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“Xi Jinping is *a***i** himself dry”
That’s Konstantin on Triggernometry’s YouTube on Ukraine. Lots of good, thoughtful stuff on Putin, Western weakness and everything in between. Well, not so much on that country in between, you know, Ukraine which is all the more remarkable when you consider that Konstantin has Russian-speaking family there. But, as he says, he doesn’t think people in the West are particularly interested in what is best for Konstantin’s family.
Update Maybe that title (see comments) should be toned down.
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The situation is very bad.
Russia is a major source of raw materials (such as oil and gas – but many other things to) and food – and fertiliser to grow food in other lands.
And Chins is also a source of certain specialist raw materials – but (far more importantly) is the most important industrial power on earth – and industrial power is becoming military power. Indeed that was also the aim – from the start of the new economic policy (allowing private ownership of industry) in 1978 – the 4th Modernisation (military modernisation) was always the aim – to achieve expansion and world domination.
The senile glove puppet Joseph Biden (made “President” by massive-and-blatant election fraud – which the corrupt courts refused to do anything about) does not impress Mr Putin – or Chairman Xi of the military committee of the Chinese Communist Party. And nor does K. Harris, or any of them.
Speaker Pelosi gave a description of the conflict – in HUNGARY, which is where Speaker Pelosi thinks the war is (it was – in 1956, when Speaker Pelosi was a young woman).
“We will exclude Russia and China from Western finance”.
From the Western CREDIT BUBBLE – which pretends that the United States has a bigger economy than China because it CONSUMES more (GDP being consumption – not the production of food, raw materials and industrial goods).
People who think that modern Wall Street or the City of London are centres of economic output are living in the past. In the past they were indeed MOSTLY about Real Savings financing productive industry (although there was always corruption and abuse) – now they are NOT mostly about Real Savings financing productive industry, Wall Street and the City of London now MOSTLY Credit Bubble (mostly corruption and abuse) – the balance has tilted, they no longer really produce wealth. These days they consume wealth – helping governments (“Entitlement States”) and debt ridden Corporations, drag on and on.
Exclude Russia and China from that?
“You are on their side” – no I am not on their side, I just reject the comforting LIES about Western strength.
“The senile glove puppet Joseph Biden (made “President” by massive-and-blatant election fraud – which the corrupt courts refused to do anything about) does not impress Mr Putin – or Chairman Xi of the military committee of the Chinese Communist Party. And nor does K. Harris, or any of them.”
It says a lot that my first reaction to seeing ‘K Harris’ written thus was ‘What the f*ck has Keith Harris [and Orville] got to do with all this?
Russia invades! Huge battles!
But . . . as of about three hours ago, the Ukraine prez announced that 137 people were dead so far.
I don’t want to denigrate 137 victims on either side, but the smallness of this number surprised me. This doesn’t sound to me like an actual full-fledged invasion death toll. I was frankly expecting the number to be in the thousands, given the descriptions I’ve been seeing. This is more like a few Obama drone afternoons.
So, what gives?
Bobby, if you are watching the footage I am, you would know your comment is not going to age well.
Nope, no vids here, just Googled the death toll and saw about ten articles all saying 137. Made me more optimistic about it all.
Behind the times, I guess.
Bobby, the 137 the Ukrainian president announced were Ukrainian fatalities, 316 wounded both figures including civilians. The British defence secretary has said British intel suggests ~450 Russian dead, which seems a bit surprising. The Russians have seemingly reached Kiev which is alarming. Very sad to see this happening.
@bobby,
Maybe another point to note is that the pitched battles of WW2 with very high casualty rates is a thing of the past?
I don’t think there was that many casualties in the Taliban thrust towards Kabul in the final days of that conflict either. A lot more emphasis is now placed on maneuver and cutting units off from their logistics, which has the effect of lowering casualties?
Another factor I’m worried about is Ukraine running out of ammunition. I saw a report that Biden sent them what… 80 tons of ammunition as part of a billion dollar aid package.
80 tons of ammunition is a joke. I worry the Ukrainians don’t have enough bullets to fight Russia off.
Knowing Joe Biden, a lot of the US gear heading for Ukraine will end up as spare gear for the Russians. He and his generals ended up giving the Taliban billions of weapons for free after all
“Xi Jinping is wanking himself dry”
A mind so saturated with obscenity cannot produce any rational thought.
It is disgraceful to quote such a statement, and I regret having to do it to make my point.
bob s
Says the poster who does not appear to have answered this perfectly reasonable query:
Pray give us your rational thoughts in response.
I’m no stranger to the use of expletives. But used in the headline of a Samizdata article. It’s distasteful.
Those complaining about the obscenity are missing the point. The weakness shown by the West (and NATO) over Russian aggression toward the Ukraine will just encourage Chairman Xi to invade Taiwan. The only difference that might be salient is that the majority of Western semiconductor fabrication is present in Taiwan, which makes it much more strategically essential to the West than the Ukraine is.
To complain about textual obscenity when we have the real obscenity of men, women and children dying from an unjustified war in the Ukraine is bizarre.
APL,
If that is “distasteful” then what is a totally unprovoked and villianous invasion of a peaceful nation by a deranged meglamaniac fueled by his twisted fantasy of re-building the “Glory” that was the Soviet Union?
No.
