Who gives a shit who Prigozhin is and what his motives were/weren't. The biggest question is what the hell are we doing fighting a proxy war with Russia over one of the most corrupt countries in Europe that has no US interest whatsoever. There's a story for you. Oh......and save the "we're helping to save democracy in a sovereign nation"......that nonsense went south with the CIA backed coup in 2014.
As usual, your Father knew what he was talking about:
"The United States must concentrate only on American interests, and while the country ought to be friendly and open its commerce to all nations, it should avoid becoming involved in foreign wars." ~ George Washington's Farewell Address
Let's have a new Constitutional Amendment: "Congress shall not commit any resources of any kind to any military conflict without a Congressional declaration of war. Upon declaration there shall be held a lottery, and ten percent of Congress shall be inducted into the military, to serve in front-line units."
That should do it. Nothing like having a dog in the fight to make one think more carefully about slaughtering other people's children.
How many American soldiers are dying in Ukraine right now? Ignoring the Russian invasion and not helping Ukraine defend itself is more likely to result in American troops on the ground fighting Russians, as it encourages aggressive Russian revanchism and makes a future Russian attack on NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland much more likely. Ukrainian soldiers are dying to defend their country, but in doing so are also defending the rest of Europe and the political West. The very, very least we can do while still maintaining any national self respect as the leader of the free world is to help provide them the weapons to defend themselves.
Oh, I see, to keep our self-respect we have to continue to fund the president of Ukraine who just suspended elections. He said there will be no elections until after the war. It's so wonderful to see democracy in action. I don't want to judge where your heart is, but your post is the same level of derangement, we hear from the Anne Applebaum's, Victoria Nuland, crazy warmongers like Lyndsy Graham and all the neocons that Joe Biden has surrounded himself with. It is this level of derangement that has convinced so many Americans to fund the unnecessary annihilation of an entire generation of Ukrainian men who are getting slaughtered on the front line. Does that give us self-respect? That doesn't make us leaders of the free world, it makes us bullies with no respect for human life. These are human beings. To even suggest that Americans should have to go and die to fulfill an insane neocon delusion about who should control an eastern province in eastern Ukraine is pure insanity.
Ukraine and Russia had the outlines of a peace deal a year ago, and the West got in the way of that. We just need to stand down, give Ukraine security assurances provided they remain neutral. That's really all that Putin)Russia wants.
I'm so sick of the farcical argument that Putin has imperialist goals for the countries on/near Russia's border, so if we meet his terms wrt Ukraine, he'll take that as a green light to invade those other countries. Meanwhile, LOGIC & REASON dictate that if those were his true goals, he would have absolutely made the attempt after becoming President in 2000.
What logic and reason, exactly? Russia was far too weak in 2000, and could barely suppress the rebellions in the Caucuses. Back then, Putin was still floating the idea that Russia could join NATO, though without meeting any of economic and military reforms necessary to be considered.
What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine? Other than validating the Russian invasion, wasting the sacrifices of the tens of thousands killed, encouraging further invasions and depredations of international law by authoritarians other than Russia, especially China?
I have one more question: What has Ukraine done, in your logical and reasoning opinion, to deserve invasion, occupation and destruction from its neighbor? Why is Ukraine so undeserving of US and Western support?
"Why is Ukraine so undeserving of US and Western support?"
Its not a question of "deserving"...It is about our national interests and risk vs reward calculations when dealing with the country that has the world's largest nuclear stockpile! And please, for the love of God, stop comparing every leader you want to go to war against Hitler!! Putin is not Hitler...not even close..Do they even teach history anymore? My God, this is so infuriating! Or do you mean to tell me the old canard that we are somehow "defending democracy"... like in 1961 when we invaded Cuba? How was the Bay of Pigs invasion by Kennedy any different than this "special military operation" by Russia in Ukraine? Russia did the risk vs reward calcs back then, and even Krushchev decided to sit it out.
We should do the same but our warmongering leaders and cheerleaders (like you) never let us have a moments peace. Its always war war war with you people!...and jingoistic cheerleaders on both sides...So in just my lifetime Ive dealt with this in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Granada, Panama, El Salvador, Syria, Libya, Croatia, Iraq (twice!), Afghanistan, and now Ukraine ... I'm so f'ng sick of this argument! Every time we get weaker and further away from our mission of being for liberty, democracy, and just "good" neighbors...We are so stupid and we never learn...This is no different.
Nato expansion was an unnecessary provocative move by the West. We would NEVER tolerate that level of aggression on our borders.
"Why is Ukraine underserving of Western support?" Because try as you and the neocons insist it is not nor ever was in the national interest of the US. Do you truly believe the Biden administration cares about the Ukrainians that are getting slaughtered on the front lines? These are human beings. They don't deserve to die to fulfil the deranged fantasies of western neocons. The Ukranian president just suspended elections, he already banned opposition political parties banned religious groups and locked up an American journalist. Is that level of authoritarianism something Americans should be funding?
The Ukrainians are human beings, the Russians are human beings, we are all human beings. The Ukraine started out as the poorest country in nominal Europe, and will probably end the war as the most desolate and underpopulated one. I can't imagine many refugees will return to a war torn country. The important things to remember are are, one, the Ukraine's borders are sacrosanct, and, two, Putin must be humiliated, no matter the cost to Ukrainians.
"What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine?"
Other than The end of the war, the saving of countless lives in Ukraine and Russia (btw: Ukrainians and Russians are THE SAME F'NG PEOPLE!!!), the return of stability to energy markets and food distribution in Africa and around the world, ending the total destruction of the Ukrainian state, return of over 6 million refugees from Western Europe?... that is what is to be gained!
And what, pray tell, are Putin's terms? Have you even bothered to ask? No, of course not...because...WAR WAR WAR!!
Ukrainians and Russians are the same people? 🤦🏻♀️ Canadians and Americans are the same people, so why doesn’t Canada just invade and try to annex New England?
"What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine?" -- Simple. Putin ends the war. And all those "sacrifices" you mention, could've been prevented if we had simply met his terms from the START.
As to your last question, do you know what a proxy war is?
Like in many cases, we have no idea how many US troops are in the Ukraine...That's something our "most transparent administration in history" will ever let to become public knowledge.
The safe bet is that the number is more than just a few.
Your reasoning sounds suspiciously like the domino theory used to justify US intervention in VietNam so many decades ago. We were there to prevent the communist oppression of all southeast Asia! Maybe the world! And in the Ukraine's case, this has absolutely nothing to do with the bribes paid to the Biden family for the last ten years. I'm ashamed to even mention such an ignoble thought.
OMG what a brilliant post. It is so easy to kill other people’s children feel desperate sometimes for the mothers and fathers of our nation. It’s just not right to do this.
OMG you made me spit out my coffee with an image of Diane Feinstein being wheeled into Kyiv with the explosions of war all around and asking "is it time to vote yet?"
Since the UN was founded in 1948, few nations have brought matters before the UN prior to a fight being started. And, even then, the parties just started fighting anyway.
The UN is an expensive joke operating out of a decaying building that shouts the 1950s over the East River.
Actually the Charter for the U.N. was written and ratified in San Francisco on 26 June, 1945.. This formally established the United Nations. It entered into force on 24 October, 1945 after all five members of the Security Council agreed to it.
It has served to keep the members of the Security Council from fighting with each other, which in the past, was a great accomplishment. Yes it is not what it was under Dag Hammarskjold, but murdering a General Secretary might wind up with the future one's being less ambitious for peace.
That is a reasonable follow up to an execution of one well respected but perhaps somewhat over dedicated to peace individual.
A talking shop to air grievances and avoid creating more is not a bad institution even if it achieves little.
And there can be little doubt Putin will at least order the use of nuclear weapons if Russia is ever at risk of losing. He may have threatened Wagner with them.
This whole thing only makes sense as the outgrowth of covert and probably venal motives papered over with very thin propaganda.
The only things I am sure of are 1) I dont know what is really going on ; and 2) we have zero national security interests in the Ukraine.
I keep reading headlines that say Putin is finished or on the way out. I don't believe that for a minute. He is still in control of Russia and will stay there until someone pops him between the eyes and that is unlikely.
Putin has a problem on his hands. Prigozhin would never have acted without support from somewhere. And that somewhere is close to Putin. Putin's quick dropping of charges indicates to me he's appeasing somebody. I don't think this story is over by a long shot..
I find your comment interesting, Barry - if only in the sense that if you think Putin is capable of resorting to nukes if he's losing (and it appears he's losing), then chances are his replacement if that were to happen could be even more inclined to use them..
I'm thinking that whoever is threatening Putin domestically (the unseen allies of Prigozhin) aren't moderate, but more nationalistic. And that would be a national security risk for the US, more than Putin might be presently (ironically).
There is very much doubt that Putin will order the use of nuclear weapons. While it remains a possibility to be seriously considered, it's far from certain. And Putin certainly never considered using nuclear weapons against Wagner, within Russia. The collateral damage in Russian civilian lives and infrastructure would have brought about Putin's end much more surely than the current unrest.
Yup, and then pushed NATO too close to where the US had previously agreed not to pursue. There’s lots of “counter narrative” to the mainstream that is making a lot of sense today.
I have no idea why you think being racist equates to supporting Putin. Or why you think adding "sir" after your MAGA insult makes you sound more gentlemanly. It doesn't. Just another ad hominen attack from someone who can't think of an answer.
The answer to “the biggest question” is very simple - the war in Ukraine is screwing up Europe and will screw it up completely, if Russia wins. And Europe is the only real ally that the US have, apart from Canada.
Europe could defend itself and Ukraine. But America doesn't want that. Why? Because being the biggest warlord on Earth gives us the leverage we need to enforce our real global interest: corporate profiteering.
If Europe had the same military budget we did, and the same level of nukes, it wouldn't need us to protect it. Euros might get uppity and think they can freeze us out of regions or markets, and our corporate overlords would tremble at the loss of profits. So, we make sure the Pentagon budget it always 100 times larger than the rest of the world combined.
If you keep in mind that the U.S. military exists primarily to protect American business interests, We the People being the biggest warlord and arms dealer on Earth is easier to understand.
"Europe could defend itself and Ukraine. But America doesn't want that. Why?"
As always, follow the money. There are a lot of pols, retired generals and intelligence spooks getting rich from global conflicts and influence peddling. Even the "whistleblower" responsible for Trump's first impeachment, retired lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman has his own arms supply company now, supplying you guessed it, Ukraine. Why do you think the Feds have been so secretive about bank records pertaining to money transfers to the Bidens? Do you think they’re the only ones getting rich? We don’t know where all the US tax dollars given to Ukraine goes, let alone all the other two-bit countries we send money to. Do you really believe that $60 billion in US equipment we left in Afghanistan is sitting in the desert?
You're right, of course, and I should have included politicians and retired generals, not just corporations, in the list of who gets rich because we use our military primarily to protect our markets and knock out our competitors.
As for $60 million of equipment in the desert, that pales in comparison to the hundreds of billions that neither the CIA nor the Pentagon can account for. "Uh, it's missing, nope, no clue where that went, hey, Charlie, look under that cot, will ya . . ." Bullshit. It went to lining pockets, once again proving General Smedley's dictum that "war is a racket."
