REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Russia Invades Ukraine. Again

POSTED BY: CAPTAINCRUNCH
UPDATED: Thursday, October 31, 2024 13:46
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Thursday, September 14, 2023 12:03 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
... according to a Ukrainian lawmaker ...

This is the only reliable part.




-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 14, 2023 12:08 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by second: ... ISW [Institute for the Study of War, the neocon Nuland-Kagan propaganda machine] continues ...


Yep, the ISW continues ... to propagandize. As does SECOND.


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 14, 2023 12:10 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


I'm surprised that THUGR isn't all over these boards with KIEV MISSILE STRIKE ON SEVASTOPOL!
Well, you heard it here first.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:42 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has promised a "tough response" and "punishment" for trying to "finish off" the Crimean Bridge.

In the spirit of Russian propaganda, Zakharova called the attacks on the bridge extremism on the part of the "Ukrainian regime covered in blood".

Quote: "A few days ago, [Nataliia – ed.] Humeniuk, the spokesperson for Operational Command Pivden [South], said that the Crimean Bridge had very little time left. He [sic] noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would ‘continue their work’... Probably trying to bring down the bridge...

... [the Ukrainian ‘regime’] is not ceasing in its efforts to prove that it intends to continue its attempts to target exclusively civilian infrastructure, such as the Crimean Bridge. Kyiv does not think about the consequences.

I would like to remind [Kyiv] that the response, if everything they have said here happens, will be harsh. Those who hatch such plans against our country will not be able to hide from punishment."

Details: Zakharova mistakenly referred to Nataliia Humeniuk as a man several times.

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/09/13/7419604/

The bridge should have fallen during the first month of this war. Unless Ukraine wants to lose, Ukraine had better hurry its most knowledgeable structural engineers to execute a competent plan rather than the amateurish plans tried so far.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:39 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


The West Needs a Russia — Not a Putin — Policy

by Artin DerSimonian https://www.thenation.com/article/world/the-west-needs-a-russia-not-a-
putin-policy
/

Demonizing Putin is not a policy. It’s an excuse for the absence of one.

September 13, 2023

Even before the latest phase of the war in Ukraine, the narrative surrounding Western policy toward Moscow has focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Such an approach ignores the reality that Putin acts rather as the adjudicator, and ultimate stabilizer, of the country’s fractious political elite. Nevertheless, recent reporting on Russia has remained fixated on Putin, effectively dismissing the rest of society and institutions as inept and insignificant.

In March 2014, following the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger wrote in The Washington Post that “the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.” Unfortunately, this assessment has become only more pertinent since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. As a result, the very possibility of a policy based on and directed toward Russia, not Putin, has seemingly faded from Western public “debate.” This approach, beyond skewing our perception of the more fundamental problems we face vis-à-vis US-Russia relations, allows the West to march blindly ahead without considering its own role in the current state of troubled relations.

Washington has a history of adopting confrontational foreign policy stances toward individual leaders (admittedly often less-than-savory characters), rather than toward strategic objectives that support or defend US national interests. This has been the case with Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Moammar El-Gadhafi in Libya, and Bashar al-Assad in Syria. These three countries continue to suffer political, economic, and humanitarian challenges, which therefore raises the question: What has Western policy achieved?

While many in the West like to believe that the values we hold dear and that form the basis of our societies are universal, the reality is quite different. As such, by demonizing leaders who don’t adhere to our principles, we often end up misunderstanding different cultures and how their societies produced such individuals and elevated them to positions of power.

While a policy solely directed toward an individual leader does indeed make for an easy-to-digest narrative for domestic audiences, it often undermines strategic US interests and regional stability, ultimately limiting our room for maneuver. By characterizing leaders whom we dislike as the embodiment of evil (or even the proverbial Hitler) and ourselves as the benevolent democratic crusader, we not only delude our own populations, but engage in diplomatic malpractice too.

While support amongst Russians for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine remains harder to assess from a sociological perspective (although indicators point toward a general acceptance of the conflict), the example of Crimea’s annexation offers a salient point of reference. Studies have demonstrated that most Russians view the annexation of Crimea as a positive event; so too, in fact, do a majority of Crimea’s residents, according to Western-funded research surveys.

Reportedly, Putin was being pushed by hard-line members of the political elite to go even further in 2014, along the lines of what’s unfolding across eastern and southern Ukraine today. While in the West, Crimea’s annexation was a clear breach of international law, for many Russians it was a “reunification” and historically justified. Clearly, our problems aren’t limited to Putin, but rather in our overall relations with Russia.

Indeed, Putin has been at the helm of the Russian state for over 23 years, during which time he’s increasingly silenced domestic opposition and engaged in a more assertive foreign policy. However, as my colleagues Anatol Lieven and George Beebe wrote in Responsible Statecraft: “Far from being the Stalinist autocrat often portrayed in the West, Putin has generally operated more like the strong chairman of a squabbling board of directors, maintaining his own position by balancing one elite faction against another.”

Furthermore, it is important to remember that Putin came to power following almost a decade of post-Soviet economic, political, and societal collapse. During this period, Washington was deeply involved in Russian affairs under President Boris Yeltsin, as the former professed a desire to help the Russian state and its people transition to liberal democracy and a market economy. However, such actions were increasingly viewed from within Russia as damaging not only to the country itself but also to Russian-American relations moving forward. An insightful few in the US observed this trend and tried to warn that Washington’s complicity in Yeltsin’s bombing of the parliament in 1993, the war in Chechnya in 1994, and the financial crisis in 1998 were paving the way for a leader representative of this budding perspective. Therefore, Putin today is rather a useful bellwether of the political elites thinking in the largest, resource-rich and nuclear-equipped state on earth.

The centuries-long experience of Russia, not simply Putin’s “imperial delusions,” have produced specific national interests that today’s governing elite view as vital. The importance of domestic stability and the power of the state, both preserved through Russia’s sovereignty, are two such interests. Much like those in the West, Russians are strongly opposed to perceived interventions in their domestic political processes.

With regards to the crisis over Ukraine, Moscow’s unwillingness to tolerate an anti-Russian government, let alone a pro-NATO one, is explained not only by historical, psychological, and fraternal factors, but also long-standing security concerns. The invasions of Russia in 1812 by Napoleon’s Grande Armée and in 1941 by Nazi Germany have resulted in a hyper-sensitivity to potential threats on its extensive border, especially from the direction of Europe. While in no way excusing Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, Americans should at least be able to understand these permanent national interests given Washington’s own Monroe Doctrine, which views any intervention by external powers across North and South America as potentially threatening to US national security. A doctrine those on the political right increasingly allude to when discussing perceived Chinese encroachments into the Western Hemisphere.

The lack of any clear rules of engagement, like those between the USSR and the US following the Cuban missile crisis, and the withering away of arms control agreements are just two examples of the strategic dangers currently facing US-Russia relations. With a dearth of Russia experts within the US national security apparatus, rapidly diminished access to the country itself, and the dramatic deterioration in diplomatic engagement across the board such hazards are only likely to deepen.

Unfortunately, to deal with these issues it appears that some in the West are instead betting on the weakening and subsequent disintegration of Russia, a contingency which holds immense dangers and little promise. An alternative fantasy is a regime change in Moscow that brings to power a Russian leader who would abandon the war in Ukraine, cheerfully ceding regional influence to the United States and NATO. As challenging as it may be for some in the West to appreciate, the reality is that the Russian leader who will one day replace Putin will likely be even more nationalistic, militaristic, and unpredictable—not some imaginary liberal democrat currently in exile.

As Thomas Graham, senior director for Russia on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, recently explained in these pages, once the full-scale fighting in Ukraine has ended, “a new opportunity could emerge” for US-Russia relations. However, this will be possible only if Washington treads “cautiously but purposely in the pursuit of American interests in a region Moscow considers essential to its status as a great power.”

Russia, in one form or another, has been there long before Putin and will most likely remain there long after he has gone. Therefore, Western commentariat and policy makers alike need to begin considering what a future Russia policy might look like, instead of holding their breath in hopes that brave Ukrainian sacrifices will render the need for such thinking obsolete.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 15, 2023 7:00 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


The European Parliament adopted a resolution on September 13 recognizing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as complicit in Russian crimes committed in Ukraine and called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for him.

The European Parliament’s resolution stated that Belarus is complicit in the war in Ukraine and is involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus, Russia, and occupied areas of Ukraine.[22]

ISW continues to assess that Belarus is a co-belligerent in the war and is involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.[23]

ISW has also assessed that Belarus may be facilitating sanctions evasion schemes for Russia.[24]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko will meet in Sochi, Russia on September 15.[25]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-14-2023


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 15, 2023 6:00 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


More hypocritical virtue-signalling from the heights of the non-democratic EU bureaucracy!


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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Saturday, September 16, 2023 6:15 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russian State Duma Deputy and former Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) Lieutenant General Andrei Gurulev complained about lying within the Russian military and highlighted the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defenses against Russian helicopters.

Gurulev published a Telegram message on September 15 largely reiterating known Russian challenges, though with several notable points. Gurulev complained that the culture of lying in the Russian military is the main issue preventing a Russian victory in Ukraine and claimed that false reports are leading to poor decision-making at many levels within the Russian military.[4]

Gurulev also stated that Ukrainian air defenses at the front are effective against Russian helicopters and are preventing Russian helicopters from using previously highly effective anti-tank missiles, and he reiterated common complaints about Ukraine’s ability to conduct drone strikes on Russian rear areas and insufficient Russian counterbattery capabilities.[5]

Gurulev is notable for having previously leaked the audio message of former Commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army (SMD) Major General Ivan Popov’s grievances over the lack of support for Russian forces on July 12, and Gurulev‘s likely senior ties with the SMD lend weight to his complaints.[6]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-15-2023


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 16, 2023 6:18 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
More hypocritical virtue-signalling from the heights of the non-democratic EU bureaucracy!

Finland will ban entry to passenger vehicles registered in Russia starting Saturday, the Nordic country’s top diplomat announced Friday afternoon.

“Our decision is for the ban to come into force after midnight,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster Yle.

