Ukraine Open Thread 2023-45
Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.
The current open thread for other issues is here.
Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.
Posted by b on February 23, 2023 at 14:44 UTC | Permalink
next page »More European solidarity...
From Sputnik:
ATHENS (Sputnik) - Athens will not supply S-300 air defense missile systems to Ukraine, despite the United States' relevant requests, as this would weaken Greece's defense, the country's Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos told media.When asked if US State Secretary Antony Blinken had requested the sending of military equipment, including S-300 systems, to Ukraine during his recent trip to Greece earlier this week, Panagiotopoulos said that Washington had long asked Athens to supply S-300 systems to Ukraine.
"But we said that we could not grant this request because we could in no way provide any assistance by weakening our defenses. S-300s are where they are. They were bought and arrived in Greece for certain reasons, and as long as these reasons exist, we are not going to agree to any weakening of our defense system," Panagiotopoulos said.
The technical maintenance of missiles for the air defense systems "will not be an easy task," the minister said, noting that this applies to all weapons systems of Russian or Soviet production.
"Because not only S-300s are deployed on the islands, but also some short-range air defense systems, these are infantry fighting vehicles. We gave 20 infantry fighting vehicles we have to Ukraine in exchange with the Germans, we received more modern and, therefore, more suitable for our needs German-made armored vehicles. There are 20 more to give. In any case, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain these systems," the defense head said.
Greece acquired the S-300 air defense missile systems from Cyprus. They are currently deployed in Crete.
In the 1990s, Greece acquired a significant number of Soviet and Russian-made weapons complexes, including air defense systems S-300 and Tor, as well as different anti-tank missiles and infantry fighting vehicles. The US has been urging Greece, as a NATO member, to replace these weapons with US-made systems.
This is in addition to a piece I saw a few days ago (and which I can’t find now) suggesting that Italy was getting queasy about the prospect of fighter jets being supplied.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 23 2023 14:54 utc | 2
Well not content with sending ten of millions of taxpayers monies to Ukraine whilst Scotland falls apart at the seams, and there's roughly already 18,000 Ukrainians now in Scotland being looked after by their very own appointed Scottish MSP, now called Minister for Ukraine, we now have injured Neo-Nazi Ukrainian troops being flown to Scotland to jump the queue on our NHS to have surgery, whilst my own folk (Scots) are pushed back down the list.
I don't ever recall Yemeni's or Palestinians receiving such prime service by the West, when George Galloway brought a seriously injured Iraqi girl to Scotland during the illegal invasion of Iraq by the West for treatment in a Scottish hospital, the Britnat media demonised him, and had to pay for the treatment out of his own pocket.
The West are treating Ukrainians as though they are some sort of chosen people, when they are not.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 14:56 utc | 3
Posted by: Randomly-generated username | Feb 23 2023 14:49 utc | 1
Are you going to copypaste that Surovikin spam into every thread? It’s getting almost as tedious as the notorious lorem ipsum spam that has floated around for many years.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 23 2023 15:09 utc | 4
G7 Countries to increase their financial support for Ukraine this year to a whopping $39 billion
G7 Members
Canada
Italy
France
United Kingdom
Germany
Japan
United States
If you live in a G7 country are your public services that good, that, your government can send huge amounts of cash to Ukraine, or are your countries public services in dire straits, the UK's are from hospitals to schools to libraries etc, all are in decline, with food shortages due to hit supermarkets this week.
We in the West must suffer so these evil madmen/women (Nato and most European leaders) can fulfill the goal of overcoming Russia and then China.
https://ria.ru/20230223/podderzhka-1854005737.html
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:09 utc | 5
Re: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:09 utc | 6
you wrote:
"G7 Countries to increase their financial support for Ukraine this year to a whopping $39 billion"
They may to make their checks payable to Russia lol.
Posted by: Perimetr | Feb 23 2023 15:11 utc | 6
Well I didn't see this one coming, its bound to piss off Biden and Blinken.
"Saudi Arabia is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to residents of Donbass, if it is officially requested, said in an interview with RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the third Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, the head of the Center for Humanitarian Aid named after King Salman Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Rabeah (Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah)."
https://ria.ru/20230223/pomosch-1853937795.html
Meanwhile Washington is in the process of putting together an attempt to topple India's Modi for not sanctioning Russian oil, India buys huge amounts of Russian crude, then refines it and sells it on to Europe at a profit.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-out-topple-india-modi/5809241
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:16 utc | 7
reply to 6
Maybe so. OTOH, they are broadgauge liars. They promise tanks and what have you and then find excuses. There's also the question of what happens if Ukraine flat out loses. The US/EU bombed Libya because of some 'duty to care' or other supposed humanitarian nonsense. After they killed Khadaffi, they completely lost interest. Of course, Ukrainians are white folks and Libyans are swarthy so that might help. But the US/EU must run out of money at some point.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 23 2023 15:18 utc | 8
Exile @ 2
The Chinese MFA white paper on US hegemony is simply stunning.
That's good to hear, how about a link, that way I won't wear out Google.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Feb 23 2023 15:19 utc | 9
Today’s ‘scoreboard’ from the Russian Defence Ministry:
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operationThe Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kupyansk direction, the attacks, launched by Army Aviation and the artillery of the 'Zapad' Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of the enemy manpower near Krakhmalnoye, Peschanoye, Berestovoye (Kharkov region), and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).
The enemy has lost up to 55 personnel, two pickups, and one D-20 howitzer.
In Krasny Liman direction, the active operations of the 'Tsentr' Group of Forces, as well as the attacks, launched by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems, have resulted in the neutralisation of the manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) near Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Stelmakhovka, and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).
About 85 Ukrainian personnel, one infantry fighting vehicle, two armoured fighting vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, and one D-30 howitzer have been eliminated.
In Donetsk direction, the offensive operations of volunteers from assault detachments, supported by the units of the Airborne Troops' formation from Pskov, as well as the attacks, launched by aviation and the artillery of the 'Yug' Group of Forces, have resulted in the elimination of over 210 Ukrainian personnel, six armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, one Grad multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS), and one D-20 howitzer.
One AFU ordnance depot has been destroyed near Avdeyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
In South Donetsk direction, Operational-Tactical Aviation and the artillery of the 'Vostok' Group of Forces have launched a complex fire attack against the AFU units near Vodyanoye, Ugledar, Dobrovolye (Donetsk People's Republic), and Uglesborochnaya railway station.
The enemy has lost up to 105 Ukrainian personnel, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured fighting vehicles, as well as the Msta-B, D-20, and D-30 howitzers.
Six AFU ordnance depots have been destroyed near Razdolnoye, Bogatyr, Ugledar, Razliv, Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic), and Uglesborochnaya railway station.
