https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/statu...17499208228864
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An interesting, strong piece from Paul Craig Roberts.
There are quite a few pro-Russia alt media analysts that don't disagree with this, btw. The premise is simple — that Putin's moderation and go-slow caution is being interpreted and propagandized in the west as 'weakness'.
So taking advantage of that perceived 'weakness', the US/NATO might intervene directly in any one of a number of ways. Then they'd discover that Putin is not 'weak' at all, and the response would be devastating.
Putin’s Excessive Caution is Leading Directly to WW III
After 18 months of an ever widening war, Putin is still unable to recognize the failure of his “limited military operation.” Far from convincing Washington that his interests are limited to protecting the Russian people in former Russian territory who were dumped by Soviet leaders into the Ukraine province of the Soviet Union, Putin has convinced Washington that Russia is weak and that he is irresolute.
The consequence has been an ever widening war and a massive expansion of NATO on Russia’s northwestern border with the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO. And now Putin’s hesitancy, which seems permanent, is bringing him the occupation of western Ukraine by the Polish army.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu has shown no brilliance in the campaign either, but he now recognizes the failure of the “limited military operation” to protect Russia’s security and to keep NATO’s presence from increasing on Russia’s borders.
Today Shoigu said that Poland is preparing a pretext to occupy western Ukraine. As Ukraine has run out of troops, Poland is moving in. Washington won’t call it an invasion.
Shoigu went further, whether with Putin’s approval or as a criticism of the failed “limited military operation” I cannot say. At today’s meeting of the board of the military department, Shoigu said: “In the western and northwestern strategic directions, the threats to the military security of Russia have increased manifold.” He said that Finland and Sweden’s accession into NATO is a “serious destabilizing factor.” Shoigu pointed out that since the beginning of the “limited military operation” NATO formations have increased 2.5 times.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230809/warsaw-plans-to-create-polish-ukrainian-union-for-subsequent-occupation-of-western-ukraine—shoigu-1112480015.html
This is hardly a picture of success, so why is Putin sticking with a failed policy? With the failure of the Ukrainian counterattack and decimation of the Ukrainian army, now is the time for the Russian offensive. But there is no sign of it.
US Col. Douglas Macgregor has concluded that Putin is actually holding back a Russian advance, wasting precious time before the rainy season begins. From a military standpoint, it is mindless for Putin to let pass the opportunity to strike his devastated opponent and bring the conflict to a quick end before Washington can further escalate the conflict. Instead, Putin is providing Poland the opportunity to move into Western Ukraine. It seems obvious that this will result in a wider and more dangerous combat.
Col. Macgregor now agrees with what I have been saying for 18 months, that Putin is perceived in the West as irresolute and can be defeated or at least discredited in Russia as a failed war leader. As I have stressed, this is a very dangerous perception.
Provocations of Russia will increase to a point where war will break out. Col. Macgregor now sees the situation as I do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcwFyNbX5m8
Perhaps Putin would do well to take a cue from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:
There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
- Marianne Williamson Confronted Over Ukraine War Support!:
Marianne Williamson is running for the Democratic nomination for President in 2024, and says that she has to date supported the Biden administrations economic and military support for Ukraine, even though much of that support has wound up lining the pockets of the weapons manufacturers she fervently claims to oppose.
- In April 2022, Dutch 🇳🇱 Journalist Sonja van den Ende paid her first visit to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. What immediately struck her were the huge queues to receive food aid from the Russian army:
“They made a rack like in the Middle Ages and some men were torn to pieces.” 🇬🇧 Premiere of the film of the project "DESPITE"! 🇳🇱 The film premiere of the project "DESPITE" about war correspondent Sonja van den Ende!
Sonja Van den Ende t.me/devendonline is a war correspondent from the Netherlands who has become an enemy to her country and her own family, but despite this, she continues to fight for the truth.
What do the Azovstal catacombs look like a year after liberation? Who is to blame for the shelling of Yelenovka? What happened to the defenders of the legendary Saur-Mogila? And Igor Kimakovsky's frank story about the torture that civilians were subjected to in the dungeons of Ukrainian prisons. Just watch the video and you will find out the truth!
