Biden is on record saying cluster bombs are a war crime. But don’t worry, it’s only temporary. Besides, Russia was first.
Biden’s Former Press Secretary on Cluster Bombs
Biden Defends ‘Difficult Decision’
The Guardian reports Joe Biden Defends ‘Difficult Decision’ to Send Cluster Munitions to Ukraine.
Joe Biden defends ‘difficult decision’ to send cluster munitions to Ukraine
Rights groups condemn supply of widely banned weapons and fellow Democrat calls it a ‘terrible mistake’Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. They typically scatter numerous smaller bomblets over a wide area, sometimes as big as a football pitch, and can kill indiscriminately. Those that fail to explode threaten civilians, especially children, for decades after a conflict ends.
In an interview with CNN, the US president said: “This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it and so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the defense department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians.”
On Friday, the Pentagon announced an $800m (£625m) military aid package to Ukraine that includes cluster munitions.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House: “We recognize that cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance.
Excuses of the Day
- Susie did it first
- Running low on weapons
- It’s only temporary
View From Germany
Reuters reports Germany Opposes Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine, Minister Says.
Germany opposes sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, its foreign minister said on Friday, a day after U.S. officials said Washington was planning to provide Kyiv with the weapons, widely denounced for killing and maiming civilians.
Human rights organisations oppose such a move and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Germany, as one of 111 states party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), did as well. The United States is not a party to the convention.
Unique US View
111 nations ban cluster bombs. The US has a unique view. If we do it, that’s OK. If anyone else does, then it’s a war crime.
But repeat after me. Don’t worry, it’s only temporary.
US Aid to Ukraine
For discussion of US aid please see the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) article How Much Aid Has the U.S. Sent Ukraine? Here Are Six Charts.
EU Aid to Ukraine
The above chart from EU Solidarity with Ukraine.
In 2023, in order to continue supporting Ukraine, the EU is providing an unprecedented support package of up to €18 billion, in the form of highly concessional loans, of which €9 billion has already been disbursed.
Another important goal is to reconstruct civilian small-scale infrastructure, ensure energy security, and strengthen cyber security, media freedom and actions against disinformation. Previous on-going projects worth €192 million have been adjusted to meet urgent needs on the ground.
The Commission, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group have together mobilised €1 billion for Solidarity Lanes to increase global food security and provide a lifeline for Ukraine’s economy.
Since the beginning of the war, the EU has stepped up its immediate support to strengthen Ukraine’s cyber resilience with €10 million for equipment, software and other related support. A further €19 million from the €330 million package has been provided to support resilient digital transformation.
The EU is also delivering 35 million LED light bulbs for Ukraine.
EU Spending Allocations
- The EC estimates its Green deal, will cost a whopping €620bn. The Commission itself has only allocated €82.5 billion.
- As noted by Eurointelligence, the EC puts the cost of the reconstruction of Ukraine at €384 billion a year. The proposed but unallocated EU budget is Up to €50 Billion Total. “The foreseen overall amount of the Facility is up to €50 billion for the period 2024 to 2027 for both grants and loans. Undoubtedly, most of that $50 billion in “funding” will be loans.
I commented on EU funding in general earlier today.
For discussion, please see The Green Deal in the EU Goes Unfunded, Expect a Total Collapse
If you live in the US, your tax dollars are in play. Next to nothing will come from the EU, despite the fact Ukraine is the EU’s backyard.
Compare all this to Ike, a President who has seen the horrors of war. His words were……..
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
I LIKE IKE !!!!!
One thing I find interesting as a result of this war, is that Russia will be moving tactical nukes closer (Belarus) to the NATO countries. At the moment a loss for NATO.
Actually a loss for Belarus because NATO and US will now target nukes on that location and to Minsk.
To clarify the US commitment: the US is sending
“hundreds of thousands” of rounds of controversial cluster munitions known as Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICMs).
None of this matters. We’re focused on a front line in Ukraine when the real war is taking place in western Europe with African soldiers. The Chinese are taking over Africa with BRI and they’re sending militant Muslim teenagers into Europe. Europe is already doomed. Their economy hasn’t grown in 10 years and has no way of growing. Their governments are going to fall one by one. Our 2 biggest allies, Europe and Japan are both doomed. Long term, Germany is going to ally with Russia and China out of necessity and that will leave the US on an island with Canada. The rest of Europe will follow. Even Mexico will be against us and keep sending illegals over our border, eventually dooming us. We’re too dumb to see the obvious.
Disgusting article. Only one way focus. Russians used cluster munition against civilians, cities et cet. That is a war crime. Usage of this ammo against soldiers on your own ground cannot be war crime. The decision is way too late. Earlier decision could save a lot of Ukrainian soldiers that defend their own country against hostile country that guaranteed Ukraine’s territorial integrity in 1994.
I’m beginning to think Mish is a psyop to induce strokes in old people and liberals.
US gov deposited your money in the Fed bank account in preparation for the next recession.
If the next recession is lightweight the Fed either print, or raid in, or both to save the econ and lift the Dow.
If it’s deep your assets and your money might be gone. US econ might be on dialysis
machine.
Blame Putin.
Finally some good news for Russia troops – salary bump ahead. All they need to do is stay alive until Oct 1 to start collecting! [roflol]
—–
7/1/2023
“Bloomberg is reporting Friday the Kremlin has authorized a significant boost to salaries across the national armed forces, writing that “The Russian government will increase salaries for military servicemen by 10.5% from Oct. 1, a government decree published on the official web portal showed on Friday.””