In Kherson direction, the counterbattery warfare operations have resulted in the destruction of two Msta-B howitzers, and one D-30 howitzer.
Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised 97 artillery units at their firing positions, as well as the manpower and hardware in 128 areas.
One 35D6 low-altitude aerial target detector has been destroyed near Krasnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Air defence facilities have shot down one Su-25 airplane of Ukrainian Air Force near Kizomys (Kherson region).
Nine unmanned aerial vehicles have been destroyed near Zhovtnevoye (Kharkov region), Karmazinovka, Privolye, Rubezhnoye, Pshenichnoye (Lugansk People's Republic), Yegorovka, Pervomayskoye, Novoandreyevka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Pologi (Zaporozhye region).
In total, 387 airplanes, 210 helicopters, 3,222 unmanned aerial vehicles, 405 air defence missile systems, 7,994 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,038 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 4,189 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 8,501 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
https://eng.mil.ru/en/special_operation/news/[email protected]
Looks like another busy day, including 1 Su-25, 1 tank and no less than 7 ordnance depots mentioned; I’d already seen reports elsewhere about the depot at Avdeyevka being hit.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 23 2023 15:19 utc | 10
@ Posted by: the first | Feb 23 2023 14:49 utc | 1
I suspect that in fact the Russian withdrawal from the Kharkiv area was due to a problem in the supply of ammunition or similar logistical issue.
I have trouble to accept that they simply decided to let everyone go home.
I suppose the Russians have no reason to explain that (or whatever real reason may be), except that there is a need to support moral in the service and on the home front. However, it is not Monday Night Football.
It's in the past. Reality speaks for itself (not sure anyone listens).
Posted by: jared | Feb 23 2023 15:21 utc | 11
The Wests intransigence on Nato's need to try and destroy Russia, and later China could lead to deadly consequences for us all.
"Putin said that for the first time, Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles - a weapon able to carry multiple nuclear warheads - would be deployed this year.
"We will continue mass production of air-based hypersonic Kinzhal systems and will start mass supplies of sea-based Zircon hypersonic missiles," he added.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/23/698723/Russia-to-continue-mass-production-of-nuclear-arms--Putin-
The president announced on Tuesday that he was suspending Russia's participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:27 utc | 12
West of england andy no. 3
Here's a reuters report:
KYIV, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Italy will keep supporting Ukraine in resisting Russian attacks but has no plans to offer fighter jets, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday during a visit to Kyiv.
The Italian leader, on her first trip to Ukraine since Russia's invasion a year ago, has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv, but others in her right-wing coalition have been more ambiguous on the issue.
"At the moment the supply of planes is not on the table," Meloni said at a news conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Feb 23 2023 15:33 utc | 13
@ Exile | Feb 23 2023 14:51 utc | 2
Here you go:-
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/202302/t20230220_11027664.html
Posted by: Ranelagh | Feb 23 2023 15:33 utc | 14
So this is funny, after having declared russia's winter offensive the ISW is now declaring it a failure, as not to be noticed.
Lol.
Russias gradual increase in the pressure is the correct strategy I think, and said so at the time. I judged a big tanks rush to be indicative of russian high command betrayal and it seems they've been stifled, especially with wagner putting on public pressure.
So maybe, just maybe russia is wising up and getting ready to cashier it's military high command, hopefully to Siberia like good old Stalin. Putin too? Maybe the wily old politician wants to stay in power, and will let gerasimov(who is the Ukrainian high commanders hero by the way think hard about that) get cut down.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 23 2023 15:33 utc | 15
Republic Scotland @4
In his revelatory "Animal Farm", George Orwell let loose with a line that echoes through the ages: When the pigs took over from the farmer and started becoming the "New Class", as per Milovan Djilas' titular description; those hogs exclaimed that "Some are more Equal than others".
Though the Ukies are enjoying the role of "Chosen de jour", that status is only temporary, while the actual "Chosen" find that special treatment to be convenient for their agenda.
Pity the Scots people, still welded at the hip to Perfidious Albion and under full operative control by their bank$ter rulers centered in City of London. Had he the stones to open up about it, Jeremy Corbin could utter a few things about the overwhelming power of those chosen ones who call the shots throughout the island of Britain and even into the north of the island of Ireland.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 15:36 utc | 16
Katya Kopylova, Russian official, was interviewed : https://youtu.be/-Nu-jbh4Aeo
Posted by: Katellê | Feb 23 2023 15:37 utc | 17
"But the US/EU must run out of money at some point."
Eightman (9).
They (Most European/Nato governments) are currently stealing it from public services, services paid for by the taxpayer, its us that's financing this attempted coup of Russia, and coming war on China. These government would rather fund this illegal war for the USA, and are quite content to see us suffer in every economic aspect, and their media spews out its all Russia's fault that things are bad.
The people of Europe need to storm their respective parliaments to end this madness, or at the very least vote out their current governments and politicians who voted for this at our expense before things really get out of hand.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:38 utc | 18
Link to Chinese MFA white paper on Washington‘s Crimes
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/202302/t20230220_11027664.html
(Excerpt from intro, the whole paper is at least 40 pages)
……Introduction
Since becoming the world’s most powerful country after the two world wars and the Cold War, the United States has acted more boldly to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and willfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community.
The United States has developed a hegemonic playbook to stage “color revolutions,” instigate regional disputes, and even directly launch wars ……
…..This report, by presenting the relevant facts, seeks to expose the U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, and to draw greater international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace and stability and the well-being of all people…….
Posted by: Exile | Feb 23 2023 15:39 utc | 19
Posted by: the first | Feb 23 2023 14:49 utc | 1
There is much rubble and dross in every military administration, often an entire class of persons inhabiting an uncanny valley between fungal careerism and authentic mental retardation. On all indications, Surovikin is not one of them.
Prigozhin himself contrasted his recent supply problems by pointing out that supplies were always reliable under Surovikin. Even the risible Guardian notes that Prigozhin and Surovikin appear somewhat aligned.
Posted by: anon2020 | Feb 23 2023 15:41 utc | 21
….Conclusion
While a just cause wins its champion wide support, an unjust one condemns its pursuer to be an outcast. The hegemonic, domineering, and bullying practices of using strength to intimidate the weak, taking from others by force and subterfuge, and playing zero-sum games are exerting grave harm. The historical trends of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit are unstoppable. The United States has been overriding truth with its power and trampling justice to serve self-interest. These unilateral, egoistic and regressive hegemonic practices have drawn growing, intense criticism and opposition from the international community.
