All Things Russia & Ukraine

[MDlaxfan76]

Russia has access to the Black Sea even without Crimea. First, from the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait, which I presume is and would still be international waters if Crimea were to be returned to Ukraine. Second, Russia has over 150 miles of Black Sea coast on the eastern side of the sea, which includes a naval base at Novorossiysk.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia had entered into a treaty with Ukraine which gave Russia a multi-decade lease on the naval base at Sevastopol. After taking over Crimea in 2014, Russia terminated the treaty (and lease). Had Russia not annexed Crimea and worked to be a good neighbor, it undoubtedly would still have its base at Sevastopol.

Yup...Salty's just parroting Russian propaganda BS.
He should know better...I assume he does, which is worse.

Leases are pieces of paper easily ignored during escalating tensions or military conflict.
Land & air access from Russia to Sevostopol was completely at the whim of the Ukrainians, as is the current supply of fresh water to Crimea via the Crimea canal from the Dneiper. Either could be closed off by the Ukrainians.
How can your primary base for your Black Sea fleet function without guaranteed land access to Russia.
Likewise, the Sea of Azov & Kerch Straits are the sole access route for Russia's Caspian Sea Fleet of significant warships.
Ukraine could restrict or cutoff that access.

The lease on Sevostopol was due to expire in 2010. It was renewed, but the repeated US fomented revolutions & regime changes, accompanied by requests for EU & NATO membership, raised the specter of total NATO encirclement of the Black Sea fleet"s base & easy blockage of access to the Caspian Sea by prospective NATO member Ukraine. Novorosslysk is not adequate for the Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine made it difficult for the Black Sea fleet whenever a pro-Russian govt was not in power in Kyiv.
https://jamestown.org/program/the-futur ... evastopol/
Russia has made a huge military investment in Crimea. They won't give it up easily.
Crimea & the land bridge to Mariupol are critical to Russian warship building & the plan to make Crimea an unsinkable aircraft carrier.
https://jamestown.org/program/an-arsena ... -security/

More baloney and hand wringing woe is me for Russians.

150 miles of unfettered Black Sea coastline.
No Crimea.
Make do.

And why should there be military conflict absent territorial aggression by Russia?
The government in Ukraine needn't be a Russian puppet to have good relations with a peaceful neighbor.
Focus on trade and all would have been just fine.

Let's be very clear, taking Ukraine is only important to Putin's imperial ambitions, not for peace.
We understand the Russian rationale, we just don't need the Americans making excuses for them as if they have peaceful aims.

That's like saying it would have no impact on the US Navy if they were suddenly denied their naval installations in Tidewater VA.
No problem, rebuild them somewhere else on the unfettered US Atlantic coastline. The Russian Navy tried to make the lease work under the CIS, then when there was a pro-Russian govt in Kyiv, like in Belarus & Kazakhstan, who they could rely on as a co-operative ally. That ended when the US & EU succeeded in fomenting revolutions & regime changes in Kyiv. After the second time, in 2014, the Russians strolled into Crimea & took control without opposition.

It's not making excuses to understand & take account of what motivates your enemy.
It's essential to countering him & not blundering into stupid wars like this one, in which we have no strategic interest.
Know your enemy & anticipate his actions. Spare us the Wilsonian BS & admit the obvious -- this is the neocon globocops' wet dream.
We use our Ukrainian proxies to break the Russian military & drive them from their dominant position in the Black Sea, denying their navy year round access to the Med, Suez & beyond. The Ukrainians do the fighting & dying while the contested territory is reduced to rubble. Then we get to fund a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, welcome them into a now terrified frozen NATO, & guarantee their safety (like S Korea) while they continue open ended hostilities with their hostile neighbor. You think you're going to break Russia ? Good luck with that. It's been tried before.

Again with the Russian propaganda BS.

First, they don't need a puppet to be able to get along with a neighbor. That was Putin (Russia)'s choice.

Second, if they made the strategic assumption that they could not permanently rely on the lease, their option was to build a new, larger modern base where they had no such risks, while maintaining good relations in the meantime. 1000+ times cheaper, smarter than war.

