Category: War

Ukraine Update

Ukraine?

Is there still a war going on there?

Yes there most certainly is a continuing conflict going on in Ukraine. You have not heard much about it because most people are so wrapped up in the Israel-Gaza thing to care the old hat conflict in Ukraine.

Let me give an update….

The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces have captured five villages as part of a renewed ground assault in northeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials haven’t officially confirmed whether Russian had taken the villages, which lie in a contested “gray zone” on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia. Ukrainian journalists reported that the villages of Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pylna, and Strilecha were taken. Russia said the village of Pletenivka also fell, the AP reports. The Institute for the Study of War, Washington-based think tank, described recent Russian gains as “tactically significant.”

The renewed assault has forced more than 1,700 civilians residing in settlements near the fighting to flee, according to Ukrainian authorities. It comes after Russia stepped up attacks in March targeting energy infrastructure and settlements, which analysts predicted were a concerted effort to shape conditions for an offensive. Russia’s recent push in Kharkiv also seeks to exploit ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies can reach the front line and pin down Ukrainian forces in the northeast, keeping them away from heavy battles in the Donetsk region where Moscow’s troops are gaining ground, analysts said.

Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create to halt Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions. Fears also mount that Russia might be able to cut supply routes and besiege Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million, per the AP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Friday evening in a video on X that Russian forces were expanding their operations. He called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid swiftly reach the front lines. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package,” he said.

As this conflict wears on we should ask the question with all the investment by the West….can Ukraine win this thing?

The long-awaited counteroffensive last year failed. Russia has recaptured Avdiivka, its biggest war gain in nine months. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been forced to quietly acknowledge the new military reality. The Biden Administration’s strategy is now to sustain Ukrainian defense until after the U.S. presidential elections, in the hope of wearing down Russian forces in a long war of attrition.

This strategy seems sensible enough, but contains one crucially important implication and one potentially disastrous flaw, which are not yet being seriously addressed in public debates in the West or Ukraine. The implication of Ukraine standing indefinitely on the defensive—even if it does so successfully—is that the territories currently occupied by Russia are lost. Russia will never agree at the negotiating table to surrender land that it has managed to hold on the battlefield.

https://time.com/6695261/ukraine-forever-war-danger/

That is just sad.

One year ago, all signs were encouraging. Ukrainian forces had been bloodied, but they held on to territory in the east in defiance of expectations. Successful counteroffensives allowed Ukraine to regain territory in the south. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy defiantly declared the coming year one of “our invincibility.” American aid to the country offered a king’s ransom in artillery and anti-tank weapons through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and the flow seemed unceasing.

Inspired by Ukraine’s stunning success against the much larger and more advanced military, the West galvanized behind Zelensky and his troops. Tragically, all these indicators led to unrealistic expectations.

Ukraine can no longer win

No one wants the carnage to stop….the US has elections….Russia is obstinate….the rest of NATO waits for the US to act….the rest of the world has stopped caring….

It is a dilemma that the Ukrainians are paying for with their lives.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Rafah The Line?

Hell no but Biden thumped his chest when BiBi said he would attack Rafah…..did Biden a line in the sand (HAHAHAHA) not a goddamn chance.

But he talks tough….

A planned shipment from the US to Israel that was to include 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs was paused last week due to concerns that Israel was planning to defy US wishes and invade Rafah, launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city in a major expansion of Israel’s military operation there. That’s according to senior US administration officials who spoke to outlets including the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the AP. A key quote from one senior official specifically references the 2,000-pound bombs that are already, per the Post, “controversial.” The AP notes such bombs have been used “frequently” by Israel in its seven-month-old war against Hamas, while the US only used them “sparingly” while fighting the Islamic State.