“We estimate the new rules will significantly reduce traffic on the border between Finland and Russia,” she added.

EU citizens and “their immediate circle,” as well as diplomats and those traveling for humanitarian reasons, would be exempt from the restrictions, according to Yle.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia issued no-exception entry bans this week for Russian-registered cars after the European Commission clarified that existing regulations prohibit the import or transfer of goods originating in Russia.

Finland’s neighbor Norway, which has joined the EU’s sanctions against Russia despite not being a member of the bloc, said it was also considering banning entry to Russian-registered vehicles.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/09/15/finland-follows-baltics-bans
-entry-to-russian-vehicles-a82472


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, September 17, 2023 7:16 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russian ultranationalists continued to complain about endemic lying within the Russian military after Russian State Duma Deputy and former Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) Lieutenant General Andrei Gurulev voiced similar complaints on September 15.

A Russian milblogger posted a statement reportedly from a subscriber on September 16 that concurred with Gurulev’s assertion that the culture of lying in the Russian military is the main issue preventing a Russian victory in Ukraine.[16] Another Russian milblogger stated that the issue is a “disaster” and that lies occur at all levels of the Russian military as subordinate commanders are afraid to report the truth about the condition and needs of units and formations.[17] The milblogger stated the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Russian President Vladimir Putin are likely receiving false reports. The milblogger added that tyranny (bad command culture), fraud, and a lack of military resourcefulness are some of the issues affecting the Russian military in Ukraine and that the main goal of the Russian military should be to minimize personnel losses. A Russian insider source compared Gurulev to deceased Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin in his role as the “front line truth teller.”[18]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-sept-16-2023


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, September 17, 2023 7:40 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been dragging out a decision to supply German-made Taurus cruise missiles. Scholz has not explained the reasons for his waffling.

The fact that Taurus cruise missiles or ATACMS are unlikely to be game-changers on the battlefield does not mean that they should not be sent. On the contrary: Western support for maintaining Ukraine’s precision-strike capability is an important component of the Ukrainian armed forces’ overall attrition strategy. One way to increase the missiles’ potential effectiveness would be to lift restrictions on their use — for example, by allowing Ukraine to target the Kerch Bridge.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/14/ukraine-russia-taurus-germany-ata
cms-weapons-attrition-strategy-deep-battle
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, September 17, 2023 10:23 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


This rather lengthy article is an analysis of USA military shortfalls. It could have been titled "How the United States Military would fare in a modern,large-scale, near-peer war"

Quote:

What The US Will Learn, and Not Learn, From Its War In Ukraine

The quarterly magazine Parameters by the U.S. Army War College published an interesting paper about U.S. war capabilities:

A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force

Its abstract says:

Fifty years ago, the US Army faced a strategic inflection point after a failed counterinsurgency effort in Vietnam. In response to lessons learned from the Yom Kippur War, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command was created to reorient thinking and doctrine around the conventional Soviet threat. Today’s Army must embrace the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as an opportunity to reorient the force into one as forward-thinking and formidable as the Army that won Operation Desert Storm.

This article suggests changes the Army should make to enable success in multidomain large-scale combat operations at today’s strategic inflection point.


It is normal for a military to analyze ongoing or just finished wars and to draw conclusions from them. Such efforts should then lead to changes in the military structure or its procedures.

The above effort though is unlikely to lead to the changes the authors want to see.

The authors correctly point out that command and control of troops via radio is problematic when the enemy has the means to detect all radio traffic:

The Russia-Ukraine War makes it clear that the electromagnetic signature emitted from the command posts of the past 20 years cannot survive against the pace and precision of an adversary who possesses sensor-based technologies, electronic warfare, and unmanned aerial systems or has access to satellite imagery; this includes nearly every state or nonstate actor the United States might find itself fighting in the near future.

The solution lies the extensive use of Mission Command (in the original German: Auftragstaktik) which allows subordinate leaders to do their own planning and operation within the given context:

When Milley served as Chief of Staff of the Army, he explained mission command through a concept of “disciplined disobedience” in which subordinates are empowered to accomplish a mission to achieve the commander’s intended purpose—even if they must disobey a specific order or task to do so. Without perfect communication, a subordinate officer or soldier must be trusted to make the right judgment call during battle, unencumbered by the need to seek approval for small adjustments. to

To do that is a cultural issues. Mission Command must be lived and experienced from the very first day a civilian becomes a soldier. The U.S. officer corp is more used to direct order and control. The culture of Mission Command is not liked because mistakes of subordinate units still gets blamed on the higher command level.

Mission Command uses way less communication than direct order and control and is more robust when the crap hits the fan. But, unlike the German military, the U.S. army has never really lived up to it. I doubt that is going to change.

The next problem are high casualty numbers:

The Russia-Ukraine War is exposing significant vulnerabilities in the Army’s strategic personnel depth and ability to withstand and replace casualties. Army theater medical planners may anticipate a sustained rate of roughly 3,600 casualties per day, ranging from those killed in action to those wounded in action or suffering disease or other non-battle injuries. With a 25 percent predicted replacement rate, the personnel system will require 800 new personnel each day. For context, the United States sustained about 50,000 casualties in two decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. In large-scale combat operations, the United States could experience that same number of casualties in two weeks.

The 25% replacement rate is probably too low. Consider this current headline from Strana (machine translation):

Out of every 100 people, there are 10-20 left. The head of the Poltava TCC told about the losses in his district

The TCC is the Ukrainian administration responsible for drafting conscripts.

Out of every 100 people mobilized in the fall of last year, 10-20 remained, the rest are dead, wounded and disabled.

This was stated by the head of the Poltava regional TCC Vitaliy Berezhnoy, speaking yesterday at the 39th session of the Poltava City Council.


The problem is that the U.S. no longer has the reserves that are needed to sustain a large conflict:

[T]he US Army is facing a dire combination of a recruiting shortfall and a shrinking Individual Ready Reserve. This recruiting shortfall, nearly 50 percent in the combat arms career management fields, is a longitudinal problem. Every infantry and armor soldier we do not recruit today is a strategic mobilization asset we will not have in 2031. The Individual Ready Reserve, which stood at 700,000 in 1973 and 450,000 in 1994, now stands at 76,000. These numbers cannot fill the existing gaps in the active force, let alone any casualty replacement or expansion during a large-scale combat operation.

The authors recommend to re-introduce a partial conscription.

Politically that is unlike to happen. Any president who would do that would face immediate hostility from his voters.

Besides that there is rather large problem that most U.S. young citizens are not even qualified for it:

A new study from the Pentagon shows that 77% of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs or having mental and physical health problems.

A slide detailing the findings from the Pentagon's 2020 Qualified Military Available Study shared with Military.com shows a 6% increase from the latest 2017 Department of Defense research that showed 71% of Americans would be ineligible for service.

"When considering youth disqualified for one reason alone, the most prevalent disqualification rates are overweight (11%), drug and alcohol abuse (8%), and medical/physical health (7%)," the study, which examined Americans between the ages of 17 and 24, read. The study was conducted by the Pentagon's office of personnel and readiness.


Also most young people are not interested in serving in the military:

Only 9% of young people now show a propensity to serve, according to Defense Department polling data shared with ABC News. It's the lowest number seen in 15 years.
...
The second former senior military official said the recruiting problem is a sign of wider societal problems.

"It's a reflection on our country. It is our country, and those recruiters see those problems firsthand every day," the former official said.


Yup.

The next point in the Parameters paper is the wide introduction of drones:

The ubiquitous use of unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles, satellite imagery, sensor-based technologies, smartphones, commercial data links, and open-source intelligence is fundamentally changing the way armies will fight on the land domain in much the same way that unmanned aerial vehicles have changed the way air forces conduct operations in this century. These systems, coupled with emerging artificial intelligence platforms, dramatically accelerate the pace of modern war.

Western military have yet to introduce drones on the necessary scale. The Ukrainian and Russia military have both done well in that. They have recognized that drones are, like ammunition, consumables with Ukraine reportedly losing 10,000 per months. On top of reconnaissance drones the first-person-view (FPV) targeted armed drones have led to a wide use of drones in the role of precision targeted artillery.

Any units that are bunching up on the future battlefield will get immediately recognized and punished. This complicates the preparation for any larger operation.

This will require, the author say, a new level of deception when preparing for battle. It also requires more multi-domain reconnaissance and intelligence at every level. Any group leader should have a tablet and the necessary information available to him.

This point is probably the easiest one to fix. It just needs time until the necessary production facilities are in place to produce the necessary mass amounts of drones and to get some cheap information system down to the last level.

The other problems, Mission Command, personnel reserves and recruitment fitness, are cultural issues that will resist change.

The U.S. military, as many other western ones, is currently unable to fight on the large-scale combat level as the Russian army is currently doing.

That not only relates to the army but also to the navy and air-force. The U.S. ship-building capacity is 200 times lower than China's. U.S. Navy ships are badly conceived boondoggles. The short legged F-35 jets have terrible availability rates.

Despite all that U.S. politicians continue to instigate for wars against high level competitors.

The results of wars against Russia or China with the military forces the U.S. currently has would be embarrassing. It would be much better to not ever try it.



https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/09/what-the-us-will-learn-and-not-l
earn-from-the-war-in-ukraine.html#more


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Monday, September 18, 2023 7:37 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Human Rights In Russia Have 'Significantly Deteriorated,' UN Rapporteur Finds

The human rights situation in Russia has significantly deteriorated since it invaded Ukraine in February last year, a United Nations expert said on September 18, describing a "systematic crackdown" on civil society and calling for redress. The report by Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova, alleges that Russian authorities have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of critics of the war and says those detained risk death due to the "persistent use of torture and ill-treatment." It is the first time the UN Human Rights Council has been mandated to examine the record of one of its so-called "P5" members, which hold permanent seats on the Security Council.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-united-nations-report-human-rights/3259
7605.html


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, September 18, 2023 5:45 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Human rights have disappeared in Ukraine and significantly deteriorated in the EU, UK, USA, and Canada. Why no reports about THAT???





-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Monday, September 18, 2023 6:01 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Human rights have disappeared in Ukraine and significantly deteriorated in the EU, UK, USA, and Canada. Why no reports about THAT???

