@CIA Lurker
> I am against US involvement in Syria, and I am against US wars of aggression and conquest, just like I am against Russian wars of aggression and conquest. I am not against helping a country that was invaded by a larger country defend themselves.
So you support eg. russia giving syria, libya, afghanistan, iraq and similar countries missles, that they can then use to attack USA back and strike targets in washington, NY, etc?

Posted by: fasdasd | May 19 2023 1:09 utc | 203

@ThusspakeZarathustra (108)
I agree! I just was not sure which way they were gaming the system. They could have over valued as you say, but just as plausibly they could have just revalued (discounted) it in order to get $3 billion more in additional “aid” to Ukraine, as apparently they are supposedly running out of money by mid-Summer.
IMHO, it is amazing that the US can spend nearly a trillion dollars on defense and not have a standing military to completely crush any opponent on the planet. I really wonder what the USA gets for a trillion dollars in military spending? And, assuming they wanted to directly involve themselves militarily in Ukraine, would they require $2,000,000,000,000 usd ? It boggles my mind.

Posted by: Rokossovsky | May 19 2023 1:09 utc | 205

@196 great I’m sure we’ll see the US attacking the US to give syria sovereignty over its internationally recognized borders as well.
LOL.
Don’t even try to moralize any of this stuff.save it for the comic book movies.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | May 19 2023 1:15 utc | 207

Voodoo tata – a foul stench has left the bar.

Posted by: Just Observing | May 19 2023 1:23 utc | 209

“… nice chatting with you folks. Good to get outside of your confirmation bubbles once in a while. Highly recommended.” -Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 1:17 utc | 252
You didn’t though. You just brought your bubble here.

Posted by: Figleaf23 | May 19 2023 1:25 utc | 211

If y’all keep responding to that idiot he won’t go away. The Ghost of Kiev and the Ghost of Langley – you never see them in the same room together.
Posted by: Just Observing | May 19 2023 0:53 utc | 222

YES! Don’t feed the troll! Ignore it and it will go away.

Posted by: Drifter | May 19 2023 1:27 utc | 213

>Posted by: OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 0:36 utc | 198
Good post on the historical stuff.
The development of the atom bomb represented an enormous scientific, industrial and monetary effort for the most powerful combatant in WW2 and the development of it’s delivery vehicle, the B-29, nearly likewise.
Faced with the likelihood of a land invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall, that would have dwarfed the losses suffered in Okinawa (Operation Iceberg), The US used the weapons to shock the Japanese Empire into unconditional surrender.
In that respect, it was a no brainer.
Curiously, I heard just today on a radio prograrm review of a book on the topic, that Gen. Spaatz as commander of USASTAF, requested a written order to drop the bombs. He put it in his back pocket and lost in the dry washing of his uniform.

Posted by: Bubaroonicus | May 19 2023 1:36 utc | 215

Posted by: james | May 19 2023 0:56 utc | 227
The saying is ‘Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.’ It’s George Bernard Shaw, and quite appropriate in this case. You’re wrestling with a dirty pig for sure.

Posted by: Caveman | May 19 2023 1:40 utc | 217

Don’t run away CIA Lurker.
Your honesty about where you stand is refreshing vs the regular trolls who inundate the site,

Posted by: Bubaroonicus | May 19 2023 1:43 utc | 219

” No country would tolerate what Ukraine had to within its own internationally-recognized boundaries, not mine, for sure, and not Russia either. Not sure why you think Ukrainians are any different than you or I.”
Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 1:07 utc | 238
Are you speaking about the 2014 US sponsored coup? I would have to agree then. The uncorrupted Eastern Ukraine has resisted fiercely but without Russia’s help they are no match for NATO.

Posted by: jr | May 19 2023 1:45 utc | 221

Anyway, I gotta go, but nice chatting with you folks. Good to get outside of your confirmation bubbles once in a while. Highly recommended.
Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 1:17 utc | 252
__________
And you’ve failed to do for yourself what you recommend for others.

