|
Mark Sleboda – What the Hell Just Happened in the Middle East You May Ask?
Mark Sleboda is summarizing his view of the current episode in the war on Iran (slightly edited for clarity):
What the Hell Just Happened in the Middle East You May Ask?
My take –
The US/Israel realized:
- that their regime change plans were not coming to fruition,
- that the Iranian govt had more support and stronger foundations than they had believed,
- that Israeli air defense was collapsing/exhausted and
- that an attrition war of long range strike was going to go badly for Israel.
- And Trump began to get freaked out over the rising price of oil with the Iranian threat of closing the strait of Hormuz.
So they wrapped it up, declared victory, and demanded a ceasefire.
Iran agreed because they too have been badly shaken through Israeli covert warfare and their own air defense all but collapsed.
The can will only be kicked down the road, and both sides will start rebuilding, and making preparations and plans for the next round, the next war. This was only a skirmish at the end of the day …
Iran, for surviving, maintaining a civilian nuclear enrichment program, and for the fact that it was the US/Israel that pushed for the "ceasefire", comes out slightly ahead on points.
The biggest loser – the collapse of the NNPT and international law.
Israel is already thinking about restarting the war.
But in the long term Sleboda's last point is the most important one. The Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty has kept a cap on the number of countries with nuclear weapons. The attack on Iran's civilian nuclear installation, and the lack of a serious IAEA's reaction to it, proves that the NNTP fails to provide the security it once had promised.
No only Iran will take conclusions from that.
Iran's parliament has, for good reasons, decided to stop all cooperation with the IAEA.
It seems to have support for this from Russia:
"IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi could have provided a more precise report," [Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov said. "He is now insisting that Iran grant the agency immediate access to its nuclear facilities to verify the whereabouts of enriched materials and assess the situation on the ground. But where are the assurances that this information won’t be leaked? I see no such safeguards."
Lavrov also pointed to broader concerns about the neutrality of international institutions. "This ties into what I mentioned earlier: the West is exerting serious influence over the secretariats of international organizations. In some cases, it’s as though they have been effectively privatized," he remarked.
The West is demolishing the international order that had, for the last 80 years, provided some 'rules of the road' in global behavior. The U.S. is preventing the World Trade Organization from doing its job. The agreements that limited nuclear weapons were done away with one by one. The recent conflict blew up the NNPT and further diminished the UN Charter.
The consequences go far beyond the Middle East. They makes the world less peaceful.
Why do you lie?
Or, if your memory is that bad, why do you comment?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2025 19:16 utc | 143
Russian Propaganda/Lies are rather sophisticated, at least as compared to the US. But then that’s a low bar.
—
** ‘We can retrospectively conclude that Russia initially planned an operation that was primarily “special” and only secondarily “military,” as it intended to achieve its goals without large-scale hostilities or organized armed resistance.’ **
—
Ukraine operation could take a long time – Putin
Russia has already achieved significant victories, the president claimed
https://www.rt.com/russia/567850-putin-ukraine-duration-operation/
Special military operation is lengthy process, but some results already in sight — Putin
The Russian president recalled that even Peter the Great in his day fought for access the Sea of Azov
https://tass.com/politics/1547333
[note that ‘access to the Sea of Azov’ doesn’t fall under the generalities of ‘denazification’ or ‘demilitarization’]
—
From SMO to Full-Fledged War
A year has passed since the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO). If it began as a Special Military Operation, it is clear today that Russia has found itself in a full-fledged and difficult war. Not only with Ukraine—as a regime and not with the people (hence the demand for political denazification put forward initially), but also with the “collective West;” that is, in fact, with the NATO bloc…
https://www.thepostil.com/russias-special-military-operation-after-the-first-year-a-paradigm-shift
[The goalposts continue to move even given the fact they were never clearly delineated in the first place. By design]
‘denazification, demilitarization, access to resources, peter the great!!!!!!!’
—
Total victory over genocide-promoting Kiev only possible outcome of special op — Medvedev
The special military operation (SMO) should continue until its goals have been achieved and those responsible for the eight years of genocide in Donbass have been duly punished, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
https://tass.com/politics/1670035
[This encompasses both more and different reasoning. At least it’s not intentional vagueries]]
—
SMO resulted in a full—scale NATO war: what are the “ideas” of the Russian General Staff
“When the Security Council decided in 2022 to launch a special operation, no one expected that we would fight with the whole of NATO. It is to fight,” he stressed.
