…in February 2014, Putin’s ‘little green men’ … seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea. Consistent with Putin’s information warfare doctrine, several days prior to the invasion, Russian intelligence services … leaked a private telephone call between Assistant Secretary of State for Russian and European Affairs Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt. The two U.S. diplomats in the intercepted phone call discussed who would be the best candidate among the top opposition figures, to replace the ousted pro-Russia president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich.
Rebekah Koffler, DIA officer[i]
Nothing in the Nuland-Pyatt conversation proves that American officials orchestrated the Euromaidan Revolution. In fact, with all the resources available to Russian intelligence you would think Moscow could have come up with something more substantial than a diplomatic non sequitur. Yet many Americans, convinced of the wickedness of their own country, have treated the Nuland-Pyatt conversation as proof that America stole Ukraine from Russia (as if Ukraine is an easy country to take over).
In 2014, when Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown, Barack Obama, a.k.a. Barry Soetero, a.k.a. Barack Soebarkah, was President of the United States. We have to ask ourselves: Why would Obama want to overthrow Yanukovych? Given Obama’s friendly policies toward Russia during his first term, it makes no sense. Obama was not interested in military competition with Russia. He did not build up the U.S. military and he was not interested in renewing America’s nuclear arsenal. Why, then, would he have bothered to take over Ukraine?
It is important to remember that Obama and Putin had both been Marxists. Obama was mentored by a communist party member named Frank Marshall Davis, who was suspected by the FBI of being a KGB agent.[ii] Putin had been a member of the Communist Party and worked for the KGB. (We also know that Obama was a Marxist when he attended Occidental College.)[iii] And yet, none of Obama’s autobiographical books explain why or even when he abandoned his Marxist faith. And this is true for Putin as well. In fact, Putin has said that he still likes communist ideas. He has even said that Christianity and Leninism are basically the same, that communism comes from the Bible.[iv] So when the Russian special services present the private conversation of Obama’s underlings as a plot to take Ukraine away from Russia, what do they suppose Obama’s motive was? Why would he do this? Barack Obama was not Putin’s enemy. And yet, this is somehow what we are supposed to believe.
And now that a war has broken out, with Russia invading Ukraine, it is disconcerting to hear people say that the West is looking for an excuse to attack Russia. But the West does not want war with Russia. This would be madness and everybody knows it. In fact, the side that wants war is the side that is prepared to win. That side is only found in Moscow and Beijing.
NATO is not ready for war. America is not ready for war. How can anyone believe that the West is trying to start a war they are not ready for? It makes no sense. And look at our internal divisions? We are in no shape to be fighting a war when we are so divided at home. And so, looking back on Victoria Nuland in 2014, we do not find an international mastermind. We find a sorry excuse for a public servant making nasty remarks that are being taped by Russian intelligence. I submit that America’s diplomats lacked the basic competence required to organize a coup in Ukraine. And so, the masterminds of this present war are not in Washington or Brussels or Davos. The masterminds are in Moscow and Beijing.
It is sad to say, however, that many otherwise intelligent Americans mistake Russian pre-war propaganda for proof of American wickedness. Consider Ted Galen Carpenter’s 2017 piece at the CATO Institute, titled “America’s Ukraine Hypocrisy.”[v] Here, Carpenter suggests that two diplomatic blunderers, blabbing to each other over an open phone line for all the world to hear, inspired and directed a revolution in Ukraine. That really is an extraordinary thesis. Carpenter accepts Moscow’s interpretation of this call on its face and pours it through the sieve of his distorted political imagination. Carpenter’s final product confuses the antics of Senator John McCain with a vast revolutionary conspiracy even as he ascribes omnicompetence to Obama’s political boobies. What does Carpenter think our diplomats chatter about in private? Does he think they talk about the weather? A diplomat on foreign soil represents his government’s views and interests. Demonizing those interests is, of course, in the interest of America’s enemies. Carpenter, thus, does not know on what side his own bread is buttered. And he is not alone.