That’s a factor, but then Afganistan was too. And that was all our own work.
But who’s fault is it that Tiawan matters to the West? It’s the bankers and financiers that for their own bonuses decided it would be a good idea to offshore 80% of the West’s semiconductor manufacturing capability to an island hundred miles off the coast of China.
In my opinion, it is you who are missing the point if you think the possibility of taking Tiawan hadn’t occured to Xi before Putin made his move.
Interesting detail from the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that Beijing is not entirely happy about what Mr Putin is doing:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-adjusts-and-readjusts-its-embrace-of-russia-in-ukraine-crisis-11645805266
If that is “distasteful” then what is a totally unprovoked and villianous invasion of a peaceful nation by a deranged meglamaniac fueled by his twisted fantasy of re-building the “Glory” that was the Soviet Union?
100%.
Mr Ed asks about my highlighting of this comment made on another thread: “Russia’s security needs” and my response of “do tell”
When people refer to the “security needs” of Russia without spelling out what they are, it behoves them to at least give us an idea. The standard excuse (which Perry de Havilland has already skewered), that Russia’s “security needs” require that its neighbours never join any kind of alliance that it does not directly control, seem to be to be just that – an excuse.
Russia has the second-largest military in the world; it has huge resources; it has nuclear weapons. When people refer to the “security needs” of such a country in trying to crush Ukraine, and prevent it from being an independent nation, you have to wonder.
It is interesting how folk who are normally so keen to stress national self-determination in politics (and support Brexit) go the other way when a former part of the Soviet Empire, Ukraine (which suffered terribly under Stalin) want to go their own way rather than live under the thumb of Moscow.
You’re changing the subject. You said the quote in the headline was distasteful. The quote in the title is not about Afghanistan, it’s about Xi and his designs on Taiwan and, per the interview, the weakness of the West in this specific instance of the Ukraine is proving that the West is not willing to act in its strategic interests. Afghanistan is not in this conversation, any more than the multitude of genders delusion is.
I don’t disagree, but that is the state of the world as it stands. It’s neither here nor there, really, why this is so, the question is will the West defends its interests if China invades Taiwan. I’m inclined to think it will, as semiconductor technology backs the profits of effectively all the Western manufacturing companies and this will ultimately matter more than the sovereignty of the Ukraine, which is sad but realistic.
I never said that I thought that, nor do I. Frankly I suspect you are being disingenuous.
Talk softly and carry a big stick.
The West has done the opposite.
It’s hard to see what the West can do now that could make things better. Making sanctions to enforce a ceasefire and then negotiate some kind of settlement is probably the best that can be achieved.
Putin going all Kruschev is a bit worrying though. Maybe he’s lost is marbles (syphilis?)
Nope. Having addressed the relevant part of your comment.
I addressed the next topic you raised.
Given the current state of the leadership in the USA and Europe and points east, given the seemingly fragile nature of intra-national civility between groups within those countries and their inability to come together for most any purpose, and given the great gift the world has handed to Putin regarding oil and its economics, this had to strike Putin as the most fortuitous time in history for him to do what he is doing.
General Patton regularly used bad language – that did not mean he was incapable of rational thought, indeed he was a great General (and an intellectual – in the old sense of that word, i.e. a person of intellect).
David Starkey is a great historian and acute political observer – and he, sadly, uses bad language as well. Saying “bloody blacks” got him “cancelled” by Cambridge and the BBC.
In short bob sykes – men sometimes do use bad language. It is not something to praise, but it does NOT mean they are incapable of rational thought.
bobby b – yes the West is weak, and you know how much I despise the political, academic and corporate leadership of the West.
However, we are where we are – Putin is attacking.
In the 5th century the Emperor Honorius was more interested in his chickens than the defending Rome (he never did anything to defend Rome) – and he had his best General (Stilicho) murdered. The Emperor Valentinian III also never risked his own skin defending Rome – but he was quite happy to use a sword to personally murder his best General – Aetius.
“With your left hand (Valentinian was left handed) you have murdered your right hand” .
None of the above means that a man should side with the invaders.
We are where we are.
“But our leadership is shit” – so what?
Both my grandfathers served under General Douglas Haig – he was no good.
Ukraine was not really a unified country, lest you forget. The eastern part was already seceded and regularly shelled by the western part.
Putin has been saying for years that Ukraine was off limits, so I’m unclear as to why the bear had to be poked to no benefits to anybody. Especially when Russia should by now be our ally.
monoi – Mr Putin has invaded the Ukraine and is murdering Ukrainians.
Please remove your head from your backside.
I thought it a good pithy headline, but then “wanker” isn’t an American term, and comes off quite unfocused here. No real obscene impact. Like “idiot.”
There are people here who have spoken fondly of lutefisk, and yet I keep coming back, because they have other things to say that are of value to me.
Language! (Just kidding. Seemed topical.)
I wasn’t excusing so much as explaining. Seeing some irrationality in Putin right now isn’t accurate. It’s partially because our leadership is the way it is that he’s invading Ukraine.
If I try to pet a vicious dog and he bites me, I shouldn’t call him irrational. Nor should I take the blame for his viciousness. I should instead figure out where my mistake was in placing myself in his power, and learn from it. “Our leadership is shit” is an important lesson.