  • “Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” said the senior administration official. “We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”

This is the first known time the US has paused an arms transfer to Israel since the Israel-Hamas war started in October, and a second official calls it a “shot across the bow” meant to illustrate to Israel how deeply the US is concerned about the situation in Rafah. The officials say the White House began reviewing future arms transfers in April, and that no decision has yet been made about whether to proceed with the paused delivery at a future date. However, one official also says the Israeli military already has enough weapons to conduct the Rafah operation regardless of the pause, should it choose to.

Seriously?

This was nothing but a political ploy….after all polls show that Americans are getting weary of Israel’s assault on Gaza….there is an election about 6 months away and he is trying to calm the peasants.

Then it was BiBi’s turn to thump his aged chest…..and responds to Biden’s idle threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu is responding with defiance to a warning from President Biden about an expected invasion of Rafah. After Biden said the US would halt the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel should it go ahead with the ground invasion, Netanyahu issued a video message:

  • “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” said the Israeli prime minister, per the Washington Post. “If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”
  • All set? Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel already has the necessary weaponry for the invasion, reports the AP. “The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah too—we have what we need,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. However, it’s likely the US move would force Israel to shift strategy to some extent—”it’s possible we’ll have to economize the way we use our arms and hit more targets without precision bombs,” former national security adviser Jacob Nagel tells the New York Times.
  • Low point: Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York, tells CNN he thinks this is one of the lowest moments in history for US-Israel relations. “I do think this is a very low point—could the relationship survive this? Yes. Could it do so while Netanyahu is in power? No.”
  • Analysis: This is indeed a “moment of crisis” in US-Israel relations, writes Adam Rasgon in the New York Times. And it’s one that could result in domestic blowback against Netanyahu. “The United States provides Israel with a steel dome—it’s not only military support; it’s strategic and political; it’s at the United Nations, the international court, and so on,” Amos Gilead, a former senior Israeli defense official, tells the newspaper. “If we lose the United States with the unbelievable friendship of President Biden, it won’t be forgiven.”

Really?

Israel exist because the US stood by them for decades and I do not think this problem would be happening if there had been more diplomacy and less US ass kissing.

But Biden’s threat is a moot point…..why?

The Israeli military said Thursday that it has enough munitions for its planned operation in Rafah, comments that came a day after President Biden said he would withhold the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel if it proceeds with a major attack on the city’s “population centers.”

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “The IDF has armaments for the missions it is planning, including missions in Rafah. We have what we need.” US officials have also said that Israel has enough bombs to attack Rafah.

Israel started its operation in Rafah on Monday by capturing the border crossing that connects to Egypt and launching strikes across the city. The US has said these steps are “limited” and that it’s only opposed to a major invasion of the city. But the situation continues to escalate, and satellite images show that the IDF is expanding ground operations in the city.

(antiwar.com)

The White House has said that a major Israeli operation would not defeat Hamas, reflecting the overall US position that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal to “eradicate” Hamas is unrealistic. “Smashing into Rafah, in his [Biden’s] view, will not advance that objective,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

So basically this was all theater for the idiots that blindly follow crap.  When it comes to Israel the US is a toothless tiger.

This game is becoming more and more disgusting and Biden keeps playing it.

Peace Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Zelensky In The Crosshairs

A report has come out of Ukraine that a couple of Army officers have been implicated in a plot to assassinate Zelensky….

Two of Volodymyr Zelensky’s own colonels are accused of joining a Russian plot to assassinate him. Multiple assassination plots have surfaced previously, but the BBC notes this one stands apart because of the military officers involved. They were allegedly working with Russia’s FSB—successor to the KGB—and had been recruited before the war began, per the New York Times. The colonels worked in the Ukraine agency responsible for keeping top officials safe.

Among other things, they’re accused of trying to recruit men willing to kidnap and kill Zelensky from among his bodyguards. Both are charged with treason, and one with preparing a terrorist act, reports CNN. Other high-profile targets were Vasyl Maliuk, who runs Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, and Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of military intelligence.

The story line is that they were acting on orders from Russia.

But were they?

Is this a story concocted to garner some sympathy since Ukraine sees to think we are not doing our part in their war with Russia.