I’ve heard this before, of course, and I don’t know. That argument always sounds like a way of blaming private property for all of the stupid shit that the government does.
I think it’s possible that there are utopian psychopaths running the government and the corporations are profiting off of it because their job is to profit.
Marxist "woke" is the lipstick on a pig named totalitarian finance.
C.G. Jung stated explicitly before his death in the 60's his belief that ideological utopianism is THE driving factor pushing mankind toward extinction. That was certainly WWII Germany, Russia and China.
My opinion: The DNC/WEF/CCP/EU juggernaut represents a self-interested world corporate fascism exploiting "woke" poseurs inside compromised political systems across the world. Your "their job is to profit" observation sums up the difference between a conscious conspiracy and the natural indifferent exploitation of the rigged game profit taking that is slowly tightening the financial noose destroying the American middle class and wreaking havoc on European lives and treasure. It it isn't politics it is a convenient pathology that allows the perp's to rationalize avaricious greed.
Government has always used military muscle on behalf of our corporate interests, because who pays the best bribes and who offers the best post-government-retirement gigs? Corporations. Politicians know who butters their bread and act accordingly. Corporations like it because they don't have to do the dirty work, just profit after our young people get chopped up in the wars and political overthrows that make someone else's market ours. I don't believe our early interference in Ukraine was to piss off Russia per se. I believe it was because Ukraine has mountains of resources and foodstuffs to exploit, so we made sure its government became pro-West instead of pro-Putin. Business.
This isn't unique to Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, or any one president, or even to Woke or MAGA. It's the history of America: we are not a colonial power like Britain was, in that we don't conquer and keep a whole lot of land. But we do capture markets, and if those markets refuse to capitulate the easy way, we send in the Marines. IT&T, United Fruit, gunboats to China, more gunboats to Hawaii, all to expand our markets at the point of bayonets.
If we define fascism as the intermarriage of government and business power, we've been there for a long time.
The US policy officially is the Taiwan Relationship Act which promises Taiwan that the US will preserve the human rights of the people on Taiwan. The TAR also gives the US the legal and diplomatic means to continue relations with Taiwan economically, culturally, and its security. The statement by Blinken was not inline with the US policy and was one more sell out of an important ally.
This is a president and administration that has let down its allies in Afghanistan leaving them to the mercy of the Taliban and similar forces. The president has also shown his contempt for the US military as he observed his watch rather than show any sign of respect for the people in the coffin who had paid the ultimate price for this country. It is stolen valor when he claims a military death for his son.
Taiwan has never claimed it is an independent nation. It has consistently avoided that, to mollify mainland China. China has consistently proclaimed, that should Taiwan declare their independence, China will invade. Hence Blinken's statement, Taiwan is not Independent. Might have the wording slightly wrong, but the result is the same. We do not want to give China a reason for invading, especially at the present moment, when we are short on missiles.
Agreed that those three are US allies in many ways. The connection isn't as deep as with Europe though.
As for why can Europe not defend itself, that's a much more complicated question (unless we oversimplify it to something akin to "because it sucks"). It's quite a shame that it cannot and that it's therefore a very expensive ally. But it's not a new thing, it's been like this for more than 100 years, as history shows, unfortunately.
It's in the best interests of European countries to rely on the U.S. for security because that way, they get to channel larger portions of their tax revenues into social services. Every time I read something about how _fabulous_ European countries' social services are, how _miserable_ U.S. social services are in comparison, I want to scream—because the U.S. is actually _subsidizing_ European social services by sparing European taxpayers from the financial burden of creating a robust defense.
I'm not a Trump fan, but he _did_ get a few things right. And among those things is that NATO's European members _absolutely_ need to meet their spending commitments to NATO.
I am a Trump fan for that reason Patrizia and for a number of other reasons as well, for one he was “draining the swamp” a sizable portion of our GDP going to everybody but us. Its enough now we need the $$$, we could have built a 1000 charter schools or given our war vets extra help with their mental health and built some new homes for our “houseless” people or built rehab clinics for our addiction problem. We have endless problems here in America, why we must continue this archaic policy of playing the good cop beggars belief at times.
I don't think a robust defense would be so costly to prevent social services from being paid for too. Those generally take much more than the committed 2% of NATO spending and the 3.5% that the US is spending, so I don't think it would make so much difference in social services. It's more about Europe avoiding this spending for various reasons. Looks like the war in Ukraine might be the much needed impulse to reconsider this spending, at least for some of the European countries.
As for the last part, hard to disagree again. Trump was absolutely right there. Even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day ;-)
Look at Austria, they have zero, comparatively, defense forces because they are surrounded by countries who spend money on defense. They put their money into social services.
Sorry, but I just can’t get excited about the threat of Putin taking over eastern Europe. Clearly the Europeans, save for maybe Poland, aren’t either. Wagner is the best Russia has yet on February 7, 2018, when 500 of their troops manning a tank column attacked a small garrison of 40 US soldiers at a small outpost in eastern Syria they were obliterated, with 300 of them killed. Not one American was harmed thanks to devastating US air cover and Rules of Engagement implemented by then President Trump. Contrast that with what happened over the weekend.
What’s screwing up Europe is the left-wing psychopaths who think the government is going to change the weather. If those people did not exist none of this would be happening. Unfortunately, those people exist.
I blame Angela Merkel and Gerhardt Schroeder for the Ukraine “War of the Solar Panels and Windmills”. They shut down reliable and safe nuclear power and tossed all of their eggs into Putin’s basket with a big sign on their backs “Kick Me”.
Now the stupid Germans are taking down windmills and digging out the coal again. Back to the future. When did Hitler lose WW2? When Stalin crushed the Wehrmacht’s rush to Baku to take over the oil fields in Azerbaijan. They returned to coal, to make diesel to fuel their war machine. It was never enough. The Coup d’grace was Operation Barbarossa , the stupid attempt to replay Napoleon’s misadventures trying to fight cold weather in Russia. Guess what? That was about climate as well.
And now that imbecile Biden is doing the very same thing to Americans , tossing all our eggs into Chairman Xi’s basket. Only this time, Biden’s sign says “Pay Me for treason “. And boy oh boy does Chairman Xi pay. Hunter Biden is the bagman.
Yep. And a lot of those women especially the beautiful young ones have ended up with their passports taken by pimps who sell them as party girls to black card Wall Street financier's in New York and D.C.
Those people definitely make it worse. Not sure whether their absence would prevent existence and rise of crazy wannabe-tzars in close-by countries though.
Since Putin allegedly wants to genocide Ukraine based on some weird beliefs he has about history, we should probably be asking why he didn’t do this earlier.
Did he just now develop these beliefs? That seems weird, right?
If he’s always believed in the necessity of a genocide, why did he wait 25 years to try it? It would be like if Hitler ran Germany for 25 years and *then* decided to build the camps. Not sure if that makes sense.
It appears to me that the people who have been running Western foreign policy for the last 25 years just have shitty plans and ideas and they’ve been implementing them unimpeded for 25 years and that is why we are here.
Putin has been a bad person the whole time so there’s definitely no doubt that the Western foreign policy elites have done a terrible job managing this situation……..and now they are telling us what will work to fix the thing they utterly failed to deter.
I’m open to ideas from people whose approach to dealing with the bad guy who has 20,000 nukes is *not* the same as the proven failures who got us here.
I would definitely prefer if the person with these much needed different plans was *not* a bombastic realtor with a combover. But he did predict this in advance so I’ll give him some credit.
Not to be pedantic but it wasn’t “the West” who made this worse. It was the specific people making decisions on behalf of the West. These are specific people who need to be dealt with.
Yeah, it's a very big deal for people living in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe. Putin has been frank about his desire to reestablish some kind of Soviet union.
Of course, Americans are being manipulated by countless stories about plucky Ukrainians. I read those stories and don't know whether to punch somebody or laugh. Propagandizing at its most blatant.
My own thought is that yes, the U.S. should continue aiding the Ukraine war effort—but that there should be a hard cap on the dollar amount of that aid.
I remember the "Domino Theory" peddled about southeast Asia. We were told that if we didn't defeat those damn pajama wearing gooks, the commies were gonna take over the whole place and then show up on our doorstep. I also remember the last chopper leaving Saigon after losing 55,000 of our best young men and women. Now Vietnam is our BFF and hates China more than we do. Go figure.
Well, Chamberain was in a “heads you win, tails I lose” situation. Britain was not on a war footing and France, with Europe’s largest and best-trained army, was still shell-shocked from The Great War and would not back up England against Germany (who, France thought, was also not in any hurry to engage in another bloodbath). He had to buy time for his manufacturing base and his forces.
Putin’s no Hitler and Russians are not Germans. Putin’s more like Al Capone and Russians are like citizens of Chicago back then. They all know that leaders come and go, but they all remain serfs. They just want to live their lives and don’t respond to any appeals to national pride.
Putin’s done, but he’s done like a caged rat. Still dangerous, but done. Russian troops are not going to sweep through the Fulda Gap and descend on Paris, like folks feared in the Cold War.
Watched a show on the beginning of WWII and it was appalling that Chamberlain was given the PM role. He was completely at sea; credulous and useless.
Also the failure of the French command to heed their own reconnaissance that the Germans were backed up in a traffic snarl to the Ardennes - and could have been completely smashed by air - was beyond criminal.
>> If he isn't stopped in Ukraine he will continue his delusional quest of expansion.<<
Well, that IS the narrative being pushed by U.S. mainstream media. Is it true? I don't know. Which is why I support continuing to send military aid to Ukraine.
Chamberlain met with Hitler at least twice. From the first meeting he realized what or who he was dealing with. Not to mention the state of Britain's preparedness. There was no way Britain could go to war with Germany at that point, so Chamberlain merely agreed to everything Hitler wanted. Seems wrong, but Hitler really wanted to start the war in 1938. No one was prepared.
Chamberlain went back to London, proclaimed peace, and immediately began diverting 50% of their GDP to preparedness, including factory shells all over the country, wired and ready for who knew what, but the space was being made available, all while outwardly proclaiming peace. It bought Britain valuable time, without which they would have lost, in 1938 it also would have been impossible to get the U.S. into the war, no matter what happened over seas.
The French had the largest, best equipped and trained army in the world. They also had more and better tanks than the Germans. They also had idiots for generals.
The German military chiefs thought they needed two more years to prepare for war. Heinz Guderian had different ideas and he turned out to be right.
He sure was, in spades. The Maginot Line was not ineffective though. Not one of the fortifications ever fell. If the turrets could have turned, would things have been different? We will just never know.
I probably disagree on the hard cap part (how to decide where to put it?, how much is Europe worth?), but don't have a good argument against it either. Totally agree with the rest.
Since I am far from bering a military expert let alone knowing who Putin compares himself to or whether he wants to "extend Russian borders to that of the former empire " ( Free Press readers are SO smart), I listen to the retired Lt Col who is often found the the Hill Rising. He seems to think that Putin is in no poisiton miliitarily to "extend the borders" and knows it. His interest is still in keeping the Urkraine from joining Nato. In the end, I will just have to admit I have no idea what is going on or what Putin thinks or wants. I will rely on those of you who DO seem to know and can only watch from a distance and try to keep my own ego in check.
