"Second, look at the timing. The Hersh revelations follow hard on the heels of the classified docs story, the CSIS report (we’re running out of “stuff”), and the Rand report (for God’s sake, negotiate already!). This all falls within the time frame that Hersh would have needed to put his article together, thus giving the appearance of coordination."
If the Hersh story is true, which it very likely is, then the real story is one of Washington unity. The Nordstream caper was carried out apparently without the direct involvement of the CIA or SOCOM, or at least without enough involvement that they felt the need to notify Congress ahead of time.
Now legally and Constitutionally, this seems awfully sketchy. Sort of like Iran-Contra on steroids. In that case, they skimmed money from the sale of weapons to fund a covert operation that Congress would not. Here they apparently used people whose activities didn't have to be reported or explained. Now, when Iran Contra became public, as it inevitably did, Congress raised hell in part because they were strongly opposed to what the Reagan people were doing. In this case, they found people willing to blow up a Russian pipeline, which was an act of war, and what do we hear from Congress? Crickets, as far as I can tell.
There may be people in the Pentagon who have misgivings about Ukraine policy, but not to the point of disobeying what sound to me like illegal orders, which sort of makes me wonder what other illegal orders they're willing to execute. There was real and effective opposition to Iran Contra, but I'm not seeing a lot of effective opposition here.
"The Nordstream caper was carried out apparently without the direct involvement of the CIA or SOCOM, or at least without enough involvement that they felt the need to notify Congress ahead of time. "
I disagree. There seems no doubt at all that CIA lawyers were very much involved in constructing the legal framework that would provide a "legally arguable" justification for not notifying the Gang of Eight. To me that's very direct involvement.
"There may be people in the Pentagon who have misgivings about Ukraine policy, but not to the point of disobeying what sound to me like illegal orders ..."
This, I think, is the difference between Donald Trump and any POTUS accepted by the DC Establishment and Deep State. Mercouris would probably argue that Zhou has strong support from Dept./State--and I would add DoJ, FBI, and CIA--which leaves the military lacking the strong hand to defy a POTUS as the entire government did to Trump, because they were united against him, even his own appointees.
Point taken. They clearly had a role in the planning. I didn't think about the involvement of lawyers. I should have.
EDIT: Regarding the military, I think the real problem is the absurd glut of General officers, which means that there is intense competition for the few available command slots. They can always find someone. I have for a long time, regarded the glut of senior officers as the root of some of the worst problems in the military. Which doesn't make you wrong about effect of the unified Washington apparatus.
Don't lose sight of Obama having spent significant time and political capital purging our Military of non-compliant officers. I'll suggest, not just the military was dealt with. The one-sided deepening of a deranged deep-state is what we're experiencing these days. (IMHO) in my military experience is it was Command level officers that became political. Many Senior NCOs ride the tails of such politically driven 'leaders'. Remember, in war the initial leadership, particularly General Officers, have a high turn-over rate as the rubber hits the actual road. It's often the 'non-preferred incorrigibles' that rise in success on the battlefields. Best Regards. (WRH)
Looks like Nato is only now getting up to speed, per Jens Stoltenberg:
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed will save lives.” (Breitbart) As has been mentioned, reality is trying its best to break through…
In light of the fact that 250,000+ Ukrainian troops have already died for NATO’s quixotic quest, the cynical mendacity of this comment is breathtaking.
In a sense, Stoltenberg is right: if the poor Ukrainian conscripts run away fast enough, they may survive all this. If, of course, they can get past the MPs behind the lines.
Back in the 80s when I was studying Polish at DLI one of my teachers remarked in that regard: The Germans kill your body, but the Russians kill your soul. That was a pretty typical but, IMO, shallow attitude. In fairness, not all Poles share that attitude. Not that there are a lot of Russophiles among Poles, just that there are Poles who understand that there's no going back to the Poland that existed before the partitions, and that Russia has no monopoly on human evil.
Norway informs NATO that Russian Northern Fleet set sail with nuclear weapons for the first time in 30 years.
https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/ektakto-norvigia-o-rosikos-voreios-stolos-apeplefse-me-pyrinikous-pyravlous-meta-apo-30-chronia-etoimasies-syrraxis-me-nato/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Russia's response to Hersh revelations: If negotiations fail, Putin will give deadline of 72 hours before using nuclear weapons.
https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/apantisi-rosias-stis-apokalypseis-s-chers-an-oi-diapragmatefseis-apotychoun-o-v-poutin-tha-dosei-prothesmia-72-ores-prin-tin-chrisi-pyrinikon-oplon/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
As I understand it, the original source is a Russian article telling Putin what he SHOULD do.
