All Western media seems now to be in agreement: Bakhmut has finally fallen, or is in the last stages of being taken by the Wagner “Musicians”. Some Westerns outlets have even featured video clips of interviews with Wagner supremo Yevgeny Prigozhin. To see where matters stand in what has devolved into a war of attrition, lets turn to some very grim numbers provided by Jeffrey Sachs:
I'd like to better understand what is the Wagner Group and its role in this war/SMO. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied its existence and emphasizes that mercenaries are illegal in Russia. Supposedly it's more of a "network of logistics companies" that's intertwined with the official Russian military and intelligence establishment. That doesn't sound so different from US "contractors". Prigozhin has, in the past, repeatedly denied his connections with "Wagner". He's an oligarch in the sausage business, not a military man himself, and everybody seems to agree he's buddies with Putin.
But paramilitary units are certainly fighting in Ukraine since 2014, no matter what they're called or who's paying them. They seem to be key players in this Bakhmut offensive. Are they legal or not? And how does that square with the idea that Putin is a stickler for legality?
My understanding is that these are contract soldiers, something like our Blackwater--"mercenary" is a label used for propaganda purposes. Both Wagner and Blackwater recruit heavily from the professional military and especially more elite units.
That seems clear. But nobody ever claimed that Blackwater doesn't exist, and private paramilitary contractors are legal enough under US law. So I'm not sure how far the analogy extends.
IIRC, Mercouris raised a very interesting question re Nuland: why would she, a descendant of Ukrainian (or other Mittel Europa countries) wage war against the grandsons (and great-grandsons) of the (at the time) Soviet, or Red Army which liberated early on the Madjan (sp?) concentration camp and then Auschwitz, the biggest death camp in Poland, in ‘45???
Michael Hudson, the economist, maintains that it's about revenge for ill treatment of Jews in Czarist Russia, and especially in Ukraine as well as in the wake of the
More recently, when I was in college--late 60s early 70s--I commuted through heavily Jewish neighborhoods. Every synagogue would have large signs outside reading "Save Soviet Jews".
Very enlightening history Mark. Yes, the Jewish people have been the objects of persecution for centuries as we know (including my paternal grandmother who left Melitople on the Black Sea and went to Harbin with her six sisters and then to Shanghi…the rest is history, as they say! But to craft a foreign policy based on personal pain and suffering and be free to implement it without a hue and a cry…well… I’m at a loss for words!
This Nuland women sounds like a real loser. Someone needs to take her to the woodshed. Damn fool is playing with the lives of millions like it's a game of RIsk. Not sure I believe the casualty figures but, even if they're close, she has no understanding of the depth of the Russian ability to suffer (Ukraine too obviously). These fools are playing with serious fire.
Pilgrimage, indeed, in the purest sense of the word!
Ostensible governmental purpose for a US Attorney General to make a surprise visit to wartime Keeeeeve?? Promise to haul Russian baddies before an ICC whose jurisdiction the United States doesn’t recognize. Riiiiight...
What about those missing children? Does anyone care about them. I saw while back a video from Ukraine where a woman was selling her small daughter, that was way before 2022. I couldn’t finish it, felt so sick.
No laughing matter, bozo. Black market revenues for trafficked body parts runs in the 100s of billion$. Children & young people who have no IDs and no one even knows who or where they are make perfect candidates for dissection.
Yes, all of us plebes are just livestock to these puppeteers, tho likely my local livestock farmers treat their stock far better. All indications point to NGOs like (factions of) the Catholics, Lutherans & Baptists being closely connected to these human livestock schemes. Nauseating.
A key takeaway from this is that the Russians haven't been idle since the 2014 Maidan coup. The neocons were so busy pumping up the Ukie military and building massive defences that they forgot that the Russians were also making their preparations. A second takeway is that Nuland is insane and needs to be taken out if we are to avoid a global conflagration. Finally, if Crimea is a risk, this will surely push the Russians to go all the way to Odessa.
"Nuland’s view is not supported fully by the State Department or the Pentagon"
". . . sounds like Nuland runs all National Security matters, both diplomatic and military"
Why are these "professional men" bending over, bowing and giving their perceived power to this chubby chick? Is she trans and they have to? Does she have all the toxic masculinity in the State Dept and Pentagon and not sharing? Seriously, why does she have the crown of supreme leader?
That Nuland character is dangerous and wields way too much influence within the Regime. Too bad 97% of the public has no clue. Even Faux News fails to inform the people. Outrage click bait journalism is proving to have dire consequences. An uninformed public can’t possibly be expected to hold their government accountable. What a mess.
