in response to the continued stochastic, economic and military aggression being used against Russia over the past 30 years, the Russian MIC has - out of necessity - had to ramp up its capabilities. This stands in contrast to the USSA which every year spends more on its own MIC than the MIC even asked for! It also contrasts with the very purpose of the USSA MIC which is to function financially as a self-licking ice cream cone and in practice as the mafia enforcer arm for Western private capital and the Zionist-Saudi axis. Again, Russia's MIC is truly a "department of defense" unlike our own, despite the Orwellian label.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 20:56 utc | 24

Scholz or at least some Germans understand what is going on. US is pulling out of the war against Russia while maintaining an appearance. Scholz refusing to send Leopards until US has sent Abrams. The US money for Ukraine is nothing as that simply gets funneled into US companies and corrupt pockets. US wants to save its powder for war with China.

What the Ukraine TG channels were calling the Sullivan formula and Martyanov called a meeting or meetings to delineate red lines between US and Russia might be starting to take shape.

Much jockeying for political position within Ukraine at the moment and over the last month or so. Now entire top end of Ukraine police wiped out in one strike. I'm not sure of the current makeup at the top of the interior ministry but right sector have had positions at the top since 2014.

So unless the US sends Abrams, its just the fanatical Brits, Poles and barking Baltics left to fight Russia.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 20:56 utc | 25

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 20:55 utc | 22

More advanced weaponry. LMFAO. Both at the use of the words "more" (which doesn't exist in quantities sufficient to make a tiny difference) and "advanced" (which is a abomination of the truth given the lack of hypersonic and other modern weapons in the hands of the Russians).

Russia is mobilizing more troops precisely in response to the NATO threat and not simply the eventual conquest of Ukraine. This war has shown them that despite years of false promises, NATO's (acting on behalf of western private finance) goal truly is to destroy the RF, balkanize it and strip it of assets while privatizing the natural commons and public utilities. Russia has realized they are in an existential war and that Ukraine may not be the last battle it has to fight.

They will more than just defeat Ukraine; they will land a crushing body blow to NATO and its image around the world. The "failure all around" refers to the collective NATO-led west, whose economies are entering deep recessions, whose manufacturing base has been decimated, whose global reserve currency is fixin' to be abandoned by large swaths of the globe, and who are about to enter into fascist/authoritarianism 2.0.

But keep tilting at windmills.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:01 utc | 26

"At this juncture, within the late capitalism cor(ps)e of the Imperium"

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 20:47 utc | 21

If the US is done, why are thousands of people trying to get IN to the US while hundreds of thousands of Russians are trying to get out of Russia. You old stupid communists in the West just can't let go of your fantasies.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:04 utc | 27

It's time for China and the BRICS inclined countries to unite and implement reverse sanctions and embargo NATO countries. Russian victory is existential for itself and the rest of the world. If Russia fails, China is next. NATO/EU/UK, the unipolar empire's strategy is not to win, but rule by eternal conflict, make competing countries weak, needy and compliant by exporting endless wars, social unrest and economic destabilization.

Posted by: Willow | Jan 18 2023 21:05 utc | 28

Posted by: Willow | Jan 18 2023 21:05 utc | 27

China? Puhleez, you think China, or anybody else, is going to throw away their multi-trillion $ trading relationship with the US to support broke Russia?

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:08 utc | 29

How Ukraine avoids paying benefits to families of the fallen (warning: sensitive material).

https://t.me/thisistotallynotacallforhelp/15315

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 21:08 utc | 30

Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:01 utc | 25

That another username that pops up here because it is paid to do so. Nobody finds their way to a site like this and settles in to comment like that without being paid for it. A username that can be safely ignored.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:09 utc | 31

"If the US is done, why are thousands of people trying to get IN to the US..."

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:04 utc | 26

It's because they don't want to become victims of US foreign policy.

Posted by: One Too Many | Jan 18 2023 21:10 utc | 32

If the US is done, why are thousands of people trying to get IN to the US while hundreds of thousands of Russians are trying to get out of Russia. You old stupid communists in the West just can't let go of your fantasies.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:04 utc | 26

You know absolutely nothing about the number of Russians trying to get out, and those that are, are largely potential conscripts - so nothing all that unusual in modern history.

People from Latin America are trying to get IN to the USA because it is literally their only option after decades of economic, military sabotage (including backing right-wing death squads) and blockades of their home countries allegedly enacted to force regime change, but in reality put in place to immiserate the populace.

I find it hilarious that short-sighted Bircher-type conservatives like you can both praise the awful sanctions and brutal embargos against places like Venezuela and Cuba (to name just a few), then bitch and moan about the "illegals" flooding the border, and then praise the USA because the "illegals" want to come here. Again, LMFAO.

BTW - It's virtually the same reason African and Middle Eastern migrants are flooding Europe: FUKUSNATO wars waged against their countries, some spanning multiple decades.

The USA is a dying empire. The literal only way its ruling elites, tucked away in bunkers or on Mars, will save its hegemony will be via pyrrhic nuclear warfare.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:10 utc | 33

China? Puhleez, you think China, or anybody else, is going to throw away their multi-trillion $ trading relationship with the US to support broke Russia?

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:08 utc | 28

LOL @ your incessant RAND/State Department/CIA talking points.

https://scheerpost.com/2023/01/04/patrick-lawrence-the-sino-russian-summit-you-didnt-read-about/

Like a typical American idiot, you think only in very short intervals of time. Similar to Wall Street traders only concerned with their next monthly or quarterly bonus and not the long-term systemic damage their activities will cause to the greater market. You know nothing of the Chines (or Russian) philosophies and you demonstrate it by projecting the alleged need for uniquely western late stage capitalist actions onto those countries. They're playing the long game, fool.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:14 utc | 34

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:01 utc | 25

What planet are you on? You think the West is out of armaments? Who is dragging old T-62s out of storage while the West has not even used theirs? Let's talk "infosec", Russia has the worse information security in the world. The West listens in on every Russian circuit...your hero's can't keep a secret.

Land a crushing blow on NATO? Those clowns can't even take the Donbass....after a year.

So keep drowning yourself in propaganda and never forget, keep on wanking!