The Russian economy must be doing OK.
The Russians will actually have to pay for this.
They can’t simply have their secretary of the treasury visit another country and dump more Government debt on the world markets.
I am sick and tired of being an apologist for Russia.
The war in Ukraine as it is is inexcusable.
But there is so much misinformation here there needs to be some balance.
I think there are very few here that fully endorse the war in Ukraine.
But Ukraine has issues too and didn’t arrive at them without external assistance.
The whole world is corrupt. Why single out Ukraine as worse than the rest?
Mish,
Which is more dangerous –
Walking around Ukraine
Or
Walking around Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago on the weekend (there are no Ukrainians)
?
Russia’s economic decline is irreversible
by James Rogan
July 02, 2023 02:00 PM
The economy of Russia is in shambles. And while the war in Ukraine is the main culprit for this state of affairs, there are others. Making matters worse for Moscow, President Vladimir Putin’s choices have rendered unworkable traditional economic paths out of recession and economic stagnation.
Typically, a domestic economy operating under a sanctions regime such as that facing Russia would create substitutes for otherwise unavailable goods and services. But sanctions dramatically limit foreign direct investment, which is necessary to modernize the Russian economy. The basic nature of Putin’s economic system makes it almost impossible for Russia to crawl out of its deep economic hole. Economic and political stability, necessary preconditions for economic reform, are far over the horizon given the war in Ukraine, sanctions, and the coup attempt by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
…
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/russias-economic-decline-is-irreversible
We should give Ukraine everything short of nuclear weapons to defeat Pootin and Russia. Apparently quite a few on here are okay with Ukraine being wiped off the map. I wonder why that is?
Russia has a strong internet presence, trolls & influencers posing as Americans, make no mistake, real Americans are supporting Ukraine on both sides of the aisle.
I don’t know a single person in real life that opposes Ukraine support, some worried about direct conflict with Russia, but not one that opposes it.
Yup, real Americans eat raw meat.
And twice on Sundays.
I do not want Russia to capture Ukraine.
I very much do want a geographical buffer between Russia and the neocons in the West leading NATO. Is the north Atlantic very far from Russia?
Most could not identify Ukraine on a blank map.
Many cannot identify New Hampshire on a blank map.
New WHAT?
How about we agree to stop supplying cluster munitions to Ukr when Russia stops using them (esp against Ukraine civilian population), create a life saving option for the Russians? Create an incentive for Russia to improve their behavior. Russia needs more incentives like this to improve their behavior and seek peaceful coexistence with neighboring Ukraine.
If we hamstring democracies defending themselves from attacks by totalitarian neighbors we’re de facto assisting totalitarians. Chamberlain tried playing nice with Hitler etc.
Exactly, limiting Ukraine’s force now is equivalent to conceding to Putin in slow motion.
The time for diplomacy was gone as soon as Russia forcefully invaded in 2014.
Using the same logic, what happens when all we have left are nukes?
The most salient part of the story is the part where Biden went off script and blabbered the parts of the discussion he wasn’t meant to say out loud.
We’re running low
Indeed, after raiding Nato, Israel, Korea, and Japan, turns out the greatest military is running out of 155mm ordinance, and is digging into 40 year old cluster munitions of which the dud rad in real life conditions is estimated to be 20-25% [expired, falling on mud and shrubs, etc]
So plan A was to reduce the ruble to rubble and ruin Russia’s economy.
Plan B was to overwhelm them with Nato’s manufacturing prowess.
Is it starting to dawn that Nato is going to lose this war?
Russia is producing 1600 tanks this year, millions of shell, tens of thousands of missiles. They are outproducing Nato by a factor of 10-100×. What does that say about all the economics experts with their estimates?
Switchblade drones take out tanks, they cost $6K each.
IMO, tanks are a poor investment, it’s all about drones now.
True. This war has unleased a wave of innovation. All big wars do and Russia is on the wrong end of this one.
Not to worry.
In a few years the US will have ramped up to war-time production rates.
Stop. It was a war crime to use them against civilian targets in the Kharkiv Oblast which is what Russia was doing all last year.
“War crime” is an oxymoron.
War itself is a crime.
Thermonuclear war coming right up…..but it’s only temporary.
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2023/07/assisted-suicide/
“These people want you to believe, and maybe they still believe it themselves, that Ukraine can beat Russia. Over the past 16 months, there has been nothing that points to that, Ukraine has lost anything and everything, but EU and NATO still want to send more weapons into the meat grinder. Weapons, but not their children. Why do 65% of Americans, and “leaders” like Rutte, Blinken, Macron, want the killing to continue? Because their voters have no problem with 400,000 dead young Ukrainians. And their media will blame everything on Putin. The same media tells them they will win. But there is no indication that this is even remotely realistic. Unfortunately, NATO doesn’t care about realistic: losing to Russia is not in their dictionary. Having a million Ukrainians killed, is.”
That is a very good reason to give Ukraine the best weapons and plenty of them so that less of them are killed and many more Russians are.
Hence the reason to send nukes, chemical and biological weapons to Ukraine.
The problem now is that Russian forces are dug in and the attacker invariably loses more men that the defender. So to dislodge Russian forces, Ukraine will have to suffer 2-3 times as many dead soldiers in any attack. Or they need the above 3 weapons and hopefully survive any Russian counterattack using those same weapons.