Or could this have been an attempted coup?

Or could it be two disgruntle commanders that are tired of seeing their troops die needlessly and were taking matters in the their own hands?

Or could this be just another bullshit line from the War Department to keep the media on their side?

Whichever it is I want to see more details but I guess they may not be forthcoming.

Waiting….waiting….

If this was such an attempt by Russia why is the news and the sources so thin?

Was this just another government lie like the yellow cake uranium in the early 2000s?

I will be watching and reading for more information….but I fear this is all we may get.

The two Ukrainian officials are being held on suspicion of treason and of preparing a terrorist act.

The SBU said three FSB employees oversaw the organisation and the attack.

One of them, named as Dmytro Perlin, had been recruiting “moles” since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Another FSB employee, Oleksiy Kornev, reportedly held “conspiratorial” meetings “in neighbouring European states” before the invasion with one of the Ukrainian colonels arrested.

In a released interrogation with one of the suspects, they can be heard describing how they were paid thousands of dollars directly by parcels or indirectly through their relatives. It is not clear whether he was speaking under duress or not.

(bbc.com)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“It’s Good For World Peace”

It is official that bill to Ban TikTok was signed by Biden….but that was not what the bill was really about….TikTok was just the cover for a massive spending bill for the War Department and its piglets that suck in its teats.

It has been awhile since the vote and the signing and not much in the news these days….is TikTok really a threat or is it something else?

The real meat of this bill was the aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan….

Packed into the $95 billion bill is $61 billion to spend on the Ukraine proxy war, $26 billion to support Israel, and $8 billion for military aid for Taiwan and other spending in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for war with China. It also includes a mechanism that could ban TikTok if its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest within nine months and gives the federal government the power to steal frozen Russian assets.

The legislation includes $61 billion for the proxy war in Ukraine, much of which will go to US weapons makers to replenish US stockpiles. It includes over $9 billion in economic aid in the form of repayable loans, but Ukraine is not actually expected to pay it back. Another provision will authorize the US to sell off frozen Russian assets, which could be used to pay the loans. CNN previously reported that the Biden administration will also be able to cancel the debt.

The bill also includes $26 billion to support Israel. About $9 billion will go toward humanitarian aid in Gaza and other places, while the remaining $17 billion will go toward military aid to support the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and replenish Israeli air defenses. The aid is on top of the $3.8 billion in military assistance that Israel receives from the US each year.

Another $8 billion will go toward military aid for Taiwan and other spending in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for a future war with China. It includes $1.9 billion to replenish weapons sent to Taiwan and regional countries and $2 billion in Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase US weapons. Over $3.3 billion will go toward submarine infrastructure in the region.

(antiwar.com)

Even a Repub Mitt Romney, who I seldom agree with, has seen the real reason for the assault on TikTok….

In a conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) acknowledged that banning TikTok has such strong support in Congress because the social media platform has hurt Israel’s public relations battle.

“Some wonder why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down, potentially, TikTok or other entities of that nature,” Romney said at the McCain Institute this past Friday. “If you look at the postings on TikTok and the number of mentions of Palestinians relative to other social media sites, it’s overwhelmingly so among TikTok broadcasts.”

The official justification for targeting TikTok is the unfounded allegation that it’s a Chinese spy tool because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. But Romney’s comments suggest the real purpose of the renewed push to ban the app after a similar effort failed years ago was to censor news coming out of Gaza and pro-Palestinian content.

Blinken blamed social media in general when asked by Romney why Israel was losing the global PR war. Palestinian journalists have been able to broadcast to the whole world the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza using social media, including graphic videos of dead or wounded children being dug out of rubble following an Israeli airstrike.

(antiwar.com)

I’d bet you are wondering what the title is all about….world peace?

President Biden…claimed the legislation, which funds the proxy war in Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, is good for “world peace.”

“It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace, for real. This is consequential,” Biden said.

