The non-USA NATO forces are largely “trigger” forces, or at best “auxilia” (not even “foederati”), in the Roman Empire sense, of the USA expeditionary forces (that often consider their “auxilia” a ballast).
Posted by: Blissex | Feb 20 2023 23:10 utc | 100
That may be unjust. I made a joke on Canada that meekly let THE BALLOON to pass from Alaska to Idaho. But quickly afterwards, Canada joined anti-balloon warfare with zest.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 20 2023 23:30 utc | 103

Posted by: John Kennard | Feb 20 2023 22:56 utc | 95
The link was to a worthless interview of a captured Russian soldier under duress.
But your description was of something entirely different:

“Reminds me, I have just recently watched Fadeev and Belous’ documentary Ghosts, about the Lugansk front prior to the Biden “up-tick,” several times, and like others recommend it highly.
Absorbing, inspiring, and sad.”

So which is it, a mistake or trolling?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 20 2023 23:40 utc | 105

The most noteworthy thing about Brandon’s visit to Kiev is that he found it necessary to get Russian clearance first. Oh, the defiance. LOL

Posted by: Bernard Davis | Feb 20 2023 23:48 utc | 107

Posted by: John Kennard | Feb 20 2023 23:16 utc | 102
Yeah, if you’re banned there, you can’t download your history nor can you ask for the account to be deleted – which is idiotic. But then, all these social media sites are idiotic and are intended for idiots. So of course, I have a new account there. 🙂 However I use it for only two purposes 1) follow some computer security geeks and some pro-Russian people like Big Serge, and 2) insult pro-Ukrainian people with Effin’ Birds pictures.
If you’re not familiar with Effin’ Birds, see here:
https://www.effinbirds.com/
I wish I could use Effin’ Birds here. I can link to them, but it’s not the same as displaying them in a response as on Twitter.
I’m not sure if NAFO is strictly Twitter-based.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 20 2023 23:55 utc | 109

@ Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 20 2023 22:40 utc | 86
At best, in modern armies, only 1/3 of those involved are “trigger pullers”. The other 2/3 do everything that those trigger pullers can’t, maintenance, ammo & fuel supply, troop transport, quartermaster, medical etc.
For any air force, it is more like 1 to 300 ratio. Each pilot has a back chain of 300 people supporting them.

Posted by: BroncoBilly | Feb 20 2023 23:59 utc | 111

LOL…… note that the coward begged permission from Russia to make the today’s visit to kiev (just like the cowards are forced to beg Russia’s permission to conduct overflights in Syria) … and STILL slunk into the country like a thief in the night !
Amerika … cowards all !

Posted by: Karl NoWay | Feb 21 2023 0:07 utc | 113

ThusspakeZarathustra @70–
Nah, they were merely playing the Siren’s Song as Biden’s policy heads for those ill-fated shores.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 0:25 utc | 115

John Kennard | Feb 20 2023 22:56 utc | 95
> No idea what “NAFOBRO” means.
NAFO
North Atlantic Fella Organisation
“Fella” as in “fellatio”
BRO
As in brother.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Feb 21 2023 0:35 utc | 117

RE Biden in Kiev:
Having watched the commercials and thought it over, I wonder where Joe Biden really is and what they are doing to him.

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 21 2023 0:37 utc | 119

Not everyone can access twitter. But I think most at the @bar will appreciate this:
https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1627698112947953665
Situaton with the Leopard tanks so far,summarised,and are problematic
About problems with the supply of Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine.
The German leadership faced two key problems in the issue of supplying Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine,with tank coalition and maintenance:
As we wrote earlier, the creation of a tank coalition is lagging far behind.
In January, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the “rapid” formation of two tank battalions equipped with Leopards modification 2A6 and 2A4, together with the allied countries
Berlin coordinates the battalion on 2A6, but only 17 of the 31 units were assembled, 14 of which were provided by the Germans themselves, and three more by Portugal.
At the same time, dissatisfaction is already brewing in the German federal government with the fact that the Allies promised supplies, but are currently procrastinating with them or have abandoned this decision altogether.
The situation with the battalion on combat vehicles of the 2A4 modification is a little better. Poland is ready to supply 14 units, Norway – 8, Spain – 5.
However, in this case, the problem lies in the lack of sufficient spare parts and ammunition. Warsaw initially demanded that Germany assume obligations for maintenance and logistics, but the Bundeswehr has not used the Leopard-2A4 for 20 years.
Following the meeting of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, representatives of Rheinmetall concern and the Polish side, the German military-industrial complex enterprise can produce the necessary spare parts in Poland.
Maintenance. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that Warsaw intends to put into operation its own Leopard tank maintenance center.
It should be noted that the German Ministry of Defense has already had an unsuccessful experience with another maintenance center: in the Slovak Mikhalovets, 35 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
In particular, the Mars MLRS and PzH-2000 self-propelled howitzers were stuck on the Slovak-Ukrainian border due to the customs policy of Bratislava. I had to send them through Poland to Germany with a hook of 2500 kilometers for repairs, and then back along the same route.
The leadership of Slovakia takes the position that Ukraine should pay import duties, since the country is not a member of the EU. In turn, the timing of the opening of the center in Poland is not yet clear.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Feb 21 2023 0:48 utc | 121