But that wasn't what Putin chose...instead, ticked off that the Ukrainians were turning away from the tired, authoritarian bullies to their east, he invaded and successfully took Crimea...and then pushed the 'separatist' strategy further to take more, believing the same could work again...but the Ukrainians resisted. But then he 'won' the US election, and gained an admirer in the White House who elevated him and undermined NATO...but he didn't control everyone in the Admin (as you've pointed out, key generals and advisors saw the world differently than Trump/Putin) and they pushed to bolster Ukraine with Javelins...but Trump successfully had NATO itself in turmoil, with even Article 5 in question...but Putin then 'lost' the 2020 US election in the midst of a pandemic that ravaged Russia, including its military...isolated and frustrated, Putin swung even further into imperialist delusions...and invaded.

This was ALL of Putin's making and miscalculations...ALL driven by his ego.

It was never some master plan of the US (wait, you'll be calling it "Deep State" soon!); however, yes, we absolutely should work with our allies to ensure that an authoritarian imperialist Russia can no longer successfully threaten its neighbors (and as long as Putin is in power that threat definitely exists)...however, when and if Russia chooses a path of peace and prosperity rather than "great power" ambition and aggression, we should welcome them.

[ardilla secreta]

"... Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine...."

Thanks for the pro-Putin propaganda. Laughable and sad at the same time. We'll just agree to disagree. And I think the supposed polling of Ukrainians migh now be different than that article suggests. I agree that "the median American" doesn't care or understand the consequences of allowing Putin to leave Ukraine with "Kyiv...secure." I'm just -- how can say this? -- not sure that the "median American's" opinion should be determinative of this important international crisis created by a lawless thug for his dreams of empire. I guess that makes me part of the "smart set."

You mean pro-peace propaganda, right? Interesting you chose this fight between two white peoples as your hill to die on. What about all of the conflict between black and brown peoples all over the world? I guess Sudan didn't have the bomb, so we could just sit back and clutch our pearls about Darfur. But you probably think Zelensky is noble, when he is almost as big a thug as Putin. I wonder if he's taking 10% off the top of all of the aid we're sending. He's Ukraine's "Big Guy".

How did you come to this conclusion?

[MDlaxfan76]

"... Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine...."

Thanks for the pro-Putin propaganda. Laughable and sad at the same time. We'll just agree to disagree. And I think the supposed polling of Ukrainians migh now be different than that article suggests. I agree that "the median American" doesn't care or understand the consequences of allowing Putin to leave Ukraine with "Kyiv...secure." I'm just -- how can say this? -- not sure that the "median American's" opinion should be determinative of this important international crisis created by a lawless thug for his dreams of empire. I guess that makes me part of the "smart set."

You mean pro-peace propaganda, right? Interesting you chose this fight between two white peoples as your hill to die on. What about all of the conflict between black and brown peoples all over the world? I guess Sudan didn't have the bomb, so we could just sit back and clutch our pearls about Darfur. But you probably think Zelensky is noble, when he is almost as big a thug as Putin. I wonder if he's taking 10% off the top of all of the aid we're sending. He's Ukraine's "Big Guy".

How did you come to this conclusion?

[CU88]

Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin was asked about a potential off-ramp for Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Her reply:

https://twitter.com/RikhardHusu/status/ ... 6709590017

She nailed it.

[get it to x]

"... Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine...."

Thanks for the pro-Putin propaganda. Laughable and sad at the same time. We'll just agree to disagree. And I think the supposed polling of Ukrainians migh now be different than that article suggests. I agree that "the median American" doesn't care or understand the consequences of allowing Putin to leave Ukraine with "Kyiv...secure." I'm just -- how can say this? -- not sure that the "median American's" opinion should be determinative of this important international crisis created by a lawless thug for his dreams of empire. I guess that makes me part of the "smart set."

You mean pro-peace propaganda, right? Interesting you chose this fight between two white peoples as your hill to die on. What about all of the conflict between black and brown peoples all over the world? I guess Sudan didn't have the bomb, so we could just sit back and clutch our pearls about Darfur. But you probably think Zelensky is noble, when he is almost as big a thug as Putin. I wonder if he's taking 10% off the top of all of the aid we're sending. He's Ukraine's "Big Guy".

How did you come to this conclusion?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/o ... -zelenskiy

[Seacoaster(1)]

"... Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine...."

