REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Russia Invades Ukraine. Again

POSTED BY: CAPTAINCRUNCH
UPDATED: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 17:47
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Tuesday, February 20, 2024 2:45 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


The stench of rotting corpses in Avdeyevka is overpowering. Russia will be picking up and collecting bodies for weeks.


Wounded and left behind. As soldiers wait to die, they contact loved ones far away.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trapped-and-left-for-dead-injured
-ukrainian-soldiers-in-avdiivka-exchanged-desperate-messages-as-the-town-fell/ar-BB1iwN62


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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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Wednesday, February 21, 2024 7:03 AM

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Systematic atrocities are integral to Moscow’s way of waging war

By Fredrik Wesslau, the chairman of the board of the Reckoning Project | February 20, 2024, 2:22 PM

https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/20/russia-war-crimes-justice-ukraine
-putin-children-deportation-torture/?tpcc=recirc_latest062921

Two years have passed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian brutality against Ukrainians has been striking, and the evidence of Russia’s war crimes is mounting as the atrocities continue.

What has become evident is that these war crimes are not aberrations or crimes of omission. They are part and parcel of what Russia is trying to achieve in Ukraine. Testimonies collected by my organization, the Reckoning Project, and by others point to the systematic and deliberate nature of Russia’s crimes. https://www.thereckoningproject.com/

This makes the pursuit of accountability in Ukraine not only about justice. It is also about denying Russia its objectives and setting a precedent for other states intent on attacking their neighbors. Ensuring accountability and justice in Ukraine will contribute to accountability and justice globally.

Every day, Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General publishes on its website the total number of war crime cases that the office has registered since February 2022. This month, that number passed 125,000. The number—staggering by any account—increases every day, sometimes by the hundreds, and stands for thousands of destroyed lives. Each case is a devastating tragedy in and by itself. https://en.gp.gov.ua/

The actual number of war crimes is much higher, as the reported number doesn’t account for most of the crimes committed in the occupied territories, where Ukrainian law enforcement has no access—close to 20 percent of Ukraine. There may be some 3 million Ukrainians still living in these territories. Many residents have fled, but many still remain.

Beyond the scale of the crimes, it’s crucial to understand that the atrocities are integral to Russia’s war aims. Of course, some crimes are the result of a rogue soldier’s actions. But the bulk of crimes stem directly from how and why Russia is waging war against Ukraine. They are a feature, not a bug, of Russia’s war. They are systematic, deliberate, and serve a clear purpose.

Take the missile and drone strikes against civilian critical infrastructure. Last winter, Russia launched a massive air campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing nearly irreparable damage to the energy network. The purpose of these attacks was to make Ukraine uninhabitable during the cold winter. This was intended to trigger a new wave of refugees into the European Union with the aim of creating divisions among Europeans and undermining their support for Ukraine.

Today, the barrages of missile and drone attacks against civilian targets—including schools, shopping malls, and apartment blocks—are meant to terrorize the population in order to undermine Ukrainian’s morale and put pressure on the government in Kyiv to capitulate.

Russia’s crimes can also be seen in the liberated territories. The scale and scope of these crimes became evident when Ukrainian forces entered previously occupied towns such as Bucha and Irpin in the early days of the invasion. Mass atrocities were also uncovered in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions after these territories were liberated.

The killing of civilians, torture, and disappearances were part of a deliberate strategy to terrorize the local population and rid the territories of Ukrainian resistance. These crimes were—and are—a deliberate means to subdue and control Ukrainians living under occupation.

When preparing the invasion, Russia developed plans to take over and exercise control over Ukrainian territories. These included filtration camps and death lists of notable activists, journalists, and politicians. Although Russia failed to take Kyiv, these policies are being implemented in the territories it managed to occupy. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/russians-hunt-down-ukrainia
ns-on-lists/

As Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, wrote in a report in September 2023, Russia’s torture of Ukrainians was “orchestrated as part of a State policy to intimidate, to instill fear, to punish, or to extract information and confessions.” https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/srtorture/s
tatements/20230908-eom-visit-ukraine-sr-torture.pdf

But these systematic war crimes are not merely about eliminating resistance and subjugating a conquered population to Russian rule. The aim is also to Russify these territories and the Ukrainians living there.

This can be seen in one of the most egregious crimes being committed by Russia: the deportation of Ukrainian children. Kyiv estimates that 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia, of which fewer than 400 have been returned to Ukraine. The Reckoning Project and other organizations have documented ample evidence of these deportations.

Ukrainian children are sent to Russia—ostensibly to summer camp—and never returned to their parents. They are taken from orphanages in Ukraine and put in foster homes in Russia. They are separated from their parents in filtration camps. Many of the deported children are adopted by Russians and given Russian identities.

The deportation of children—the war crime on which the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is based—goes to the heart of Russia’s objectives in Ukraine: to destroy Ukrainian identity, culture, and ultimately the nation.

This can also be seen in the systematic indoctrination and reeducation of Ukrainian children living in the occupied territories. Ukrainian children are effectively taught to abandon their Ukrainian identity and instead become loyal Russian subjects.

It is important to understand what Russian occupation means in Ukraine. It is not merely a question of switching the language from Ukrainian to Russian in schools or Ukrainian flags being replaced by Russian flags. Occupation means oppression, torture, disappearances, indoctrination, and kidnapped children. It means the eradication of one’s culture and identity.

Russia’s actions in the occupied territories demonstrably negate the argument that its invasion was sparked by fears that Ukraine would join NATO and pose a security threat to Russia. The aggression was driven by Putin’s imperial ambition of “gathering the Russian lands” by conquering Ukraine. The country’s possible membership in NATO or the EU was seen as an obstacle to this ambition rather than a security threat. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181

Moscow’s efforts to Russify Ukraine and Ukrainians are also why the notion of freezing the conflict and accepting Russian control over the occupied territories is unthinkable for most Ukrainians. Two years into the war, their will to fight remains remarkably high. This is because Ukrainians know what occupation means: the destruction of a large part of their nation. Contrary to many Western armchair strategists, they know that occupation is about people—not just about land.

Holding Russia accountable for its crimes in Ukraine matters first and foremost to the victims and their families. It is primarily about ensuring justice for those who have suffered from Russia’s aggression. But it is also about denying Russia its strategic objectives in Ukraine. The pursuit of accountability puts pressure on the perpetrators and can help deter further crimes. It is a way to push back at Russia’s attempt to terrorize the population, dismember the country, and destroy the nation.

The war in Ukraine is also part of Russia’s wider effort to remodel the rules-based international order. Moscow seeks a world where might makes right, where only strong countries are sovereign, and where disregard for the laws of war is the norm. It seeks a world in which Russia can act with impunity in its neighborhood and beyond.

In that way, the war in Ukraine was enabled by the weak international response to Russia’s past wars in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria. Just as impunity in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria enabled Russian crimes in Ukraine, impunity in Ukraine would enable crimes elsewhere.

That Russia, in particular, is the perpetrator matters. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a nuclear power, it has a direct impact on the fabric of the international system. Accountability in Ukraine will help deter other would-be perpetrators of war crimes, regardless of their international status and standing.

To this end, the arrest warrant against Putin for the deportation of Ukrainian children is particularly powerful. It restricts his ability to engage on the global stage and represent Russia in international relations. The designation as a suspected war criminal will follow him to his grave. Other would-be tyrants are taking note.

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, February 21, 2024 11:19 AM

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“This war is going Russia’s way now,” warned a European ambassador who’s one of the West’s wisest observers of the Kremlin. He remembered cautioning U.S. officials when the war started that “it will take 500,000 dead before Russia stops.” Their estimated casualties total more than 300,000 dead and wounded, according to U.S. officials.

Putin can keep sending troops not just because of Russian stoicism, but because he has cleverly drawn his forces from the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of the country. Those dying are disproportionately ethnic minorities from backwaters such as Chechnya and Dagestan, U.S. analysts say. The pay for soldiers at the front is three times what they would normally earn, and the families of dead soldiers receive a bonus worth more than $50,000, noted the European ambassador. “The war has brought a kind of prosperity for poor Russians,” he said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/20/ukraine-russia-atta
cks-atacms-missiles-weapons/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Wednesday, February 21, 2024 11:26 AM

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Pro-war Russian blogger who revealed huge Avdiivka losses dies by suicide

Andrey Morozov said he had been pressured to delete post detailing the number of Russian casualties in Avdiivka.

Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

Morozov, who went by the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armour during its months-long capture of Avdiivka. The post drew heavy criticism from senior Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “slandering the Russian defence ministry”.

In Morozov’s final messages on Tuesday morning, he announced his suicide and said he was pressured by his superiors to delete the post detailing the number of casualties in Avdiivka. Several people close to Morozov on Tuesday confirmed his death, with some saying that he had shot himself.

Triggered in part by the rebellion by then-Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin last year largely cracked down on voices such as Morozov, who once was part of a loud group of ultra-nationalist hawks who criticised Moscow over shortages of weapons and accused the Russian military leadership of hiding the true death toll among its forces.