North Korea violated human rights, per the UN. Related, North Korea supplies Russia with ammo to murder Ukrainians.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-idprk/commission-inquiryon-h
-rin-dprk


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 2:40 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


You imagine that if you keep repeating Russia and N Korea in the same sentence, people will eventually link the two nations in their minds. In reality, the only thing it does for me is demonstrate that your propaganda techniques are so crude that they're irritating and counterproductive.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 6:29 AM

JAYNEZTOWN


a war with no end?

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 7:18 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
You imagine that if you keep repeating Russia and N Korea in the same sentence, people will eventually link the two nations in their minds. In reality, the only thing it does for me is demonstrate that your propaganda techniques are so crude that they're irritating and counterproductive.

You imagine denying commonalities and shared goals will work to Russia's advantage.

Ukraine war: reports suggest that Russia has been deliberately targeting journalists – which is a war crime

Published: September 18, 2023 10.54 am EDT

At least 15 media workers have been killed in Ukraine since Russia began its full-scale war in February 2022. Along with targeting civilians, hospitals, schools, orphanages, residential buildings, communications centres and places of worship, the Russian state has been accused by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine of deliberately targeting journalists.

In a conflict such as the war in Ukraine, many journalists risk their lives to report the truth and reveal war crimes committed by both sides. But when journalists themselves are targeted, these war crimes almost always go unpunished.

Research from advocacy group Human Rights Watch has found that a de facto impunity exists for those responsible due to a lack of effort by many governments to bring killers of journalists to justice.

According to Unesco, the perpetrators go unpunished in nine out of ten cases when journalists are murdered, and this impunity “leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems”.

Russia: a dangerous place for journalists

Threatening, attacking, disappearing and murdering journalists is not a new tactic of war in general. It is certainly not unknown in Russia, where the state is involved in targeting or issuing assassination orders for Russian journalists such as Elena Kostyuchencko for her reporting on the war in Ukraine.

Forty-eight journalists and media workers have been killed in Russia since Vladimir Putin came to power in 1999. Many of them were killed in contract-style murders without arrests or trials.

This includes Russian war correspondent Anna Politkovskaya who was assassinated in October 2006 after covering the second Chechen war. Although it remains unclear who ordered her murder, as is the case with many journalist killings in Russia, Politkovskaya exposed corruption in Russia at the highest levels.

She wrote in her 2004 book Putin’s Russia: “If you want to go on working as a journalist, it’s total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial – whatever our special services, Putin’s guard dogs, see fit.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has been at pains to restrict media coverage, passing new laws targeting journalists and freedom of expression. It is now a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment, to call the war anything but a “special military operation”.

In March 2022, Putin signed a law calling for prison sentences of up to 15 years for people who publish “false news” about the Russian military. In July 2022, the Russian president also signed legislation allowing Russian officials to close down foreign media organisations for what it interprets as “hostile actions against Russian media abroad”.

As part of a crackdown on non-government and international media organisations, Russia has restricted access to, stripped the licensing of, or banned from operating Novaya Gazeta, Radio Echo, BBC Russia, Radio Liberty and Meduza, among others. Most independent media organisations have had to cease operations, with their reporters fleeing the country.

One broadcaster, TV Rain, was targeted by the Kremlin back in 2021 and declared a “foreign agent”. Advertisers shunned it and it was forced to go online only. Then, in March 2022, when the new media laws came into force, Russian authorities suspended it over its war coverage. As a result, TV Rain was forced to operate in exile.

A dangerous (but vital) occupation

Less than a week into the full-scale invasion, a Sky News television crew was ambushed and shot at by Russian troops, despite the crew identifying themselves as journalists. Swiss photojournalist Guillaume Briquet was shot and robbed by Russian soldiers in southern Ukraine on March 6 2022, while driving an armoured car with visible press markings. In both instances, the media workers were able to survive the attacks and live to tell the story. Many were not.

American Brent Renaud was the first international journalist killed in Ukraine. He was travelling with documentary photographer Juan Arredondo in a car driven by a Ukrainian civilian when Russian troops opened fire on the vehicle on March 13 2022. Arredondo was wounded.

The same day, Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin, covering the war for Reuters, and his bodyguard Oleksiy Chernyshov were killed. An investigation by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) concluded this was a deliberate execution. The RSF report suggested they may have been killed after being interrogated and tortured.

More recently, Ukrainian journalist Bohdan Bitik was killed in April 2023 while reporting for La Repubblica near Kherson in the south of Ukraine. He and his colleague Corrado Zunino were targeted by snipers, despite wearing vests clearly identifying them as press.

Changing norms?

Based on these cases and more, our research aims to examine the effect of these violations of international law and codified norms.

Journalists are protected as civilians under the 1949 Geneva conventions, which Russia ratified in 1954. These conventions state that during international armed conflicts, journalists are entitled to all the rights and protections granted to civilians unless they take a direct part in hostilities.

“War correspondent” is a legal term that applies to journalists who travel with forces but are not troops themselves, and who have received authorisation from the armed forces they accompany. They are also considered civilians, but have the additional protection of being treated as prisoners of war if captured (from the third Geneva convention).

Furthermore, the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) states that intentionally attacking a civilian not taking direct part in hostilities is a war crime. The ICC cannot prosecute states or organisations, but it can prosecute individuals.

The rules that are supposed to protect journalists are being eroded, and it is becoming more commonplace for journalists to be targeted during war. It is essential – for us all – that the protections afforded to journalists under international are scrupulously upheld, and those responsible for their deaths are caught and face the consequences.

https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-reports-suggest-that-russia-ha
s-been-deliberately-targeting-journalists-which-is-a-war-crime-213663


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 12:25 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
You imagine that if you keep repeating Russia and N Korea in the same sentence, people will eventually link the two nations in their minds. In reality, the only thing it does for me is demonstrate that your propaganda techniques are so crude that they're irritating and counterproductive.\\

SECOND: You imagine denying commonalities


SUCH AS??

Quote:

and shared goals
SUCH AS??

Betcha you can't even answer those questions.
Cue "Trumptard" in 3...2...1...



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 1:17 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Milley & Stoltenberg Agree: 'We Must Prepare Ourselves For A Long War In Ukraine'


Oh, they wish!!!

They've scaled back their ambitions from "victory in Ukraine" and "regime change in Russia" to "prepare for a long war".

Guys, it's too fucking late to "prepare" for a long war.


NATO/USA are out of ammo and weapons that can be conveniently spared, weapons manufacturing capability is paltry and vastly exceeded by Russia, troop levels are insufficient to tackle anything other than a third-world military, and many economies are in serious trouble. NATO and the USA will fall further and further behind. And now, they want to tackle China???

I think what they're REALLY doing is preparing the USA/NATO public for putting Ukraine on the back burner and eventually trying to memory-hole the entire clusterfuck. But I don't think Russia will let them. Russia has security issues it needs to resolve, ie. NATO expansion to the east. Creating a neutral Ukraine is just the first step.

If Russia succeeds, I don't know if it will pause, or move on to the next hot issue, which is those missile installations in Poland and Romania.

Just trying to bring some, yanno, reality to the realworld forum.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 1:41 PM

THG


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:


Milley & Stoltenberg Agree: 'We Must Prepare Ourselves For A Long War In Ukraine'



Oh, they wish!!!

They've scaled back their ambitions from "victory in Ukraine" and "regime change in Russia" to "prepare for a long war".

Guys, it's too fucking late to "prepare" for a long war.


NATO/USA are out of ammo and weapons that can be conveniently spared, weapons manufacturing capability is paltry and vastly exceeded by Russia, troop levels are insufficient to tackle anything other than a third-world military, and many economies are in serious trouble. NATO and the USA will fall further and further behind. And now, they want to tackle China???

I think what they're REALLY doing is preparing the USA/NATO public for putting Ukraine on the back burner and eventually trying to memory-hole the entire clusterfuck. But I don't think Russia will let them. Russia has security issues it needs to resolve, ie. NATO expansion to the east. Creating a neutral Ukraine is just the first step.

If Russia succeeds, I don't know if it will pause, or move on to the next hot issue, which is those missile installations in Poland and Romania.

Just trying to bring some, yanno, reality to the realworld forum.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM









Poor comrade Signym. She lives in a delusional state. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO has expanded. Expanded in a way that is a nightmare for Russia. NATO countries have also enlarged their military budgets. And as far as what America has sent in the way of munitions, it is mostly systems that are being phased out of service. No loss there.

Russia has lost many naval vessels including a submarine, unimaginable amounts of its combat capabilities; its hardware and munitions. And 3 hundred thousand troops killed and injured. All this without NATO firing a shot.

I told you comrade when Putin was raising a glass of Champaign to Trump being elected, that payback was going to be a bitch. Russia as you know it will never recover from this; ever.

Can_you_see_me_laughing?

T


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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 2:13 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


You really think so?

Well, time will tell, won't it?


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 2:40 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Zelensky Fires Top Defense Officials In Corruption Purge Ahead Of Washington Trip


BWAHAHAHA!
Corruption has been endemic in Ukraine since whenever. Seems a little LATE, dontcha think, to be addressing this now? Especially at the END of a (failed) counteroffensive? I mean, really, if Kiev really wanted this to succeed they would have tackled this three years ago.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 3:26 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:

Zelensky Fires Top Defense Officials In Corruption Purge Ahead Of Washington Trip


BWAHAHAHA!
Corruption has been endemic in Ukraine since whenever. Seems a little LATE, dontcha think, to be addressing this now? Especially at the END of a (failed) counteroffensive? I mean, really, if Kiev really wanted this to succeed they would have tackled this three years ago.