Thanks for the pro-Putin propaganda. Laughable and sad at the same time. We'll just agree to disagree. And I think the supposed polling of Ukrainians migh now be different than that article suggests. I agree that "the median American" doesn't care or understand the consequences of allowing Putin to leave Ukraine with "Kyiv...secure." I'm just -- how can say this? -- not sure that the "median American's" opinion should be determinative of this important international crisis created by a lawless thug for his dreams of empire. I guess that makes me part of the "smart set."

You mean pro-peace propaganda, right? Interesting you chose this fight between two white peoples as your hill to die on. What about all of the conflict between black and brown peoples all over the world? I guess Sudan didn't have the bomb, so we could just sit back and clutch our pearls about Darfur. But you probably think Zelensky is noble, when he is almost as big a thug as Putin. I wonder if he's taking 10% off the top of all of the aid we're sending. He's Ukraine's "Big Guy".

How did you come to this conclusion?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/o ... -zelenskiy

Crediting everything in that article, he is a minor league player compared to the Czar’s MLB Triple Crown. Jesus H.

[MDlaxfan76]

"... Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine...."

Thanks for the pro-Putin propaganda. Laughable and sad at the same time. We'll just agree to disagree. And I think the supposed polling of Ukrainians migh now be different than that article suggests. I agree that "the median American" doesn't care or understand the consequences of allowing Putin to leave Ukraine with "Kyiv...secure." I'm just -- how can say this? -- not sure that the "median American's" opinion should be determinative of this important international crisis created by a lawless thug for his dreams of empire. I guess that makes me part of the "smart set."

You mean pro-peace propaganda, right? Interesting you chose this fight between two white peoples as your hill to die on. What about all of the conflict between black and brown peoples all over the world? I guess Sudan didn't have the bomb, so we could just sit back and clutch our pearls about Darfur. But you probably think Zelensky is noble, when he is almost as big a thug as Putin. I wonder if he's taking 10% off the top of all of the aid we're sending. He's Ukraine's "Big Guy".

How did you come to this conclusion?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/o ... -zelenskiy

Crediting everything in that article, he is a minor league player compared to the Czar’s MLB Triple Crown. Jesus H.

And how would any of this make him a "thug"?
Much less "almost as big"...

I can imagine/believe that he has undisclosed assets from Prior to his election, but are these ill-gotten, much less through force?
I don't see anything remotely close to such an allegation.

[a fan]

Here's what our bipartisan elite leadership was telling us going into this war about our strategic interests in Ukraine.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/u ... n-ukraine/
Do you hear anything in their litany that justifies taking us to the brink of nuclear war ?
Tenet, Kissinger & GHW Bush (in his chicken Kiev speech) all tried to warn us.

So you can't name any strategic interests. Fine. The first time in the history of the board that you can't name one....and this is just a coincidence. That's what you're going with? Fine.

You, your party, and your fellow Republican posters have been cheering on every bankroll, coup, invasion, spec ops, and droning since WWII. The only one that you personally weren't for, to your great credit, was the Gulf War. But that view falls flat because you STILL think it was awesome that we bankrolled a puppet in Iran, Iran rebelled, which made you and Reagan think that it would be awesome to arm, train, and bankroll Saddam to provide a "counterweight" in the region. Whoops. Bad choice.

So it's a bit puzzling when the rubber meets the road in our pivot to Asia, Republicans finally find a war they don't like. And for some reason neither you nor VDH nor any other Republican policy wonk understands that both Ukraine and Russia are in Asia, ASSUMING your odd assertion that Ukraine has been part of Russia all along, and the border is "artificial". So we're dealing with our long-explained pivot to Asia here. If Ukraine is part of Russia? Ukraine is in Asia, folks.

For me? As I keep telling you, I wouldn't lose one wink of sleep had we done nothing about Ukraine. Not a wink. I'm sick of bankrolling despots. I'm sick of choosing war over other more obvious needs. And the fact that our idiot "allies" bought essential goods from Russia is as stupid as Turkey buying weapons from Putin. NATO doesn't work with these to moronic choices.

If I were King, and Putin invaded Ukraine? Just as I told you with Obama, I would have simply stopped trade with Russia, and moved on. The fact that the EU won't even do that tells me they don't give a flip about Ukraine....but it also tells me that they don't give a flip about NATO. I would threaten to exit NATO on day one in office, and give them four years to get their sh*t together. Build/recommission Nuclear plants, etc. Whatever they need to do to make it so that they can pressure Russia economically so that we don't have to go to war in the first place.