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:15 utc | 35

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:15 utc | 34

Let's talk "infosec", Russia has the worse information security in the world. The West listens in on every Russian circuit...your hero's can't keep a secret.

Another ridiculous assertion and one that seems to forget how quickly the Pyatt Nuland conversation was leaked during the Maidan coup. But what are your sources for this allegation, troll? I'm genuinely interested to see if you can back up your claims with real information.

Enjoy your State Department or NED paycheck while it lasts. If you're the best they can deploy, it really is only a matter of time before your department gets defunded. LOL

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:18 utc | 36

@22 Reminds me of 5 O’clock charlie in the Mash tv show lol.

Posted by: Franka | Jan 18 2023 21:20 utc | 37

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:10 utc | 32

The US has literally pulled billions of people out of poverty. Russia would not even exist, and would be speaking German, if not for the people of the US supplying 60% of the USSRs war material during WWII. You think China became a world power by themselves? Mexico? Anybody? McFly? Hey McFly?

The fact of the matter is that you envious. Thats what began the Dark Ages...Institutionalized Envy.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:20 utc | 38

Enjoy your State Department or NED paycheck while it lasts. If you're the best they can deploy, it really is only a matter of time before your department gets defunded. LOL

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:18 utc | 35

Playing the paid troll card I see. That's all you got when your 1960s socialism arguments get wrecked. I wish I was being paid.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:22 utc | 39

Mike Whitney's latest:
the collective west instigated a war without a plan

The Hammer is about to fall

The plan to engage Russia militarily is a tacit admission that the United States can no longer maintain its global dominance through economic or political means alone. After exhaustive analysis and debate, western elites have settled on a course of action aimed at dividing the world into warring blocs in order to prosecute a war on Russia and China. The ultimate strategic objective of the current policy, is to tighten the grip of western elites on the levers of global power and to prevent the dissolution of the “rules-based international order.” But after 11 months of nonstop warfare in Ukraine, the US-backed western coalition finds itself in a worse position than when it began.

Aside from the fact that the economic sanctions have severely impacted Washington’s closest European allies, the West’s control of Ukraine has plunged the economy into a protracted slump, destroyed much of the country’s critical infrastructure and annihilated a sizable portion of the Ukrainian Army. More importantly, Ukrainian forces are now suffering unsustainable casualties on the battlefield which is laying the groundwork for the inevitable splintering of the state. Whatever the outcome of the conflict may be, one thing is certain: Ukraine will no longer exist as a viable, independent, contiguous state.

One of the biggest surprises of the current war, is simply the lack of preparedness on part of the US.  One would assume that if the foreign policy mandarins decided to “lock horns” with the world’s biggest nuclear superpower, they would have done the necessary planning and preparation to ensure success. Clearly, that hasn’t happened.[.]

We see the same incompetence in the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine. How do we explain the fact that the NATO nations have been frantically scraping the bottom of the barrel to find weapons for Ukraine? Did our leaders really start a war with Russia not knowing whether they had sufficient supplies of weapons and ammo to fight the enemy? That appears to be the case.[.]

These aren’t trivial mistakes. The level of incompetence in the planning of this war is beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. It appears that all the preparation was focused on provoking a Russian invasion, not on the developments that would happen soon afterwards. What’s clear, is that the Pentagon never “gamed out” the actual war itself or the conflict as it is presently unfolding. Otherwise, how does one explain these glaring errors in judgement:

1. They never thought the sanctions would backfire
2. They never thought they’d run out of weapons and ammo
3. They never thought Russia’s oil receipts would skyrocket
4. They never thought that the majority of countries would maintain normal relations with Russia
5. They never figured they’d actually need a coherent military strategy for fighting a ground war in eastern Europe.

Is there anything they got right?
Not that we can see.

(original emphasis)
Read in full
HERE

Indeed, IMHO we are heading down that road. When the economy fails, the neocons take us to war. We have been in the financial collapse, papered over with mouse-click trillions since 2009.

MSFT just announced 10,000 pink slips to be handed out in the next 11 weeks.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 18 2023 21:22 utc | 40

"Land a crushing blow on NATO? Those clowns can't even take the Donbass....after a year."

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:15 utc | 34

If we're talking about clowns in a three ring circus the US spent 20 years and 2.2 trillion dollars in Afghanistan to replace the Taliban with, wait for it, the Taliban.

Posted by: One Too Many | Jan 18 2023 21:25 utc | 41

Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 20:55 utc | 22

define losing.

as to europe having all the energy they need:

germans getting 30% electricity from coal greta got arrested on live tellie there

mild winter, and the flow of gas just reduced in 1 jan 2023. the mild winter and recession have euro gas stores at record for this time of year

and uk inflation just cooled to 10.6% year on year

and us government tax receipts at covid level deficits to outlays.

define losing!

Posted by: paddy | Jan 18 2023 21:27 utc | 42

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 18 2023 21:22 utc | 39

Lol. Mike Whitney, Scott Ritter, Larry Johnson...hell even your own Saker and Andrei Martynov are just telling you clowns what you want to hear. It's called a grift....here is how it works...you click on my stuff and I tell you what you want to hear. They get paid by the click.

Is no one gonna answer the question?

If Russia is winning why the plans for martial law and another 500K call-up?

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:28 utc | 43

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:09 utc | 30

I think you had better read tom_Q-Collins again. He was replying to the poster Muthuker.

Posted by: watcher | Jan 18 2023 21:28 utc | 44

If we're talking about clowns in a three ring circus the US spent 20 years and 2.2 trillion dollars in Afghanistan to replace the Taliban with, wait for it, the Taliban.

Posted by: One Too Many | Jan 18 2023 21:25 utc | 40

True. That was the US military industrial complex at work. I served there, but never supported it.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:30 utc | 45

The fact of the matter is that you envious. Thats what began the Dark Ages...Institutionalized Envy.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:20 utc | 37

You're an idiot and at the same time correct. You're too stupid to be getting paid for this. The USA is in the business of impoverishing too many countries around the globe to count. Finance capitalism has replaced industrial capitalism and it is eating itself alive while devouring any foreign resource it can get its hands on. You're the one stuck in the Cold War and bitching about communism like a good Bircher; I'm the one talking about the emerging new multipolar world that is all but inevitable at this point - in large part due to the short-term thinking and destructive actions of the US empire. Envious? Of what? You can't even spell words correctly or use punctuation. You're an old, out of touch, conservative Facebook uncle trying his damndest to deny reality by sticking his fingers in his ears and yammering "nanananana! you're just jeaolous!"