“My commitment to Israel, I want to make clear again, is ironclad. The security of Israel is critical,” Biden said.

Have you heard such total bullsh*t….ever?

Biden just keeps spreading his fecal matter.

Geez Nelly how much does AIPAC pay this old fart for such outright lies?

What a f*cking hypocrite!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

WTF?

My regular readers know that I have been a staunch critic of using US taxpayer dollars to fund Ukraine’s war with Russia.

I think those billions of dollars could be better spent on the problems this country is having than spending it on a cause that few think is necessary.

So when I read a story about the US spending a billion dollars to buy Ukraine made weapons to give to the Ukrainian army I went ballistic.

But let you see for yourselves….

The US will purchase $1.6 billion in Ukrainian-made weapons for Ukraine, The Defense Post reported on Monday.

The $1.6 billion is included in a $6 billion tranche of weapons the US announced on April 26. The arms will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

The US and its NATO allies have made clear that part of their long-term plans for Ukraine is to help the country develop a military-industrial complex. Western arms makers are also looking to manufacture weapons in Ukraine.

Arseniy Pushkarenko, deputy chair of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, said Ukraine’s military-industrial complex should entice other countries since the weapons it produces are battle-tested.

“This is one of the factors in the development of the Ukrainian economy. Today, the military technologies that we have are tested in combat conditions, which makes our military-industrial complex attractive enough for many countries of the world,” he said.

It’s unclear what types of weapons will be purchased with the $1.6 billion. According to the Pentagon, the $6 billion USAI package includes “components to support Ukrainian production of [Unmanned Aerial Systems] and other capabilities.”

(antiwar.com)

SO the US will buy weapons from a Ukrainian weapons maker to be used by the Ukrainian military…..why cannot a Ukrainian company make weapons for the military.

This is getting ridiculous at this point……

We will pay their government officials salaries and now we will prop up a business in Ukraine….WTF?

To say I have a problem with this would be an understatement…..

Time for the US to stop worrying about Ukraine and start worrying about the people in this nation.

PERIOD!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Speaker Continues To Play With Fire

I see that since the Speaker has saved our home appliances he has decide to cave to the warhawks and piss away more taxpayer cash on these damn wars…..

Here are those all important home appliance bills….

  • Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act

  • Liberty in Laundry Act

  • Clothes Dryers Reliability Act

  • Refrigerator Freedom Act

  • Affordable Air Conditioning Act

  • Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act

I know I feel better knowing this is happening.

Now that all is safe with our home appliances the Speaker decided to chance it and go for the money needed for our proxy wars (arms industry is happy now)…..

Speaker Mike Johnson’s four-pronged foreign aid package has become five bills, and his job could depend on what happens with the reworked legislation. On Wednesday, Johnson told his Republican caucus that the House will stay in session until it votes Saturday evening on the package with stalled aid for Israel and Ukraine as its centerpiece, the New York Times reports. Success is not certain, nor is his continued tenure in the speakership. Two of Johnson’s members have threatened to file a motion to vacate, which could result in his removal, if he puts aid to Ukraine to a floor vote.

Johnson became emotional Wednesday evening when asked about his decision by a reporter, per the Washington Post. “If I operated out of fear over a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job,” Johnson said. “I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different. But I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing,” he added. Johnson will need Democrats’ support to pass the bills, and he won the backing of the most influential one. President Biden strongly endorsed the package on Wednesday. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed,” Biden said.

Here’s how the bills break down:

  • Cost: The total is $95.3 billion, per the AP, same as the Senate approved in February, though the packages aren’t identical; Johnson added some provisions to appeal to GOP opponents of Ukraine aid.
  • Ukraine: More than one-third of the $61 billion would go toward replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the US military, Republicans said. And $13.8 billion would buy weapons from the US. Johnson’s bill has $9 billion in forgivable loans; the president could set the terms or cancel the loans.
  • Israel: Aid to Israel and humanitarian relief to people in Gaza account for $26 billion, and $4 billion would go to restock Israel’s missile defenses.
  • Indo-Pacific: About $8 billion is intended to deter China’s aggression in the region.
  • Assorted: The fourth bill satisfied a Republican wish list of foreign policy priorities. The final wording wasn’t released yet, per the AP.
  • The border: The fifth piece is intended to satisfy GOP demands to strengthen security at the southern US border. It might not have worked. “Every true conservative America First patriot in the House should vote against the rule for this borrowed foreign aid bill with no border security,” Rep. Bob Good, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, posted on social media.