I don't want all these Eastern European countries to join NATO. I don't want to have to defend them if there's a problem. We were in the Czech Republic 8 years ago and our taxi driver told us he was so happy to be a member of NATO now because President Obama and NATO would defend them against Russia. Whoops! I told him not to count on that happening.
That's it? That's the "very simple" answer? And you're using "Europe" as a single entity who's our "only real ally"? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that ain't it......but thanks for playing.
In this particular case, Europe can really be simplified to one single entity, although that’s of course not what it is. But I’ll stop feeding the troll now, it wasn’t nice of me in the first place😉
People who disagree without bringing anything to the discussion are usually trolls (or plain old dummies). As for likes, I'm not really sure what they are measuring ;-)
The likes measure the opinion of people who are paying money to support someone who was chased out of a totalitarian cult propaganda outlet by cluster B psychopathic racists.
I’m sure that this group is capable of being wrong but at least we know they are opposed to State propaganda and racists.
I continue to assert that "we the people", having entered an entirely new age, must somehow free ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically from the retro consciousness of the international corporate feudalist's attempting to drag the people's of the world backward into bullet in the head monarchism. Where do we think the chaos, violence and collapse raging across the American landscape is coming from? The Constitution and the Republic remain the only engine of American survival.
Consider: Corruption and the violation of human moral reason caused Russian Communism to collapse into the hands of surveillance state spooks (Putin), organized crime, international criminal finance and black market profiteers. The ultimate realpolitik for the citizen remained as before and, as in China today, the bullet in the head. (And, when Marxist "woke" and the DNC/CCP/WEF/EU Davos crowd has finally brought about American collapse? The Assange horror, for now, represents the softer gentler version of the head on the spike atop the castle wall.)
If we're going to bring Machiavelli into it, what do we think the Wagner Group or say, Blackwater represent. Mexico has a central government but Mexico is controlled by five or six well armed cartels (oligarch's/barons) powerful enough to control the American border and sections of major American cities. We're talking potentially trillions of dollars in drug's, arms, human trafficking and natural resources. (What do people who interfere get?) That kind of blood in the water brings sharks of every stripe and persuasion. The real question, discussed here endlessly: At what point will the American citizen no longer be able to get out of the bloody water? Billionaire baron's worldwide require security. Where do they obtain it? Retired spooks, black ops specialist's and special forces mercenaries. Who, like our friend's in the mafia, can never really leave their respective organizations. Throw in a line of coke and a central banker or two and that's what you call a witches brew.
In the Holy Crusade's the first fall of Jerusalem was brought about by baron's and kings who having raised an army of conscript's and merc's first surrounded and starved the city. Then they simply bribed the politicians inside the walls to open the gate's. Inside, the "holy crusader's" realizing the terrified citizens were swallowing gold coins and jewels simply slaughtered the people, burned them in piles and went through the ashes with sticks. Welcome to Jerusalem.
Biggest Question: will Prigohzin be "handled" with a gun, a poison dart at the end of an umbrella, or some other means? (e.g., Colonel Stoli, in Siberia, with a Candlestick?)
Dude better not stand in front of un-curtained windows for awhile.
Remember being told our heating bills would go up all in the name of supporting Ukraine? And gasoline? Meanwhile, it's so dangerous over there Zelensky can do Zoomies for Hollywood award shows and have afternoon tea with Pelosi and McConnell when they pop in.
I agree with you the best interests of the U.S. are not served by the continuing war in Ukraine.
It's a very big deal for U.S. European allies, though. Particularly Eastern European allies. So, I just ignore the media narratives about plucky Ukrainians and focus on _that_.
Yes but at least Putin is not in charge of the Donbas region (which is totally destroyed and on fire) because it would be a human rights catastrophe if Putin was in charge of the area that is now totally destroyed and on fire.
True. The best interests of very few are served by the continuing war in Ukraine. The war continuing is not even in Putin's interests, though he certainly thought it was in his and Russia's interests to start the war. Unfortunately, it's not in our, or our European allies best interests for Ukraine to lose the war. In order for it to end, Putin and the Russians need to be convinced that it's no longer in their best interests to continue the invasion, and therefore go home. That will not be served by short-sighted US isolationism.
I actually can’t believe Bari put this crap out - You to polite Evan I don’t give a f..k about this story, between pride month, black history month and $200 billion spent on the Ukraine, I ask mr biden when is it America’s month or more like our year. I’m sick and tired of his bizarre policies, and am wondering how much longer Americans will endure this lunatic fringe.
Corruption is in the eye of the beholder. What some, such as yourself, claim to be corruption in a foreign country is just "business as usual" in our own homeland. Is Ukraine more corrupt that Mother Russia? THAT is laughable on its face! The whole of Russian government is based on the kleptocracy of the, so called, "oligarchs" who divvied up the old Soviet state to enrich themselves, AND to garner favor and access to power by supporting a ruthless Putin. Your "corruption" charge is just a MAGA buzzword.
I agree wholeheartedly with your biggest question. However, some of us do find foreign affairs interesting, unrelated to the pressing issues which we care about on a more practical level. I'm glad TFP is covering foreign news as well. My gripe is TFP is not big enough to have its own foreign reporters, but have to rely on MSM reports as a "What are we reading" piece, which essentially renders many parts of this article useless to me because I do no trust anything these media like NYT says. They've lost their credibility completely and cried wolves so many times, and hide so many things that I know in fact are happening and should be reported but they cover them up, that I will not take their words for it even if they are occasionally reporting facts. And I most certainly don't give a shit what their opinionators say.
The first nonsense is that the political defenestration of Putin's lackey Yanukovych in 2014 was orchestrated by the CIA. Other than the typical and ongoing rhetorical and occasionally minor financial support for pro-democracy and anti-corruption NGOs, the US had absolutely nothing to do with the Maidan protests or the uprising that followed them. The Obama administration was so taken by surprise that they couldn't even manage to articulate a coherent message of support until several weeks into the protests.
As for the US interest in helping Ukraine defend itself from invasion by a foreign power, the reasons couldn't be clearer to anyone who's not a head-in-the-sand isolationist or a Russian sympathizer, though the farcical claims that Maidan was a CIA backed coup gives us some reason to suspect the later.
If there would be any traces of reason in the mind of the newly minted American isolationists, they would at least stop repeating one point they’ve picked up from Putin’s propaganda: what a corrupt country Ukraine is, while supposedly Russia is much better under the distinguished leadership of Putin. The latest sh…show in Russia should have shed light on that, if this would be about independent thinking instead of blind imitation of what you hear on your favorite cable show.
We give a shit because Russia has more nuclear weapons than we do by a generous number.
As long as that remains a salient factor on the world's stage, our foreign policy must take into account what is happening with and to Russian political and military.
Because if (and probably when) Putin gets the heave ho by Prigozhin's supporters in Putin's security apparatus, and is replaced by someone even nastier (a distinct possibility) - it doesn't matter if it's a DeSantis or a Trump or a Biden Administration going forward, we will have our hands full.
Russia is still slaughtering Ukrainians in the much hyped “Ukrainian counter offensive”, in the best investment we are making (Lindsey Graham).
Wagner is now stationed north of Ukraine.
Putin remains in power.
Xi gains more power.
The US is still sending billions while our country continues to fall apart.
The political leadership continues to have a distraction from the inflation, crime, addiction, low quality education, and other problems in this country.
And all this surprises you when we're ruled over by a braying, senile jackass with a Senate filled with grifters and aged human turnips and a House of clowns such as AOC, Waters, Schiff, Nadler, Greene and the rest of the cavalcade of nitwits?
And don’t forget John Fetterman, who grabbed his shotgun and literally attempted to lynch a black person who was going for a jog in his neighborhood.
(Democrats electing Fetterman, an obese retard who attempted to lynch a black person, instead of electing an acclaimed immigrant heart surgeon, is the reason I will never ever care about racism ever again)
You absolutely right Kevin that was a very weird election. Dr Oz had the senior voters eating out of his hand and yet yet Fetterman won. It was the same old system Philadelphia votes were in three weeks before the election.
Sending Zelensky unlimited cash and telling him that he is in charge and that he gets to make all of the decisions is LITERALLY what Democrats call “American leadership”.
It’s actually the mass rape of the American people but I guess “leadership” is a good euphemism for mass rape.
Risky making commentary when one does not know what they are talking about. The Pentagon loses track of $6 billion while funding a war for "democracy" run by a guy that has cancelled elections, closed churches, prosecuted opponents (like Biden is), shut down media and owns the rest. Actually Biden is doing a lot of the same things. Meanwhile Nick Kristoff over at the Times is writing that Hunter is a sad drug addict suffering from a lack of treatment rather than working with his father the vice president to sell influence.
Hot take, after all the speculation by western press, Wagner was able to leave Ukraine unmolested and is now positioned 40 miles north of Kiev.
I care about Russia's internal problems, because they usually spill beyond Russia and therefore become America's problem. The "Internet Research Agency" built by the Wagner warlord to interfere in American elections is but one example.
As Churchill observed Russia remains "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." And we certainly won't learn much listening to Bari quote "the usual gang of idiots." Least of all our breathlessly stupid corporate media. One thing is for certain -the notion that "maybe CIA director William J. Burns or director of national intelligence Avril Haines, actually know" is laughable. Even funnier is quoting our senile and imbecilic president for anything of substance. But, in the end, all of the magical thinking of our friends on the left won't change the world as it is. Listening to them prattle on is a waste of time. One of the most useful commentators on Ukraine and Russia has been a guy with the monicker Big Serge on Substack. From whom or how he gets his information is a mystery. But the continuing fall of our corporate media continues.
These are the kind of questions only fantasizing media hacks ask themselves with straight faces. If this was really an attempted coup, how does it not occur to these wise journalists that a small fleet of Russian fighter jets could have obliterated it in a matter of minutes? Prigozhin was not at all interested in leading himself and his forces on a suicidal death march. How f’ing absurd. In 2020 American mindset this was merely a peaceful protest march. No casualties. Our media continues to mis-analyze the intentions and strategies of Putin and to oversell the strength and effectiveness of US designed strategies for Ukraine’s efforts. Putin uses this to his advantage to discredit both the US and Ukraine in a proxy war with no end in sight and no chance of diplomatic resolution.
And the media’s breathless cheerleading for the coup is laughable. Who would think a Prigozhin regime a better replacement for Putin? Global support for US meddling is losing steam. Our historic efforts in ‘saving’ or ‘spreading democracy’ in foreign countries where it isn’t always welcomed has a terrible track record. How is this any different?
Great Machiavelli quote (although its impossible to throw a rock in that book and not hit a great quote).
I was thinking of the Canadian truckers strike a couple times while reading this article. Weren't some of the more hysterical reports calling that a "coup" attempt?
Any attack on the left is portrayed as an attack on democracy. This is a tactic of all in power "Look over there. Don't look at me." The truckers' strike was not a coup. It was a protest against totalitarian rule and the totalitarians won.
In Canada the totalitarians are winning thanks to their backing by the WEF. Check out who just became the mayor of Toronto (a socialist nit wit that will soon be the Lori Lightfoot of the north). Why are Americans worried about what happens in the Ukraine or Russia when totalitarianism sponsored by Klaus Schwab is growing by the day right on your northern border?