Russia hides its war losses and the true casualty toll from its invasion of Ukraine remains a secret, though western officials believe the war has cost the country more than 315,000 dead and injured troops.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/21/pro-war-russian-blogger-
who-revealed-huge-avdiivka-losses-dies-by-suicide

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, February 21, 2024 12:36 PM

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Germany faces a political crisis over sending Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine

Berlin is reluctant to supply Kyiv with its powerful bridge-buster bombs.

February 20, 2024 5:21 pm CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-political-crisis-taurus-cruise
-missiles-ukraine-marie-agnes-strack-zimmermann/

The missiles have a range of about 500 kilometers and a powerful warhead that can destroy reinforced targets or key infrastructure like bridges. That's what's giving Chancellor Olaf Scholz pause, thanks to worries about escalating the conflict with Russia and also being out of step with Washington, which so far has sent only a handful of its MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System ballistic missiles.

Despite the Taurus debate, Germany is far ahead of all other European countries in sending military aid to Ukraine. Since the start of the war, Berlin has pledged €17.7 billion in arms, second only to the U.S., according to the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Support Tracker.

"Ukraine is fighting for our peace, our freedom and our future in Europe," Strack-Zimmermann tweeted.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and chair of the Bundestag's defense committee, said she'll support sending the missiles to Kyiv.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Wednesday, February 21, 2024 1:03 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Pro-war Russian blogger who revealed huge Avdiivka losses dies by suicide

Andrey Morozov said he had been pressured to delete post detailing the number of Russian casualties in Avdiivka.

Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

Morozov, who went by the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armour during its months-long capture of Avdiivka. The post drew heavy criticism from senior Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “slandering the Russian defence ministry”.

In Morozov’s final messages on Tuesday morning, he announced his suicide and said he was pressured by his superiors to delete the post detailing the number of casualties in Avdiivka. Several people close to Morozov on Tuesday confirmed his death, with some saying that he had shot himself.

Triggered in part by the rebellion by then-Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin last year largely cracked down on voices such as Morozov, who once was part of a loud group of ultra-nationalist hawks who criticised Moscow over shortages of weapons and accused the Russian military leadership of hiding the true death toll among its forces.

Russia hides its war losses and the true casualty toll from its invasion of Ukraine remains a secret, though western officials believe
They don't believe that any more than I do. It's for propaganda purposes only.
Quote:
the war has cost the country more than 315,000 dead and injured troops.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/21/pro-war-russian-blogger-
who-revealed-huge-avdiivka-losses-dies-by-suicide


As you know, I check in with Military Summary Channel almost every day, twice a day. Being pro-Ukrainian, he re-posts every video and every report of Ukrainian battlefield success, and I've seen no such thing.

Meduza, in partnership with the BBC, attempts to estimate the number of Russian deaths through open sources such as obituaries, death notices, applications for family assistance, newly dug graves and so forth, and they show a declining death rate, even during the Avdiivka operation, and more or less stuck at about 50,000 dead, after bumpong up the figure to account for the ones they missed. If there are 3 wounded for each death, that's 200,000 dead and wounded. But that doesn't mean severely wounded.

That figure will probably creep up after Avdiivka, because these figures take time to collect, but not hugely.

Looking at Avdiivka, the weapons that Ukraine was able to bring to bear on Avdiivka were mines, FPV drones, some artillery (early on) and infantry. And while you may kill soldiers in the onesies and twosies ... maybe even up to half a dozen at a time ... you're not about to kill dozens or scores.

There were two times when I could see Russia taking armored vehicles losses:

The capture of the "terrikon" slag heap (north of the coke plant in the northernmost portion of Avdiivka). Since the terrikon is the highest position, it left Russian armored vehicles and infantry open to artillery and FPV drones strikes. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/23154

An attempt to cross a minefield to the southwest of Avdiivka which wasn't properly demined.

But mentally adding up Russian losses, his figures just don't add up to what I was seeing Kiev sources were posting. My guess is under 50 armored vehicles. Not sure about soldiers, but generously assuming that Ukraine could mount 5 FPV drone attacks per day and each drone attack killed or wounded 5 soldiers, that's 750 per month over 4 months, or 3,000. Triple that, and add, to account for close combat and artillery strikes, that's 9,000. And I feel I'm being extremely generous.

At some point, unlike Bakhmut, Russia just started shelling and bombing the shit out of areas not under their control, and after that Russian losses were probably negligible since Ukraine forces were dead, fled, wounded, or demoralized.

Sorry the guy is dead, but I think he was misinformed.


-----------
"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, February 21, 2024 5:10 PM

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


Sweden's potent anti-submarine weapon Torpedo 47: A game-changer in Ukraine's stand-off with Russian fleet

9:21 PM EST, February 20, 2024

https://essanews.com/swedens-potent-anti-submarine-weapon-torpedo-47-a
-game-changer-in-ukraines-stand-off-with-russian-fleet,6997839384188545a

Sweden has announced it will supply Ukraine with a crucial new weapon named the Torpedo 47 or SLWT (Saab’s Lightweight Torpedo).

The Torpedo 47, a Saab-developed lightweight torpedo, is a brand-new weapon created to counter submarines. The weapon was introduced to service in 2022 (deliveries started as of October) among the Swedish and Finnish navies.

A key advantage of the SLWT over its predecessors is its versatility; it can be launched from various platforms, ranging from different types of ships, planes, and helicopters to makeshift carriers specifically designed for this task.

Ukrainians view this versatility as a benefit, as the Torpedo 47 is an excellent fit for diverse naval drones. With such weaponry, the hardware Ukrainians use against the Russian fleet would transition from kamikaze to modern, unmanned carriers of potent weapons.

Designed specifically for the Baltic Sea's challenging environments, the SLWT can operate in varying water depths and complex seabed topographies. The Torpedo 47 is relatively compact - the torpedo is approximately 9 feet long, has a 1.3 ft diameter, and weighs around 750 lbs. The explosive charge accounts for roughly 110 lbs. of this weight.

The Torpedo 47 has a range of approximately 12 miles, a passive and active guidance system, and can travel at speeds exceeding 40 knots. It can target submerged objects at depths greater than 984 feet.

The announcement of the SLWT delivery was subtly made within the information that Sweden would support Ukraine with a weapons package worth $680 million. This includes, among other items, swift CB90 (Combat Boat 90) boats and 'underwater' weaponry.





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, February 21, 2024 9:46 PM

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


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Sorry the guy is dead, but I think he was misinformed.
About that dead guy:

Prominent independent Russian milblogger Andrei Morozov reportedly committed suicide on February 21 after refusing the Russian military command’s orders to delete his reports about high Russian casualty rates around Avdiivka.[1] Morozov (also known under the alias Boytsovskiy Kot Murz) was a sergeant in the Russian 4th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd Luhansk People’s Republic’s [LNR] Army Corps) and an avid critic of the Russian military command and the Ministry of Defense (MoD). Morozov published a lengthy suicide note in which he stated that an unnamed Russian colonel ordered him on February 20 to remove his February 19 report that claimed that 16,000 Russian personnel died in combat during Russian offensive operations in Avdiivka.[2] The colonel reportedly threatened to cut off ammunition and military equipment supplies to Morozov’s unit if he did not delete his reports about the Russian military’s heavy losses in seizing Avdiivka and told Morozov that he would not be able to change the current situation on the battlefield and that only presidential elections could trigger some changes. Morozov claimed that the colonel was likely following orders from the Russian military command, political leadership, and Russian propagandists such as Vladimir Solovyov, who had sought to eliminate Morozov even prior to full-scale invasion. Morozov proclaimed that he tried to expose the truth about Russian battlefield realities and could no longer serve under this abusive colonel who assumed command over a “decapitated” brigade operating on a critical frontline and whose poor leadership made the situation worse for Russian forces. Morozov also implied that Russian authorities may have conspired to murder or arrest him and noted that he no longer saw the point in continuing his under-resourced fight against the incompetent Russian military bureaucracy.

Morozov used his suicide note to further discuss Russian military failures in Avdiivka and Donetsk Oblast. Morozov accused Russian generals of wastefully sacrificing thousands of servicemen to advance their military careers and implied that most Russian journalists lie about battlefield realities. Morozov also observed that the Russian military command had been increasingly using mobilized personnel as barrier forces (specialized units that shoot their own forces who retreat or refuse to attack) and amplified a formal complaint from a mobilized Russian serviceman of the 1487th Regiment (a mobilized unit under the command of the 1st Donetsk People’s Republic’s [DNR] Army Corps), which the Russian military prosecutor’s office rejected in early February. The mobilized serviceman complained that the 1487th Regiment was reduced to less than 30 percent of its strength due to the regiment’s lack of reinforcements and rotations since the regiment’s deployment in mid-January 2023.[3] The serviceman added that the commander of the 1st Army Corps, nicknamed “Krym” (Crimea), transferred 300 servicemen from the 1487th Regiment to the command of the Russian “Veterany” private military company (PMC) in November 2023 – most of whom died or were injured in the Avdiivka direction. The mobilized serviceman accused the “Veterany” PMC – which is reportedly staffed with convicts, drug addicts, and looters – of using mobilized personnel as barrier troops and refraining from participating in assaults. The mobilized serviceman added that his battalion completely lacked grenade launchers, mortars, and vehicles necessary for offensive operations. The mobilized serviceman also observed that Russian military medical staff refused to treat shellshocked servicemen and sent them back to the frontlines without medical examinations and that these issues systematically plague other Russian units.