Posted by: Deskscape | May 19 2023 1:56 utc | 223

uncle tungsten #51
Is imposter.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 19 2023 2:03 utc | 225

Posted by: Comandante | May 19 2023 1:45 utc | 266
I hear what your saying.
It was definitely punishment, just as Dresden was, and an attempt to break the enemy’s will. I’ve also read there was a real fear the device would fail so if used, best get the best bang for the buck.
It was doctrine back then to break the enemy’s will. Both bombings were considered just that to some extent, terror. Both sites had a least some marginal military value too.
The Mongols couldn’t do it in the blink of eye, back then it was a lot of manual labor to kill 100k. They perservered though to get the same job done with same objective.
War brings out the worst in humans.
1000 years hasn’t changed that yet.

Posted by: Bubaroonicus | May 19 2023 2:07 utc | 227

jr – The US isn’t threatening Russia’s sovereignty. What happens in Ukraine is Ukraine’s business, not Russia’s.
If Ukraine had invaded Russia in a war of conquest and aggression, then I would be anti-Ukraine, pro-Russia, but that’s not what happened.
Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 0:06 utc | 181
What happens in Ukraine is Ukraine’s business, not Russia’s? Dont talk like a friggin dipstick. Russian speakers and ethnic russians have been subject to 8 yrs of genocide in east ukraine by those bastards in kiev. Of course it has everything to do with russia therefore. Just like the brits went to the rescue of their kith n kin in the Falklands which is argentian territory.

Posted by: HERMIUS | May 19 2023 2:07 utc | 229

CIA lurker
An honest and obvious moniker. Shift must have ended. I’m thinking day shift on the west coast. His job is to get you riled up and tie up the comments thread. Distracting from pertinent analysis. Another troll objective. His knowledge of history starts on February 2022 and only one side. Will not argue specifics. He gets a bonus today for a job well done. Don’t engage the trolls. Who takes over his shift?
On kinzhil: the launch aircraft can be tracked up to the missile launch. After that it disappears. Being somewhat maneuverable you have a large circle of probable targets. Very hard to predict where it’s going to land. Sure the automatic AD system can see at terminal phase but not enough time to launch a few rounds and have a missile lock. Lobbing 32 missiles at it is desperation hoping at least one can stop Mr K. Sounds like they had a good guess at where it was heading and tried to deny the inevitable.
That’s how I see it. Please no more debate on the Patriot take out until actual evidence and statements arise. We are already “experts” now. Goes for depleted uranium too! Thanks.

Posted by: CofCanuckistan | May 19 2023 2:12 utc | 231

“All in all both sides did well. The Patriot and NASAMs only got killed after running out of ammo, and the Russians killed them.”
Posted by: JackG | May 18 2023 20:34 utc | 105.
The radar was hit 1st. The Patriot was firing blind & hit nothing. They deliberately, frantically ran all the ammo to prevent a huge detonation at ground level by the incoming Khinzal. 2 patriot missiles can be seen to reverse course and land near the launchers. 1 Patriot missile never exploded & was found in a nearby street.
$1.2B destroyed in <2 minutes. Not a Patriot success. 🤦

Posted by: Mary | May 19 2023 2:12 utc | 233

Posted by: james | May 19 2023 1:58 utc | 270
Thanks James! I dig your posts. Always thoughtful and thought provoking!