I’ve often wondered why the British government maintains such a rabidly anti Russian stance. While at the same time practically licking the boots of Xi. (Don’t forget the oleaginous Blair entertaining the Chinese delegation, and how anti Hu demonstrations during the occasion were surpressed).
Despite the rhetoric, it’s obviously not because Putin is a dictator. Obviously Hu was and Xi are, too.
It was obvious during the Skripal affair, and it’s obvious today in the political stance taken on the Russo – Ukraine conflict. As the old addage has it, follow the money. Could it be that simple?
Tory ( and no doubt, Labour ) party MPs are in the pay of Russian oligarchs, that is, those Russians who looted the ruins of the Soviet Union, making themselves obscenely wealthy at the expense of their countrymen.
The same oligarchs who were expelled by Putin, and probably can’t go back to Russia while Putin is in power, seek to use the West to overthrow the Putin regeime and replace it with thier chums.
In short, the British government is simply a puppet, animated by Russian exiles, planning a coup d’etat, except they plan to use the West to execute their scheme.
“Mr Putin has invaded the Ukraine and is murdering Ukrainians.”
The current ukrainian corrupt governement, friend of the bidens, was already doing this. I don’t remember reading much about this on here. Or is it only ok when it is the west doing it to serbians, iraqis, lybians, syrians, etc…? 2 wrongs don’t make a right, but it should never have come to this in the 1st place and it did not need to be. This is several years in the making, it did not just happen. I guess you had your head up your backside all these years.
It’s funny how the fake news are suddenly not fake news when they agree with you.
Don’t discount the idea that you are not allowed to be rabidly anti anyone who is of a different – non-white – race. The people whose financial interests lie in China will bellow your racism to the sky if you speak badly of it, and our current culture will convict you.
“Our armies swore terribly in Flanders, cried my uncle Toby, — but nothing to this.“
— Laurence Sterne, book The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
I consider it genuinely obscene to be discussing matters of bad language when civilization itself is at war against barbarism. This is an existential clash in which people are being killed and not a garden party faux-pas where someone spills tea on the vicar.
APL, would you extend your views on such matters to the ghosts of the thirteen Ukrainian Border Guards who said, “Go fuck yourself!” to the Russian warship captain?
If those words (obscenity in full) don’t make it onto the list of all time great military quotes then the World is irredeemably buggered and I’m beginning to believe it isn’t. Not quite yet anyway.
Desperate times require desperate measures and, yeah, that does mean desperate language. That such language is being used here on Samizdata (and everywhere else freedom matters), I think, reflects just how strongly people feel about this grotesque villiany.
When all you can do is shout at the Devil you might as well give him the full nine yards.
Monoi: kindly give sources about your claims about Ukraine, or fuck off.
Ansdspare the whataboutism in your apologetics. It’s beyond contemptible.
I trust I make myself clear.
I’d have blanked the vowels rather than the consonants.
Not the west in general, Biden inn particular
Bidenn Inn – just off the Freeway – You can check out, “But… er.. where’s the exit, again? I’m a bit… er… lost… think I’ll just have a nice nap…”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/02/25/us-backed-middle-east-states-cozy-up-to-russia-during-ukraine-invasion/ – Interesting that America’s ‘allies’ in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar, UAE – don’t support it over Ukraine. Think they’ve got other interests to look after. For example, Israel relies on cooperation with Russia in Syria. And Saudi government coffers benefit from high fossil fuel prices
An update I saw stated Poland is supplying ammo to the Ukrainians. Let’s hope the bullets can get to where they can do the most good.
I wonder… what does Putin envision his victory conditions to be? Installing a puppet regime is pointless without the military forces to prop it up. Occupying a nation of tens of millions of people when the whole of the Russian Armed forces doesn’t even number a million doesn’t make sense.
Just going in and smashing things up? He could do that with a few thermobaric bombs.
Making the Ukrainians cry uncle and come to the negotiating table? This one at least seems plausible… except the Ukrainians aren’t playing along.
Or is it cover for some other weird stuff we’re just not seeing?
Negotiate what?
Putin’s stated goals were to topple the anti-Russian government and destroy the Ukraine military. So far, what’s happening – what he’s attempting – seems consistent with that.
If he accomplishes that, he has a leaderless disarmed buffer on his border, which he can subsume at his leisure. (He must be assuming he has some significant level of support within Ukraine for this to make sense.)
@bobby,
So… maybe terms ceding some level of sovereignty to Russia, and strict limitations on the Ukrainian military and their hardware, along with restrictions on what deals they can make with Western powers?
He can accomplish that by force of arms, certainly, but it’ll cost. Maybe he figured a strong punch in the mouth will make them back down and concede at the negotiating table.
If Putin thought that, he may have miscalculated.
That may well be a consideration. But in order for the ‘racism’ slur to have its optimun effect, the target of your hypothetical ‘racism’ should be a disadvantaged minority.
There aren’t many people today who’d consider Xi, President of possibly the second most powerful country on the planet, a member of a disadvantaged minority.
The first part of Manoi’s assertion is, I’d have thought, uncontroversial. Hunter Biden was placed on the board of Burisma, despite having no relevant experience – in fact in an interview, Hunter himself admited, that it was only his fathers position and influence, that got him the post. Practically a textbook instance of graft and corruption and nepotism.