PeterAU1 is correct. Your trolling drivel doesn't deserve a response.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:30 utc | 46

define losing!

Posted by: paddy | Jan 18 2023 21:27 utc | 41

Instituting martial law and calling up 500K for a Special military Operation.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:32 utc | 47

Posted by: watcher | Jan 18 2023 21:28 utc | 43

PeterAU1 was in fact referring to that troll; he was suggesting to me that I stop engaging with it.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:33 utc | 48

PeterAU1 is correct. Your trolling drivel doesn't deserve a response.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:30 utc | 45

Because you, none of you, got no response except MoD propaganda.

The truth is I normally just lurk here. But when the BS gets so deep that I need boots, I post.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:34 utc | 49

I'm still waiting for the proof regarding the assertion that Russia has the worst infosec, like, evAr, bro!

Prove that the US is privy to all of its most sensitive communications.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:35 utc | 50

watcher | Jan 18 2023 21:28 utc | 43

I was writing about the mutha?ucker. Tom Q is good.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:35 utc | 51

"...and never forget, keep on wanking!

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:15 utc | 34"

SOMEONE seems awfully obsessed with wanking...

Posted by: Deplorable | Jan 18 2023 21:35 utc | 52

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:35 utc | 49

Isn't it obvious? Russian Generals getting blasted in their HQs. 600+ brave Russian servicemen blasted in their barracks. Black Sea flagship sunk...

Really? The evidence is all around.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:38 utc | 53

Muthaucker (22):

You are So--o-o wrong! The 500,000 new mobilization is long-term, in preparation for a larger role of the Russian military on the world stage. And there is no martial law in Russia, in contrast to the dragooning of all Ukrainian men between the ages of 16 and 60 from clubs and restaurants and shops and even overseas. Does Moscow have power for only a couple of hours per day--no, it is tens of millions of Ukrainians suffering through sub-zero temps without gas or electricity. And is Russia suffering a loss of eight soldiers for every one of its enemyy--no, it is Ukraine! Enjoy your moment because soon you'll have to leave MoA and infect some other site after the triumph of Z.

Posted by: FHTEX | Jan 18 2023 21:40 utc | 54

Muckracker @ 37.

Hey MR, Is this your idea of the US pulling people out of poverty?

https://youtu.be/ky0PqPXjNLo

Posted by: Willow | Jan 18 2023 21:42 utc | 55

Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 20:56 utc | 24

'unless the US sends Abrams'

abrams function within a 'combat doctrine' that requires blanket air superiority to keep its huge demand for fuel and repair support from being wiped out.

sunak sending 14 heavy brit rust buckets shows muthaucker is his strategist.

while 50 bradleys is scarce enough to keep infantry off the brit rust buckets, if they don't break down west of lviv.

with air support the israelis have had success using their tanks as half buried pillboxes dependiong on air cover and infantry protection.

Posted by: paddy | Jan 18 2023 21:44 utc | 56

Instituting martial law and calling up 500K for a Special military Operation.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:32 utc | 46

They announced an increase in active army size, supposed to occur gradually between 2023-2026 and related to potential Nato aggressive stance, not Ukraine. Don't know where you get the "500k martial law" from. Maybe the mouth is running before the brain.

https://www.rt.com/russia/570005-russian-standing-army-boost/

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 21:44 utc | 57

@ all, don't let the troll swamp the thread. Just leave it blowing in the wind/wilting on the vine or whatever.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:45 utc | 58

Continued from my Post @ 39

Nouriel Roubini (Dr. Doom) is at Davos. I would not dismiss him. He was one of only two economists who forecasted the 2007-2008 Great Financial Crisis. In 2005 - July 2009 I read his weekly forecasts. He laid bare the warning flags in 3 months increments predicting the crisis would be recognized late July 2008 and the panic that would follow.

Today he had this to say to the elites who will not escape with their billions and trillions.

This perfect storm of megathreats is even more dangerous than the 1970s or the 1930s,

A host of interconnected “megathreats” is imperiling our future. While some of these have been long in the making, others are new. The stubbornly low inflation of the pre-pandemic period has given way to today’s excessively high inflation. Secular stagnation—perpetually low growth owing to weak aggregate demand—has evolved into stagflation, as negative aggregate supply shocks have combined with the effects of loose monetary and fiscal policies.

Where once interest rates were too low—or even negative—they have now been rising fast, driving up borrowing costs and creating the risk of cascading debt crises. The age of hyper-globalization, free trade, offshoring, and just-in-time supply chains has yielded to a new era of de-globalization, protectionism, re-shoring (or “friend-shoring”), secure trade, and “just-in-case” supply-chain redundancies.

We are therefore facing not only the worst of the 1970s (repeated negative aggregate supply shocks), but also the worst of the 2007-08 period (dangerously high debt ratios) and the worst of the 1930s. 

New threats
Moreover, new geopolitical threats are increasing the risk of both cold and hot wars and further balkanizing the global economy.[.]

More (emphasis added)

The trillions of debts on which the illusory prosperity 2009- was built must be paid.
A debt is always paid, either by the borrower or by the lender when the debtor is declared bankrupt.

War is the cover. Protectionism, disruption of trade the triggers.
USD$300 trillion global debt. Add the warnings of the BIS about those $600 trillion in derivatives which they (BIS) magically reduced from $2.5 quadrillion. We ‘ll leave it there.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 18 2023 21:46 utc | 59

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:20 utc | 37

I think if you read any REAL history you would find that a load of rubbish. In fact USA responded to help nations only because russia had got there first. What the USA did in the post war years was to prop up a series of military disctators and funnel money to support them, but it rarely made it to the actual population.

They built up west Germany for sure but that was to stop Russia ie military investment.

Also way too much is made of lend lease. The war was effectively over before the stuff arrived. It certainly helped shorten the war but was not decisive. In any case the US did very well financially out of it. Are you aware that Russia (under Putin) fully paid off the debt to the USA.