Dutch 🇳🇱 media did not report or claim that Russia had attacked the city. Residents of Mariupol told Sonja Van den Ende that the Ukrainian army had entered the city. She was the first Dutch 🇳🇱 journalist to visit the Azovstal factory, where the Nazi Azov battalion was stationed. In the former headquarters of the battalion, she has found much evidence that shows that Hitler occupied a prominent place.
In Azovstal she also encountered an electric chair. Many civilians were also taken hostage. So much for Ukrainian democracy. Veteran Igor Kimakovsky showed her around a prison in Mariupol where the Ukrainians tortured thousands of people. He himself was strangled and fainted several times. He was also waterboarded. Miraculously, he managed to survive. Women were sprayed with polyurethane foam. That, in Kimakovsky's eyes, was the cruelest form of torture.
- The cruelest form of torture
https://www.ninefornews.nl/wp-conten...n-den-ende.jpg
Photo: Sonja van den Ende in the Donbas (Twitter/Sonja van den Ende)
Men had to walk around blindfolded and risk falling into a pit full of corpses, where they had to spend the night. There was also a stretching table, which was used to pull men apart. People slept on the floor or on pallets. “We paid a high price for our freedom,” Kimakovsky said. So this is where our tax money goes, Sonja Van den Ende noted.
- High price
According to her, freedom of expression and freedom of the press do not exist in Europe. “Russian news sites are banned, there is only Western propaganda. But people are finally starting to wake up.”
- Black list
Sonja Van den Ende could not return to the Netherlands 🇳🇱. She was blacklisted, her bank accounts were closed. She currently resides in Russia. Watch the film about Sonja van den Ende here.
- dutch 🇳🇱 (+ Multi-Language Options). 🦜🦋🌳
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Posted by shaberon
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Posted by Rizotto
Yes, I think so.
Not in terms of their propaganda values, but, at a certain point, the actual facts cannot be contained.
There is only so much quiet the press can keep, once there are fairly public statements that the handout is not going so smoothly:
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden in a letter to Congress has asked for an additional $13 billion in supplemental funding to continue military assistance to Ukraine next year.
"$9.5 billion for equipment for Ukraine and replenishment of [US Department of Defense] stocks; and $3.6 billion for continued military, intelligence, and other defense support," the document said.
Biden is also asking for $7.3 billion for economic, humanitarian, and security assistance to Ukraine.
The proposal for additional Ukraine aid totals some $24 billion, including some $2.3 billion intended as leverage to gain more aid from other donors via the World Bank.
However, combined with an additional $2.65 billion in funding for border security, $12 billion in disaster relief efforts, and $416 million in combatting the fentanyl crisis, among other domestic matters, the congressional request totals upwards of $40 billion in supplemental aid.
The Thursday filing marks the first such request by the Biden White House since Republicans claimed control of the House of Representatives at the start of the year. While previous requests had been largely met with Congress' backing, GOP members have grown increasingly hesitant toward continued aid.
In fact, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed in early June that any requests for supplemental Ukraine aid would not be taken up in the lower chamber - regardless of bipartisan efforts taken up in the Senate.
At the time, McCarthy explained that any additional funds would need to be cleared as part of an annual appropriations process, underscoring finances would have to be shifted elsewhere from the Pentagon's funds.
“I think what we really need to do, we need to get the efficiencies in the Pentagon,” the House speaker told US media in June when referring to the Pentagon's budget. “Think about it, $886 billion. You don’t think there’s waste? … I consider myself a hawk, but I don’t want to waste money. So I think we’ve got to find efficiencies.”
Shortly after the Thursday request was issued, US Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) told Sputnik that US President Joe Biden must focus on supporting efforts to improve security within the United States, rather than on spending more funding on a proxy war in Ukraine.
"Rather than spending a single penny more fighting a proxy war in Ukraine and killing more people, a more worthwhile effort would be if Biden would put America first by allocating resources in our country to secure the southern border," Gosar said, touching on the US' continued fight to combat illegal immigration.
He added that resources could also be better spent on "funding law enforcement efforts to combat the violent crime and drugs destroying cities across America, or aiding our homeless population, including countless veterans, who are sleeping on sidewalks."
The hefty request also comes as the US public has grown increasingly cold toward such military aid.