Corruption was endemic in the USA during WWII:

Shortly after the formation of the special committee, Truman delivered a radio address describing rumors circulating in Washington of profiteering and favoritism in the awarding of defense contracts. "When people create delays for profit, when they sell poor products for defense use, when they cheat on price and quality," he declared, "they aren't any different from a draft dodger and the public at large feels just the same way about it." Truman encouraged Americans to report to the committee "information of irregularities, based on facts, where the Government's interests have been violated." Thousands of Americans from across the country responded, flooding the committee with letters.

https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/truman.h
tm


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 6:35 PM

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The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Swiss army suspends sale of old bunkers due to Russia-Ukraine war

Swiss army takes measures to enhance self-protection capabilities
Timo Kirez | Update : 19.09.2023

GENEVA

The Swiss military has halted the sale of its aging bunkers that dot the country as the war in Ukraine continues, the country's army chief told local media on Monday.

"We have to take what we have," top Swiss military official Thomas Sussli told newspapers owned by the Tamedia Group media company, adding that the military is in the process of assessing the country's bunker stock.

Among these facilities, Sussli said, are bunkers whose locations are known and are currently in use by the army, which aims to ensure that the country's military cannot be knocked out of action with just a few bombing raids.

The Russia-Ukraine war has also prompted the Swiss army to seek to decentralize its structure, with the air force, for example, to train to operate from improvised sites.

Switzerland's military had already announced in August that it would focus more on defending itself and its assets in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

"We always have to protect our shelters and camps first before we can protect others," Sussli had told public broadcaster SRF in August.

He also announced plans to enhance its counterintelligence capabilities, along with further measures on supplies and infrastructure.

Switzerland has for decades been home to hundreds of thousands of shelters and bunkers for its civilians to take refuge in the event of military conflict, having adopted a policy of "one shelter for every inhabitant."

According to the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), there are about 370,000 private and public shelters capable of housing around 9 million people for a unique coverage rate of over 100%. This system of shelters was created during the Cold War.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/swiss-army-suspends-sale-o
f-old-bunkers-due-to-russia-ukraine-war/2994890


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023 9:37 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

NYT In Rare About-Face Now Says Ukraine (Not Russia) Behind Mass Casualty Missile Strike On Market

The New York Times has issued a surprise about-face regarding the September 6 deadly missile strike on the center of the Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, which is in Donetsk Oblast.

. . .

The fresh Tuesday Times report https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/world/europe/ukraine-missile-kostia
ntynivka-market.html
underscores that less than two hours after the market was struck, "President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russian 'terrorists' for the attack, and many media outlets followed suit."

Oh, like this is new and unusual?

Quote:

The NY Times was at the time among those major outlets which uncritically went with Zelensky's version of events.


But the missile came from the Ukrainian side, with the NY Times' investigators finding that it was a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile that hit the busy civilian area and killed and wounded scores.

One of the key videos which the NYT analyzed to reach this conclusion was actually provided by Zelensky's office, ironically enough.

According to the New York Times report, "evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system."

And that's what's missing from most "Kiev says" echo chamber reports ... evidence. Perhaps some of you have heard of the concept?
MORE AT https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nyt-rare-about-face-now-says-uk
rainian-missile-likely-behind-mass-casualty-strike


That's why I reject fatuous claims from Kiev about "300,000 Russians killed", and why you should, too.

Oh, and don't bitch at me, THUGR, that this comes from ZH since I linked the original NYT article.


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Wednesday, September 20, 2023 6:57 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Zelensky: ‘War Crimes Must Be Punished’

Ukraine’s president made an impassioned plea at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly to bring wrongdoers—such as Russia—to justice.

By J. Alex Tarquinio, September 19, 2023, 5:37 PM

Zelensky arrived in New York with a small entourage and a big agenda, hoping to garner multilateral support for Ukraine’s ambitious peace plan and perhaps even his government’s cherished goal of establishing a special tribunal to try Russian President Vladimir Putin for the crime of aggression.

“For the first time in modern history, we have a real chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked,” Zelensky said in his much-anticipated turn at the U.N. General Assembly’s famous rostrum today. Speaking in English, he told the assembly that “while Russia is pushing the world to the final war, Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation. Weaponization must be restrained. War crimes must be punished.”

With a Ukraine delegation including Zelensky’s wife and foreign minister joining him in the assembly hall, and Russia represented by its deputy ambassador to the U.N., Zelensky made it clear that he didn’t believe promises would be enough to reassure Ukraine. “Evil cannot be trusted,” he said. “Ask [dead mercenary boss Yevgeny] Prigozhin if one bets on Putin’s promises.”

Putin is already facing charges in the International Criminal Court for the alleged unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine. But an independent tribunal for the crime of aggression has been among Kyiv’s goals since the early days of the war, and its diplomats were circulating a draft resolution for the U.N. General Assembly’s consideration as early as last October. Ultimately, the proposal was left out of the resolution that was supported by 141 member states in February in order to persuade more countries to sign on.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has been more explicit than many of Ukraine’s allies in his support for the idea. He told the U.N. General Assembly today, “we support the idea of establishing an ad hoc special tribunal.” Then, foreshadowing Zelensky, he added, “The crimes must be accounted for, and the perpetrators punished.”

But Zelensky may need to use all of his powers of persuasion to win over new converts to the idea in New York. “I’m not sure he’s going to find that the fence-sitters are very receptive to the idea of a tribunal,” said Richard Gowan, the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group. Zelensky might be arriving in New York with a stronger hand, Gowan said, if Ukraine’s slow-moving counteroffensive were further along. “It’s a lot harder to get other U.N. members to sign up to that sort of plan when they’re still very skeptical about how things are going to turn out on the battlefield.”

Moscow and Kyiv are locked in a diplomatic tussle for the hearts and minds of some traditionally nonaligned countries. For example, the foreign ministers of both countries recently made swings through African countries that have abstained in U.N. General Assembly votes about Russia’s war in Ukraine. Thomas G. Weiss, a CUNY Graduate Center political science professor and a longtime U.N. watcher, finds it baffling that more than 40 countries can still be sitting on the General Assembly sidelines.

“In rhetorical terms, the one thing they can usually agree on is that colonization was not a great idea,” he said. “And yet they do not condemn this blatant return to empire.”

More at https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/19/unga-zelensky-speech-united-natio
ns-ukraine-russia-biden-war-crimes/?tpcc=recirc_latest062921


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 20, 2023 7:47 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russian soldiers are being slaughtered as they go up against their Ukrainian counterparts without ammunition, according to a recently released interview with a soldier's wife.

Three Russian brigades were virtually destroyed in the fight for the settlement of Andriivka about eight miles south of Bakhmut, according to a Ukrainian general.

One Russian soldier’s family described the dire situation he and his comrades faced on the ground with near-zero support from their officers.

The man’s wife said: “They are thrown into this Andriivka practically without weapons. [My husband] said that basically ‘we are going at them with shovels and without artillery support’.”

Even in the face of an almost certain death, there can be no retreat, according to the soldier's wife. Speaking to Radio Liberty, she said: “There's no retreat because there are people behind us who won't spare us either.”

The use of so-called barrier units by the Russian side has been documented throughout the war and in June video emerged of retreating Russian soldiers appearing to be gunned down by their own side.

In addition, a video purportedly from Andriivka appears to show surrendering Russians shelled in friendly fire as they made their way to Ukrainian lines.

Later, the soldier - who has had his name withheld for his protection - told reporters: “We send 25 people on a mission, and only six return. Our artillerymen are currently launching assaults.

“They were told 'you still have no ammunition; go in as infantry'. But the guys don't even know what an assault is.

“Essentially, they send us there as cannon fodder. We need the coordinates for our artillery and information about the targets we should engage, but our artillery can't function because they lack shells.”

He claims that when desperate soldiers facing cluster bombs and intense Ukrainian bombardments relay the hopeless situation to their commanders, the response is often: “So what?”

https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/112346/russian-soliders-uk
raine-war-andriivka


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 20, 2023 10:55 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Timothy Snyder on why we should thank Ukrainians

Joel Eissenberg | September 20, 2023 9:14 am

Timothy Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University, a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna and an expert on Russian and Eastern European history. Yesterday, he narrated an essay on his Substack site https://snyder.substack.com/p/thanking-ukrainians#details on the occasion of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the US and expression of gratitude for UN support. Snyder believes that we should be thanking Ukranians. Here, I summarize his ten reasons:

1. Security in Europe: Ukraine has been the victim of a long-anticipated Russian military attack, the first such attack since NATO was established, and Ukraine is fulfilling the NATO mission of European security singlehandedly on the strength of 3% of the US defense budget;

2. Audit, in practice, of the US defense budget: using US military technology* and equipment, Ukraine has won back half the territory it lost to Russia in 2022 and has thereby shown us what a portion of the US defense budget can do in the field;

3. Increasing security in the Pacific: Ukraine’s success in absorbing Russian military power serves as a caution to China in its ambition to attack and conquer Taiwan and to threaten the South China Sea by showing the difficulty in carrying out offensive military operations;

4. Helping to feed the world: before the war started, Ukraine was a major source of food for Asia and Africa, and has some of the most fertile soil on the planet and is close to ports on the Black Sea. Russia has destroyed dams, irrigation, farm fields and port facilities, and Ukraine continues to try to get food out to feed the world;

5. Making nuclear war less likely: by refusing to give in to Russian nuclear blackmail and fighting back, Ukraine shows that other nations don’t have to possess nuclear weapons in order to stand up to nuclear powers, thereby making nuclear proliferation less likely;

6. Giving democracy a chance; democracy has been in decline for most of the 21st century, and the Russian attack on Ukraine is an explicit attack on democracy that Ukraine has steadfastly resisted in the name of democracy, demonstrating the strength of democracy;

7. Talking about freedom; freedom as a way of talking about a future in which people can realize their own possibilities;

8. Modeling courage; Zelenskyy exemplified this by staying in Kyiv when it was under siege and under threat of assassination, but that’s just the most visible example of the physical and moral courage the Ukrainian soldiers and civilians show every day that they remain in, and fight for, their homeland;

9. Search for truth; journalists, scholars, writers continue to report and discuss difficult truths about their society and culture during the stress and violence of war;

10. Giving us a chance to be on the right side; our people are not in Ukraine taking the risks to resist an illegal war, but the opportunity to help is important for us in evaluating our own democracy and our place in the world.

