RFK, Jr. Have a Listen

Will US Aid Arrive in Ukraine in Time?

Paul Serran, "Fast-Paced Russian Offensive Yields Over a Dozen Conquered Cities and Villages, as Ukrainian Morale Is Collapsing Along the Front, With Over 100K Troops Deserting Their Positions"

In the much-hyped Summer 2023 offensive, Ukrainian troops repeatedly failed to breach the formidable Russian defensive fortifications of the ‘Surovikin Line’, despite hundreds of billions of western military aid in money and equipment.

Kiev’s assaults faced seemingly impenetrable minefields, multi-layered trenches, dragon teeth and anti-tank ditches, and left a mountain of destroyed tanks and armored cars as a testimony for the new realities of war.

Today, drones, artillery and missiles, coupled with new ‘eyes in the sky’ IRS capabilities (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) have made offensive actions much more difficult than in the past.

As the Ukrainian offensive efforts wound down, Russia took the initiat5ive fully leveraging its superior firepower and better trained and equipped troops, and by using a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ strategy, kept nibbling at the 600 mile-long frontline, keeping the badly outmaneuvered Ukrainians always in a rush to scramble reinforcements to and fro.

The result, in these last four months, have been quite different than in Kiev’s case, and the localities conquered by the Russian Federation forces have now amounted to well over a dozen cities and villages.

The news of the advances are so rapid and chaotic that I asked social platform X’s AI chatbot Grok to help me with a comprehensive (but not exhaustive list). What follows is Grok’s initial list edited and complemented by me:

Avdiivka: after Russian forces seized this key Donbas city, they rapidly followed up with several nearby villages: Severnoye, Sjeverne, Lastochkyne, Stepove, Orlivka and Berdychi.

Pervomaiske, Donetsk region – Russian forces announced the capture of this village after a year and a half effort.

Semenivka – Russian forces captured this Donetsk village.

Kiselivka – Russian forces have captured part of this Kherson Oblast village.

Novokalinovo – Russian troops are advancing in this Donetsk area, with successes reported in the center of the village.

Otscheretyne – Moscow forces captured most of this Donetsk town, northwest of Adviivka.

Pervomaiske and Vodyaine – These areas in Donetsk were reported to be fully occupied by Russian forces after a year of fighting.

I understand that to some, this above enumeration may come across as a meaningless list of foreign-sounding names, but one cannot escape the understanding: it’s a lot of places.

The list above (once again, not exhaustive) shows that all localities, with the exception of southern Kiselivka in the Kherson Oblast, were concentrated in the Donetsk Oblast (region).

Donetsk is undoubtedly the main immediate objective of the Russian special military operation, because Donetsk and the already conquered Luhansk were the two Russian majority, former Ukrainian breakaway regions that ignited this whole situation.

While the Russian Federation forces have imposed a overwhelming pace to their advances, so far we haven’t seen a complete breakdown of the Ukrainian lines as many feared.

But the seriousness of the problem Kiev faces can be understood by the fact that two Ukrainian sources – including former President Volodymyr Zelensky advisor Oleksi Arestovytch – have revealed that OVER 100K TROOPS have deserted their positions and are unaccounted for.

Now, a report comes from the battle for Oscheretyne: a ‘blunder’ by Ukrainian troops allowed the Russians to capture large parts of the settlement unopposed.

Business Insider reported:

“Russian troops were able to take most of Ocheretyne, northwest of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, after an apparent rotational error involving Ukraine’s elite 47th Mechanized Brigade and its 115th Mechanized Brigade.

The 47th Mechanized Brigade was due to be relieved by the 115th along the front line just east of Ocheretyne.

But as the 47th pulled back, Russia’s 30th Motor Rifle Brigade attacked, taking advantage of a gap left by the pending arrival of the 115th.”

The commander of the 47th, Mykola Melnyk, famous for losing a leg during the summer offensive, wrote a rather shocking account on Facebook: the Business Insider translation is “The drastic advancement of the Russians became possible because certain units just fucked off.”

Automatic translation is a bit more tame:

“The Russians entered the outskirts of Oscheretyne yesterday. The rapid advance of the Russians became possible due to the fact that certain units simply lost their positions. I hope they will be disbanded and retrained as attack fighters.”

[That is shocking because it’s the military equivalent wishing them death by putting them on the most dangerous position.]

Melnyk also touches on a fundamental problem for Kiev: there are no troop rotations. They are just expected to fight until they die.