I'm generally all about peace and the value of all lives but at this point I genuinely believe someone needs to step up and put Nuland out of our collective misery. I'd willingly do it but being unvaxxed I can't get entry to U.S lol....
All true, but the public shouldn't have to be "informed" by others. Getting to the truth is an active thing, not a passive one. We all have the internet; they should be finding out stuff for themselves. But I guess sheep are gonna sheep.
I think saying "97% of the public has no clue" is overly pessimistic. Polls indicate that a majority are aware that MSM = fake news.
A problem is that holding govt accountable takes a lot more than being informed or aware. At that juncture, it is easy for even strong principled people to be overwhelmed. The election system is rigged "six ways from Sunday." At least we have seen some progress on local levels where citizens of various counties across the nation have insisted upon a paper ballot/hand tally setup. Didn't Gov Huckabee recently mandate that method statewide for Arkansas?
Even if someone doesn't know what to do, they can always pray & meditate. It will be no surprise that I like to meditate upon Philippians, Chapter 4. Have a blessed & joyful Sunday!
He certainly appears to have a large measure of that lawless antichrist spirit, even if he's not the final one to carry that demonic spirit we read about in Revelation.
I learned today from a source I consider reliable (Xoaquin Flores - New Resistance on Telegram) that Ukraine law was rewritten back in Sept to prohibit negotiation w/Putin. He translated & read the law on his broadcast. I shoulda paid closer attention, but my takeaway was that it was a tap dance sorta language - didn't prohibit negotiation w/Russia, but (common sense sez) only the Russian President can approve or disapprove a substantial agreement btw the countries.
Explains the Russian's building trenches on the beaches. Nuland is a nut case. Someone needs to castrate her. Too much Cheney influence.
I'd like to better understand what is the Wagner Group and its role in this war/SMO. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied its existence and emphasizes that mercenaries are illegal in Russia. Supposedly it's more of a "network of logistics companies" that's intertwined with the official Russian military and intelligence establishment. That doesn't sound so different from US "contractors". Prigozhin has, in the past, repeatedly denied his connections with "Wagner". He's an oligarch in the sausage business, not a military man himself, and everybody seems to agree he's buddies with Putin.
But paramilitary units are certainly fighting in Ukraine since 2014, no matter what they're called or who's paying them. They seem to be key players in this Bakhmut offensive. Are they legal or not? And how does that square with the idea that Putin is a stickler for legality?
My understanding is that these are contract soldiers, something like our Blackwater--"mercenary" is a label used for propaganda purposes. Both Wagner and Blackwater recruit heavily from the professional military and especially more elite units.
That seems clear. But nobody ever claimed that Blackwater doesn't exist, and private paramilitary contractors are legal enough under US law. So I'm not sure how far the analogy extends.
Watch: Samantha Power Lets Slip The US Is At War With Russia, But "Ukrainians Doing The Fighting"
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-samantha-power-lets-slip-us-war-russia-ukrainians-doing-fighting
IIRC, Mercouris raised a very interesting question re Nuland: why would she, a descendant of Ukrainian (or other Mittel Europa countries) wage war against the grandsons (and great-grandsons) of the (at the time) Soviet, or Red Army which liberated early on the Madjan (sp?) concentration camp and then Auschwitz, the biggest death camp in Poland, in ‘45???
Michael Hudson, the economist, maintains that it's about revenge for ill treatment of Jews in Czarist Russia, and especially in Ukraine as well as in the wake of the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement
There were also porgroms in which something like 3000 Jews were killed after the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_Russian_Revolution
More recently, when I was in college--late 60s early 70s--I commuted through heavily Jewish neighborhoods. Every synagogue would have large signs outside reading "Save Soviet Jews".
Very enlightening history Mark. Yes, the Jewish people have been the objects of persecution for centuries as we know (including my paternal grandmother who left Melitople on the Black Sea and went to Harbin with her six sisters and then to Shanghi…the rest is history, as they say! But to craft a foreign policy based on personal pain and suffering and be free to implement it without a hue and a cry…well… I’m at a loss for words!
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/ref=sr_1_1
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy – September 2, 2008
by John J. Mearsheimer (Author), Stephen M. Walt (Author)
Tx - will have a look!
Discussion of the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israel_Lobby_and_U.S._Foreign_Policy
correction: Majdanek liberated in July 1944 by Red Army
This Nuland women sounds like a real loser. Someone needs to take her to the woodshed. Damn fool is playing with the lives of millions like it's a game of RIsk. Not sure I believe the casualty figures but, even if they're close, she has no understanding of the depth of the Russian ability to suffer (Ukraine too obviously). These fools are playing with serious fire.