*Snyder overlooks the critical role of Starlink technology, which is privately owned, although the Ukraine military use is paid for by US tax dollars

https://angrybearblog.com/2023/09/timothy-snyder-on-why-we-should-than
k-ukrainians


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 20, 2023 11:00 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Well!

I didn't see THIS coming!

Quote:

NATO Fractures: In U-Turn, Poland Announces It Will No Longer Arm Ukraine
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2023 - 06:00 PM

The dam is breaking on unified Western support for Ukraine, and the timing couldn't be worse for Zelensky, given tomorrow he's expected to meet with President Biden at the White House. On Wednesday evening there is monumental news out of Poland which could potentially change the entire course of the war.

"Poland will no longer arm Ukraine to focus on its own defense," Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced just hours after Warsaw summoned Ukraine's ambassador related to a fresh war of words and spat over blocked grain, according to the AFP. Warsaw has throughout more than a year-and-a-half of the Ukraine-Russia war been Kiev's staunchest and most outspoken supporter.

Will this massive and hugely significant about-face mark the beginning of the end? Are peace negotiations and ceding of territory in the Donbas inevitable at this point?


https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nato-fractures-u-turn-poland-an
nounces-will-no-longer-arm-ukraine


From
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1704617373561397316

Also
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/21/poland-stop-ukraine-weap
ons-supply-grain-exports-dispute


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 21, 2023 7:03 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russia Quietly Orders 230,000 Certificates for Families of Dead Soldiers

By Isabel van Brugen On 9/19/23 at 11:10 AM EDT

Russian authorities have quietly ordered 230,000 certificates for family members of deceased veterans, an investigative news outlet has found, giving a rare insight into the scale of the death toll sustained by Moscow in the nearly 19-month-old war in Ukraine.

The certificates were ordered by Russia's Ministry of Labor and Social Development, independent Russian-language news outlet Verstka found on Monday, reporting that Moscow has inadvertently revealed the scale of possible losses among Russia's military in Ukraine.

"Russia claims that only several thousand of its soldiers were killed in the 'special military operation'. The indirect numbers, like these certificate orders, give a clearer picture," Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The ministry ordered more than 750,000 certificates for veterans of combat operations and 230,000 certificates for family members of deceased veterans, the publication found, citing data published on the Russian state procurement portal.

Verstka reported that the figures may indirectly indicate the approximate scale of the Russian losses in the war. According to the news outlet, in total, more than 900,000 combat veterans' certificates have been ordered since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

The figures have not been independently verified by Newsweek. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

Russia's death toll continues to rise amid a counteroffensive from Ukraine to recapture its occupied territories. According to figures released by Kyiv's military, more than 270,000 Russian troops have been "liquidated" in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As part of its daily update on the war, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces posts figures on Russia's troop and equipment losses. Moscow lost 520 soldiers over the past 24 hours, according to the military's Tuesday casualty toll of Russian troops—bringing the total to 273,460.

Estimates of casualty figures vary, with Kyiv's figures usually exceeding those of its Western allies.

Russia itself rarely releases figures on troop losses. In September 2022, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 Russian troops had been killed in the war in Ukraine since February 24, 2022.

Ukraine similarly avoids publishing casualty figures for its own forces; however, Western intelligence estimates suggest they are also substantial. In April, a leaked U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment estimated that Kyiv had suffered 124,500-131,000 casualties, including 15,500-17,500 dead and 109,000-113,500 wounded.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-orders-certificates-families-dead-sold
iers-ukraine-war-1828178


Also see the story: Putin gives biggest hint yet at staggering number of Russians he’s sent to die
By Brooke Davies, Wednesday 20 Sep 2023 12:29 pm
https://metro.co.uk/2023/09/19/putin-ordered-almost-250000-certificate
s-for-soldiers-killed-in-war-19520035
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, September 21, 2023 7:21 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two



The War in Ukraine Is About Europe’s Future

By Judy Dempsey, August 29, 2023
Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of Strategic Europe.
@Judy_Dempsey

Europe needs to rapidly increase its military support for Ukraine to ensure victory for Kyiv. A failure to do so would threaten the EU’s security and credibility—and embolden Moscow.

The Europeans cannot afford to let the war in Ukraine drag on.

The longer it continues, the more casualties and destruction will increase. Entire villages, towns, and cities have already been reduced to smithereens. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced or have left the country. Large swathes of the eastern regions have been turned into mine fields.

As the EU’s institutions get back to work after the summer break, its leaders and European governments cannot afford to accept the war in Ukraine as the new normal. Nor can the West—and that includes NATO—consider it is time for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow even though a certain war fatigue may be setting in.

Negotiations can only begin if Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is in a strong enough position to set the terms. Those terms are not just about restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity. They are about ensuring that Russia does not attack or threaten Kyiv again. An end to the war is about ending Russia’s imperial ambitions in this part of Europe.

Without those goals in mind, the European continent will be unstable, divided, and weak. It will be unable to act strategically. And it will be unable to deal with the immense challenges exacerbated by Russia’s two invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022.

One of those challenges is how to deal with Europe’s security deficit. It was bad enough during the war in the former Yugoslavia, which elicited a weak and divided European response. The Europeans simply didn’t have the military capacity to end it. And despite endless complaints by the United States about Europe’s unwillingness to spend more on defense and integrate its military structures, little has since been achieved.

More than that, former U.S. President Donald Trump never tired of criticizing the Europeans for taking America’s security guarantees for granted and for not spending enough on their own defense. (As a matter of fact, Pentagon chiefs, whether serving under Republican or Democrat presidents have also not minced their words about the parlous state of European defense.)

Trump’s tenure should have given Europeans the ideal opportunity to start taking their security seriously. They didn’t jump. Moreover, Russia’s war in Ukraine shows once again that many European countries still fail to understand that their own security is at risk.

This is the other aspect of the war. It has left the Europeans increasingly dependent on the United States for supporting Ukraine. And it has still not inculcated among Europeans a strategic culture that is based on security and hard power. Without a strong, integrated security infrastructure, Europe will remain vulnerable regardless of who is elected the next president of the United States in 2024.

It is hard to see which EU country is going to take the lead in pushing forward this strategic culture. Certainly not Germany, given how Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition is watering down the Zeitenwende that was aimed at making Berlin a serious defense and security player through higher spending and a modernization of the armed forces.

It is also hard to understand why the EU—with the exception of Poland, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, and Romania—does not see why a Ukrainian victory would make Europe more stable and secure.

The other challenge facing the Europeans, and this includes NATO, is the need for conviction.

It is not enough for leaders and defense ministers to say ad nauseam that they will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” or that Ukraine must win. How is that going to happen if the country is not provided with the essential military equipment? And if there are mutterings in some Europeans capitals and in Washington that the Ukrainian offensive has not been quick enough or effective enough, the reason is that Ukraine lacks the military support to achieve it.

This is where the role of conviction comes into play.

If NATO and the EU are committed to Ukraine, then they should match their words with actions. During the Vilnius summit in July, NATO threw away the opportunity to act courageously and with conviction. Ukraine should have been offered membership there and then. The security guarantees that were offered instead have not been ironed out.

The United States and Germany led the opposition to Ukraine joining NATO on the grounds that it would lead to more escalation by Russia, or even to a world war. As it is, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine already has global implications, for energy, for food supplies, and for global alliances, including China’s support for Russia. In short, the war in Ukraine is not confined to Ukraine.

This is the other, bigger challenge. The war is a test for Europe in particular and the West in general. It is about security, conviction, and trying to uphold values based on the pursuit of democracy. Ultimately, that’s what the Ukrainians are fighting for.

A fudged compromise will damage the West and appease—indeed embolden—Russia and its supporters.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/90444

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, September 21, 2023 11:32 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


One of Ukraine's strongest allies says it will no longer supply Kyiv with weapons

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/09/21/poland-says-it-will-no-longer-supp
ly-kyiv-with-weapons.html


Quote:

Poland has said it will no longer supply its neighbor Ukraine with weapons, as a rift over agricultural exports deepens.

"We no longer transfer weapons to [Ukraine], because we are now arming Poland," Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland's prime minister, said Wednesday on the X social media platform, previously known as Twitter, according to a Google translation.

"Ukraine is defending itself against the brutal Russian attack and I understand this situation, but as I said, we will protect our country," he added.



Holy shit. Taking care of your own citizens first in 2023? What a novel concept.


--------------------------------------------------

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Thursday, September 21, 2023 12:24 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


UKRAINE, THE GRIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Quote:

Rebooted Clinton Global Initiative Licks Chops Over Ukraine 'Humanitarian' Aid
Thursday, Sep 21, 2023 - 02:45 AM

The now-revived Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has found a new grift - Ukraine.

But first - a short review. The Clintons, through their foundation, fleeced Haiti to the tune of Billions following the 2010 earthquake which killed an estimated 220,000 people.

* Hillary Clinton's State Department pressured Haiti to suppress minimum wage in sweatshops in order to benefit US clothing manufacturers.

* Clinton Foundation donors were were handed government contracts to clean up in the aftermath of the earthquake.

* Bill Clinton intervened in the jail sentence of Laura Silsby, a convicted child trafficker who attempted to smuggle 33 children out of Haiti.

* A former Haitian government official set to expose the Clinton Foundation's misdeeds in Haiti shot himself in the head a week before he was able to testify.

* The Clinton Foundation even grifted Haiti's lime industry.

* Haiti's former Senate president said Hillary Clinton 'tried to bribe me!'

CGI was shuttered in 2017 after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election and donations mysteriously dried up. It was rebooted in 2022.

And now, Ukraine.

According to the ABC News, CGI will launch the "Ukraine Action Network" with the stated mission of delivering 'humanitarian aid' to Ukrainians, which will "mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians."

Pope Francis kicked off the new initiative in a videoconference with Bill Clinton on Monday, where he said "No challenge is too great if we meet it starting with personal conversion and the personal contribution that each of us can make to solve it... No challenge can be overcome alone — not alone, only together, sisters and brothers, children of God."

The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday. -ABC News

We're sure this will go well, particularly for the children of war-torn Ukraine, and CGI donors.


https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rebooted-clinton-global-initiative
-licks-chops-over-ukraine-humanitarian-aid


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 21, 2023 1:07 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
blah, blah, blah...