That’s the distraction then the disruption and then the final knife in the back. That’s what America is waiting for the the Covid bullshit clearly wasn’t enough for the lunatics currently in power.
Which guy? The Wagner warlord? He will pay with his life eventually, probably in a tragic accident involving an umbrella tip and polonium. The J6 rioters and insurrectionists are paying their proper prices, which do not include polonium, only bad jail food.
What is the list of other crimes that get 3 years of solitary pre-trial confinement for unarmed, non-violent offenses that make their torture in any way “appropriate”?
Jail for rioting that causes damage and injury is appropriate. Prison for insurrection is appropriate. Solitary pre-trial confinement for three years is not appropriate even in a violent crime, let alone non-violent, and should not be allowed in a free society. Torture is not appropriate under any conditions.
I'm happy to clear that up for you, but keep in mind I didn't say one word of anything you mentioned.
I prefer Scotch, not Kool-Aid, and I go where the facts take me, not where "the establishment" dictates. J6 rioters and insurrectionists deserved jail and they got it. Good. J6 protestors who did no damage and broke no laws did not deserve even a jaywalking ticket, and as far as I know, none got one. Also good.
I thought you guys were all about the law and order. Guess not.
We are about JUSTICE. We are about EQUAL protection under the law. We are about FAIRNESS, MORALITY and ETHICS. Those who broke into the Capitol should be punished. However, Jacob Chansley (aka Q Shaman) and many others who were arrested did NOT break into the Capital, did NOT vandalize anything, did NOT threaten anyone. Their ONLY "crime" was TRESPASSING. And yet they rot in jail with NO due process. That is NOT "law and order." That is POLITICAL imprisonment, which is ILLEGAL.
No need to YELL, I agree with you on this. Simple trespassing with no injuries or property damage called for punishment on par with a speeding ticket: pay your fine, watch a movie about civics, go forth and live your life, and the record expunges after three years.
Jail should be reserved for violent crimes. I hold no brief for locking up nonviolent offenders for months or years before their trials, and would prosecute court officers who did that to anyone had I the power to do so.
Good piece and thanks for the work, but the focus needs to shift to motive.
What we know for sure is the Biden, Kerry, Pelosi families - and probably several others in Sodom on Potomac - have exchanged money with authorities in Ukraine for access and money. Oh, and Biden shut down American oil and gas development and is now buying Russian oil...
Putin is not a good man, but he is trying to avoid globalism entering his border and we have to recognize it. The American government is every bit as corrupt(or worse) than Russia's or Ukraine, would you please finally hold them accountable for once?
i have no idea what is happening but maybe following the money will provide the clues. Where does Wagner get the cash to maintain its forces and pay for munitions and supplies?
Putin just said that Wagner is entirely funded by the Russian gov-t. Yes, a year or two ago he denied this vehemently, so who knows. But I’m inclined to believe that a large portion, if not most of the funding comes from the gov-t.
In the time it took to pay attention to this news cycle non-story that no one knows anything about...meanwhile back at the ranch...hey! Look over there! Proxy war slog$ on, Zelensky grabs another $Billion, another Ukrainian city is destroyed, Biden has his justice department exonerating himself and son, laws are passed in the USA against parental rights, another political opponent of Biden is censored or arrested, Biden’s AG lies under oath and the populace yawns ...
Aaron, I believe we are dealing with the same mindset that believed a few hundred unarmed senior citizens were "insurrectionists" and "almost seized power" over the United States Government on January 6, 2021.
They are warmongers and believe their own stupid rhetoric despite all evidence to the contrary. Next thing you know, they will start comparing Putin to Hitler or whatever...its so stupid I am losing brain cells just engaging on it
You might wanna check your MSNBC Privilege, junior. None of those "insurrectionists" was armed. Some were "seniors". One was shot to death by deranged Capitol police. Other Capitol police invited many of those idiots into the grounds of the Capitol. Several score/hundreds of those idiots - not insurrectionists - are doing jail time because of other idiots such as yourself claim it was the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War.
Federal judges bought the narrative lies just like they did on the Russia dossier hoax and authorized FISA warrants.
In other words, don't be a tool for the uni-party narrative. Grow up and learn truth.
There was no chance that Prighozin's "army" was going to get anywhere near the Kremlin. He wasn't intending to overthrow Putin. Which is why fool Prighozin lit out for Belarus.
No, the rag tag Russians in War Lord Prighozin's group stood no chance. You've just bought into the uniparty's narrative for endless war in Ukraine. How's it feel to be a supporter of fascist Nazis in Ukraine?
Actually, it sounds like you’re eating up Russian propaganda, since they are the ones insisting on Nazis in Ukraine. I got news for you - the only fascists currently in Ukraine are the Russians.
Absolutely, Zoikin!! So we are talking about our using Ukrainians as mercenaries, paying them hundreds of billions of dollars to fight “our” proxy war with Russia here, correct?? 🤔
It’s imperative that Russia doesn’t win this war. We all know what happened when Hitler was allowed to annex Austria - he didn’t stop there. Neither will Putin.
There it is, folks. Another baseless Putin=Hitler comparison. What evidence do you have to support your claim that Putin "won't stop annexing..." what again? If he has such "imperialistic" ambitions, why hasn't he "annexed" any countries since becoming President in 2000?
You have to agree that Wagner probably had reached its limits of watching the corruption and stupidity of those who sucked butt to get into leadership within the Russian military had seen enough. Then the military turns on them after being called out for sucking was probably the last straw. The vaulted Russian military was shown to be a joke based on Western fear and need for a boogie man to fuel the military industrial complex. Wagner has only been successful based on mass brutality and killing anyone who looks like they disagree. As for Africa, China is so pleased as that will open up the continent for even more expansion and en-slaving the people through money loans and propping up corrupt leaders.
Yet sleepy and dopey race to assure Putin we had nothing to do with the uprising. Seriously, that's what our so called leadership was worried about? Fear that Putin would think we had struck a deal with a wanted terrorist and murder? That just points to how absolutely clueless our so called leaders are. The West continues to think our logic, goals, and values equate to Russia, China, and the Middle East. How the hell our so called experts and talking fools on TV never learn anything is amazingly a reflection on the West's arrogance and self deceiving belief we know all.
The mercenary captains in Russia are no different than the ones in China, South East Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, and even here. They are in power based on fear and no doubt that killing anyone who looks at them wrong or dares to question them is how that ends. Ruthlessness should never be compared to being capable in any normal thought range.
Biden doesn't know how this will impact the war. Hell, that old brain rattled clown and his Mistress VP have no clue on anything other than how can we stifle free speech and thought in America. They could actually care less about anyone other than power and self.
Biden is no different that Saddam Hussein who protected and enriched Quasy and Uday in the same way Biden does with Hunter. But Democrats defend this. Revealing more than you want to know about them.
I guess the question/concern that I have is: when all is said and done, who will be paying for the billions to rebuild Ukraine? I have a sickening suspicion that this burden will likely fall on the U.S. taxpayers. So the U.S. will spend 100’s of billions on military support and rebuilding Ukraine (a country 4,500+ miles from the east coast) while our own infrastructure crumbles and people are struggling to just get by (food, gas, utilities, etc.)? I guess I don’t see or understand the argument that the U.S. could or even should do both. Why should this responsibility fall mostly on the shoulders of the U.S. (this is in the backyard of European countries)? How much are other European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Netherlands, etc.) providing in aid?
Rostov is where the regional munitions and supply depots are supposedly located. He consolidated his forces their, restocked and then left. Maybe that's "sacked".
Regarding definitions, was an armed mercenary group with guns, tanks, and missiles who shot down airplanes scarier than a mob of people with cell phones who stormed a capitol? The word insurrection is thrown around in the US for January 6th. After seeing this Wagner event over the weekend, I still like Riot vs. Insurrection, as we now have an example to compare something to. Along with The Prince, a great ancient book to quote are Thuysidities and the Imponderables of War. One never knows what will happen once something starts. And would I give up part of Ukraine to keep 3000 nuclear weapons from falling into chaos and warlordism? It is a relatively easy choice.
Who gives a shit who Prigozhin is and what his motives were/weren't. The biggest question is what the hell are we doing fighting a proxy war with Russia over one of the most corrupt countries in Europe that has no US interest whatsoever. There's a story for you. Oh......and save the "we're helping to save democracy in a sovereign nation"......that nonsense went south with the CIA backed coup in 2014.
As usual, your Father knew what he was talking about:
"The United States must concentrate only on American interests, and while the country ought to be friendly and open its commerce to all nations, it should avoid becoming involved in foreign wars." ~ George Washington's Farewell Address
Let's have a new Constitutional Amendment: "Congress shall not commit any resources of any kind to any military conflict without a Congressional declaration of war. Upon declaration there shall be held a lottery, and ten percent of Congress shall be inducted into the military, to serve in front-line units."
That should do it. Nothing like having a dog in the fight to make one think more carefully about slaughtering other people's children.
How many American soldiers are dying in Ukraine right now? Ignoring the Russian invasion and not helping Ukraine defend itself is more likely to result in American troops on the ground fighting Russians, as it encourages aggressive Russian revanchism and makes a future Russian attack on NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland much more likely. Ukrainian soldiers are dying to defend their country, but in doing so are also defending the rest of Europe and the political West. The very, very least we can do while still maintaining any national self respect as the leader of the free world is to help provide them the weapons to defend themselves.
Oh, I see, to keep our self-respect we have to continue to fund the president of Ukraine who just suspended elections. He said there will be no elections until after the war. It's so wonderful to see democracy in action. I don't want to judge where your heart is, but your post is the same level of derangement, we hear from the Anne Applebaum's, Victoria Nuland, crazy warmongers like Lyndsy Graham and all the neocons that Joe Biden has surrounded himself with. It is this level of derangement that has convinced so many Americans to fund the unnecessary annihilation of an entire generation of Ukrainian men who are getting slaughtered on the front line. Does that give us self-respect? That doesn't make us leaders of the free world, it makes us bullies with no respect for human life. These are human beings. To even suggest that Americans should have to go and die to fulfill an insane neocon delusion about who should control an eastern province in eastern Ukraine is pure insanity.
Ukraine and Russia had the outlines of a peace deal a year ago, and the West got in the way of that. We just need to stand down, give Ukraine security assurances provided they remain neutral. That's really all that Putin)Russia wants.
I'm so sick of the farcical argument that Putin has imperialist goals for the countries on/near Russia's border, so if we meet his terms wrt Ukraine, he'll take that as a green light to invade those other countries. Meanwhile, LOGIC & REASON dictate that if those were his true goals, he would have absolutely made the attempt after becoming President in 2000.
What logic and reason, exactly? Russia was far too weak in 2000, and could barely suppress the rebellions in the Caucuses. Back then, Putin was still floating the idea that Russia could join NATO, though without meeting any of economic and military reforms necessary to be considered.
What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine? Other than validating the Russian invasion, wasting the sacrifices of the tens of thousands killed, encouraging further invasions and depredations of international law by authoritarians other than Russia, especially China?
I have one more question: What has Ukraine done, in your logical and reasoning opinion, to deserve invasion, occupation and destruction from its neighbor? Why is Ukraine so undeserving of US and Western support?
"Why is Ukraine so undeserving of US and Western support?"