Countries need to respect each other and treat each other as equals. Big countries should behave in a manner befitting their status and take the lead in pursuing a new model of state-to-state relations featuring dialogue and partnership, not confrontation or alliance. China opposes all forms of hegemonism and power politics, and rejects interference in other countries' internal affairs. The United States must conduct serious soul-searching. It must critically examine what it has done, let go of its arrogance and prejudice, and quit its hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices…..
Posted by: Exile | Feb 23 2023 15:41 utc | 22
RoS @6
When the common folk in Britain finally awaken from their hypnotic gazing at the telly, perhaps they will collectively in a moment's time conclude that it is high time to bring out the pitchforks and torches...or will they continue to grovel for mere scraps from the overladen tables of the financial elites and their greasy minions and acolytes?
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 15:42 utc | 23
Meanwhile Washington is in the process of putting together an attempt to topple India's Modi for not sanctioning Russian oil, India buys huge amounts of Russian crude, then refines it and sells it on to Europe at a profit.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:16 utc | 8
This jogged my memory about something that popped up earlier this month, news that a US hedge fund had published a report ‘shorting’ the business empire of one of India’s richest billionaires, Gautam Adani.
At the time I wondered if it was a covert operation to try and destabilise the Indian financial economy, but the story dropped off my radar. Your post prompted me to do some renewed digging, which turned up this piece:
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/billionaire-adanis-empire-loses-more-than-135-billion-in-market-value (sorry about the source, The Street is not to my taste generally)
Reading through it we find these paragraphs:
The Adani empire's collapse raises questions, experts say, about India's ability to become an alternative to China for foreign investment. The legendary investor George Soros recently asserted that this debacle weakened Modi, who must answer for what happened."Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies; their fate is intertwined," Soros said during a speech at the 2023 Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16. "Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but he failed. Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards."
"Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament."
The billionaire ended his scathing criticism by saying that "I may be naïve, but I expect a democratic revival in India," said Soros, who struck at Modi by claiming that India is "a democracy, but its leader Narendra Modi is no democrat."
Well,well, well... I will leave the barflies who are much more experienced conspiracy theorists than me to digest things.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 23 2023 15:44 utc | 24
aristodemos (17).
It was the CIA that funded the making of Orwell's Animal Farm after his death, it was made to ridicule communism.
AS for Scotland, its current government is up to its neck with England's, in supporting Ukraine at the expense of its own citizens
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:47 utc | 25
By aristodemos
Those lying bass-turds who troll out barf and garbage on the Tellys and Boobtoobs may be the most vulnerable amongst the ranking servants of the MinderBinders.
Presumably, they do show their well-known faces in public venues from time to time. One wonders about possible reactions from football hooligans with hungry kids at home who spot those creeps and their hired "escorts" emerging from a limousine at the front of some tony establishment.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 15:48 utc | 26
Rybar shows Bilohorivka, the mine town north of Spirne, in red. Hohols still show it blue. Why has this town gone back and forth so many times, and what is its true status now?
Posted by: catdog | Feb 23 2023 15:48 utc | 27
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 15:36 utc | 17
Regarding Ukrainian "special status". They will have a "special status" in Eurovassal countries as long as they are useful to the empire. It's the very same phenomena the part of Europe controlled by EU experience in the mid part of 2010-decade. A humongous amount of asylum seekers flooded through EU borders and were given forced privileges anywhere they entered. Why was that? Because they contributed to the Hegemon goal of removing national identity from individual European countries. Currently, that thing ain't so hot anymore because now they suddenly need "nationalism" to fight Russians, so the privilege is instead given to Ukrainian refugees.
My take is this status will be gone and dumped very soon. There are TG reports from Ukrainian sources that the intensity of collecting personal data from Ukrainian refugees in EUro countries is increasing. They will be sent back sooner rather than later.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 23 2023 15:51 utc | 28
2, 10, 15
Very much worth the read.
I am puzzled who this is addressed to. Posted on the MFA site, is there other distribution? Who do they think is reading? Who do they want to read this?
Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 23 2023 15:53 utc | 29
Washington Post is first of US MSM to mention and provide link to Hersh’s substack article on US blowing up Nordstream.
https://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2023/02/22/washington-post-lets-hershs-dangerous-cat-out-of-the-bag/
Posted by: mjh | Feb 23 2023 15:54 utc | 30
Plot thickens, letter from eye witness of NS explosives set.
https://youtu.be/s6DWe-M9_w4
Posted by: Phil | Feb 23 2023 15:54 utc | 31
@28 I don't have confirmed info, but western narrative news feeds focus on two things
1. It was definitely held 3 weeks ago
2. One week ago it was put forth that the settlement is totally destroyed, every building.
These 2 points indicate that they're planning to lose it, probably because after months of attacking kremmina from there ukraine has lost combat capability and needs to focus on defending seviersk from the south, assuming the russian mod doesn't further undercut Wagner.
So it's a high probability it's been lost to ukraine, and I'd expect gradual reluctant conformation eventually.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 23 2023 15:59 utc | 32
Why Gen. Surovikin pulled back to the other side of the Dnieper River is fairly obvious or should be. They decided against further offensive operations and that made the troops vulnerable owing to the possibility that they could be cut off by the river. Along with the need for a bridge that can be taken out, the river itself can be flooded by taking out one or more of the upstream dams. So, go to the safer and easier to maintain position across the river.
The other notable thing about the Russian offence is how tepid it is. Normally an army should be used with a sense of urgency, and apparently the Russians don't agree because they are not doing it. There are two identifiable reasons for why they are goings slow. One is that they anticipate the possibility of a blowout fight with NATO, with the Ukraine war a side show. The political west lacks the surge capacity in manufacturing needed to replenish the stock of munitions that are being used up in Ukraine, and they are being systematically disarmed by the now ineffective Ukraine army that is burning through whatever supplies it can get. That is, Russia can, apparently, sustain its current supply of munitions, and the Europeans cannot. The longer this war drags out the weaker Europe gets, and thus the better for Russia if a war with NATO develops.
The other aspect of the war is the sanctions. Their primary effect has been to damage Western Europe, and in energy that damage is permanent. Shipped in LP gas will always be a lot more expensive than Russian supplied pipeline gas. Meanwhile the Russians have been damaged only slightly by the sanctions, and over time the degree of damage will lessen. The Russians are currently building an additional pipeline that will be used to ship gas to China, and there is a railroad that when finished, will allow shipping from central Russia to the Arabian Sea, the better to ship goods to India and Southeast Asia generally.
To sum it up, the Russians are not in a hurry because time is on their side. That is also why the NATO side is thrashing around looking for alternatives. They are too vain to end the war with a Russia win, as say a surrender of some territory, and so they are trying to find an out that will avoid that.
