Posted by: Arch Bungle | May 28 2023 2:55 utc | 175
Iranians and others are claiming it’s the Taliban. There are some videos on twitter:
Biden left over $7 billion of military equipment in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan after his failed withdrawal plan.
Today, Taliban soldiers entered Iran & attacked a military base using American military equipment.
Joe Biden is funding multiple wars on the taxpayer’s dime.
https://twitter.com/GrandOlPatriots/status/1662536519360421889
Middle East News
Images of Iran’s border guard forces in the conflict with the Taliban yesterday
https://twitter.com/Draganov313/status/1662660636864819200
Iran-Taliban tension has not ended even at night. It has been reported that the location of the conflict is Iran’s Sasuli outpost./Iranian sources
Afghan media reported the death of 21 Taliban fighters
https://twitter.com/Draganov313/status/1662660590194823170
Taliban is moving heavy equipment and armored fighting vehicles near the border with Iran
https://twitter.com/Spriter99880/status/1662497500144582656

Posted by: MiniMo | May 28 2023 4:32 utc | 204

Cynic @202
I didn’t see any racial slurs in his comment. What are you talking about?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 28 2023 4:42 utc | 206

@ bevin 169
I dare say it’s impossible for a US political lie – detector to calibrate the subtleties of British Tory corruption.
One can ignore any analysis of the last UK election not mentioning that the official voting system is run by Tory Peer Peter Lilley and the demographic changes of Muslim voters abandoning Labour welfare benefits for Tory bribery and corruption , and Algorithms of voters who never vote, whose vote can therefore be borrowed.
Corbyn nearly won power. He managed the system of continual right-wing infiltration of the Labour Party with the patience of a Saint. No. Sadly the British have failed to thank God for their two centuries of Socialism , starting with the Chartists in 1810, and are unconcerned about the next, homeless generation, so long as their own properties double in value every few years.
Fattening the zionazi banksters with interest mortgages doesn’t even bother the Muslims.
Easy for Lengi living in Zionazi US to mock our pathetic attempts to be prophets and warners of our fascist doom , when the US is a full Zionazi State in all but name.

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 4:44 utc | 208

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 28 2023 3:57 utc | 201
One last post for today. I considered watching “Silo” solely because of Sarah Ferguson, who is smokin’ hot. But decided against it – dystopias of that sort, such as the “Hunger Games” (although I did watch the first one) tend to bore me. I prefer dystopias that more explicitly reflect the current state of affairs and with less science-fiction.
“V”, in my opinion, is the best of that sort. In my last Substack, I started a series of movie and TV show analyses, not, note, as a “movie critic”, but as to what one might learn from them either philosophically, attidudinally or actual techniques. “V” was first on the list. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
I’m out.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 28 2023 5:04 utc | 210

I didn’t see any racial slurs in his comment. What are you talking about?
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | May 28 2023 4:42 utc | 211
It’s a spook (semiliteral meaning CIA or US spy) pretending that the word spook (reality) is a racial slur. See how they try to inject identity politics into things to derail them?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 28 2023 5:18 utc | 212

The British economy since 1979 and the invention of reliable car engines depends on consumption of vast quatities of cheap diesel, gas and petrol.
The electrical infrastructure is incapable of either making or distributing the switch to electrical power for transport and heating. This means that huge profits in property crested by efficient cars will become huge losses of capital , and the imminent collapse of the British economy.
The switch to electric in 2030 will be like Russia taking out the Ukranian Bational Grid. The US has declared war on European Socialism by bombing Nordstream , and will very soon bring Britain into total submission to Zionazism by controlling our
supply of fossil fuels.
The US has declared war on its own allies until we submit to their Fascism. Inevitably, when this dire reality sinks into the consciousness of Britons and Europeans we will re-unite with Russia.
Lengi is kicking against this inevitability by dissing Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s simple wishful thinking that the US and its Atlantacist wonks in Britain and Europe can merge us with ALT Right US Zionazism in the space of 6 years.
They wish. The pain of fossil fuel starvation and housing capital collapse isn’t biting yet. It will. And as Bevin says, a whole disenchanted , homeless generation has been educated by Corbyn in how to conduct the Socialist Alternative to Atlanticist Fantacist Zionist Facism.
The imposition of Starmer by the US onto Labour and Boris Johnson the warmonger is like a stagnant slime covering a stretch of water. Europe cannot accept US defeat of Russia in or after Ukraine. Better to be nuked and live in a nuclear winter than.to be smothered and suffocated by US and Atlanticist nutter Fascist Nazism.
The Black Box transponder of European civilisation is still signalling.
Back off US, or become glass.