“The holes that ended up are plugged by those who were planned to be taken to recovery, so 47 OMBr is back in action. Another month and it will be a year without rotation.”

A spokesperson for the 115th Brigade denied the allegations. “The unit did not abandon its position,” he said, according to the Financial Times.

Needless to say, this ugly mudslinging between Ukrainian military units is indicative of the dangerous collapsing morale.

In our coverage here of the battle for the key Donbas town of Chasov Yar, we reported about how some elite Azov Nazi units now have rebelled and sometimes do not obey orders:

“But while the fierce Ukrainian defenders have been reinforced with artillery and drones, and electronic warfare devices, as per a Reuters report, the striking feature of this battle is the fact that Nazi Azov brigades seem to be ‘sitting this one out.’

The experience from previous sieges apparently has made the most ideological Ukrainian forces weary of defending ‘to the end’ localities that they deem un-defendable.

Aleksander Khodakovskiy [ironically] writes:

“Information has emerged that Azov, the menace of all the ‘Moskals’, has again refused to sacrifice itself for European values. […] in Ukraine, those who made the mess are now pushing forward the gray masses, who were driven against their will, while they themselves prefer to save themselves for future political feats.”

The telegram channel from the Z 105th regiment:

“However, not everyone faces threats like ‘pincers’, ‘cauldrons’, and other blockades. The 3rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (formerly known as “Azov”) is one such example. These nimble soldiers have already departed from Chasov Yar in advance, drawing from their experiences in Mariupol and honing their skills in Avdeevka.”

Besides the 3rd Assault Brigade AZOV refusing to go to Chasov Yar, the 67th Mechanized Brigade (‘right sector unit’) refused orders and left Chasov Yar and reportedly will be dissolved.”

While the new US military aid package will diminish the firepower disparity against Kiev in the short run, and the new mobilization laws will diminish the dire lack of ‘human resources’ in the long run, the collapsing morale of the troops seems to have no antidote in sight.

Meanwhile, Russia advances. Fast.

Are Ukraine's F-16's ready yet?

UniParty Immigration Policy...

h/t - Woodsterman

The Open Society?

h/t - Woodsterman

Milos Forman on Censorship

Democratic Party's unwritten rules? "Never criticize Minorities unless they have an (R) after their name."  And "Cancel anyone who does."  And THAT is how you give Power to the People (just not ALL people).

The Delusional Geopolitical & Domestic Strategies of the US

On Changing Geopolitical Realities in the Middle East

Europe Souring on Ukrainian Conflict

Excess Deaths and Unconscionable Data Deficits

The MSM remains "Distracted from the Truth" for some Strange Reasons...or perhaps not so strange reasons if one understands just "who" is buttering their bread.

PS - I love the censor's 'scare warrning' on this video, "Get the Latest Information from the CDC".  It's just a shame that they've censored most of it now for CDC no longer even provides the Excess Death data for the US that they pounded on so often and heavily during the actual epidemic.  They must be busy "re-methodologizing" and "re-calculating" it.  @@

If you click on the scare warning, you get this message:

When you search or watch videos related to topics prone to misinformation, such as the moon landing, you may see an information panel at the top of your search results or under a video you're watching.

Information panels show basic background info, sourced from independent, third-party partners, to give more context on a topic. If you want to learn more, the panels also link to the third-party partner’s website.

These information panels will show regardless of what opinions or perspectives are expressed in a video.

Information panels may not be available in all countries/regions and languages. We're working to bring information panels to more countries/regions.

"These information panels will show regardless of what opinions or perspectives are expressed in a video."  What a sorry JOKE that is!

NPR Head - 'Ef the Truth! Focus on the Alchemy of Operational Success!'

Europeans Chip in F-16's for Ukraine to Ensure the Start of WWIII With

All WWII lessons from Britain's Bomber Command and the USAAF have been tossed out the window.  "The War can be won by Air Power!"  @@

The Bomber Mafia Would be SO Proud!

What Could Go Wrong?

And Having Demonstrated the US Government's Competence in Handling Such Crisis' and Emergencies Like the Covid-19 Response, it's Time, Once Again, to TRUST OUR EXPERT ELITES!  @@  So Please enjoy THIS Fireside Chat with Our GLORIOUS Lederhosen:

Joe Biden, "Moment of Truth on Ukraine and Israel"

Both countries urgently need U.S. aid to defend themselves against brazen adversaries that seek their annihilation.

Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel this weekend, with a barrage of missiles and drones. Around the same time, some 1,500 miles north, Russia continued its bombardment of Ukraine, which has intensified dramatically in the last month.

Both Ukraine and Israel defended themselves against these attacks, holding the line and protecting their citizens. And both did it with critical help from the U.S.

Now is not the time to abandon our friends. The House must pass urgent national-security legislation for Ukraine and Israel, as well as desperately needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

In this third year of Russia’s war, Ukraine continues to defy the odds. Against a much larger military, the Ukrainians regained more than half the territory that Russia occupied after its 2022 invasion. They’ve struck the Russian navy time and again, winning important victories in the Black Sea. And they’ve developed innovative weapons, especially drones, to counter Russian forces. Theirs is a fighting force with the will and the skill to win.

Meanwhile, as we saw this weekend, Israel’s military has the technology and training to defend the country against even an attack of unprecedented scope and ferocity.

But while both countries can capably defend their own sovereignty, they depend on American assistance, including weaponry, to do it. And this is a pivotal moment.

Vladimir Putin is ramping up his onslaught with help from his friends. China is providing Russia with microelectronics and other equipment that is critical for defense production. Iran is sending hundreds of drones; North Korea is providing artillery and ballistic missiles. Ukraine, facing ammunition shortfalls, is losing hold of territory it had regained.

After years of backing Hezbollah, Hamas and other proxies in their attacks on Israel, including Hamas’s brutal attack on Oct. 7, Iran launched a direct attack of its own—hoping to penetrate Israel’s air defense, including David’s Sling and the Iron Dome, which saved countless lives this weekend.

Both Ukraine and Israel are under attack by brazen adversaries that seek their annihilation. Mr. Putin wants to subjugate the people of Ukraine and absorb their nation into a new Russian empire. The government of Iran wants to destroy Israel forever—wiping the world’s only Jewish state off the map.

America must never accept either outcome—not only because we stand up for our friends, but because our security is on the line, too.

If Russia triumphs, Mr. Putin’s forces will move closer than ever to our North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. “An attack on one is an attack on all” means that if Mr. Putin invades a NATO ally, we will come to its aid—as our NATO allies did for us after the Sept. 11 attacks. We should surge support to Ukraine now, to stop Mr. Putin from encroaching on our NATO allies and ensure that he doesn’t draw U.S. troops into a future war in Europe.

Likewise, if Iran succeeds in significantly escalating its assault on Israel, the U.S. could be drawn in. Israel is our strongest partner in the Middle East; it’s unthinkable that we would stand by if its defenses were weakened and Iran was able to carry out the destruction it intended this weekend. We can make that outcome less likely by replenishing Israel’s air defenses and providing military aid now, so its defenses can remain fully stocked and ready.

If Congress passes military aid for Ukraine and Israel, we won’t write blank checks. We’d send military equipment from our own stockpiles, then use the money authorized by Congress to replenish those stockpiles—by buying from American suppliers. That includes Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelin missiles made in Alabama, and artillery shells made in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas. We’d be investing in America’s industrial base, buying American products made by American workers, supporting jobs in nearly 40 states, and strengthening our own national security. We’d help our friends while helping ourselves.

I’ve been clear about my concerns over the safety of civilians in Gaza amid the war with Hamas, but this aid package is focused on Israel’s long-term defensive needs to ensure it can maintain its military edge against Iran or any other adversary. Importantly, this bill has funding that will allow us to continue delivering urgent humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza as well as others who have felt the impact of conflicts around the world.

It’s a strong and sensible plan. It shouldn’t be held hostage any longer by a small group of extreme Republican House members.

Mr. Putin has tried relentlessly to break the will of the Ukrainian people. He has failed. Now he’s trying to break the will of the West. We cannot let him succeed.

There are moments in history that call for leadership and courage. This is one of them.

...it's just a shame that the requisite courage and leadership won't arrive until at earliest January of 2025 and provided that Sleepy Joe's Hand's-Off the USIC Deep State sh*tf*ckery doesn't get us all killed before then.. 

The Ins & Outs of GDI (Global Censorship)

h/t - Woodsterman

Iron Dome, No Longer Israel's Impervious Morale Inflation/ Sustainment System...

...E-e-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-p!  Not effective against Iranian maneuvering re-entry vehicles with multiple decoys.

Scott Ritter, "The Missiles of April"

The “Missiles of April” represent a sea-change moment in Middle Eastern geopolitics — the establishment of Iranian deterrence that impacts both Israel and the United States.