Regarding our country’s blameworthiness, let me clarify, so that nobody mistakes the message or the nuance. Are America’s leaders honest? Not entirely. It does not follow, however, that America’s leaders are the authors of all the mischief in the world, or all the evil, or that they have caused the war in Ukraine. And here is a word to the wise: if you want to talk about wicked rulers, talk about the leaders in Moscow and Beijing. Think of Russia’s gulag with its political prisoners. Think of China’s laogai and the killing of innocent people to harvest their organs. Did you know that the police in Russia and China use torture? Their citizens have no real rights. Look at the way in which China has crushed Tibet and Ukraine is being Crushed by Russia. Think of what has been done to the Uyghurs and the Chechens. Those who have no sense of history might pontificate on the corruption of America, but our worst politicians are tearful little girls when compared to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. The embezzlements, the muzzling of countless millions, the wholesale looting of countries, the killing of journalists and freethinkers, the poisoning of the human mind, and now the destruction of Ukraine.
Americans who embrace Russian propaganda seem to think that if American politicians lie, then Russian politicians must be truthful. The corollary of this error follows: That if America is led by bad men, then Vladimir Putin is a good man. The correct syllogism, however, is found in Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt’s statement “that power is in itself evil.”[vi] Putin is possessed of more unchecked power than any American politician. That is why Putin is more evil and more dangerous than the President of the United States. The corollary to this is that the Russian government has more power over Russians than the American government has over Americans.
“Every power,” noted Jacob Burckhardt, “as long as its period of growth lasts … has no regard for the rights of the weaker.”[vii] Burkhardt’s associate, Friedrich Nietzsche, wrote that a state “is called the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly lieth it also; and this lie creepeth from its mouth: ‘I, the state, am the people.’”[viii]
The state is a fearful master and must be crafted with many checks and balances in mind. And the biggest check on state power is the people. It is shameful, in this context, that so many conservatives are condemning Ukraine as a corrupt country when, in truth, the Ukrainian people have put us to shame. Please note: In December 2004 there was a crooked election in Ukraine; but the Ukrainian people did not accept it. They began what was called “the Orange Revolution,” which forced a revote. And then, after mistakenly electing a Russian stooge in 2010, the Ukrainian people drove him out of office with the Maidan uprising of 2013-2014. Meanwhile, the Americans have failed to correct a fraudulent election and to drive their Russian (and Chinese) stooge from office. Therefore, it hardly seems fair that Americans should be passing judgment on Ukraine as a corrupt country.
Furthermore, Ukraine has been bombed and invaded by Russia – the world’s premier nuclear power. Look how the Ukrainian people have risen to the occasion. When America is bombed and invaded, I hope and pray that Americans show the same spirit of resistance.
Diana West recently wrote a column in which she quoted my remark about feeding Ukraine to the Russian crocodile so that we might be eaten last. She then suggested that America may have already been fed to the crocodile. But this cannot be the case. There is no gulag here, as yet. Our freedom of speech remains. If invaded, our troops would resist even as the Ukrainians are resisting. Perhaps my use of the crocodile metaphor was imprecise. Perhaps we have been stung by a snake whose venom serves as a kind of digestive juice; for America is too large a meal for swallowing without careful preparation. The communists behind the Russian and Chinese regimes have, indeed, injected America with poison; and this poison is tenderizing and dissolving us from within. No doubt! Yet there may be an antidote; and, as long we are not inside the reptile’s stomach there is hope.
For those who think the leaders of the Democratic Party are genuinely opposed to Moscow and Beijing, please review the following linked videos. The first one shows Obama talking about his communist mentor, Frank.
Then there is this “hot mic” exchange between President Obama and Russian President Medvedev in March 2012:
Next watch Obama sharing a joke with Vladimir Putin, now returned to office as Russian president, during a June 2012 G-20 meeting.
Links and Notes
[i] Rebekah Koffler, Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America (Kindle edition), pp. 158-159.
[ii] Frank Marshall Davis – KeyWiki.
[iii] Interview: Obama Had Marxist Vision For US At Occidental College – Freedom Outpost (investortimes.com). Obama reportedly told one of his classmates, “There’s going to be a revolution, we need to be organized and grow the movement.” According to Dr. John Drew, “I know Stanley Kurtz’s book, Radical in Chief, that Obama had ties with the Midwest Academy. Kind of like the socialist training ground for America. I think that most Americans don’t understand that Obama has a longstanding tie to Marxism, that is even longer than his ties to Reverend Wright.”
[iv] Putin Says Communism Comes From the Bible, Compares Lenin to a Saint (newsweek.com).
[v] America’s Ukraine Hypocrisy | Cato Institute
[vi] Jacob Burckhardt, Reflections on History (Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1979), pp. 67.
[vii] Ibid, p. 66.