Its not a question of "deserving"...It is about our national interests and risk vs reward calculations when dealing with the country that has the world's largest nuclear stockpile! And please, for the love of God, stop comparing every leader you want to go to war against Hitler!! Putin is not Hitler...not even close..Do they even teach history anymore? My God, this is so infuriating! Or do you mean to tell me the old canard that we are somehow "defending democracy"... like in 1961 when we invaded Cuba? How was the Bay of Pigs invasion by Kennedy any different than this "special military operation" by Russia in Ukraine? Russia did the risk vs reward calcs back then, and even Krushchev decided to sit it out.
We should do the same but our warmongering leaders and cheerleaders (like you) never let us have a moments peace. Its always war war war with you people!...and jingoistic cheerleaders on both sides...So in just my lifetime Ive dealt with this in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Granada, Panama, El Salvador, Syria, Libya, Croatia, Iraq (twice!), Afghanistan, and now Ukraine ... I'm so f'ng sick of this argument! Every time we get weaker and further away from our mission of being for liberty, democracy, and just "good" neighbors...We are so stupid and we never learn...This is no different.
AMEN!
Nato expansion was an unnecessary provocative move by the West. We would NEVER tolerate that level of aggression on our borders.
"Why is Ukraine underserving of Western support?" Because try as you and the neocons insist it is not nor ever was in the national interest of the US. Do you truly believe the Biden administration cares about the Ukrainians that are getting slaughtered on the front lines? These are human beings. They don't deserve to die to fulfil the deranged fantasies of western neocons. The Ukranian president just suspended elections, he already banned opposition political parties banned religious groups and locked up an American journalist. Is that level of authoritarianism something Americans should be funding?
The Ukrainians are human beings, the Russians are human beings, we are all human beings. The Ukraine started out as the poorest country in nominal Europe, and will probably end the war as the most desolate and underpopulated one. I can't imagine many refugees will return to a war torn country. The important things to remember are are, one, the Ukraine's borders are sacrosanct, and, two, Putin must be humiliated, no matter the cost to Ukrainians.
"What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine?"
Other than The end of the war, the saving of countless lives in Ukraine and Russia (btw: Ukrainians and Russians are THE SAME F'NG PEOPLE!!!), the return of stability to energy markets and food distribution in Africa and around the world, ending the total destruction of the Ukrainian state, return of over 6 million refugees from Western Europe?... that is what is to be gained!
And what, pray tell, are Putin's terms? Have you even bothered to ask? No, of course not...because...WAR WAR WAR!!
Ukrainians and Russians are the same people? 🤦🏻♀️ Canadians and Americans are the same people, so why doesn’t Canada just invade and try to annex New England?
"What, exactly, do you think is to be gained by "meeting Putin's terms" with regard to Ukraine?" -- Simple. Putin ends the war. And all those "sacrifices" you mention, could've been prevented if we had simply met his terms from the START.
As to your last question, do you know what a proxy war is?
Who's we? Let the Ukrainians work out what who they want to control their Eastern province.
Like in many cases, we have no idea how many US troops are in the Ukraine...That's something our "most transparent administration in history" will ever let to become public knowledge.
The safe bet is that the number is more than just a few.
Clarity is beautiful thanks
The US has zero strategic interest in Ukraine. We are the ultimate fools who have hitched our wagon to a profoundly corrupt and losing endeavor.
Your reasoning sounds suspiciously like the domino theory used to justify US intervention in VietNam so many decades ago. We were there to prevent the communist oppression of all southeast Asia! Maybe the world! And in the Ukraine's case, this has absolutely nothing to do with the bribes paid to the Biden family for the last ten years. I'm ashamed to even mention such an ignoble thought.
OMG what a brilliant post. It is so easy to kill other people’s children feel desperate sometimes for the mothers and fathers of our nation. It’s just not right to do this.
OMG you made me spit out my coffee with an image of Diane Feinstein being wheeled into Kyiv with the explosions of war all around and asking "is it time to vote yet?"
She'd probably think she"s been taken to Disney Land in Orlando
In Rome, consuls and senators fought and often died in battle. Strangely (for us), that did not make Rome any less inclined to wage war.
Glory, honor, and family reputation were intrinsic values.
The U.N. and its rules and charter make declaring war a problem now, which it wasn't before 1945.
Since the UN was founded in 1948, few nations have brought matters before the UN prior to a fight being started. And, even then, the parties just started fighting anyway.
The UN is an expensive joke operating out of a decaying building that shouts the 1950s over the East River.
Actually the Charter for the U.N. was written and ratified in San Francisco on 26 June, 1945.. This formally established the United Nations. It entered into force on 24 October, 1945 after all five members of the Security Council agreed to it.
It has served to keep the members of the Security Council from fighting with each other, which in the past, was a great accomplishment. Yes it is not what it was under Dag Hammarskjold, but murdering a General Secretary might wind up with the future one's being less ambitious for peace.
That is a reasonable follow up to an execution of one well respected but perhaps somewhat over dedicated to peace individual.
A talking shop to air grievances and avoid creating more is not a bad institution even if it achieves little.
My error. Conflated with the vote on Israel as an independent country.
No problem, once I get going on a comment, things just keep on going.
A helpful reply reminds me of my own mistakes, all to often, thank you for your reply.
And there can be little doubt Putin will at least order the use of nuclear weapons if Russia is ever at risk of losing. He may have threatened Wagner with them.
This whole thing only makes sense as the outgrowth of covert and probably venal motives papered over with very thin propaganda.
The only things I am sure of are 1) I dont know what is really going on ; and 2) we have zero national security interests in the Ukraine.
You left out 3) our vaunted "security" services don't know because they're too busy spying on Americans.
I keep reading headlines that say Putin is finished or on the way out. I don't believe that for a minute. He is still in control of Russia and will stay there until someone pops him between the eyes and that is unlikely.
Our news corps is like a bunch of middle school cheerleaders. Completely useless.
Except for comic amusement.
Evil, middle school cheerleaders.
Putin has a problem on his hands. Prigozhin would never have acted without support from somewhere. And that somewhere is close to Putin. Putin's quick dropping of charges indicates to me he's appeasing somebody. I don't think this story is over by a long shot..
You think they're on this thread?
Hope so
Exactly the answer I wanted to hear..
If the time ever comes that we're afraid of our government, it is long past time to get a new one.
I find your comment interesting, Barry - if only in the sense that if you think Putin is capable of resorting to nukes if he's losing (and it appears he's losing), then chances are his replacement if that were to happen could be even more inclined to use them..
I'm thinking that whoever is threatening Putin domestically (the unseen allies of Prigozhin) aren't moderate, but more nationalistic. And that would be a national security risk for the US, more than Putin might be presently (ironically).
All conjecture, of course..
There is almost no chance that the person replacing Putin will be better than Putin.
But don’t worry, Susan Rice and Jake Sullivan have it all taken care of. They are smart and they went to college.
You’re in good hands with Deep State..
There is very much doubt that Putin will order the use of nuclear weapons. While it remains a possibility to be seriously considered, it's far from certain. And Putin certainly never considered using nuclear weapons against Wagner, within Russia. The collateral damage in Russian civilian lives and infrastructure would have brought about Putin's end much more surely than the current unrest.
Not even Putin would be daft enough to use a nuclear weapon targeted onto Russian soil.
His head would be on a pike on top of Lenin's tomb within the hour.
Yup, and then pushed NATO too close to where the US had previously agreed not to pursue. There’s lots of “counter narrative” to the mainstream that is making a lot of sense today.
Why are you racistly siding with Putin???? You are a MAGA extremist, sir.
Ha! Kevin! You nailed it
Kev usually does.
I have no idea why you think being racist equates to supporting Putin. Or why you think adding "sir" after your MAGA insult makes you sound more gentlemanly. It doesn't. Just another ad hominen attack from someone who can't think of an answer.
🤣
The answer to “the biggest question” is very simple - the war in Ukraine is screwing up Europe and will screw it up completely, if Russia wins. And Europe is the only real ally that the US have, apart from Canada.
Japan. South Korea. Taiwan.
And why can Europe not defend itself?
Europe could defend itself and Ukraine. But America doesn't want that. Why? Because being the biggest warlord on Earth gives us the leverage we need to enforce our real global interest: corporate profiteering.
If Europe had the same military budget we did, and the same level of nukes, it wouldn't need us to protect it. Euros might get uppity and think they can freeze us out of regions or markets, and our corporate overlords would tremble at the loss of profits. So, we make sure the Pentagon budget it always 100 times larger than the rest of the world combined.
If you keep in mind that the U.S. military exists primarily to protect American business interests, We the People being the biggest warlord and arms dealer on Earth is easier to understand.
"Europe could defend itself and Ukraine. But America doesn't want that. Why?"
As always, follow the money. There are a lot of pols, retired generals and intelligence spooks getting rich from global conflicts and influence peddling. Even the "whistleblower" responsible for Trump's first impeachment, retired lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman has his own arms supply company now, supplying you guessed it, Ukraine. Why do you think the Feds have been so secretive about bank records pertaining to money transfers to the Bidens? Do you think they’re the only ones getting rich? We don’t know where all the US tax dollars given to Ukraine goes, let alone all the other two-bit countries we send money to. Do you really believe that $60 billion in US equipment we left in Afghanistan is sitting in the desert?
You're right, of course, and I should have included politicians and retired generals, not just corporations, in the list of who gets rich because we use our military primarily to protect our markets and knock out our competitors.
As for $60 million of equipment in the desert, that pales in comparison to the hundreds of billions that neither the CIA nor the Pentagon can account for. "Uh, it's missing, nope, no clue where that went, hey, Charlie, look under that cot, will ya . . ." Bullshit. It went to lining pockets, once again proving General Smedley's dictum that "war is a racket."
I’ve heard this before, of course, and I don’t know. That argument always sounds like a way of blaming private property for all of the stupid shit that the government does.
I think it’s possible that there are utopian psychopaths running the government and the corporations are profiting off of it because their job is to profit.
Marxist "woke" is the lipstick on a pig named totalitarian finance.
C.G. Jung stated explicitly before his death in the 60's his belief that ideological utopianism is THE driving factor pushing mankind toward extinction. That was certainly WWII Germany, Russia and China.
My opinion: The DNC/WEF/CCP/EU juggernaut represents a self-interested world corporate fascism exploiting "woke" poseurs inside compromised political systems across the world. Your "their job is to profit" observation sums up the difference between a conscious conspiracy and the natural indifferent exploitation of the rigged game profit taking that is slowly tightening the financial noose destroying the American middle class and wreaking havoc on European lives and treasure. It it isn't politics it is a convenient pathology that allows the perp's to rationalize avaricious greed.
Government has always used military muscle on behalf of our corporate interests, because who pays the best bribes and who offers the best post-government-retirement gigs? Corporations. Politicians know who butters their bread and act accordingly. Corporations like it because they don't have to do the dirty work, just profit after our young people get chopped up in the wars and political overthrows that make someone else's market ours. I don't believe our early interference in Ukraine was to piss off Russia per se. I believe it was because Ukraine has mountains of resources and foodstuffs to exploit, so we made sure its government became pro-West instead of pro-Putin. Business.