Posted by: watcher | Jan 18 2023 21:48 utc | 60

Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:32 utc | 46

weak.

how is doj/fbi (frightened byprayer beads) doing rounding up 'christian nationalists' and other scary conservatives?

Posted by: paddy | Jan 18 2023 21:49 utc | 61

The State Department and western corporate media can't even decide how many Russian generals have allegedly been killed. That's merely the mirror image of "MoD propaganda" you constantly cry about. Meaningless assertions, especially when it's impossible to find a list of Ukrainian (or other NATO-adjacent) generals killed in the same corporate media. Why is that? I'll tell you why: Because there have probably been several dozen to hundreds of Ukrainian generals and officers killed, and since they were using US/NATO communications it would be embarrassing and distracting if the general population here in the west was made aware of the scope and scale of Ukrainians dying, not to mention it might make some congresscritters or constituents rethink the huge sums of money flowing into Ukraine.

There weren't "600+" soldiers killed in their barracks, and those that were killed were likely targeted due to a local spy rather than the use of cellular phones despite the unproven rumors that circulated around.

Regarding the Moskva, that had absolutely nothing to do with infosec. The US utilized various tracking technologies, commonly available to any military power, to locate it and then passed on the coordinates and trajectory to the Ukrainians. However, it is still disputed exactly how it was sunk.

Everything the State Department/NED trolls write contain small nuggets of truth surrounded by copious lies and innuendo, all of it painting exactly the picture that western information warriors want to see disseminated to the population.

You've proven absolutely nothing about infosec.

Boring.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:49 utc | 62

@Outraged | Jan 18 2023 18:19 utc | 7

Thank-you as always for your 3fforts. Did your "3,855(+2) field artillery and mortar guns" miss Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of groups of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the day struck 76 AFU artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 103 areas., or did you decide that a "strike" was not a claimed destruction, or are they accounted for elsewhere?

Posted by: Hermit | Jan 18 2023 21:51 utc | 63

unimperator | Jan 18 2023 21:08 utc | 29

The videos coming out of Soledar. Bodies everywhere. Bodies laying in heaps. All will be listed as MIA and no compensation will be paid to their families.
Ukraine internally will break soon. The cannon fodder at the front are starting to understand that they are just cannon fodder to the coke snorting comedian. The general is over ruled by the comedian and his army is being wiped out. Zelensky days are numbered. Perhaps MI5 will get him out but he is now moving into the zone where he has more propaganda value dead than alive.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:53 utc | 64

"If the US is done, why are thousands of people trying to get IN to the US..."

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:04 utc | 26

Two words:

1) free

2) shit

Posted by: Michigan Dude | Jan 18 2023 21:53 utc | 65

MI5.. should be MI6

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 21:53 utc | 66

Inkan1969 @17: "...some fake woke bogeyman..."

Yes, you woketards are fake. Your entire conception of reality is a fabrication... a delusion. "War is Peace'' and "Men are Women" and other examples of doublethink mental contortionism is daily fare for you, but your mind can handle it because it is exceptionally supple like an over-laundered and threadbare pair of bluejeans. It is progress towards rationality to recognize your fakeness, and that is commendable.

I wouldn't call you a bogeyman though. You are just a deplorably deluded individual buried in a huge culture of delusion, trapped in the throes of mass hysteria. You are a tragic figure deserving of pity. You should be happy about that because it bestows status in the victim culture that you embrace.

That a supposed physics instructor has followed the woke mob off the rails into delusion-land should illustrate the power of the groupthink that western society is currently gripped by. This mass psychological phenomenon, like witch burning and Prohibition before it, helps explain how nearly the entirety of the western "intelligentsia" can be so astonishingly wrong about something as momentous as the start of a new world war. Thank you for offering yourself as an example of the basis from which such emergent phenomena arise.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 18 2023 21:54 utc | 67

Posted by: Willow | Jan 18 2023 21:42 utc | 54

The Bircher troll to whom you respond works either in the cushy "defense" industry or the flush with cash oil and gas industry. Probably someone who failed upwards throughout his career in no small part due to his willingness and ability to absorb and parrot the usual anti-Russian/anti-communist/anti-Chinese and American exceptionalist propaganda.

In other forums, this individual is almost certainly pointing out exactly what you did regarding poverty in the USA and blaming it on "liberals" despite the fact that poverty is concentrated in so-called red states. This isn't to open an argument on those matters, but rather to demonstrate that this person is 100% a troll who has no and is unable to articulate a coherent viewpoint covering more than the one topic it happens to be trolling about at a given time. As I mentioned, this idiot can - in the same breath - complain about illegal immigration from Latin America, brag about how great the USA is because they want to come here, and memory hole the American actions (sanctions, sabotage, regime change, death squads, IMF imposed austerity, sending members of gangs like MS-13 that were created in the USA to El Salvador, etc.) in those countries that have led to the (now unprecedented) wave of migrants from Venezuela and Cuba.

It really is just boring arch-Bircher American exceptionalist propaganda infused with traditional focus-grouped russophobic messaging. He/she/it brings nothing to the table in the way of facts or cogent analysis and merely parrots the dominant narrative that one can already find anywhere from Fox News to CNN to the NYT to WaPo to Breitbart to NPR. IOW, boring, but a textbook case study of what constitutes a troll.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:59 utc | 68

For those wanting to see a real mobilization. Roadblocks on highways, cities, handing papers. Also coercion to sign voluntary mobilization papers, some do, but not everyone are that stupid.

The streets of Ukrainian cities are being massively used for mobilization

"In short, they're collecting; they're stopping drivers and sending them to the front; they're issuing summonses. So, such a fucked up thing!" marvels a Ukrainian motorist. While Ukrainians are being brainwashed by mobilization in Russia, which is "just about to happen," more and more citizens of country 404 are going on a fascinating one-way trip.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/29506

and

Note the Polo-Ukraine state already at full work.