RT reports, “Hungary identifies EU’s ‘true’ enemy: If the bloc wants to go to war, it should fight inflation, Prime Minister Viktor Orban suggested.” And we all know what entity started the war and caused the inflation; so, by extension, the EU ought to be fighting that entity–The Outlaw US Empire.
Seeing how there’re so many active threads, some likely don’t know Crooke’s latest is available, “An Unexpected Insight (for the Élite): The U.S. May Be the Biggest Loser in the War on Russia”. There currently are too few Orbans in Europe to fight for Europe’s freedom, and the same goes for within the Outlaw US Empire.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 0:54 utc | 123

Rules for thee, but not for me:
“China should not supply Russia with weapons or dual-use products.” – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock…
——-
“US has committed to provide more than $30.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration,” – Pentagon
Spanish Foreign Minister said that no one in the EU opposed the joint purchase of weapons for Ukraine.
“There was a political debate today,” he said, adding that it is necessary to assess the efficiency of such a proposal.
Stoltenberg said that Ukraine spends more ammunition than the West produces.
“We pointed this out and were completely open on this issue. Ammunition consumption is higher than our production. So far we have used the available reserves, but we also need to increase production,” – Jens Stoltenberg.
“It may take years for the EU to establish the production of ammunition in the quantity necessary for Ukraine, so for now the EU is concentrating on supplying Kiev with weapons available to individual countries.” – Polish Foreign Minister.
https://twitter.com/azgeopolitics

Posted by: Melaleuca | Feb 21 2023 0:58 utc | 125

Streeck, like Shakespeare, is full of quotations;
“…Right now, official Germany, and I include the so-called quality media, behaves like a country at war. The government is readying the tools to unleash the police and, in particular, the security services on anyone who doubts the wisdom of pledging full-scale support to the ultra-nationalist government of Ukraine and the Biden administration. Those trying to explain the behavior of the Putin regime in terms other than a supposed clinical madness or genocidal obsession or both on the part of its chief are easily branded as Putinversteher, which when they are young aspiring journalists or political scientists may be the end of their career. But as you say, this is not just the government. There is a strong desire among normal people not to be caught calling for anything other than a Ukrainian “victory”, as defined by the Ukrainian government, whatever it may take. For many Germans these days, victory means nothing less than Putin and his henchmen and henchwomen having to stand trial at the international criminal court in The Hague. There is no mention at all of the risks of, for example, the fallout of nuclear war hitting countries outside of the battlefield, including Germany…”

Posted by: bevin | Feb 21 2023 1:04 utc | 127

bevin @128–
Did you see this? “Shakespeare flagged as ‘far right’ literature in UK – media: The works of the British playwright were among those reportedly included in a list of ‘key texts’ read by white nationalists.”

Several of the UK’s most respected television shows, movies and works of literature have been included in a list of works that could potentially encourage far-right sympathies, compiled by the taxpayer-funded and government-led ‘Prevent’ counter-terrorism programme, according to the Daily Mail.
Works by JRR Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and even William Shakespeare, as well as classic movies ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ and ‘The Great Escape’ were cited in a list published by the British paper on Saturday as being highlighted by the counter-terrorism watchdog, for their potential use by far-right agitators to promote troublesome viewpoints online.