The Russian information space, apart from select Russian propagandists and Kremlin-controlled milbloggers, largely mourned Morozov’s death and blamed various military and political actors for his demise. Russian propagandist Yuliya Vityazeva implied that Morozov’s suicide was the fault of his friends who failed to help him and are using his death to throw shade at the Russian MoD to profit off social media attention.[4] One Kremlin-affiliated milblogger acknowledged Morozov’s humanitarian aid contributions to the Russian military but noted that Morozov’s criticism of the Russian military command was so extremely negative that it helped Ukraine.[5] The milblogger added that it is unfortunate that Russia’s enemies and “hostile” Telegram channel networks will use the news of Morozov’s death to overshadow the Russian capture of Avdiivka. Wagner Group-affiliated milbloggers accused Solovyov and other propagandists of persecuting Morozov and mocking his death.[6] Supporters of the imprisoned Russian officer and ardent critic of the Russian military command, Igor Girkin, also condemned Morozov’s harassment and highlighted his years-long commitment to supplying Russian forces with equipment and exposing Russian military failures.[7] Several milbloggers blamed Morozov’s suicide on Russia’s inability to value and internalize different opinions in pursuit of the common goal.[8]

Morozov’s reported suicide will likely further the Kremlin’s and the Russian MoD’s efforts to consolidate a monopoly over the Russian information space. Morozov was one of the few remaining independent ultranationalist milbloggers who openly criticized the Russian military command and government after the Kremlin and the Russian MoD began to consolidate control over prominent Russian milbloggers in July 2023. Morozov, for example, previously warned about severely degraded Russian forces that were around Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast, in May-June 2022 – months prior to a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the area in September 2022.[9] Russian officials have been increasingly targeting radical milbloggers and have arrested several milbloggers who have expressed critiques similar to Morozov’s complaints.[10] ISW observed that many Russian milbloggers have drastically suppressed their critiques against Russian military command since the failed Wagner mutiny and reported pressure against Morozov may encourage more critical milbloggers to refrain from discussing Russian military failures. The Kremlin began an effort to co-opt pliant milbloggers in November 2022.[11]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-february-21-2024



The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Wednesday, February 21, 2024 10:07 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


How come nobody heard about this guy until a week ago?

Now we hear that he was practically a saint.




Let's just say he ain't no Pearl Harbor. Once it's clear that this will gain no traction, none of you dummies are ever even going to speak his name again 2 weeks from now.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2024 10:37 PM

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Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
How come nobody heard about this guy until a week ago?

Now we hear that he was practically a saint.

Let's just say he ain't no Pearl Harbor. Once it's clear that this will gain no traction, none of you dummies are ever even going to speak his name again 2 weeks from now.
Russians killed 62 million Russians and no Russians remember who killed who. What's one more dead Russki in the greater scheme of things? Another drop of blood falls into an ocean of dead.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, February 22, 2024 12:31 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
How come nobody heard about this guy until a week ago?

Now we hear that he was practically a saint.

Let's just say he ain't no Pearl Harbor. Once it's clear that this will gain no traction, none of you dummies are ever even going to speak his name again 2 weeks from now.
Russians killed 62 million Russians and no Russians remember who killed who. What's one more dead Russki in the greater scheme of things? Another drop of blood falls into an ocean of dead.


Lefty media is making a huge deal out of this one.

They didn't care that Epstien did a high dive off of his bunk bed with tied up bed sheets and snapped his own neck while the two guards charged with making sure he didn't kill himself both went to do their laundry at the same time that the camera watching him shorted out.

Sure thing. Suicide. Nothing to see here.

It's not like he was the most important person in the world when it came to taking down rich and powerful people on both sides of the aisle all over the globe or anything.


But let's keep talking about this guy who may or may not have even really existed until a week ago. See if we can't get some of those Trumptards to change their mind and happily agree to piss away more of their grandkids money into the Raytheon war machine in the name of a country that 98% of Americans wouldn't have been able to point out on a map 2 years ago and 75% of Americans still couldn't today.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Thursday, February 22, 2024 6:58 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 6ixStringJack:

But let's keep talking about this guy who may or may not have even really existed until a week ago. See if we can't get some of those Trumptards to change their mind and happily agree to piss away more of their grandkids money into the Raytheon war machine in the name of a country that 98% of Americans wouldn't have been able to point out on a map 2 years ago and 75% of Americans still couldn't today.
Ask them about anything at all and 98% will give you a wrong answer rather than make the effort to search for the right answer. For a widely held example of giving wrong answers and not caring, can't care: they will insist for their entire life that Presidents control inflation. That is the kind of mental malfunction that gets them into trouble in all things, all the time, not just where is Ukraine and who is Jeffrey Epstein.

I bet Epstein was in the 98% group of Americans. Easy to know the answer: Jeffrey Edward Epstein was an American financier and sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional life as a teacher at the Dalton School despite lacking a college degree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein
Born: January 20, 1953, Brooklyn, New York, NY
Died: August 10, 2019 (age 66 years)

Epstein has all the signs of being a 98 percenter: 1) faking knowledge he does not have. 2) breaking universal rules. 3) an endless stream of lies and bullshit. 4) an early death (You might think this is hard to know while they are still alive. Not true! Look for prominent signs of an eventual early death such as smoking, over-eating, illegal drugs, weird sex life, drunkenness, divorces, cheating on universal rules, Nazi sympathies, unemployment, etc.) Not surprising that almost every Russian courts an early death.

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, February 22, 2024 6:59 AM

SECOND

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


Ukraine has been defending itself against illegal Russian military intervention and aggression for 10 years.[1] Russia violated its commitments to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and began its now decade-long military intervention in Ukraine on February 20, 2014 when Russian soldiers without identifying insignia (also known colloquially as “little green men” and, under international law, as illegal combatants), deployed to Crimea.[2] The deployment of these Russian soldiers out of uniform followed months of protests in Ukraine against pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych for refusing to sign an association agreement with the European Union (EU) that the Ukrainian Rada had approved.[3] The Yanukovych government killed and otherwise abused peaceful Ukrainian protestors, leading to an organized protest movement calling for Yanukovych’s resignation. This Ukrainian movement — the Euromaidan Movement — culminated in Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity during which the Rada voted to oust Yanukovych who then fled to Russia with the Kremlin’s aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed these events as intolerable and launched a hybrid war against Ukraine as the Euromaidan Movement was still underway with the goal of reestablishing Russian control over all of Ukraine. Russia’s military intervention in Crimea and the Donbas in 2014 violated numerous Russian international commitments to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Russia’s recognition of Ukraine as an independent state in 1991 and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum in which Russia specifically committed not to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty or territorial integrity.[4]

Russia’s grand strategic objective of regaining control of Ukraine has remained unchanged in the decade since its illegal intervention in Ukraine began. Russia’s overarching strategic objective in Ukraine, as first manifested in the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the Donbas, has been and remains the destruction of Ukraine’s sovereignty and the re-establishment of a pro-Russian Ukrainian government subservient to Moscow’s direction. Russia began immediate efforts to dismantle and eradicate Ukrainian identity in Crimea, consolidate its military presence on the peninsula, and forcibly integrate Crimea into the Russian Federation along multiple avenues, all while promoting a parallel political subversion campaign to destroy Ukraine’s ability to resist dominant Russian influence.[5]

Russia worked hard to obfuscate its grand strategic objectives of regaining control of Ukraine between 2014 and the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The Kremlin successfully employed disinformation to obfuscate Russia’s objectives in Ukraine for many Western leaders. Putin learned valuable lessons from the way the West responded to Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine and tailored Russia’s information operations to mask his grand strategic intent towards Ukraine in the years leading up to the 2022 full-scale invasion. Putin succeeded in convincing many Western leaders that Russia had limited objectives in Ukraine: that Moscow only sought control over Crimea, or that Russia sought only to occupy parts of eastern Ukraine, for example.[6] Russia also obfuscated its true intentions in Ukraine by promulgating the lie that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were aimed at preventing NATO expansion. The Euromaidan Movement and the Revolution of Dignity were never about NATO — they were about Ukraine’s desire to associate with the EU. In the years between 2014 and 2022, however, Russia managed to pollute the global information space with the fallacy that pro-NATO policies in Ukraine forced Russia’s hand. While the mechanisms Russia uses to cloak its intentions in Ukraine have adapted and evolved in the past decade, Russia’s grand strategic objectives of controlling Ukraine and denying Ukrainians their right to choose their own future have persisted and likely will not change until Russia is defeated. The Kremlin continues information operations to persuade Western audiences and leaders that Russia has limited objectives in Ukraine in order to fuel calls for negotiations on terms that would destroy Ukraine’s independence and damage the West.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-february-20-2024

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, February 22, 2024 7:57 AM

SECOND

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


Desperate for soldiers, Ukraine weighs unpopular plan to expand the draft

By SAMYA KULLAB and SUSIE BLANN | 11:17 PM CST, February 21, 2024

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-draft-b2ca1d0ecd72019be2
217a653989fbc2

The parliament is considering legislation that would increase the potential pool of recruits by about 400,000, in part by lowering the enlistment age from 27 to 25. But the proposal is highly unpopular, forcing elected officials to grapple with questions that cut to the heart of nationhood: Can they convince enough citizens to sacrifice their lives? And, if not, are they willing to accept the alternative?