Despite the brave statements of the Ukrainian authorities about the successful destruction of the Russian military, repelling the attacks of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation and other military successes at the front, the situation for Kyiv is not very optimistic. Although Ukrainians have unlimited weapons and money, since the entire Western military-industrial complex works for Ukraine, this cannot be said about human resources - there is indeed an acute shortage, and it only gets worse. The perceived shortage of people is difficult to fill because citizens are fleeing the country. Everyone who wanted to fight in Ukraine as a volunteer has long gone to the front and died, and those who remain in the rear are in no hurry to die, so finding new cannon fodder is becoming more and more difficult every time. And the West is not in a hurry to risk the lives of its citizens. At least officially and on the battlefield." (TG / Soroca-Beloboca)

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 22:01 utc | 69

True. That was the US military industrial complex at work. I served there, but never supported it.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:30 utc | 44

You do understand these are the same clowns running the circus in the proxy war against Russia. So why would the results be any different than a US defeat? They don't call Afghanistan the "graveyard of empires" for nothing.

Posted by: One Too Many | Jan 18 2023 22:03 utc | 70

@Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 21:30 utc | 45

On a point of order, the Dark Ages are what some call the period when the church rules the world, destroying so much history that we are left knowing very little about it. See my Religion considered Harmful (and the Ungoodness of Prayer).

Posted by: Hermit | Jan 18 2023 22:07 utc | 71

Canucks ? $5Billion so far ?

Canada to send Ukraine 200 armored Senator APCs

During a surprise visit to Kyiv Wednesday morning, Canada’s defence minister announced the donation of hundreds additional Canadian-built personnel carriers to the Ukrainian military.
Article content

Speaking to reporters from the besieged capital, Anita Anand unveiled plans to donate to Ukraine an additional 200 Senator APCs (armoured personnel carriers) manufactured by Mississauga, Ontario’s Roshel.That’s on top of the eight already purchased for Ukraine by the Canadian government.

...

“Russia cannot and will not escape accountability for its crimes,” Anand remarked.

Over the past 12 months, Canada has spent over $5 billion in aid for Ukraine — including arms and military equipment, ammunition and artillery shells, vehicles and training, as well as humanitarian and economic assistance.

Canadian military aid to Ukraine alone has so far amounted over $1 billion.

...

Last June, Canada announced 39 brand new armoured combat support vehicles (ACSVs) — 30-tonne, eight-wheeled machines manufactured in London, Ont., by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, originally destined for delivery to the Canadian military — would instead be sent to Ukraine.

Referred to as “Super Bisons” by the Ukrainian media, those 39 support trucks were part of a larger, 360-vehicle order placed by the Canadian military in 2019 as part of a $2.52-billion project to update Canada’s armoured personnel carrier fleet.

...

Comment:

Light, 'Civilian Police' grade, 4x4 armored car, is now an APC ? RF weaponry, large caliber small arms & above, will shred it.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 18 2023 22:07 utc | 72

@ Muthaucker 22,26,28,34,37,38,42,46,48,52

As I write, this thread is comprised of 66 Posts - 10 of which are yours.

Since you gave me a shout, I'll make an exception and bite.

Take your Drive-by Trolling elsewhere.

Tell your masters you have been stripped naked and tattooed at MoA.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 18 2023 22:07 utc | 73

paddy | Jan 18 2023 21:44 utc | 55

That very much goes along with what Martyanov is constantly saying. No single weapon on its own is a wonderwuffen. If we look at US military structure it is sea and airpower with a somewhat lesser emphasis on Land power. Russia is a land power that has placed great emphasis on air defense. Russia can operate under the umbrella of air defenses which US simply does not have, or certainly not in viable quantities and no layered air defense.

This war has been a bit of an eye opener for me in how defenseless tanks are to six inch artillery. Tanks to advance need to covering fire of their own artillery - the opposing artillery has to first be destroyed by counter battery fire. And that takes us into the world of the small drones. Not Reapers or Bayraktors but small surveillance drones and suicide drones loitering munitions which then takes us into EW and counter drone tech.

I guess war was much simpler when we were all still hunter gatherers.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 22:10 utc | 74

Nothing is quite so humorous as the inhabitants of a dying empire claiming its lost greatness as a prelude to future victories.

It’s also clear that the US is scared. If it had obvious dominance and the ability to crush Russia it would at least be supplying large quantities of heavy and offensive weapons. It would likely get more involved and more directly. But it can’t. At least not without the high probability of a lot of dead Americans and/or a nuclear war. Unfortunately, it’s a pride driven nation (as evidenced by comments from people like Muthaucker) so it is unable to accept a defeat of this magnitude. Consequently it just keeps sinking further into the quagmire for which there is no clear exit.

But this time the US fucked around and is finding out that it is a dying empire. Its position no longer commands respect and even the fear is fading. All it really has left is to lose a war directly and the proud boasting it’s so famous for.

Posted by: Lex | Jan 18 2023 22:11 utc | 75

Outraged | Jan 18 2023 22:07 utc | 71 "Light, 'Civilian Police' grade, 4x4 armored car, is now an APC ? RF weaponry, large caliber small arms & above, will shred it."

The old antitank rifles come to mind. Now called anti material. The 14.5 self loading would be my choice.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 22:18 utc | 76

Posted by: Lex | Jan 18 2023 22:11 utc | 74

Very interesting to note Scholz telling US to send their Abrams tanks, and only then Germany will send some Leopard tanks. Blinken responded that each country should make their own decisions. Rheinmetall told that they won't refurbish the mothballed tanks, because they need 500 to 1 billion euros worth of signed contracts, for which there so far isn't commitment. US isn't committed, so Germany might not be.

That probably settles that - collective Natostan sends may in best case send give a hundred or two hundred Leopard tanks and that constitutes the final act for the proxy ukiestan.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 22:18 utc | 77

I feel compelled to comment on the criticism of Chomsky that has followed his endorsement of MoA.

I have not followed him for years now, so I have no idea as to his present position, but those who criticise forget that Chomsky devoted a lifetime to opposing the Empire of Lies, quite possibly at risk to himself.

They also forget that one who has a prodigious output will make mistakes. It is infantile to expect perfection.

They also forget that not everyone is media savvy - Chomsky often uses irony and understatement, techniques that are great in conversation, but can come across poorly when written, and even lead to complete misunderstanding.

Let me be blunt - critics of Chomsky are dogs barking at a lion.