Hunter Biden got ‘kickbacks’ from Burisma, and gave 10% of whatever he received ‘to the big guy’, otherwise known as Joe Biden. Now President of the United States of America. That’s not controversial, and given that it’s public knowledge, it is quite odd that Johathan Pearce should dispute the assertion.
The second aspect of Manoi’s assertion is that the corrupt Ukranian government is already killing Ukranians.
Well, the Ukraine government doesn’t recognise the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, there has been a low level civil war in those regions for eight years and while the Ukraine government is attempting to supress the seperatist movements, they are doing so by the use of lethal force, people either side of the disputed border have been killed. QED Ukraine has been over the last eight years killing its own citizens.
Perhaps Johnathan, you should take your own advice and ‘fuck off’, a spell in an anger management sanatorium might benefit you, clearly you have ‘issues’.
My rational opinion is bob sykes is a Putinist cunt.
If Putin had just ended with taking Donetsk and Luhansk, I think even Ukraine might have said, “well, ok then, they’re your problem now,” and left it at that. I read that a lot of people would have been accepting of that outcome, even in Russia’s neighbouring countries. Ties of blood and ethnicity are still understood to be very important pillars of any nation-state.
The problem is that Putin wanted more. For what reason? To make Russia a pre-eminent power again?
What is his win condition?
As APL has said Hunter Bidens kickbacks from Burisma, and his father’s blatant abuse of his position as VP to stymie the Ukrainian prosecutor are not in doubt.
Hunters interactions with China when representing Rosemont Seneca are equally well known despite the indifference of the worlds media (with the honourable exceptions of the NY Post and the Daily Mail) and the US justice system.
How will this affect Bidens decision making when Taiwan is threatened? Half-hearted and largely ineffective sanctions for fear of provoking China into flexing its industrial muscles and bringing half the world to its knees within weeks. The chaos would make any reduction in Russia’s energy supplies to the west look like a picnic.
We are where we are and it could still get a whole lot worse.
In Biden’s defense, it isn’t just on him. With regards to China, if they act under his watch it’s just his bad luck he was the one to be left holding the bag when the music stops.
I don’t see how China can conquer Taiwan. Smash it flat with bombs and missiles, maybe. But invade it? Nah, logistically impossible for China at this point.
And smashing it flat… what’s the point?
It is not a mystery. Putin has openly stated Ukraine is a historical mistake & Ukrainians are just Russians. His win condition is the complete incorporation of Ukraine into Russia.
Monoi – I think it is time you stopped siding with the enemy.
Mr Putin is the enemy. If you side with him – then you are an enemy of the United Kingdom as he has had people murdered inside the United Kingdom.
As for your absurd claims that the government of Ukraine has been murdering people – I think I will file that with the Mr Putin’s claim that the President of Ukraine is a “Nazi” and a “drug addict”.
The President of Ukraine is not a Nazi (he is Jewish) and is not a drug addict – indeed he looks better than Mr Putin, who does not appear to be in good health.
You have been misinformed. (Not that I’d recommend taking seriously anything that lying idiot has to say, generally speaking).
I thought Putin was smart. Guess I was wrong.
He is dreaming if he thinks he can control that many people in that large of a country. We saw how the US already had so much problems with Iraq and Afghanistan, two states that are far less developed than Ukraine, with an even larger force disparity.
On Taiwan : A lot of Chinese people think that Taiwan is China and must become again full chinese as Hong-Kong or Macao for nationalist reasons
If Xi makes war to Taiwan he will have a lot of support in mainland China.He will also make a costly mistake, because the cost to invade Taiwan will be enormous. Be sure that if Ukraine got a puppet government in no time, Taiwan will be next in a very short time ..
By the way, the Bloody Dwarf (Putin) and the Pig’s face (Xi) deserve to die very quickly
My partner is Chinese
APL, I was referring to the idiot Monoi’s claim about Ukrainian atrocities and requesting a source. Russia-backed separatists have been involved in fighting the Ukrainians for years. What you and others have to prove is that Ukraine is not entitled to do something about that.
At the very least, your sympathies appear to be on the Russians’ side, unless you can state your position more clearly.
My rational opinion is bob sykes is a Putinist cunt.
Quite brightened my day there, Perry!
Oh, and his dog is a right son of a bitch…
Ukraine is not a democracy, it is a client state of the State department / Biden family.
With regards to Putin, I think Tucker Carlson said it best:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1496302694088257539
Quote from President Zelensky on the occasion of Joe Biden offering to get him out…
The USAF should be (Berlin Airlift style) sending in the C-17s loaded with kit and if Putin doesn’t like it he can go fuck himself – which seems the phrase du jour.
Putin doesn’t look well does he? Has anyone ever so explicitly threatened a nuclear attack? Is he scared?
It seems ragingnick has drunk the Kool-aid. Strangely my Ukrainian chums take a very different view but hey, I am sure Tucker Carlson knows better than they do, what with his Americocentric delusions.
Of course, what the people in Red China think or want has mattered for naught since 1949. If the Party thinks it has to keep them happy, that is progress of sorts.
I actually saw that differently. It felt like Tucker prefers a return of sorts to the isolationism favored by the US early in its history, George Washington’s admonishments against foreign entanglements. He probably thinks US internal problems are more important than the fate of a country which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t really affect the lives of the US citizen, and it’s far more important to fix the Dems and Biden before they inflict any more damage.