What is your objection? Is that Ukraine defends itself when invaded by a country who has said that it denies the very existence of your culture and language or do you object that Russia wasn’t able to do it in three days allowing that you could return to your calm life far away from danger? I understand why you would want to be hover above criticizing both sides. It’s a pleasant place to be because you don’t have to choose. Maybe one day you will. Anyway your tax dollars are going to the Ukraine and that is what is important. If you are not happy with it then call your Congressperson.
I object that my tax dollars are going to Ukraine when we have much better things to spend them on here.
I also object that Europe isn’t doing enough to help (most of the money and military stuff is from the US) when Europe is the one who feels threatened (this in no way threatens the USA).
Lastly, I object that NATO is using half measures. If they really want to stop Russia (ie it’s that important), then send in NATO troops backed by chemical, biological and nukes if necessary and end it already (even if it means eating some Russian nukes because it’s that important). NATO could have ended this war week 1 by doing that but instead they drag their feet. I’m not much of a half measures guy in my personal life so I hate the half measured solution.
Whenever a new Western “wonderweapon” appears, the Russians soon learn how to protect themselves against it. This was the case with the Himars, or English Storm shadows, which are now almost totally ineffective. And probably the Russians are passing on what they learned to their allies, China and Iran. This is why the Pentagon is very hesitant.
“Because their voters have no problem with 400,000 dead young Ukrainians. And their media will blame everything on Putin.”
Maybe I missed a detail, but who, exactly, kills the Ukrainians?
Who invaded who?
Who has been openly threatening the “west” with nukes?
As one the the aforementioned “voters” you mention, I’m getting sick of the wasted time, maybe it’s time for feet on the ground, get this damned thing over with and give Putin, as well as other aspiring sociopathic dictators with nukes the message.
If America backs out, Putin will become far more aggressive, and let’s not forget that China and N. Korea are watching.
Do you really think backing out of Ukraine would be the end of this?
JFK knew this during the Cuban missile crisis and he was right.
.
And who will heal the aggressive countries that have devastated Vietnam, Irak, Afghanistan, Lybia ?
I agree,
I do not think that Russians backing out of Ukraine will be the end of this.
As for Cuba, the Russians started putting missiles into Cuba AFTER the United States put nuclear-armed missiles pointed at Russia into Turkey. They took them out of Cuba AFTER the US agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey.
It depends strongly on who is writing the history.
The sooner the Russians get their butts kicked back to Irkutsk or Omsk or wherever, the sooner this will be over, and the more lives that will be saved. Whatever it takes to make it happen.
My understanding is that both sides have been using mobile mining and that these are a form of cluster bombs. Mines in and of themselves are nasty things and the Ukrainian country side is strewn with them.
The use of depleted uranium in tank rounds is another bad faith weapon. Add to that the total lunacy of Zelensky’s shelling of the Zaparoshna nuclear power plant.
The idiot neocons have really stepped into it this time. This conflict will have long ranging consequences that have yet to unfold, including the dethroning of the US dollar.
Yes, I think this one is going to be worse than Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan or Somalia or Libya or Syria or …
I do understand that the US was successful in Western Germany, Grenada and Panama.
“Thiiiingz are always diiiiiiiiferent thiiiiiiiiiiz tiiiiiiime”, for those whose intellect limit them to “One. Two. Many.”
Even the most elementary logic, doesn’t really function as intended by sentients, for those too dumb to recognise even the most obvious absurdity in a reduction to absurdity proof.
People who are informed by MI6 and Zelensky props shouldn’t dismiss Scott Ritter and col MacGregor.
It would be nice to have heard the evidence on Russian use of cluster bombs or cluster artillery shells. For some reason our government declines to do so, and Ukrainian claims on the subject are entirely unreliable. On the other hand there is plenty of video evidence showing the Ukrainian use of so-called “petal” mines (small explosive mines scattered in the same way are cluster bombs, delivered by artillery). These mines have been used in Donetsk and perhaps other cities – targeted at civilians. This is war. I expect no truth from governments. I do expect the US to continue its mindless introduction of escalatory measures , each one another step up the ladder to a nuclear confrontation with Russia. And I don’t trust Biden to know where to stop.
I second that (Arthur’s post). American journalist Patrick Lancaster (among others) has documented Ukrainian terror shelling of civilian targets in the Donbas, including with the petal cluster bombs. I’ve seen nothing comparable showing Russian use of cluster munitions.
Interesting that the claims are on Ukrainian soil and the focus is on what weapons Ukraine is using to defend itself, while denying Russia has used them.
That’s like saying it’s the homeowner’s fault the criminal broke in because the homeowner used a shotgun.
.
I don’t think that the citizens of Donetsk think that Ukraine defends them when they receive Ukrainian bombs.
Then Russia should leave.
Why?
They have been living there for generations.
It would be nice for Russia to leave Ukraine. Do you agree?
Not since Jonah and his proclamation to Ninava has a country such as the Ukraine needed to put on sackcloth and ashes.
Goliath was bigger than David but David was smarter than Goliath. He also had God on his side. Russia is bigger than Ukraine but Ukraine fights smarter than Russia plus it has Nato on its side. The result is foreordained.
Of course from the Russian side of things, they are David and NATO is Goliath.
Any story can be spun both ways.
Sure.
Anyone else remember “Gott Mit Uns.”
This war is becoming the classic example of ‘mission creep’ for both the US and NATO.