Ukrainian politicians are very stupid people to realize this so late in the war. Ukraine has been fighting Russia for ten years since Crimea was invaded. But then Ukrainian politicians also failed to foresee the immediate purchase of the weapons that would be needed to knock down the bridge Russia built into Crimea. It is no surprise when elected politicians show zero foresight, always waiting until events force them to look ahead a few weeks into the future.

What is wrong?

"The average Ukrainian servicemen is in their 40s, according to Western officials."

"Dima’s assault company recently received seven new recruits ages 55 to 58."

"At the start of the war, soldiers were rotated every two weeks for one week of rest, he said. But now his soldiers fight for a month, then get four days of rest."

"Brigades of 3,000-5,000 soldiers are typically fighting with only 75% of their full strength. Some brigades have as few as 25%."

I'm guessing that the Ukrainian politicians will form a committee to look into this. The committee report will be issued in 12 to 18 months, which is very fast for politicians. Then the debates will begin about what to do. Putin might cut the debate short out of impatience with highly sophisticated, refined, and articulate Ukrainian politicians finessing problems rather than choosing brutally simple solutions to problems. Slava Ukraini.

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, February 22, 2024 2:49 PM

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


Titushko, 39, explained to the Guardian how he and his men, part of an artillery division in Ukraine’s First Tank Brigade, received back in November a supply of about 300 shells every 10 days. Now, he said, they have a “firing limit” of just 10 a day. “Back then, we could keep (the Russians) on their toes, fire all the time, aim every time we saw a target,” he said from a base in the forest to the soundtrack of artillery fire. “Now we fire exclusively for defense.”

Adding insult to injury, his fellow soldier piped in, some of the remaining reserves of ammunition are Iranian shells that were seized en route to Yemen, and mostly don’t work.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/18/shock-anger-and-war-fati
gue-ukraines-two-years-of-agony

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, February 22, 2024 4:18 PM

SECOND

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


Iconic former Polish president message to lawmakers on Ukraine: 'If we don't act now, we will lose'

'It is in the interest of us all, including the US, to deal with Russia once and for all'

By Nana Sajaia | February 22, 2024 10:46am EST

Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Polish President Lech Walesa exclusively spoke with Fox News Digital about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and why the U.S. and the West need to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Fox News: Mr. President, you have been advocating for Ukraine from the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. What exactly did you ask American lawmakers to do?

Lech Walesa: In [the] late '80s I led a big revolution in Poland, and that led to the end of communism and the Soviet Union. We did this to build a new world, but we did not finish our job in regards to Russia and China, we were too weak to do it. Forty years later, the time has come to finally finish the job, and I am here to encourage the United States to help. That's what I am trying to explain to my American friends.

Fox News: In 1989, when you spoke in front of the U.S. Congress, among other things, you asked for economic aid for Poland. And in that speech, you said, "In peacetime, it's better than tanks, better than warships." Did you ever imagine that 40 years later there would be a war going on in Europe?

Walesa: Yes, I imagined it, and I warned everybody about it. At the time, we believed Mikhail Gorbachev [the last leader of the Soviet Union] too much. He was doing great things, but we forgot that he was a Russian patriot. He was trying to build back Russia and get the West to rely on Russia more. The U.S. has a historic chance to make amends now. The world has never been as united against Russia as today. We have a chance for peace, so that our grandchildren do not have to fight.

Fox News: You are one of the first foreigners who was not head of state by the time you addressed the Congress in 1989. Two years later, Boris Yeltsin spoke at Congress as Russia’s first elected president. Back then, the U.S. was optimistic about Russian democracy. Do you think Russia can be a democracy any time soon?

Walesa: If we offer solidarity and the U.S. is able to lead the world, this will happen. My question is, when will this happen? And what will be the price?

Fox News: You were friends with President Ronald Reagan. How do you think he would react to American foreign policy of today?

WALESA: Well, Reagan started these processes. It's difficult to imagine things moving further without Reagan. That's how the epoch of the bad divides in the world ended. That stage, we have won. But today, we are not winning. It is becoming more and more dangerous. That's why I would like to convince the U.S. to take charge of the world.

Fox News: While you are here, the Republican Party is divided over Ukraine aid. What would you say to Republicans who are holding up the funding process?

Walesa: I would tell them to listen to old Walesa. If we don't act now, we will lose.

Fox News: What happens to Ukraine if it does not receive the help it needs?

Walesa: It won't just be Ukraine that is affected. The United States will be in danger. Russia wants to attack the U.S. Right now it's too weak to do so, but if it is let to defeat Ukraine, the U.S. will be next. So, it is in the interest of us all, including the U.S., to deal with Russia once and for all.

Fox News: When you talk to American politicians, do they share your concerns?

Walesa: They do not fully understand the danger that they're faced with.

Fox News: We have elections coming up here, the implications of which will go further than the United States. Are you worried about our presidential elections?

Walesa: I am worried. We haven't noticed that we live in a time where epochs are changing. Solutions from old times do not fit current issues. We found ourselves in a time of word discussion and what the world is supposed to look [like]. We need countries who are ready to lead, take charge and help create solutions. But, instead, we are constantly late with solutions.



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, February 23, 2024 7:47 AM

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


Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would likely have to seize Kyiv sooner or later while identifying Russia’s possible further territorial objectives in Ukraine. Medvedev responded in an interview published on February 22 to a question asking if there will “still be any part of Ukraine left that [Russia] will consider as a legitimate state, whose borders [Russia] will be ready to recognize.”[1] Medvedev stated that Russia must “ensure its interests” by achieving the goals of the “special military operation” as laid out by Russian President Vladimir Putin – referring to Russian demands for Ukraine’s “demilitarization,” “denazification,” and neutrality. Medvedev reiterated Russia’s intention of changing the government in Ukraine, stating that the Ukrainian government “must fall, it must be destroyed, it must not remain in this world.” Medvedev claimed that Russia must create a “protective cordon” in order to protect against “encroachments on [Russia’s] lands,” including shelling and active offensive operations. Medvedev stated that he does not know where Russia should “stop” but that Russia “probably” must seize and occupy Kyiv “if not now then after some time.” Medvedev claimed that Kyiv is historically a “Russian” city from where “international” threats to Russia’s existence currently originate. Medvedev also labeled Odesa a historical “Russian” city. Putin similarly emphasized on January 31 the idea of a “demilitarized” or “sanitary” zone in Ukraine.[2] ISW previously assessed that Putin’s statements about creating a “protective” zone in which Russia’s claimed and actual territories are out of Ukrainian firing range actually mean that Russia cannot accept the existence of any independent Ukraine with the ability to defend itself.[3] Medvedev, however, also claimed that “if ... something remains of Ukraine,” then it “probably” has a low chance of survival and reiterated his previous comments about a possible Ukrainian rump state in Lviv Oblast while alluding to the fact that this area was Polish territory earlier in history.[4] Medvedev’s comments continue to indicate that the Kremlin has returned to its domestic narrative that Russia is fighting the war to “liberate its historic lands.”[5]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-february-22-2024

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, February 23, 2024 9:11 AM

SECOND

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


Why Europe Still Can’t Get Its Military Act Together

The continent faces multiple obstacles on the way to military autonomy.

By Stephen M. Walt, a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University.

February 21, 2024, 10:12 AM

https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/21/europe-military-trump-nato-eu-aut
onomy/

Former U.S. President Donald Trump set off alarm bells in Europe when he told a campaign rally that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to any countries he judged to be delinquent on their defense obligations. European countries were already fretting about the possibility of a second Trump term, and these latest remarks sent these concerns into high orbit. European Commission President Ursula Van der Leyen told the Financial Times a few days later that Europe was facing a world “that has got rougher” and that “we have to spend more, we have to spend better, and we have to spend European.”

But the question remains: Will Europe do enough to be able to defend itself? Complaints that European states are overly dependent on U.S. protection and unwilling to maintain adequate defense capabilities have a long history, and the wake-up call provided by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has yet to produce a dramatic increase in Europe’s usable military power. Yes, NATO members are now spending more money and the EU recently authorized an additional 50 billion euros in financial support to Ukraine. But Europe’s ability to maintain substantial forces in the field for more than a few weeks remains paltry: It still relies on the United States for some critical capabilities, and some NATO members have reason to wonder if their partners could do much to help if they were attacked, even if those partners tried.

To be sure, rhetoric from European officials is becoming more strident. Danish defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen recently warned that Russia might test the NATO mutual defense clause “within three to five years” and another senior NATO diplomat believes “we no longer have the luxury to think that Russia would stop with Ukraine.” According to another senior diplomat, “Russia’s intent and capability” to attack a NATO country by 2030 was “pretty much consensus” within the alliance at this point. Because it might take Europe 10 years or more to develop sufficient capabilities of its own, diehard Atlanticists want to keep Uncle Sam firmly committed to Europe despite all the competing demands on U.S. time, attention, and resources.