[viii] Friedrich Nietzsche trans. Thomas Common, Thus Spake Zarathustra (New York: The Modern Library), p. 49.
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Jeff and fellow commenters, I just watched a 42 min. documentary produced by Herb Meyer titled The Siege of Western Civilization. It is prophetic. It could have been made this week, but it was produced in 2003. Herbert Meyer served during the Reagan Admin as special asst. to the Director of the CIA. Have any of you ever heard of him?
His name sounds vaguely familiar.
I associated him with National Review in the old days and found an RIP link there, which I posted yesterday. It’s probably hung up because it is a link.
I am very convinced that America and Europe are being led down the path of civil war. The real conflict might begin some time after that takes place.
p.s.
Malachi Martin continues to amaze me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdzt0AsATLM
Greg, you have a good point. BLM was funded by the Chinese people to cause civil unrest. There are many Chinese nationals living in America, many of who have married locals and infiltrated levels of state and federal govt.
There are 400K Chinese students in additional to those from communist countries, for example: Vietnam studying in American schools. Much of the American population have been compromised, friendly and would rather see America fall and the communists win.
Have we taken into consideration how the youth are used as communist tools?
Possibly. Also, Mexico is now controlled by a far-leftist, Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has not only refused to impose sanctions on Russia, but has also criticized other western nations for their ‘censorship’ of Russia’s state-controlled media. Additionally, the situation with the warring drug cartels is threatening Mexico’s national stability, and I suspect that, more and more, this violence will spill over into the US. Actually, this is already the case in some southern states that share a border with Mexico. These groups could easily be used for political purposes inside of the US by other state actors acting on behalf of nations such as Russia or China.
Mr Nyquist,
The Fifth Service of the Russian FSB’s Colonel-General Sergei Beseda and his Deputy are now under House Arrest. Can we expect that they will now be DISAPPEARED? What do you suspect that their Real Crime was Mr. Nyquist?
“Lavrentiy Beria, the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief in Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent.
“Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” was Beria’s infamous boast. He served as deputy premier from 1941 until Stalin’s death in 1953, supervising the expansion of the gulags and other secret detention facilities for political prisoners. He became part of a post-Stalin, short-lived ruling troika until he was executed for treason after Nikita Khrushchev’s coup d’etat in 1953.
Beria targeted “the man” first, then proceeded to find or fabricate a crime. Beria’s modus operandi was to presume the man guilty, and fill in the blanks later.”
By Michael Henry
Mr Nyquist,
Please Peruse this link.
https://cnnbc.com/putin-places-spies-under-house-arrest
Yes. I am told the Ukrainians swindled these guys.
Mr. Nyquist is Putin applying the Dictum of Lavrentiy Beria “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” as regards Colonel-General Sergei Beseda? https://cnnbc.com/putin-places-spies-under-house-arrest
Yes. But their real crime was failure.
Jeff, what are your thoughts on the positive comments coming from the peace talks, and especially Leonid Sultsky, statement that “My personal expectation is that this progress will be strengthened and may lead to a common view, signing of the document, within a few days.”
The oil markets seem to think that most of the fighting will be contained and the war will end soon. Are we in for a surprise?
We could be. One never knows with the Russians.
Have you read this March 12 article delivered to the US-China perception monitor? It seems like a high up piece. To quote, the author ” Hu Wei is the vice-chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the Counselor’s Office of the State Council, the chairman of Shanghai Public Policy Research Association, the chairman of the Academic Committee of the Chahar Institute, a professor, and a doctoral supervisor.”
My interpretation is that this is a subtle trial balloon that implies one of two outcomes. In the next two weeks, either China decides to destroy the West in the near term, or it explicitly abandons Russia, thus giving China more time. The author advocates for abandoning Russia, but I don’t trust that opinion.
https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/
They cannot abandon Russia. That would destroy their position strategically. They need Russia to succeed here.
This author asserts the common assumption that Putin’s objective was to defeat Ukraine with a blitzreig and quickly replace its political leadership. The author believes Russia is unable to support a protracted war, and thus is in the process of failing.
If that were true, why would Putin launch the attack in suboptimal weather conditions, knowing full well the mud would slow things down and complicate any blitzrieg? (Nyquist raises this question in the Gaffney interview) Sure it’s plausible that Putin didn’t accurately assess the relative strengths and attitudes of the Russian and Ukraine armies; but the weather – that was knowable and certainly considered.