This isn't unique to Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, or any one president, or even to Woke or MAGA. It's the history of America: we are not a colonial power like Britain was, in that we don't conquer and keep a whole lot of land. But we do capture markets, and if those markets refuse to capitulate the easy way, we send in the Marines. IT&T, United Fruit, gunboats to China, more gunboats to Hawaii, all to expand our markets at the point of bayonets.
If we define fascism as the intermarriage of government and business power, we've been there for a long time.
Excellent post Shane!
Thanks, Skinny, really appreciate that.
Taiwan is an excellent example of why being a US ally is meaningless. Blinken's statment that the US does not support Taiwan's independence.
Under Biden's Democratic rule, the US supports those countries that have oil deals with the Biden family not democracy.
We have a two China policy. The moment Taiwan declares its independence we are obligated to ignore it.
The US policy officially is the Taiwan Relationship Act which promises Taiwan that the US will preserve the human rights of the people on Taiwan. The TAR also gives the US the legal and diplomatic means to continue relations with Taiwan economically, culturally, and its security. The statement by Blinken was not inline with the US policy and was one more sell out of an important ally.
This is a president and administration that has let down its allies in Afghanistan leaving them to the mercy of the Taliban and similar forces. The president has also shown his contempt for the US military as he observed his watch rather than show any sign of respect for the people in the coffin who had paid the ultimate price for this country. It is stolen valor when he claims a military death for his son.
Taiwan has never claimed it is an independent nation. It has consistently avoided that, to mollify mainland China. China has consistently proclaimed, that should Taiwan declare their independence, China will invade. Hence Blinken's statement, Taiwan is not Independent. Might have the wording slightly wrong, but the result is the same. We do not want to give China a reason for invading, especially at the present moment, when we are short on missiles.
Europe doesn’t have money. Only we have money. So we have to send them money so that they will have money.
Good god everything is retarded.
US only has money because it prints it 24/7 to the tune of 35 trillion in debt.
What about Israel Barry. Lucie forgot about them and didn’t the President fist bump the Saudis?
Agreed that those three are US allies in many ways. The connection isn't as deep as with Europe though.
As for why can Europe not defend itself, that's a much more complicated question (unless we oversimplify it to something akin to "because it sucks"). It's quite a shame that it cannot and that it's therefore a very expensive ally. But it's not a new thing, it's been like this for more than 100 years, as history shows, unfortunately.
>>much more complicated question<<
Not that complicated.
It's in the best interests of European countries to rely on the U.S. for security because that way, they get to channel larger portions of their tax revenues into social services. Every time I read something about how _fabulous_ European countries' social services are, how _miserable_ U.S. social services are in comparison, I want to scream—because the U.S. is actually _subsidizing_ European social services by sparing European taxpayers from the financial burden of creating a robust defense.
I'm not a Trump fan, but he _did_ get a few things right. And among those things is that NATO's European members _absolutely_ need to meet their spending commitments to NATO.
I am a Trump fan for that reason Patrizia and for a number of other reasons as well, for one he was “draining the swamp” a sizable portion of our GDP going to everybody but us. Its enough now we need the $$$, we could have built a 1000 charter schools or given our war vets extra help with their mental health and built some new homes for our “houseless” people or built rehab clinics for our addiction problem. We have endless problems here in America, why we must continue this archaic policy of playing the good cop beggars belief at times.
I don't think a robust defense would be so costly to prevent social services from being paid for too. Those generally take much more than the committed 2% of NATO spending and the 3.5% that the US is spending, so I don't think it would make so much difference in social services. It's more about Europe avoiding this spending for various reasons. Looks like the war in Ukraine might be the much needed impulse to reconsider this spending, at least for some of the European countries.
As for the last part, hard to disagree again. Trump was absolutely right there. Even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day ;-)
Look at Austria, they have zero, comparatively, defense forces because they are surrounded by countries who spend money on defense. They put their money into social services.
Sorry, but I just can’t get excited about the threat of Putin taking over eastern Europe. Clearly the Europeans, save for maybe Poland, aren’t either. Wagner is the best Russia has yet on February 7, 2018, when 500 of their troops manning a tank column attacked a small garrison of 40 US soldiers at a small outpost in eastern Syria they were obliterated, with 300 of them killed. Not one American was harmed thanks to devastating US air cover and Rules of Engagement implemented by then President Trump. Contrast that with what happened over the weekend.
Japan and South Korea are contributing to Ukraine's defense. And European nations, as a whole, are contributing more than the U.S. is.
What’s screwing up Europe is the left-wing psychopaths who think the government is going to change the weather. If those people did not exist none of this would be happening. Unfortunately, those people exist.
I blame Angela Merkel and Gerhardt Schroeder for the Ukraine “War of the Solar Panels and Windmills”. They shut down reliable and safe nuclear power and tossed all of their eggs into Putin’s basket with a big sign on their backs “Kick Me”.
Now the stupid Germans are taking down windmills and digging out the coal again. Back to the future. When did Hitler lose WW2? When Stalin crushed the Wehrmacht’s rush to Baku to take over the oil fields in Azerbaijan. They returned to coal, to make diesel to fuel their war machine. It was never enough. The Coup d’grace was Operation Barbarossa , the stupid attempt to replay Napoleon’s misadventures trying to fight cold weather in Russia. Guess what? That was about climate as well.
And now that imbecile Biden is doing the very same thing to Americans , tossing all our eggs into Chairman Xi’s basket. Only this time, Biden’s sign says “Pay Me for treason “. And boy oh boy does Chairman Xi pay. Hunter Biden is the bagman.
The Polish spaceship crashed because it ran out of coal.
I love Polish jokes because for some reason we are allowed to make fun of them and we really shouldn’t because they have the hottest women.
Yep. And a lot of those women especially the beautiful young ones have ended up with their passports taken by pimps who sell them as party girls to black card Wall Street financier's in New York and D.C.
Those people definitely make it worse. Not sure whether their absence would prevent existence and rise of crazy wannabe-tzars in close-by countries though.
Since Putin allegedly wants to genocide Ukraine based on some weird beliefs he has about history, we should probably be asking why he didn’t do this earlier.
Did he just now develop these beliefs? That seems weird, right?
If he’s always believed in the necessity of a genocide, why did he wait 25 years to try it? It would be like if Hitler ran Germany for 25 years and *then* decided to build the camps. Not sure if that makes sense.
It appears to me that the people who have been running Western foreign policy for the last 25 years just have shitty plans and ideas and they’ve been implementing them unimpeded for 25 years and that is why we are here.
Putin has been a bad person the whole time so there’s definitely no doubt that the Western foreign policy elites have done a terrible job managing this situation……..and now they are telling us what will work to fix the thing they utterly failed to deter.
I’m open to ideas from people whose approach to dealing with the bad guy who has 20,000 nukes is *not* the same as the proven failures who got us here.
I would definitely prefer if the person with these much needed different plans was *not* a bombastic realtor with a combover. But he did predict this in advance so I’ll give him some credit.
The bombastic realtor is probably what we need KD at this stage, in fact if we had him from 2020 I don’t think we would be in the same mess.
Hard to disagree with this. Yes, the West definitely made this worse.
Not to be pedantic but it wasn’t “the West” who made this worse. It was the specific people making decisions on behalf of the West. These are specific people who need to be dealt with.
Yeah, it's a very big deal for people living in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe. Putin has been frank about his desire to reestablish some kind of Soviet union.
Of course, Americans are being manipulated by countless stories about plucky Ukrainians. I read those stories and don't know whether to punch somebody or laugh. Propagandizing at its most blatant.
My own thought is that yes, the U.S. should continue aiding the Ukraine war effort—but that there should be a hard cap on the dollar amount of that aid.
Putin compares himself with Peter the Great and wants to extend the Russian borders to that of the former empire.
Putin like Stalin and Hitler is megalomaniacal psychopath. If he isn't stopped in Ukraine he will continue his delusional quest of expansion.
Think Neville Chamberlain caving to Hitler. Did that work?
I remember the "Domino Theory" peddled about southeast Asia. We were told that if we didn't defeat those damn pajama wearing gooks, the commies were gonna take over the whole place and then show up on our doorstep. I also remember the last chopper leaving Saigon after losing 55,000 of our best young men and women. Now Vietnam is our BFF and hates China more than we do. Go figure.
Well, Chamberain was in a “heads you win, tails I lose” situation. Britain was not on a war footing and France, with Europe’s largest and best-trained army, was still shell-shocked from The Great War and would not back up England against Germany (who, France thought, was also not in any hurry to engage in another bloodbath). He had to buy time for his manufacturing base and his forces.
Putin’s no Hitler and Russians are not Germans. Putin’s more like Al Capone and Russians are like citizens of Chicago back then. They all know that leaders come and go, but they all remain serfs. They just want to live their lives and don’t respond to any appeals to national pride.
Putin’s done, but he’s done like a caged rat. Still dangerous, but done. Russian troops are not going to sweep through the Fulda Gap and descend on Paris, like folks feared in the Cold War.
Watched a show on the beginning of WWII and it was appalling that Chamberlain was given the PM role. He was completely at sea; credulous and useless.
Also the failure of the French command to heed their own reconnaissance that the Germans were backed up in a traffic snarl to the Ardennes - and could have been completely smashed by air - was beyond criminal.
>> If he isn't stopped in Ukraine he will continue his delusional quest of expansion.<<
Well, that IS the narrative being pushed by U.S. mainstream media. Is it true? I don't know. Which is why I support continuing to send military aid to Ukraine.
All one has to do is look at history.
Chamberlain met with Hitler at least twice. From the first meeting he realized what or who he was dealing with. Not to mention the state of Britain's preparedness. There was no way Britain could go to war with Germany at that point, so Chamberlain merely agreed to everything Hitler wanted. Seems wrong, but Hitler really wanted to start the war in 1938. No one was prepared.
Chamberlain went back to London, proclaimed peace, and immediately began diverting 50% of their GDP to preparedness, including factory shells all over the country, wired and ready for who knew what, but the space was being made available, all while outwardly proclaiming peace. It bought Britain valuable time, without which they would have lost, in 1938 it also would have been impossible to get the U.S. into the war, no matter what happened over seas.
The French had the largest, best equipped and trained army in the world. They also had more and better tanks than the Germans. They also had idiots for generals.
The German military chiefs thought they needed two more years to prepare for war. Heinz Guderian had different ideas and he turned out to be right.
He sure was, in spades. The Maginot Line was not ineffective though. Not one of the fortifications ever fell. If the turrets could have turned, would things have been different? We will just never know.
You can’t really do a hard cap because then Putin can just wait you out.
What you need to do is steal half of my money and send it to Ukraine until something good happens.
The great news is that this is exactly what we are doing so success is guaranteed.
I probably disagree on the hard cap part (how to decide where to put it?, how much is Europe worth?), but don't have a good argument against it either. Totally agree with the rest.
Since I am far from bering a military expert let alone knowing who Putin compares himself to or whether he wants to "extend Russian borders to that of the former empire " ( Free Press readers are SO smart), I listen to the retired Lt Col who is often found the the Hill Rising. He seems to think that Putin is in no poisiton miliitarily to "extend the borders" and knows it. His interest is still in keeping the Urkraine from joining Nato. In the end, I will just have to admit I have no idea what is going on or what Putin thinks or wants. I will rely on those of you who DO seem to know and can only watch from a distance and try to keep my own ego in check.