The EU didn't do that, so here we are. And it would be AWESOME if you and your Republican policy wonks would stop acting like five year old who are cheering the position that our NATO allies put Biden in here....and back the guy up. You're all not doing that because of Biden's little D, and it's annoying, not to mention dangerous. THIS, btw, is why Putin wanted Trump in power: Trump brings you and your team along for whatever ride Trump wants to take you on, and no matter what Trump does on that ride, you and your fellow Republicans will scream "weeeeeeeeeee", and encourage and applaud the roller coaster that is Trump.

You are significantly younger than me, but when we were in college, could you imagine a Russia which did not include Minsk, Kiev & Odessa ?
Russia had to be chopped up so that it could never threaten Europe again, as we reunited a chastened & now pacifist Germany, bent on Euro domination by economic means. ...so why is the US in the lead on this, rather than the EU ?

Been asking you the same question, my man, for YEARS and I have no idea why this has escaped your attention.

Every major mistake we have made since WWII is due to the "US taking the lead" and choosing war instead of outthinking our opponent and using our massive GDP to our best advantage. Korea, Vietnam, the whole freaking ME, all the coups, backing of despots, special ops, "keeping the global shipping lanes open".....you and I have been over this.

And at every turn, you have lectured me that "this was the only way, and we had no choice". So I'm having a REALLY hard time with your sudden, out of nowhere "why is this our problem" attitude when in every other situation (save one), you have told me that we had NO CHOICE but to take the lead, and do XYZ. You're wrong. There are ALWAYS better choices. We just NEVER take them.

But for our pivot, I have no clue how you and your Republican foreign policy wonks have gotten a case of the stupids, and want to pretend that Xi and China aren't watching how we handle this even with great interest.

If we had done nothing militarily (including shipping weapons etc) which is what I would have done.... what message would that have given to Xi regarding how the US handles the invasions of countries that aren't treaty-bound allies?

Green light for Taiwan. Now I personally don't care if China was dumb enough to kill that Golden Goose and directly invade, just as I wouldn't care that Putin invaded a country with a sh*tshow of an economy in Urkaine.....but your team does indeed care about such things. Or at least you did until five minutes ago, mocking Obama for being soft on Putin when it comes to Crimea and the region.

So on the bright side? Xi is looking at this mess and asking himself "how much worse is our army compared with Putin's"? Like Russia, Chinese forces have ZERO experience in war. So there's that.

And you and I both know that if Biden were a Republican, you and VHD would be supporting Biden for "standing up to Putin". So again, I'm having a hard time taking any of what you or VDH have to say on the subject with any seriousness.

[Kismet]

OS should be happy

"U.S. Special Operations forces carried out two major strikes against the Islamic State in northern Syria on Thursday, killing three senior figures responsible for arming and recruiting fighters and plotting attacks, according to American and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Taken together, the nighttime assaults dealt the Islamic State its most punishing blow since a risky predawn raid in northwest Syria in early February by American commandos resulted in the death of the terrorist group’s overall leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

The twin attacks started early Thursday when Special Operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeastern Syria and killed Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, who facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement.

The raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory and just a few miles from a Syrian airfield where Russian troops are based.

Several hours later, an Islamic State deputy leader in Syria and a man responsible for the group’s prisoner affairs were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s north, a senior U.S. military official said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/worl ... -raid.html

[Seacoaster(1)]

OS should be happy

"U.S. Special Operations forces carried out two major strikes against the Islamic State in northern Syria on Thursday, killing three senior figures responsible for arming and recruiting fighters and plotting attacks, according to American and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Taken together, the nighttime assaults dealt the Islamic State its most punishing blow since a risky predawn raid in northwest Syria in early February by American commandos resulted in the death of the terrorist group’s overall leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

The twin attacks started early Thursday when Special Operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeastern Syria and killed Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, who facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement.

The raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory and just a few miles from a Syrian airfield where Russian troops are based.

Several hours later, an Islamic State deputy leader in Syria and a man responsible for the group’s prisoner affairs were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s north, a senior U.S. military official said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/worl ... -raid.html

Wait, I thought this was -- in right wing parlance and OS-speak -- just for the purpose of taking the focus off of Hunter? It had a real combat and security purpose?

[old salt]

All of the pro-Russian, pro-Putin, far-right garbage being disseminated under the guise of “strategic analysis” is really disturbing. It’s true … the pro-fascist movement never really disappeared from America … it just went MAGA.