Although at this point, I think very, very few people are even advocating sending in troops from any country into Ukraine. Anybody who even suggests such an idea often gets tossed a “why don’t you volunteer yourself then?”
Send supplies, sure.
Troops? Nah.
Two videos that might be of interest
From Six years Ago:
Why is Ukraine the West’s Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4
From four days ago
PROFESSOR JOHN MEARSHEIMER: THE SITUATION IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbj1AR_aAcE
Problem: Putin invaded Ukraine
Problem: Biden administration
Both problems solved: Draft all democrat voters and send them to Ukraine
Let me state that i utterly disagree with this from ragingchick:
I submit that there is probably less voting fraud in the Ukraine than in the US.
Further, i submit that the US Deep State/Biden complex has been one of the worst enemies of Ukraine in this century.
I doubt that would satisfy Putin now. He’s taken the step of isolating himself from world opinion by invading, he’s incurred the huge invasion costs, I think he needs more at this point, not just some marginal improvement from what he had pre-fight.
Plus, having now invaded and killed, I doubt he thinks he can leave the Ukraine army existing, for future safety and security. I think, in his mind, he absolutely has to continue the fight and essentially wipe out (or hugely degrade) the Ukraine military capability, at least equipment-wise.
And I remain convinced that none of us know crap about what’s really happening, Twitter and vids aside. Russians and Ukrainians have both built a formidable reputation for hacking and faking abilities. Snake Island?
“Further, i submit that the US Deep State/Biden complex has been one of the worst enemies of Ukraine in this century.”
That is one of the key points that Prof Mearsheimer makes in both the videos I posted; the Deep State has encouraged the Ukrainian politicians to behave unreasonably and provocatively towards Russia on the mistaken belief that the US/Deep State would protect them.
No kidding. We are in the midst of a blizzard of bullshit.
That might well be, for all what i know.
But it is definitely not what i meant, in the comment that triggered this reply.
No kidding, indeed!
Two minutes with the guardian search engine. Two minutes for you Johnathan, which frankly, is more of my time than you warrent.
Now, since you’ve insulted that fellow Monoi, more than once, and you have been demonstrated to have been incorrect, an honest individual would appologise to Monoi.
Not surprised to see you whitewashing the the Azov battalions, Johnathan.
According to others in this thread, ‘The West’ has not provoked Russia, well, that is an outright lie. I wouldn’t normally cite that worm Schiff, but out of the Grima’s own mouth and on the Congressional record:-
Difficult to think of anything more provocative to Russia than selling Ukraine large quantities of military hardware.
Note: Schiff isn’t really concerned with Ukranian security interests, but American Security interests. It’s not immediately clear what ‘National’ interest America has on another continent, on the other side of the World. But hey! if Schiff says a thing is so, you can bet your last cent on it being false.
First off – this Biden thing is a side-show… It isn’t the real issue. The real issue is that a Russian despotism has invaded a free country. A country whose borders it was treaty-bound to respect. They have willfully violated the Minsk accords to which they are signatories. They have colaterally threatened Sweden and Finland. They have openly threatened thermonuclear war. They have acted with utter barbarism on the whim of a President who seems increasingly deranged.
In what way has Ukraine “provoked” Russia? Considering joining NATO? or the EU? Regardless of what anyone thinks about those organisations Ukraine is a sovereign state so those decisions are down to the Ukrainian people and should be made in Kyiv and have nothing to do with Moscow regardless of Putin’s fever-dreams of the glory of a greater Russia.
I have had just over 48 years on this goodly Earth and in all that time I have rarely seen a conflict that is so utterly polarized between good and evil. Because, make no mistake, here day fights with night. If Ukraine falls then where next? And what will Vlad’s mate Xi feel emboldened to do? If Ukraine holds then Putin is toast and the PRC won’t be as beligerent – for a while at least.
I keep reading about artillery shelling having been ongoing for some time prior to invasion. Who was shelling whom?
(Still searching for good guys in all of this.)
I understand why you’d like to think that, because then you can portray the Russian invasion as an attack on a free independent nation. The problem is, ‘this Biden thing’ and this Hunter thing, is central to the real issue. The real issue is that Ukrane since 2014 has been a puppet of the USA.
If Biden at the time he was Vice president with no real power in the US, can get the Ukranian government to dismiss an awkward prosecutor ( an entirely internal affair within Ukraine ) tracking down corruption directly implicating Biden and his son in massive fraud, then that’s another indication that the Ukraine wasn’t as free as you try to make out.
So, you align yourself squarely alongside people like Adam Schiff, the frankly creepy Jerry Nadler, the corrupt Joe Biden, his rotten son Hunter, Boris Johnson and Liz fuckin’ Truss.
Good luck with that!
War messaging and image repair becomes woke:
“Ukrainians are blocking blacks from evacuation trains!”
https://www.rt.com/russia/550787-ukraine-black-people-train/
Sad thing is, it’ll probably have some effect.
APL:
If you believe that, then you ought to wonder about your own sanity. Don’t you know anything about the famous telephone call between Zelensky and Trump?
Believe me, I do. But, after three years of being at odds with the MSM narrative, I’m used to it.