Posted by: Caveman | May 19 2023 2:14 utc | 235

“… Your honesty about where you stand is refreshing vs the regular trolls who inundate the site…”
Bubaroonicus@265
He is certainly candid about his affiliation. But he adds nothing to the discussion. Everything he has said has been repeated ad nauseam by the MSM at least since 2004, certainly since 2014 and almost continuously for the past 18 months.
And it is childish nonsense.
We are well past the stage of demonstrating the foolishness of those who appear to be unaware of such basic facts as the fadcist roots of the Bandera thugs (last found to represent 2% of the population) running Kiev, the banning of Russian literature and language in a country where it has always been the national language and the laughable notion that the Dictatorship is fighting for freedom and the liberties of the people (who are banned from political activity and public expression of their opinions) while selling off their property, both private and public, and signing them up to massive debts, half of it incurred to feed the corrupt appetites of the oligarchs and the rest funnelled into the maw of the MIC in the United States.
In a word, if the CIA wants to argue let it respect us enough to employ grown-ups. Times was when, along with its reputation for drug dealing and wholesale assassination the CIA was known for its ability to mobilise intellectual opinion to advance its positions. It set out to understand its opponents and appreciate the power of, for example, Marxist analysis. Behind the thugs and the sadists there were, the far more dangerous, cool calculating intellectuals.
Our lurker shows every sign of having spent far too much time in the company of sadists and butchers like Gina Haspel, Pompeo and Negroponte. He adds nothing to our deliberations.

Posted by: bevin | May 19 2023 2:15 utc | 237

Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 0:43 utc | 210
Nuland’s $5B coup
Minsk 1
Minsk 2
14,000 civilians tortured & murdered in ethnic cleansing of 2 (formerly Russian) independent oblasts
For 8 years said oblasts begged Russia for assistance
Go ahead. Try to defend the neocon vultures running the US off a cliff while running around the world sowing chaos & violence.
Ukraine will return to being a hinterland.
The Rus will survive.
The Han will survive.
The Persians will survive.
The Great Satan, not so much.

Posted by: Mary | May 19 2023 2:24 utc | 239

The problem with this line of thinking is that it is presuming that Russia’s needs are more important than those of Ukraine. I mean, if you are going to just say that might makes right, well, at least that is a coherent line of reasoning, I suppose. I don’t agree with it, and I think it is incumbent upon more powerful nations to tread even more lightly than smaller, non-nuclear ones.
Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 0:39 utc | 203
————————————————————–
Serbia 1999
China 1949 to early 1960s
Albania 1949-53
East Germany 1950s
Iran 1953 *
Guatemala 1954 *
Costa Rica mid-1950s
Syria 1956-7
Egypt 1957
Indonesia 1957-8
British Guiana 1953-64 *
Iraq 1963 *
North Vietnam 1945-73
Cambodia 1955-70 *
Laos 1958 *, 1959 *, 1960 *
Ecuador 1960-63 *
Congo 1960 *
France 1965
Brazil 1962-64 *
Dominican Republic 1963 *
Cuba 1959 to present
Bolivia 1964 *
Indonesia 1965 *
Ghana 1966 *
Chile 1964-73 *
Greece 1967 *
Costa Rica 1970-71
Bolivia 1971 *
Australia 1973-75 *
Angola 1975, 1980s
Zaire 1975
Portugal 1974-76 *
Jamaica 1976-80 *
Seychelles 1979-81
Chad 1981-82 *
Grenada 1983 *
South Yemen 1982-84
Suriname 1982-84
Fiji 1987 *
Libya 1980s
Nicaragua 1981-90 *
Panama 1989 *
Bulgaria 1990 *
Albania 1991 *
Iraq 1991
Afghanistan 1980s *
Somalia 1993
Yugoslavia 1999-2000 *
Ecuador 2000 *
Afghanistan 2001 *
Venezuela 2002 *
Iraq 2003 and 1953
Haiti 2004 *
Somalia 2007 to present
Honduras 2009 *
Libya 2011 *
Syria 2012
Ukraine 2014 *
Q: Why will there never be a coup d’état in Washington?
A: Because there’s no American embassy there.

Posted by: Ed | May 19 2023 2:40 utc | 241

Leuk | May 19 2023 2:45 utc | 289
That CIA thingy was ChatGPT bot feed.