So Garland was the latest to make a pilgrimage to Kiev.
Who is next to go? Gavin Newsome? Lori Lightfoot?
Any clues why he/she/it randi weingarten took an earlier pilgrimage?
Pilgrimage, indeed, in the purest sense of the word!
Ostensible governmental purpose for a US Attorney General to make a surprise visit to wartime Keeeeeve?? Promise to haul Russian baddies before an ICC whose jurisdiction the United States doesn’t recognize. Riiiiight...
What about those missing children? Does anyone care about them. I saw while back a video from Ukraine where a woman was selling her small daughter, that was way before 2022. I couldn’t finish it, felt so sick.
No laughing matter, bozo. Black market revenues for trafficked body parts runs in the 100s of billion$. Children & young people who have no IDs and no one even knows who or where they are make perfect candidates for dissection.
Took my anger out on you, voza0db. Apologies.
Yes, all of us plebes are just livestock to these puppeteers, tho likely my local livestock farmers treat their stock far better. All indications point to NGOs like (factions of) the Catholics, Lutherans & Baptists being closely connected to these human livestock schemes. Nauseating.
Cheap shot. Much more likely to the still at large clientele of Jeffrey Epstein.
A key takeaway from this is that the Russians haven't been idle since the 2014 Maidan coup. The neocons were so busy pumping up the Ukie military and building massive defences that they forgot that the Russians were also making their preparations. A second takeway is that Nuland is insane and needs to be taken out if we are to avoid a global conflagration. Finally, if Crimea is a risk, this will surely push the Russians to go all the way to Odessa.
"Nuland’s view is not supported fully by the State Department or the Pentagon"
". . . sounds like Nuland runs all National Security matters, both diplomatic and military"
Why are these "professional men" bending over, bowing and giving their perceived power to this chubby chick? Is she trans and they have to? Does she have all the toxic masculinity in the State Dept and Pentagon and not sharing? Seriously, why does she have the crown of supreme leader?
That Nuland character is dangerous and wields way too much influence within the Regime. Too bad 97% of the public has no clue. Even Faux News fails to inform the people. Outrage click bait journalism is proving to have dire consequences. An uninformed public can’t possibly be expected to hold their government accountable. What a mess.
I'm generally all about peace and the value of all lives but at this point I genuinely believe someone needs to step up and put Nuland out of our collective misery. I'd willingly do it but being unvaxxed I can't get entry to U.S lol....
All true, but the public shouldn't have to be "informed" by others. Getting to the truth is an active thing, not a passive one. We all have the internet; they should be finding out stuff for themselves. But I guess sheep are gonna sheep.
I think saying "97% of the public has no clue" is overly pessimistic. Polls indicate that a majority are aware that MSM = fake news.
A problem is that holding govt accountable takes a lot more than being informed or aware. At that juncture, it is easy for even strong principled people to be overwhelmed. The election system is rigged "six ways from Sunday." At least we have seen some progress on local levels where citizens of various counties across the nation have insisted upon a paper ballot/hand tally setup. Didn't Gov Huckabee recently mandate that method statewide for Arkansas?
Even if someone doesn't know what to do, they can always pray & meditate. It will be no surprise that I like to meditate upon Philippians, Chapter 4. Have a blessed & joyful Sunday!
Just how does someone, today, "hold government accountable"❓❓
When was she elected to anything? Is any one going to stand up and ask for a declaration of war? Or better yet, arrest her for treason?
Agreed.
He certainly appears to have a large measure of that lawless antichrist spirit, even if he's not the final one to carry that demonic spirit we read about in Revelation.
Right. Pretty clear he's someone's puppet too, or several someones? Makes my skin crawl. Put John Brennan on that list for sure.
Someone (or some ones) helped him get in power, so he is owned by them. But he sure seems to be a true believer in the crap he peddles.
Also PIC -Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex is drying out as well so they need new ways for revenue streams.
I learned today from a source I consider reliable (Xoaquin Flores - New Resistance on Telegram) that Ukraine law was rewritten back in Sept to prohibit negotiation w/Putin. He translated & read the law on his broadcast. I shoulda paid closer attention, but my takeaway was that it was a tap dance sorta language - didn't prohibit negotiation w/Russia, but (common sense sez) only the Russian President can approve or disapprove a substantial agreement btw the countries.
Yes, that's true.