Posted by: Steve from Oz | Jan 18 2023 22:27 utc | 78

Let me be blunt - critics of Chomsky are dogs barking at a lion.

Posted by: Steve from Oz | Jan 18 2023 22:27 utc | 77

My issues with Chomsky emerged when he started endorsing the so-called LOTE approach to voting for President. I don't remember whether it began when Killary ran against Trump or Obama against Bush, probably the latter, but he's been shilling for war mongering Democrats for a good dozen years now and it really taints his otherwise important truth-to-power analyses.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 22:29 utc | 79

Instituting martial law and calling up 500K for a Special military Operation.

Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:32 utc | 46

You are in such desperation that Ukraine ran out of cannon fodder and struggling to find the new one while hunting them down all over Ukrainian cities so they need a martial law, and to cope this that you need a fantasy that Russia has the same problem? Thats how are you winning - in fantasy world? What if i tell you that there will be no any 500k calling up, no martial law and there were no any 600 soldiers blasted anywhere? Are you going to cry hard?

Posted by: sfx | Jan 18 2023 22:35 utc | 80

For the first time in decades NATO is confronting a country with a superior military arsenal, huge number of soldiers and the motivation of a country reacting to deadly hatred from supposed friendly countries.
Unconvinced of it's superiority and dreading another fiasco with far reaching consequences, NATO uses Ukraine as proxy, denying that it is confronting Russia directly.
If it fails, then Ukraine will take the responsibility because of its inability, despite huge military and financial support, to win back what it lost.
NATO is a coward organization, untrustworthy that risks collapse after the Russian victory.
Soon there will be no ukrainians soldiers to operate the sophisticated western made weapons. Who will replace the soldiers? Robots? Polish soldiers, criminals? Will NATO take the risk on supplying western soldiers ? How popular would that be in the western population already squeezed financially? 2023 may be end of NATO...

Posted by: Virgile | Jan 18 2023 22:43 utc | 81

Chomsky gets some things right, some things wrong. To get bent out of shape because “Chomsky (dis)likes X” is to engage in ad hominem rhetoric.

The arguments are what matters, not the names attached to them.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 18 2023 22:48 utc | 82

Today is the 80th anniversary of the Nazi et al loss at Leningrad which was also a genocidal crime scene. Annually there's a ceremony and meeting of commemoration and this year only differs in those attending as those who survived pass on. "In the State Memorial Museum of Defense and Blockade Vladimir Putin met with veterans of the Great Patriotic War in Leningrad war, residents of besieged Leningrad and representatives of public patriotic associations." There's a video and transcript here, the first two to speak after President Putin were two veterans, both women, who remain involved in the teaching of that tragedy. During the talks, there're many comparisons to Leningrad's Genocide and that of Donbas and Russian speakers within Ukraine. Putin made note of the fact that "we have recently proposed a document at the United Nations that condemns the glorification of Nazism. After all, 50 countries voted against it. Who can be against recognizing the glorification of Nazism as criminal? [My Emphasis] I suggest every troll coming here is an abettor of Nazism.

During Putin's visit to the Obukhov Plant, part of the Aerospace Defense Concern Almaz-Antey, a conversation with some workers took place; this is one of those exchanges:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

Sergei Ryabinin: Sergei Ryabinin, locksmith-electrician.

Today we note the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad. For every citizen of Leningrad, It's a personal story. Obukhovsky the plant was part of the front, more than six and a half thousand employees died in the Great Patriotic War.

Today we are once again confronting neo-Nazism. So what do you think can help us win this confrontation?

Vladimir Putin: You You know, I just met with veterans, and we talked about it. I want to emphasize this: we are absolutely right to say that that we are fighting neo-Nazis, because there is Bandera, who collaborated with Hitler and shot civilians, and his henchmen were engaged in the murder of civilians persons elevated to the rank of national hero Ukraine. How can you imagine that? And everyone keeps quiet, does not notice, pretends not to notice. But it's true! And they continue this practice – and practice. barrage detachments, and the practice of shooting They continue this abuse of civilians in Donbass and the surrounding areas, by the way.

Therefore, we have every reason to call the current regime neo-Nazis and there is every reason to help, including with the help of the Armed Forces, those people, who consider themselves part of Russian culture, native speakers of the Russian language, cherish it as much as their culture and their traditions. We can't help but defend them simply.

What can help us in this, bearing in mind what you said, our historical memory and all the trials that ours went through. people? You know, in that sense conceptually, in fact, in terms of reaching the final the result and the victory that is inevitable is a few things that haven't gone away and that are at the heart of our victory. This is unity and cohesion of the Russian and in general multinational of the Russian people, this is the courage and heroism of our fighters in the framework of a special military operation and on the front line and, of course, the work of the military-industrial complex, businesses like yours, and people like you.

And [the work] of the military-industrial complex and the entire economy, because each of these links: both industry and condition public finance, and the social sphere, including related to the support of families requiring special attention from the state, health care - all this creates the basis for our effective development and for Victory. It is provided, I have no doubt about it. Including the guarantee of this is what you are over work, how you work and what you do.

So, for example, now my colleagues and I, with your leaders, talked: we, for example, the air defense missiles that you produce, we produce more than three per year times more than in the United States. And in general, our "defense industry" produces missiles per year Air defense for various purposes is about the same as produced by all military-industrial enterprises target. Our production is comparable to the world Production. So we have a lot to lean on. And all this can not but inspire confidence that the victory will be ours.

Sergei Ryabinin: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: To you Thank you.

WW2's goal of denazification was never accomplished as the Nazis were protected and nurtured by the USA (and its accomplice the UK), which soon became the Outlaw US Empire. As with the several Genocides the Nazis spawned, facts related to them continue to surface in national archives that help to complete the overall picture of those times and deeds. Since WW2, the Outlaw US Empire and most of the former colonial nations all committed Genocides and their behavior is continued today in Ukraine. Clearly the job must be finished, the goal attained, and humanity allowed to finally enjoy the Four Freedoms that have been denied far too long.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 18 2023 22:51 utc | 83

Long before Chomsky dismissed conspiracy theories about 9/11, he dismissed conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination. He's always been controlled opposition.

