Briefly? I’ve just sat down and put my fingers to the keyboard, so we’ll see …Thanks for reading Meaning In History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. The big news today is DU (depleted uranium) rounds to accompany M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Later this year. Will it ever happen? We don’t know. What does “later this year” mean? We don’t know that either. What we do know is that just raising this possibility is an indication of criminal intent. Or insanity. Anyway …
There will be no "frozen line" stop to this war. It's unconditional surrender only, probably following military collapse & coup. They're going to stop being fed into meat grinder at some point.
That's it. Neocons are scrambling, but Putin doesn't care. This afternoon Mercouris pointed to one particular thing that Putin said--that he wouldn't interfere with the generals. They have a free hand to prosecute the war. That was an acknowledgement that his attempt to negotiate at the beginning had been a mistake that cost lives. No more.
I wouldn't quite say it was a mistake, but it was unsuccessful. I say this because trying to talk before escalating kinetics has to have been the right thing to do.
And Mercouris (and you) are right...Russia won't stop until the threat to Russian security is addressed to their satisfaction.
This is a *must* watch. Regardless of what you may think about Trump, fasten your seatbelts. This is the most courageous statement I have ever heard in American politics. Tucker takes direct aim at the Deep State. And he names names: Pompeo, Graham, Pence, Paul Ryan, McConnell, Haley, Schumer...He has definitely crossed their line. And I'll predict his 'tweet' has 100 million views, probably more, by tomorrow.
Barr's betrayal of the President...and of his own duties to uphold the law and of his oath of office...and of the United States and its citizens is utterly despicable.
He didn't just betray Trump, betray Republicans, or betray the country. He betrayed the fundamental principles of law and morality on which he so frequently pon-defecated.
A couple of observations. Anyone who reads my babbling posts here knows that I love World War Two history, in particular the Eastern Front. Russia appears to be practicing both their own tactics and German tactics used in that war. As I mentioned in a previous post, Kursk-redux 2023 addition - layered defense in depth, channeling attacking forces into kill zones, etc. Also, the Germans used to pull out of front lines prior to Russian assaults. Russian artillery would hit dirt and save German lives, at least temporarily.
As an Army MP in Germany circa 1992-1995 we would often play OPFOR (opposing forces) for local infantry units looking for training partners. On the occasions when grunts would practice an assault against fixed positions their "casualty rates" would exceed 70% and that was in the 1990s. No drones, etc. Just trenches with rifles and machine guns against MPs. One can only imagine the real carnage now.
As an aside - though I was an MP, I was one of the approximately 80% of them that rarely work patrol duties. We were glorified grunts with the exception that we drove everywhere while real grunts humped rucksacks. The former infantry guys here will know what I mean. God Bless em :)
Could be the Russkies are taking a page from the Wehrmacht’s master of defense, Gen Gotthard Heinrici:
“ Heinrici had built his reputation as a brilliant defensive fighter during the disastrous winter of 1941-42. He was placed in command of the 4th Army at the gates of Moscow, when the Soviets threw a hundred divisions at his freezing and ill-clad troops. He held out for almost ten weeks using every method available to him. Goading, exhorting, promoting, and tactfully retreating, he kept his army intact in the face of 12-l odds. It was here, that Heinrici developed the technique that served him so well in the defense of Berlin. From intelligence reports, patrols, interrogation of prisoners, and an extraordinary sixth sense, he was able to pinpoint the time and place of impending Russian attacks. He’d order his troops to retreat the night before to new positions one or two miles back. ‘We let them hit an empty bag,” he said.”
Appears most of Ukraine is fertile (71% of land area), and distribution is throughout most regions of Ukraine, although the South-East is definitely agriculturally important.
Interesting...beyond Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, is there significant Russian media talk of other oblasts being in play? The "rump Ukraine/frozen conflict" option doesn't seem like a very viable alternative.
Putin speaks with War correspondents
https://open.substack.com/pub/simplicius76/p/putin-invites-top-russian-correspondents?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
He spoke simply and directly.
There will be no "frozen line" stop to this war. It's unconditional surrender only, probably following military collapse & coup. They're going to stop being fed into meat grinder at some point.