Posted by: whirlX | May 19 2023 2:49 utc | 243

Bubaroonicus | May 19 2023 1:36 utc | 261
As I said, I still think that with the gift of hindsight it was probably the wrong decision, or at least unneeded. But given what was known at the time it was an understandable, and probably inevitable, one.
Comandante | May 19 2023 1:45 utc | 266
Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki *were* military targets. Hiroshima in particular was a major rail hub and port, and hosted the command post for the entire southern Kyushu army group, which was something like seventeen divisions with more on the way at the time of the bombing. It was a key target to be neutralized in advance of the projected American invasion operation.
Nagasaki was a lesser military target, but was still a significant industrial hub, a military port with key Mitsubishi factories. More to the point, it was a backup target. The original objective of the second bomb was Kokura, home to a major army arsenal that was a producer of small arms and ammunition. Kokura escaped being bombed because the crew couldn’t find the city either because of heavy natural cloud cover or defensive smoke (it seems to be a topic of historical debate which it was), so the plane made a best-guess drop on the way home on Nagasaki. In the end they missed the intended detonation site and instead the bomb drifted a mile away to about above the Christian cathedral in the city (cruel irony).

Posted by: OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 3:07 utc | 245

The fact is we have lots of historical detail on the development and use of the first atomic bombs. They emphatically were not aimed at the Soviets. They were developed in the first place out of fear that the Axis, primarily Germany, might get there first (in retrospect Germany was far behind the Allies, and in some ways wasn’t even on the right track. There was probably little need to rush the nuclear program, but that wasn’t known for certain at the time). It was developed as an extension of the strategic bombing program, and was envisioned by the military as a better way to do vast destruction. That’s it. It was viewed as just a really big bomb. That it had unique properties beyond that wasn’t well appreciated, and wouldn’t be fully for at least a decade after the war (just ask the ghost of John Wayne).
[…]
Some people can say ‘but just look at the timing, obviously it was about the USSR’, but that’s not actually remotely what the details of the historical record indicate. But, and I’m going to be a dick here, to know that would require sitting down and actually reading any of that historical record, or even just academic summaries of it.
Posted by: OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 0:36 utc | 198

It wasn’t developed to fight the Soviets, that is correct. But circumstances change, and they also did so in this case.
The fact is that it was dropped after Germany had surrendered, Japan was effectively defeated, and UK/US elites were already plotting how to fight the USSR.
By March 1945 they were already negotiating an alliance with the Nazis (which later ended up becoming NATO), and in May 1945 Churchill ordered Operation Unthinkable to be planned out.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki come on August 6/9. Much later.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 3:09 utc | 247

Ah, yes, the Russian-speaking separatists who think of themselves as Russian and likely want to join Russia because the borders were drawn incorrectly? Those separatists? Part of the Russian diaspora?
Yes, of course they needed help, which is why they appealed to Russia to help them. Unlike some countries Moscow is willing to protect its diaspora in other states.
Posted by: James | May 19 2023 0:54 utc | 224

It isn’t just the Donbass, Kiev is a Russian city too, and so is everything east of Vinnytsia.
BTW, there was a video of Arestovich the other day openly admitting it — he was talking about how he has a friend who works as a cashier in Kiev, and that friend did the experiment of recording how many people talked to him in Russian and how many in Ukrainian. And this is recent, not twent years ago. It was 86% in Russian.
You also see it in the videos of missiles and drones falling on Kiev — everyone is cursing and screaming in Russian, not Ukrainian.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 3:14 utc | 249

The “grain deal” stinks.
I have an extremely negative attitude towards any agreement with the enemy during the period of hostilities, when our soldiers are dying, when there is a direct threat to the existence of the Russian Federation, when the enemy has outlined specific real goals to destroy Russia, to bring it to its knees, to deprive it of its subjectivity and, in general, its identity, the right to existence in this world.
These transactions, which are carried out with Turkish “partners”, with any other “partners”, in my opinion, are from a number of bad ones. It’s my personal opinion. I’m not talking about betrayal, although this is often the point of view now, but it all smells bad.
I understand that there is politeness, there is diplomacy, there is a defense of the interests of the state in the international arena, but when the existence of the Russian people and other ethnic groups that inhabit the Russian Federation is at stake, but above all the state-forming Russian people, when war is actually declared on them, I think extension of various deals with the enemy inappropriate and not meeting our fundamental interests in this struggle.
Posted by: MiniMo | May 19 2023 0:54 utc | 225