Meanwhile, Ukraine keeps doing its job and slaughtering the invading Russians. Here are the results just from yesterday and just from Southern Ukraine:

The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 18 Russian howitzers and an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 UAV capable of carrying a multispectral surveillance payload and up to four precision-guided munitions, and killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in southern Ukraine over the course of 6 October.

Source: Operational Command Pivden (South) on Facebook

Details: Russia’s confirmed losses comprise:

105 military personnel;

8 tanks;

18 large-calibre Msta-S and Msta-B howitzers;

1 Pion self-propelled gun;

1 152mm howitzer gun;

4 mortars;

15 armoured vehicles;

3 ammunition dumps in the Bashtanka and Beryslav districts [in Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts, respectively - ed.].

Another six pieces of Russian military equipment, including several tanks, an armoured combat vehicle, a howitzer and an electronic warfare system, have been severely damaged.

Over the course of the day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed six Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones and one Mohajer-6 drone in the Beryslav and Mykolaiv districts. They also shot down three Shahed-136 drones that attempted to attack Odesa Oblast.

Ukraine’s rocket artillery units carried out 347 firing missions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian aircraft conducted seven airstrikes, striking Russian strong points and concentrations of Russian military personnel and equipment in the Beryslav district and anti-aircraft defence systems in the Kakhovka district [in Kherson Oblast - ed.].

https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-armed- ... 21345.html

To give some perspective, the 105 dead Russian soldiers in one day exceeds the pace of the deadliest week for the U.S. during the Vietnam War … May 5-11, 1968 … when North Vietnam launched its so-called “May Offensive”.

And that’s just from Southern Ukraine.

I also continue to be stunned that after more than seven months, Russia has not, and will not, achieve complete air superiority and control.



DocBarrister

...wait 'til you see what 1 well placed tac nuc does to your stats.

[MDlaxfan76]

All of the pro-Russian, pro-Putin, far-right garbage being disseminated under the guise of “strategic analysis” is really disturbing. It’s true … the pro-fascist movement never really disappeared from America … it just went MAGA.

Meanwhile, Ukraine keeps doing its job and slaughtering the invading Russians. Here are the results just from yesterday and just from Southern Ukraine:

The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 18 Russian howitzers and an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 UAV capable of carrying a multispectral surveillance payload and up to four precision-guided munitions, and killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in southern Ukraine over the course of 6 October.

Source: Operational Command Pivden (South) on Facebook

Details: Russia’s confirmed losses comprise:

105 military personnel;

8 tanks;

18 large-calibre Msta-S and Msta-B howitzers;

1 Pion self-propelled gun;

1 152mm howitzer gun;

4 mortars;

15 armoured vehicles;

3 ammunition dumps in the Bashtanka and Beryslav districts [in Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts, respectively - ed.].

Another six pieces of Russian military equipment, including several tanks, an armoured combat vehicle, a howitzer and an electronic warfare system, have been severely damaged.

Over the course of the day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed six Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones and one Mohajer-6 drone in the Beryslav and Mykolaiv districts. They also shot down three Shahed-136 drones that attempted to attack Odesa Oblast.

Ukraine’s rocket artillery units carried out 347 firing missions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian aircraft conducted seven airstrikes, striking Russian strong points and concentrations of Russian military personnel and equipment in the Beryslav district and anti-aircraft defence systems in the Kakhovka district [in Kherson Oblast - ed.].

https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-armed- ... 21345.html

To give some perspective, the 105 dead Russian soldiers in one day exceeds the pace of the deadliest week for the U.S. during the Vietnam War … May 5-11, 1968 … when North Vietnam launched its so-called “May Offensive”.

And that’s just from Southern Ukraine.

I also continue to be stunned that after more than seven months, Russia has not, and will not, achieve complete air superiority and control.



DocBarrister

...wait 'til you see what 1 well placed tac nuc does to your stats.

How many physical assets and men does Russia have in Ukraine?...add those to the list that would be obliterated if Putin does a tac nuke.

[old salt]

Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin was asked about a potential off-ramp for Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Her reply:

https://twitter.com/RikhardHusu/status/ ... 6709590017

She nailed it.