First, the US and NATO weren’t going to supply main battle tanks. Now, British Challengers and US Abrams are supplied or on their way to Ukraine. Then, the US and NATO weren’t going to supply fighter jets for fear of bringing a NATO sponsored air war into Russian airspace. Then again, we weren’t going to supply cluster munitions. Now, all of the above will be approved. Biden has also declared that ‘no US boots on the ground.’ Will that be the next line we cave on?
The war has not gone the way either side has anticipated. Russia expected to roll over Ukraine, but western armaments have kept Ukraine in the battle. Unfortunately it appears that the much anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive has faltered. Now the US & NATO are deciding to up the ante by supplying more quantities of more lethal weaponry. This situation doesn’t look good from any perspective.
I recommend the Youtube channel ‘CRUX’ for unvarnished information regarding the war. The channel just relates what both sides’ ministries of defense are spouting on any given day as to casualties and attacks. The information provided is very conflicting. It’s up to the viewer to decipher what the heck is going on. No doubt that each and every proclamation by both sides has to be questioned. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify any of the statements.
I think that the most important aspect of this story, that Biden admits, is that US is short of 155mm shells and can only send these cluster munitions.
In general we are witnessing a considerable loss of prestige of Westerners throughout the world: their famous “wonderweapons” are destroyed in enormous quantities by much less expensive weapons (what is the price of a Lancet drone, compared with that of a Leopard 2 or Bradley ?)
Fully agree, this is the real ‘bombshell’. And to think that all the NATO experts were saying a few weeks after the start that Russia was running out of ammo, 10 days until they’re finished, and other such nonsense. Sad to say, but , I see people apparently still believing those same totally discredited sources.
The fact that Prigozhin was openly lambasting the Russian defense ministry for sending his troops into battle unarmed notwithstanding….
.
I disagree with Mish, though I don’t like the U.S. sending cluster bombs, I like it even less that Russia has used cluster bombs on Ukraine, mainly civilian targets killing children, seniors…hospitals, churches, schools, apartment buildings.
While cluster bombs are outlawed in over 100 countries, oddly, they’re legal for the U.S.
Putin has displayed willful abuse of any leverage he can muster to undermine U.S. and E.U. economies, that was completely obvious when he flooded the oil market in 2020 to bankrupt U.S. oil producers.
* Imagine what happens with greater control of grains – global hunger, soaring food prices, lest we yield to his form of rule of law.
We avoided involvement when he invaded Georgia on the premise that was the end of it, if he gets Ukraine, next up is Europe
…. Fool me twice and I’m the fool.
Perhaps Putin will also want to cull all the “Nazi’s” in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania…all former Soviet friendly regions like Ukraine.
Or, he focuses on the “Stans” to increase Russian monopoly on oil, metals and minerals, Kazakhstan is extremely resource rich and they’re getting nervous, they recently had to openly warn citizens about Russian recruitment efforts inside their country.
Mish – “Mom, Susie Did it First” is dramatically oversimplifying the problem.
That’s akin to saying we’re in the wrong if Putin launches nukes and we fire back. “Mom” might say “If Russia jumps off a bridge, would you jump too?”
Putin’s intentions are crystal clear and his methods are horrific, as seen in Ukraine, we don’t get to play dumb – He’s making a play to increase dominance over the global economy, and it will directly effect us, even if we want to pretend it won’t.
.
.
I am especially distressed by the soldiers throwing premature babies on the floor and sending the incubators back to … Oops, wrong war.
And if Putin takes Ukraine the next step will be Laos, then Cambodia, then Thailand, then … Oops, wrong war, different war, but still wrong war.
Why do intelligent folks listen to these people?
…
.. entire families being forced to work until dead, or marched into into gas chambers.
Oops, wrong war.
Humanitarian causes aside, there was a lot more to my post than humanitarian justification, but please, cherry-pick at will.
.
You may want to read history and know the Ukrainians were ebulliently assisting the NAZI’s is rounding up their jewish citizens when they were occupied by the Germans. Check out the article by David Stockman titled “Pearl Harbor my Eye”
rape rooms anyone?
Welcome to the mass media think tank. It is all about the propaganda. The more you believe it, the worse it becomes.
It makes me wonder why the US just happens to have a large enough supply of these cluster weapons to send them off to Ukraine….when over 100 countries banned their use. Is the US still making them?
Only when really, really necessary.
LOL …If Russia lost 220 K soldiers , Nazikraine must ve lost a million …. you are merely emulating western propaganda ….Ukraine is on it fn knees , no doubt about it …Next week in vilnius though, our fn psychopaths might decide to start off on WW3….Good luck to everyone !
Were you ever able to cash your Russian checks that you were whining about months back?
I remember that, and I imagine if you haven’t been able to get into Russia, the check is still uncashed.
Judging by your log absence here, looks like you had to fly home to Russia.
.
“In war, truth is the first casualty.”
Aeschylus
Those claiming that Russia is winning or losing or that Ukraine is winning or losing ought to consider the sage words of Aeschylus.
I do know this that in the US the MSM doesn’t cover the Donbas region and the fighting occurring there.
Yes, and the actions of Kiev in the Donbas is when all this started.
Prigozhin to Syria ?
Russia has lost at least 220,000 soldiers during this SMO according to the latest counts. Soldiers are deserting and switching sides in droves.
—–
Russian army officers ‘abandon Putin and join rebels’ as morale collapses over war fatigue
EXCLUSIVE: The commander of the Freedom of Russia Legion said army officers were tired of the war and understood that Putin was leading them and their country into the grave.
