We continue to see articles in western political press about how the Russians are desperately short of tanks, artillery, etc., and that is why they are resorting to using motorsycles, North Koreans, and older equipment from inventory. I guess that angle sells well to a large audience.
Everything that the West does to support Ukraine only weakens themselves and induces Russia to become more independent, self reliant, and robust. The attacks on Yemen waste $billions and reveal military weakness. An attack on Iran would likely fail as badly the Jimmy Carter's hostage rescue mission back in the 70s. So what is Trump doing? My guess is that Trump is intentionally and proactively inducing Russia to finish the job in Ukraine on the battlefield. Similarly, Trump is showing the world how potent and resilient the Yemeni are, which means they are in it for the long term, much like Afghanistan. Add in the tariff campaign, alienating everyone on the planet, and a national debt that continues to skyrocket, and the only rationale for this is that Trump is John Galt.
As Fernando Llamas stated many, many years ago to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show: "Johnny, it's not how I feel, it's how I look." Ukraine and Yemen and Iran and Israel and Syria are not looking good for the U.S. and for Trump at present.
So Trump is OK providing lethal aid to Ukraine now since we will be receiving in return some valuable dirt? What about his concern for the thousands of lives that were being lost - on both sides? Was that just rhetoric? What am I missing?
Waltz was causing way to much drama with public infighting and backstabbing, and Trumps administration personnel wise has been otherwise pretty drama free.
Trumps first terms nsa experience left a bad taste.
Off Topic But On Topic on Hegseth Yemen Iran - retaliation
Trump Makes No Sense - post from Truth Social
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
2h
ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
I don't think that's an official government action or directive. Like much else, I suspect it's directed toward a specific audience--in this case, Jewish Nationalists.
Do we have any real evidence Iran is the source of support for the Houthi's? Based on reports Israel and USA have been funding ISIS and partnering with other terrorist group makes me wonder how much gaslighting is really going on.
I felt really good there for a few minutes, until I saw that Waltz just went sideways instead of "You're fired!" The only possible rationale I can think of is that Trump is under some sort of pressure to keep Waltz on. Here is the "official" (British approved) narrative/explanation:
Waltz ultimately had responsibility regardless. They may have been after Waltz, or Hegseth, or both. But the fact that Trump sees Waltz as having to have a position in his administration after this basically makes me throw up my hands and say "Why bother and take the risk with an undependable subordinate?"
Look at it this way. Rubio doesn't have much to do at DoS, given that Witkoff seems to exercise most of the functions of SoS. So why not have Marco do double duty?
Me Thinks the EU Must Be Pretty Upset - Or Just Crawling into a Hole
perhaps of interest
Background: Apparently ~20% of Ukraine’s territory, containing ~40–53% of mineral resources, is already occupied by Russia and reportedly mining in areas not occupied by Russia requires $500 million–$1 billion per mine and 15–20 years to develop, with additional costs for energy-intensive processing with Ukraine current energy system effectively destroyed it will need to be rebuilt.
I imagine US goal is using this for the future to limit China control - but it will be a while.
- this seems more likely to me to have at it's primary goal the open door to US shipping and presence in Ukraine - civilian and military ( CIA ) - this may perhaps spur Russia desire to take Odessa and control the port or maybe Putin is interested in joint financial projects with US.
Interestingly perhaps the EU already signed ' deals ' with Ukraine which were proceeding prior to war - and recently EU were making efforts to ' revive ' them - Appears the US just stepped in and kicked the EU out - EU seems to be taking that silently.
2021: Article Entitled: The start of long-standing cooperation: EU and Ukraine sign a Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials and welcome a new member of ERMA
2021 EU and Ukraine kick-start strategic partnership on raw materials
The strategic partnership with Ukraine will include activities along the entire value chain of both primary and secondary critical raw materials and batteries, and in line with the objectives of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Action Plan,
17 November 2022 EU - Ukraine strategic partnership on raw materials: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development will support digitalisation of geological data in Ukraine
Huh, so Zelensky first suckered the EU, then the Brits (https://trendcompass.substack.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-ukraines-rare), and then the U.S. Unless there is some ulterior motive for the Trump admin to push for and sign this deal (at a deficit of the original agreement demands). In any case it is a dishonestly presented deal, as nearly all of the valuable "rare earths" deposits are in Russian-controlled territory and it would in any case take many years of effort and an unprofitable investment in mining to extract any value from them. So, is it oil, natural gas, agriculture, rebuilding, or what?