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 5:36 utc | 214

Giyane 221. There will be no switch to electric in 2030. People are waking up and Khan’s new ULEZ plans in London are a trigger.
The war on motorists in the UK is one they will lose.

Posted by: IAN WRIGHT | May 28 2023 5:55 utc | 216

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ War Map and the Situation on the Fronts in the Evening of 27 May 2023; pub. 00:10⚡️
🏴‍☠️ Today the AFU carried out strikes on our rear and border areas. An Ukrainian UAV was spotted over #Serpukhov. Mortars were working on the territory of #Kursk region. #Berdyansk was hit by cruise missiles. #Shebekino was covered by artillery and MLRS. And in the #Bryansk region, an enemy kamikaze drone attacked a vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Defence. This is how the Kiev regime is “clogging up” the information field amid the loss of #Bakhmut (#Artyomovsk) and the disruption of the anticipated offensive.
⚔️ The Situation on the Fronts over the past Day:
🔹#Svatovo – #Kremennaya Direction:
▪️ The Russian army attempted an offensive near #Masyutovka. Also our fighters advanced southeast of #Belogorovka, taking previously lost positions.
➖ Our aviation and artillery were active near #Makeyevka, #Torskoye and #Stelmakhovka.
🔹#Artyomovsk (#Bakhmut) Sector:
▪️ Russian forces are advancing near #Artyomovskoye (#Khromovo). Also the AFU are trying to counterattack near Orekhovo-Vasilyevka.
🔹#Donetsk Direction:
▪️ Russian army fighters attacked in the direction of #Novokalinovo and #Krasnogorovka, as well as repulsed the militants’ attack on our positions near H20 road.
➖ In #Maryinka, fighting continues on the western outskirts.

https://t.me/sitreports/9324

Posted by: Down South | May 28 2023 7:19 utc | 218

According to our information, the British very strongly advised Zelensky to provoke Russia to go on the offensive in any way. It is important to lure the Russians out of defense.
Related to this is the recently increased shelling of Russian border territories.
The back-up plan is to provoke a squabble in the Russian information space due to the fact that these chaotic shelling cannot be prevented in any way. Plus, to provoke Russian dissatisfaction with the “weakness” of the Kremlin.
The West has given tacit permission for strikes on Russian territory.
So the Armed Forces of Ukraine are chaotically swindling across the territory of Russia. Today, only one civilian was killed and about 6 people (including children) were injured.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15465

Posted by: Down South | May 28 2023 7:23 utc | 220

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 28 2023 6:17 utc | 223
You forgot about the special harnesses that the army used to enable the stouter breeds of dog to carry the micro-Bren ballista onager, and the kindling for the smoke signal equipment. Apparently the German Army were highly impressed with the rigs, when they captured them at Dunkirk, and adapted them to fit their, admittedly far superior, draft horses.

Posted by: Milites | May 28 2023 7:28 utc | 222

❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Highlights of Russian Military Operation in Ukraine on May 26.
▪️Ukrainian forces continue to make attempts to attack civilian targets on Russian territory.
In the Rostov region, air defense forces intercepted a Ukrainian missile near Morozovsk: no damage or casualties.
▪️ In the neighboring Krasnodar region, enemy kamikaze drones raided the regional capital.
Damage was caused to an office building and an apartment building. There were no casualties among local residents.
▪️ At the same time, the AFU continue shelling the border areas of Kursk region.
In the village of Tetkino, two residential buildings and power lines were damaged: the settlement experienced temporary problems with electricity supply.
▪️ At least four settlements in Belgorod Region c ame under fire from Ukrainian forces.
In the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, shells damaged a recreation center, a garage with a car and a residential house. One woman was wounded.
▪️ Russian troops used kamikaze drones of the Geran family to strike the oil refinery in Merefa, Kharkiv region.
Earlier, the drones struck enemy facilities in Izyum: one of the hits caused a large fire at the site.
▪️ Near Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces continue to undertake flank counterattacks against the positions of Russian units near Orikhovo-Vasylivka.
Under the onslaught of the enemy, the defenders retreated in a northeasterly direction up to one kilometer. At the moment the fighting for the wooded areas continues.
▪️ Late in the evening, Ukrainian forces launched two strikes on Mariupol.
Several explosions were heard in the vicinity of the Azovstal enterprise destroyed during the storming of the city.
#digest #Russia #Ukraine #video