Baerbock’s 360 or summersaults or trying to flip left/right or merely another attempt at FUD? I’ll admit I roared heartily when I read this. Cancel Culture needs to cancel itself.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 1:13 utc | 129

Voltairenet.org is suggesting that recent earthquakes in Turkey were triggered by the US. The connection with Ukraine is that Turkey is quietly supporting Russia in its struggle with Ukraine.

he earthquake that has just shaken Turkey and Syria does not have the characteristics of earthquakes observed so far, anywhere in the world. The fact that a dozen Western ambassadors left Ankara in the five days preceding the earthquake and that, in the same period, their countries issued advice not to travel to Turkey seems to indicate that the West knew in advance what was going to happen. The United States has the technical means to cause earthquakes.

Posted by: metamars | Feb 21 2023 1:20 utc | 131

@ karlof1.. thanks for your links on this page and other pages… just finished reading the article you put up on your vk page.. thanks!

Posted by: james | Feb 21 2023 1:43 utc | 133

karlof1@131
I saw it. Nothing surprises me about these people. I imagine that Shakespeare is highly amused-its quite an accolade for a man who died before James I to be discovered to be dangerous. We always knew that he was a subversive, now he’s accused of having both sides covered- not just a raving lefty but a dangerous right winger too.
The truth is that what the ruling class can’t stand is thinking per se. It hates ideas, fears originality and cannot believe that people with opinions are not homicidal maniacs.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 21 2023 1:54 utc | 135

closing italics, hopefully

Posted by: Chris | Feb 21 2023 2:07 utc | 137

The reasons for the Nazi defeat were rooted in the root cause of the Nazis’ rise to power: opposition to the state regulation of the economy advocated by the Bolsheviks.
Despite the rhetoric of economic regulation, the Nazi wartime economy was far less regulated and less efficiently managed than the American or British war economies.
This led to Nazi Germany’s inability to even take advantage of the productivity of the occupied areas, as German civilian companies refused to send orders to these areas to convert their own civilian factories to military factories, fearing that they would lose market share after the war.
Nazi Germany’s reversal of fortunes on the Eastern Front in 1943 stemmed from the fact that German ammunition production was lower than that of the Soviet Union then. Note that ammunition was the vast majority of military production. Many German companies resisted military mobilization by simply continuing to produce scarce and high-priced civilian products, as Schindler did. Schindler’s practice of using military products purchased on the black market to fill the bill further reduced the effectiveness of military mobilization.
The racial bias of the Wehrmacht (and not even primarily the Nazis) also contributed to the problem.
The Wehrmacht refused to supply Italy with raw materials (coal, iron, or even copper) that were clearly in surplus in Germany and in short supply in Italy because they despised the Italians so much, which contributed to Italy’s extremely poor war performance.
Nazi Germany was not even willing to establish refineries in satellite countries to save its own labor force.
In contrast, the claim by many that “the Nazis could have won if they had not targeted native nationalists” is based on a misunderstanding of the determinants of war.
The Nazis did not primarily lack front-line troops; they streamlined their forces because they did not need more troops to deliver ammunition, similar to the reason the Nazis did not produce as many artillery pieces.
The Nazis’ defeat came from the failure of their economic system, which led to Hitler’s shocking gamble in France (incidentally, Hitler’s ability to make strategic and tactical decisions was stronger than, not weaker than, his generals, who were generally more stupid than Goering whose IQ was 138) victory was also unsustainable, but this economic system failure is exactly why the German bourgeoisie chose the Nazis. It was a feature, not a bug.

Posted by: Colin | Feb 21 2023 2:10 utc | 139

Light Sleeper @143–
Thanks for the tips. Those will provide part of the special session’s substance and topics for the speech. But as Peskov said is a segment of the TASS item I omitted, the SMO currently “governs” much of Russia’s life, and thus that is expected to be the main overall topic. Lots of precedents there to extend to old regions made new.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 2:24 utc | 141

Opport Knocks @65
Surely you have heard of false-fronts and facemen. Some people simply do not wish to be too open about sensitive matters. As for your links…meaningless. When some entity controls trillions via various mechanisms and has for at least two centuries employed one of the most powerful intelligence networks which can be directed to ferret out the prices at which targeted future employees might sell out any other considerations…then it is a relatively simple matter to place said individuals into positions of influence and authority to do one’s bidding.
It would appear that you remain a bit green for, if memory serves, you happen to be a Canuckistani subject of Royal Crown Cola in possession of a number of decades of existence in this particular plane.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 2:25 utc | 143

I agree that it is incomprehensible that after a year Russia has been unable to stop the shelling on Donetsk City.
If Putin does not declare war or a CTO in his speech tomorrow, I will be fully convinced that this whole Ukraine thing is WEF theatre.

Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Feb 21 2023 2:42 utc | 145

mjh@ 76
“Subcutaneous “was a baited hook. You chomped down hard. Do we really know, from superficial research, who really controls world financial matters? One must do significant research and in the process overcome prior predilections and unquestioned prior assumptions.
You cited a minority of something like 15 million. Such a significant number of individuals makes for a most useful mask for a considerably smaller minority to utilize. Secret societies have been around for ages. Within that larger minority, there are something like 650,000 members of an exclusivist secret society, working on a worldwide basis. Even that grouping is massive as compared with their string-pullers. Perhaps you are somewhat aware of the Masons and the fact that lower degree members of such societies remain blissfully aware of the doings of those at the highest degrees.
The control nexus and matrix may be roughly analogous to the layers of an onion. Only fools insist that some magickal formula can get to the core without removing all the outer layers. The hocus-pocus inherent in all belief systems is but a lame attempt to delineate the depth and breadth of reality.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 2:52 utc | 147

Melaleuca | Feb 21 2023 0:58 utc | 126
100 years of the West supporting fascism and Nazism in Europe is finally paying off!

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 21 2023 2:59 utc | 149

Amused @145
Ach! Sometimes the written word cannot properly express the power of the spoken. I will attempt to express this by reverting to a somewhat highly phonetic version of the faceman for the current Berlin regime: “Ooooolaffffff Ssscchhhuuulltttzzz”.
The pronunciation would be full-mouthed and massively guttural. In the early 18th Century, Friederich der Grosse famously remarked that (paraphrasing here) “I speak French to ambassadors, English to trade representatives and German to my dogs”.
Another tale from the crypt goes along these lines. A Prussian captain, facing his not quite perfectly attentive troops, accidentally swallowed his plug of tobacco while frustrated by their lassitude, furiously called them to attention while clearing his throat by shouting out while spitting “AAACHTOOOONNG!!!!!” They braced to attention immediately.
Soon, all the rankers, having witnessing its efficacy, embraced the theme.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 3:06 utc | 151

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 2:29 utc | 147
He didn’t.
Here are the details of the visit, including security measures – and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill voicing the air raid alerts! 🙂
Sneaking a president from DC to Kyiv without anyone noticing
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-kyiv-politics-74c9de636c489393c86ad115e5cbcb48

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 21 2023 3:17 utc | 153

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 2:52 utc | 151
as you have others, you convinced me long ago. so now there’s no point in reading your comments. so i don’t. got it. “jews”. got it. thanks.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 21 2023 3:21 utc | 155

Richard Steven Hack | Feb 21 2023 3:17 utc | 157
Look closely at the photos. It’s a doppelgänger of senile Pedo.

Posted by: Sektion2B | Feb 21 2023 3:24 utc | 157

lol i saw the title of this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVuH4WSSbmY by Douglas Macgregor “Russia regime is ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE” and thought what the fuck, but he was gaming the youtube algorithm, it’s actually about Ukraine collapsing. apparently it worked, the algorithm really likes videos about Russia collapsing, and will direct viewers to them, so he got a lot of viewers he would not have gotten otherwise. probably some of them were outraged but maybe he reached some.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 21 2023 3:29 utc | 159

metamars@133
Manmade earthquakes seem incredible when considered within the matrix of mainstream noose and the mindset which has been imposed upon Western peoples. Some would even consider such events as unbelievable.
However, in light of the weather “modification/control” developments which the U$$A Airfarce has been creating from over the past 70+ years; such a speculation while incredible and even unbelievable to the poorly researched…is NOT impossible.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 3:31 utc | 161

Bevin @132
As a grouchy old Marxist ensorcelled by personal predilections and proclivities, hoary old tropes, to be sure; it apparently upsets you to the point of possible apoplexy to be confronted with information which does not fit within your evident belief systems.
It would appear that you are a bit innocent of having read Solzhenitsyn and other voices, for example Milovan Djilas and Arthur Koestler, who decades ago took literary jackhammers to your preconceptions.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 3:37 utc | 163

Fellow Barflies;
: shadowbanned is trying to use the War Party’s strategy of divide and conquer. Don’t fall for it.