Sun, Jul 2, 2023
Russian army officers and security officials are abandoning Vladimir Putin and joining the side of the rebels in ever-increasing numbers, according to the commander of the Freedom Legion. Last Saturday the Putin regime was rocked to its core after one of the Russian President’s closest allies, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched an armed revolt that came within a whisker of toppling the Kremlin boss and putting an end to his 23-year reign. The Russian President along with his panicking elites fled the capital en masse before the Wagner boss appeared to get cold feet at the 11th hour, calling off his mutinous troops as they bore down on Moscow.
…
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1786732/russia-army-officers-abandon-putin-ukraine
LOL …If Russia lost 220 K soldiers , Nazikraine must ve lost a million …. you are merely emulating western propaganda ….Ukraine is on it fn knees , no doubt about it …Next week in vilnius though, our fn psychopaths might decide to start off on WW3….Good luck to everyone !
Nice to hear from you again. Best of luck to you and yours.
Bring back the IGNORE button Mish!
And thumbs up. And bold/italic/quote styles.
Just watched the history of WW1, and all the death and destruction meted out by the psycho elites of the time. No way these psychos would give an inch lest be viewed as weak. They ALL should have been lined up to the wall.
But then, the victors threw a party for the plebs, and told them to go home like good sheep.
Hence we have a repeat.
You keep hoping and keep getting disappointed. You said the same thing over a year ago and somehow Russian forces keep losing territory. Perhaps you should ask yourself if you are wrong.
This is primarily an artillery war. Russia has been firing 10X the artillery shells that Ukraine has. The number of soldiers killed on each sides will be more or less in that proportion. If Russia really had lost 220K soldiers, then Ukraine would have lost anywhere between 1.5M and 2.2M soldiers.
Russia loses 220,000 troops in Ukraine – UK Defense Ministry
July 5, 2023, 11:42 AM
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, total personnel losses of the Russian military are as high as 220,000, UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces, James Heappey MP, told the Parliament on July 5.
…
https://english.nv.ua/nation/russia-loses-220-000-troops-in-ukraine-uk-defense-ministry-50336850.html
Oooooh! UK Defense Ministry! LOL. Now, I believe that story completely! Because they always tell the truth. ALWAYS! LOL
There is no doubt that Russia and Ukraine have both suffered. However, both sides are engaging in propaganda. Believing either side is problematic at this stage. Either the fighting ends soon, or it elevates to US-Russia, which means a nuclear war. Then, there are no winners.
Why Putin Won’t Go Nuclear
by Ian Rons
4 June 2023 1:49 PM
Ever since it became apparent that Putin’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine was only ‘special’ in the sarcastic sense, there have been articles assessing whether Putin might reach for the nuclear button. Very broadly, these have come from two distinct camps: the military analysts, who’ve focused more on the practical limitations of tactical or low-yield nukes and who tend to think that Putin would have to be mad to use them, and political science types (what we used to call “Kremlinologists”) who’ve wondered whether he is that mad, and have tended to the view that he isn’t.
What’s slightly unusual about retired Brigadier General Kevin Ryan’s recent article in UnHerd – in which he argues that Putin will use “a tactical nuclear weapon” – is that he’s a former high-ranking military man who, instead of addressing any of the practical military issues of battlefield nukes, looks for signs and portents about their possible use in Putin’s public statements and the like. However, his interesting and varied military biography might suggest why – I think it’s fair to say he’s more of a politics/intelligence and Kremlinology guy. I had to go to his biography because I was rather startled by his assumptions about tactical nukes:
…
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/06/04/173057/
Here’s an inspirational Ukraine article.
——–
They’re Ready to Fight Again, on Artificial Legs
July 8, 2023
Nicholas Kristof
LVIV, Ukraine — The Superhumans Center is full of war amputees learning to walk on artificial limbs or smoking cigarettes clutched in prosthetic fingers.
Yet this philanthropically supported hospital for wounded Ukrainians is not antiseptically depressing, as hospitals often are. Perhaps that’s because of the admiration that Ukrainians feel for these veterans, leading them to carry their stumps with pride — and to plan a return to the front with artificial arms and legs.
“I do not see disabled people,” Oleksandra Kabanova said as she sat waiting for her husband, Oleh Spodin, to complete a physical therapy session. “I see superheroes.”
She eagerly shared the story of how Spodin lost his leg: He volunteered to go out and rescue a wounded comrade. “He’s very sexy without a leg,” she added, beaming.
That’s where I think Vladimir Putin miscalculated when he invaded Ukraine last year: He underappreciated Ukrainian grit and resilience. I suspect some Americans make the same mistake. Month after month, Ukrainians have lost buildings, heat, electricity, lives — yet they are ready to keep sacrificing, and there is a society-wide reverence for those who have given so much.
…
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/opinion/ukraine-war-amputees.html
New York Times will fight to the last Ukrainian Neo-Nazi.
How about we try to find a peaceful solution?
Agree with you. Here is Jojo’s plan:
********
1. Russia withdraws all its troops to the pre-2014 borders. Ukraine agrees not to violate Russia borders.
2. Russia signs a future non-invasion of Ukraine agreement
3. Russia agrees to turn over all its war criminals to the world court.
4. Russia agrees that it will pay for all damages incurred by Ukraine and all rebuilding resulting from the Russian invasion and continual bombings. This can be done by releasing its claims on assets presently stored in foreign countries (to be turned over to Ukraine) and via its future oil/gas sales revenues.