I can’t understand why supposedly trained analysts are so quick to assume what the objectives are/were, or that the Ukraine invasion was ever meant to be a discrete “operation.”
Nyquist raises such a simple question – why launch in February – which to really, really think about it, brings only more questions and unsettling inferences.
It seems to me that Putin is happily prolonging the pressure in order to inflict a measure of suffering on the NATO alliance countries that will most certainly result in some sort of protests thus accomplishing much for the communist cause.
A shift in the world…politically, medically, and financially…has occurred. Players have been forced to show their cards so to speak, and it’s looking like the US holds a far weaker hand than I find prudent. The adults appear to have left the table.
The adults are not to be found, yes.
Mr. Nyquist, Why has President Biden directed the Inmates to Run the Asylum as regards to Russia being our Official Interlocutor in he Iran Nuclear talks? What do you see resulting from those Iran Nuclear talks?
https://nypost.com/2022/03/12/biden-is-letting-putin-run-the-iran-nuclear-talks/
Why does President Biden owe is political career to KGB agents and communists? See Armand Hammer. See the Council for a Livable World.
I love how Wikipedia makes Hammer’s communism seem hip and eclectic, like an interest in art:
“Called “Lenin’s chosen capitalist”, he was known as well for his art collection and his close ties to the Soviet Union.”
Jeff, I hate it when you close the comments and go offline for a couple of weeks, especially now in these highly troubled times. I know you’re too busy to write a new article every few days, but what about keeping the comment section open until you’re ready to post again? That way we can all communicate with each other and will have the benefit of your commentary as the world situation develops.
I was the one calling for a two-day-max comment section, but that was months ago when our Russian commie troll was monopolizing the space here. Since that’s no longer happening, could we go back to the old policy of leaving the comments open for a while? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like this.
Hello Gretchen. Let’s not forget the Chinese commie trolls in addition to Russian commie trolls.
The Russian attack on Ukraine would not occur without backing from the Chinese. The Chinese like to save face and are planning their own attacks. America is on their radar.
It takes a lot of time to monitor these posts, and the trolls are still here. I literally spent hours each day during the last two weeks deleting posts. It was not necessary this time because the worst of them gave up. They will be back. They always are. I need a break to actually work and finish all this research into what is happening.
You could ask for help. Either volunteers or pay a virtual assistant to do it. Moderators are a very common skillset. Use Upwork or some other freelance site if need be.
No. I am ultimately responsible legally, and from past experience not everyone has the same judgment of sense of fairness.
Thank you for all you do, Jeff!
please Mr. Jeff, don’t let us without your analysis and information in this troubling times, maybe videos on youtube are more expedient way for this
I am posting constantly. Do not worry.
You do this on company time at work in their office, right?
I quit my day job a long time ago. Don’t post here again.
Got it, Jeff. Thanks.
War correspondent, Michael Yon just posted a link to this video from a speech originally dated April 2021 on the likely progression of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Precient analysis.
https://youtu.be/OutvYSl_TLc
Wow! Those were some harsh assessments and yet many are coming true. I wonder if the end will be as he predicts?
Ill winds blowing from the South. Will We The People protect our land as bravely as the ukrainians when the moment comes?
‘Venezuelan president Maduro voices support for Russian move on Ukraine’
According to a Quinnipiac poll, apparently a lot of us will not. Tellingly, over half of democrats answered that they’d flee instead of fight.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/03/13/poll-almost-half-of-american-say-that-they-would-rather-flee-than-defend-the-united-states/
“…many did say that they would stand and defend the United States from any invader. When asked this question 68 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents say that they would fight. However more than half of Democrats (52%) said they would flee before fighting for their country (Eight percent did not have an answer, a shrug that is equally alarming).”
All those cowards better start packing now because a larger war appears to be coming.
Here is a more detailed analysis of the Poll: https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3838
Mr. Nyquist, do you know the pro-russian journalist Pepe Escobar? Dou you know if heis trustful?
I have never met him.
I have a friend living in Moscow. He is an American and we have been exchanging emails. I thought you all might like to hear his perspective. When I checked in with him this week, I sent him a link to your blog, Jeff. He thanked me and said this is truly a propaganda war. Only time may tell some fragment of truth. Aside from challenges getting money into Russia and concern over availability of imported Rxs, he is fine. In fact, he said Moscow is humming with early spring behavior.
Life goes on.