https://t.me/geromanat/6438

Posted by: Down South | May 28 2023 7:30 utc | 224

As you can see, the enemy is actively preparing for the upcoming counteroffensive – this is evidenced by the increase in the intensity of rocket and artillery shelling of positions of our troops and civilian facilities throughout the NVO zone. Enemy drones are operating in the Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions.
On the line of contact, the enemy is also probing the defense of the RF Armed Forces. Our friends, Sakhalin warriors from the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade, yesterday shared news from the Ugledar direction. Early in the morning, a kamikaze platoon of the Armed Forces armed with machine guns and LNG attacked our positions in the Volnovakha region from two directions.
One group successfully cleared the minefield with their mortal bodies. The second was subjected to intense shelling, and, having suffered losses, was forced to withdraw. Two enemy mortar crews were suppressed, the LNG crew was destroyed. The guys from Sakhalin escaped with little blood, while the APU lost about ten people killed in the region.
Similar suicidal sorties, to which the recent incident in the Belgorod region can be equated, indicate that the enemy is not quite confident in his strength before the upcoming counteroffensive, and is still choosing the most promising direction for a potential strike.
The Ukrainian command is throwing barrage groups at our positions, the main task of which is to reveal gaps in the defense of the Russian troops, even at the cost of their own lives. In the Belgorod region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to make a breakthrough, on the flanks of Artemovsk – even build on success and gain a foothold. Under Vuhledar and in the Zaporozhye region, according to our data, this was not allowed.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/48149

Posted by: Down South | May 28 2023 7:34 utc | 226

“What is important to understand about the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artyomovsk: analysis of the military chronicle
On May 20, the end of the battle for Artyomovsk was announced. The city came under the control of Wagner units, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine withdrew from all fortified areas to the suburbs in the Artyomovsky direction. During the 224 days of the battle for Artyomovsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost a significant part of their units, which cannot be restored at the moment.
What forces did the Armed Forces of Ukraine have before the start of the Bakhmut meat grinder
Before the active phase of hostilities in the Artyomovsky direction, the garrison of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the city consisted of several dozen units. The brigades and battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that survived the battles retreated after the defeat near Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, Popasnaya and Svetlodarsk. The total number of all units around Artemovsk and in the nearest settlements by the end of July – beginning of August 2022 was approximately 35-40 thousand people, and after the retreat from Soledar and the transfer of reserves, the grouping increased, presumably, more than twice, to 85- 97 thousand
What influenced the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artyomovsk?
The main reason for the heavy losses of the Ukrainian armed formations was the forced tactical situation, when the mass of heterogeneous units were forced to fight for a long time in a limited space. As a result, they were unable to maneuver freely or covertly, and their supply routes were stretched out and subjected to surveillance and fire.
Also, the increase in losses was affected by the numerical superiority in artillery and means of RER and EW among the units of the Wagner PMC and the RF Armed Forces. According to the Military Chronicle, the intensity and density of fire from the artillery of the PMC “Wagner” and the forces of the Eastern Military District in some sectors of the front in the Artyomovsk region were 20-40 times higher than in other directions.
Which units suffered the most losses?
According to the Military Chronicle, the 30th, 62nd, 53rd, 92nd and 93rd mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered the greatest losses in the battle for Artyomovsk. In most units of these formations, the level of irretrievable losses (killed + seriously wounded) exceeds 50%. However, the territorial defense units suffered the biggest losses. After the retreat from Artyomovsk to the area of Krasny (Ivanovsky) and Chasov Yar, irretrievable losses (killed and seriously wounded) in the 112th, 116th, 119th, 122nd and 241st troop brigades are estimated at 63-66%.
The total number of Ukrainian troops deployed against Wagner PMC in Artyomovsk is 34 brigades. Three artillery, 12 mechanized and motorized infantry brigades, four airmobile brigades, six assault brigades and nine territorial defense brigades.
What are the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artyomovsk in numbers?
Preliminary figures for the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are 50-55 thousand killed and about 70 thousand wounded. However, most likely, these data will be revised for several reasons.
Firstly, for nine months in a limited space there was a classic artillery war in the spirit of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War. The experience of two world wars shows that the ratio of irretrievable losses to sanitary (killed to wounded) almost always ranges from one to three to one to five.
With 50 thousand killed, the number of wounded of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be in the range from 130 thousand to 150 thousand. At the same time, some of the wounded will not be able to return to duty due to the severity of injuries, injuries and other reasons. Also, a number of the wounded subsequently died in hospitals.
It is noteworthy that a significant part of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed in the battle for Artyomovsk are well-trained and equipped formations.”