Posted by: Exile | Feb 21 2023 3:45 utc | 165

Guessing what will be in Putin’s address in a few hours Feb. 21, 2023.
after US laid down red lines to China …saying there will be consequences ….
RT
US draws ‘red line’ for China
Beijing providing Moscow with “lethal” aid would be unacceptable, top American officials warn.

Any nation providing lethal support to Moscow in its ongoing conflict with Kiev would cross Washington’s “red line,” the US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CNN on Sunday. Earlier the same day, US State Secretary Antony Blinken directly warned a top Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, against considering such an option.[.]

I have been thinking for many weeks what may have been a wink and nod between Russia and China may soon be revealed..
Larry Johnson asks:
Will Putin Announce The Beginning of A Russia-Chinese Defense Pact?

[Putin]. He ain’t monkeying around. His much anticipated speech to both houses of the Russian parliament and to the military leadership will stand in stark contrast to the mumblings of Joe Biden. One subject where Biden is likely to break new ground is Russia’s future military alliance with China.
Up to now Russia and China have participated in joint-exercises but, like a couple in the early stages of dating, they have not decided to tie the knot and get hitched. Not until now. The courting period may be ending and the dawn of a Russian/Chinese military alliance may be at hand.
Why do I say this? I am reading the tea leaves of leaks from the Biden team. This CNN piece is a prime example:
The US has recently begun seeing “disturbing” trendlines in China’s support for Russia’s military and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN.
The officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China’s posture, but said US officials have been concerned enough that they have shared the intelligence with allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference over the last several days.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue when he met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Saturday on the sidelines of the conference, officials said.
“The Secretary was quite blunt in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion,” a senior State Department official told reporters.
Vice President Kamala Harris also alluded to China’s support for Russia during her speech in Munich.[.]
Would China entertain entering such an alliance? I think it is a distinct possibility. I want to direct you to a piece in The Diplomat from March of 2022, 3 Possible Futures for China-Russia Military Cooperation, After the Ukraine war, will China maintain, expand, or scale back its military cooperation with Russia? by Brian Waidelich.
Mr. Waidlich presents three scenarios. Two of those scenarios conclude that China will stick with the status quo or that Russian and Chinese ties could weaken.
It is his third scenario that caught my eye:
Future 3: Cooperation Is Markedly Strengthened
Unlike the two scenarios above, a future of strengthened China-Russia military cooperation may have less to do with the way the Ukraine conflict plays out and more to do with China’s perception of threats in the Indo-Pacific.[.]
[a] mutual defense pact. No more making out in the back seat of the car at the drive in (I know, I date myself with that one). Russia and China could decide to get married and climb into bed. The bellicose language that the U.S. routinely hurls at China is taken seriously in Beijing. [.]
Read more

The Bear and the Dragon simultaneously being threatened got married for a rich future and mutual security until death do they part?

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 21 2023 3:51 utc | 167

Posted by: Rhinoskerous | Feb 21 2023 3:30 utc | 164

.. World War III, if it comes, will be fought with missiles. We will not see massive armies going back and forth across Europe and the Pacific like the two previous world wars.

That’s true – but WW-3 won’t come anyway within next months because US/CAN still today don’t like such a “scenario”.
Let’s wait, who and where and when the best “Cyber/SAT/Radar/Radio” defender will succeed.
Modern commanded war style, as RuAF tries to perform – is based on ‘intelligence’ led by operators (80% operating in background support, max. 20% on the deadly ground fields).
The Piano-Cock-Player ignores those tactical issues due to his PR actor-state .. demanding more&more western killing machines – he and his adjacent Nazi-clique (sponsored by Nuland etc.) do not really know how that ‘devices’ technically to operate ..
So let’s welcome and come more western technical maintenance guys/+women to support it.
They also will die, sorry.