Posted by: Lysias | Jan 18 2023 22:57 utc | 84

Tom @78

Well noted Tom, and I have no problem with criticism of anyone on particular points - no-one is above criticism. As I pointed out, we all make mistakes, particularly those whose output is prodigious.

The thing that got under my skin was the vitriol aimed at one who has done so much, by those who have done so little.

Always appreciate reading your thoughtful comments, by the way.

Posted by: Steve from Oz | Jan 18 2023 22:57 utc | 85

Posted by: Steve from Oz | Jan 18 2023 22:57 utc | 84

Thanks, I really appreciate that! Especially because I'm nowhere near the top 100 MoA commentators in terms of being interesting, LOL.

On the subject of Chomsky, I wasn't attempting to refute your main points. I agree that he's been a very important voice against Empire for most of his life and one of few public intellectuals who dares to question the prevailing anti-communist pro-capitalist narratives. But I also **partly** agree with Lysias @83 in that he's *now* something akin to controlled opposition. This is borne out precisely in how he endorses Democrat candidates for President most election years and discourages voting for the Green or Libertarian parties (not that I necessarily love every aspect of either of those parties' platforms).

That wasn't always the case, however, and I'm not sure why @Lysias would characterize him as such given the body of evidence. Perhaps he/she can elaborate? How has Chomsky *always* been controlled opposition?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 23:04 utc | 86

Picked this up at Slavyangrad's Telegram channel.

US sends Ukraine 155mm shells from stockpiles in Israel

According to The New York Times, the USA is transferring part of its stock of 155-mm artillery shells to Ukraine. They will be transferred from depots in Israel, which are intended for supplying US troops in the region and the Israeli army in emergency situations.

Ukraine is receiving 300,000 155-mm shells, of which about 150,000 have already been delivered to Eastern Europe.

That's a LOT of 155mm shells. Unlike previous reports, and assuming the Ukrainians still have sufficient Howitzers, this could be a difference maker, no?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 23:14 utc | 87

Noam Chomsky has written over a hundred books on such topics as linguistics, mass media, war, and politics, many of them addressing specific problems we scratch at now and then . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 18 2023 23:20 utc | 88

That's a LOT of 155mm shells. Unlike previous reports, and assuming the Ukrainians still have sufficient Howitzers, this could be a difference maker, no?

Not when the RF is launching 60-80k shells per day, it's not!

Also to the sad troll above, not everyone here is a communist. Many of us here, especially from the States, are dedicated anti-commie and anti-antifa.

Posted by: R3DP1LL3R | Jan 18 2023 23:25 utc | 89

Lavrov's annual year in review presser required two separate pages at VK to accommodate it all, Part One and Part Two. Link to original transcript having video at bottom of page.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 18 2023 23:25 utc | 90

R3DP1LL3R @88--

And at least one is an avowed Communalistic Libertarian. With the new McCarthyism, it's hard to find trolls with intellect.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 18 2023 23:29 utc | 91

That's a LOT of 155mm shells. Unlike previous reports, and assuming the Ukrainians still have sufficient Howitzers, this could be a difference maker, no?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 23:14 utc | 86

...and assuming the Ukrainians still have sufficient Howitzers,....

Looking at Russian current counter battery tech, the massive ramp up of loitering munitions to counter shoot and scoot, the answer would be no.
The biggest US donation of artillery shells comes as Ukraine is fast running out of barrels. Great for propaganda. US has stepped back but is now pushing Europe at Russia. Idiot Brits and Poles at the front. Germans and French somewhat hesitant. Leading from behind.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 23:30 utc | 92

Tom @85

"... in that he's *now* something akin to controlled opposition."

Nah. Look at his age. Let's cut him some slack. Out of respect. I hope people cut me some slack when I'm his age, if I make it that far.

Posted by: Steve from Oz | Jan 18 2023 23:31 utc | 93

earth to moa

Muthaucker

this person is not worth any response... do us all a favour and cease and desist engaging this person.. = waste of time...

Posted by: james | Jan 18 2023 23:35 utc | 94

Chomsky used to be considered radical left. Bernie Sanders used to be considered crazy left. I love how now they are considered by a substantial portion of the new left to be so far to the right as to be Establishment tools.

I’m not going to claim they are not Establishment tools. They are. But they are also partially responsible for public discourse opening up to include ideas that were off-limits just a decade ago.

It’s tragic that so many in the West have taken the opportunity these individuals bought to run off into the ideological dead end of “woke-ism” and Identity Politics. You are wasting an historic opportunity.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 18 2023 23:37 utc | 95

Anti-communist ideology is one of the deadliest the world has ever seen.

Not included in William Blum's analysis are the millions who perished at the hands of the Nazis who were acting with tacit permission of the capitalist west.

https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/13/130AEF1531746AAD6AC03EF59F91E1A1_Killing_Hope_Blum_William.pdf

Michael Parenti is also a good source for information about this horrific ideology.

https://www.howardzinn.org/collection/history-consequences-of-anti-communism-conference/

Including from the erstwhile western left.

https://cym.ie/2020/04/01/left-anti-communism-the-unkindest-cut-by-michael-parenti/

If one isn't free to associate with communist ideas, then one doesn't live in a free society and in fact probably lives in a proto-fascist society.

Antifa is a fringe bogeyman for a certain subset of the western population. They engage in stupid behaviors on the street in response to stupid behaviors from what I guess can only be described as right wingers and others who take their cues from believers in the Great Replacement theory and all that jazz. IOW, insomuch as they are accomplishing anything good for "the left", Antifa is a non-factor and even a negative factor, but spending even a few seconds a day worrying about them is too much.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 23:37 utc | 96

" Posted by: Muthaucker | Jan 18 2023 21:04 utc | 26

Two words:

1) free

2) shit

Posted by: Michigan Dude | Jan 18 2023 21:53 utc | 64 "

I guess the US is the most altrustic country on the planet then as the poor, brown masses streaming into it would never get such benefits, handouts, and free stuff from any other nation besides countries in Europe. I guess Whitey isnt so racist after all, or is altruism not the manin cause of open borders ?

Posted by: Deplorable Commisar | Jan 18 2023 23:38 utc | 97

@ Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 22:10 utc | 73

Well said. Updated, high-intensity conventional combined arms.