A recent poll determined that 55% of surveyed Americans opposed Congress approving Ukraine aid, with only 45% disagreeing. Earlier Wednesday, the White House attempted to shoot down the sentiment, telling reporters that continued efforts were paramount to the "national security of the American people."
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby touched on the polling on Thursday and opted to reiterate the White House's stance that the American people understand why Biden requested billions more in aid for Ukraine.
"The polls notwithstanding, I think the American people understand what is at stake here," Kirby said.
To date, the US has provided Ukraine with more than $100 billion in aid since the start of the conflict, with the majority of the funds being designated specifically for military equipment.
J.P. Farrell reads a statement/article from the US state department on the subject of people trafficking in (The) Ukraine.
News and Views from the Nefarium - AUGUST 10 2023
Paul Craig Roberts has been saying this for a long time. in the first place, I don't think PCR ever understood, or believed, the initial intent of the SMO - and the basically benign attitude of the Russians towards their Ukrainian cousins. He also underestimates the capacity of the Western leadership-media to create (and get accepted) a virtual reality that has no resemblance at all to what is really happening.
Here in the UK (and the UK is - adjusted per capita - apparently the biggest supporter of the Ukrainian military etc - e.g. I know of at least *four* families in my immediate circle who have had Ukrainians in their homes, two still do! Multiple Ukr flags adorn the local church. I have never seen anything like this active support in my lifetime.) - there has been probably a more monolithic and uniform propaganda about Ukraine then there was even for the covid-vax issue. In other words, there has been No expressed dissent within the mainstream media about the fundamentals of the war, from any party.
Secondly, I have never sensed that PCR understood that this is not primarily about Russia versus Ukraine, but Russia (and allies) versus NATO (and The West) - that is the 'big game' that Putin is playing; but most Westerners seem to have a much shorter term and more restricted perspective - which is itself part of the problem.
PCR comes across as something of a Western adolescent criticizing the grown-ups because he is currently getting bored; and who is not sufficiently interested to realize that providing something exciting to report in today's news is not the exclusive focus of the adults.
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Posted by Bruce G Charlton
Might have missed Greek independence.
We found out a few things about it:
A massive, well-connected Greek diaspora in many places
Knee-jerk fanatical public support from thinking the Greeks are white Christians subjugated by Turkish Muslims
A new Greek nation lacking the important part, Constantinople
Leading to...Russia vs. the West as we see now, as the "different kinds" of Christians do not see eye-to-eye
The propaganda is so solid since it is so fervently British, from a time when the U. S. and Russia were basically friends. Most Russians understand this in a fairly substantial way, and most Anglos can't pay attention to it. I'm told that British history classes jump from the Tudors to WWI. Like colonial and imperial matters are not to be discussed. It seems to me that the Ukrainian complications have been about the same since the 1600s.
I have never seen or heard a single Ukrainian anything around here. Maybe they like it in New York. I am sure we have an anti-Russian bloc, but, this is more anti-Communist American dominance, than anything that cares about Ukraine.
An unusual 30-second video, but despite the night vision it's very easy to see what's happening here. :flower:
The text:
Three Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnieper to surrender to Russian troops - footage from a camera with a thermal imager.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/58599
Text:
In the Artyomovsky direction, the Russian Armed Forces went on the offensive, occupied four dominant heights and demolished all the advanced positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Terro-Defense and the National Guard are demoralized. National battalions are being transferred to the Kharkov direction. "Azov" and "Kraken" are already near Kupyansk, where things are going so badly for the Ukrainian that by September Kupyansk will most likely be surrendered by the Nazis.
@polk105
#source
@Slavyangrad
https://twitter.com/djuric_zlatko/st...98974978072576
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Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (11 August 2023)
◽️In Kupyansk direction, assault groups of the Zapad Group of Forces continued offensive actions on a broad front and improved the tactical situation near Olshana and Pershotravnyovoye (Kharkov).
◽️In the course of active defence, 4 attacks and counterattacks of AFU 32nd, 41st, 44th, and 67th mechanised brigades were repelled near Novosyolovskye LPR, Sinkovka and Mankovka (Kherson).