I’ve been writing about Iran for more than two decades. In 2005, I made a trip to Iran to ascertain the “ground truth” about that nation, a truth which I then incorporated into a book, Target Iran, laying out the U.S.-Israeli collaboration to craft a justification for a military attack on Iran designed to bring down its theocratic government.

I followed this book up with another, Dealbreaker, in 2018, which brought this U.S.-Israeli effort up to date.

Back in November 2006, in an address to Columbia University’s School of International Relations, I underscored that the United States would never abandon my “good friend” Israel until, of course, we did. What could precipitate such an action, I asked?

I noted that Israel was a nation drunk of hubris and power, and unless the United States could find a way to remove the keys from the ignition of the bus Israel was navigating toward the abyss, we would not join Israel in its lemming-like suicidal journey.

The next year, in 2007, during an address to the American Jewish Committee, I pointed out that my criticism of Israel (which many in the audience took strong umbrage against) came from a place of concern for Israel’s future.

I underscored the reality that I had spent the better part of a decade trying to protect Israel from Iraqi missiles, both during my service in Desert Storm, where I played a role in the counter-SCUD missile campaign, and as a United Nations weapons inspector, where I worked with Israeli intelligence to make sure Iraq’s SCUD missiles were eliminated.

“The last thing I want to see,” I told the crowd, “is a scenario where Iranian missiles were impacting on the soil of Israel. But unless Israel changes course, this is the inevitable outcome of a policy driven more by arrogance than common sense.”

On Monday night, early Tuesday morning, April 13-14, my concerns were played out live before an international audience — Iranian missiles rained down on Israel, and there was nothing Israel could do to stop them.

As had been the case a little more than 33 years prior, when Iraqi SCUD missiles overcame U.S. and Israeli Patriot missile defenses to strike Israel dozens of times over the course of a month and a half, Iranian missiles, integrated into a plan of attack which was designed to overwhelm Israeli missile defense systems, struck designated targets inside Israel with impunity.

Despite having employed an extensive integrated anti-missile defense system comprised of the so-called “Iron Dome” system, U.S.-made Patriot missile batteries, and the Arrow and David’s Sling missile interceptors, along with U.S., British, and Israeli aircraft, and U.S. and French shipborne anti-missile defenses, well over a dozen Iranian missiles struck heavily-protected Israeli airfields and air defense installations.

The Iranians hit at least two runways, taking them out of service, and at least five warehouse-type structures (this from satellite imagery taken after the attack.)

Iran gave Israel a five-hour advance warning to move high value items (F-35s). Moreover, Iran did not attack barracks, headquarters, or targets that would produce casualties.

The damage may have been minor, but the message is clear — Iran can hit any target it wants to, at any time.

Israel Had Hit Iranian Territory

The Iranian missile attack on Israel did not come out of the blue, so to speak, but rather was retaliation for an April 1 Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate building, in Damascus, Syria, that killed several senior Iranian military commanders.

While Israel has carried out attacks against Iranian personnel inside Syria in the past, the April 1 strike differed by not only killing very senior Iranian personnel, but by striking what was legally speaking sovereign Iranian territory — the Iranian consulate.

From an Iranian perspective, the attack on the consulate was a redline which, if not retaliated against, would erase any notion of deterrence, opening the door for even more brazen Israeli military action, up to and including direct attacks on Iran.

Weighing against retaliation, however, were a complex web of interwoven policy objectives which would probably be mooted by the kind of large-scale conflict between Israel and Iran that could be precipitated by any meaningful Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel.

First and foremost, Iran has been engaged in a strategic policy premised on a pivot away from Europe and the United States, and toward Russia, China, and the Eurasian landmass.

This shift has been driven by Iran’s frustration over the U.S.-driven policy of economic sanctions, and the inability and/or unwillingness on the part of the collective West to find a path forward that would see these sanctions lifted.

The failure of the Iranian nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) to produce the kind of economic opportunities that had been promised at its signing has been a major driver behind this Iranian eastward pivot.

In its stead, Iran has joined both the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS forum and has directed its diplomatic energies into seeing Iran thoroughly and productively integrated into both groups.

A general war with Israel would play havoc on these efforts.

Secondly, but no less important in the overall geopolitical equation for Iran, is the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This is a game-changing event, where Israel is facing strategic defeat at the hands of Hamas and its regional allies, including the Iranian-led axis of resistance.