Well, I take it that was sarcasm?
I do know about the famous leaked conversation of Victoria Nuland discussing among other things, who they should slot in as president of Ukraine.
Speaking from a personal perspective, this to me is a tragedy. Let me explain why.
It is good to be deeply sceptical of ‘official narratives’. But many people I have respect for, people who have always questioned the MSM narratives and all the woke insanity, nevertheless fell for the entire panoply of fear-driven Covid bollocks, hook line and sinker. Just as Brexit sundered a lot of relationships and alliances, the Covid experience did so even more profoundly.
And now that governments and institutions have so utterly discredited themselves, people I respect who did not fall for the MSM Covid narratives have become so conditioned, so tribalised, so rightly cynical regarding the institutions that fucked up their lives over the last two years… that they have become uniquely vulnerable to a different set of cognitive dissonance not less profound, absurd or dangerous that the ones afflicting their (and my) enemies.
Your perception of what is driving Putin’s actions is a case in point. On one level I am repulsed by your views, but on a rather different level, it kind of breaks my heart to see so many people entirely on the side of the angels on so many issues get this one so utterly and completely wrong.
APL,
“I understand why you’d like to think that”
Somewhat patronising.
“The real issue is that Ukrane since 2014 has been a puppet of the USA.”
Oh, behave! That is utter bollocks. In any case isn’t it better for Ukraine to have friendly relations with the likes of the USA than become a fiefdom of a deranged dictator? Apart from anything else this would appear to be the overwhelming opinion of the Ukranian populace which is why Putin seems so aereated over the issue. It simply doesn’t gell with his concept of a Greater Russia. That people in Ukraine don’t agree with this grand vision is a mere detail to him.
I’m sorry APL but you seem so obsessed with the relatively petty corruption of a sub-mediocre US president (who is likely to lose badly in the mid-terms anyway and then be annihilated beyond) and his abysmally useless son that you are failing to see the big picture which is that we are witnessing full-on armoured warfare in Europe for the first time since 1945. That is the issue and it is not a time for petty point-making over a domestic US scandal which in the grand scheme of things can’t hold a candle to the Neo-Sov flame-thrower that threatens a sovereign nation and could well have repercussions throughout Europe and as far away as Taiwan. That really matters. People dying by the hundred matters. A total disregard for international law matters. Joe Biden getting his pointless son a pointless sinecure hardly registers in comparison.
Not my intent.
Ukrane has received more aid in recent years than almost any other country. Yet, it’s one of the poorest countries in the region. That aid hasn’t gone to the Ukranian population nor its economy.
In short, the Ukraine is a money laundering scheme for the CIA, the deep state and yes, the Bidens. It is practically lifted directly from the Oliver North playbook.
Convieniently forgetting Serbia. Ok, not that many tanks rolling across the plains, but wtf, Serbia was bombed half way into the stone age by the USA.
In fact, if you compare the US invasion of Iraq, with the Russian assault on Ukraine, it’s clear the Russians are taking great pains not to destroy infrastructure, they haven’t even destroyed communications infrastructure. People are still bloging live from Kiev. Shock and awe Iraqi style, this ain’t.
That suggests to me the Russians plan to leave as soon as they have ‘sanitized’ the Ukraine of US influence, and probably the Asov brigage types. They want to leave a functioning country, afterward.
I imagine the last thing they want in their back yard is Ukrane resembling Libya. Oh, yea. Libya, an achievement of the Obama, Biden foreign policy.
I guess, we’ll see.
That strikes me as a bit of a false equivalence. We bombed then to discourage them from massacring their neighbors, not in a hegemonic bid to take their stuff. Context matters. Hitting you in the face because I want your shoes differs from hitting you in the face to stop you from beating up a kid.
Why might we all get it so wrong? Are we just stupid? Or do we lack any personal connection to the situation that might clue us in as to who the angels really are, while we’ve been burned too many times by lies to just read someone’s take on it all?
We’ve all become so conditioned to taking “our side” without knowing the facts supporting “our side” that, in the complete absence of verifiable fact, we fall back on tribes.
(How many people truly understand mRNA enough to opine on it credibly? It’s a much smaller number than the number of people who confidently opine about mRNA. But that’s how we act in an age in which we have to make choices devoid of any personal knowledge or understanding.)
I can’t even find reliable casualty numbers about this fight. How are we, who lack personal friends and connections in the area, who know next to nothing about the history, to have any hope of understanding who did what to who, and why?
Everyone’s just trying to get on the right bandwagon. US Republicans are trying to tamp down any pro-Putin sentiment for fear of how it might be used in the coming elections. Dems are pushing the patriotic fight against the evil murderous Trump-master. Can you see how people might push back against that even while lacking accurate information?
I think people are desperate for real information, but that’s no longer an option.
APL,
This is obviously 100% correct.
Those who doubt the veracity of the comment from APL that I quoted above, are encouraged read this comment from bobby b, which (perhaps unintentionally) get at one of the root causes of a lot of the ignorance in the west.
Is Israel a puppet of the USA?
Carnivorous Bookworm,
Um, what? Is this a serious question?
Obviously Israel is a puppet of the USA. Is the sky blue?
I think a lot of naive people operate under the delusion that independent countries are all equally sovereign countries.
Let me be crystal fucking clear for you naive souls.