I've been saying from the get-go that this "minerals deal" was a crock, insofar as resources were (i) largely in Russian-occupied territories, (ii) vastly underdeveloped/underexploited in the remaining Ukrainian lands, and (iii) previously committed to EU and others. What's worse than all three of these issues combined, however, is that we're still transacting into the very same Kolomoisky-/Zlochevsky-/other mobster-dominated kleptocracy that made half of our nearly $200B in aid over the past few years disappear.
If we were serious, we'd impose austerity measures, controlled disbursements, blacklisted persons and other IMF-conditionality-like stuff to clean up the funds flow.
As such, this is a joke. Whether it's intended to create a "presence" (very plausible) or simply to allow Trump to claim a "big win," I do not know, but I do suspect that protection of the gravy train also has something to do with it.
Good point. I sense this is nothing more than cover for the purpose of keeping the grift going for Zelensky and his partners in the robbery of the west.
Concurr - Macgregor sees it as some kind of a much needed “transactional” win for Trump, while the deal itself makes no real sense. He says as well that it has nothing to do with “rare earths” but rather gas, oil and aluminum -
I think McGregor is right about the gas, oil, and aluminum but I am skeptical (to say the least) about the transactional "win." I venture to say that very few Americans care at all about any resources that might be available in Ukraine (of whatever type) if they require American taxpayer money and lives to harvest.
There's no real comparison to Stalin's war and Putin's war. Russia is still suffering from the demographic catastrophe of the two world wars and Putin is rightly loath to put Russia through that again. He's fully aware that the Jewish Nationalists who are the main drivers of the current war on Russia want nothing more than lots of dead Russians. That's exactly what their flunkies like Lindsey! keep touting.
Not true, if he did what you suggested Russians troops would be currently hide and seek with French, German and polish drones. Putin absolutely needed to slow-boil the troop build up in order not to spook the eurocrats into doing something stupid. 700k men would have put them on the path to rearmament immediately.
Three potential replacements for the outgoing National Security Adviser (Walsh) are being discussed, according to Politico:
Steve Witkoff – a real estate mogul involved in shuttle diplomacy between the U.S., Russia, and the Middle East. He's been criticized for not being sufficiently pro-war on Iran but praised for diplomatic efforts despite lacking deep national security expertise.
Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka – both have strong ideological views but limited expertise in military or international security matters, raising concerns about their suitability for the role.
There’s intense pressure within parts of the government and media to support military action against Iran. Individuals who express caution are reportedly being pushed out or sidelined.
The speaker argues war with Iran would be a strategic blunder, harmful to both Israel and the U.S., and driven by misguided “pro-Israel” hawks.
Doug Macgregor is suggested as a more qualified candidate due to his deep knowledge of military affairs and previous experience with President Trump, though his chances may be limited due to political opposition.
After reading about the other 3 suggested..seeing Col. Doug's name gave me a lift...but then your description of his character is correct. He would not be welcomed into the Neocon Zionist club in the White House. For sure I hope it is not Miller or Gorka--yikes! And Witkoff has been looking good as Envoy, but...I read his name in an article at unz.com that told of his paying Bernard Kerik for his help in suppressing the truth about what went down on 9/11/01. The info made me apprehensive about him.
I remeber hearing Sebastian on Hannity or somewhere similar the day after Nordstram was destroyed, saying in his cartoonish, exaggerrated accent and booming deep voice "Of COURSE it t'was the Russians...."
I've read how is actually sort of a chameleon fraudster changing political personas and roles over the years in a search for profitable relevance.
All kinds of people are trying to advance their picks. None of it probably has anything verifiable to do with reality--not if it's being leaked to the MSM.
Hegseth: " We've seen your LETHAL support to the Houthi's ..."