Can Europe get its act together? Two well-established bodies of theory are relevant here. The first, to which I have tried to contribute, is balance of power (or if you prefer, balance of threat) theory. It predicts that a serious external threat to European security—such as a nearby great power with a strong military and highly revisionist ambitions—would cause most of these states to join forces to deter the threat (or if necessary, to defeat it). That impulse would grow stronger if these states understood that they could not rely on anyone else for protection. Recent increases in European defense spending and Sweden and Finland’s decisions to join NATO illustrate the tendency for threatened states to balance perfectly, and this well-established tendency should make us more optimistic about Europe’s ability and willingness to take greater responsibility for its own defense.

Unfortunately, a second body of theory makes that upbeat outcome less certain. Because security is a “collective good,” states in an alliance will be tempted to “buck-pass” or free-ride on the efforts of others, in the hope that their partners will do enough to keep them safe and secure, even if they do less. This tendency helps explain why the strongest members of an alliance tend to contribute a disproportionate amount to the collective effort. If an alliance’s leading members do enough to deter or defeat an attack, the contributions of the smallest members may be superfluous. After all, the alliance wouldn’t be that much stronger even if they doubled their efforts. Hence the temptation to do less, confident that the larger actors will do enough out of their own self-interest. If enough members succumb to the temptation to let others bear the greater burden, however, or if other selfish interests overcome the need to work together, then the alliance may not produce the combined capabilities and coordinated strategy it needs to be secure.

Taken together, these two well-known theories underscore the dilemma NATO faces today. The good news is that NATO’s European members have vastly more latent power potential than Russia does. They have three to four times more people, and their combined economies are a whopping 10 times larger than Russia’s. Several European states still have sophisticated arms industries capable of producing excellent weapons and some of them (e.g., Germany) possessed formidable ground and air forces during the latter stages of the Cold War. Even more remarkably, NATO’s European members alone spend at least three times more on defense than Russia does every single year. Even if we allow for higher personnel costs, duplication of effort, and other inefficiencies, Europe has more than enough power potential to deter or defeat a Russian attack, assume that latent capacity is properly mobilized and led. And the Russian military is not a colossus: Although its military performance and defense production capacity have improved significantly since the onset of the Ukraine war, it has had a hard time overcoming the less numerous and less well-armed Ukrainians. An army that takes months to seize Bakhmut or Avdiivka is not about to launch a successful blitzkrieg against anyone else.

The bad news is that a sustained effort to mount a capable European defense force faces significant obstacles. For starters, NATO’s European members do not agree on the level or even the identity of their main security problems. For the Baltic States and Poland, it is obvious that Russia poses the greatest danger. For Spain or Italy, however, Russia is a distant problem at best and illegal migration is a bigger challenge. Unlike some analysts, I don’t believe this situation prevents Europe from mounting an effective defense against Russia, but it does make issues of burden-sharing and military planning more complicated. Getting Portugal to do much to help Estonia will take a bit of persuasion.

Second, those who want Europe to do more face a delicate dilemma: They must convince people there’s a serious problem, but they also have to convince them that solving the problem won’t be too costly or difficult. If they try to mobilize support for a big defense buildup by exaggerating Russia’s military capabilities and portraying Vladimir Putin as a madman with unlimited ambitions, the challenge Europe appears to face might seem insurmountable and the temptation to fall back on Uncle Sam will grow. But if Russia’s power and ambitions are believed to be more modest and therefore manageable, it will be harder to convince European publics to make big sacrifices now and to sustain a serious effort over time. To make greater autonomy work, Europeans must believe that Russia is dangerous, but they must also believe they can handle the problem even if the United States does significantly less. For this reason, claiming that it is simply impossible for Europe to defend itself on order to keep the United State fully committed might be counterproductive, if it discouraged a serious European effort and the United States reduced its commitment anyway.

A third obstacle is the ambiguous role of nuclear weapons. If you really believe that nuclear weapons deter large-scale acts of aggression, then you’re likely to think that the British and French nuclear forces and the American “nuclear umbrella” will protect NATO from a Russian attack under almost any circumstances. (Ukraine, it is worth remembering, is not a NATO member). And if so, then there’s less need to build a big and expensive array of conventional forces. If you’re not that confident about reliability of extended nuclear deterrence, however, or you don’t want to have to threaten nuclear use in response to some low-level challenge, then you’ll want the kind of flexibility that capable conventional forces provide. This issue was a point of contention within NATO throughout the Cold War, as the intra-alliance debates over “Flexible Response” in the 1960s and the “Euromissiles” controversy of the 1980s showed. The issue remains relevant today, insofar as the continued presence of nuclear weapons may tempt some states to let their conventional forces languish.

Fourth, European states still prefer to invest in their own defense industries and armed forces, instead of cooperating to standardize weaponry and develop a common strategy and defense plans. According to a 2023 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, although overall European defense spending has risen sharply since Russia seized Crimea in 2014, the percentage devoted to cooperative procurement efforts fell steadily until 2021 and never came close to the 35 percent target previously set by the EU. EU countries reportedly field some 178 different weapons systems—148 more than the United States—despite spending less than the U.S. does. The stubborn tendency to go it alone squanders the enormous latent resource advantage that Europe enjoys over possible challengers, and may be a luxury it can no longer afford.

A final obstacle—at least for the moment—is America’s longstanding ambivalence about encouraging Europe to stand on its own. The United States has generally wanted its Europe partners to be military strong—but not too strong—and politically united—but not too united. Why? Because this arrangement maximized U.S. influence over a coalition of capable but subordinate partners. Washington wanted the rest of NATO to be strong enough to be useful but also fully compliant with U.S. wishes, and compliance would be harder to maintain if these states became stronger and started to speak with one voice. The desire to keep Europe dependent and docile led successive U.S. administrations to oppose any steps that might have led to genuine European strategic autonomy.

Those days may be coming to an end, however. One need not be Trumpian to recognize that the United States “cannot have it all” and that it needs to shift more of the burden of collective defense onto its European partners. But if the past is any guide, Europe will not pick up the slack if its leaders are still convinced that Uncle Sam will be “all-in” under any circumstances. It is worth recalling that the initial push for European economic integration in the early 1950s was driven in part by European fears that the United States was eventually going to withdraw its forces from the continent and that their ability to counter the Warsaw Pact would be enhanced by the creation of a large and unified European economic order. The security impulse behind European integration receded once it became clear that Uncle Sam was staying, but growing doubts about the U.S. commitment would give Europeans ample incentive to mobilize their superior economic capacity and latent military potential more effectively, purely out of self-interest.

U.S. officials should encourage this development, regardless of who ends up in the White House next year. As I’ve argued before, the process of turning European security back over to Europeans should be done gradually, as part of a new transatlantic division of labor. Reduced reliance on the United States will lead Europe to balance more vigorously, and moving slowly but steadily in this direction will give our allies time to overcome the dilemmas of collective action that will inevitably arise. Because the nations of Europe have considerably more military potential than Russia does, they need not do this perfectly in order to be pretty darn safe.

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, February 24, 2024 12:44 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

"Russia, Russia, Russia" Has Been A Long & Elaborate Lie...

The Dark & The Light

"'The rule of law is under threat!’ the Regime shrieks, as it throws its political foes into the gulag"

- Benjamin Weingarten

The florid carbuncle of Woke-Maoist lawfare weeps its vile effluvium across the social landscape, poisoning whatever it touches, and nothing in the armory of reason, principle, or good faith avails to heal it. Sickness rages through the body politic. You have lost faith in all the doctors, and they have lost faith in themselves. The fever intensifies. The crisis is upon us. Which way will fate turn us? Toward death or recovery?

The poison killing our country is pervasive untruth. Every institution we have relied on to run the public interest has become a factory churning out lies, evasions, and misdirection — not unlike the way mRNA “vaccines” turned the cells in your bodies into tiny generators of spike proteins destroying your organs. Likewise, half the population, apparently, thinks this is a good thing, that we need more lawfare — the perversion of law by attorney perverts — and that we need ever more lies, evasions, and misdirection (just as the degenerates who run Harvard declare their student body needs more mRNA boosters to remain in school).