Posted by: Jmaas | Feb 23 2023 16:05 utc | 33
aristodemos (24)
It was said there was at least one million folk turned out to protest in the UK against an illegal war in Iraq, it made not a blind bit of difference as history shows us. They got that war, just as they manufactured this one, and the next one will also be manufactured against China.
Not that long ago the people of Sri Lanka, sick of the corruption of their politicians took matters into their own hands, I fear that if things escalate any further we'll need to do the same, but apathy currently rules the majority of the masses.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 16:06 utc | 34
Those ruling elites right across the bank$ter ruled lands of the collective West may be sensing just a few whiffs of smoke from time to time. That smoke emanates from the thoughts and feelings of the multitudes who are suffering at the hands of their self-regarded "betters". This slowly developing trend is subtly working its way into the minds of the $chwabbies and their many bought and paid for marionettes.
There are three little words that the enemies of humanity fear the most: "OUT OF CONTROL".
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:06 utc | 35
🇷🇺 "Today at 6 in the morning they reported that the shipment of ammunition was starting. Most likely, the train started moving. So far, on paper, but, as we were told, the main papers have already been signed.
ㅤ
I would like to thank all those who helped us make this happen. You saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives of guys who are defending their homeland, gave them the opportunity to live on."
Evgeny Prigozhin
Wagner finally getting what it needs to fight NATO and Elensky.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Feb 23 2023 16:06 utc | 36
@24 "When the common folk in Britain finally awaken from their hypnotic gazing at the telly, perhaps they will collectively in a moment's time conclude that it is high time to bring out the pitchforks and torches..."
Or they will continue to bask in the sun on Spanish beaches while the 'common folk' (refugees and migrants) do the work.
Posted by: dh | Feb 23 2023 16:08 utc | 37
@West of England Andy | Feb 23 2023 15:44 utc | 25
BBC recently released a documentary on Modi and his role when governor during Hindi/Muslim riots in an attempt to damage him. Modi has banned the video and raided the BBC office in India.
Posted by: the pessimist | Feb 23 2023 16:17 utc | 38
unimperator (29).
What I found utterly amazing, is that for years prior to last Februarys onset of the conflict many news outlets and EU bodies openly said that Ukraine had a serious problem with Neo-Nazi sympathisers, yet when Russia intervened in the Donbas to save lives, these same Neo-Nazi sympathisers suddenly became oppressed and the Wests attitude to them changed greatly.
Ukrainian Neo-Nazis soon became victims and we citizens of the West were systematically bombarded with propaganda that we needed to support them on every level from sending money, aid and weapons to housing those that fled the country. Now that it has dawned on Nato that Russia is no pushover more assets and financies are being thrown at this Neo-Nazi ran regime and our living standards are plummeting back home, and again the finger is being pointed at Russia for this when its clearly the fault of our own governments who've put US hegemon ahead of their own citizens welfare.
I'll never look at the EU in preferable light again, nor any of the current bodies, such as the OPCW the OSCE the AEIA or the OSCE.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 16:18 utc | 39
RoS @26
First I've read re CIA pushing Orwell. Perhaps that little scheme backfires all these years later. As a type of anarchy-syndicalist in his preferences as evident in "Homage to Catalonia", Orwell had some bad experiences with the Communists during that Spanish Civil War. If he did cooperate with the Agency, it would have been propelled by his perceptions of what he considered to be the Red Terror against other factions during that conflict.
My reference to Milovan Djilas, who had long been Tito's #2 during and somewhat after the Partisan struggle vs. Nazis, Fascists and Ustasha during WWII, became disillusioned within a few years time with the apparatchiks of the new regime taking on the previous roles of the Yugoslavian elite, what with fancy flats, nice automobiles and the best of foods. Human nature, dontcha know.
So Djilas penned a book titled "The New Class" with the theme of new rulers same as the old rulers. The same phenomenon was quite brazen some few years back, where the sons and daughters of the CCP hierarchy in China got on their high horses and lorded it up to the point where they became known widely as the "Princelings". Human nature dontcha know.
My take on all of this tends to deviate from the preconceptions of most partisans of the collective left. Centralization of government is inherently deleterious to the welfare of any given nation...doesn't matter whether the less reflective types prefer left-wing or right-wing centralized power. Ideologues are idiots.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:18 utc | 40
Posted by: the first | Feb 23 2023 14:49 utc | 1
If what you wrote about Surovikin is true, such is very shocking indeed!
Maybe all this is true. If so, there may be another explanation. It could be that Surovikin has been ordered not to take Ukraine down too fast.
I don't know the good reasons for this. But, everything has its timing even if such timing could be sped up.
I do see an alignment according to the scripture of Daniel 7:5. The best understanding I have is that as soon as the Daniel 7:5 bear has 3 ribs in its mouth, between its teeth, the bear will arise and devour much flesh. I consider these 3 ribs as being Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. Perhaps the time of the taking of all of these territories is sacred in a prophetic way.
Thanks for your post. I am going to read it again several times and think about every word.
Posted by: young | Feb 23 2023 16:19 utc | 41
SitRep 2/23: Putin, Prigozhin, PMC's and PMR's
A good read on where we are at right now, with some information about Moldova.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 23 2023 16:21 utc | 42
@39
Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, not the governor. The governor is a different official entirely, appointed by the Central government while the chief minister is elected.
Modi was undoubtedly guilty of genocide in 2002. However, this is being brought up now only as part of a colour revolution attempt, nothing more. Communal riots are rare in India these days, unlike what it was back in the 1980s-2000s.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Feb 23 2023 16:22 utc | 43
@41
Once again, damn that autocorrect. Whoever all programmed that stoopid system, were definitely some "young lions" of the looming technocracy. They obviously were not sufficiently grounded in historical reality to be able to distinguish the term "Anarcho-Syndicalism" and substituted via their egregious AI system "Anarchy Syndicalists".
Fuck them! Arrogant little wet behind the ears know it alls.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:22 utc | 44
RoS @35. Granted that apathy rules amongst those who squat on their easy-chairs in front of. the telly. I just read today that British supermarkets are RATIONING fresh veggies. That's just the onset. Hungry kids make for outraged parents. The most intelligent things they could do for starters would be to take out sledges and bricks and smash their idiot-boxes.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:26 utc | 45
@ 1, 5, 12 and 34:
I was going to try my hand at a rebuttal of post #1, but Jmaas (#34) already nailed it.
Posted by: John Schmeeckle | Feb 23 2023 16:29 utc | 46
I believe this has been posted here before, but if someone wants to get a firsthand sense of what the conflict in Ukraine is like on the front lines then this audio rendition of "Blood Red Snow" about the experiences of a WWII German machine gunner on the front lines at Stalingrad (1943) and then during the German retreat across Ukraine (1944) gives a clear picture of trench warfare in both urban and rural settings.