Posted by: unimperator | May 28 2023 8:09 utc | 228

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/65794
Video of Lindsey Graham mentioned above

Posted by: Down South | May 28 2023 8:20 utc | 230

I can not follow up, the threads are too fast. Am lost.
I have asked about this * inspired by Helmer who I respect and have read for years, he is very good and informed.
What do you think about possibility of a sudden overwhelming attack on Crimea during the ‘Defender’?
I have written about this ( usual excersizes go through before ops, such as 201 etc…).
Can not find my message sorry.

Posted by: stranger | May 28 2023 8:55 utc | 232

@ Sushi, and re# control of the airplanes, that can be made into drones.
Remember the plane that flied into Alps, think was in 2017?
Abel Danger.

Posted by: stranger | May 28 2023 9:05 utc | 234

Test

Posted by: Mark2 | May 28 2023 9:11 utc | 236

https://t.me/remylind21/2645

It’s reported the Police-SBU HQ was hit in Kiev.

It was my understanding that one of the reasons for not hitting obvious government buildings in Kiev was that their functions and records had been relocated to more secure locations early in the conflict.
https://t.me/intelslava/48070

🇷🇺🇺🇦 The militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are shocked as the Russian missilemen with an accurate blow destroyed the supply route of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the dam of the Karlovka reservoir,
The Ukrainian military came running immediately after the explosion and are discussing the state of emergency with emotion.

Another outing by the MoD’s Dam Buster contingent, another shoe they would resent being on the other foot, a shameful operational nothing-burger from dullards who can’t manage to get the area under fire control.

Posted by: anon2020 | May 28 2023 9:28 utc | 238

bevin | May 28 2023 1:22 utc | 146
From your post it appears like Corbyn’s loss in the 2019 elections was the result of US interference by having the UK media unisono broadcast the story of his alleged anti-semitism. This way of proceeding, based on the media, is of course a typical feature of the USA. They did the same thing in Germany in 2021, where they prevented the pro-Russian Armin Laschet from becoming Merkel’s successor, whose party, the CDU, lost by a margin of 1.5 percent to Olaf Scholz’s SPD.
But to me it appears doubtful that the British voters would react this strongly to a smear campaign based only on charges of antisemitism. I would name Brexit as a major reason for Corbyn’s defeat: he was not committed, neither in favor nor against it, keeping all those people in limbo who were desparate for a final solution. Which is what Boris Johnson was promising. Even I would have voted for Johnson, as I wanted Brexit to happen and was afraid that it might just fizzle out and never take place under Corbyn.

Posted by: grunzt | May 28 2023 9:35 utc | 240

Tom Luongo weighs in……
https://tomluongo.me/2023/05/23/no-truce-with-the-heartland/
Bad Code
When you reduce all of your guiding principles to three lines of code, defeating that code becomes pretty easy, strategically. It doesn’t matter if Mackinder was right or not. He wasn’t. What matters is that the policy-makers think he was.
We’ve all spent too many words working through this. It’s very simple.
If you know your opponent will throw everything they have at a conflict then your strategy is a simple one; destroy everything they throw at it until they run out of money, men, and materiel to throw into it.
And this is exactly what Russia has done.
It is exactly what I expected them to do at the outset of the war (here, here, and here) failing a swift victory over Ukraine; continue their war of attrition across all theaters against the West until they either 1) sue for peace or 2) collapse under the weight of their own hubris.
To Crooke’s point, the West’s investment in Ukraine was simply too big to give up that easily. Believing the ultimate sanctions package would overthrow Putin and destabilize Russia, both Davos and the Anglo-neocons bet too heavily on this working. As my dad used to say about pro athletes, “he spends too much time reading his press clippings…”
Two very Establishment Anglo-American media in the UK (in which U.S. Establishment messages often surface) finally – and bitterly – have admitted: ‘Sanctions on Russia failed’. The Telegraph laments: They “are a joke”; “Russia was meant to have collapsed by now”
Do they not remember their failure in 2014/15 when this whole Ukraine War project started? They threw Viktor Yanukovich out of power and Russia took Crimea from them. So, their ‘shock and awe’ then was to throw an epic temper tantrum crashing the price of oil from $125 to $25 per barrel.
This was the first instance of the “Ruble to Rubble” campaign. It didn’t work then. In fact, it set Russia and the world on the path it’s on today. There’s a direct throughline from 2014 to today, not just on the ground but in the financial markets and the politics of the rest of Eastern Europe — The Heartland.
In summary this brings us to the current moment….
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 28 2023 9:52 utc | 242