Thank you for your unselfish sincere service-to God be the glory! May His strength and power continue to sustain, protect and bless you and your family. May His favor, peace, and presence surround you as you courageously and boldly do His work enlightening and encouraging many. You were born for such a time as this…thank you for your obedience. You are such a blessing to many! God Bless you!
Yes!
i’m reminded of early Syrian war reports that kids with their parents filled the local the waterpark to near capacity mere blocks from intense combat. i’ve seen similar reports of revelers fatally celebrating in FL at the center of a hurricane. and recently, similar stories normal activity across most of Ukraine. as jeff says, “life goes on”.
does make you wonder if the Ukranian/Russia crop shortage speculations may be premature. yet, i heard just a couple days ago from some or other youtube channel that Ukrainian farmers do not appear to be prepping to plant, they want to see how this crisis plays out first.
Humanity is certainly interesting. This comment is for the commenters in this thread. Most of you seem to be engaged in good faith; sharing your thoughts and asking questions in the attempt to comprehend better what is going on in your world. And I don’t mean The World, but specifically each and everyone of our individual worlds. Actually grasping the TRUTH of The World is way beyond any of our pay grades.This is, of course, natural and strategically appropriate. But I’m left wondering how many of you are getting yourself positioned for what is now coming at you(us) at speed. Great forces on the move on this planet are interesting, to be sure, but quite dangerous. As I commented recently, most people are addicted to the trees, while the forest is the actual medicine. Minutiae will not save us, nor moral judgements. In fact, the details often lead to one’s destruction as it is difficult to see the club that is about to crush your skull in, when you’re tying your shoe. I find it to be quite healthy to abandon completely the dichotomy of good and evil. There is only good. Some people engage in Very little good. Some engage in Very much good. But it is all good. I first understood this when contemplating light. It is an interesting fact that there is no such thing as darkness. There is light only. One thing, not two. Language often leads to confusion. Darkness is simply an idea, the idea of the lack of light. If you doubt this, try and weigh darkness. Or look at it. Isn’t it interesting that light is required to “see” darkness. In the same way, evil is the lack of good. The Satanic world view is enticing, but ultimately self defeating. How easy is it to play the blame game? A wise man once told me that you only need two animals to describe the human condition; the Sacred Cow, and the Scapegoat. And round and round we go. You know which Jews survived the last round of festivities? The ones who cashed out in the early to mid thirties, took their gold and their children, and got the hell out of the blast zone. Just sayin.
How will Ukrainian farmers be able to export their winter wheat harvest, which was planted last fall? If the war continues into the late spring/early summer, access to the Black Sea ports is questionable due to Russian military activity. The ports in the Baltic States are blocked because Ukraine’s northern borders are with Belarus and Russia. I suppose it could be transported to Poland and then shipped from Polish or German ports, assuming the Russians have not advanced into the western part of Ukraine.
In any case, yields will suffer this year because of inadequate and more expensive supplies of fertilizer. Then there is the issue of the spring planting, which, as pointed out, may be subject to farmers waiting to see how the crisis plays out.
Even if the harvest were to be brought in. Getting it out to the world, at present, is impossible. The Ukrainians are not going to be able to make the spring planting either.
As it stands, there are a number of countries that will suffer for this, and a lot of them are in the middle east and north Africa.
https://rumble.com/embed/vucjwx/?pub=4
I feel like we’re getting so much blatant propaganda from all sides, it’s hard to know what to believe. It’s easy for me to assume the Western media is lying based on the “Russiagate” demonization that occurred during Trump. All the confusion has left me almost seeing this war the same as taking sides if the Bloods and Crips are fighting in the street.
On thing I know for sure is that we don’t want a war with Russia or China. As former Navy, I know some of their anti-ship capabilities, and our defense capabilities. It won’t be pretty.
Correction: It was Frank Meyer who was associated with National Review. The article link I referred to happened to by National Review by coincidence.
JEFF. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THIS REPORT??
Russian TV Sets Stage for FURTHER INVASIONS!!! Poland, Baltics!!!
https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/russian-tv-sets-stage-for-further-invasions-poland-baltics
This is an important bit of information warfare coming out of Russia. It is not entirely new, but follows a line of argument that has been presented in the Russian state controlled media for a long time; namely, that NATO wants to destroy Russia. Although the West is evolving toward its own form of toxic state socialism, we are not as yet at the dark stage that Russia is, with highly centralized militaristic Caesarism. With a complex, defensive, consensus-governed organization like NATO, you cannot have grandiose Caesarist plans of aggression. NATO’s wicked side comes from its self-righteous democratic emotionalism, a group-hysteria that emerges within the leaders, as happened over Kosovo in 1999 and is emerging now. Here is the possible origins of a strategic mistake tending toward world nuclear war. Moscow is committed to putting the USSR back together. This is what Putin said, and the Russian TV is saying it. COLLISION COURSE.