It stinks, but maybe there is more to it than just Russian oligarchs and Patrushev’s son lining up their pockets.
First, it keeps Odessa free of naval mines, which means Russia can in principle attack at some point. If the deal is terminated, Ukrainians will just throw an absurd amount of naval mines there again, which will completely block the approaches
Second, if it is indeed really so important for Turkey, that has to be considered. Turkey right now keeps the straights closed, but it could well open them for US ships at some point. Militarily that isn’t a problem on its own — those ships will not make it much further into the Black Sea than Istanbul, but that means open war will erupt immediately, and that is not good. So Turkey enforcing Montreux is very important.
That is also a reason why Russia sends oil and gas though Ukraine — much of it goes to Hungary (and Serbia too), and presumably without that Hungary would be acting differently.
But there is no plausible excuse for why railways and bridges have not been disabled, and if that is, as is rumored, because commodities go West on those, than this is just treason. There is also no excuse for selling oil and gas to the West through new middlemen, and absolutely no excuse for selling things like titanium, that then come back in the form of missiles and jets.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 3:24 utc | 251

I don’t have to think hard about the decision to bomb Japan. My father landed in Japan after the war on the assault ship that was scheduled to put him ashore in the invasion. The fleet was at sea when the war ended. His unit was to be one of the break in waves. The Japanese although out gunned in every way, resisted stubbornly. The casualty estimates for the Japan invasion were in the 500,000’s . We had just seen almost 50,000 casualties in Okinawa.
Posted by: Dan Farrand | May 18 2023 23:30 utc | 166

There was another solution — just let the Red Army do it and let them suffer the casualties. But that would have meant Japan becoming communist, and we can’t have that, can we?
P.S. Same thing with D-Day — the US could have saved the lives of its soldiers and just not bothered. The Germans were thoroughly defeated by that point, the Red Army was doing a mop up operation. But of course D-Day wasn’t really targeted against Nazi Germany, it was an operation against the USSR, to prevent it from reaching the Atlantic.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 3:26 utc | 253

@shadowbanned | May 19 2023 3:09 utc | 294
The bombs weren’t ready before Germany surrendered.
Japan wasn’t defeated. It refused to agree to unconditional surrender. It wanted to see if it could get away with salvaging at least some of its Empire, something that was unacceptable to any of the Allies (particularly, by the way, the Chinese. Completely understandably on their part). The most the Japanese were doing was putting out feelers via Moscow to see if they could get a limited surrender, which the Soviets humored them on while putting together plans to invade Manchuria.
The Japanese government weren’t under any illusions; they knew they’d lost the war. The debate within the government was between a peace party that wanted to give up immediately, and a war party that wanted to repeat Iwo Jima and Okinawa on a much larger scale. Operation Downfall is well known as the American plan to invade the home islands, but less well known is the Japanese counter: Operation Ketsu-go, which was intended to bleed the Americans so dry that they’d agree to let Japan crawl away with certain key demands met. This was a land version of the kind of Kessen, decisive battle obsession the Japanese navy had been built around for decades.
Do I really have to point out the glaring flaw with your entire thesis? The USSR would go four years before having its first nuclear weapon. The West had a crushing advantage on that front. Yet no invasion ever happened.

Posted by: OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 3:40 utc | 255

>Posted by: OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 3:21 utc | 297
fyi, I don’t mind learning.

Posted by: Bubaroonicus | May 19 2023 3:52 utc | 257

@158
Everyone should visit the link at 158. Dr. Busby in 5 minutes settles the so-called debate here by everyone trying to sound so knowledgeable about the DU ammunition and the effects of the explosion! The poles and Germans best be paying attention, and too late for the folks in northwestern Ukraine.

Posted by: Wilhelm | May 19 2023 4:12 utc | 259

OC Anonymous | May 19 2023 3:07 utc | 292
You seem to be informed quite a bit about the atomic bomb attacks on Japan.
Was there a specific Committee established to identify primary and secondary targets? If so is there a list of the individuals who were on the Committee and made the decisions on these targets?