9.5 listening hours of details from notes (mostly) taken at the time combined with recollections to fill in gaps and make a complete narrative. War, up close and personal, told without bitterness and a good deal of humanity.
Posted by: the pessimist | Feb 23 2023 16:30 utc | 47
Phil no. 32
I just have one question open to all:
The letter writer says they exited the boat and disappeared under water for 6 hours. How did he/she know they exited the boat?
Could they be seen? I'm puzzled by this.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Feb 23 2023 16:32 utc | 48
Drat, forgot to paste the link in the post above regarding "Blood Red Snow" audio rendition.
Posted by: the pessimist | Feb 23 2023 16:33 utc | 49
RoS @40
Hoping more Europeans come to the realization that some of us Yanks now understand. The leverage power of the Bank$ter elite is such that each and every significant institution in the U$$A has become massively corrupted due to the ability of those enemies of common humanity to employ a combination of blackmail and bribery to control influential individuals in positions of influence and power.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:35 utc | 50
@ Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 14:56 utc | 4
thanks for your direct perspective inside scotland... i think a similar dynamic is unfolding in many other countries too..it really is madness..it seems like it is another means of taking down all the social benefits, so that more money can be funneled into war and etc. etc...
@ 20 exile... my friend sent me that yesterday... i was fascinated.. as oldhippie and others ask - who is supposed to read that? where has it been directed to?
Posted by: james | Feb 23 2023 16:36 utc | 51
aristodemos @ 41
Try reading Eric and Us by Jacintha Buddicom. Plus the various postscripts available with a couple clicks.
First thing any artist creates is himself. The George Orwell persona is fiction.
I like the Orwell oeuvre, have read it all. Would recommend it to any. But do not take literally that he was an anarcho-syndicalist. He was a gentleman. From good family.
Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 23 2023 16:36 utc | 52
The tagesschau's faktenfinder podcast refutes false reports, explains the background and makes you think.
Nord Stream explosions Further discrepancies in Hersh report
Status: 02/23/2023 4:55 p.m.
U.S. journalist Hersh had claimed that the U.S. and Norway were behind the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, but several details of his report do not stand up to scrutiny.
By Pascal Siggelkow, Editorial Office ARD-faktenfinder
https://www.tagesschau.de/faktenfinder/nord-stream-explosionen-hersh-101.html
right click translate yourself
Posted by: BonfireNight | Feb 23 2023 16:39 utc | 53
But the US/EU must run out of money at some point.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 23 2023 15:18 utc | 9
Neither the US, or the EU - or for that matter the British or the Japanese - can run out of money. They operate their own currency in which taxes are paid and the currencies are free-floated.
Therefore the system is closed and self-referential. The government can commandeer physical resources anywhere where the currency is accepted, acceptance is forced by imposition of tax across the jurisdiction and it can't escape anywhere else.
They can run out of physical resources, but not money.
Note this also applies to the Russians, and is why Western sanctions *cannot* work. It's a matter of physical resources, not money.
Posted by: The Accountant | Feb 23 2023 16:41 utc | 54
Posted by: BonfireNight | Feb 23 2023 16:39 utc | 53
This has been adequately discussed on this forum already. Find something else to be concerned with.
Posted by: irish al | Feb 23 2023 16:42 utc | 55
aristodemos posting
From time to time the South Front site comes up with a zinger. Currently, they are running information that the Ukies are bunching up at the border of Transnistria. Reason being that dating back to Soviet times, a huge underground cache of munitions is only a few miles within that contested slice of land. The Ukes are running low on munitions of all types, most specifically artillery for those 152MM howitzers.
Currently, the site indicates that some 12,000 Russian troops are protecting that Russophilic enclave. It makes perfect sense to presume that they have standing orders to blow the lot after previously having already set their charges.
The nasty little cunt currently running Moldova and her fascistic "security" guy are also conniving with the Ukies and possibly the Romanians...and needless to say the CIA, to not only swoop on into Transnistria, but also for Moldova to join up with the evil ones.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:43 utc | 56
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 16:18 utc | 41 Re; post reevolutionary elites.
that is why I have always considered 'the Cultural Revolution' in China was a very good idea - it has become an absolute necessity in the dis-UK. Thanks for the book reference earlier (possibly in another thread) referencing the Goddess and things Phoenician, I've managed to order a second-hand copy.
Posted by: ; | Feb 23 2023 16:50 utc | 57
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 15:09 utc | 6
Why not express it simply ? G7 = NATO + Japan
The only relevant body was G20 but that is now defunct since US demands total obeisance
It would be a real concern if this money really did flow to Ukraine.........it does not.
It never leaves Western economies. Britain sells weapons from British Army Reservists at inflated prices to the Foreign Aid Budget at Foreign Office and thus uses sleight of hand accounting.
Poland sells tanks to EU "Peace Fund" which credits Poland for overvalued trash and carries the IOUs on the Special Off-Sheet Fund created - like so many others - by the EU Commission and supposedly covered by German taxpayers bolstered by German trade surpluses - which are not guaranteed going forward.
The Ukrainian Refugees are funded from the UK Foreign Aid Budget inside UK
The whole scam is accounting trickery. Biden is funnelling money to Pentagon and Contractors who are funding their puppets in Congress - just as Ukrainian money backwashed through Viktor Pinchuk into US politics and through Kolomoisky into Hunter Biden - now Funds credited to Ukraine actually backwash into US politics through Pentagon and Contractors and "Consultancies"
When a Us President like Obama took office he received a List of Appointees from the Council for Foreign Relations just as Trump's friends in Republican Party did - they staff the system - and they recycle the money.
The whole thing is like the TARP in 2008 whereby Paulson (Goldman Sachs) funnelled taxpayer money into Wall Street. - then Covid Scam funnelled taxpayer money into Big Pharma - now Ukraine funnels taxpayer money into Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex
Taxpayers stand their stupefied as they are robbed blind - and as W C Fields said "Never give a sucker an even break"
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:51 utc | 58
Anyone wanting a tour-de-force go to You Tube and watch George Galloway at Oxford Union Debate.............excellent !
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:52 utc | 60
Was DeSantis's recent criticism of Biden on Ukraine a signal of discord within the Establishment and/or a foreshadowing of a new party line?
Is the U.S. Establishment getting ready to throw Biden under the bus, confident that their man DeSantis can take out Trump in the Republican primaries?
Disclaimer: I am not a Trump supporter.