There are really only four countries on earth that are genuinely sovereign nations. USA, China, Russia, and Germany.
You could make an argument for India, Japan, and United Kingdom. But I would not accept the argument. In my opinion there are really only four sovereign countries.
Every other country on earth reports to one or more of those four countries.
Some examples. South Korea reports primarily to the USA. Israel reports primarily to USA. Greece reports partly to Germany and partly to USA. Pakistan reports partly to China and partly to USA. Saudi Arabia reports primarily to the USA. Turkey reports partly to Russia and partly to USA. Etc.
I could go into all the reasons why, but I don’t have that kind of time.
You should consider a career in stand-up comedy 😀
That is genuinely hilarious.
Not sure what Israel has to do with this but the notion Ukraine is a US puppet is… bizarre. I think a lot of Ukrainians wish it was (to the extent of getting showered in US military infrastructure & logistics), but it isn’t and the notion the US government really called the shots there indicates no real understanding of the local politics or cultural pressures. Truly an example of the Americocentric delusion.
In my view every country on earth except for Germany, Russia, USA, and China are basically puppets (to varying degrees). Obviously Ukraine and Israel are puppets to a much greater extent than India and Japan. But at the end of the day, only Germany, USA, Russia and China are NOT PUPPETS AKA are the four genuinely Sovereign nations on earth.
Anyone who thinks the war between Ukraine and Russia is really a conflict between Ukraine and Russia have no fucking clue what’s happening. It’s a conflict between Russia and NATO/USA. Ukraine is just a puppet and a pawn.
A pawn, which – if the western media outlets are to be believed – happens to be standing up quite effectively, stubbornly, and admirably against the Russian invasion.
Why?
If Putin can be believed at all, his end game is a subsumed Ukraine, existing and functioning as a seamless and untroublesome part of Russia. Last thing he wants is a thorn or a welfare state.
He’s not going to want to be left with a wasteland, large civilian dead will only cement enmity for generations, and he can’t afford to leave a Ukr military with power or leave the current government in power.
(Of course, that’s his “win” position, and that might now be out of reach. I think his “lose” scenario is much riskier for the average Ukrainian.)
I believe that the war between Russia and Ukraine is primarily really a conflict between USA/NATO and Russia. I don’t think this should be very controversial to any intelligent and informed observer.
And I also believe that the war between Russia and Ukraine is perhaps partly/secondarily (behind the scenes) also really a conflict between China and the globalists/international banking system. This is a claim that many intelligent and informed observers will dismiss, and perhaps rightfully so. But I have reasons to suspect that it may be true. I’m not 100% sure but I think there really is a possibility that this is true.
But that is *exactly* what he is going to get if he manages to occupy Ukraine (a very big if) and tries to incorporate it into Russia. The possibility he can turn it into a ‘functioning country’ after occupying it is comical. He ends up with a multigenerational insurgency.
And if Putin drives the government from Kyiv and put one of his own there (again) rather than technically incorporating the entire Ukraine into Russia, the puppet government will be dependent on Russian troops to survive, again leading to an insurgency: the Maidan revolt but with guided anti-tank missiles instead of slingshots this time.
Best he can hope for is (and always was) to directly annex Donbas and Luhansk and call it a win. But he clearly is not going to do that or he would only have moved into those areas.
I obviously disagree completely. I think you are intelligent but not well informed at all & you are in good company in that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If61baWF4GE&feature=emb_title
It’s long but this is mandatory viewing for anyone seeking to understand what the fuck is actually happening. Watch on 1.5X speed.
The facts presented do not comprise the whole reality, but do comprise important pieces of it.
My argument is, I think this is what he was trying to do. Your argument is, it can’t work. I don’t think we’re really disagreeing.
I don’t mistake Putin for a moral actor. But I think he’s still a rational actor, even if his plans are failing.
Shlomo,
Oh give me strength! Your quad-polar World System is utter bollocks. I would love to see you expound that one in Delhi, Paris, Tokyo or Tel Aviv… Or even Kyiv. Or Manchester. The latter two I really wouldn’t recommend unless you want to take your teeth home in your pocket.
bobby b,
I’m not sure he is still rational. A week ago I would have said he’s playing his hand very well. He now seems deranged. He has totally miscalculated the level of support for Ukraine and the resolve of the Ukrainian people. I suspect he thought the outside world would see this as an internal Russian matter and move along. This hasn’t happened. He has become an almost global hate figure pretty much across the political spectrum and I think it’s driving him mad because he has so internalised the idea Ukraine is Russia that he just can’t metabolize the idea that others (especially Ukrainians, obviously) don’t see it that way. It’s driving him mad in his bunker surrounded by yes-men. We have of course seen this before. I live in the hope that a former commedian proves to be the nemesis of a former KGB agent. That would be just so sweet.
Guilty! I was one of those who complained about the title of this article.
But, you know, it may well have been entirely appropriate. Alledgedly, here is the Current president of the Ukraine, in one of his former roles.
I can just see the warriors of the Ukraine getting, err, behind him.
Then, I frequent Karl Denninger. Have done for years.
APL – who the people of the Ukraine vote for is their business. It is not the business of Mr Putin.
I do not care that the President of Ukraine used to be a television entertainer – I do care that he is pro abortion and supports the European Union. BUT THAT IS A MATTER FOR THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE – he is their choice, and we must respect that.
