The Saker is a site that I use sparingly, simply because it’s quite overtly pro-Russian. That’s to be expected, of course, but it often enough has a tone that I try to avoid. That’s not to suggest that the site doesn’t provide useful information, just that I try to be careful when it comes packaged in that format.
Interesting insights, Mark. I read The Saker a lot. It's a real love/hate relationship. I like his insights from the other side but, yes, he is ridiculously pro-Russian. Having said that, he has been quite realistic in his latest posts about the sinking of the Moskva and some of the failures of the SMO. What I find more disturbing are his comments about the China lockdowns. He is all for them, and can't see that they never work and are merely the CCP in Beijing showing the people of Shanghai who's boss. Also, like many alternative "insider" blogs, The Saker is hilariously self important: he has even given instructions about how he will run his blog when nuclear armageddon kicks off. Not sure accessing his blog will be my first prio if that happens! However, fair's fair, amid the nauseating propaganda spin by the West, it's useful and refreshing to check out his kind of site.
Agree 100% on The Saker, as I use the site solely for maps, timelines and statements of hard fact that I can independently verify or dismiss. It's funny that, as someone whose first real job out of college (Berlin Wall came down halfway through my Soviet Area Studies major) involved analyzing local media reporting in immediately post-Soviet Moscow and St. Petersburg, I can clearly hear from sentence structure, syntax, lexicon, etc. in most articles the original Russian being written down in English. So, yes, heaps and heaps of salt...
What was particularly eye-opening (bracing, really) was Dr. Karber's presentation. A few grains of salt there, too, as the Military-Industrial Complex ain't exactly gonna fund itself. That said, it was surprising to see how far off the mark the common perception among hawks here in the US that booting Putin from Ukraine would be a milk run really is.
I'd really love to see the dialogue among our betters center on what is actually in AMERICA'S best interests in resolving the Ukraine conflict--in other words, realpolitik, not empty global/utopian ideology. Can't claim the answers, but high time someone started working on them. Something involving Teddy Roosevelt, speaking softly and carrying a big stick sounds pretty good right now...
Thanks again, Mark--your coverage of this conflict has been outstanding!!
Another good source on Russia and Ukraine is John Helmer. According to his bio:
"John Helmer is the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. He first set up his bureau in 1989, making him today the doyen of the foreign press corps in Russia."
His articles are tedious and chock full of information and source links.
I watched the video of Karber at West Point. What I got from that is that the Russians learned a lot back in 2014, and they spent a lot of time preparing. They're going slow to minimize casualties, but they knew they'd need to do that from the start. They knew if they tried a blitzkrieg they'd get wiped out. They knew their enemy.
As to your assertion above, I was talking with a family member and he saw through the Covid scam, but thinks this is all Putin and Ukraine will ultimately prevail. I pointed out that when your enemy has destroyed most of your tanks, most aircraft, fuel depots, ammunition depots, communications, and owns the skies, you're not likely to pull off the longest of hail mary's...
Interesting insights, Mark. I read The Saker a lot. It's a real love/hate relationship. I like his insights from the other side but, yes, he is ridiculously pro-Russian. Having said that, he has been quite realistic in his latest posts about the sinking of the Moskva and some of the failures of the SMO. What I find more disturbing are his comments about the China lockdowns. He is all for them, and can't see that they never work and are merely the CCP in Beijing showing the people of Shanghai who's boss. Also, like many alternative "insider" blogs, The Saker is hilariously self important: he has even given instructions about how he will run his blog when nuclear armageddon kicks off. Not sure accessing his blog will be my first prio if that happens! However, fair's fair, amid the nauseating propaganda spin by the West, it's useful and refreshing to check out his kind of site.
Thank you, Mark for this balance of perspectives.
Agree 100% on The Saker, as I use the site solely for maps, timelines and statements of hard fact that I can independently verify or dismiss. It's funny that, as someone whose first real job out of college (Berlin Wall came down halfway through my Soviet Area Studies major) involved analyzing local media reporting in immediately post-Soviet Moscow and St. Petersburg, I can clearly hear from sentence structure, syntax, lexicon, etc. in most articles the original Russian being written down in English. So, yes, heaps and heaps of salt...
What was particularly eye-opening (bracing, really) was Dr. Karber's presentation. A few grains of salt there, too, as the Military-Industrial Complex ain't exactly gonna fund itself. That said, it was surprising to see how far off the mark the common perception among hawks here in the US that booting Putin from Ukraine would be a milk run really is.
I'd really love to see the dialogue among our betters center on what is actually in AMERICA'S best interests in resolving the Ukraine conflict--in other words, realpolitik, not empty global/utopian ideology. Can't claim the answers, but high time someone started working on them. Something involving Teddy Roosevelt, speaking softly and carrying a big stick sounds pretty good right now...
Thanks again, Mark--your coverage of this conflict has been outstanding!!
Another good source on Russia and Ukraine is John Helmer. According to his bio:
"John Helmer is the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. He first set up his bureau in 1989, making him today the doyen of the foreign press corps in Russia."
His articles are tedious and chock full of information and source links.
http://johnhelmer.org/
I watched the video of Karber at West Point. What I got from that is that the Russians learned a lot back in 2014, and they spent a lot of time preparing. They're going slow to minimize casualties, but they knew they'd need to do that from the start. They knew if they tried a blitzkrieg they'd get wiped out. They knew their enemy.
Here's an interesting new vid from Mariupol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VrKFX7DmQE
As to your assertion above, I was talking with a family member and he saw through the Covid scam, but thinks this is all Putin and Ukraine will ultimately prevail. I pointed out that when your enemy has destroyed most of your tanks, most aircraft, fuel depots, ammunition depots, communications, and owns the skies, you're not likely to pull off the longest of hail mary's...