For the first time ever, the issue of Palestinian statehood has been taken up by a global audience.

This cause is further facilitated by the fact that the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, formed from a political coalition which is vehemently opposed to any notion of Palestinian statehood, finds itself in danger of collapse as a direct result of the consequences accrued from the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent failure of Israel to defeat Hamas militarily or politically.

Israel is likewise hampered by the actions of Hezbollah, which has held Israel in check along its northern border with Lebanon, and non-state actors such as the pro-Iranian Iraqi militias and the Houthi of Yemen which have attacked Israel directly and, in the case of the Houthi, indirectly, shutting down critical sea lines of communication which have the result of strangling the Israeli economy.

But it is Israel that has done the most damage to itself, carrying out a genocidal policy of retribution against the civilian population of Gaza. The Israeli actions in Gaza are the living manifestation of the very hubris and power-driven policies I warned about back in 2006-2007.

Then, I said that the U.S. would not be willing to be a passenger in a policy bus driven by Israel that would take us off the cliff of an unwinnable war with Iran.

Through its criminal behavior toward the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Israel has lost the support of much of the world, putting the United States in a position where it will see its already-tarnished reputation irreparably damaged, at a time when the world is transitioning from a period of American-dominated singularity to a BRICS-driven multipolarity, and the U.S. needs to retain as much clout in the so-called “global south” as possible.

A Sea-Change Moment

The U.S. has tried — unsuccessfully — to take the keys out of the ignition of Netanyahu’s suicide bus ride.

Faced with extreme reticence on the part of the Israeli government when it comes to altering its policy on Hamas and Gaza, the administration of President Joe Biden has begun to distance itself from the policies of Netanyahu and has put Israel on notice that there would be consequences for its refusal to alter its actions in Gaza to take U.S. concerns into account.

Any Iranian retaliation against Israel would need to navigate these extremely complicated policy waters, enabling Iran to impose a viable deterrence posture designed to prevent future Israeli attacks while making sure that neither its policy objectives regarding a geopolitical pivot to the east, nor the elevation of the cause of Palestinian statehood on the global stage, were sidetracked.

The Iranian attack on Israel appears to have successfully maneuvered through these rocky policy shoals. It did so first and foremost by keeping the United States out of the fight. Yes, the United States participated in the defense of Israel, helping shoot down scores of Iranian drones and missiles.

This engagement was to the benefit of Iran, since it only reinforced the fact that there was no combination of missile defense capability that could, in the end, prevent Iranian missiles from hitting their designated targets

The targets Iran struck — two air bases in the Negev desert from which aircraft used in the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate had been launched, along with several Israeli air defense sites — were directly related to the points Iran was trying to make in establishing the scope and scale of its deterrence policy.

The U.S. has an advanced AN/TPY-2 X-band radar stationed at Har Qeren, in the Negev desert.

Its mission is to detect Iranian missile launches, and pass targeting data to Israeli Arrow and David’s Sling and U.S. THAAD ABM batteries deployed to protect sensitive Israeli sites,… pic.twitter.com/qHb7sgbbAh

— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) April 14, 2024

First, that the Iranian actions were justified under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter — Iran retaliated against those targets in Israel directly related to the Israeli attack on Iran, and second, that Israeli air defense sites were vulnerable to Iranian attack.

The combined impact of these two factors is that all of Israel was vulnerable to being struck by Iran at any time, and that there was nothing Israel or its allies could do to stop such an attack.

This message resonated not only in the halls of power in Tel Aviv, but also in Washington, DC, where U.S. policy makers were confronted with the uncomfortable truth that if the U.S. were to act in concert with Israel to either participate in or facilitate an Israeli retaliation, then U.S. military facilities throughout the Middle East would be subjected to Iranian attacks that the U.S. would be powerless to stop.

This is why the Iranians placed so much emphasis on keeping the U.S. out of the conflict, and why the Biden administration was so anxious to make sure that both Iran and Israel understood that the U.S. would not participate in any Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran.

The “Missiles of April” represent a sea-change moment in Middle Eastern geopolitics — the establishment of Iranian deterrence that impacts both Israel and the United States.

While emotions in Tel Aviv, especially among the more radical conservatives of the Israeli government, run high, and the threat of an Israeli retaliation against Iran cannot be completely discounted, the fact is the underlying policy objective of Netanyahu over the course of the past 30-plus years, namely to drag the U.S. into a war with Iran, has been put into checkmate by Iran.