As Stepashin noted, the form of military operations at the front is now incommensurable with the concept of a “special military operation,” especially after the events in Kursk.
https://eadaily.com/en/news/2024/08/25/smo-resulted-in-a-full-scale-nato-war-what-are-the-ideas-of-the-russian-general-staff-stepashin
[ https://archive.ph/7kX45#selection-829.0-829.35
https://archive.ph/oVfij ]
—
From “Special” to “Military”
Lessons from Two Years of the Operation in Ukraine
** ‘We can retrospectively conclude that Russia initially planned an operation that was primarily “special” and only secondarily “military,” as it intended to achieve its goals without large-scale hostilities or organized armed resistance.’ **
Now that Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine has entered its third year, we can conclude that, like any major war of the past several centuries, it has confounded many predictions, theories, and assumptions.
Its initiators, participants, and observers, on both sides, have been faced with that which they did not expect or plan for. Two years of fighting have revealed the contours of revolutionary changes in military theory and practice, possibly predetermining the character of war for the entire 21st century.’
https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles/from-special-to-military/
[ http://www.fimp-publisher.ru/ ]
—
Russian Textbooks to Include Heroes of SMO
Russian Minister of Education: Textbooks will reveal reasons behind start of Special Military Operation
https://medium.com/@deborahlarmstrong/russian-textbooks-to-include-heroes-of-smo-7154c751d1e5
[All the reasons, stated and unstated? Not exactly. Listen, we need to get an official version of the story and its concomitant heroes deeply embedded in the kids’ pysches as soon as possible, while they’re still young. You know how it works…]
—
Alaudinov predicted that the SMO will continue until 2030
https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/04/25/463116.html
https://tinyurl.com/mpk6buut
[Quite a ‘lengthy process’ indeed, particularly given that Russian intel initialy sold it to the Russian political class as being short and descisive – sound familiar? Anyway, I think the textbooks need updating already and I wish these guys would get on the same page. I need some clarity here so I won’t continue to lie so much! Maybe my memory’s just bad…]
—
The National Consensus Formation at the First Stage of Russia’s Special Military Operation Against Ukraine (February–August 2022)
Abstract
The article begins with a definition of some contesting views about the reality of Russian support for the “Special military operation” (SMO), hypotheses, and research approach. Then we present the substantive arguments about the attitude of Russian residents to the SMO and the reliability of public opinion polls results. After this we provide suggestive analyzes of three key understandings of the “West” in Russian public opinion.
The article ends with arguing that a national consensus in Russia on the necessity and legitimacy of the SMO has really been achieved. The polarization of opinions is increasing but it is not reflected in the public sphere because of the fears that this could cause negative uncontrolled consequences for the economic situation, social and political stability in the country. As for Anti-Western sentiments, they depended and continue to depend on two groups of factors: foreign policy ones, which provoked the strengthening of these sentiments, and internal ones, which contributed to their weakening.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/18793665231212233
—
Returning close to where we started, an inquisitive Chinese reporter wants to know…and a contemptuous Lavrov responds:
Goals of special military operation declared by Putin on February 24, says Lavrov
President announced everything on February 24, Russian Foreign Minister said
UNITED NATIONS, September 25. /TASS/. All the goals of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine were spelled out by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Saturday after participating in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
“A Chinese reporter has just asked about the ultimate goal of the operation. You should read President Putin’s statements more often and more carefully. He announced everything on February 24,” he said.
https://tass.com/politics/1512923
[This of course assumes the question-answer weren’t prearranged. I’ll leave it to others to ‘read Putin’s statements more often and more carefully’ though one would be forgiven for throwing their hands up after not too long and saying “f*ck it I’m done with all these liars and their paid and unpaid sycophants across the ‘east-west’ spectrum.”
And that’s the idea, and that’s the warmongering internationalism/globalism we’re living in]
Posted by: Dan Kelly | Jun 25 2025 21:38 utc | 196
|