-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 21, 2023 11:28 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Meanwhile, if you have any doubts that the United States is the number one country in the World for military “interventions” just take a look at this report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad 1798 – 2023. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R42738 Since 1991, the United States has launched more than 200 military operations in foreign countries. Russia and China combined have been involved in less than 20 such activities. Just think about those numbers the next time you hear some American politician bloviate about the imperial ambitions of Russia and China. To paraphrase comedian Jeff Foxworthy, “If you launch an average of 9 foreign invasions a year you might be an Imperialist.”


https://sonar21.com/did-poland-just-torpedo-nato-and-ukraine/

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 22, 2023 6:23 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Ukrainian armored vehicles are operating beyond the final line of the Russian defensive layer that Ukrainian forces in western Zaporizhia Oblast are currently penetrating, although ISW is not yet prepared to assess that Ukrainian forces have broken fully through this Russian defensive layer. Geolocated footage posted on September 21 indicates that Ukrainian armored vehicles advanced south of the Russian anti-tank ditches and dragon’s teeth obstacles that are part of a tri-layered defense and engaged in limited combat immediately west of Verbove (18km southeast of Orikhiv).[1] It is unclear if Ukrainian forces retain these positions, however. This is the first observed instance of Ukrainian forces operating armored vehicles beyond the Russian tri-layer defense.[2] The presence of Ukrainian armored vehicles beyond the final line of the current Russian defensive layer indicates that the Ukrainians have secured their breach of the first two lines of this layer sufficiently to operate vehicles through the breach. Ukrainian forces have likely suppressed Russian artillery and other anti-tank systems in the area enough to bring their vehicles forward.[3] The Ukrainian ability to bring armored vehicles to and through the most formidable Russian defenses intended to stop them and to operate these vehicles near prepared Russian defensive positions are important signs of progress in the Ukrainian counteroffensive.[4] Additional geolocated footage published on September 20 and 21 indicates that Ukrainian forces also advanced west and southwest of Verbove.[5]

Russian opposition news outlet Meduza reported on September 21 that the Russian Presidential Administration distributed a manual on September 19 instructing Kremlin-affiliated media to highlight Ukrainian equipment and personnel losses and emphasize that Russian artillery fire and air strikes are effectively suppressing Ukrainian offensive actions.[37] ISW has routinely observed Russian units actively engaged in ground assaults, and the Russian information space has repeatedly complained about Russian forces’ poor counterbattery capabilities.[38]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-21-2023


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Friday, September 22, 2023 7:20 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


One in five mobilized Russian soldiers who died in the Ukraine war were killed less than two months after being enlisted, the independent investigative outlet IStories and the war monitoring project Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported Thursday, citing publicly available data.

IStories and CIT said their figures are based on data related to the deaths of nearly 3,000 draftees who have died since President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial" mobilization last September.

However, the two outlets stressed that the true death toll among mobilized troops is likely much higher.

The approximately 3,000 draftee deaths were documented by media reports, official announcements and relatives of soldiers who chose to speak publicly.

Only four of the mobilized reservists who died in the conflict lasted more than 11 months before being killed, according to IStories and CIT.

More than half of the mobilized troops killed were between the ages of 30 and 45 at the time of their death, according to the analysis, while nearly a third died between the ages of 20-29.

Moscow rarely comments on its war dead and the Russian Defense Ministry last updated its soldier death toll in September 2022, placing the figure at under 6,000 killed.

Western intelligence documents leaked earlier this year put the actual number closer to 110,000 Russian soldiers wounded and killed by February 2023.

Since announcing a "partial" mobilization of 300,000 reservists on Sept. 21, 2022, Russian authorities have digitized military records and tightened criminal punishment for draft evasion, as some observers have speculated that the Kremlin is preparing for a new draft campaign.

Yet the first wave of mobilization initiated last year is technically still in place as Putin, who publicly declared its end in November, has not signed a presidential decree that officially concludes mobilization.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/09/21/scores-of-ukrainian-drones-d
owned-over-annexed-crimea-western-russia-a82529


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Friday, September 22, 2023 9:01 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Ukrainian armored vehicles are operating beyond the final line

HAHAHAHA!!!

Quote:

of the Russian defensive layer that Ukrainian forces in western Zaporizhia Oblast are currently penetrating, although ISW is not yet prepared to assess that Ukrainian forces have broken fully through this Russian defensive layer. Geolocated footage posted on September 21 indicates that Ukrainian armored vehicles advanced south of the Russian anti-tank ditches and dragon’s teeth obstacles that are part of a tri-layered defense and engaged in limited combat immediately west of Verbove
Somebody needs to look at a map! Verbove is at the FIRST actual defensive line, not the third. I refer you to Military Summary Channel, which has the "Surovikin line" indicated, as well as the geolocations of all strikes and advances, Ukrainian and Russian.
The are STILL fighting around Verbove and Rabotino. The slaughter of Ukrianians continues. That hasn't changed in four months.

Fucking propagandist.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 22, 2023 11:10 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

HAHAHAHA!!!

Last Resort: Russian Soldiers Are Committing Suicide or Deserting After Receiving Faulty Weapons, No Ammunition

By David Wetzel, Sept 21, 2023

Conditions have gotten so bad among the Russian military that soldiers would commit suicide or desert rather than put themselves at risk of death after being given faulty ammunition and weapons in Ukraine, Knewz.com has learned.

Members of the 1,442nd regiment fighting in the Ukrainian village of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut said via video that they are getting out of there one way or another because choosing to fight would mean "guaranteed death."

The soldiers expressed frustration that they would be put in a desperate situation if they continue to fight using dud weapons and ammunition. They also say they fear they would be killed by fellow fighters if they were to retreat.

So, instead of fighting, many of the soldiers are killing themselves or deserting rather than face death in other directions.

In the video, the Russian soldiers told their wives and girlfriends that they are aware that they likely will eventually be killed for deserting.

"[We are] fighting … around Klishchiivka," they said in the video. "Almost all our infantry were killed…. An order came today to create a 10-person group for some assault - guaranteed death. Our ammunition is terrible. Some doesn't shoot, and those that do fail to explode …"

"Today… a man not from our regiment hanged himself, committed suicide because of fear."

The soldiers added that they "made a decision. We have fled. We left our weapons behind … but there are death squads …"

Such squads were used by Joseph Stalin in World War II to kill those retreating from the front lines.

"One retreating group was…shot dead …" said the spokesmen for the men. "People are fleeing, hanging themselves."

"We have served a year without holiday…. We are sent to a certain death."

The soldiers described themselves as "artillery without ammunition."

"When the ammunition ran out, we were made into the infantry. But we had no training to be infantry," they said.

According to a report from Astra, wives of the men sent a message to Russia President Vladimir Putin, saying, "Understanding the complexity of the situation, our men refuse to face certain death."

"For refusal, our men are beaten and sent into battle anyway. They do not [even] allow them to take out the wounded. They fire at them. Our men are forced to defend themselves not only from the enemy but also from their own people, who should help and not kill them."

According to the Daily Mail, the wives have not heard back from Putin.

The video comes just days after inebriated Russian soldiers blew themselves up with a grenade.

David Wetzel -- Previously a journalist for FrontPageDetectives.com and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, David Wetzel is a News Editor and Reporter for Knewz. He has more than 20 years’ experience in journalism across various roles in sports, news, features and breaking news.

https://knewz.com/russian-soldiers-suicide-desert-ukraine-war/



The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Friday, September 22, 2023 12:27 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Child rapist Zelensky cancelled next year's elections.

Ukraine is no longer a Democracy.

--------------------------------------------------

How you do anything is how you do everything.

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Friday, September 22, 2023 12:48 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


It was such an odd name, I looked up 1442 regiment.
Western search engines can't find it on western internet.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 22, 2023 1:33 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It was such an odd name, I looked up 1442 regiment.
Western search engines can't find it on western internet.

Look up this name: Abbas Gallyamov.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Abbas+Gallyamov

I Worked for Putin — He Was Rational, Patient and Logical

By Abbas Gallyamov, On 9/22/23

Everything worked just as Adolf Hitler had described: "[People] more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

Few understood that Putin could lie so colossally, and believed him.

Several years later, though, this asset started turning into a great liability, which ultimately led to a debacle that the Russian army suffered in Ukraine. The system began imitating its founder.

Seeing the enormous gap between what was said officially and what was actually done, seeing that no connection between the former and the latter was required, the ruling bureaucracy understood that such were the rules of the game: Just keep saying the right words and do whatever you consider necessary.

If you need money—just get access to the state funds. If you can't—sell any administrative resources you control.

I had an acquaintance who was responsible for personnel appointments in regional administrations. He was taking bribes from candidates like there was no tomorrow.

He justified himself by saying: "Well, I am a small person, I have neither Gazprom nor Rosneft (companies notorious for being controlled by Putin himself), I can't earn billions. My poor destiny is to sell petty vacancies."

It was obvious he was justifying himself by making references to the president.

A quarter of a century under these rules led to almost disastrous results.

Despite Russia's inexhaustible resources, full control over the country's political system, and the most favorable market conditions, the system Putin created turned out to be unable to achieve victory even in a sudden attack against a much smaller opponent.

The problem is that the ruling institutions in the country now are barely governable. When the situation was more or less comfortable, they seemed to somehow cope with the challenges that they were created to solve.

But when the system came under stress, it became obvious that they couldn't function. To run them effectively one needs to understand their real capabilities, to know the real state of affairs in them, but all one can get is just a bunch of false reports full of self-glorification and vain promises.

Why didn't the Russian army and all the other security agencies prepare for war? Their top brass couldn't believe that it would actually happen. They were so accustomed to empty speeches that they perceived Putin's orders as just a game of words.

"That's how the game is played. Putin should make a show that he is giving commands to prepare for war, while we should make a show that we are obeying him and following his instructions."

Even when the generals understood that it was no longer a game, they couldn't change anything. What could each of them do? Come to Putin and tell him: "Sorry, my president, I didn't think you were serious. I thought you were kidding. So now—when I see the degree of your earnestness—I need to confess that my ministry is not prepared for war."