Posted by: John Schmeeckle | Feb 23 2023 16:52 utc | 61
Reason being that dating back to Soviet times, a huge underground cache of munitions is only a few miles within that contested slice of land.
When USSR withdrew troops from Central Europe and GDR stocks of weapons were transferred to a depot in what became Transinistria and were frankly forgotten while Yeltsin turned Russia upside down
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:54 utc | 62
RE: Republicofscotland | Feb 23 2023 16:18 utc | 40
you wrote:
"Ukrainian Neo-Nazis soon became victims and we citizens of the West were systematically bombarded with propaganda that we needed to support them on every level from sending money, aid and weapons to housing those that fled the country."
My uncle fought the Nazis in Europe during World War 2 and had a lot friends that got killed and wounded. What the Biden regime has done (and all those who came before them who played a similar role) to support these Bandera Nazi bastards is an absolute betrayal of all those who gave their lives to fight Nazis in WW2.
The US has gone Through the Looking Glass and has become the antithesis of what it purports to be.
Posted by: Perimetr | Feb 23 2023 16:56 utc | 63
Poster @ 1 is a Drive-by shooting Troller wasting valuable space.
+ + + + + + +
Poster @ 37
Here is another. A certified hypocrite who blogs under the moniker "Raghead" and "Friendlyterrorist." He/She posts at Larry Johnson's (LJ) blog.
Pray tell. Why are you here considering the bit below is what you posted on LJ's two days ago, bashing MoA? NB: @ MoA you drop the last 2 letters ha in your moniker.
You commented at Larry Johnson's site on Crooke’s article "US is the biggest loser in the war on RF"
Biswapriya Purkayastha says
21 February 2023 at 18:38
Also let me predict the next thing: Ukranazistan, with or without Moldovan participation, will attack Transnistria. The small Russian garrison can’t hold out for long. Ukranazistan gets the contents of the largest ammunition dump in Europe, Moldova occupies Transnistria, immediately demands NATO membership, or failing that, NATO forces stationed in the country.
[[[Again, anyone thinking NATO will just give up is as delusional as the blowhard armchair generals (Bernhard of Moon Of Alabama is a prime instance) who claimed back in March last year that the Ukranazis in Donbass were already in a cauldron. ]]]
So far, it seems to me, it is almost always the people who have pessimistic views on the course of events who have been proved right; and of course for their pains they’re called “idiots” or “trolls”, and blocked by these self styled oracles, for example Martyanov.
Being proved right is an unforgivable thing.
Reply
/// (emphasis to highlight your image and the bashing)
= = = = = = = =
Yeah. So, b is a blowhard!!!!? Why are you here enjoying free drinks at the bar?
Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 23 2023 17:03 utc | 64
so Surovikin, Gerasimov and Shoigu are all traitors.
Why? Because not only did they not give unlimited supply of ammo to Mercenary groups. But they also retreated (in an orderly fashion) from a precarious city anf other areas. All with the city civilians and most equipment in tow.
How dare they!
I can only imagine if Social Media was around when Russia lost Moscow to Napoleon or when Russia was retreating constantly vs the Nazis before their counter.
LoL social media breeds some interesting specimens
Posted by: Comandante | Feb 23 2023 17:04 utc | 65
james I got a link to it from this site three days ago. I think it came from karlofi. It is good and an indication, I think, that China is ready to set up its cultural stall in the very front of the Marketplace of Ideas and Soft Power, alongside the tattered old US of A which has dominated the place for so long that it has fallen asleep. It's not just that the analysis of US Hegemony is there at all but that it is of very high quality and likely to remain unanswered.
aristodemos Orwell's links with Intelligence were well documented, an interesting aspect of them is that through his employer and friend David Astor who owned The Observer he obtained a then rare, antibiotic (streptomycin???) from the USA in an attempt to keep himself alive. In return he supplied Astor with a list of people he considered Communist fellow travellers and subversives.
He did, after all begin life in the Burmese Colonial Police and during the World War he worked for the BBC's overseas service. He was, in politics, a left wing Labour Party member (literary editor of Tribune owned by Aneurin Bevan) he had fought in Spain as a member of Andreas Nin's neo-Trotskyite POUM. He was no anarcho-syndicalist.
Animal Farm is a rather trite and extremely reactionary attack on, not so much communism or socialism but egalitarianism. Burke would have enjoyed it.
Orwell was a brilliant journalist, one of the best writers of English prose in the century, but he was not a profound thinker, he was at his best when indulging in his prejudices, which were widely shared by his audience.
He was neither a financier nor Jewish but he had been educated at Eton. Obsessed as you are with the idea that a tiny secret clan decides what happens in the world you might look into the Old Etonians. On second thoughts-don't bother.
Posted by: bevin | Feb 23 2023 17:08 utc | 66
@ Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:51 utc | 58
excellent overview... thanks and for your other commentary too..
@ Likklemore | Feb 23 2023 17:03 utc | 64
thanks... good question... i think we know the answer too...
Posted by: james | Feb 23 2023 17:09 utc | 67
Posted by: BonfireNight | Feb 23 2023 16:39 utc | 53
###################
Ah yes, the legions of debunkers have been activated.
Predictable.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 23 2023 17:09 utc | 68
Mercouris and other have been discussing the spat between Prigozhin and the Russian Military over the lack of ammo for the Wagner group at Bakhmut.
This may be politics, and many have speculated it is because the Russians are indeed short of ammo in their world.
I offer an alternative explanation.
Whilst Bakhmut was the schwerpunkt it required a high degree of fire support (probably calculated) to achive tactical success (gaining key ground, attriting the UAF), operational success (pulling in available UAF reserves to be shredded); and strategic success (fixing attention on one part of the front - the best manned and most heavily fortified).
No that these objectives have been achieved it seems to me that it would make sense for the RF to build up stocks elsewhere. This might well mean a reduction for Wagber in this sector. Military common sense not politics. Their new priority might well lie elsewhere.
Prigozhin might well be underwhelmed by such priorities.
However the Russians are well versed in the arts of maskirovka and it is also possible this whole episode is in fact a play act to distract UAF/NATO attention whilst other plans are hatched.
Or maybe I am being too devious?
However it seems obvious to me that not is all as it seems here, and this is exactly the sort of rabbit hole that western intelligence and western media love to go down.
Posted by: marcjf | Feb 23 2023 17:10 utc | 69
@ bevin | Feb 23 2023 17:08 utc | 66
i guess i missed it earlier! i do miss a lot and it is hard to keep up! yes, i thought it was very articulate and well done....
Posted by: james | Feb 23 2023 17:11 utc | 70
@ marcjf | Feb 23 2023 17:10 utc | 69
i see it much the same...not worth responding to much of the speculation.. cheers..