Posted by: Jerr | May 19 2023 4:25 utc | 261

Posted by: Featherless | May 18 2023 16:10 utc | 4
Posted by: Featherless | May 18 2023 16:29 utc | 10
Not me. I guess I don’t need to post anymore, as someone else is doing it for me !

Posted by: Featherless | May 19 2023 4:47 utc | 263

Brian Berletic had some good information regarding the Patriot air defence system on a recent Youtube video.
He stated that the production rate of the missiles was roughly 300 a year and that was being ramped up to somewhere around 500 a year. That seems very leisurely. The outburst over Kiev a few nights back chewed through around 10% of the annual production capacity in 2 minutes. This looks far from sustainable.
The Patriot system looks worse than useless and actually quite dangerous for its users as it gives a totally false sense of security. I can’t see sales coming in anymore and those who have purchased it will be looking at ways to wriggle out of this scam.
He also made the point that the problem for the whole conflict on the NATO side was that there is very little industrial capacity to ramp up as the factories, technical support and skilled workforce are no longer there. Money was the least of the problems but there was nothing to spend it on.

Posted by: ZimZum | May 19 2023 5:12 utc | 265

Wow this CIA lurker clown comes across as a child. Scratch that, my teenage children have way more understanding of the real world than this troll.

Posted by: Merandor | May 19 2023 5:17 utc | 267

I am against US involvement in Syria, and I am against US wars of aggression and conquest, just like I am against Russian wars of aggression and conquest. I am not against helping a country that was invaded by a larger country defend themselves.
Posted by: CIA Lurker | May 19 2023 0:43 utc | 210
—————
Ukraine was effectively invaded by the US in 2014 when the US engineered a coup, installed a proxy regime, turned Ukraine into a US colony. The US and NATO then militarized Ukraine, with the aim of using it as a launchpad for future attacks against Russia. Russia was compelled by US and NATO aggression–using Ukraine—to initiate the SMO. Russia is in an existential battle against the US war machine, which publicly admits its goal is to weaken, destabilize, disintegrate Russia. The US wants global domination, unfettered access to other nations’ resources, a world subjugated to US interests.
Suggest you read this article, for starters. Perhaps you don’t realize that, if the “shoe were on the other foot”–if Russia or China had militarized Mexico or Canada with the aim of attacking and subjugating the US–the US would respond as Russia is. Did you study the Cuban Missile Crisis in high school?
https://harpers.org/archive/2023/06/why-are-we-in-ukraine/

Posted by: MG | May 19 2023 5:24 utc | 269

So, apparently Zelenski has popped up in Hiroshima for the G7. I guess he took Kishida san’s invitation a little too seriously.
Time to open up our wallets.

Posted by: section321 | May 19 2023 5:42 utc | 271

Before you ask, this was according to local television news in Japan. They have all day coverage so we don’t miss a minute. 🤮
Doesn’t seem to have hit the interweb yet.

Posted by: section321 | May 19 2023 5:46 utc | 273

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS THE ENEMY OF NOT JUST AMERICANS BUT HUMANITY ITSELF.
BEST CASE SCENARIO IS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DEFAULTS AND SHUTS DOWN PERMANENTLY.
Assassinations, constant wars, CIA Overthrows (both internal and external), DoD environmental destruction, CIA/DoD/NSA spying on Americans (even members of Congress), economic warfare, Biowarfare, industrial sabotage, false flags (9/11, the Anthrax attacks, Plandemic), open corruption with investigations that go nowhere, inability to store nuclear waste safely (yet they want Fun Size nuclear bombs)…etc.