MORE AT
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/the-dark-and-the-light/



-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 7:00 AM

SECOND

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


File the following story under #Russians_Are_Odd

Russian ultranationalists are increasingly attributing the shootdown of Russian aircraft to Russian rather than Ukrainian air defenses. Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces mistakenly shot down their own A-50 aircraft and accused the Russian military of systemic issues that it must fix to avoid further friendly fire incidents.[7] One milblogger noted that A-50 aircraft and its highly specialized crew are scarce resources for Russia that it cannot easily replace.[8] The milbloggers specifically denied Ukrainian and Russian reporting that Ukrainian forces shot down the A-50 on February 23 and connected this shootdown to their prior denials that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the A-50 and Il-22 shootdowns on January 15.[9] The milbloggers have also attributed recent Ukrainian downings of Russian Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets to friendly air defense fire and criticized reports attributing them to Ukraine.[10] Russian milbloggers may be refusing to attribute any successes to Ukrainian forces as part of wider efforts in the Russian information space to demoralize Ukrainians and convince Russians that victory is assured. Recent Kremlin rhetoric has focused on portraying Russia as able to outlast Ukraine’s willingness and ability to fight, including outlasting Western military support for Ukraine, and Russian milbloggers‘ consistent claims of ineffective Ukrainian air defenses and other battlefield capabilities are congruent with this disinformation campaign.[11] Ukrainian shootdowns of Russian strategic-level aircraft, especially twice within mere weeks of each other, severely undermine this Russian narrative. The milbloggers’ enthusiasm for attributing staggering incompetence to Russia’s own air defenders—the only possible explanation for multiple instances of friendly fire taking down the aircraft helping coordinate the air defenders themselves--is odd.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-february-23-2024

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, February 24, 2024 7:40 AM

SECOND

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


Satellite images show expanding Russian gravesites, reflecting the mounting death toll of the Russia-Ukraine war

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/satellite-images-appear-to-show-e
xpanding-gravesites-reflecting-the-mounting-death-toll-of-the-russia-ukraine-war/ar-BB1iNMsj

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, February 24, 2024 7:53 AM

SECOND

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


Feb 24, 2024 – Alexander Lukashenko, a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has warned that the West is on the "edge of the abyss" of World War Three. The Belarusian President voiced his "legitimate concerns" about the possibility of a global conflict and accused the West of fuelling war tensions and pushing the world towards disaster.

"We are literally covered with an information wave of the so-called premonition of the third world war, which just a lazy one still hasn't mentioned. And there are grounds for these fears," Lukashenko said, according to Sky News.

Speaking about the tension between East and West, Lukashenko added: "The masks have been completely dropped."

World leaders and military experts had previously worried that the dictator would invade countries like Poland after he launched his full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022. However, Lukashenko called it "complete stupidity" to think Russia was planning to attack the Baltic countries.

Lukashenko's comments come as he announced his military had received a new batch of weapons. This included two anti-aircraft missile divisions and two divisions of Iskander-M missile systems, which are made and deployed by the Russian military.

Estonia's Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, has announced that the country has successfully stopped a "hybrid operation" by Russian operatives on NATO territory. This news comes just a day after reports of Russian security services attempting to encroach on Estonian land.

Kallas took to social media to share: "Estonia has successfully stopped a hybrid operation by Russia's security services on our territory. We know the Kremlin is targeting all of our democratic societies. Our answer: be open and reveal their methods. This is the way to deter harmful actions and make us resilient."

Local media have suggested that this incident may be linked to an attack on an Estonian minister's car last year, believed to have been carried out by Russian special services.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vladimir-putin-s-ally-warns-masks
-have-been-dropped-as-he-issues-ww3-threat/ar-BB1iO4Z6

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 8:07 AM

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


In Year Three of the Ukraine War, It’s Time to Learn the Lessons of the First Two

By Eugene Rumer | February 7, 2024

A year ago, after the dire predictions of the Russian assault and the optimism of the unexpected Ukrainian victories at Kharkiv and Kherson, the word “stalemate” was already widely in use to describe the state of the war. The massive rearmament and training effort of Ukraine by its allies and partners was designed to prepare its armed forces for the summer offensive. The aim of that offensive was to achieve a strategic breakthrough in the south, put Russia’s hold on Crimea at risk, and force Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiations on terms favorable to Ukraine.

That theory of quick victory on the battlefield and at the negotiating table did not come to fruition. On the ground, the state of the war at the two-year mark is effectively the same as it was at the one-year mark. Both sides suffered massive losses in 2023. Military experts now judge that neither side has what it takes to radically change the situation on the battlefield. With both sides resolved to achieve their vision of victory, just as they were a year ago, nothing suggests that the war will end soon.

More at https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/02/07/in-year-three-of-ukraine-war-
it-s-time-to-learn-lessons-of-first-two-pub-91580

Eugene Rumer, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council, is a senior fellow and the director of Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 12:45 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


How is it that I could predict how this would turn out when all of the so-called "experts" were so wrong? They should have been listening to Brian Berletic New Atlas, The Duran, and other reality-based analysts, not their high-on-ideology neocons and military yes-men.

TWO YEARS into a war and they're JUST NOW "learning lessons"??? (Actually, they're not. They're just trying to figure out how to adjust their narrative bc the old one isn't working anymore.)

Their pay grade is waaaaay above their planning capabilities. Bust 'em all down to roadside trash collectors. At least they'd be doing something useful, instead of spinning dangerous narratives and poisonous lies.

-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 1:13 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:
On the ground, the state of the war at the two-year mark is effectively the same as it was at the one-year mark. Both sides suffered massive losses in 2023. Military experts now judge that neither side has what it takes to radically change the situation on the battlefield. With both sides resolved to achieve their vision of victory, just as they were a year ago, nothing suggests that the war will end soon.


So, this is their "new narrative"? (The other "new narrative" is that Russia will invade NATO countries. Another crock of shit!)


What "they" mean when they say that the "reality on the ground hasn't changed" is that the front hasn't moved much. It's the same mistake that Dima on Military Summary Channel makes: he will go on to describe how Russia has found and destroyed local or strategic munitions stockpiles, or concentrations of troops, or command headquarters, or Patriot missile launchers, or tanks and other armored vehicles, and then he'll say "But no changes on the ground, just regular preparation" bc the front hasn't moved.

No, dummy! The Ukrainian army is being destroyed. Over 500,000 men have been killed or wounded, and with Ukraine's battlefield medic conditons, many of those wounded will become disabled or die. Independent investigators place Russian dead at about 50,000. If yiu apply the usual 3 wounded for every death, that comes out to 200,000 dead and wounded. But Russian battlefield evac and medics are better organized, and manynof yhe wounded return to the front.

The Ukrainian army has been operating mostly without rotation. They are running out of peple to drag off the street. They have run out of shells. They have little air defense capability. Many armored vehicles have been lost, and the west doesn't have the capability to make more. Russia has a million+ in its army and a huge military complex.

To successfully make an offensive, the attacking army needs about 3 to each defender. Russia has the capability but they want to improve their odds and degrade the Ukrainian army further, and that's what theybwill continue to do, as long as they can make Ukraine bleed a lot more than they are.


-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 1:17 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Ukraine is fucked. But by all means, fuck Ukraine.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Saturday, February 24, 2024 1:20 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Politico: The West tried to crush Russia’s economy. Why hasn’t it worked?

From an unenforced oil price cap to rogue countries teaming up, Moscow is exploiting the West’s weaknesses.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/russia-economy-west-sanctions
-00142713

Good.

Fuck Raytheon. Fuck NeoCons. Fuck Democrats. Fuck NeoCon and Democrat money laundering through Ukraine and Raytheon. Fuck Ukraine.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Saturday, February 24, 2024 1:35 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:

TWO YEARS into a war and they're JUST NOW "learning lessons"??? (Actually, they're not. They're just trying to figure out how to adjust their narrative bc the old one isn't working anymore.)
Biden is a deer hunter who misses the shot. His excuse? "I did not want to cross the deer's red line. But the deer will be back very soon." Biden, you only get one chance but you threw it away.

There is an accurate description of financial things Biden could have done to Russia, but didn't because these things would have crossed Putin's red lines:

LARRY KUDLOW: If the Biden admin had a backbone, they could inflict some serious financial damage on Putin

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/larry-kudlow-biden-admin-backbone-in
flict-serious-financial-damage-putin

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, February 24, 2024 2:33 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


They kicked Russian Central Bank off SWIFT. They sanctioned everything they could, and just to make it stick they blew up Nordstream pipeline. They seized $300 billion of Russian assets and have been scheming ever since how to steal it with some sort of legal figleaf. The thing that is keeping outright seizure at bay is EU CENTRAL BANKS FEARS of what that will do to the Euro.

The only thing they managed to to was torpedo the EU and UK economy into recession. And if they start applying secondary sanctions to India and, especially China ... an economy they (and we) desperately depend on... they will torpedo the US as well as further sink the EU and UK.

-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 2:42 PM

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


Ukraine faces GOP-made crisis two years into war

by Ellen Mitchell - 02/24/24 6:02 AM ET

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4486044-ukraine-american-made-crisi
s-russia-war/

Throughout 2022, the Democrat-led Congress approved $113 billion worth of aid and military assistance for the Ukrainian government and allied nations, in a series of emergency funding packages.

The support paid off, with a Ukraine counter-offensive in May 2022 able to drive back Russian forces near Kharkiv. Further Ukrainian counteroffensives in the south and the northeast allowed forces to recapture the majority of Kharkiv Oblast in September and the city of Kherson in November, with Russian forces withdrawing to the east bank of the Dnieper River.

When HIMARS rockets systems were provided to Ukraine in June “you could suddenly see that the Russian logistics were being hit effectively, and they had to move their logistics back and that made frontline attacks much more difficult and that gave Ukraine breathing space,” Jordash said.

But since Republicans took control of the House in January 2023, Congress has not approved any major aid for Ukraine. And Ukraine’s breathing space has given way to Russia retaking initiative in the war.

“It’s no longer a stalemate. The Russians have regained momentum,” former Defense Secretary Gates told The Washington Post this week. “Everything I’m reading is that the Russians are on the offensive along the 600-mile front.”

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, February 24, 2024 2:46 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Fucking blame-shifting. Heaven forefend that we blame the real neocon instigators!!