Here is the latest hit on the frontline in Donbass, titled Fight, Mykola it neatly sums up the difference between the two sides, plus you can dance to it.

Posted by: Debsisdead | May 28 2023 11:09 utc | 244

b. I get that today is your busiest day but if you get time can you check the bin here and in the general open thread cos I posted a link to “Fight, Mykola” the latest music vid to get the chaps on the Donbass frontline for Russia dancing. It’s a bit of a hoot and sends the hohols up rather than talking killer smack. Rumble links don’t wanna go through by the look of things.

Posted by: Debsisdead | May 28 2023 11:28 utc | 246

Cynic @174:

Fear that wokism, probable agendas of unrestricted mass-immigration, and now “trans” (plus related) issues will likely prevent that.
Just as the CIA’s psychological warfare designers always intended.

That is part of the culture-shapers’ plans, but it is the smaller part. The very much larger part is to obfuscate what exploitation really is and redirect the impression of who the exploiters are onto the working class itself. To accomplish this they take the very most superficial surface feature of revolutionary socialism; compassion for the unfortunate, the crippled and maimed (that includes LGBTQWERTY++); and indoctrinate the population to believe that is what real Leftism is all about. With that nonsense internalized the brainwashed can no longer recognize that exploitation is how the rich get rich and the rest pay for it, and instead see exploitation as working people not being sufficiently compassionate. The brainwashed become convinced that working people (“Deplorable” MAGA people) are the source of misery in society and not the capitalist elites. Mission accomplished.
New let’s revisit what fascism is: It is capitalist elites using their control over education and media to amplify various mythologies, prejudices, irrational beliefs, and delusions that may be present in the population in order to demonize the working class and recruit a portion of that population to attack the working class.
That is precisely what “woke” is. The “woke” are actually fascists, with the irony of believing themselves to be virtuous and compassionate leftists, and even socialists! This isn’t entirely novel as the Nazis called their followers “socialists” as well. Doubtless most Nazi supporters believed themselves to be as virtuous and compassionate as the “woke” do today.
Good intentions pave the highway to hell and keep it the smoothest and best-maintained road in the realm. Obviously people need much more than just good intentions.

Posted by: William Gruff | May 28 2023 11:50 utc | 248

probabilities and potentials of various forces expressed through mediums of more than just a few dimensions, and their direct and indirect effects upon the manifestation of reality in whatever instance?
105…are you able to confirm that Rasputin has come back from the other side and is haunting Zelenskyy?

Posted by: Jo | May 28 2023 12:04 utc | 250

Lengai | May 27 2023 21:11 utc | 63- This is spot on as is Lengai’s response to Bevin’s reply. It is right that Lengai does see the difference between Starmer and Corbyn.
All Lengai’s criticisms of Corbyn and Corbynism are valid. I was expelled from the Labour Party for criticising Corbyn’s failure to support Wadsworth, Greenstein, Williamson and others. I now treat my expulsion as a badge of honour.
Whilst Bevin may be right that Corbyn and his piss-weak socialism (i.e. how best to make capitalism better) led to an increase in Labour Party membership, at the end of the day, Parliament is itself part of the Establishment and the undemocratic, representative “democracy” will never result in the total transformation of society required for socialism, justice and a fair society.
Ah well, back to the Ukraine issue.