US/NATO/5-Eyes have not trained for this for 20 odd years. All in on COIN. Not only is Doctrine forgotten, operational planning, training(interoperability) & tactics also. Western instructors training Ukie conscripts in COIN ? Would expect logistics crib sheets & planning tables/manuals would be out of date for current systems/platforms ...

Low-intensity non-combined arms COIN does not translate well to high-intensity combined arms. You train for the war you'll fight. Empire has been training for two decades for the wrong kind of war. Oh, and the least amount of $ is allocated to ... training' All given to Stealth Littoral warships, B-2 Stealth Bombers & F-35 deathtraps ...

Empire assumed & bet on always having Air Superiority, Supremacy or Dominance on the battlefield. Doctrine. Forces/Formations/Arms/Platforms/Systems ... hence no need for functional nor integrated AD, 'cause Empire would control the skies ... hence no integral unit/formation AD worth spit. Drones ? Compared to zee F-35 irrelevant toys, only good for niche ISR, says USAF protecting it's airframe/Pilot budget.

Far too late to play catchup now ... especially when de-industrialized & not in physical control of the needed resources.

Oh, and the Reserve Merchant Marine Fleet is kaput (Now National Defense Reserve Fleet). Airlift only gets ya so far.

The knowledge & lived experience of US Heavy Divisions & NATO et al re Cold War '80's in Europe is but a vague dismissed phantom memory throughout the Empires military 'machine'. What of value are those Aussie 'Instructors' going to teach in the abbreviated courses to raw forced conscripts ?

This is all political/narrative sustainment theater ... Empire can't commit & it can't quit militarily, without catastrophic consequences either way. Catch-22 of it's own making, with a lot of generous assistance by an unco-operative non-compliant RF & RoW.

Clearly far too many have swallowed their own endless fatuous Hollywood War Porn propaganda whole for over three decades now. Fatal.

@ Peter AU1 | Jan 18 2023 22:18 utc | 75

Absolutely, & in fact deliberately used as heavy sniper rifles & anti-materiel. An RF DShK 12.7mm MG would shred this thing, anything larger than 7.62x51 or 30-06 even.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 18 2023 23:40 utc | 98

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 18 2023 23:37 utc | 94

I agree 100% with that take. Chomsky and Sanders have (re*) made it possible to at least discuss certain things openly here in North America and Europe.

*re - Stated as such because the Red Scares and decades of anti-communist wars nearly completely wiped out any viable "left" which has been replaced by the hyper-woke identarian "left" that are captured by and exploited by Corporate America and Wall Street. I do have some hope for the labor-left but things are precarious.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 18 2023 23:40 utc | 99

Very good article. All the math of pre-existing and additionally donated hardware laid out.

On December 22, 2022, Russian Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov said: “Since the beginning of the special military operation, the West has delivered to Kiev a total of four aircraft, more than 30 helicopters, over 350 tanks, about 1,000 armoured combat vehicles, at least 800 armoured vehicles, up to 700 artillery systems, 100 MLRS [multiple-launch rocket systems], 130,000 anti-tank weapons, more than 5,300 MANPADs, and at least 5,000 UAVs for various purposes.”

Russia’s initial estimate of Ukrainian military strength included 2,416 armoured fighting vehicles — probably about 800 main battle tanks (MBTs) along with 1,600 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) — 152 fixed-wing combat aircraft and 149 helicopters, 180 medium- and long-rang surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, 1,509 artillery guns and 535 MLRS.

Various Western ‘military analysis’ sources say Ukraine had a lot more tanks and artillery to begin with, although those figures includes mothballed vehicles and guns that would have to be overhauled — while Russia continues to hit repair workshops with its long-range missiles.

In mid-June 2022, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Denys Sharapov admitted that his army had lost around half its heavy equipment: 400 tanks, 1,300 IFVs and 700 artillery.

At the end of August, the Ukrainian army launched its counter-offensive in the Kherson region. Just three weeks in, on September 21, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said his forces on that front had destroyed “208 tanks and 245 infantry fighting vehicles, 186 other armoured vehicles, 15 aircraft and 4 helicopters.” Those losses continued to mount until Russia pulled back across the Dnieper river from the city of Kherson in November 2022. The final tally was around 1,200 armoured vehicles of all types, 40 artillery pieces, 38 aeroplanes and a dozen helicopters.

As of January 14 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claims to have destroyed more than 7,500 armoured fighting vehicles of all types, 372 planes and 200 helicopters, 400 SAM systems, 982 MLRS, more than 3,800 self-propelled and towed artillery and 8,000 soft-skinned military vehicles, which include civilian-model trucks and cars.

More specifically, Russia says it has hit at least 31 of the 38 M142 HIMARS MLRS launchers pledged by the US, plus six of the 13 M270 tracked MLRS, of the same nine-inch calibre, donated by the UK, Norway, Germany and France. Also on the clobber list are 122 of the 152 US-made M777 howitzers supplied — 80 per cent of them.

The MoD claims may be exaggerated. But, as The Saker blog points out, even if you halve those numbers then the Ukrainian armed forces are still on the verge of being completely ‘de-militarised’.

The arsenals of NATO’s eastern and southern European members have been scoured for Soviet-made arms and vehicles that the Ukrainian forces already operate and for which they have ammunition and spare parts.

As it turns out, Poland has one of the biggest armies in Europe. It has already supplied, among other things, at least 230 MBTs to Kiev, all variants of the T-72. Warsaw has also sent about 40 IFVs, 72 self-propelled 155mm howitzers, 20 122mm SP howitzers and 20 MLRS.

If, as some suspect, the defence ministry in Warsaw actively encouraged the thousands of serving soldiers to have gone to fight in the Ukrainian ‘Foreign Legion’, Poland has lent its very flesh and blood to the Kiev government.

But the cherry on the cake, announced by Polish President Andrzej Duda on a visit to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in Lvov, the western Ukrainian city Warsaw still covets, was “a company of Leopard tanks” — 10 to 14 in layman’s terms — which he hoped would be just the start of a new wave of largesse from the “international coalition.”

http://thesaker.is/tanks-for-nothing-nato-keeps-on-demilitarising-itself-in-ukraine/

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 18 2023 23:41 utc | 100