Moreover, Iran has been able to accomplish this without either disrupting its strategic pivot to the east or undermining the cause of Palestinian statehood. “Operation True Promise,” as Iran named its retaliatory attack on Israel, will go down in history as one of the most important military victories in the history of modern Iran, keeping in mind that war is but an extension of politics by other means.

The fact that Iran has established a credible deterrence posture without disrupting major policy goals and objectives is the very definition of victory.

h/t - Woodsterman

US NatSec Establishment Turning the Page on Ukraine

Biden Only Needs $60b More to Postpone Formal Recognition of the Stupidity of Spending the 1st $100b until After the November Election

Noah Robertson, "Russian military ‘almost completely reconstituted,’ US official says"

Russia has rebuilt its military after suffering enormous losses during its invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. State Department official.

“We have assessed over the course of the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily,” said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security.

Campbell’s assessment seems to contradict those of the Pentagon and America’s allies in Europe.

At a meeting of countries that support Ukraine late last month, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Russia had suffered more than 315,000 casualties during the war. With a drop in American aid, leading to ammunition shortages on Ukraine’s front lines, Russian forces have advanced. But those too have been costly, the Pentagon has said.

In an interview earlier this year, the chair of Lithuania’s national security committee estimated it would take Russia between five and seven years to reconstitute its forces for a full-scale war.

Still Moscow has surged defense spending since 2022 — up to 6% of national GDP in its 2024 budget. The rise is part of a larger effort by the Kremlin to move its economy, and in particular its defense industry, onto a wartime footing.

Part of its success comes from China’s support, along with that from North Korea and Iran. Both Campbell and another senior administration official, speaking with reporters this week on the condition of anonymity, said that China has helped its partner endure economic and military setbacks in the last two years.

“We’ve really seen the [People’s Republic of China] start to help to rebuild Russia’s defense industrial base, essentially backfilling the trade from European partners” that lapsed when Russia invaded, the official said.

President Joe Biden addressed this concern in a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Tuesday, according to a White House readout.

Moscow’s success has added pressure to the government in Kyiv, which this week lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 amid losses on the front lines. Ukraine is still hoping for a giant infusion of American aid still held up in Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to call that national security supplemental for a vote, though he recently signaled one could come under certain conditions.

Without it, Ukraine’s armed forces will continue needing to ration ammunition and air defense on the front lines and around the country. Still, that doesn’t mean the front lines are verging on collapse, said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown.

“Does it make it more complicated, more challenging for the Ukrainians without the supplemental — yes,” said Brown at an event hosted last week by the Defense Writers Group. “But they’ve been able to defend fairly well.”

Biden's Failing Re-Election Strategy to Wag the Dog in Iran & Ukraine then Dump the Mess on Trump's Doorstep

Somebody Please Drive a Stake Into This Bill's Heart!

4/8/24

 h/t - Woodsterman

The Coming Correction is Near...

How much Money will the Fed print THIS time?

...and How do YOU Spell I-N-F-L-A-T-I-O-N?

Ukraine: What the French See in Ukraine, Joining NATO, et al

Source:

A summit to mark the alliance's birthday doubled as a renewed effort to keep members on board with aid for Ukraine.

At a conference to celebrate NATO's 75th anniversary, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Ukraine will join the alliance – and that the purpose of the summit in Brussels was to work toward that membership.

During the meeting, members of the Alliance praised determination and perseverance of Ukrainians and promised to continue to provide aid for the country. Yet Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed that the alliance does not consider itself directly involved in the war.

"We don't have any plans of having any NATO combat troops inside Ukraine," Stoltenberg said. "The Ukrainians are asking for equipment, for ammunition, for weapons, and we are providing that to Ukraine. That doesn't make NATO allies party to the conflict, but we support Ukraine in upholding the right for self-defence."

During our meeting, I thanked NATO Secretary General @JensStoltenberg for his tireless work to ensure timely and systemic support for Ukraine.

I stressed the urgency of delivering more “Patriot” batteries to Ukraine to protect our people, energy system, and economy from Russian… pic.twitter.com/0aIAOEwlgh

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 4, 2024

NATO's top diplomats this week vowed to continue supporting Ukraine as the better-armed Russian troops asserts control on the battlefield.

Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine has lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its army's depleted ranks, and is appealing for additional air defences to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.