It's obvious that one couldn't tell this to Putin, as it was clear what reaction would follow. We should keep in mind that members of his government are not samurais, they are mere opportunists. So they just let the matter slide hoping to hold on somehow.

After all, there was always a chance to shift responsibility for lack of success onto neighboring agencies. Russian bureaucrats are extremely professional in this.

More at https://www.newsweek.com/i-worked-putinhe-was-rational-patient-logical
-1828738


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Friday, September 22, 2023 2:30 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Russia Confirms Ukrainian Missile Strike On Black Sea Fleet HQ, [one] Personnel Missing

Others probably injured or dead.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-confirms-major-ukrainian
-attack-black-sea-fleet-hq-personnel-missing


People have questioned the purpose of drone attacks on Moscow and missile attacks on the the Black Sea fleet. Those people (the Duran, etc) believe that these attacks are not meant to win the war or topple the Putin government, but to shove a 'peace deal' down Moscow's throat that the WH is also trying to shove down Zelensky's throat.

The "peace deal", which was floated most recently (and openly) by NATO Scy General Jens Stoltenberg's chief deputy Stian Jenssen https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/16/nato-official-suggests-u
kraine-could-give-up-territory-in-exchange-for-membership
but also bruited about by ex-USA officials in the CFR, and hinted at by Blinken himself, is a "land for peace" deal. Russia would get to keep Crimea and the four eastern oblasts (without change of status recognized by the west) in exchange for a cease fire, while the remainder of Ukraine gets security guarantees from the west and eventual accession into NATO and the EU. Seems to me like a sweet deal for Zelensky, but he's having none of it. And it sounds totally unacceptable to Russia. Hence, the political, military, private, and/or financial pressure applied to both sides

This is Blinken's way of trying to weasel out of Ukraine in time for 2024.


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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 22, 2023 3:09 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It was such an odd name, I looked up 1442 regiment.
Western search engines can't find it on western internet.

SECOND; Look up this name: Abbas Gallyamov.

What does this have to do with a regiment that may or may not be fictional?
Oh, I get it! You're just changing the topic to avoid being exposed as a liar!


Quote:

Originally posted by Second:
blah blah blah blah ...




-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Saturday, September 23, 2023 6:59 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It was such an odd name, I looked up 1442 regiment.
Western search engines can't find it on western internet.

SECOND; Look up this name: Abbas Gallyamov.

What does this have to do with a regiment that may or may not be fictional?
Oh, I get it! You're just changing the topic to avoid being exposed as a liar!


Quote:

Originally posted by Second:
blah blah blah blah ...



You are absolutely crazy, Signym. How is that working for you? Doesn't being crazy make your life harder? Abbas Gallyamov pointed out that Putin's behavior has spread to many other Russians who imitate his style. That style hasn't worked to the Russians' advantage.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Saturday, September 23, 2023 7:00 AM

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The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


The Ukrainian Armed Forces Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) stated that Ukrainian forces launched a successful strike on the Russian BSF Command headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea on September 22.[1] Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces used Storm Shadow cruise missiles to conduct the strike, and social media footage of the headquarters indicates significant damage to the building.[2]

The Russian information space heavily focused its attention on the Ukrainian strike on Sevastopol on September 22. One Russian milblogger complained about Russian authorities’ inability to control the spread of Ukrainian information about the consequences of the strike, and other milbloggers criticized Russian authorities and the Russian military for not retaliating sufficiently.[8]

Several unnamed people familiar with ongoing deliberations on ATACMS also told the Washington Post that the Biden administration plans to provide Ukraine with a version of ATACMS armed with cluster bomblets rather than a single (unitary) warhead.[18] The Washington Post reported that cluster-armed ATACMS have a range of up to 190 miles (depending on the version) and could allow Ukraine to strike Russian military positions far into the rear.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-22-2023


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 23, 2023 7:54 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.

September 22, 2023, 3:12 AM by Stephen M. Walt, the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University.

What is the morally preferable course of action in Ukraine? At first glance, it seems obvious. Ukraine is the victim of an illegal war, its territory is occupied, its citizens have suffered mightily at the hands of the invader, and its adversary is an autocratic regime with any number of unsavory qualities. Strategic calculations aside, surely the proper moral course is to back Ukraine to the hilt. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a gathering at the Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kyiv this month: “When we are talking about this war, we are always talking about morality.” Not surprisingly, he conveyed the same message when he visited Washington this week.

If only the moral calculus were that simple.

Ever since the war began, those who favor giving Ukraine “whatever it takes” for as long as it takes have sought to portray the war in the usual U.S. fashion: as a straightforward contest between good and evil. In their telling, Russia is solely to blame for the war, and Western policy had absolutely nothing to do with the resulting tragedy. They portray Ukraine as a struggling but plucky democracy that has been brutally attacked by a corrupt, imperialist dictatorship. They see the moral stakes as nearly infinite, because the outcome of the war will supposedly have a far-reaching impact on the future of democracy, the fate of Taiwan, the preservation of a rules-based order, etc. Not surprisingly, they are quick to condemn anyone who challenges this view as a naïve appeaser, a Russian lackey, or someone lacking any sense of moral judgment.

None of these claims should be accepted without qualification. There’s no question Russia started the war and deserves to be condemned for it, but the claim that Western policy had nothing to do with it is risible, as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg recently acknowledged. Yes, Ukraine is a democracy, but also one that still contains some unsavory elements, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s depiction of it as a “Nazi regime” is grossly exaggerated. The suggestion that the outcome of this conflict will have a profound impact around the world is even less convincing: The Korean War ended in a stalemate and negotiated armistice and the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan were clear U.S. defeats, but the geopolitical consequences of these failures were mostly local; this is likely to be true in Ukraine, whatever the ultimate outcome. The same is true in reverse, by the way: The West’s overwhelming victory in the first Gulf War and Serbia’s defeat in the Kosovo War didn’t spark an enduring democratic renaissance. Democracy is in trouble in many places—including the United States—but military setbacks abroad are not the main reason, and a decisive Ukrainian victory wouldn’t restore the U.S. Republican Party to sanity or make France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Viktor Orban abandon their illiberal political programs.

Even so, it’s understandable why almost everyone in the West—including me—thinks the moral case favors Ukraine. Whatever Moscow’s prewar fears or grievances may have been, Russia did start an illegal preventive war. This fact doesn’t make Russia uniquely evil (Operation Iraqi Freedom, anyone?), but Ukraine is still the victim here. Russia has deliberately attacked civilian targets and committed other war crimes on a scale that greatly exceeds Ukraine’s own violations of the laws of war (although the U.S. decision to give Kyiv cluster munitions muddies this picture somewhat). It is hard to see a lot of moral virtue in a Russian regime that poisons exiles and rejects key human rights principles, and in which opposition figures fall from high windows or suffer other fatal “accidents” with statistically improbable frequency. These and other features go a long way to explaining why most of us feel genuine sympathy for Ukraine and would like Kyiv to win.

What’s missing in this view, however, is an acknowledgement that the morality of a given policy also depends on the potential costs of different courses of action and the likelihoods of success of each one. If we are talking about human lives, we must look beyond abstract principles and consider the real-world consequences of different choices. It’s not enough to proclaim that the good guys must win; one must also think seriously about what it will cost to produce that outcome and whether it can in fact be achieved. Although there is no way to be 100-percent certain about either the likely costs or the probability of success, refusing even to consider these features is an abdication of moral responsibility. (For a rare attempt to perform the kind of analysis I’m advocating, see a RAND Corporation report here. Avoiding a Long War, U.S. Policy and the Trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2510-1.html )

The long war in Afghanistan offers a telling illustration of this problem. Although a few observers hoped the Taliban might have moderated its views over time, nearly everyone understood that a Taliban victory would be a moral calamity for most Afghans, and especially for Afghan women. Those of us who favored a U.S. withdrawal did so not because we were indifferent to Afghan suffering, but because we believed that staying longer would not alter the eventual outcome in any significant way. Those who wanted to stay the course kept insisting that NATO and its Afghan government partners were “turning the corner” and that another year or two or three would eventually yield a victory; but they never identified a plausible strategy for achieving that aim (and internal assessments were much more pessimistic). Whatever the United States’ original intentions may have been, the lives of Afghans who died while Washington was busily kicking the can down the road were lost to no good purpose.

I fear something similar is now occurring in Ukraine. The moral case for pursuing peace—even if the prospects are unlikely and the results are not what we’d prefer—lies in recognizing that the war is destroying the country and that the longer it lasts the more extensive and enduring the damage will be. Unfortunately for Ukraine, anyone who points this out and offers a serious alternative is likely to be loudly and harshly condemned and almost certain to be ignored by the relevant political leaders.

Those who believe the long-term answer is to send Ukraine more advanced weapons and get it into NATO and the European Union as quickly as possible—as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman opined last weekend—have it exactly backwards. Putin went to war primarily to foreclose this possibility, and he’ll continue the war either to prevent it from happening or to ensure that whatever remains of Ukraine is of little value. It makes sense to give Ukraine enough support that Russia cannot dictate a peace, but that support should be tied to a serious effort to bring the war to a close.

Hardliners have an obvious reply to these arguments, of course. “Ukraine wants to keep fighting,” they insist—correctly, “and we should therefore give them whatever they need.” Ukraine’s resolve has been extraordinary, and its desires should not be dismissed lightly, but this argument is not decisive. If a friend wants to do something you think is ill-advised or dangerous, you are under no moral obligation to aid their efforts no matter how strongly committed they may be. On the contrary, you’d be morally culpable if you helped them act as they wished and the result was disastrous.

Of course, these moral tradeoffs diminish if you believe Ukraine can win at an acceptable cost and that this outcome will have a profound positive impact around the world. As noted above, this is the war party’s central argument. Given the disappointing (if not disastrous) results of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive, however, that position is getting harder to defend. Hardliners now hope that more advanced weaponry (Army Tactical Missile Systems [ATACMS], F-16 aircraft, M-1 rifles, hordes of drones, etc.) will tip the balance in Ukraine’s favor. Or they speculate that Russia is running out of reserves and will soon be on the ropes. I hope they are right, but it is telling that these hawks are mostly silent on the issue of Ukraine’s own losses. To be specific: How many Ukrainians have been killed or wounded, and how long can Kyiv continue to replace them? This issue is vital to any attempt to assess Ukraine’s prospects, but reliable information on it is almost impossible to obtain.