Posted by: Vragtes | May 28 2023 12:17 utc | 252

Posted by: whirlX | May 28 2023 12:06 utc | 257
The abandonment of core Labour values, in the UK, and the corruption of Tory politics, by its fusing with crony-capitalists and now a corrupt US Administration is directly relevant to the situation in Ukraine. The reasons why the West supports the conflict can be traced back to the soft-coups mounted by the administrative state in both Washington and London; who is leader of the executive is now irrelevant as the super-wealthy vie to emulate the Barons of old, with their captive figure head monarchs and insatiable appetite for more power. It’s why a coke-snorting, second-rate , comedian can become elected and lead his country down the path of inevitable destruction and dismemberment. We are rapidly living in the 13th century.
Posted by: Some Random Passerby | May 28 2023 10:18 utc | 248
You’re right, policy was not the reason the establishment were rooting for Corbyn and against Trump, it was who was the most easily malleable and compromised, once they were in power, specifically who would do the bidding of the unelected and who would actually, shock horror, try to govern.

Posted by: Milites | May 28 2023 12:35 utc | 254

Paul Greenwood | May 28 2023 12:11 utc | 258
Szamuelys were not seen as a very positive crowd way back then, or even suited for a current RF’s narrative build up. Helena S. was really a confusion queen.
Mercouris’ droning is also a bit boring lately, while Christoforou is funny as long as he does his streetwise commentaries mocking Western clownship.
Beyond that, some Duran’s live stuff was/is informative, guests pending, but also rather lacking the real depth requiring better and a wider scope than just repeating the ageing narrative.
A new narrative needs some fresh views and ideas from many, to the Western audience yet unknown, commentators.
For military affairs, a real professional to go to is Alexei Leonkov. For military correspondence style, a proven trademark of Alexander Sladkov.
RT is mainly aimed towards the West, so Lavelle is a bit worn out and hardly had an impact. He is not seen as an innocent, as in the past he was very much serving the interests of the West, too.
Pity that MoA has no YouTube presence there. All together, it harbours a much cleverer crowd and a content than any of those Westerners previously mentioned.

Posted by: whirlX | May 28 2023 13:06 utc | 256

@ Some Random Passerby | May 28 2023 10:18 utc | 248
True. Just to add that Brexit was “old money and landownership strikes back v3.0” demonstrating impunity and absolute dominance over any democratic processes with nullified civil structures to the bone.
Basically, everybody shut up. Now, we talk and do.
BoJo was just an executor there.
It is a really clear picture from here.
Also, Corbyn, Galloway, as Roger Waters lately – when not following a correct narrative, apply antisemitism. Laugh later.

Posted by: whirlX | May 28 2023 13:23 utc | 258

Fwiw:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooks_(TV_series)
I enjoyed that show for several seasons then just forgot to keep watching it.

Spooks (known as MI-5 in some countries) is a British television spy drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service’s Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. In the United States, the show is broadcast under the title MI-5. In Canada, the programme originally aired as MI-5 but later aired on BBC Canada as Spooks.
The series continued with a film, Spooks: The Greater Good, which was released on 8 May 2015.

Posted by: Babel-17 | May 28 2023 13:23 utc | 260

What happens after Ukraine is lost? How do the Neo Cons recover after it? Sure, it seems insane that they would push for war with China after Afghanistan and Ukraine – but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
So, articles will appear about how debilitated Russia is after the war and hopes for guerrilla actions forever. They’re still running out of missiles or whatever. The Hill and National Interest will publish opinion pieces about how the US “must regain credibility on the world stage as the leader for democracy and human rights”. “We must stand with our allies for freedom”. They will hint at the challenge that they must “strive for years to come” to preserve the “rules based order”. These blurbs will avoid using the word “sacrifices” (Americans don’t like those).
It’s gonna happen. Crazy or not. Miss Lindsay will agree.

Posted by: Eighthman | May 28 2023 13:38 utc | 262

@mark2. Lies about u and another poster. You know there is a seach function here right? Anyone interested can search to see ur full of it. You and Circe were EXTREMELY disrespectful the the bar. REGULARLY. Spewing pro biden nonsense. Calling the bar fascist and rascist. While at the same time supporting 100 percent fascist org antifa. Its all there to see ya fuckin clown just go away.
TLDR FOAD

Posted by: Tannenhouser | May 28 2023 13:48 utc | 264

Russia had so few troops in late February 2022 because there was no long term plan to invade Ukraine in 2022. The troops massed on the border were a show of force to equalize the Ukrainian buildup in Donbass. NATO loves the 3:1 rule. The Russian troops messed up the balance for a Ukrainian attack.
Something provoked Putin to decide it was going to happen immediately. The amazing bit is what Russia managed to accomplish with ~250,000 troops in two months. The inability to consolidate some of the gains and the inability to press those gains remains problematic for Russia, though not catastrophic.