Posted by: spare_truth | Feb 21 2023 3:56 utc | 169

Dingo @168
Manmade earthquakes, if they actually exist, would hardly be considered strategic if they are employed indiscriminately and irresponsibly.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 3:58 utc | 171

Likklemore @171
Thanks for posting those fascinating speculations of possible wedded bliss for the pair of Eurasian Giants, both being not too subtly threatened by the U$$A puppet regime. However the moulting old Eagle, tail feathers wafting into the breeze, may no longer able to impose their will on the world.
Instead of RED-lines, it may be more apt to describe such belligerence as PINK-lines…that would be more befitting the circumcised reality of contemporary Murrikkkan “Manhood”…and their rapid replacement by such arrogant females as Hitlery Clinton, Nancy and Kamala’s Foote.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 4:08 utc | 173

Pretzelattack @163
Yup. I gulped a bit too when reading that headline from Col. MacGregor which I caught this morning. WTF, I thought. But being hip to the mass media monitors, you caught onto it tout de suite, as the French would say. Astute analysis on your part, I would say.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 4:12 utc | 175

rjb1.5 @ 159
Hey! Simple Simon. Do you happen to be some sort of racist? Do you not understand the difference between connected Talmudists and ordinary, everyday individuals who happen to be one of the several Jewish peoples? With demented and uninformed attitudes like yours, perhaps I’m being a bit dense even responding to your inanity.
Lumping all Jews into one bag is simply stoopid. If you want to debate such fellow racists, you might like posting on U.R. where there are plenty of Joo-hating knuckle-draggers.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 4:22 utc | 177

Featherless @123
Naughty Boy. I can sense your vibe about Annalena and Sanna Marina partying it up and for a Grand Finale going on a mutually satisfactory pearl-diving expedition. In some lands these days, Les Gurrrls are whooping it up big time and having a great laugh over all those cucked males…most particularly those circumcized Yanks and those dour, doughy Deutschers.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 4:34 utc | 179

“Manmade earthquakes, if they actually exist, would hardly be considered strategic if they are employed indiscriminately and irresponsibly.”
The value of such weapons of mass destruction depends on your enemy knowing you may use them. If such a weapon existed, it would be splashed across all the headlines.
The Turkiye quake occured at the intersection of three tectonic plates. It is a highly active area with a long history of super quakes such as the one that destroyed Ugarit, and the one mentioned in the Bible in the reign of Manasseh.
At best, an earthquake weapon could unlock existing faultlines. There is no weapon that can create earthquakes except where the Earth already desires to move, ie existing faults.

Posted by: Rhinoskerous | Feb 21 2023 4:53 utc | 181

@34
”Some time ago a report by the RAND corporation was published entitled “Weaking Germany” (or similar) pointing to the usefulness of cutting off Germany from Russian gas supplies as this was sure to degrade the economic prospects of the country to a degree to which many enterprising and intelligent Germans will find it necessary to emigrate – the only reasonable destination being the United States of America.”
###################################################################
No way. If it is to immigrate, many will go to China.Chinese universities have more money for research than the decadent, opioid zombie USA

Posted by: Nick | Feb 21 2023 5:03 utc | 183

karlof1 | Feb 21 2023 2:29 utc | 147
>… wonder if Biden remained in Kiev for evening?
Hellll, no.
I was watching the faces of one of Biden’s security detail. Biden and the Z were doing that walk thru the streets. To say security dude looked stressssed is an understatement.
I mean, the film prop street must have been swept and swept and swept again by Biden’s team… but this guy was living a nightmare of snipers in every window; Z’s vetted army guys, with their rapid-fire guns, suddenly become KGB agents and splatter Biden with a tsunami of bullets; and on and on his imagination ran..
Biden’s team would have had him in, done the 90? minute ? Photo ops and “he’s outta there”….
Putin didn’t go to G20 Bali, presumably because his security could not be guaranteed….
But Biden can strut and preen in Kiev.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Feb 21 2023 5:05 utc | 185