What he meant was - We FELT your lethal support - and what was not said but appears apparent
---------- ' and it took us by surprise '
Not certain there is any message here but the US was surprised and embarrassed and are now realizing this was a big mistake. They likely are in limbo - do we move forward anyway and how - or do we retreat and how - some big questions are likely being asked.
We continue to see articles in western political press about how the Russians are desperately short of tanks, artillery, etc., and that is why they are resorting to using motorsycles, North Koreans, and older equipment from inventory. I guess that angle sells well to a large audience.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/another-shocker-wsj-reveals-russia
So long, it's been good to know you.
Cue Woody as Mike waltzes out the door.
Everything that the West does to support Ukraine only weakens themselves and induces Russia to become more independent, self reliant, and robust. The attacks on Yemen waste $billions and reveal military weakness. An attack on Iran would likely fail as badly the Jimmy Carter's hostage rescue mission back in the 70s. So what is Trump doing? My guess is that Trump is intentionally and proactively inducing Russia to finish the job in Ukraine on the battlefield. Similarly, Trump is showing the world how potent and resilient the Yemeni are, which means they are in it for the long term, much like Afghanistan. Add in the tariff campaign, alienating everyone on the planet, and a national debt that continues to skyrocket, and the only rationale for this is that Trump is John Galt.
As Fernando Llamas stated many, many years ago to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show: "Johnny, it's not how I feel, it's how I look." Ukraine and Yemen and Iran and Israel and Syria are not looking good for the U.S. and for Trump at present.
So Trump is OK providing lethal aid to Ukraine now since we will be receiving in return some valuable dirt? What about his concern for the thousands of lives that were being lost - on both sides? Was that just rhetoric? What am I missing?
Swag…
Waltz was causing way to much drama with public infighting and backstabbing, and Trumps administration personnel wise has been otherwise pretty drama free.
Trumps first terms nsa experience left a bad taste.
Off Topic But On Topic on Hegseth Yemen Iran - retaliation
Trump Makes No Sense - post from Truth Social
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
2h
ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
So did he just cut off all business with China ?
Crazy - surprised the market has not crashed.
.
I don't think that's an official government action or directive. Like much else, I suspect it's directed toward a specific audience--in this case, Jewish Nationalists.
And China and India and Turkey, whether that was intended or not.
Do we have any real evidence Iran is the source of support for the Houthi's? Based on reports Israel and USA have been funding ISIS and partnering with other terrorist group makes me wonder how much gaslighting is really going on.
Just a weird thing to do on top of Hegseth ranting.
Truman turning right, must have really upset them.....
Seems meaningless but seems to bolster the argument US does not know what to do with Yemen.
April 10, 2025 “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT,”
Trump wrote on Truth Social at 9:37 a.m.
Less than four hours later announced a 90-day pause on nearly all tariffs. Stocks soared
Weird
link
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump
So Waltz goes to be UN Ambassador 😳 and Rubio becomes dual hatted as both Sec State and NSA ( at least for awhile)
Kissinger was both for about 2 years in the early 70s
I felt really good there for a few minutes, until I saw that Waltz just went sideways instead of "You're fired!" The only possible rationale I can think of is that Trump is under some sort of pressure to keep Waltz on. Here is the "official" (British approved) narrative/explanation:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/signal-group-chat-leak-how-it-happened
But what about this?: https://www.newsweek.com/mike-waltz-jeffrey-goldberg-photo-2051247
Waltz ultimately had responsibility regardless. They may have been after Waltz, or Hegseth, or both. But the fact that Trump sees Waltz as having to have a position in his administration after this basically makes me throw up my hands and say "Why bother and take the risk with an undependable subordinate?"
Look at it this way. Rubio doesn't have much to do at DoS, given that Witkoff seems to exercise most of the functions of SoS. So why not have Marco do double duty?
Good point
He started off pretty good as State. So he may do well at NSA. At least no confirmation process to go through.
Me Thinks the EU Must Be Pretty Upset - Or Just Crawling into a Hole
perhaps of interest
Background: Apparently ~20% of Ukraine’s territory, containing ~40–53% of mineral resources, is already occupied by Russia and reportedly mining in areas not occupied by Russia requires $500 million–$1 billion per mine and 15–20 years to develop, with additional costs for energy-intensive processing with Ukraine current energy system effectively destroyed it will need to be rebuilt.