Posted by: james | Feb 23 2023 17:12 utc | 71
reply to 54
They can issue money with keystrokes as they wish. More precisely, I can say they must run out of money - apart from inflation. I am appalled at the compliant attitude in the West so far - and especially the EU. Of course, the sh*t may not have hit the fan yet because they are concealing trouble with ever more debt.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 23 2023 17:14 utc | 72
Simplicus's new article. About the general situation in Donbass (especially Kremennaya) air power use, revamped missile doctrine, and situation in Transnistria and why it's being ramped up now. Because Russia inches closer to encircling even the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-223-putin-prigozhin-pmcs-and
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 23 2023 17:15 utc | 73
@ Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:52 utc | 60
is this the youtube link you refer to?? from 2 days ago...
George Galloway on Hypocrites at the Oxford Union
Posted by: james | Feb 23 2023 17:19 utc | 74
Taxpayers stand their stupefied as they are robbed blind - and as W C Fields said "Never give a sucker an even break"Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Feb 23 2023 16:51 utc | 58
Less than 50% of the US Federal budget is income tax, so the unbudgeted funding sent to Ukraine is added to the $31 trillion debt that can never be repaid. Paging Derek Henry... lol.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 23 2023 17:25 utc | 75
The German ARD-faktenfinder has now reviewed Hersh's article, and it ended up in a self-inflicted disgrace:
Hersh wrote that the divers would "plant shaped C4 charges on the four pipelines". The fakenfinder guys asked a professor for explosives who expressed his doubts that plant-shaped structures similar to sea grass would be make the explosions feasible...
No joke. Screenshot here. ARD has removed it by now.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpqdJ4WWcAA0RE7?format=jpg
Posted by: mk | Feb 23 2023 17:30 utc | 76
Why are you here enjoying free drinks at the bar?
Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 23 2023 17:03 utc | 64
######################
Very few people's words and deeds match. We're all hypocrites, some to a (much) greater degree than others.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 23 2023 17:30 utc | 77
Been putting a lot up at my VK, including links to the two recent papers published by China, the one on hegemony and the one explaining the GSI. I also just finished posting this GT infographic along with a short narrative.
But the main deal many are concerned/curious about is China's Peace proposal, which as I've written over the past two days isn't going to go anywhere by China's own admission:
China is putting in every effort to mediate the complicated and intensifying Russia-Ukraine conflict, as visiting Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials in Moscow to discuss a range of issues, including Ukraine, even as the US and Western countries are more interested in sending additional weapons to keep the ongoing fight lasting.Chinese analysts said China will try its best to mediate, but whether a peace plan will be effective depends on both sides of the warring parties. Since Kiev is deeply influenced by Washington, which is not interested in an immediate cease-fire but prefers a prolonged conflict to keep undermining Moscow and change the status quo by force, it is really hard to see a feasible formula for peace that both sides can accept. Peace may arrive only after more casualties and damage in the battlefields make at least one side change their mind....
Some Western countries and media paid attention to what kind of peace plan China proposes, but they are being "cautious" because they are not in high agreement with China's proposition that the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously," including Russia's, according to The Guardian.
Chinese analysts said if the West refuses to admit that some of Russia's security concerns are legitimate and reasonable, then they will just repeat the mistakes they had made with NATO's expansion in the past decades that eventually led to the current conflict. Moscow will never accept a proposal that denies its security interests, and the conflict therefore will not be stopped. [My Emphasis]
I've yet to put my own analysis into a cogent article with most of it floating around as commentary here and elsewhere. Much was explained during the discourse between me and RSH last night. IMO, the two papers China's presented combined with the GT's infographic provides an excellent basis to project how the Big Picture will be illustrated. The Global Fracture has progressed to the point where it's hard not to see it, although BigLie Media still won't touch it. However, as the little snippet by the Guardian cited above shows that solidarity is cracking.
I also highly suggest reading this essay by Simplicius76, "In the Sprit of Russian 'Total War'" because it has great geopolitical significance.
@mk | Feb 23 2023 17:30 utc | 76
Well done. Let the actual facts reveal the truth.
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 23 2023 17:35 utc | 79
"Concern trolls" infuriate ... I'm not sure what to call them ... the "optimism trolls" and vice versa.
Posted by: Mike314159 | Feb 23 2023 17:42 utc | 80
Old Hippie @52
Thanks: The entirety of Orwell's Ouvre? Formidable.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 17:49 utc | 81
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 23 2023 17:31 utc | 78
In the Spirit of Total War is very enlightening. Glad you posted it. As well as the other things you put up.
Posted by: Johnny Dollar | Feb 23 2023 17:50 utc | 82
Boris Johnson to complete NATO's destruction.
https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1628812545308995584
Posted by: too scents | Feb 23 2023 17:50 utc | 83
Posted by: young | Feb 23 2023 16:19 utc | 41
It appears, the post from "first" is no longer?
Please tell me if I am incorrect. I hope I am.
Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 23 2023 17:52 utc | 84
Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 23 2023 16:36 utc | 52
The beauty of 1984, -book that I read in 1984 aboard a soviet ship- is that no matter who it was imagined after or addressed to, it was applicable to both contenders in that long gone era of bipolarity, today it fits the hegemon just like a fine leather Italian -or Spanish- pair of shoes. Concerning his sympathy for Spanish anarchism, it sounds a lot more romantic and appealing than communism but something has to be given to the communists, they walked the talk and were always at the forefront of the fight. The best part of the book was the amazing feat of creating a language, that left a big mark on me, Burgess Clockwork Orange too but not as powerful as Orwell’s Newspeak.
Posted by: Paco | Feb 23 2023 17:52 utc | 85
Paul Greenwood @58
That Council of Foreign Relations you reference was originally created by $$$ emanating from the Rottenfeller Crime Clan and also happens to be closely connected with the Tavistock Institute and Chatham House over in your Sceptred Isle. Perhaps you or another Brit can come up with the skinny on who funds those London institutions.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 17:55 utc | 86
Posted by: the first | Feb 23 2023 14:49 utc | 1
This post referenced in Post #41 (subject to change) but posted at the time above in my previous post is no longer on this thread.
Is that correct?
Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 23 2023 17:55 utc | 87
Well, the time was 14:49 and the 1st post now is 14:51, so see the rest of you all later - at other places maybe.
Too much editing in the background does not facilitate good communication and once trust is lost, not easy to ever get it back.
So, I reckon, not too much in the way of T-shirt sales for this place, but what do I know...
I'm just a thick-skulled peasant - so leave me alone please.