She's happy to let the Ukrainians do the fighting & dying, while the US picks up the tab & expends our critical weapons inventory, while she scurries under the US nuclear umbrella.

[MDlaxfan76]

OS rooting for Russia...

[old salt]

OS should be happy

"U.S. Special Operations forces carried out two major strikes against the Islamic State in northern Syria on Thursday, killing three senior figures responsible for arming and recruiting fighters and plotting attacks, according to American and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Taken together, the nighttime assaults dealt the Islamic State its most punishing blow since a risky predawn raid in northwest Syria in early February by American commandos resulted in the death of the terrorist group’s overall leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

The twin attacks started early Thursday when Special Operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeastern Syria and killed Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, who facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement.

The raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory and just a few miles from a Syrian airfield where Russian troops are based.

Several hours later, an Islamic State deputy leader in Syria and a man responsible for the group’s prisoner affairs were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s north, a senior U.S. military official said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/worl ... -raid.html

Wait, I thought this was -- in right wing parlance and OS-speak -- just for the purpose of taking the focus off of Hunter? It had a real combat and security purpose?

Just another demonstration that we can do counter terrorism ops from over the horizon (which is a lot closer in Syria than in Afghanistan).
I bet we "de-conflicted" it with the Russian military in Syria. Fortunately, we still have a small residual force in that area to keep IS under their rock & bolster our Kurdish allies.

[old salt]

Here's what our bipartisan elite leadership was telling us going into this war about our strategic interests in Ukraine.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/u ... n-ukraine/
Do you hear anything in their litany that justifies taking us to the brink of nuclear war ?
Tenet, Kissinger & GHW Bush (in his chicken Kiev speech) all tried to warn us.

So you can't name any strategic interests. Fine. The first time in the history of the board that you can't name one....and this is just a coincidence. That's what you're going with? Fine.

So you tell us what vital US strategic interest justifies the costs & risks in prolonging this proxy war.

[old salt]

OS rooting for Russia...

OS rooting for sanity. Anyone who does not parrot your maximalist position is rooting for Russia & spouting Russian propaganda.

You are a neocon bot.

[DocBarrister]

OS should be happy

"U.S. Special Operations forces carried out two major strikes against the Islamic State in northern Syria on Thursday, killing three senior figures responsible for arming and recruiting fighters and plotting attacks, according to American and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Taken together, the nighttime assaults dealt the Islamic State its most punishing blow since a risky predawn raid in northwest Syria in early February by American commandos resulted in the death of the terrorist group’s overall leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

The twin attacks started early Thursday when Special Operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeastern Syria and killed Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, who facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement.

The raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory and just a few miles from a Syrian airfield where Russian troops are based.

Several hours later, an Islamic State deputy leader in Syria and a man responsible for the group’s prisoner affairs were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s north, a senior U.S. military official said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/worl ... -raid.html

Dark Brandon killing terrorists in his spare time.

DocBarrister

[old salt]

The "World Order" has no respect for sovereign borders. The EU is a prime example. Look at their reaction to Italians voting in a nationalist. They threatened to use all of the tools at their disposal if Italy elected the "wrong" sort of leader.

The smart set has failed us in Ukraine, which has been a kleptocracy forever. How do you justify actions that have led us to the brink of at least a tactical nuclear exchange? The following commentary has it about right IMHO.

https://townhall.com/columnists/joshham ... e-n2614107

"We are now more than seven months removed from Vladimir Putin's regrettable incursion into eastern Ukraine and Crimea. But despite that elapsed time and all the various developments since then, the United States' formal position on the conflict has changed markedly little. That overly simplified and Manichaean position, in short, is one of Ukrainian maximalism: Putin is evil, Volodymyr Zelensky is noble, and -- here is the big logical leap -- the United States will thus support the Ukrainian effort to retake every square inch of territory in the Donbas and Crimea from its nuclear-armed adversary, seemingly no matter the cost to the U.S. taxpayer.

...the U.S. position: ...We will defend your war to retake every square inch of historically contested and ethnically mixed territory no matter what the people living there say they want, no matter the cost, and despite the fact that the fate of Zelensky's regime in Kyiv is secure.