Did he put his gig as Speaker on the line?

The Freedom idiots will be gunning for him and that should stall anything happening in the House for the rest of the year.

But we will hardly notice for the House does very little actual work….just slapping retaliation on the Dems in this Congress that is.

That tight rope that Johnson is trying to walk is getting a lot of slack in it….will he survive?

This theater of the absurd is just too fascinating to ignore (at least for me).

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

12 April 1861

My readers know that I cannot pass up an opportunity to drop some history….and today is one of those days.

Do you know what day it is?

Hundred and sixty three years ago today the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina thus starting the bloody struggle that has been called the “American Civil War”……

For those that slept through American history class….

By 1861, the country had already experienced decades of short-lived but ultimately failed compromises concerning the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1860—a man who declared “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free”—threatened the culture and economy of southern slave states and served as a catalyst for secession. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, and by February 2, 1861, six more states followed suit. Southern delegates met on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, AL., and established the Confederate States of America, with Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis elected as its provisional president. Confederate militia forces began seizing United States forts and property throughout the south. With a lame-duck president in office, and a controversial president-elect poised to succeed him, the crisis approached a boiling point and exploded at Fort Sumter.

In the South we are taught our state’s history and most book make it seem like the desire to leave the union was overwhelmingly popular…,not accurate….

From its beginnings the Confederacy suffered from a rising tide of intense domestic hostility, not only among Southern blacks but increasingly among Southern whites. Ironically, it was a hostility brought on largely by those most responsible for the Confederacy’s creation. Planters excused themselves from the draft in various ways, then grew far too much cotton and tobacco, and not nearly enough food. Soldiers went hungry, as did their families back home. Women defied Confederate authorities by staging food riots from Richmond, Virginia, to Galveston, Texas. Soldiers deserted by the tens of thousands, and draft evasion became commonplace. By 1864, the draft law was practically impossible to enforce and two-thirds of the Confederate army was absent with or without leave. Many deserters and draft dodgers formed armed bands that controlled vast areas of the Southern countryside.

Wartime disaffection among Southerners had solid roots in the early secession crisis. Most white Southerners, three-fourths of whom owned no slaves, made it clear in the winter 1860-61 elections for state convention delegates that they opposed immediate secession. Nevertheless, state conventions across the South, all of them dominated by slaveholders, ultimately ignored majority will and took their states out of the Union. One Texas politician conceded that ambitious colleagues had engineered secession without strong backing from “the mass of the people.” A staunch South Carolina secessionist admitted the same. “But,” he asked, “whoever waited for the common people when a great move was to be made—we must make the move and force them to follow.”

https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/southern-unionism.html

Even in the South there were enclaves of unionist bravado…..even in Mississippi….Jones county.

The story of Jones County, Mississippi’s Unionist activities has long been clouded by myth and legend, but most historians agree that this small, wooded backwater was the site of some particularly violent resistance to the Confederacy. The pro-U.S. movement in Jones first crystallized a few years into the Civil War, when the county became a haven for young men who had grown disillusioned with the Confederate cause and deserted the army. Led by a mercurial local named Newton Knight, the runaways organized into a Unionist guerilla outfit called the Knight Company and took to harassing nearby Confederate units. Whether Knight and his band were a principled resistance group or mere bandits has been a matter of debate, but there’s no doubt they succeeded in stirring the political pot. The group effectively disabled the county government, and at one point, its activities sparked rumors that Jones County had seceded from the Confederacy and was flying the stars and stripes over its courthouse. The Knight Company’s disruptive reign continued until April 1864, when Confederate Colonel Robert Lowry used bloodhounds to track the guerillas and drive them from their hideout in the swamps. Newton Knight later resurfaced, however, and after the war, he assisted in U.S. reconstruction efforts in Mississippi.