Ukraine faced a crisis in 2014. That was the one we engineered. And we've been pushing it forward ever since.

Neocons are willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. Once again proving Kissinger's point about being America's friend.

-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 2:57 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


The Tusk government inhabits Brussel's EU anus, but Polish people are getting fedupski with substandard Ukrainian grain and entitled Ukrainian refugees.

Quote:
Polish Farmers To Block Critical Border Road As Tusk Government Faces First Serious Challenge

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/polish-farmers-block-critical-b
order-road-tusk-government-faces-first-serious

-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 3:02 PM

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


Putin Ally Threatens to 'Destroy' Poland: 'We Won't Even Think Twice'

By Aila Slisco | Feb 23, 2024 at 5:07 PM EST

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-ally-threatens-destroy-poland-1872956

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has warned that Russia is poised to "destroy" Poland as tensions between Moscow and its European neighbors continue to rise amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Solovyov, a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the host of a popular state television program, suggested during a recent broadcast that European nations would not "understand" Russia's dominance of the continent until the decision is made to "smash Europe's face."

Solovyov asserted that while Russia feels "sorry for" its "brothers" in Ukraine, Moscow would show no hesitation in wiping out Polish cities "in an instant."

"We will simply, I am not sure about nuclear strikes, but with missile strikes and air strikes, I am sure, we will just freaking destroy them," he continued. "And we won't even think twice."

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 5:23 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Fuck Ukraine.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Saturday, February 24, 2024 5:32 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Biden* ally** threatens to destroy Russia.

(**pick any neocon of your choice. You've certainly quoted plenty!)


You're an idiot.


-----------
"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, February 24, 2024 7:29 PM

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


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Biden* ally** threatens to destroy Russia.

(**pick any neocon of your choice. You've certainly quoted plenty!)


You're an idiot.
Vladimir Solovyov is telling you what Putin is thinking but does not say. Signym, if you know a "Biden* ally** threaten(ing) to destroy Russia", what is their name?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Solovyov_(TV_presenter)

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 7:44 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Fuck Joe Biden*.

Fuck anybody who considers Joe Biden* an ally.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Saturday, February 24, 2024 11:53 PM

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


A Difficult but Necessary Decision writes Sergei A. Karaganov

Morally, this is a terrible choice as we will use God’s weapon, thus dooming ourselves to grave spiritual losses. But if we do not do this, not only Russia can die, but most likely the entire human civilization will cease to exist.

It is necessary to arouse the instinct of self-preservation that the West has lost and convince it that its attempts to wear Russia out by arming Ukrainians are counterproductive for the West itself. We will have to make nuclear deterrence a convincing argument again by lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons set unacceptably high, and by rapidly but prudently moving up the deterrence-escalation ladder. The first steps have already been made by the relevant statements of Russian President and other leaders.

But there are many steps on this ladder. I have counted about two dozen. Thing may also get to the point when we will have to urge our compatriots and all people of goodwill to leave their places of residence near facilities that may become targets for strikes in countries that provide direct support to the puppet regime in Kiev. The enemy must know that we are ready to deliver a preemptive strike in retaliation for all of its current and past acts of aggression in order to prevent a slide into global thermonuclear war.

Much more at https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles/a-difficult-but-necessary-decisi
on/

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, February 25, 2024 3:22 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Biden* ally** threatens to destroy Russia.
(**pick any neocon of your choice. You've certainly quoted plenty!)

You're an idiot.
SECOND: Vladimir Solovyov is telling you what Putin is thinking but does not say.
oh for fuck's sake! That's like calling Joy Reid a Biden* ally. He's a TV host, not a Krelin insider.

Quote:
Signym, if you know a "Biden* ally** threaten(ing) to destroy Russia", what is their name?
Anyone in the Kagan family including Vicki Nuland, the head of NATO Stolteneberg, BoJo the Clown, most of the heads of Europe ... and they're actually allies and/or work for the State Dept or other areas of our government.



-----------
"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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Sunday, February 25, 2024 6:23 AM

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


Russian information space actors continued responding to the February 23 A-50 shootdown and largely denied that Ukraine is responsible for the downing of any recent Russian aircraft. Russian milbloggers continued to claim on February 23 and 24 that Russian forces were responsible for shooting down the A-50, but offered many different theories about the shootdown. One prominent milblogger claimed that Russian authorities are investigating a Russian S-400 crew for shooting down the A-50 while trying to intercept Ukrainian missiles targeting the A-50.[52] Another milblogger claimed that a Russian air defense crew purposefully targeted the A-50.[53] Other milbloggers continued to claim that Ukrainian forces could not have shot down the A-50 because the aircraft was out of range of Western-provided Patriot air defense systems and complained that Russian air defenders are so systemically incompetent that they shot down five of their aircraft in February 2024.[54] A prominent Wagner Group-affiliated milblogger dissented, however, expressing disbelief that Russian air defenses are so incompetent as to have shot down so many Russian aircraft in such a short period and attributed the shootdown to Ukrainian forces instead.[55]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-february-24-2024

Big Fat Missiles To Take Down Big Fat Russian Planes. How Ukraine Brought Back Its Massive S-200s.

By David Axe | Feb 24, 2024, 07:43pm EST

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/02/24/big-fat-missiles-to-t
ake-down-big-fat-russian-planes-how-ukraine-brought-back-its-massive-s-200s/?sh=749ab42a4743

According to Ukrainian magazine Pravda, the missile the Ukrainian air force used to shoot down a rare Russian air force A-50 radar plane on Friday wasn’t an American-made Patriot, as many observers assumed. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/02/24/7443493/

No, it reportedly was an ex-Soviet 5V28: the missile component of the S-200 air-defense system.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that something other than a Patriot shot down the A-50. The lumbering radar plane was around 120 miles from the front line in southern Ukraine when it plummeted to the ground. Where a Patriot usually ranges no farther than 90 miles, a S-200 can hit targets 150 miles away or farther.

We already knew the Ukrainians had reactivated some of their aged S-200 batteries—out of 16 the Soviet air force once maintained all across Ukraine—because they’ve been lobbing them at targets on the ground in occupied Ukraine, and even in Russia itself.

We didn’t know the Ukrainians were firing the brutish missiles at aerial targets until this week.

But the development makes sense. The S-200 isn’t the most accurate air-defense system in the world. It’s certainly less accurate than the Patriot is. But what the S-200 lacks in finesse, it makes up for in sheer power.

The eight-ton 5V28 “is a honking big missile with a really heavy and voluminous seeker space,” wrote Trent Telenko, a former quality auditor with the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency. The 5V28 packs a massive, 500-pound warhead.

The Soviet Union developed the S-200 in the early 1960s specifically to target U.S. Air Force heavy bombers. Ukraine finally retired the air-defense dinosaurs more than a decade ago owing to their relative cumbersomeness—they’re heavy and bulky and difficult to transport—as well as the high cost of upgrading them.

But an upgrade was on the table. Before the current, wider war, the Ukrainian government considered reactivating some S-200s and retrofitting them with the same new seeker Ukrainian industry had developed for the smaller S-125 air-defense system.

Given the reasonably good accuracy of the resuscitated Ukrainian S-200s in the surface-to-surface role, there’s a good chance Kyiv’s engineers have installed a better seeker in the 5V28: either the S-125’s new seeker or some other model. Whether that same seeker might work in the surface-to-air role is an open question.

Regardless, the Friday shoot-down was a return to form for a classic missile the Soviets specifically designed for killing big, slow planes. An A-50 is nothing if not big and slow.

Now, the billion-dollar question: how many 5V28s does Ukraine have left? The Ukrainian air force may have possessed hundreds—even a thousand—missiles when it last retired the S-200 around 2013.

But big, chemical-filled missiles don’t last forever. So it’s possible the Ukrainians got fresh batches of 5V28s from their allies who still operate the S-200. The Poles, maybe. Or even the Bulgarians.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Sunday, February 25, 2024 7:18 AM

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


Putin’s ‘greatest hits’: Russian dissidents continue disappearing in pattern of bizarre deaths

Several major dissidents, including politicians and journalists, have died in unsolved cases

By Peter Aitken | February 25, 2024, 6:00am EST

https://www.foxnews.com/world/putins-greatest-hits-russian-dissidents-
continue-disappearing-pattern-bizarre-deaths

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponents continue to disappear in a pattern of strange and sudden deaths, and his greatest domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, died after a sudden collapse, according to Russian authorities.

"Generally, as a culture, the Russians don’t believe in coincidences. But, in this particular case, there’s a reason why, although we are unlikely to determine conclusively exactly how Navalny died, many analysts agree that Russian intelligence services are likely behind his death," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin's Playbook," told Fox News Digital.

"There’s a specific intelligence tradecraft that dates back to 1920 that the Soviets used to eliminate the so-called enemies of the state," Koffler said. "The Soviets and now the Russians are also masters of covering their tracks and making the assassination look like it’s a natural or accidental death.

"Wet affairs, which connotes the spilling of blood is a doctrine of targeted assassinations, includes poisonings, executions with a shot in the back of the head, forced suicides — such as throwing yourself out of a window — explosions of a mini-bomb hidden in a box of chocolates … and other contrived methods," Koffler explained.