Ukraine is not Kosovo, aside from the oil. They still haven’t managed to get that pipeline through there.
It’s not clear how many war ships are US, but this is a nice gift to Putin. With so many fewer US Navy ships left afloat, China can take the South Pacific with impunity. Biden has said more than a few times he’s not going to be engaged in WW3. Thing is, Russia demolished the NATO club house in Ukraine, where NATO supposedly isn’t a member, and where US bioweapons labs are no big deal, but being disavowed by the US, anyway.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/4890360/nato-masses-troops-warships-war-games-border/
Is there someway some of these trolls and senseless posters can be blocked? It’s enough to keep track of what’s really going on well muddling through posts that are truly clueless.
It’s getting even crazier!
Putin signs law to seize foreign aircraft as sanctions impact Russian aviation
https://www.foxnews.com/us/putin-aircraft-sanctions-russian-aviation
Here’s an excellent series of posts that offers an insightful explanation of how Putin’s kleptocratic Russia evolved and what makes it tick, by Kamil Galeev: https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1503507960181448705
She has other posts as well about the communist domination of Russia’s surviving political parties.
Jeff
It sounds like Putin is poised to take Poland and the Baltics after Ukraine.
Is there some point at which the USA should get involved in Europe ?
The Russians [oops!], I mean the Ukrainians, are having such a hard time we should help them as much as possible — avoiding a direct war. Brinksmanship is not for stupid people. But war may be inevitable now.
Jeff, don’t you mean “the Ukranians are having such a hard time”?
The answer as to why the Russians attacked in the bad weather is coming into focus now. It appears the Ukrainians fed false information of to the Russians. This is why certain Russian generals and intelligence officials are either fired or under arrest. It is unclear what trick was played, but the Russians were misled in some way. The Ukrainians also had the concept of holding back their reserves, making it look like they would collapse quickly. It was very clever because nobody really thought Ukraine could have such a strong military position after almost three weeks. The Russians took the bait and attacked under soft ground conditions, perhaps even expecting that some Ukrainians would switch sides. Whatever the real losses, many Russian attacks have been repulsed. Many Russian tanks and vehicles have been destroyed. I would expect the Ukrainian losses are also pretty heavy. Even more troubling for the Russians, however, the Ukrainian intelligence services apparently penetrated the Russian military and special services. This has to send a cold chill up Putin’s spine. The arrests at the top of the intelligence service and the sacking of generals clearly indicate the seriousness of the problem. Also, China might well have been planning to blockade Taiwan this month, as we saw the activity in the Chinese Naval bases ramp up at the outset of the Russian invasion. But when the Russians were stalled in their attack, the Chinese backed off. China has cold feet and does not want to act under the present circumstances. We are not hearing anything more about the planned Chinese naval exercises. In forming their defense plan, the Ukrainian must have bargained on two things: (1) NATO would help them; (2) Putin’s regime would be shaken to its core. This gamble may not work, for NATO has not giving sufficient help even as Putin’s regime is not collapsing. Of course, it is tragic to see the Russians bombarding Ukraine’s cities into rubble as the Ukrainians refuse to give in. Of course the Russians continue to flank the Ukrainian positions little by little. Ukraine is losing, inch by inch. Even so, this is a battle of willpower, a battle of information and a battle of attrition. It is war at its most terrible. To be sure, Ukraine does not have sufficient forces to hold under dry ground conditions, which will come in May or June. Unless NATO intervenes or Putin falls, Ukraine will be defeated when the ground is baked hard by the sun. In fact, the Ukrainian situation could worsen next week as Kiev is turned to rubble and Ukraine begins suffering heavy casualties in the fighting. So, yes, the Ukrainians are having a hard time in the sense that their people are dying and suffering. The Russian leaders are having a hard time in that all their plans, and their self-confidence has been shaken. The West has been lucky in all this; for imagine what would have happened had Russia taken Ukraine easily. Imagine the confidence the Russian Army would now feel. All those Russian forces would be sitting on NATO’s frontier. What should we do about this? Do we let the Ukrainians die fighting? What happens then? Moscow has its eyes on the Baltic States and Moldova. Do you think NATO can stand by and watch the Ukrainian people slaughtered without intervening? Is that morally and politically right? It is even strategically expedient? Would we begin to feel ashamed for our inaction? As we watch this tragedy unfold, every human being in Europe and North America is confronted with a spectacle of horror. We are watching brave people fighting the troops of Vladimir Putin, whose ultimate objective is to defeat America together with China. (Of course, almost everyone would disagree with this proposition, but I believe it to be true.) So the question remains: Do we stand by, watching and cringing from the sidelines knowing that Moscow would like to knock down our cities? Why do is he even doing this to Ukraine? It is so insane, so unnecessary — unless Ukraine is a stepping stone to greater things, greater acts of destruction.