Back in the Dark Ages when I was in school this event was never covered at all.

There were others…..

https://www.history.com/news/6-unionist-strongholds-in-the-south-during-the-civil-war

For more information if interested….

Southerner vs. Southerner: Union Supporters Below the Mason-Dixon Line

You have seen those child soldiers in Africa…..well during our Civil War children as young as 10 fought and died….

Ten times more underage soldiers, from as young as 10-17, fought in the American Civil War than previously recognised, and this had profound implications for US military and legal history. This is a key takeaway from Associate Professor Frances M. Clarke and Professor Rebecca Jo Plant’s prize-winning book, Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era.

“In America’s Civil War era, children remained minors until they turned 21. If they entered the regular army, however, they were emancipated from parental control. To retrieve young sons, parents filed writs of habeas corpus in massive numbers, while the Lincoln administration tried to stymie their efforts by silencing local courts. These disputes led to one of the most significant shifts in US legal history-the federalisation of habeas corpus,” said Associate Professor Clarke, who is a researcher in the Discipline of History.

https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/american-civil-war-prize-winning-new-book-reveals-plight-of-underage-soldiers/

A little history for those that are interested in the American Civil War….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump Has An Answer For The Ukraine Situation

Everybody has an opinion on how to end the stalemate in Ukraine…..even the once and future king, Trump….

Donald Trump has a plan to stop the war in Ukraine, though Ukraine won’t like it. The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee has spoken privately about his plan to pressure Ukraine to cede territory to Russia—specifically Crimea and the Donbas border region—in order to bring the two-year-old war to an end, the Washington Post reports. Trump has reportedly said both sides “want a way out” and people in parts of Ukraine wouldn’t mind joining Russia. He’s apparently so confident in his ideas he’s claimed he could negotiate a “very easy” peace deal within 24 hours of his election, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will not surrender any land.

A Trump campaign rep wouldn’t answer questions about his plan, but said “President Trump is the only one talking about stopping the killing.” Campaign adviser Jason Miller later claimed the whole report was “fake news,” per the New York Post. The proposed scenario outlined by sources would mark a dramatic departure from President Biden’s long-term plan to continue military support for Ukraine, and some foreign policy experts say it would only reward Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading his neighbor. Even people close to Trump share this view. “He has to pay a price. He can’t win at the end of this,” says Sen. Lindsey Graham, who claims to have “been spending 100% of my time talking to Trump about Ukraine.”

Graham says he wants Trump to embrace the idea of Ukraine joining NATO. But “he doesn’t say much about that. I don’t know if he’s thought too much about it,” Graham tells the Post. Former Trump White House aide Michael Anton has reportedly described Trump’s plan as focused on the ceding of Ukrainian territory in Crimea and Donbas to Russia, limiting NATO expansion, and encouraging Putin to lessen his reliance on China. That last point might take sanctions relief and European cooperation. But Ukraine and its European allies are likely to resist any deal with Moscow. For Zelensky, it would “constitute domestic political suicide,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyst Michael Kofman tells the Post.

I have said since about 1995 that since the collapse of the USSR that NATO should be dissolved and let Europe deal with the consequences of a defunct Soviet Union.

Ukraine….if there is a peace deal that keeps boundaries the way they are today then there will always be problems in Eastern Ukraine as there were before the invasion.

Is Trump’s plan a sound plan?

Will this plan hurt Trump’s chances?

In reality do any of his supporters really care?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Scary Scenario For The UK

Ever since Vlad the Invader went into Ukraine and starting thumping his chest with nuclear warnings and threats the whole world has been a tither with predictions of Putin marching down some Main Street…..but a report by an UK general gives a dire prediction….