Posted by: Lex | May 28 2023 13:59 utc | 266

Spook was a term used to refer to blacks in a derogatory manner a long time ago in the USA.
Now, I think spooks generally means spies in the vernacular. Here is the Urban Dictionary link.
Spooks

Posted by: lex talionis | May 28 2023 14:03 utc | 268

@ Intelligent two hands 193
The US never starts a war on its own. This is why the Gaslighting of Corbyn is significant in any discussion of Ukraine.
The installation of Churchill MI6 US citizen BoJo consumbated 3 generations of Zionazi.planning for this War., ” without changing the sheets”.
When they gaslight you, you know that you have already been scuppered. You , even now, 4 years after Corbyn’s scuppering , are disallowing the very important truth that the British public mostly supported Corbyn’s pacifism. Of course this noble bar disdains pacifism, but US Brits supported it, and supported a gentle Brexit, not the dishonest crap shat upon us by BoJo.
My main reason for supporting Brexit was to break up European joint war-mongering as we saw in Libya and Syria. It achieved what US peace-loving Brits intended, because 25
wanked out Challengers is not what Britain would have sent to Ukraine if Britain was still in Europe. Instead we see total disunity and confusion in Europe, headless chickens.
What is more, the experience of having the US dictate UK politics leaves a disgusting taste in the mouth, which will be avenged at our upcoming 2024 election, God willing.
Democracy will undo your Zionazi dreams of war in Ukraine.

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 14:04 utc | 270

Comedian Dave Smith talking Ukraine with Joe Rogan. Well worth listening.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1662048787609579524

Posted by: Morongobill | May 28 2023 14:09 utc | 272

‘Spook’ was first used to mean a ghost (1801). The other meanings – spy, black, etc. – are all 20th century derivatives, all easy to see how they came about.

Posted by: laguerre | May 28 2023 14:26 utc | 274

@ me 272
I can’t find any trace of the comment by Intelligent Dasein, telling us not to discuss Corbyn to which I responded in 272.
Dasein I take to be the dual form of Das meaning hands in Kurdish.
MOA might not be a space for spies to communicate in code, but might get used by Right wing Islamists from the nest of spies in London to poke and choke Left wing , Russophile opinions. I am curious about the pisstake , that was not Paul Greenwood , comment 223.
I was amused by a Kurdish friend”s WhatsApp moniker which reads ” true friendship is not revealing your friend’s secrets ”
True friendship in my book is not spying on your friends private lives in the first
place. Or am I being horribly naive and British?

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 14:35 utc | 276

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 14:04 utc | 272
Wow ! That is incoherent !

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 28 2023 14:55 utc | 278

Posted by: robin | May 28 2023 11:37 utc | 252
My memory is that “France” covers a number of places very far from the Seine.
“They have exactly the same status as mainland France’s regions and departments. ”
French Guiana in South America;
Guadeloupe in the Caribbean;
Martinique in the Caribbean;
Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa;
Réunion in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_departments_and_regions_of_France

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 28 2023 14:57 utc | 280

Russia did pretty well in Afghanistan until the Great Satan decided to arm what became the Taleban. All of a sudden the tribesmen had Stinger missiles, deadly against Russian helicopters.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 28 2023 15:01 utc | 282

@ Tannenhouser 266
Tannenhauser appears to be an opera by Wagner about a reformed brotheliser.
This is a bar. What kind of respect is required to satisfy the personages who live here? I maybe thought a bar might be a place for a frank exchange of opinion, not the boardroom of a small Corporation.
What is mark2’s crime? The Qur’an has quite a lot to say about the criminality of the Zionists. Maybe the Qur’an is a higher arbitrator than a bar?

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 15:01 utc | 284

@ Paul Greenwood 280
Yes, but according to you, you don’t exist.

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 15:05 utc | 286

@ whirlX 287
Thanks. But BoJo is the girmit, grandchild of a Turkish imam, and yet also the US- anointed spokesperson for Ukrainian, zionist neocons, under the flag of European Nazism. I still fail to understand how any rational thinker is supposed to be able to hold these contradictions together in one brain, except as a Bollywood film.