On Russia’s agreement and the withdrawal of all troops and equipment from Ukraine, Western sanctions will begin to be lifted in stages based on performance of the remainder of the agreement.
********
What say you?
This is about what I would expect from you.
In my experience, there are always two sides to a war, the truth being somewhere in the middle. The victor gets to write their ‘truth’. With no victor, a deal is made.
My deal with Russia would include:
a) Ukraine to be a neutral state, until…
b) Russia is admitted to the EU, with admission to NATO phased in.
Some in Europe dream of incorporating Russia into the EU somehow. Doubtful that many Russians want that.
My plan has a much better chance of being implemented once Ukraine forces Russian troops off of its land with the help of the US+NATO.
Unfortunately for Russia, this is what they will be looking at when that occurs:
———
– Putin will be killed one way or the other, either by someone intent on taking his place or after conviction of war crimes.
– Russia will be destroyed economically
– Russia’s intellectual and scientific future is effectively dead with the emigration of so many of their young, highly intelligent workers who have no interest in fighting against Ukraine.
– On the defeat of Russia, it will likely be broken up into smaller countries. For certain, China would be interested in staking a claim for land in the east. Perhaps Ukraine will expand to encompass Belarus and western Russia, including Moscow.
it is a plagiarism of the famous scene “The Black Knight” from “Monty Python and the holy grail”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
Blah, blah, blah.
If Russia can use cluster bombs (they have been doing so), then we should give them to Ukraine so they can better kick Russia’s rear. We’ll worry about disarming any duds later.
All’s fair in love and war, no?
…Except that Russia has NOT used cluster bombs in Ukraine ….yet
Russia has, it’s fully documented, this is the point Mish makes above with “Mom, Susie Did it First”.
I know I’m wasting my time debating a Russian troll, but you’re blatantly lying, even Mish mentions it in the blog you apparently didn’t read.
Sure they have. There are plenty of video and on-site evidence of Russia using cluster munitions, some of them in residential neighborhoods. To Ukraine’s credit they just said they will use them on their own territory occupied by Russia and not in Russia itself.
As in “We had to destroy the village to save it.” logic.
JoJo, I have to agree, just the fact that Russia made it’s current territorial gains using cluster bombs in residential areas is enough to justify Ukraine using like force to get their territory back.
I’m getting a strong pro-Russia vibe in the comments here today, if FSB trolls are out in force in means Russia’s afraid.
..
Whether Russia was using it or not, the current action by the US gives Russia the justification to use those bombs too.
Bully punches you in the face.
Yes, If you punch back, he’s likely to punch again, so, what’s your next move?
Which bully? That’s Ukraine in 2014, right?
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/20/ukraine-widespread-use-cluster-munitions
Holy cow, so, your saying that Ukraine attacked its own territory, unprovoked, no “bully” involved, they just did it for no reason!
Which, in your view, makes it ok for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before hand, or, something.
Then cluster bombs “in your own territory” are okay, but otherwise not? Would this also apply to chemical weapons? Does Zelensky need to be “in his own territory” when he orders the use of cluster bombs? Or can he be in his multi-million-dollar Italian mansion when he orders the use of cluster bombs? What if Zelensky has rented his Italian mansion to a RUSSIAN couple for $50,000 EURO per month like he did in September of 2022?
The Ukro Nazis (put in power by the US coup) were trying to ethnically cleanse eastern Ukraine of people of Russian ethnicity.
Keep up! You are about 10 YEARS behind on the news!
PerplexedPete
“Then cluster bombs “in your own territory” are okay, but otherwise not? ”
This statement is idiotic.
If a home invader is in my house, I’ll use whatever it takes to stop him, that doesn’t make me the aggressor.
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“What if Zelensky has rented his Italian mansion to a RUSSIAN couple for $50,000 EURO per month like he did in September of 2022?”
I just bought some food at the supermarket, the cashier’s name tag was Russian, she had a Russian accent. The scandal.
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Stupid comparison. Did the money you spent come from the bribes that the US government paid you? Or was it your own earnings?
THAT’s the difference!
Russian couple rents his Italian vacation home, therefore it’s bribery, while he’s waging war on their country.
You’re saying….what? The Russian couple’s using U.S. bribes to pay their rent, seriously, what?
I paid for my groceries with a Russian cashier, therefore I’m, er, paying bribes to Russia!…Yeah, that’s it!
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No.
Absolute correct.
There technically is no such thing as War Crimes. There’s just a winner and a loser and then the winner gets to decide what happens to the loser (calling it war crimes).
Both sides should have used tactical nukes and other nasty chemical weapons by now. It would have ended things a long time ago one way or another.
About 60 years ago we had a President who warned us all about the MIC…
now we have a “president” who appears to be employed by them.
Along with most if not all politicians of both parties.
The U.S. has decried others as committing war crimes for over a century and “virtously” done those exact things (or worse). Hypocrisy is a policy that transcends military engagements and administrations.
What else do you expect from the only counter to slaughter 250k innocent Japanese citizens with an atomic bomb. Unfortunately I was a sheep brainwashed by the idea it was a necessary evil. What an fing lie we were told. It goes on and on.
The Japanese Army slaughtered between 20 million and 40 million Chinese civilians during their invasion during the 1930’s and throughout WW2. As punishment for allowing this record-setting mass murder, the USA gave Emperor Hirohito total immunity and allowed him to stay in power.