Even today, none of us knows for certain how the rest of the war will unfold. Our collective ignorance suggests that all participants in these debates should show a bit more humility. It’s possible I’m underestimating Kyiv’s chances and the negative consequences of a negotiated deal. If I turn out to be wrong, I’ll be happy to admit it and will take considerable solace from Ukraine’s success. But I wish hardliners would acknowledge that their uncompromising approach to the war could do more harm to Ukraine in the long run. Not because that is what hardliners want, but because that is what their policy recommendations may produce.

One last point to bear in mind. If you’re still eager to assign moral responsibility for the war, it doesn’t lie with those of us who warned about the dangers of open-ended NATO expansion, cautioned about the risks of interfering too openly in Ukraine’s internal politics, and argued that ill-considered efforts to arm Ukraine might backfire. Putin is responsible for starting the war and for how Russia has waged it, but some of the blame for this tragedy lies with those in the West who rejected all those earlier warnings about where their policies might lead. Given that many of these same people are among the loudest voices calling to continue the war, raise the stakes, and increase Western support, one is entitled to wonder whether their advice will do as much harm to Ukraine today as it did in the past.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/22/ukraine-war-ethics-morality-murky/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 23, 2023 12:42 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/09/fact-russia-is-losing-the-ukraine-
war-badly
/

Contrary to those Western analysts who believe the Russo-Ukrainian War has reached a stalemate, pro-regime Russians admit that they are losing—badly.

Two pieces of evidence make a convincing case.

On September 15, Major General Andrei Gurulyev, a combative Duma deputy of markedly illiberal tendencies who in recent months has argued that Russia should “burn” Ukraine, bomb Great Britain, and reintroduce the Stalinist terror, suddenly had a change of heart and described conditions on the front lines as being near-catastrophic. He even had the temerity to call the war a war, eschewing the prescribed official terminology (“special military operation”) and thereby engaging in a criminal offense for which many Russians have been punished.

According to Gurulyev’s Telegram posting, the Ukrainians are resilient, adaptive, and resourceful, and have succeeded in pushing back the Russians, imposing high casualties, evading Russian artillery, neutralizing Russian helicopters, deploying huge numbers of virtually limitless drones, and dealing effectively with the minefields. Indeed, “the enemy has seized some of our defensive positions.” Naturally, concludes Gurulyev, “we will win,” though “only one serious problem keeps us from Victory.” What might that be?

It’s lying.

Gurulyev’s answer is shocking, considering that he’s spent much of his career doing just what he now denounces. “Mendacious reports, unfortunately, lead to incorrect decisions on a variety of levels.” The major general is right, of course, though what he fails to see is that the problem is inherent in the very nature of the overcentralized political (and military) system created by Russia’s illegitimate president, Vladimir Putin. Mendacity, to put it simply, is the best way to survive and thrive in today’s Russia, just as it was in the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

The lying begins at the lowest levels and then proceeds upwards. By the time it reaches the corridors of power, Russia’s decision-makers, Putin included, have a false, sugarcoated picture of actual events on the ground. Hence his belief that invading Ukraine would be a cakewalk. Fixing the problem requires more than stopping to lie. The only effective solution is to dismantle Putin’s top-heavy fascist regime and replace it with something approaching democratic accountability.

Gurulyev paints a depressing picture — for Russia, that is — but just how bad conditions are on the front was made crystal clear in mid-September by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, which ordered 230,000 death certificates for family members of deceased combat veterans. Back in May 2023, it ordered 23,716 such certificates; in 2022, the number was 5,777.

The last two numbers — 23,716 and 5,777 — look like accurate tabulations of war dead, though keep in mind that they probably do not include the thousands of Russians left to rot on the battlefield, the approximately 50,000 dead Wagner mercenaries (of whom many were inmates), and the tens of thousands of fighters from the occupied Donbas territories. The first figure — 230,000 — may reflect the actual number of dead or an estimate of how many will die or both.

Now, let’s engage in some conservative “guesstimating.” We know that 29,493 definitely died. Add 10,000 left to rot, 50,000 Wagnerites, and another 50,000 Donbasites, and we get approximately 140,000 dead Russians. Let’s assume that of the 230,000 just-ordered death certificates only half are intended for actually killed Russians and the rest are intended for future use. That comes out to 115,000; add that figure to 140,000 and you get 255,000 dead Russian soldiers. Significantly, the Ukrainians estimate that about 274,000 Russians have been killed.

Whatever the exact number of Russian fatalities, it’s obviously very high—probably no fewer than 150,000 and no more than 275,000. These numbers are decidedly not evidence of Russian battlefield success or even of a stalemate. And viewed in tandem with Gurulyev’s lamentations, they convincingly demonstrate that Western analysts and policymakers who see no chance of a Ukrainian victory are simply dead wrong. In fact, victory may be closer than we suspect. All Ukraine needs to do is to continue doing what it’s already doing: degrading Russian military infrastructure, incrementally liberating territory, killing Russians, and demoralizing survivors.

Small wonder that the Kremlin wants to introduce a second, much larger mobilization. Russian soldiers are dying at alarmingly high rates, and reserves are lacking. Putin and his comrades face a dilemma. On the one hand, they need more soldiers, whom they regard as little more than cannon fodder. On the other hand, presidential elections are scheduled for March 2024. Although the outcome is preordained, it would be embarrassing for the regime if Russians decided to develop a backbone and resolved to save their fathers and sons from near-certain death in the fields of Ukraine by destroying their ballots, refusing to vote, or — Heaven forbid — demonstrate for their right to live.

About the Author
Dr. Alexander Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark. A specialist on Ukraine, Russia, and the USSR, and on nationalism, revolutions, empires, and theory, he is the author of 10 books of nonfiction, including Pidsumky imperii (2009); Puti imperii (2004); Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires (2001); Revolutions, Nations, Empires: Conceptual Limits and Theoretical Possibilities (1999); Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine after Totalitarianism (1993); and The Turn to the Right: The Ideological Origins and Development of Ukrainian Nationalism, 1919–1929 (1980); the editor of 15 volumes, including The Encyclopedia of Nationalism (2000) and The Holodomor Reader (2012); and a contributor of dozens of articles to academic and policy journals, newspaper op-ed pages, and magazines.

Download Alexander Motyl's books for free from the mirrors at
https://libgen.is//search.php?req=Alexander+Motyl

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 23, 2023 4:37 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/09/fact-russia-is-losing-the-ukraine-
war-badly
/

Contrary to those Western analysts who believe the Russo-Ukrainian War has reached a stalemate, pro-regime Russians admit that they are losing—badly.

Two pieces of evidence make a convincing case.

On September 15, Major General Andrei Gurulyev, a combative Duma deputy of markedly illiberal tendencies who in recent months has argued that Russia should “burn” Ukraine, bomb Great Britain, and reintroduce the Stalinist terror, suddenly had a change of heart and described conditions on the front lines as being near-catastrophic. He even had the temerity to call the war a war, eschewing the prescribed official terminology (“special military operation”) and thereby engaging in a criminal offense for which many Russians have been punished.

According to Gurulyev’s Telegram posting, the Ukrainians are resilient, adaptive, and resourceful, and have succeeded in pushing back the Russians, imposing high casualties, evading Russian artillery, neutralizing Russian helicopters, deploying huge numbers of virtually limitless drones, and dealing effectively with the minefields. Indeed, “the enemy has seized some of our defensive positions.” Naturally, concludes Gurulyev, “we will win,” though “only one serious problem keeps us from Victory.” What might that be?

It’s lying.

Gurulyev’s answer is shocking, considering that he’s spent much of his career doing just what he now denounces. “Mendacious reports, unfortunately, lead to incorrect decisions on a variety of levels.” The major general is right, of course, though what he fails to see is that the problem is inherent in the very nature of the overcentralized political (and military) system created by Russia’s illegitimate president, Vladimir Putin. Mendacity, to put it simply, is the best way to survive and thrive in today’s Russia, just as it was in the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

The lying begins at the lowest levels and then proceeds upwards. By the time it reaches the corridors of power, Russia’s decision-makers, Putin included, have a false, sugarcoated picture of actual events on the ground. Hence his belief that invading Ukraine would be a cakewalk. Fixing the problem requires more than stopping to lie. The only effective solution is to dismantle Putin’s top-heavy fascist regime and replace it with something approaching democratic accountability.


That's why I look at Military Summary Channel, which does twice daily updates of geo-located videos of Russian and Ukrainian strikes, advances, and failures. It's pro-Ukie website, but the details create an inescapable picture

Quote:


Gurulyev paints a depressing picture — for Russia, that is — but just how bad conditions are on the front was made crystal clear in mid-September by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, which ordered 230,000 death certificates for family members of deceased combat veterans. Back in May 2023, it ordered 23,716 such certificates; in 2022, the number was 5,777.

The last two numbers — 23,716 and 5,777 — look like accurate tabulations of war dead, though keep in mind that they probably do not include the thousands of Russians left to rot on the battlefield, the approximately 50,000 dead Wagner mercenaries (of whom many were inmates), and the tens of thousands of fighters from the occupied Donbas territories. The first figure — 230,000 — may reflect the actual number of dead or an estimate of how many will die or both.

As I understand it, it was budgeting to print BLANK forms.

Quote:

Now, let’s engage in some conservative “guesstimating.” We know that 29,493 definitely died. Add 10,000 left to rot, 50,000 Wagnerites, and another 50,000 Donbasites, and we get approximately 140,000 dead Russians.


Mediazona, Meduza, and the BBC have done their best to estimate military casualties and came up with 50,000 across the boatd.

Get a grip.

Quote:

blah blah blah...


Go to Military Summary Channel and get a sniff of reality instead of whatever it is you're inhaling.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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