Posted by: Giyane | May 28 2023 15:27 utc | 288

Tom_Q_Collins | May 28 2023 2:43 utc | 170
*** BTW forgot to say thanks for the extra info on Corbyn.***
There was one other factor in the 2019 election, along with the “Starmer” faction’s strong hints of negating the result of the EU-brexit referendum.
Not so much about the in-or-out of EU argument, as a blatant insult to the public.
Most people would have been fairly content with — as was advocated by, for instance, Mail on Sunday journalist Peter Hitchens — the so-called “Norway” arrangement. But that was not an option on offer in the (public loses either way) eventual ‘Brexit’ referendum.
Diane Abbot and others who genuinely did support Corbyn, could not resist making some “anti-racist” (to the public, effectively anti-white) and pro-immigration statements.
Enough to finalise — final straw — rejection of the “Labour Party” up north in its former strongholds, despite most of the overtly ID-politics types being down south, where they could direct their comments to large non-white population groupings.
Again, something which conveniently blanked out a policy that was a potential winner throughout the entire electorate …. that of restoring essential (but badly run, and private profiteering) infrastructure to public ownership.
With so much wall to wall drivel about non-existent alleged “anti-semitism”, that hardly ever got mentioned.

Posted by: Cynic | May 28 2023 15:59 utc | 290

grunzt | May 28 2023 9:35 utc | 242
*** But to me it appears doubtful that the British voters would react this strongly to a smear campaign based only on charges of antisemitism.***
You are correct, but affecting the public’s view on that matter was not the prime purpose of the media-blitz.
The objective was to prevent any serious policy discussion at all — the political establisshment had a lot it did not want discussed. Such as immigration, nationalisation, asset-stripping, foreign policy, “greenie” madness and the ever increasing disparity of wealth.
Some of which issues the Corbyn side could have highlighted to attract votes, though on others (like unrestricted immigration) they were even worse than the incumbent regime.
*** I would name Brexit as a major reason for Corbyn’s defeat: he was not committed, neither in favor nor against it, keeping all those people in limbo who were desparate for a final solution. ***
Corbyn was already weak on that issue … but his internal opponents (mostly fanatical “remainers” like Starmer) intensified and used it to deliberately undermine the Labour election campaign.
*** Which is what Boris Johnson was promising. Even I would have voted for Johnson, as I wanted Brexit to happen and was afraid that it might just fizzle out and never take place under Corbyn.***
The Boris (ie. Political Establishment) version of “brexit” was not really the same as that wanted by the public. Don’t forget, several long-running campaigns to leave the EU got whittled down to one — from a general-public point of view, the worst.
In the referendum, no options of *what* to aim for had been offered.
Don’t know why anyone would be naive enough to vote for Boris, and expect anything other than (at best) betrayal.
He wasn’t even allegedly a “leaver” till suspiciously close to the vote.
Damned obvious that the EU is just an administrative and enforcement arm of NATO.
Unless a politician unambiguously rejected and denounced NATO, they simply could not be credible as being supposedly “anti-EU” — in-or-out, just slightly differing applications of economic, social and military dictatorship by the US-empire.

Posted by: Cynic | May 28 2023 16:57 utc | 292

Posted by: Derek Henry | May 28 2023 15:35 utc | 291
AI should have been called I2 🙂 for Industrial Intelligence which describes well the beast.
Its just a learning machine, and as the saying goes, ‘garbage in , garbage out …’.

Posted by: Go Figure | May 28 2023 17:25 utc | 294

@ Tannenhouser 295
I listened to the rescent Mearseimer talk in which he described the US not having an existential threat from Russia until after the start of the SMO.
That’s not how it works , is it?
What humans do is project the bits they don’t like sbout themselves onto.others and them continually try to hammer their square pegs into round holes. The US engineers Russia into using force , and then screams outrage at Russia for using the force it forced them to use.
Our job here as I see it is to be wiser than our stupid politicians who make money out of conflict even even conflict brings us to the edge of nuclear war.
Words like Surfing concrete, disrespect etc are just repeating the stupidity of our gravy training dog- whistling politicians.
Our job on a blog is not to increase conflict but to defuse it. , mock it, puncture it.
It’s a fact of life that humans make mistakes. We are all being tested by God to see if we can be patient enough to see the other person’s point of view. The most knowledgeable one of us is just as fallible as the least knowledgeable. Not one of us is here on this planet to force anybody else to our own limited point of view.

Posted by: Giyane | May 29 2023 5:14 utc | 296