The west’s focus on imminent invasion in Ukraine may backfire – and bolster Putin | Keir Giles theguardian.com/commentisfree/… I am sure there will be Westerners like Giles who think that if Putin does not invade Ukraine that Putin has won. There will be a lot of useful idiots in the
2/ Western press. Putin has already invaded Ukraine. This is to deter further thrusts on the east and toward Kyiv. If Putin is deterred, NATO has succeeded. But, Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine & NATO will continue. Putin will always have the initiative because Putin is
3/ the aggressor, the invader. Putin aims to destabilize & destroy NATO as an effective counter to Putin's imperial aims. If Putin does not invade, the EU & NATO must build-up Ukraine on the economic & military fronts, as well going on the offense against Putin on his home turf.
4/ What Russia needs now is more democratization, human rights, glasnost, & perestroika. Putin & the oligarchs should get no more free rides. Start by kicking the oligarchs out of London. Crack down on Russian money laundering. But, don't be a useful idiot.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
US warns Russia conflict with Ukraine would be ‘horrific’ as tensions simmer theguardian.com/world/2022/jan… The words used to describe the situation like "panic" are not helpful. I was an Indications & Warning officer. You go through your checklist based on Soviet/Russian doctrine. You
2/ You look at the indicators changing from green to yellow to red. At some point, they are ready to invade. The hardest thing to determine is intent. IMHO Putin is trying to divide NATO, divide the EU; to create fissures in the alliances. His ultimate objective is the US out of
3/ Europe. Short of that, he wants Europeans to view the US as an unreliable ally. Putin wants to dissolve NATO. We simply have to stick to our guns. And make it clear to Putin that another invasion of Ukraine is going to cost his army, his mafia, and himself dearly. We should
1/ These Oath Keeper podcasts with Ernest HANCOCK add a second person involved with the so-called "continental congress" staged by Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, the Christian Reconstructionists' Constitution Party, and elements of the Libertarian Party: Hancock. He was a
The FBI arrested Stewart Rhodes, head of Oath Keepers, and Edward VALLEJO of Phoenix, AZ. My research files contain an "Edward Vallejo" from Arizona. At one time he was a member of the 9/12 Project from Pinal County, AZ. He was a member of Tea Party Patriots and a member of the
2/ Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty in Phoenix. He was also a delegate to and signer of the "Articles of Freedom" at the right-wing "continental congress" organized by the Ron Paul movement, the Christian Reconstructionist's Constitution Party, and elements of the Libertarian
3/ Party. Vallejo was a member of End The Fed and the John Birch Society, according to his bio for the "continental congress." Among the "Articles of Freedom" was a call to abolish the Dept of Homeland Security and establish militias in all 50 states under the auspices of the
Pentagon inspector general raises questions about former D.C. Guard commander’s Jan. 6 account washingtonpost.com/national-secur… There is another criticism of former CG Walker that has not been made, though it is glaringly obvious. The DCNG has about 1,100 troops. In Walker's own 03 March
2/ testimony had 320 Guards personnel, to include a 40-person QRF ready. In Q&A, he confirmed the 340 number. In another Q&A, he said the QRF was ready to go at 1500h. In another Q&A, he stated half of his 300, that is 150, had been helping the MPD control traffic and the other
3/ 150 were on stand-by to relieve the guards with the MPD. So, if he had 190--the 150 plus the 40-QRF, why did only 155 show up at the Capitol? Why didn't the 150 on standby show up? Why weren't more called in? CG Walker made a great show of how stressed he was by the events.
For those concerned about Fox News in particular and right-wing media in general, I saved this quote from Noel Malcolm's book, Bosnia: A Short History (p. 252). "But having watched Radio Television Belgrade in the period 1991-2, I can understand why simple Bosnian Serbs came to
2/ believe that they were under threat, from Ustasha hordes, fundamentalist jihads or whatever. As the independent Belgrade journalist Milos Vasic put it to an American audience, it was as if all television in the USA had been taken over by the Ku Klux Klan. 'You must imagine a
3/ United States with every little TV station everywhere taking exactly the same editorial line--a line dictated by David Duke. You too would have a war in five years.'" The US as a whole is not saturated with that problem, but Fox has managed to move the GOP base towards David
The Inevitable Rivalry foreignaffairs.com/articles/china… via @ForeignAffairs Both articles in Foreign Affairs, by Giddis and this by Mearsheimer, leave unmentioned the role of business elites during a potential conflict or run-up to a conflict. M alludes to it. American capitalists are
2/ heavily invested in China. The PRC accounts for 28% of global manufacturing. Russia is not even in the top 10. During Cold War I, the US rigidly controlled technology transfers to the USSR. Except in nuclear weapons & space, the USSR was not an economic competitor. The PRC has
3/ built-in advantage in having a potentially strong pro-PRC bloc in the US business community. And, in all fairness, if we think we have supply chain problems now with a pandemic, how much worse would it be if the PRC used its industrial leverage in a time of crisis? Both FA