A British general admitted on Tuesday that the UK couldn’t handle a war with Russia for more than two months as London has significantly depleted its military stockpiles by arming Ukraine.

Lt. Gen. Robert Magowan, the deputy chief of the defense staff, made the comments during a British parliament hearing where he was urging for more military spending.

MP Mark Francois, a member of the Conservative Party, asked Magowan if it was true that the UK “couldn’t fight Putin for more than a couple of months in a full-on shooting war because we don’t have the ammunition and the reserves of equipment to do it.”

Magowan said Francois’ statement was true. British Defense Minister Grant Shapps was also at the hearing and downplayed the lack of UK military readiness, saying any war with Russia would be fought alongside NATO allies, and referred to Article 5 of the alliance’s treaty that outlines mutual defense commitments.

“For people watching, and hearing that the UK isn’t ready for war exclusively with Russia, it’s important to understand that because we are in NATO and Article 5 exists, we would never be in that situation,” Shapps said, according to The Telegraph.

The comments came after a report from the House of Commons defense committee found that the British military was “increasingly overstretched” and wasn’t ready for a war with Russia. In December, The Times of London reported that the UK had “nothing” left in its military stockpiles after sending so many weapons to Ukraine.

Despite the state of the British military, the UK is one of the NATO countries most involved in the Ukraine proxy war. A recorded conversation between two German military officers that was recently published by Russian media revealed that British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping Ukrainian forces fire Storm Shadow missiles.

(antiwar.com)

So arming Ukraine and now Israel is putting the UK at risk in the of a Russian conflict.

Would not commonsense dictate that country comes first and screw the others?

Just a thought.

Please if there is nay more info on this situation then share with my readers….I am sure they will appreciate it.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Defeat Russia At All Costs

Hit them hard with everything you have…..but not like that.

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine the US and the NATO nations have imposed heavy sanctions (something I serious doubt) on the invader….financial sanctions mostly economic sanctions all in an attempt to weaken the Russian economy and its war machine….and this included sanctions on their oil industry where they derive a lot of their working capital.

If the West can cripple the oil industry then they, Russia, would most likely try to find a way to end this conflict, right?

So hit them hard and often…..but not like that.

If so then the latest move by the US is a bit confusing….

US officials are losing patience as Kiev fails to heed American demands to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure. The White House fears the attacks will lead to an increase in oil prices and trigger reprisals by Moscow.

According to the Financial Times, “The White House had grown increasingly frustrated by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck oil refineries, terminals, depots, and storage facilities across western Russia, hurting its oil production capacity,” adding that US officials are concerned with “driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation.”

The demands to halt attacks on Russian oil facilities may appear confounding to Kiev after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg green-lit Ukrainian attacks inside Russia last month. Additionally, President Joe Biden has vowed to cripple the Russian economy, and the West has used sanctions and price caps in an effort to curb Moscow’s energy exports.

The White House may see increasing gas prices at home as a primary concern with the 2024 election on the horizon. Bob McNally, a former White House energy adviser, said, “Nothing terrifies a sitting American president more than a surge in pump prices during an election year,” as cited by FT.

As Ukrainian losses on the battlefield have continued in recent weeks, Kiev has conducted more attacks on Russian soil. This has led the Kremlin to evacuate thousands of children from a border region. Ukrainian forces also successfully attacked seven energy targets in Russia last week.

Washington’s fear that attacks on Moscow’s energy infrastructure will prompt retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian energy seems to have materialized. On Friday, the BBC reported, “A million people are without power across Ukraine after Russian missiles targeted energy infrastructure,” with Kiev’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko saying Moscow aimed to cause “a large-scale failure of the country’s energy system.”

(antiwar.com)

Is it win at all costs or is it just a geopolitical game of Risk?

Biden is really good, like most politicians, of speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

And the game goes on….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”