“I didn't want to spoil the birthday party for NATO, but I felt compelled to deliver a sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country, destroying our energy system, our economy, killing civilians," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Antony Blinken, speaking before meeting with Kuleba, said that “support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO, remains rock solid.”

Met with Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba in Brussels. I reaffirmed our commitment to supporting Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration goals and its fight against Russia’s aggression. pic.twitter.com/P4kGRdXO8o

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 4, 2024

“We will do everything we can, allies will do everything that they can, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, aggression that is getting worse with every passing day,” he said.

Early on Friday, new explosions rocked Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which has been targeted several times this week, including Thursday night.

Should Ukraine's entrance into NATO mark America's exit? 

h/t - Woodsterman

*apocryphal

Exposing the TRUE Face of DisInformation

The Early Techno-Feudal Age

Joel Kotkin, "The coming revolt against woke capitalism"

The ‘progressive’ super-rich have no idea how much the public loathes them.

The greatest threat to Western civilisation comes not from China, Russia or Islamists, but from the very people who rank among its greatest beneficiaries. In virtually every field, the midwives of our demise are not working-class radicals or far-right agitators, but, as the late Fred Siegel called it, the ‘new aristocratic class’, made up of the well-credentialed and the technologically and scientifically adept .

Virtually every ideology that’s undermining the West has its patrons in these ruling cognitive elites. This includes everything from the purveyors of critical race theory and Black Lives Matter to transgender activists and, perhaps most egregiously, campaigners for the climate jihad. In each case, these elite activists reject the market traditions of liberal capitalism and instead promote a form of social control, often with themselves in charge. The fact that these ideologies are destructive, and could ultimately undermine the status of these very elites, seems to matter little to them. That they also infuriate the middle and working classes doesn’t seem to register, either.

A huge shift has taken place among the elites in recent years. In the past, wealthy people overwhelmingly favoured the political right or the centre. Some billionaires still do, including oil and chemicals magnate Charles Koch, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and real-estate billionaire Donald Bren, all of whom are well into their seventies or eighties or beyond. Today, these folks are being supplanted by more youthful and supposedly more ‘enlightened’ oligarchs, who have consistently outraised and outspent their right-wing rivals by a margin of nearly two to one.

In the US, nonprofits’ assets have grown 16-fold since 1980. In 2020, nonprofits brought in $2.62 trillion in revenues, constituting more than five per cent of the US economy. Ironically, foundations that are funded with the great fortunes of Henry Ford, John D Rockefeller and John D MacArthur, all right-wing figures, have become some of the key financiers of ‘progressive’ causes.

In the coming decades, we can expect more of this pattern. Not only do we have to deal with the beliefs of the oligarchs, but also those of their forsaken wives and their offspring. Jeff Bezos’ former spouse, MacKenzie Scott, worth an estimated $60 billion, has already given $133million to a group pushing for a ‘progressive’ takeover of education. Melinda Gates, the former wife of the Microsoft founder Bill Gates, worth at least $13 billion, is also backing woke causes.

The current cadre of elites seem uniquely hostile to meritocracy and individual rights – values that once stood at the heart of liberal, capitalist societies. Rather than promote upward mobility for the plebs, they want to divide them into ‘identity’ groups based on race, sexuality and gender. Black Lives Matter, the enforcers of critical race theory, for years enjoyed lavish support from top tech companies, including Microsoft, Cisco and TikTok. It also became a poster child for a host of nonprofits, like the Tides Foundation, which in turn gets much of its money from oligarchs and their descendants, including George Soros and the MacArthur, Hewlett, Ford, Packard and Rockefeller foundations.

Nowhere is the gap between the elites’ political activism and the interests of the public more evident today than when it comes to the overhyped climate crisis. To a remarkable extent, the current ruling oligarchy in tech and on Wall Street have embraced the ideology of Net Zero, even though this threatens to undermine Western industrial power and raise the cost of living for the masses. Elite opinion, in general, is far more engaged on climate issues than the general population. In one recent poll, those living with graduate degrees in big dense cities and making over $150,000 a year are far more likely to favour such things as rationing meat and gas than the vast majority of Americans.

The ultra-rich have been particularly drawn to draconian climate positions. Leading billionaires like Tom Steyer have collectively sent hundreds of millions to leading environmental groups. The Rockefellers, heirs to the Standard Oil fortune, have become some of the fiercest advocates of radical climate policies. They even favour punishing corporations that make money from fossil fuels like their own forebears once did.