I don't want all these Eastern European countries to join NATO. I don't want to have to defend them if there's a problem. We were in the Czech Republic 8 years ago and our taxi driver told us he was so happy to be a member of NATO now because President Obama and NATO would defend them against Russia. Whoops! I told him not to count on that happening.
That's it? That's the "very simple" answer? And you're using "Europe" as a single entity who's our "only real ally"? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that ain't it......but thanks for playing.
In this particular case, Europe can really be simplified to one single entity, although that’s of course not what it is. But I’ll stop feeding the troll now, it wasn’t nice of me in the first place😉
People who disagree with you are trolls with the most highly rated comment.
People who disagree without bringing anything to the discussion are usually trolls (or plain old dummies). As for likes, I'm not really sure what they are measuring ;-)
The likes measure the opinion of people who are paying money to support someone who was chased out of a totalitarian cult propaganda outlet by cluster B psychopathic racists.
I’m sure that this group is capable of being wrong but at least we know they are opposed to State propaganda and racists.
I continue to assert that "we the people", having entered an entirely new age, must somehow free ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically from the retro consciousness of the international corporate feudalist's attempting to drag the people's of the world backward into bullet in the head monarchism. Where do we think the chaos, violence and collapse raging across the American landscape is coming from? The Constitution and the Republic remain the only engine of American survival.
Consider: Corruption and the violation of human moral reason caused Russian Communism to collapse into the hands of surveillance state spooks (Putin), organized crime, international criminal finance and black market profiteers. The ultimate realpolitik for the citizen remained as before and, as in China today, the bullet in the head. (And, when Marxist "woke" and the DNC/CCP/WEF/EU Davos crowd has finally brought about American collapse? The Assange horror, for now, represents the softer gentler version of the head on the spike atop the castle wall.)
If we're going to bring Machiavelli into it, what do we think the Wagner Group or say, Blackwater represent. Mexico has a central government but Mexico is controlled by five or six well armed cartels (oligarch's/barons) powerful enough to control the American border and sections of major American cities. We're talking potentially trillions of dollars in drug's, arms, human trafficking and natural resources. (What do people who interfere get?) That kind of blood in the water brings sharks of every stripe and persuasion. The real question, discussed here endlessly: At what point will the American citizen no longer be able to get out of the bloody water? Billionaire baron's worldwide require security. Where do they obtain it? Retired spooks, black ops specialist's and special forces mercenaries. Who, like our friend's in the mafia, can never really leave their respective organizations. Throw in a line of coke and a central banker or two and that's what you call a witches brew.
In the Holy Crusade's the first fall of Jerusalem was brought about by baron's and kings who having raised an army of conscript's and merc's first surrounded and starved the city. Then they simply bribed the politicians inside the walls to open the gate's. Inside, the "holy crusader's" realizing the terrified citizens were swallowing gold coins and jewels simply slaughtered the people, burned them in piles and went through the ashes with sticks. Welcome to Jerusalem.
Biggest Question: will Prigohzin be "handled" with a gun, a poison dart at the end of an umbrella, or some other means? (e.g., Colonel Stoli, in Siberia, with a Candlestick?)
Dude better not stand in front of un-curtained windows for awhile.
But... if Russia takes over Ukraine, how will the Democratic party launder their money?
Brilliant question. JE is dead now, who is going to do their dirty work.
Why are we fighting this proxy war?
Because Ukraine & Burisma is holding Biden hostage for hush money not to flip on Hunter and disclose the content and source of the 17 audio tapes.
Remember being told our heating bills would go up all in the name of supporting Ukraine? And gasoline? Meanwhile, it's so dangerous over there Zelensky can do Zoomies for Hollywood award shows and have afternoon tea with Pelosi and McConnell when they pop in.
I guess it depends where you are in Ukraine, and if it happens to be the wrong place at the wrong time:
https://twitter.com/KonstantinTeam/status/1673957061636366337
I agree with you the best interests of the U.S. are not served by the continuing war in Ukraine.
It's a very big deal for U.S. European allies, though. Particularly Eastern European allies. So, I just ignore the media narratives about plucky Ukrainians and focus on _that_.
Yes but at least Putin is not in charge of the Donbas region (which is totally destroyed and on fire) because it would be a human rights catastrophe if Putin was in charge of the area that is now totally destroyed and on fire.
🤌🤌🤌
True. The best interests of very few are served by the continuing war in Ukraine. The war continuing is not even in Putin's interests, though he certainly thought it was in his and Russia's interests to start the war. Unfortunately, it's not in our, or our European allies best interests for Ukraine to lose the war. In order for it to end, Putin and the Russians need to be convinced that it's no longer in their best interests to continue the invasion, and therefore go home. That will not be served by short-sighted US isolationism.
I actually can’t believe Bari put this crap out - You to polite Evan I don’t give a f..k about this story, between pride month, black history month and $200 billion spent on the Ukraine, I ask mr biden when is it America’s month or more like our year. I’m sick and tired of his bizarre policies, and am wondering how much longer Americans will endure this lunatic fringe.
Corruption is in the eye of the beholder. What some, such as yourself, claim to be corruption in a foreign country is just "business as usual" in our own homeland. Is Ukraine more corrupt that Mother Russia? THAT is laughable on its face! The whole of Russian government is based on the kleptocracy of the, so called, "oligarchs" who divvied up the old Soviet state to enrich themselves, AND to garner favor and access to power by supporting a ruthless Putin. Your "corruption" charge is just a MAGA buzzword.
I agree wholeheartedly with your biggest question. However, some of us do find foreign affairs interesting, unrelated to the pressing issues which we care about on a more practical level. I'm glad TFP is covering foreign news as well. My gripe is TFP is not big enough to have its own foreign reporters, but have to rely on MSM reports as a "What are we reading" piece, which essentially renders many parts of this article useless to me because I do no trust anything these media like NYT says. They've lost their credibility completely and cried wolves so many times, and hide so many things that I know in fact are happening and should be reported but they cover them up, that I will not take their words for it even if they are occasionally reporting facts. And I most certainly don't give a shit what their opinionators say.
The first nonsense is that the political defenestration of Putin's lackey Yanukovych in 2014 was orchestrated by the CIA. Other than the typical and ongoing rhetorical and occasionally minor financial support for pro-democracy and anti-corruption NGOs, the US had absolutely nothing to do with the Maidan protests or the uprising that followed them. The Obama administration was so taken by surprise that they couldn't even manage to articulate a coherent message of support until several weeks into the protests.
As for the US interest in helping Ukraine defend itself from invasion by a foreign power, the reasons couldn't be clearer to anyone who's not a head-in-the-sand isolationist or a Russian sympathizer, though the farcical claims that Maidan was a CIA backed coup gives us some reason to suspect the later.
If there would be any traces of reason in the mind of the newly minted American isolationists, they would at least stop repeating one point they’ve picked up from Putin’s propaganda: what a corrupt country Ukraine is, while supposedly Russia is much better under the distinguished leadership of Putin. The latest sh…show in Russia should have shed light on that, if this would be about independent thinking instead of blind imitation of what you hear on your favorite cable show.
We give a shit because Russia has more nuclear weapons than we do by a generous number.
As long as that remains a salient factor on the world's stage, our foreign policy must take into account what is happening with and to Russian political and military.
We should give a shit, Evans. That's who.
Because if (and probably when) Putin gets the heave ho by Prigozhin's supporters in Putin's security apparatus, and is replaced by someone even nastier (a distinct possibility) - it doesn't matter if it's a DeSantis or a Trump or a Biden Administration going forward, we will have our hands full.
What this means:
Russia is still slaughtering Ukrainians in the much hyped “Ukrainian counter offensive”, in the best investment we are making (Lindsey Graham).
Wagner is now stationed north of Ukraine.
Putin remains in power.
Xi gains more power.
The US is still sending billions while our country continues to fall apart.
The political leadership continues to have a distraction from the inflation, crime, addiction, low quality education, and other problems in this country.
And all this surprises you when we're ruled over by a braying, senile jackass with a Senate filled with grifters and aged human turnips and a House of clowns such as AOC, Waters, Schiff, Nadler, Greene and the rest of the cavalcade of nitwits?
And don’t forget John Fetterman, who grabbed his shotgun and literally attempted to lynch a black person who was going for a jog in his neighborhood.
(Democrats electing Fetterman, an obese retard who attempted to lynch a black person, instead of electing an acclaimed immigrant heart surgeon, is the reason I will never ever care about racism ever again)
You absolutely right Kevin that was a very weird election. Dr Oz had the senior voters eating out of his hand and yet yet Fetterman won. It was the same old system Philadelphia votes were in three weeks before the election.
>>The US is still sending billions while our country continues to fall apart.<<
That's it in a nutshell, isn't it?
Sending Zelensky unlimited cash and telling him that he is in charge and that he gets to make all of the decisions is LITERALLY what Democrats call “American leadership”.
It’s actually the mass rape of the American people but I guess “leadership” is a good euphemism for mass rape.
Interesting idea - that its theater to get a large force located in a strategic position but looking less threatening.
Yes, i wondered about this as well.
Yes, the generals and industrial military complex are having fun and the rest of society is crumbling.
COST: The entire nation of Ukraine is totally destroyed
BENEFIT: The Donbas region is run by Zelensky instead of Putin
Incredible work by the transsexuals who run the Biden administration. Truly impressive. Finish the job!!
Psychopaths.
Risky making commentary when one does not know what they are talking about. The Pentagon loses track of $6 billion while funding a war for "democracy" run by a guy that has cancelled elections, closed churches, prosecuted opponents (like Biden is), shut down media and owns the rest. Actually Biden is doing a lot of the same things. Meanwhile Nick Kristoff over at the Times is writing that Hunter is a sad drug addict suffering from a lack of treatment rather than working with his father the vice president to sell influence.
Hot take, after all the speculation by western press, Wagner was able to leave Ukraine unmolested and is now positioned 40 miles north of Kiev.
Who cares about Russia’s internal problems? They are an enigma even unto themselves.
What is going on in our own country? That is important.
I care about Russia's internal problems, because they usually spill beyond Russia and therefore become America's problem. The "Internet Research Agency" built by the Wagner warlord to interfere in American elections is but one example.
To us yes to the Democrats it’s not.
As Churchill observed Russia remains "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." And we certainly won't learn much listening to Bari quote "the usual gang of idiots." Least of all our breathlessly stupid corporate media. One thing is for certain -the notion that "maybe CIA director William J. Burns or director of national intelligence Avril Haines, actually know" is laughable. Even funnier is quoting our senile and imbecilic president for anything of substance. But, in the end, all of the magical thinking of our friends on the left won't change the world as it is. Listening to them prattle on is a waste of time. One of the most useful commentators on Ukraine and Russia has been a guy with the monicker Big Serge on Substack. From whom or how he gets his information is a mystery. But the continuing fall of our corporate media continues.
“Was Prigozhin trying to take down Putin?”