I imagine US goal is using this for the future to limit China control - but it will be a while.
- this seems more likely to me to have at it's primary goal the open door to US shipping and presence in Ukraine - civilian and military ( CIA ) - this may perhaps spur Russia desire to take Odessa and control the port or maybe Putin is interested in joint financial projects with US.
Interestingly perhaps the EU already signed ' deals ' with Ukraine which were proceeding prior to war - and recently EU were making efforts to ' revive ' them - Appears the US just stepped in and kicked the EU out - EU seems to be taking that silently.
2021: Article Entitled: The start of long-standing cooperation: EU and Ukraine sign a Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials and welcome a new member of ERMA
[ ERMA European Raw Materials Alliance ]
https://erma.eu/the-start-of-long-standing-cooperation-eu-and-ukraine-sign-a-strategic-partnership-on-raw-materials-and-welcome-a-new-member-of-erma/
2021 EU and Ukraine kick-start strategic partnership on raw materials
The strategic partnership with Ukraine will include activities along the entire value chain of both primary and secondary critical raw materials and batteries, and in line with the objectives of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Action Plan,
https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-and-ukraine-kick-start-strategic-partnership-raw-materials-2021-07-13_en
17 November 2022 EU - Ukraine strategic partnership on raw materials: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development will support digitalisation of geological data in Ukraine
https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-ukraine-strategic-partnership-raw-materials-european-bank-reconstruction-and-development-will-2022-11-17_en
Huh, so Zelensky first suckered the EU, then the Brits (https://trendcompass.substack.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-ukraines-rare), and then the U.S. Unless there is some ulterior motive for the Trump admin to push for and sign this deal (at a deficit of the original agreement demands). In any case it is a dishonestly presented deal, as nearly all of the valuable "rare earths" deposits are in Russian-controlled territory and it would in any case take many years of effort and an unprofitable investment in mining to extract any value from them. So, is it oil, natural gas, agriculture, rebuilding, or what?
Here's something to add to your roster of articles on this amazing deal:
https://helenaglass.substack.com/p/art-of-the-deal-zero-proof-ukraine
I've been saying from the get-go that this "minerals deal" was a crock, insofar as resources were (i) largely in Russian-occupied territories, (ii) vastly underdeveloped/underexploited in the remaining Ukrainian lands, and (iii) previously committed to EU and others. What's worse than all three of these issues combined, however, is that we're still transacting into the very same Kolomoisky-/Zlochevsky-/other mobster-dominated kleptocracy that made half of our nearly $200B in aid over the past few years disappear.
If we were serious, we'd impose austerity measures, controlled disbursements, blacklisted persons and other IMF-conditionality-like stuff to clean up the funds flow.
As such, this is a joke. Whether it's intended to create a "presence" (very plausible) or simply to allow Trump to claim a "big win," I do not know, but I do suspect that protection of the gravy train also has something to do with it.
I think you are right.........
Two Questions quickly come to mind:
- why did Trump not let the EU in as a Partner 33% UA 33 % EU 33% US
If the UA Mineral rights were commercially viable and a Primary Goal :
- Would EU just sit back and let them be taken - without a whisper of objection
UK has 100 year agreement in place with Uke's.
Good point. I sense this is nothing more than cover for the purpose of keeping the grift going for Zelensky and his partners in the robbery of the west.
.US Ukraine Mineral Agreement
The more I read on it - the more it seems to be just an excuse for US presence
I just read: The agreement provides for equal control by the US and Ukraine, applies only to new developments, and lasts only for 10 years.
So None of it really makes sense:
equal control with historically known ' corruption kings ' and oligarchs,
only ' new ' developments [ are the UK ' old developments ]
lasts only 10 years - realistically that seems to be the minimum time it would take to create a viable mine and energy -
Concurr - Macgregor sees it as some kind of a much needed “transactional” win for Trump, while the deal itself makes no real sense. He says as well that it has nothing to do with “rare earths” but rather gas, oil and aluminum -
I think McGregor is right about the gas, oil, and aluminum but I am skeptical (to say the least) about the transactional "win." I venture to say that very few Americans care at all about any resources that might be available in Ukraine (of whatever type) if they require American taxpayer money and lives to harvest.