At this stage in the war, virtually all of this pablum is asinine and counterproductive to the actual U.S. national interest in these contested areas. Our national interest in the Ukrainian theater is not coterminous with Zelensky's absolutist stance; our interest is for de-escalation, detente, and peace. But if we want to achieve those ends -- especially as the threat of nuclear warfare is bursting out into the open, many in the West recklessly double down on calls for Ukraine's ascension to NATO, and the war-hungry Zelensky is himself calling for a NATO-led "preemptive strike" against Russia -- Biden needs to recognize reality and change strategic course immediately.

From day one of Russia's incursion, this column has argued that 1) Ukraine, like Russia, is a deeply corrupt and oligarchic country, and Zelensky is a highly flawed leader; but 2) despite his myriad flaws and status as a pawn of the Davos/NGO globalist class, Zelensky remaining in power in Kyiv is preferable to the obvious alternative of a Belarusian/Alexander Lukashenko-style Moscow puppet state. But Russia, with the exception of a few nearby flare-ups here and there, retreated from Kyiv and its surrounding areas all the way back in May. Put another way, it is clear beyond any reasonable doubt, at this point, that Zelensky isn't going anywhere; he and his government are here to stay. The fate of Kyiv is secure.

At this juncture, the fighting -- and in Russia's case, the recent (likely sham) annexations -- is taking place in four far-eastern subregions of Ukraine, and, to a lesser extent, Crimea. Those are the disputed lands that the Biden administration, and "liberal Western democracy" types more broadly, have deemed to be so existentially important to Ukraine and the integrity of "the West" that reconquering them is worth seemingly any military, economic and humanitarian cost -- up to, and very much including, the harrowing specter of open nuclear warfare between NATO and Russia.

Even worse, when it comes to the disputed lands themselves, reputable Gallup polling from 2014 -- the year Putin first marched into Crimea -- showed that 73.9% of Crimeans thought becoming a part of Russia would improve their lives and their families lives (only 5.5% disagreed). As for the various enclaves of the Donbas, such as Luhansk and Donetsk, they are very much divided between ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians; Luhansk, for instance, has a nearly even, 50-50 demographic split.

Let's be as clear as possible: The median American citizen does not, and should not, care whether an ethnically divided, strategically unimportant, historically contested Slavic subregion or two in eastern Ukraine ultimately takes orders from Kyiv or Moscow. Elon Musk, in a much-criticized tweet earlier this week, had the right idea: "Ukraine-Russia Peace," he argued, can best be achieved by "Redo(ing) elections of annexed regions (such as Luhansk and Donetsk) under UN supervision," and "Russia leaves if that is the will of the people"; "Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev's mistake)"; "Water supply to Crimea assured"; and "Ukraine remains neutral (between Russia and NATO)."

One can certainly quibble with Musk's details -- the United Nations, for instance, cannot be a trusted, neutral arbiter or supervisor of anything. But this is certainly the right idea for what the U.S., and by extension, the West, should be doing and should be aiming toward. The Biden administration, if it had any common sense, would use any and all leverage to get Zelensky and Putin to the negotiating table as soon as possible, thus unequivocally taking the threat of nuclear catastrophe off the table and extricating the United States and NATO from the harrowing prospect of something no Cold War-era president would have ever countenanced: the open and direct military confrontation with the world's largest nuclear arsenal. That certainly involves disavowing the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine.

That our present ruling class demonstrates no interest in common sense de-escalation and instead demonstrates a seemingly interminable interest in escalation and Ukrainian territorial maximalism, speaks volumes about how out of touch that ruling class is. If nothing else, hopefully, the American people speak up and begin to rein in our sordid, war-hungry ruling class at the ballot box next month."

Bravo !

[old salt]

OS should be happy

"U.S. Special Operations forces carried out two major strikes against the Islamic State in northern Syria on Thursday, killing three senior figures responsible for arming and recruiting fighters and plotting attacks, according to American and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Taken together, the nighttime assaults dealt the Islamic State its most punishing blow since a risky predawn raid in northwest Syria in early February by American commandos resulted in the death of the terrorist group’s overall leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

The twin attacks started early Thursday when Special Operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeastern Syria and killed Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, who facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement.

The raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory and just a few miles from a Syrian airfield where Russian troops are based.

Several hours later, an Islamic State deputy leader in Syria and a man responsible for the group’s prisoner affairs were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country’s north, a senior U.S. military official said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/worl ... -raid.html

Dark Brandon killing terrorists in his spare time.

DocBarrister

Dark Brandon. ...I like that.