Koffler argued that Putin has not been shy about indicating that the deaths of opposition — be it a direct rival like Navalny or an ally challenging his authority like Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin — occurred at his behest because "he wants us to know that his operatives are behind the operation."

"He sends us subtle signals that are easily picked up by those who understand who Putin is and know Russian intelligence signature tactics," Koffler said. "For example, after [GRU officer] Sergei Skripal was poisoned, Putin, in an interview with the Financial Times in June 2019, said that ‘treason is the biggest crime on Earth, and traitors must be punished.’

"In 2010, responding to a question as to whether he had ever had to sign an order ‘to liquidate enemies of the motherland abroad,’ Putin said, ‘Traitors will kick the bucket on their own — whatever they got in exchange for it — those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them’," she added.

Navalny died in prison last week after collapsing in what prison officials claimed was a case of "sudden death syndrome," but an anonymous paramedic claiming to work for a morgue told independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe that he saw bruising on the body consistent with a person being held down while having a seizure.

Prigozhin, who died when his plane suddenly exploded, killing him and everyone on board, and Navalny are two of the highest-profile examples of Putin’s opponents meeting sudden demises, but many examples have occurred throughout his reign.

More at https://www.foxnews.com/world/putins-greatest-hits-russian-dissidents-
continue-disappearing-pattern-bizarre-deaths

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, February 25, 2024 7:25 AM

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


Too little, too late? Ukraine’s backers lose ground in the ammo race

By Tom Kington | Feb 23, 2024, 09:40 AM

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/02/23/too-little-too-la
te-ukraines-backers-lose-ground-in-the-ammo-race/

Four million: that’s the number of artillery shells that Russia will reportedly be able to muster this year in Ukraine, begging the question: can Europe and the US match that? And if not, is the war lost?

The number comes courtesy of researchers at the RUSI think tank in the U.K., who wrote in a recent report that Russian industry expects to increase 152mm shell production to 1.3 million rounds this year and produce 800,000 122mm rounds over the same period.

Add in two million 122mm rounds arriving from North Korea, and Moscow will have just over four million shells, the report stated, plus what it can salvage for existing stocks, much of which is in bad condition.

Matching that number will be crucial for Ukraine, said Nick Reynolds, a Land Warfare research fellow at RUSI, and co-author of the report.

“It is a very important factor since both Russia and Ukraine are artillery armies – artillery is their backbone,” he said.

In the short term, Reynolds said whatever solutions were put into play now, Ukraine would not be able to match Russia on the front line this year.

“Russia will have its four million shells this year, which is more than Ukraine can hope to have. It is more than Europe, NATO and the U.S. can supply before taking their own restocking into account. Russia will have artillery advantage in 2024,” he said.

That does not mean, though, that Ukraine will lose the war, but it will give Russia time to rearm, he added.

“Russia’s armed forces have lost a great deal of combat power. Its ability to carry large scale maneuvers is reduced by losses, but it can still do damage with attrition, especially if Ukraine is short of munitions,” he said.

“We may not see Russian advances in the short term, but it now has time to rebuild its combat power. Seeing little change on the map now should not lull us into a false sense of security.”

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, February 25, 2024 7:33 AM

SECOND

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


Russia’s kidnapping campaign takes a crushing toll on Ukraine

by Laura Kelly - 02/24/24 3:00 PM ET

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4486043-russia-kidnapping-cam
paign-ukraine-war/

No one outside of the Kremlin knows how many Ukrainian children have been stolen from their families since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion two years ago.

An estimated 500 Ukrainian children have been returned since February 2022, but that’s just a small fraction of the estimated hundreds of thousands of children — ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers — torn from their homes and held hostage in Russia.

The mass kidnapping is a central piece of a war crimes case against Russian President Vladimir Putin, and part of allegations of genocide. The international legal process will take years to play out, but there’s no time to waste for the governments and non-profits working to return kidnapped children.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s an orphan, non-orphan, it is the same strategy – to brainwash, to indoctrinate Ukrainian children to erase their identity,” said Mykola Kuleba, CEO of Save Ukraine, which carried out covert operations inside Russia to return stolen children.

“They are attending Russian schools where every day they are listening to this propaganda. They have special lessons, they have to attend military monuments, they have to learn that Ukraine is not a state, not a country, not a nationality, that the West is the aggressor, and Russia is victim.” . . .

While Ukrainian officials say they have identified more than 19,000 Ukrainian children in Russia, they believe that the actual number of kidnapped children is much higher, and cite claims from Russian officials that between 700,000 to 750,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred to Russia.

Moscow is holding back all data on the children it has taken from territory it occupied in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Putin and his top official for children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belov, on war crimes charges for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children.

Why is Russia kidnapping Ukrainian children en masse?

“It’s one word. Leverage,” said Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at the Yale School of Public Health, which is part of a U.S. and Ukrainian effort to track down and identify Ukrainian children.

“Imagine the single most horrific thing that could happen in war imaginable — and there is something worse than death – it’s that they take your children. And so, that’s what they’ve done.”

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, February 25, 2024 10:31 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


You can't refute that Biden's ACTUAL allies threaten to destroy Russia so you post a wall of bullshit?

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
No one outside of the Kremlin knows how many Ukrainian children have been stolen


Nobody knows how many small pets SECOND has tortured to death, but we'll write about an estimated 150 anyway.





-----------
"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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Sunday, February 25, 2024 10:48 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
No one outside of the Kremlin knows how many Ukrainian children have been stolen


Nobody knows how many small pets SECOND has tortured to death, but we'll write about an estimated 150 anyway.



That's what they call an Appeal to Ignorance.

They learn that in Journalism 101



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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Sunday, February 25, 2024 11:59 AM

SECOND

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


Howard G. Buffett Foundation has emerged as a stalwart ally to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion, injecting $521,779,225 into humanitarian assistance for Ukraine as of January 2024.

"It's going to be one of the biggest mistakes that the United States makes historically if we don't continue to support Ukraine.

"The most frustrating part is to watch the narrative in the US because you have congressmen and senators whose constituencies or districts are benefiting from this war," he said.

Putting his money where his mouth is, Buffett said another $300 million is budgeted for Ukraine this year, and for the last two years, the foundation exceeded the budgeted number.

https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/warren-buffets-son-h
oward-has-given-500m-to-ukraine-he-warns-the-us-is-making-a-historic-mistake-by-pulling-its-support/articleshow/107969820.cms

6ix, Warren Buffett's son called Trumptards demented assholes. I knew that a long time ago, simply by watching these assholes self-destruct in their varied ways: suicide, obesity, smoking, drinking, drugging, you know the many ways angry poor white trash kill themselves for "freedom". Funny how Russians kill themselves the same way Trumptards do. Maybe that explains why the Trumptards and the Russians agree to fuck Ukraine.

Where is Buffett's money from?
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A
$628,930.20 per share
up 49,035.17%
Feb 23, 8:04:01PM UTC-5 · USD · NYSE
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BRK.A:NYSE?authuser=0&window=
MAX

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, February 25, 2024 12:39 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Nepobaby can keep asking his rich daddy for allowance and piss it all away on Ukraine.

Nobody gives a shit.

Fuck Ukraine.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Sunday, February 25, 2024 4:58 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 6ixStringJack:
Nepobaby can keep asking his rich daddy for allowance and piss it all away on Ukraine.

Nobody gives a shit.

Fuck Ukraine.
It is not nepotism. Anybody can buy Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B or S&P500 Index mutual fund and get fabulously wealthy. Or you could be a Trumptard and hide gold coins at home and achieve nothing. Your choice to be rich or be a stupid asshole.
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BRK.B:NYSE?window=MAX

Geoffrey Holt (March 27, 1941 – June 6, 2023). He gifted US$3.8 million to his town of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, upon his death. He worked as a groundskeeper in a mobile home park where he resided, choosing to navigate town aboard a lawn mower rather than using a car.

Holt's gift inspired discussions about other low-profile individuals who left fortunes to their communities[12] and how these communities are using the unexpected windfall. For example, Francis "Rudy" Gelnett left the bulk of his estate—US$5.8 million—to his borough of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, (population c.?5,000) when he died in 2010. As of 2023, the Rudy Gelnett trust (valued at c. US$5.5 million) supported the Gelnett Memorial Library, Dauntless Hook & Ladder Fire Co., and the public swimming pool.[13] Another secret millionaire, Ronald Read, a janitor and gas station attendant, left US$6 million of his $8 million fortune to his town's hospital and library in Brattleboro, Vermont, (7 miles (11 km) away from Hinsdale) when he died at 92 in 2014. Like Holt, he quietly built his wealth through savvy investing and living modestly, a fact unbeknownst to even his closest friends.[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Holt_(philanthropist)#Legacy

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, February 25, 2024 5:00 PM

SECOND

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


Zelensky warns ‘millions will be killed’ without US aid to Kyiv, as Ukrainian troop deaths reach at least 31,000

By Stephanie Halasz and Ivana Kottasová | 4:26 PM EST, Sun February 25, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/europe/ukraine-troop-casualties-intl/in
dex.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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Sunday, February 25, 2024 5:41 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Zelinsky is a child rapist.

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

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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