Russia Russia Russia

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

1 minute ago, Koko said:

 

If I were to make an incredibly uneducated guess using my armchair google generaliship skills, an invasion into Crimea by Ukraine would be more for negotiating leverage to get Russia to leave the Donbas than really having any chance of complete success in driving the Russians off the peninsula.

 

'You leave Eastern Ukraine, we'll leave Crimea, and we'll both declare victory.'

 

Russia would never give up the naval basing in the Crimea.

 

There's also virtually no chance of Ukraine invading and taking back the Crimea.  Take Kherson, then advance to the Isthmus of Perekop, either on a single axis with an open flank, or with another axis of advance towards Melitopol to protect that flank?  And then, after that, you have to break in to the Crimea, with Russia controlling not just the Kerch Straits but the Black Sea as a whole.

 

Ukraine can't pull that off without much more help than they're getting.  

[Deranged Rhino]

48 minutes ago, Crap Throwing Clavin said:

 

Russia would never give up the naval basing in the Crimea.

 

There's also virtually no chance of Ukraine invading and taking back the Crimea.  Take Kherson, then advance to the Isthmus of Perekop, either on a single axis with an open flank, or with another axis of advance towards Melitopol to protect that flank?  And then, after that, you have to break in to the Crimea, with Russia controlling not just the Kerch Straits but the Black Sea as a whole.

 

Ukraine can't pull that off without much more help than they're getting.  

 

Agreed. Which is why making it a part of the conditions for "victory" or a diplomatic off ramp has always been a talking point devoid of reality. There were people in this thread claiming that Crimea being returned was a part of what "victory looked like" - which should show you how bamboozled some are when it comes to the narratives created and pushed by the neocon/neoliberal sects in both the US and EU. 

 

The only way that becomes a possibility is if the US and NATO got (more) directly involved, which opens up a whole other can of worms and distasteful probabilities - like a nuclear exchange. 

 

Ukrainian forces have done next to nothing to demonstrate retaking Crimea is within their abilities as a military force.

 

Now, if it were Sweden... 

[Deranged Rhino]

It's fine.

 

[IDBillzFan]

3 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

It's fine.

 

 

At least they're not giving them to the IRS. I mean, SOMEONE has to pay for the student debt deal.

[Deranged Rhino]

 

[Foxx]

1 hour ago, Deranged Rhino said:

 

In past contexts, this posture would've been more associated with GOP than Dems

 

Is there any clearer indication of a Uniparty than this?

[SackMan518]

The Ukraine couldn't be any dumber at this point.

 

I need to brief you in on the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant situation, because it’s big and murky and mostly embargoed. I’ll start with a Hill article yesterday headlined, “Biden, Zelensky Discuss Concerns Over Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant.”

Haha, Israel, vacationing Biden doesn’t have time to talk about YOUR nuclear problems with Iran, but he does have all the time in the world to chat with the dancing comedian about HIS little nuclear power plant issue.

 

 

A White House call summary explained, “The two leaders also called for Russia to return full control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to Ukraine and for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to the plant.”

Like THAT is going to happen.

 

So what is it? Zaporizhzhya is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia has safely and quietly controlled the plant since early in the war. But lately the Ukrainians have been lobbing mortars at the plant, for weeks now, which is making a lot of people very nervous about a potential ‘accident’ that could be literally one million times worse than Three Mile Island multiplied by Chernobyl.

 

Currently, Ukraine enjoys the protection of a fully-powered-up criticism shield, which destroys all Western media that touches it. So, OF COURSE the Zaporizhzhya threat is ALL Russia’s fault — not the bat-guano insane Ukrainians firing explosive rounds at a NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. Are you confused? It’s Russia’s fault because Putin started the war in the first place. See how easy that was?

 

Ironically, the Ukrainians have justified the shelling by accusing the Russians of storing ammunition and military supplies inside the reactor grounds. I say ‘ironically’ because Ukraine has itself been credibly accused of placing ammo and supplies in civilian locations like schools, shopping malls, apartment buildings, and churches.

 

But I don’t know if they’re truly comparable. It seems like a nuclear reactor is a strategic, non-civilian site, and if you captured it, you’d probably want some military hardware there, because capturing a target is only half the equation. You also have to KEEP the target. You don’t want nuclear power plants falling into the wrong hands.

 

But I’m just a lawyer, not a woke, unattractive cross-dressing general. So what do I know about military strategy?