"Second, look at the timing. The Hersh revelations follow hard on the heels of the classified docs story, the CSIS report (we’re running out of “stuff”), and the Rand report (for God’s sake, negotiate already!). This all falls within the time frame that Hersh would have needed to put his article together, thus giving the appearance of coordination."
If the Hersh story is true, which it very likely is, then the real story is one of Washington unity. The Nordstream caper was carried out apparently without the direct involvement of the CIA or SOCOM, or at least without enough involvement that they felt the need to notify Congress ahead of time.
Now legally and Constitutionally, this seems awfully sketchy. Sort of like Iran-Contra on steroids. In that case, they skimmed money from the sale of weapons to fund a covert operation that Congress would not. Here they apparently used people whose activities didn't have to be reported or explained. Now, when Iran Contra became public, as it inevitably did, Congress raised hell in part because they were strongly opposed to what the Reagan people were doing. In this case, they found people willing to blow up a Russian pipeline, which was an act of war, and what do we hear from Congress? Crickets, as far as I can tell.
There may be people in the Pentagon who have misgivings about Ukraine policy, but not to the point of disobeying what sound to me like illegal orders, which sort of makes me wonder what other illegal orders they're willing to execute. There was real and effective opposition to Iran Contra, but I'm not seeing a lot of effective opposition here.
"the real story is one of Washington unity."
That's the view that I favor.
"The Nordstream caper was carried out apparently without the direct involvement of the CIA or SOCOM, or at least without enough involvement that they felt the need to notify Congress ahead of time. "
I disagree. There seems no doubt at all that CIA lawyers were very much involved in constructing the legal framework that would provide a "legally arguable" justification for not notifying the Gang of Eight. To me that's very direct involvement.
"There may be people in the Pentagon who have misgivings about Ukraine policy, but not to the point of disobeying what sound to me like illegal orders ..."
This, I think, is the difference between Donald Trump and any POTUS accepted by the DC Establishment and Deep State. Mercouris would probably argue that Zhou has strong support from Dept./State--and I would add DoJ, FBI, and CIA--which leaves the military lacking the strong hand to defy a POTUS as the entire government did to Trump, because they were united against him, even his own appointees.
"To me that's very direct involvement."
Point taken. They clearly had a role in the planning. I didn't think about the involvement of lawyers. I should have.
EDIT: Regarding the military, I think the real problem is the absurd glut of General officers, which means that there is intense competition for the few available command slots. They can always find someone. I have for a long time, regarded the glut of senior officers as the root of some of the worst problems in the military. Which doesn't make you wrong about effect of the unified Washington apparatus.
G'day Gentlemen,
Don't lose sight of Obama having spent significant time and political capital purging our Military of non-compliant officers. I'll suggest, not just the military was dealt with. The one-sided deepening of a deranged deep-state is what we're experiencing these days. (IMHO) in my military experience is it was Command level officers that became political. Many Senior NCOs ride the tails of such politically driven 'leaders'. Remember, in war the initial leadership, particularly General Officers, have a high turn-over rate as the rubber hits the actual road. It's often the 'non-preferred incorrigibles' that rise in success on the battlefields. Best Regards. (WRH)
Yes but, LOOK!! balloons and UFOs!!
Amazing
Russian confiscated assets will be given to the Ukraine somehow under U.S. law…
https://news.yahoo.com/us-announces-first-transfer-confiscated-233000766.html
Looks like Nato is only now getting up to speed, per Jens Stoltenberg:
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed will save lives.” (Breitbart) As has been mentioned, reality is trying its best to break through…
Unbelievable. Who does he think he's fooling?
…and Norway is not an EU member. However, the Baltic Pipe sends LNG to Poland via Denmark…opened just after Nordstream débacle.
“Speed will save lives.”
In light of the fact that 250,000+ Ukrainian troops have already died for NATO’s quixotic quest, the cynical mendacity of this comment is breathtaking.
In a sense, Stoltenberg is right: if the poor Ukrainian conscripts run away fast enough, they may survive all this. If, of course, they can get past the MPs behind the lines.
I agree.
Back in the 80s when I was studying Polish at DLI one of my teachers remarked in that regard: The Germans kill your body, but the Russians kill your soul. That was a pretty typical but, IMO, shallow attitude. In fairness, not all Poles share that attitude. Not that there are a lot of Russophiles among Poles, just that there are Poles who understand that there's no going back to the Poland that existed before the partitions, and that Russia has no monopoly on human evil.