And, a minor detail, as Mercouris mentions, this “deal” or agreement cannot take effect until there is peace. Cart before horse.
https://judgenap.com/
There's no real comparison to Stalin's war and Putin's war. Russia is still suffering from the demographic catastrophe of the two world wars and Putin is rightly loath to put Russia through that again. He's fully aware that the Jewish Nationalists who are the main drivers of the current war on Russia want nothing more than lots of dead Russians. That's exactly what their flunkies like Lindsey! keep touting.
Not true, if he did what you suggested Russians troops would be currently hide and seek with French, German and polish drones. Putin absolutely needed to slow-boil the troop build up in order not to spook the eurocrats into doing something stupid. 700k men would have put them on the path to rearmament immediately.
DD re new NSA:
Three potential replacements for the outgoing National Security Adviser (Walsh) are being discussed, according to Politico:
Steve Witkoff – a real estate mogul involved in shuttle diplomacy between the U.S., Russia, and the Middle East. He's been criticized for not being sufficiently pro-war on Iran but praised for diplomatic efforts despite lacking deep national security expertise.
Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka – both have strong ideological views but limited expertise in military or international security matters, raising concerns about their suitability for the role.
There’s intense pressure within parts of the government and media to support military action against Iran. Individuals who express caution are reportedly being pushed out or sidelined.
The speaker argues war with Iran would be a strategic blunder, harmful to both Israel and the U.S., and driven by misguided “pro-Israel” hawks.
Doug Macgregor is suggested as a more qualified candidate due to his deep knowledge of military affairs and previous experience with President Trump, though his chances may be limited due to political opposition.
MacGregor would be the most realistic of those, knowing the military. What political opposition? War hawks, Dems? NeoCons?
All of the above.
Forget Colonel Doug: far too decent, sane and honest.
After reading about the other 3 suggested..seeing Col. Doug's name gave me a lift...but then your description of his character is correct. He would not be welcomed into the Neocon Zionist club in the White House. For sure I hope it is not Miller or Gorka--yikes! And Witkoff has been looking good as Envoy, but...I read his name in an article at unz.com that told of his paying Bernard Kerik for his help in suppressing the truth about what went down on 9/11/01. The info made me apprehensive about him.
Here is the unz.com article that I referred to in my comment:
https://www.unz.com/article/israel-did-9-11/
It's a doozy!
Sebaceous Dorka . . . I have no words, other than DISGUST.
I remeber hearing Sebastian on Hannity or somewhere similar the day after Nordstram was destroyed, saying in his cartoonish, exaggerrated accent and booming deep voice "Of COURSE it t'was the Russians...."
I've read how is actually sort of a chameleon fraudster changing political personas and roles over the years in a search for profitable relevance.
Not Miller, not Gorka--a complete loser. How about a professional? A real one?
Stephen Miller? Deputy Chief of Staff?
No to Gorka..absolutely No!
I expect Trump to pick entirely the wrong person.
I find Gorka amusing, but not from in the WH.
At least we don't have his talk radio show anymore, a big win !!!
Every weekday @ 16:00 on KSKY 660AM I had to tune him out quickly, his voice consistently induced nausea . . .
I’d like to see Chris Miller back in the WH in Waltz’s job. Certainly not Kellogg as I’ve seen suggested.
All kinds of people are trying to advance their picks. None of it probably has anything verifiable to do with reality--not if it's being leaked to the MSM.
https://sonar21.com/us-is-flummoxed-by-yemen/
. Thanks Mark
Hegseth: " We've seen your LETHAL support to the Houthi's ..."
What he meant was - We FELT your lethal support - and what was not said but appears apparent
---------- ' and it took us by surprise '
Not certain there is any message here but the US was surprised and embarrassed and are now realizing this was a big mistake. They likely are in limbo - do we move forward anyway and how - or do we retreat and how - some big questions are likely being asked.