That's it. Neocons are scrambling, but Putin doesn't care. This afternoon Mercouris pointed to one particular thing that Putin said--that he wouldn't interfere with the generals. They have a free hand to prosecute the war. That was an acknowledgement that his attempt to negotiate at the beginning had been a mistake that cost lives. No more.
I wouldn't quite say it was a mistake, but it was unsuccessful. I say this because trying to talk before escalating kinetics has to have been the right thing to do.
And Mercouris (and you) are right...Russia won't stop until the threat to Russian security is addressed to their satisfaction.
US/UK/Ukraine need General Norman Schwarzkopf ticket.
@TuckerCarlson #TruthTelling https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1668747661028081664?s=19
Here's another link: https://twitter.com/i/status/1668747661028081664
This is a *must* watch. Regardless of what you may think about Trump, fasten your seatbelts. This is the most courageous statement I have ever heard in American politics. Tucker takes direct aim at the Deep State. And he names names: Pompeo, Graham, Pence, Paul Ryan, McConnell, Haley, Schumer...He has definitely crossed their line. And I'll predict his 'tweet' has 100 million views, probably more, by tomorrow.
Total must watch--which I did. My only disappointment is that he didn't mention Barr. But very powerful.
Barr's betrayal of the President...and of his own duties to uphold the law and of his oath of office...and of the United States and its citizens is utterly despicable.
That's really the kicker.
He didn't just betray Trump, betray Republicans, or betray the country. He betrayed the fundamental principles of law and morality on which he so frequently pon-defecated.
A couple of observations. Anyone who reads my babbling posts here knows that I love World War Two history, in particular the Eastern Front. Russia appears to be practicing both their own tactics and German tactics used in that war. As I mentioned in a previous post, Kursk-redux 2023 addition - layered defense in depth, channeling attacking forces into kill zones, etc. Also, the Germans used to pull out of front lines prior to Russian assaults. Russian artillery would hit dirt and save German lives, at least temporarily.
As an Army MP in Germany circa 1992-1995 we would often play OPFOR (opposing forces) for local infantry units looking for training partners. On the occasions when grunts would practice an assault against fixed positions their "casualty rates" would exceed 70% and that was in the 1990s. No drones, etc. Just trenches with rifles and machine guns against MPs. One can only imagine the real carnage now.
As an aside - though I was an MP, I was one of the approximately 80% of them that rarely work patrol duties. We were glorified grunts with the exception that we drove everywhere while real grunts humped rucksacks. The former infantry guys here will know what I mean. God Bless em :)
You can just imagine all the idiots at the State Dept and CIA googling "Kursk". These people are fools.
Could be the Russkies are taking a page from the Wehrmacht’s master of defense, Gen Gotthard Heinrici:
“ Heinrici had built his reputation as a brilliant defensive fighter during the disastrous winter of 1941-42. He was placed in command of the 4th Army at the gates of Moscow, when the Soviets threw a hundred divisions at his freezing and ill-clad troops. He held out for almost ten weeks using every method available to him. Goading, exhorting, promoting, and tactfully retreating, he kept his army intact in the face of 12-l odds. It was here, that Heinrici developed the technique that served him so well in the defense of Berlin. From intelligence reports, patrols, interrogation of prisoners, and an extraordinary sixth sense, he was able to pinpoint the time and place of impending Russian attacks. He’d order his troops to retreat the night before to new positions one or two miles back. ‘We let them hit an empty bag,” he said.”
http://armchairgeneral.com/wehrmacht-master-of-defense.htm
Russia’s version of Yalta conf. Ironically held in Crimea 1945.
Reminds me of Yogi Berra’s saying. “It’s like deja vu all over again!”
Hi Anna - are the Ukraine grain-belts throughout Ukraine, or localized? If localized, part of the 'return to Russia' assessments?
Donbas region.
Found a good map/grain-type source (https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/rssiws/al/up_cropprod.aspx)
Appears most of Ukraine is fertile (71% of land area), and distribution is throughout most regions of Ukraine, although the South-East is definitely agriculturally important.
The DR rounds will drop the desirability of that land for sure.
Interesting...beyond Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, is there significant Russian media talk of other oblasts being in play? The "rump Ukraine/frozen conflict" option doesn't seem like a very viable alternative.
They won’t be either. DOJ is too corrupt