Posted by: Dulles_Did_Dallas | May 19 2023 5:54 utc | 275

NabrezhnyeIntel:
⚡️Wagner Group advances within Artyomovsk City may undo AFU counteroffensive efforts nearby to Klishchiivka; fortunately, Russian motorized riflemen have been able to maintain the heights of Klishchiivka, which are allowing them to inflict losses on the incoming Ukrainian forces. It is with no doubt that after Artyomovsk, then Krasnoye, then Chasovoy Yar.
Elsewhere in Soledar and Chasovoy Yar Direction, the AFU attempted to go on the offensive in the Soledar direction, only capturing one hill and loosing 400 personnel and near to a dozen special military vehicles. In the Bogdanivka-Khromove-Hryhorivka Region, Wagner and Russian army units have been able to stabilise the area, however, the AFU still tries with their offensive.
https://twitter.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1659439286834417668
Good news if true.

Posted by: unimperator | May 19 2023 6:15 utc | 277

rk yeah TSMC you be another person holding onto obsolete concepts parroting off old talky points . TSMC lithography is finished its obsolete . sure the trillions invested can still produce for years. but 2 nm cant get smaller . but photonolgy can. it can go infinitely smaller from completely different process. so blow up the old factories all you want china did years of R@D and created photonolgy when everyone said it was impossible. i even meet funny guys today that argue its just a concept. welll china opens new factories this year . they started at 5nm and will progress the tech. not hard to find the info if you want . but you know why its not trumpeted loudly on the pages of WAPO for all to know

Posted by: hankster | May 19 2023 6:24 utc | 279

New Maidan Ukraine renamed 50k streets. Through popular vote in Kiev the chose to name a street after the founder of SS Galicia division. Only an intervention of Israeli embassy prevented it from happening. How does is square with 80% of people in Kiev speaking Russian I don’t know.

Posted by: RB | May 19 2023 6:28 utc | 281

When you read the news that our partners will train our military, you should immediately understand that the Ukrainian budget pays colossal money (credit) for this.
Every country in the West has realized that sometimes training our soldiers for show is a smart business. According to closed data, the training of one soldier costs our budget from 10.000 to 30.000€
Ukraine will have to return this money, and even the interest for their maintenance (from 4 to 6% per annum).
It may turn out that in the end, Ukraine, at best, will win some kind of victory, receive hundreds of billions of dollars in reparations from the Russian Federation, but the Ukrainians will not get them, but will go to their partners.
As a result, Ukraine will receive from this a destroyed country, a crippled nation, poverty, transnational corporations will buy everything from us for a penny and we will find ourselves in economic slavery for many years, etc., which will eventually turn out to be a “Pyrrhic victory”. And that’s even better.
At worst, Ukraine will still lose some of its territories and then become mired for decades in crime, political crisis, and so on.
The elites will sell the interests of the people, as it has always been, and even more so after the Maidan of 2014!
We have always said that the Ukrainian people lost at the moment when Zelensky abandoned the Minsk agreements and this war began…

https://t.me/legitimniy/15381

Posted by: Down South | May 19 2023 6:37 utc | 283

Posted by: Down South | May 19 2023 6:37 utc | 332

Let’s add to yesterday’s layout that in this war, Ukraine, partners do not give anything for free.
When you hear that the Americans are giving Ukraine free intelligence information or some satellite images, or advisers have arrived for training, and so on. Know right away that you are being lied to.
All this is paid for with the allocated credit money for Ukraine. They just don’t tell you about it for a number of reasons.
Approximately such items of expenditure usually go in the sections “consultations / training” or something similar. The amounts are not small.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15383

Posted by: Down South | May 19 2023 6:38 utc | 285

Why has Russia stopped destruction of Ukro energy facilities?
Without electricity most of the people would leave Ukraine and war would be over.