◽️The enemy losses were up to 165 servicemen, 2 AFVs, 2 pickup trucks, 1 Krab self-propelled howitzer, and 2 AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station.
◽️ In Donetsk direction, the Yug Group of Forces' units successfully repelled 5 attack of assault groups of the AFU 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade, the 59th Motorised Rifle Brigade, and the 3rd Tank Brigade close to Nevelskoye, Belogorovka, Staromikhalovka, Maloilinovka, and Veseloye DPR.
◽️The enemy losses were up to 180 servicemen, 7 IFVs, 2 pickup trucks, 1 Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system, 1 M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, and 2 D-20 howitzers.
◽️In South Donetsk direction the Vostok Group of Forces thwarted an enemy reconnaissance-in-force attempt near Staromayorskoye DPR.
◽️3 attacks of assault groups of the AFU 72nd Mechanised Brigade and the 38th Marine Brigade have been repelled near Nikolskoye and Urozhaynoye DPR.
Up to 35 servicemen, 2 AFVs, 2 motor vehicles, and 1 D-30 howitzer were destroyed.
◽️ In Zaporozhye direction, 3 attacks of the AFU 21st Mechanised Brigade were repelled by the Vostok Group of Forces near Uspenovka and Rabotino (Zaporozhye).
◽️The enemy losses were up to 60 servicemen, 3 motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer.
◽️In Krasny Liman direction, the Tsentr Group of Forces repelled 2 attacks of the assault groups of the AFU 68rd Infantry Brigade and the 42nd Mechanised Brigade close to Novoegorovka and Kremennaya LPR.
◽️The enemy losses were up to 115 servicemen, 3 AFVs, and 1 D-20 howitzer.
◽️In Kherson direction, up to 20 servicemen, 2 pickup trucks, 1 M777 artillery howitzer, 1 D-20 howitzer, as well as and 1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were destroyed.
◽️Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 139 areas during the day.
◽️A temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries has been hit near Zaporozhye.
◽️Moreover, 4 ammunition depots of AFU 24th, 43rd, 60th mechanised brigades and the 108th Territorial Defence Brigade have been destroyed close to Toretsk DPR, Cherneshina, Liptsi (Kharkov), and Gulyai Pole (Zaporozhye).
▫️ Air defence facilities have intercepted 2 HIMARS MLRS projectiles during the day.
◽️Moreover, 16 UAVs have been shot down close to Kupyansk (Kharkov), Lisichansk LPR, Artyomovsk, Volnovakha DPR, Oreknov and Gulyai Pole (Zaporozhye).
@Slavyangrad
https://twitter.com/djuric_zlatko/st...90437732315136
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By turning away from God, humanity has abandoned itself. The modern West demonstrates it with all frankness. Faith is defeated; there are no shrines left. But it is with this that we are in mortal conflict. Atheistic materialistic civilization is fighting against us, perfectly aware that Russia, even in its current weakened and diminished form, remains the last island of traditional society, a stronghold of spiritual values and, indeed, Faith, which could not be uprooted from our people during the last century by various political ideologies—from communism to liberalism. The Russian person remains a person of faith, even if he does not yet fully realize it.
But God is not in the church hierarchy, not in an institution. He is in Faith, in tradition, in church sacraments. And the Church is not a room; it is our heart, given in the rite of Holy Baptism to the bright and good Godhead, who in turn gave His life for our salvation. Religion is a gift for the Gift. And if there is a Gift, there is also the One who gives.
God is the foundation of everything, the beginning and the end. He creates the world, and He also brings judgment upon it at its end. If man turns away from God, God may also turn away from him. And then nothing can save us. And we are standing on the edge of the abyss. It is not without reason that the threatening words “Apocalypse,” “Armageddon,” etc. are heard more and more often.
Enough of half-measures. Russians must return to their heavenly Father. After all, we are waging His war, in His name and for His glory.
Either we immediately return to our Mother Church, or a catastrophe even worse than the one we have recently faced awaits us.
Alexander Dugin
Excerpt: Orthodoxy, from The Principles of Victory and Justice
https://geopolitika.ru/en/article/pr...ry-and-justice
https://twitter.com/Agdchan/status/1690003495712112640
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Posted by Ravenlocke