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, have received huge donations, often as high as $100million, from wealthy moguls like Ted Turner and Michael Bloomberg. Jeff Bezos announced $10 billion in gifts, mostly to green nonprofits, in 2020 alone. The oligarchs’ philanthropic efforts are also now paying the salaries of ‘climate reporters’ at Associated Press and National Public Radio (NPR) to encourage the media to toe the party line.

This all constitutes what analyst Robert Bryce has labelled the ‘anti-industry industry’. Indeed, green lobbyists outspend so-called Big Oil by more than four to one. The recent drives to ban new natural gas stoves and liquefied natural gas (LNG) come directly from these billionaire-funded campaign groups.

The clear hypocrisy of the greens does not go unnoticed by the masses. Those same elites who demand climate austerity for the many are widely known to enjoy the use of private jets, build $500 million yachts and own numerous, often enormous mansions. The fact that the most recent climate confab, COP28, had a session on ‘responsible yachting’ tells people all they need to know about the hypocrisy of the super-rich.

The damage being done by the oligarchs’ green agenda is now fuelling a rebellion from the beleaguered European, British and American middle and working classes. Many are becoming increasingly sceptical of elite environmentalism, just as they have been consistently hostile to woke ideas on law enforcement, transgender issues and racial quotas.

Public hostility towards what Adrian Wooldridge has labelled ‘the progressive aristocracy’ is now all too clear. In the US, there are declining levels of confidence in large corporations, tech oligarchs, big banks as well as the media. Similar patterns can be seen in the EU and the UK. This disquiet has led to such things as the 2016 election of Trump, the Brexit vote and the rise of populist parties and farmers’ protests across Europe.

So far, the elites seem barely aware of this discontent. This may stem from the fact that the oligarchs and their minions live in a very different reality from most people. They are shielded from the consequences of the policies they promote, whether from the job losses brought about by eco-austerity, or the rising crime and disorder resulting from efforts to ‘defund the police’ and the refusal to penalise street crime. They live in closeted, gentrified urban neighbourhoods, elite leafy suburbs or country retreats.

The elites’ arrogance could turn out to be their greatest liability. Those outside the charmed circle may often seem ill-mannered, but they are not stupid. They know they are being assaulted by people with greater resources, who favour ever more controls on everyday behaviour, on small businesses and on speech. The oligarchs may see themselves as what David Callahan describes as a kind of ‘benign plutocracy’, but ordinary people do not regard these ultra-rich poseurs in such flattering terms.

Like French aristocrats before the revolution, the oligarchs talk largely among themselves. They seem unaware that they may be financing fashionable causes that may threaten ‘their own rights and even their existence’, as Alexis de Tocqueville said of the Ancien Régime. In pre-revolutionary times, French aristocrats and top clerics preached Christian charity and celebrated the rights of man while indulging in gluttony, sexual adventurism and lavish spending, as well as exercising their historic privileges. Just like the revolutionaries of 1789, many in today’s third estate are disgusted by the hauteur and hypocrisy of the upper classes.

Already among Democrats, the party with most oligarchic support, more of its registered supporters favour socialism over capitalism. At the same time, the echo of 1789 was evident in the so-called gilets-jaunes (yellow-vest) protests against higher fuel taxes in the winter of 2018-2019. Recent protests by farmers in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy all reflect concerns about the impact of elite policies on ordinary people’s livelihoods.

Ultimately, this rebellion, launched from the left or right, or both simultaneously, represents a direct threat to our insane ruling class. Even those elites who are worried about the financial distress facing the masses have only the most patronising solutions to offer. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former head of Uber Travis Kalanick and AI guru Sam Altman have all spoken in favour of an expanded welfare state and direct cash payments for the proles, under the guise of a ‘universal basic income’.

For all their faults, the elites of industrial-era Britain and America at least provided opportunities for the middle and especially the working class. They helped create powerful economies that, ultimately, and with some political cajoling, produced unprecedented mass affluence. In contrast, today’s oligarchs and their ‘expert class’ allies offer nothing more than subsidies and handouts – or what Karl Marx referred to as ‘the proletarian alms-bag’.

In the coming decade, we need a politics that rejects the assumption of superiority and right to rule from our oligarchic rulers. There is still time, despite the power of the elites, to champion democracy, liberal values and the dream of upward mobility. ‘A man may be led by fate’, wrote the great Soviet-era Russian novelist Vasily Grossman, ‘but he can refuse to follow’. The future course of history is never inevitable, if we retain the will to shape it.

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