These are the kind of questions only fantasizing media hacks ask themselves with straight faces. If this was really an attempted coup, how does it not occur to these wise journalists that a small fleet of Russian fighter jets could have obliterated it in a matter of minutes? Prigozhin was not at all interested in leading himself and his forces on a suicidal death march. How f’ing absurd. In 2020 American mindset this was merely a peaceful protest march. No casualties. Our media continues to mis-analyze the intentions and strategies of Putin and to oversell the strength and effectiveness of US designed strategies for Ukraine’s efforts. Putin uses this to his advantage to discredit both the US and Ukraine in a proxy war with no end in sight and no chance of diplomatic resolution.
And the media’s breathless cheerleading for the coup is laughable. Who would think a Prigozhin regime a better replacement for Putin? Global support for US meddling is losing steam. Our historic efforts in ‘saving’ or ‘spreading democracy’ in foreign countries where it isn’t always welcomed has a terrible track record. How is this any different?
Great Machiavelli quote (although its impossible to throw a rock in that book and not hit a great quote).
I was thinking of the Canadian truckers strike a couple times while reading this article. Weren't some of the more hysterical reports calling that a "coup" attempt?
Any attack on the left is portrayed as an attack on democracy. This is a tactic of all in power "Look over there. Don't look at me." The truckers' strike was not a coup. It was a protest against totalitarian rule and the totalitarians won.
In Canada the totalitarians are winning thanks to their backing by the WEF. Check out who just became the mayor of Toronto (a socialist nit wit that will soon be the Lori Lightfoot of the north). Why are Americans worried about what happens in the Ukraine or Russia when totalitarianism sponsored by Klaus Schwab is growing by the day right on your northern border?
That’s the distraction then the disruption and then the final knife in the back. That’s what America is waiting for the the Covid bullshit clearly wasn’t enough for the lunatics currently in power.
I was thinking the J6 buffoons are paying a bigger price than this guy did which says a lot about our administration...
Which guy? The Wagner warlord? He will pay with his life eventually, probably in a tragic accident involving an umbrella tip and polonium. The J6 rioters and insurrectionists are paying their proper prices, which do not include polonium, only bad jail food.
What is the list of other crimes that get 3 years of solitary pre-trial confinement for unarmed, non-violent offenses that make their torture in any way “appropriate”?
Jail for rioting that causes damage and injury is appropriate. Prison for insurrection is appropriate. Solitary pre-trial confinement for three years is not appropriate even in a violent crime, let alone non-violent, and should not be allowed in a free society. Torture is not appropriate under any conditions.
I'm happy to clear that up for you, but keep in mind I didn't say one word of anything you mentioned.
Still sipping the Establishment koolaid I see.
I prefer Scotch, not Kool-Aid, and I go where the facts take me, not where "the establishment" dictates. J6 rioters and insurrectionists deserved jail and they got it. Good. J6 protestors who did no damage and broke no laws did not deserve even a jaywalking ticket, and as far as I know, none got one. Also good.
I thought you guys were all about the law and order. Guess not.
We are about JUSTICE. We are about EQUAL protection under the law. We are about FAIRNESS, MORALITY and ETHICS. Those who broke into the Capitol should be punished. However, Jacob Chansley (aka Q Shaman) and many others who were arrested did NOT break into the Capital, did NOT vandalize anything, did NOT threaten anyone. Their ONLY "crime" was TRESPASSING. And yet they rot in jail with NO due process. That is NOT "law and order." That is POLITICAL imprisonment, which is ILLEGAL.
No need to YELL, I agree with you on this. Simple trespassing with no injuries or property damage called for punishment on par with a speeding ticket: pay your fine, watch a movie about civics, go forth and live your life, and the record expunges after three years.
Jail should be reserved for violent crimes. I hold no brief for locking up nonviolent offenders for months or years before their trials, and would prosecute court officers who did that to anyone had I the power to do so.
And the "coup attempt" of J6.
Good piece and thanks for the work, but the focus needs to shift to motive.
What we know for sure is the Biden, Kerry, Pelosi families - and probably several others in Sodom on Potomac - have exchanged money with authorities in Ukraine for access and money. Oh, and Biden shut down American oil and gas development and is now buying Russian oil...
Putin is not a good man, but he is trying to avoid globalism entering his border and we have to recognize it. The American government is every bit as corrupt(or worse) than Russia's or Ukraine, would you please finally hold them accountable for once?
Careful, Danimal28, else you be labeled a “Right Wing MAGA blah, blah, blah, Putin supporter” like Tucker, or others who question this war!
Haha! I will wear it well considering we are spending more to 'protect' a European border rather than our own.
I will to Danimal!
Good point. How much of the monetary aid to Ukraine goes into the pockets of the Biden crime family?
And who else in Sodom on Potomac... I wouldn't be surprised if Lindsay Grahamnesty is also on Zelenskiy's payroll.
Check out Konstantin Kisin for the inside story. He has relatives in Russia and Ukraine. His podcast is Triggernometry.
i have no idea what is happening but maybe following the money will provide the clues. Where does Wagner get the cash to maintain its forces and pay for munitions and supplies?
The missing $ (accounting error) ? It is always about the money.
The High Table (?). ...tongue in cheek
Putin just said that Wagner is entirely funded by the Russian gov-t. Yes, a year or two ago he denied this vehemently, so who knows. But I’m inclined to believe that a large portion, if not most of the funding comes from the gov-t.
In the time it took to pay attention to this news cycle non-story that no one knows anything about...meanwhile back at the ranch...hey! Look over there! Proxy war slog$ on, Zelensky grabs another $Billion, another Ukrainian city is destroyed, Biden has his justice department exonerating himself and son, laws are passed in the USA against parental rights, another political opponent of Biden is censored or arrested, Biden’s AG lies under oath and the populace yawns ...
A group of mercenaries almost seizing power over a country with lots of nukes seems just a little bit important, don’t you think?
On what planet did they “almost seize power”?
25000 mercenaries 675 miles from Moscow facing a million Russian soldiers and never even fired a shot is in no way on the brink of “seizing power.”
Aaron, I believe we are dealing with the same mindset that believed a few hundred unarmed senior citizens were "insurrectionists" and "almost seized power" over the United States Government on January 6, 2021.
They are warmongers and believe their own stupid rhetoric despite all evidence to the contrary. Next thing you know, they will start comparing Putin to Hitler or whatever...its so stupid I am losing brain cells just engaging on it
The ignorance and stupidity of your comment is outrageous. “Unarmed senior citizens?” Do you watch anything other than Fox News?
You might wanna check your MSNBC Privilege, junior. None of those "insurrectionists" was armed. Some were "seniors". One was shot to death by deranged Capitol police. Other Capitol police invited many of those idiots into the grounds of the Capitol. Several score/hundreds of those idiots - not insurrectionists - are doing jail time because of other idiots such as yourself claim it was the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War.
Federal judges bought the narrative lies just like they did on the Russia dossier hoax and authorized FISA warrants.
In other words, don't be a tool for the uni-party narrative. Grow up and learn truth.
There was no chance that Prighozin's "army" was going to get anywhere near the Kremlin. He wasn't intending to overthrow Putin. Which is why fool Prighozin lit out for Belarus.
No, the rag tag Russians in War Lord Prighozin's group stood no chance. You've just bought into the uniparty's narrative for endless war in Ukraine. How's it feel to be a supporter of fascist Nazis in Ukraine?
Actually, it sounds like you’re eating up Russian propaganda, since they are the ones insisting on Nazis in Ukraine. I got news for you - the only fascists currently in Ukraine are the Russians.
How does it feel to be a moron who buys into Fox News propaganda?
They had a chance of making it to Kremlin. “A million Russian soldiers” sat this one out.
Absolutely, Zoikin!! So we are talking about our using Ukrainians as mercenaries, paying them hundreds of billions of dollars to fight “our” proxy war with Russia here, correct?? 🤔
It’s imperative that Russia doesn’t win this war. We all know what happened when Hitler was allowed to annex Austria - he didn’t stop there. Neither will Putin.
🙄🤦♂️
Same to you.
There it is, folks. Another baseless Putin=Hitler comparison. What evidence do you have to support your claim that Putin "won't stop annexing..." what again? If he has such "imperialistic" ambitions, why hasn't he "annexed" any countries since becoming President in 2000?
Not yawning - I think we all terrified.
You have to agree that Wagner probably had reached its limits of watching the corruption and stupidity of those who sucked butt to get into leadership within the Russian military had seen enough. Then the military turns on them after being called out for sucking was probably the last straw. The vaulted Russian military was shown to be a joke based on Western fear and need for a boogie man to fuel the military industrial complex. Wagner has only been successful based on mass brutality and killing anyone who looks like they disagree. As for Africa, China is so pleased as that will open up the continent for even more expansion and en-slaving the people through money loans and propping up corrupt leaders.
Yet sleepy and dopey race to assure Putin we had nothing to do with the uprising. Seriously, that's what our so called leadership was worried about? Fear that Putin would think we had struck a deal with a wanted terrorist and murder? That just points to how absolutely clueless our so called leaders are. The West continues to think our logic, goals, and values equate to Russia, China, and the Middle East. How the hell our so called experts and talking fools on TV never learn anything is amazingly a reflection on the West's arrogance and self deceiving belief we know all.
The mercenary captains in Russia are no different than the ones in China, South East Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, and even here. They are in power based on fear and no doubt that killing anyone who looks at them wrong or dares to question them is how that ends. Ruthlessness should never be compared to being capable in any normal thought range.
Biden doesn't know how this will impact the war. Hell, that old brain rattled clown and his Mistress VP have no clue on anything other than how can we stifle free speech and thought in America. They could actually care less about anyone other than power and self.
Biden is no different that Saddam Hussein who protected and enriched Quasy and Uday in the same way Biden does with Hunter. But Democrats defend this. Revealing more than you want to know about them.
"This is a country that jails its opponents and murders its enemies." Are we still talking about Russia or is this article about j6 now?
I guess the question/concern that I have is: when all is said and done, who will be paying for the billions to rebuild Ukraine? I have a sickening suspicion that this burden will likely fall on the U.S. taxpayers. So the U.S. will spend 100’s of billions on military support and rebuilding Ukraine (a country 4,500+ miles from the east coast) while our own infrastructure crumbles and people are struggling to just get by (food, gas, utilities, etc.)? I guess I don’t see or understand the argument that the U.S. could or even should do both. Why should this responsibility fall mostly on the shoulders of the U.S. (this is in the backyard of European countries)? How much are other European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Netherlands, etc.) providing in aid?
More questions than answers. Pray tell us though, what Russian city did Wagner “sack.? I heard nothing about that.
His troops peacefully entered Rostov. Apparently Bari thinks that is called ‘sacking’. So just a very poor word choice.
Rostov is where the regional munitions and supply depots are supposedly located. He consolidated his forces their, restocked and then left. Maybe that's "sacked".
Regarding definitions, was an armed mercenary group with guns, tanks, and missiles who shot down airplanes scarier than a mob of people with cell phones who stormed a capitol? The word insurrection is thrown around in the US for January 6th. After seeing this Wagner event over the weekend, I still like Riot vs. Insurrection, as we now have an example to compare something to. Along with The Prince, a great ancient book to quote are Thuysidities and the Imponderables of War. One never knows what will happen once something starts. And would I give up part of Ukraine to keep 3000 nuclear weapons from falling into chaos and warlordism? It is a relatively easy choice.
I don't think you can have an actual insurrection without guns these days unless the definition of the word has changed.