Might want to read up on the history of ‘Operation Downfall’ and the expected US & Japanese casualties due to expected fanatical and suicidal defense of the Japanese home islands against a US land invasion. It would have been a
cataclysmic meatgrinder.
https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-057/h-057-1.html
might want to read this instead. They were willing to surrender under the terms agreed to after we dropped the atomic bomb. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-08-05/hiroshima-anniversary-japan-atomic-bombs
I fear this comment is the result of rewriting history. I knew men, now dead, who were at Iwo Jima, Changi Prison at Singapore, the jungles of Papua and New Guinea… Trust me, the Japanese got EXACTLY what they deserved. The cruelty of the Japanese was without limit.
Correct. The Japanese did not know the word surrender and would have fought to the last man as they did in Iwo Jima, Tarawa and countless other places.
Those bombs however horrible saved millions of lives.
So the article is a lie? I doubt it. History is written by the winners. The truth lies in between. Doesn’t mean the article is not true. Just because the Japanese military was malevolent did not give the US the right to kill innocent women and children. The population I am sure was brainwashed by their evil propaganda just like most US citizens are who believe our politburo.
Just to be clear, ALL sides were happily killing innocent women and children. What exactly do you think the air raids over Europe were all about? The idea was to break morale and make the people rise up and beg for peace. Instead it had the opposite effect in pretty much every country in that it galvanized the population to resist as long as possible.
One of the biggest lessons learned from WWII was that bombing civilian population doesn’t really help much.
Please read some history of WWII. I have a lot of respect for Japan’s (Samurai) honor code, but it did not extend to prisoners of war. And it certainly did not extend to the women and children of countries it invaded, eg Nanking.
Japan was also given fair warning that they would be subjected to devastating results if they did not surrender. After the many millions of deaths Japan caused, two atomic bombs was fair payback.
“All governments lie.”
I.F. Stone
Why are some of the commenters expressing dismay, shock, or calling Joey a hypocrite when he simply is a liar as Trump, Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I and Reagan were. There are other presidents that lied but …….you get the point.
We gave Zelensky a candy, cluster bombs, because Ukraine counterattack goes nowhere.
The kill ratio is : 7/10 Ukainian dead/wounde for every Russian soldiers. The Russian neutered new weapon system we sent them. The Russians have the best anti aircraft
system in the world. Their SU-35 challenged us in Syria, because they might
open a new front with their proxies against US targets rich Israel : NVDA, Intel, MSFT…
since we are running out of ammunition.
Are you a parody account?
Watch some videos by Colonel Douglas MacGregor and you’ll find that everything in Michael Engel’s post is very accurate. The Ukrainian Army is getting shellacked by the Russians. This conflict would have been over a year ago (with much less death and destruction) if not for western aid, mostly from the USA.
MacGregor has been proven wrong on every prediction he has made re: Ukraine. Listening to him is like looking to Peter Schiff for market guidance. [lol]
There is an army of retired colonels ( around 10,000) so it isn’t a surprise that you can find one or two who take the pro-Russian view.
There are fewer generals; however the ‘woke’ ones are now running the military. That kind of thinking is not conducive to winning wars.
If what is happening at the US Air Force Academy, is happening at the other branches, the US has a major problem.
How is that relevant? We had basically all of the Senate and House voting to invade Iraq. Only a few dissents.
If you add up the European military contribution it still is a considerable amount. Granted it’s less than the US but that’s because they just have less of the stuff. As a proportion of their stockpiles they are sending more than the US and that is normal because they are on the frontlines. As for economic aid from the graphs you provide they are spending just about the same as us. They are considered loans but we all know they won’t be paid back and expected to. Furthermore you have to look at what Europe gave up in order to help Ukraine. Germany and most of Northern Europe gave up cheap Russian oil and gas. They just walked away and accepted the cost to their economies of having to import at higher costs. Germany especially had a sweet deal but they decided to the surprise of many myself included that it was necessary to choose a side and they did. It would have been so easy to just close their eyes and continue business as usual but they didn’t. Most of the large European companies also just walked away from decades of investments in plant and equipment in Russia. The US didn’t have to pay the cost of higher energy and the US had less investment in Russia than the Europeans. If you roll that into the true cost you really can’t complain that the Europeans are not paying their fair share. They are and in spades. European arms manufacturing is starting to take off so they can send more and more to Ukraine.
Nearly all of of the EU contribution was loans. Hardly a contribution.
Nearly all US aid was a gift.
The EU is nearly as bid as the US.
Ukraine is in the EU’s backyard.
Hold on there. The US contribution is under the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022. Everyone knows the Ukrainians won’t give it back after having “lent it” and that Ukraine never “leased” the equipment either. Europe countries don’t have the same type of law so they have to say the arms were lent but everyone knows they were given. The result is the same thing for the US and for Europe. The arms will be used so they can’t be given back and everyone knows Ukraine being devastated by war won’t be able to pay it back. After the war when Ukraine wins Europe will be the one to rebuild the country like they did with Eastern Europe.
Russia rebuilt Eastern Europe after WWII since it controlled all those countries.
America rebuilt Western Europe under the Marshall plan.
Europe rebuilt nothing.
I think you meant to say: “After the war when the United States wins the US will be the one to rebuild the country like Europe after WWII.”
I wrote this and not al. Filling fields caused the error.
US cannot use clusters bombs. We recycle bad inventory, selling them to Churchill#2.
So the Defense Department says they are running low on weapons, so what sort of message does that send to China? I just cannot believe how utterly incompetent this whole administration is.