I think Putin wants to pick up a fight with NATo from the get go. Ukraine is such an obvious provocation, much like a cop beating senselessly a kid to unmask a relation between that kid and some mafia don. Basically, his goal is to make NATO look the aggressor and nuke the sht out of us with the approval of the world. Ukraine is as much a fishing expedition as it is a way to flex some Soviet muscles, truing to rally communist Ukrainians by flying the Soviet flag on the tanks there.
It is unlikely he wanted to stumble so badly in Ukraine.
What do you feel Alex Jones has right and what does he have wrong in the first 8.5 minute analysis that Putin fell for a trap from the globalists?
https://www.infowars.com/posts/exclusive-analysis-nato-laid-a-trap-for-putin-that-could-destroy-the-world/
Jones does not understand Russia, the West or modern history.
I used to be a big Alex Jones fan. In fact it’s because of him that I found Mr. Nyquist. However, this war has really exposed him.
First, remember his Joe Rogan interview where he called himself “kinda retarded.” He reminds us that he has major weaknesses. Namely that his ability to analyze and see through Russian disinformation is largely non-existent. He only sees through some western and Chinese disinformation because of sheer will. And he’s surrounded by people who are even more susceptible to disinformation, or are known agents of disinformation. If you read Russian and Chinese propaganda often, you’ll realize that he just parrots the stuff back.
For example the NATO trap was a bit of Russian propaganda that went around accusing NATO of trapping Russia to weaken it against China. Even though of course Russia and China are on the same side.
Very perceptive, Urgle. You got Jones’s number.
Here’s a more detailed analysis of that Poll: https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3838
I don’t know why WordPress dropped my comment to the bottom. I had intended to reply to the posting about the Quinnipiac Poll up above.
I think there is a limit on each thread to the number of responses.
So, the communist party of Russia “opposing” Putin made astonishing gains of 34% vote, and they apparently are the ones who wrote/asked (told?) Putin to free the Donbas region, but not just the Russian ethnic dominated part, but the whole thing including Ukrainians, and, that is, about 2 to three time the territory. Obviously it was a strategic (getting water ways) and politically strategic empire move. Now we see tanks openly displaying the hammer and sickle, no doubt to rally communist Ukrainians ro the “Russia invasion. It seems the Soviet communist mask of Putin has fallen but no one is paying attention. Interestingly Putin only gave the communists 25% of the seats, but the communists did not protest (I assume it was meant for western consumption, but it is funny that to our State Department, there never is anything for external consumption but saber rattling is always for the internal consumption…).
Because, at first, I was telling Ukrainians to tone down the nationalist angle and let Russians in Ukraine become better adult Russians in Ukraine than they are in Russia itself – in good Tsarist like empire mindedness (the Tsarina indeed invited Germans to do just that in the Volga river region so as to modernize Russia, and they had been given autonomy, and a sort of colonial autonomy they lost under Lenin and Stalin, shipped to Kazakstan… for who needs nationalistic equality in love for country paranoia when you got communistic equalitarian paranoia). However I had no idea that Russia was actually making an impossible and fascist demand , which was to let a precedent of Russian troops to subjugate genuine Ukrainian territorial area that did not have any significant Russian ethnic presence there. In that respect, it was the Russians in the Donbas region who actually had the sinister envy and genocide intent against Ukrainians – to eventually ship them to Kazakstan the same, perhaps. The Russians plaid a Nationalist card but then moved to an imperial card quite quickly, and now they are in full blown Soviet post empire mode, touting Soviet Union flag on their tanks.
This is called “putting back the Soviet Union” at all costs.