Later,
BK
Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 23 2023 17:58 utc | 88
John Schmeekle @61
DeSantis is yet another Manchurian Candidate, as you appear to have surmised. He's dirty, dirty, dirty according to some of the dope I've read. Yalie/Eli +++ a member of the Skull n' Bones secret society headquartered right on campus. That organization is an offspring of the Russell Trust. Russell was prominent in the forced opium trade which the elite used to degrade Chinese civilization and culture.
Both Daddy WarBu$h and his Baby Bu$h legacy only son were members of that most secret and elitist of "fraternities" in the U$$A. Interestingly, the American electorate had a most amazing choice a few years back between fellow Bonesmen, Bu$h the lesser and John Kerry, a Crypto on the paternal side and a Forbes on his maternal line. One might say that Skull n' Bones is a closely held corporation and its regime includes potential blackmail photos and videos of each and every chosen applicant.
So it's always more of the same elitists elevated into power in this ruptured republic, once known as "the land of the free and home of the brave".
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 18:03 utc | 90
I don't see how China can mediate anything as the west wants things from them, a lot of things, a proper mediator must be neutral otherwise they become a a party to the dealing, the USA could accept some conditions offered by China on UKR-Russia but only if China does such and such. Three way pressure, that's not how mediation works.
So, I'm not sure what China is up to but I think like Russia before the SMO they are dotting the Is and crossing the Ts just to show the RoW that they did everything possible to avoid the coming spiraling escalation. Along with Russia's tolerance since 2014 it's making sure all fingers point to NATO and the USA.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Feb 23 2023 18:08 utc | 91
@The Accountant #54
US war spending has little to do with MMT and more to do with Wyn Godley, sectoral balances and the $ as the reserve currency. Japan, Scotland, or the UK don't get a free lunch, like the US does. Bretton Woods brought the end of the gold standard, the US obliged the world's central banks to finance the US balance-of-payments deficit by using their surplus dollars to buy US Treasury bonds. All the dollars ending up in European, Asian, and UK central banks as result of the US's excessive import-imbalance has no place to go but the US Treasury. These countries are forced to buy US treasuries or else accept the worthlessness of the dollars received through trade. Since Europe, the UK and Asia has financed most of the US Treasury's budget deficits, US taxpayers haven't had to do this. US's federal budget deficits can go on without limit, precisely because of the balance of payment deficit. The larger the payments deficit, the more dollars end up in the hands of foreign central banks, to be recycled into the purchase of US Treasury securities. This means that the US government's deficit - including the military spending in Ukraine, is financed by foreign governments. Who said there's no free-lunch? The US exploits the rest of the world via foreign central banks accumulating dollars. The US Government has managed to fund wars at Europe, the UK and Asia's expense. At the moment, it seems these wars only send more dollars abroad. But, the dollar surplus abroad only creates more demand for U.S. Treasuries and more foreign dependence on continuing the US Empire. Perhaps this is why German politicians keep bending over while the US destroys their manufacturing base?
Posted by: zeke2u | Feb 23 2023 18:10 utc | 92
Aneurin @66
At it again, I see, you grouchy old Marxist, you. Old Etonians these days, as you likely prefer to sweep under the rug, include a disproportionate element of tony individuals whose ancestry is not wholly of relatively indigenous British stock. Their matrilineal antecedents are frequently drawn from a wealthy lot of "haute bourgeois" who engineered the fall of Jeremy Corbin, an actual populist so far as I can ascertain.
Methinks you might be described as yet another Cleopatra, as you do appear to be the Quean of denial.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 18:14 utc | 93
We often see differences of opinion about how and why Russia is prosecuting this war the way they are.
This article lays out the fundamental differences in thinking between Western and Russian warfare, and how it impacts everything.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 23 2023 18:17 utc | 94
oldhippie @29
This piece is not aimed for communication. Rather, it's a declaration. what we traditionally called 檄文（xi wen）. The piece is aimed at the Chinese people，explaining why we will be fighting the US. The new minister of foreign ministry Essentially just pronounced that if there is no security for China, there will be none for the world.
Posted by: cindy6 | Feb 23 2023 18:20 utc | 95
aristodemos @ 81
It is not that large. Seriously lightweight works as Keep the Aspidistra Flying may be skimmed or even omitted. Will strongly recommend Collected Essays Journalism and Letters. Still available cheap in better used book stores.
Just do not believe every word. Was he CIA? I've no idea. Possible.
Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 23 2023 18:25 utc | 96
Did Zelensky knows that Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Artemovsk
For troops running out of ammo Wagner is either holding on, beating back attacks, or moving forward, hard to do w/o ammo and support, and the AFU are putting up a solid fight, so lots of ammo needed. Maybe it's as simple as that, pure logistics, MoD didn't expect AFU to resist and counterattack so strongly in Artemovsk that they didn't provision correctly.
Also, Prigozhin has a hotline to Putin, not sure how he could be in such desperation that he has to publish a field of piled up dead Wagner bodies to get attention. The whole thing is too weird, but such is war during the era of social media.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Feb 23 2023 18:26 utc | 97
Paco @85
Thanks for the reminder v. Newspeak. Currently, the irony of it all in contemporary "America", the leading news magazine, the prime mouthpiece for the CIA and currently owned by their minion, the egregious Amazonian Jeff Bezos, has well earned the sobriquet of "Newspeak", so, so close to its nominal title.
Seems like the boys at the Agency are rolling around with laughter at the very thought that thousands of "Murrikkkans" actually take that propaganda mill quite seriously. In that race to the bottom, their primary competition appears to be the well known Grey Lady, aka the Chew Pork Slymes, along with the WaPo buttwiper, another tentacle of the Agency. "Birds of a feather," as they say.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 23 2023 18:27 utc | 98
LightYearsFromHome | Feb 23 2023 15:19 utc | posted THIS:
"That's good to hear, how about a link, that way I won't wear out Google."
"Good to hear" you said, sir [wink, wink] -- so here's the LINK:
U.S. Hegemony and Its Perils - CGTN
Posted by: LongCovid | Feb 23 2023 18:29 utc | 99
As another poster mentioned the G7 nations continue to pour BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars into Ukraine. This on top of mercenaries and equipment. It's not going to end any time soon. I can't believe the rest of the planet, with the notable exception of Iran, is just sitting it out watching all this play out. Are the Chinese, Indians, non-Iranian Muslims, etc... that stupid? What do they think is going to happen once Russia falls? That they will be immune from the machinations of the NEOcons? Look what's already happening in India, they are trying to produce a color revolution to overthrow Modhi! Wake up people, fight back for chrissake.
Posted by: bored | Feb 23 2023 18:29 utc | 100
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The Chinese MFA white paper on US hegemony is simply stunning.
Posted by: Exile | Feb 23 2023 14:51 utc | 1