As for Mr Putin – it goes all the way back to the alcohol problem of Boris Yeltsin.
Boris Yeltsin wanted to make a Russia a free country – he really did. He wanted an end to conscription and Trial By Jury, and television stations with different points of view, he wanted it all.
But the booze destroyed Boris Yeltsin (as it has many good men) – and Mr Putin wormed his way into power (tricking Boris Yeltsin – and tricking other men who should have known better).
Almost the first thing that Mr Putin did was close down opposition television stations.
Then he went after businessmen for the “crime” of disagreeing with him. And Mr Putin started to push the idea that the state should control the commanding heights of the economy, with private property and contracts counting for nothing.
By the way – Donald John Trump understands what happened to Russia, he watched another good man destroyed by booze.
His own brother.
That is the reason why DJT does not drink.
APL – you do understand that the President of Ukraine could have got away and choose to risk his life?
If you really do not understand this – please understand it now.
The KGB man humbled by the light-entertainer. You can’t make this stuff up.
NickM – I would, in spite of all his faults, have voted for the “Chocolate King” to be re elected.
But IT IS NOT UP TO ME – almost 3 out of every 4 voters supported the light entertainer.
It was a free and fair election (unlike in Russia) and the candidate I would have supported LOST.
This is the simple fact that some people seem unable to grasp.
The people spoke – they wanted the entertainer to be President.
The stuff that APL posts is not secret – the people knew what the man did for a living.
Paul,
That is democracy but the light-entertainer seems to have stepped-up to the plate with fair alacrity. He might not have been your choice (or maybe not mine – Ukranian politics not being my specialist subject so I don’t know) but that is, as you say, not the choice for either of us and certainly not the choice of Putin. But as it stands I think Zelensky is doing rather well on the fundamental issue – the defence of his nation from a cruel imperial force.
Alisa,
Actually, you have been misinformed. Martin is right.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-declined-ukrainian-request-for-military-aid-report-says/
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/02/to-placate-russia-israel-told-baltics-states-it-would-block-weapon-transfers-to-ukraine-sources/
Words are cheap. Ukraine needs arms not words. And Israel has repeatedly denied Ukraine arms during its time of need, even when Ukraine’s president begs for it directly.
Thanks Shlomo,
It’s also bipartisan in Israel. Netanyahu says Israel should focus on Iran, see below link. From what I know when he was in power Netanyahu stressed having good relations with Russia.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-tells-government-to-be-quiet-on-russia-and-focus-on-iran/
I’d heard he was a clown, thinking, what’s to critizise? We elected Boris Johnson!
More importantly, Zelensky apparently did his job as an entertainer well.
Which is more than can be said for a lot of world leaders if they were not politicians.
He was also said to have provided the voice for the Ukrainian dub of Paddington Bear. Some wags suggested some pastiche of Zelensky, Paddington Bear, and the Right to Bear Arms.
Yes APL – we elected Alexander “Boris” Johnson.
And if Mr Putin sent his forces to overthrow the British government – we (you APL and myself) would fight in opposition to Mr Putin’s forces.
What we think of Mr Johnson IS NOT RELEVANT.
What we think of the previous occupation of the President of the Ukraine IS NOT RELEVANT.
I used to work at a theme park – I would guess there are some undignified pictures of me floating about.
OK, i did not read every comment here, but i cannot avoid pointing out one more piece of evidence for the basic insanity of the human race.
–Contrary to the quote above, the government of the US of A has behaved, up to february 24, like a puppet of China and Russia. (A puppet for all practical purposes, but perhaps not taking direct orders.) Even now, the German Chancellor has show more backbone than Biden’s domestic puppet masters.
–As for Germany, it was mostly a puppet of France until fairly recently; and as Trump pointed out, it was and still is critically dependent on Russian energy supplies. That Merkel bullied other countries around, does not mean that she was not a puppet. (But it seems that Scholz intends to make Germany free again.)
–As for Ukraine: Zelensky is basically the leader of the free world right now. He might die tomorrow, but as of now he is the leader of the free world.
–As for Israel: it used to be considered a puppet of the US, but now the fashionable idea is that the US is a puppet of Israel. Both notions are delusional, but i admit that Shlomo’s is slightly less delusional.
It seems to me that Shlomo is making the (pseudo) “realist” (Mearsheimer-style) mistake of assuming that there are no conflicts of interest within States; which is reminiscent of the Marxist mistake of assuming that there are no conflicts of interest within socio-economic classes.
Ok, that’s what you’d be fighting against. Mr Putin.
What are you fighting for? The government that denied us simple medications and tried it best to kill us, and succeeded in killing thousands of others, over the last three years? That government?
The Queen?
Prince Charles?
Your community? The community that sends a stranger around to check on you once a week, and then tries to get you slotted into a ‘care home’. Better to isolate you from your remaining relatives, and give you COVID.
Freedom and Liberty?
You were locked down on false pretence for a year, confined to your own house. You dare to contradict the government narrative and you risk losing your livelihood.
That Freedom? That Liberty?
What would you be fighting for Paul Marks?
As if by Magic, Prince Charles is on the ball.
If by USA and Israel you mean the respective current governments, then the answer is definitely ‘yes’.