 

Yesterday, citing obvious safety concerns, the Russians disconnected the Zaporizhzhya plant from the European power grid for the first time in history. Since it is almost impossible to find any credible reporting about the situation in Western corporate media, I am forced to rely on local independent reports on Twitter, which suggest the power outage continues this morning:

 

The ability to turn the power on and off is an ace card for the Russians. From the beginning of the war, I wondered about why the Russians were not taking out all Ukraine’s power. It would be child’s play. But it has become clear over time that the Russians are being extremely careful to avoid damaging civilians and civilian infrastructure as much as possible.

 

Leaving the power off for too long will create a humanitarian disaster, which the Russians seem to be trying to avoid. But strategically turning it on and off at critical moments, like maybe whenever U.S. congresspeople come for photo ops and to deliver or pick stuff up, could be a very useful weapon in the overall war effort.

 

This may just be another one of those myriad of stories that mysteriously fades away again after the outrage machine billows smoke and pivots loudly toward a different target. But I thought you should hear about it.

[Deranged Rhino]

If you said this would happen in January or February, you were called names and accused of being a Putin supporter - even though this outcome was ALWAYS going to happen. Was always the goal. 
 

 

And now that it’s official, it’ll be dismissed or ignored by the same hysterical people who believe everything the neocon/neocon/establishment media tells them. Proof is in this thread. 

[Foxx]

16 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

If you said this would happen in January or February, you were called names and accused of being a Putin supporter - even though this outcome was ALWAYS going to happen. Was always the goal. 
 

 

And now that it’s official, it’ll be dismissed or ignored by the same hysterical people who believe everything the neocon/neocon/establishment media tells them. Proof is in this thread. 

Big difference in those previous "Operations" if we are comparing them to the Ukrainian situation today... those operations were not in direct opposition to Russia, a nuclear armed adversary. Nor were they a proxy operation but direct operations against third world countries.

 

MIC permawar will not be denied.

[Deranged Rhino]

 

[SackMan518]

21 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

 

 

Glad I already did my military time and I'm not recommending that either of my sons join the new woke military.

[Nouseforaname]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62750584
 

Happens all the time.

[B-Man]

 

 

 

[Koko]

4 hours ago, Nouseforaname said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62750584
 

Happens all the time.

 

Seems like a legit suicide. I mean, when people can kill themselves by shooting themselves in the back of the head two or three times during a botched robbery where nothing was taken, it's totally plausible that this gentleman flung himself out a 6th story window.

[Nouseforaname]

2 hours ago, Koko said:

 

Seems like a legit suicide. I mean, when people can kill themselves by shooting themselves in the back of the head two or three times during a botched robbery where nothing was taken, it's totally plausible that this gentleman flung himself out a 6th story window.

While at the hospital.  Maybe he was unhappy with the diagnosis ?

[snafu]

On 9/1/2022 at 8:10 AM, Nouseforaname said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62750584
 

Happens all the time.

Defenestrated. 
He was defenestrated. 
 

I like how there’s a word dedicated to this. 


 

Edited September 2, 2022 by snafu

[Deranged Rhino]

It's Friday, so that must mean we need to shovel another couple billion into Ukraine so we can keep getting that sweet, sweet ROI of (checks notes) one sunken Russian flagship and a whole lot of dead Ukrainians... 

 

But it's totally worth it. And if you don't think so, you must be a Russian bot.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

3 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

It's Friday, so that must mean we need to shovel another couple billion into Ukraine so we can keep getting that sweet, sweet ROI of (checks notes) one sunken Russian flagship and a whole lot of dead Ukrainians... 

 

But it's totally worth it. And if you don't think so, you must be a Russian bot.

 

The hell with Ukraine.  What emergency funding do they need for COVID at this point?  

[Deranged Rhino]

 

[Deranged Rhino]

Salt required with all OS reports coming from the front lines (and Cerno) - but last week the western media was prepping the world for what they expected to be the beginning of a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive. It apparently didn't go as planned, and might be part of why another 13b is needed... 

 

 

If it's true - then please tell me again that taking back Crimea is within the realm of reality. And then remember that the longer this war goes, the more Ukrainians who die - either fighting Putin or for him - the better it is for the architects of this war in western halls of power. They want to drag this on for as long as they can, bleeding Putin for as long as they can (at the expense of Ukrainian lives and our dollars). Doing so provides them political clout and cover while also providing their biggest donors new revenue streams in ways only a warzone can.

 

Endless, confined war is big business. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Deranged Rhino