Global War Roundup, Mostly Russia, But Also Poland, Palestine

Yesterday President Putin of Russia gave his annual end of year press conference. As usual, he spoke without notes, answering questions—intelligently, articulately, sometimes humorously—for something like four hours. A typically bravura performance. Most notably, Putin reiterated that the Special Military Operation in Ukraine will continue until all of Russia’s stated goals are achieved—including demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.

Before we get to the summaries of Putin’s most notable remarks, I want to present a transcript of a very brief excerpt from Doug Macgregor’s interview today with Judge Napolitano. It’s an outstanding, incisive interview in toto, but this portion—in which Macgregor addresses the reckless criminality of our Ruling Class with regard to Russia—stood out. The relevance of Macgregor’s remarks for what follows will be obvious:

Col. Douglas Macgregor: Suppose Netanyahu asks for American Ground Troops?

Macgregor: [Praising Hungary's Orban as a truth teller] But I like the terms "principles and approaches" [used by Orban]. What are our principles that justify regime change, that justify war? It doesn't make any sense. There are no such principles in the West. This is about an elite class that revolves around Washington and is connected across Washington and London and New York City. And this elite class has decided to wage war to destroy Russia FOR ITS OWN REASONS that have nothing to do with the interests of Europeans and the people of the Western world. There's no requirement for it. There were no armies massing to attack anyone. But remember what President Putin said. He said, "We will have our requirements met." In other words, We will attain our objectives. "But if we cannot, we will settle them militarily."

And what I've tried to tell people from the beginning is, Ukraine is as vital and essential strategically to Russia as [our southern border] would be to us. He's not going to budge on this, and if he has to move forces all the way to the West, he's got the time, he's got the forces. NATO is not growing stronger--it's dead man walking! NATO is on life support. Behind the scenes everyone is saying, 'Now what? Now what?' And if you tell them it's time to mobilize their forces and march east, they all look at you like you've lost your mind. And they're right to do so--they're not going anywhere to fight! And neither are we.

What will stand out in Putin’s remarks are his forthright claims to SE Ukraine, to Odessa, and to Russian interests in the Black Sea. Reading between the lines, I take that to mean that Russia will not tolerate NATO in the Black Sea any longer.

-- GEROMAN -- time will tell -  -- @GeromanAT

Putin about Odessa and Ukraine.

1. Russians and Ukrainians are fraternal peoples.

2. Odessa is a Russian city.

3. The southeast has always been pro-Russian.

4. The Black Sea region is historically Russian territory.

In general, in addition to the officially stated goals of the Northern Military District, there are also optional ones that can be achieved along the way if the current course of the West continues.

3:56 AM · Dec 14, 2023

Here’s a more extended summary, also provided by @GeromanAT. Reading between these lines, my take is that Russia will go as far as necessary to achieve its goals. If that means the Polish border in the West, Russia will go there. As Macgregor says, Russia has the time and the military forces to accomplish that:

Other statements by Putin:

• The southeast of Ukraine has always been pro-Russian, because these are historical Russian territories;

• Odessa is actually a Russian city.

• After the collapse of the USSR, Russia came to terms with the departure of its original territories, but attached importance to the pro-Russian sentiments of southeastern Ukraine.

• The coup in Ukraine was needed to create a conflict, our “friends” from the USA were doing this, and the Europeans pretended that they knew nothing.

• Russians and Ukrainians are one people, now there is something like a civil war going on.

• The Armed Forces of Ukraine did not succeed anywhere with the counter-offensive.

• Along the entire front line, our military is improving its positions.

• The Russian military in Krynki suffered sanitary losses, while the enemy suffered dozens of dead.

• Look at the NWO and what is happening in Gaza, and, as they say, “feel the difference.”

• Our front line is 2000 kilometers. The situation with the number of drones among Russian troops in the special operation zone is improving.

• The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that procedures regarding the wounded in the Northern Military District zone can be resolved at rehabilitation points; there is no need to return to the unit for documents.

• There are 617 thousand Russian military personnel in the Northern Military District zone. http://t.me/RVvoenkor

There’s really nothing to add. Macgregor thinks that without US support—which appears will not be forthcoming—Ukraine could collapse in a month.

On to Poland. As we noted earlier, EU poodle Donald Tusk was installed as the new Polish prime minister. I’ve embedded a very brief video with Ania K., titled: Poland Has Learned Nothing. Ania is bemoaning the fate of her country, but her remarks could be applied to our own situation. Americans seem not to have learned much during the past decades, since the end of the Cold War. We vote and vote but the Empire rolls on.

The video is technically 9:15 in length, but the substantive part is only about 7:30. It starts slowly for Western listeners, but gets more incisive as it proceeds. Ania hits her stride when she starts talking about Tusk’s pick for Foreign Minister—Radosław “Radek” Sikorski. Sikorski is a NATO/Neocon lackey, and is married to ueber Neocon harridan Anne Applebaum. As Ania says, the Tusk government will mean no change—just continued domination of Poland by the US/Neocons/EU/WEF. Thus her despair, because she knows none of these people give a fig about Poles.

The other side of this coin, of course, is that Poles will soon learn how little the US actually cares about them.

On to Palestine. Gallant tells Sullivan what’s what:

Prem Thakker @prem_thakker

The Israeli Minister telling the Biden administration live on camera that Israel will keep attacking for "more than several months" comes as U.S. officials have reportedly expressed hope that Israel would de-escalate by January

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that Israel’s war “will last more than several months.”

“Thank you for being side by side with us in this effort.”

Israeli forces have killed at least 18,787 people in just over two months.

12:00 PM · Dec 14, 2023

Note: The tweeter rudely omits Sullivans full title: “Hapless U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.”

Gallant was just setting the record straight, after articles like this one started to appear:

Alex Christoforou @AXChristoforou

Biden vs. Netanyahu. CNN: The next big geopolitical question over the war in Gaza is not whether it will isolate Israel internationally — that’s already happened. It’s whether the White House’s firm support for the operation will also alienate the United States from its friends in a way that could severely compromise wider national security goals. And the unrelenting toll on Palestinians is also increasing the political price that Biden is paying at home for his backing of Israel — and raising doubts about his capacity to invigorate his political coalition ahead of the 2024 election.

2:51 AM · Dec 14, 2023

Presumably Zhou is pondering whether it’ll be ice cream or pudding for dessert and silently fuming: Nobody tells me anything!