The are running low on very old weapons, the kind the US doesn’t use any more. You think the US was sending modern stuff to Ukraine? They’ve just been cleaning out old store rooms full of shells and other ammo.
“You think the US was sending modern stuff to Ukraine? ”
Supposedly “Modern” stuff was too expensive to keep sending to American soldiers in Afghanistan getting slapped around by sandalists, so no: The US sure can’t afford to send those scary fantasies to Ukraine.
Of course, none of this “modern” stuff worked in Afghanistan either. Some of it looked kinda cool and impressive, in well-orchestrated TeeVee campaigns, aimed at impressing the easily so. Kind of like Kim’s cardboard parade missile tubes. But it all proved, surprise surprise, woefully inadequate, when up against even half-hearted pushback from such marvels as home-made AKs and explosives, along with reasonably fertile women.
There is a familiar story here, beginning with Vietnam. Perhaps it is time to stop being the world’s policeman. Soldiers’ lives matter.
Committed to a military history …to shoot first (if covert assassination is not an option) and think later, the US proxy war in the Ukraine will prove to be an unnecessary and unmistakable disaster for Ukraine, Europe and the US.
This ‘weakening’ Bully can force an armistice at the table —but chooses not to. What an incredibly destructive decision, in which not one citizen ever had a meaningful say.
The fool in the White House is going to get us in WW3 and the Republicans are just helping it along.
Thats about all they agree on.
Roto1711,
You have a good point, we should always cower when invading dictators threaten with nukes if we don’t let them invade, rape and murder.
Otherwise, we’re warmongers.
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lol, funny but true.
Definitely! Surrendering right away when invaded will save lives and property especially for the invader.
There are other ways of solving conflict. With hawks in control, there is only one solution.
Would you call Putin a hawk of a dove?
I said ‘hawks.’ That would be Bidum and Putin. One is highly intelligent and might even listen to viable options. The other was never intelligent, now has dementia, and spends his days wandering about.
What exactly is the other way to solve conflict once it reaches the shooting state?
Russia for years said it had a problem with Ukrainian Nazi’s which the West said didn’t exist. So Russia started conflict because it wasn’t resolved in another way.
So what other solution was there?
Zelensky himself is Jewish, with family that was killed in the Holocaust.
Yes, there are irrelevant Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine, just as there are here in the U.S. (first amendment, as distasteful as it is, McCarthyism is illegal)
Using that rationale, Putin has the right to invade and “de-nazify” us and Europe as well.
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To Milton:
The neo Nazi’s are the AZOV battalion a division of the Ukrainian army that was engaging in genocide of ethnic Russian Ukrainians. The have the Swastika as their logo The Minsk agreement was supposed to end this. So your answer is way off.
A good question. First issue is how to remove the ‘Nazis’ from positions of power. Perhaps resettle them in South America; it worked for the German Nazis.
Golly Gee I wonder where all the Code Pink and other anti war activist groups are? Only when we have a Republican President it seems.
Well, no WMD’s were ever found, but yeah, it’s because he was a Republican, yeah.
This is what happens when you put a clown in the rainbow house. What’s next? A temporary use of tactical nukes?
Agreed! The hypocrisy of Joe Biden is absolutely stunning.
Just wondering aloud, but how much more massive US support is Vlad going to allow before taking aim at us via a cyber attack? Or asking China to ramp up arms supplies to counter Joe Biden. I’m stunned he’s held out this long.
Anyone who thinks this Ukraine war is going to end with diplomacy is a lunatic.
“Anyone who thinks this Ukraine war is going to end with diplomacy is a lunatic.”
We never know until after the fact, what is going on in secret, behind closed doors.
“…what is going on in secret, behind closed doors….”
Well, it Depends. Who changes them? Jill? The Secret Service? I’m betting Kamala. Why else would she be VP?
Not to rain on parades here, but it was House and Senate Republicans that pushed for Biden to send the cluster’s to Ukraine.
The criticism is coming from Congressional Democrats.
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Democrats good, Republicans bad.
A no brainer, less wear and tear on the brain cells.
Why not tactical nukes. It would have ended things a long time ago one way or another. Probably would have saved a LOT of lives and property too because the longer it goes on, the more death and destruction happens.
Um, because tactical nukes by one side become tactical nukes by the other side, become tactical nukes launched at the populace, become strategic nukes launched from Russia and the USA at each other?
Then why doesn’t using conventional weapons escalate the same way?
I disagree it escalates into tactical launched at the populace. Politicians like other rational people don’t want to die in a nuclear blast. So launching at civilian populations guarantees they too will eat a nuke. Hence they won’t be eager to launch at civilian populations.
Um, Coventry? Dresden? Operation Linebacker II aka The Christmas Bombing of Hanoi?
President Blinken needs to resign immediately. Likewise for Ukrainian VP of America Nuland.
You never know who’ll you get in the White House , when you vote Democratic.
My all-time favorite is VP Jake Sullivan.
We are also sending 2,500 Marines to the Black Sea.
Germany is sending 5000 soldiers to Lithuania now the Wagner is in Belarus.
Is that the whole German army these days – LOL
Schroder and Merkle made it sure to keep Germany’s armed forces at such a weak level in order to please Russia. Schroder went on to become a bigwig in Russia’s oil industry but Merkle’s payoff was short-circuited by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
We’ve always had a rotational marine force there already, couldn’t find anything new, got a link?