Interview, from Global Times, with Sevim Dagdelen, Chairwoman of the Left Party parliamentary group in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag.
It’s taking the European Left time to wake up- and stop shivering with fear of the media- but there are signs that they might be beginning to sense that fighting the war, and NATO and coming down on the side of Minsk and the embattled people of the Donbas, might be a better political option that worshipping the fascist Zelensky and imperialism.
It really does take people, especially careerists with lottery winnings style parliamentary salaries, time to wake up politically. But it can happen. There must be hope for the Sanders and AOCs, and the Canadian NDPs, yet.
“…Dagdelen: The West’s military policy of expansion and confrontation vis-à-vis China has vast potential for escalation. It includes, first and foremost, massive expansion of military cooperation with Japan on the part of the US and NATO in the course of that country’s unprecedented armament and militarization. What Germany’s armament in Europe is against Russia is reflected in Japan’s armament against China at the urging of the USA. In both countries, a certain amnesia about history seems to be running riot among the elite. It is shocking how the US is more or less openly preparing for possible war against China, not least with weapons supplies to allies and yet more military bases in the region. Europe and Germany would be well advised to have no part in it or in the associated militarization of the Indo-Pacific.
“However, I am concerned to see Germany’s policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific being implemented and the German government drawing up a China strategy, which unfortunately goes in entirely the wrong direction. Rather than going along with the US as it strives for geopolitical hegemony behind the smokescreen of a supposed systemic rivalry between “democracies” and “autocracies,” the EU and its member states should pursue foreign and security policy built on the desire for peaceful coexistence through diplomacy, reconciliation of interests, arms control and disarmament.”
https://newcoldwar.org/we-are-engaged-in-a-dangerous-game-of-one-upmanship-on-weapons-supplies-to-ukraine-german-mp/

Posted by: bevin | Feb 21 2023 5:09 utc | 187

Shadowbanned @ 87
You really screwed the pooch when you insisted that Russia did not prepare for future military necessities.
Answer me this…has Russia run out of ammunition yet? Would you dare to suggest that their frequent 60,000 per DAY artillery rounds were old Soviet stock?
Is it not logical to assume that while the puppet regime in the Di$trict of Corruption along with their NATOstani minor minions were happily arming and Training the Ukies to the hilt; the RF folks were not producing 152 MM shells on a 24/7 basis along with new surprises in weaponry which are far more advanced than anything produced by the for-profit WarDefense Industries in the U$$A, subtly inclusive of plenty of grift for the bought and paid for pro$titicians squatting over the sewers of the Di$trict.
Oh, you’re a clever poster all right…very well trained and conceivably well-paid. However this time the Pooch screwed you when you slipped up and overlooked the fact that in terms of production of military hardware that since 2014 the Russians have been in a class by themselves with state owned and/or closely monitored development of both quantities and quality of the tools of war.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 5:11 utc | 189

The significant points of Simplicius76’s latest [ https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-220-terminal-approach ]
1. Ukranazistan is near military collapse at the moment.
2. Elensky will probably evacuate Artëmovsk now that Bidet has buggered off.
3. Russia has a window of opportunity for a major offensive now before any significant Western aid arrives.
4. Russia, for the first time in this conflict, has numerical parity or even advantage, therefore
5. An imminent Russian offensive is very likely.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Feb 21 2023 5:14 utc | 191

Bevin @ 81
In this posting you make perfect sense.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 21 2023 5:18 utc | 193

Richard Steven Hack@190
There are plenty of posters here who actually believe that the sun rises every morning because the Pentagon wants it to.
Its one of the longest lasting aspects of imperialism-the belief that the Empire is all-powerful, immortal and aware of everything that occurs.
Some people still believe that the British Royal Family (descendants of George III who lost a war two hundred and fifty years ago) are behind everything, and control everything.
It really thrills some people to think that they, and only they, understand that it was The Deep State which was behind the earthquakes. Why? To punish Erdogan and Assad.
Remember the massive explosion in Beirut? That was another disaster attributed to the almighty Empire. Why? A warning to Hezbollah. How? A nuclear device.
All bullshit.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 21 2023 5:22 utc | 195

ff. myself @194 enclosed
Why don’t “bomb them Nazi UKR/Mercs out” off of that many old fortifications built since 2015 ?
Do it now & effectively! – even with bunker-bombs as US did in Afghan mountains – before Donetzk-City is going completely into a rubble state !

Posted by: spare_truth | Feb 21 2023 5:25 utc | 197

https://swprs.org/the-ukraine-war-in-2023/
This is an interesting article, which will pour a lot of cold water over the Martyanovist cult (ie “Russia has been winning from the beginning, everything Russia did is 17D chess”). It also discusses Ukranazi war crimes, acknowledges that Bucha was a nazi crime and that Western weapons won’t be of any great use, and says that if Russia wins the result will be basically what Putin demanded in Dec 2021.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Feb 21 2023 5:39 utc | 199