Posted by: srbin | May 19 2023 6:48 utc | 287

Dumb conclusion from one dumb talking head of yt. They have thousands of old weapons they can give, including hundreds of old f16s. Finding a few hundred kamikaze pilots will be a bit difficult but not impossible over 10+ years. Everything with zero costs, just expired weapons. Keeping the same smo style, after only first 4 or 6 months had a reason, is still very idiotic and will do nothing other than destroy the new and border regions, force evacuation then create enough internal problems for a little regime change.
Posted by: rk | May 19 2023 6:06 utc | 324

Correct. And they don’t even have to properly train pilots for those — they are flying mostly suicide missions, and even if they do get shot down, it will be beyond visual range, so they might have time to eject and then fly again. And there are in fact not merely hundreds, but thousands of old F-16s that can be sent. If they can each last 3-4 missions launching cruise missiles and doing some damage while soaking up R-37Ms and 40N6E (which are not at all cheap and not at all in infinite quantities for the Russian side), that’s still a win for a near-zero cost.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 6:57 utc | 289

If the Patriot system is as shit as many seem to believe here, then why bother targeting it at all?
Is it capable of taking down Kinzhals? Maybe, there is no really hard evidence either way. The fact Russia resorted to an overwhelming attack to take one down may suggest it did. It suggests even more strongly that this system was doing a pretty good job at protecting Kiev, otherwise, again, why bother targeting it?
Posted by: Mushroom | May 19 2023 5:43 utc | 319

The whole episode is very scary in its implications.
There was absolutely no surprise in Patriots being completely inadequate when faced with Kinzhals. And no, it wasn’t that the Kinzhals overwhelmed it — a single one took it out. Also, it didn’t even need to be a Kinzhal, they could have taken it out with Geraniums as long as they managed to overwhelm whatever SHORAD systems were protecting the Patriot. No need for hypersonics really.
But they sent one to send a message.
And the Patriot presumably would have shot down some Iskanders, Kalibrs and X-101s if it had not been taken out, so it had to go. It’s just part of the overall SEAD/DEAD campaign, but with a particular symbolic importance.
The significant aspect of the story is that it appears that genuinely a lot of people, including in NATO, are surprised that the Patriots were destroyed. Why would they be surprised though? It was entirely expected — everyone knew Patriots are powerless against hypersonics years ago. It was simply demonstrated in practice now, but it is not news at all. But if there really are people in positions that matter for whom this is real news, then we are in very serious trouble, because it means the disconnect from reality is very profound and those clowns will lead us to an all-out war thinking they can win. Having no idea what they are up against…

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 6:58 utc | 291

@srbin #336
With Russia it’s anyones guess, but they do have to be carefull with Nuclear power and they might have worked out a deal where they all leave each others power plants alone.

Posted by: OohCanada | May 19 2023 7:04 utc | 293

Why has Russia stopped destruction of Ukro energy facilities?
Without electricity most of the people would leave Ukraine and war would be over.
Posted by: srbin | May 19 2023 6:48 utc | 336

In retrospect, there was never any real intention to collapse the grid.
That was all an effort to deplete Ukrainian air defense, and also to placate the public inside Russia with a demonstration that Kiev is being punished.
Russia can leave all of Ukraine permanently without power in a single missile strike. For that to happen they had to hit the generators and the 750-kV transformers. They only hit a handful of generators and maybe one or two 750-kV transformers, the rest was all hits at lower-voltage transformers, which can be and were quickly repaired.
Now there is the practical problem that you can’t take out all generators — the nuclear power plants are untouchable for obvious reasons, and so are the hydro plants on the Dnieper (because those are also the dams, and if you collapse them, that will be a biblical disaster). And Ukraine’s grid was built for a country of 50M+ with huge industry, while even before the war it was 35M with much of that industry gone, and now it is 20-25M with all of the industry shut down. So demand is something like 20% of the capacity, and nuclear plus hydro alone is comfortably above that. But still, if you hit the 750-kV grid, the NPPs will be effectively taken out and you can collapse it all. Clearly they never wanted to do that though.

Posted by: shadowbanned | May 19 2023 7:07 utc | 295

How many countries had stopped using USD as the currency for international transactions? And, how many will be in the next few months?
That’s one of the unwritten objective of the SMO.

Posted by: ostro | May 19 2023 7:28 utc | 297

Why are you handing over the Ukraine thread to this new troll? Everybody has the right to present their view, but being endlessly provocative about nothing related to Ukraine is trolling. Give this guy time to sit in the corner and read.

Posted by: Norwegian | May 19 2023 7:31 utc | 299