Fascinating new RAND report urges Washington to get the hell out of dodge in Ukraine, as "US interests would be best served by avoiding a protracted conflict," and "costs and risks of a long war...outweigh the possible benefits"!
RAND pushing US/Western escalation against Moscow for a very long time. In 2019 it published report on "Extending Russia". Many of its recommendations subsequently came to pass. Three years earlier, an investigation of US/China war also made a subsequently fulfilled suggestion:
RAND's reasons for ending proxy war are manifold, but "US ability to focus on competition [ie war] with China" looms large. Intriguingly, it is feared the longer this goes on, the closer Moscow and Beijing will become, which Washington absolutely fears, and does not want!
RAND is a highly influential body, which informs - and reflects - elite thinking and imperial policy. This report particularly significant given numerous US officials have similarly expressed doubts about Washington keeping this grinding on. We shall see...
Having now re-read this, it's remarkable how on the nose so much of the language is (this is a frequent feature of RAND reports - always study them closely!), and how in line it is with what anti-imperialists have been warning about *since before the war began*.
The hits keep coming. The "significance" of "international norms" and Ukraine's economy are "debatable", therefore Washington shouldn't give a shit about either, or indeed Ukraine reclaiming territory. I hope every US ally studies this report, and takes lessons from it.
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🧵: Having reflected a lot on Kosovo lately due to the anniversary of NATO's criminal bombing, I'm struck by what an anachronism the wannabe country is today. It is the most pro-US place on Earth and constantly building yet more statues of its imperial masters. In 2025.
Many European citizens, and their leaders, despite knowing they're ultimately beholden to and captured by the US, are increasingly sceptical about US global leadership and *thinking* about pulling away, even if they're so entangled it's basically impossible. But not Kosovo.
Visit Pristina today. You'll see US and British flags everywhere, countless streets and squares namessafter officials involved in the bombing, statues of Blair and Clinton, signs thanking NATO...there's a *bit* of this elsewhere in C/E Europe but nothing remotely near this scale.
🧵: It says...a lot of things that at the end of April, an Israeli official boastfully admitted the Biden administration *never* once discussed a ceasefire with Tel Aviv at any point during the Gaza genocide, and this seismic revelation has already been forgotten.
The Biden administration eagerly aided and abetted a 21st century Holocaust, while lying they were working for peace, and left-leaning Americans and Democrats disgusted by Gaza were *explicitly* told to vote for Harris on the basis she was working "tirelessly" for a ceasefire.
Also forgotten is how Kamala Harris (remember her?) entire campaign was a massive financial fraud, and also somehow racist. Untold sums of money raised often to just raise more money, some spent on pointless stunts, while volunteers weren't given water.
Absolutely amazing excerpt: the UK has "always" believed the risk of deploying its forces to Ukraine was "too high". This is after months and months of bellicose statements from Starmer that he is "ready and willing to put British troops in Ukraine" 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
All of the statements and pledges contained below never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn't happening. The UK always believed it was too dangerous to deploy to Ukraine formally and would never dream of making such a commitment.
🧵: With news that Israel is still contemplating a "limited strike" on Iran, important to understand why the US is so resistant to this, why it would be a complete and utter disaster of epic proportions for the Empire, and why fears of a wider war on Iran are overblown...
Iran's strike on Israel last October was absolutely devastating. Its timing, scale, and severity caught Tel Aviv and the US completely off guard. A clear gauntlet was thrown down to both, and they had no response, apart from trying to downplay its impact.
US bases in West Asia are to significant extent relic of when Iran was Western puppet state under the Shah. Their proximity to Iran means the Islamic Republic would be able to take most of them out entirely with hypersonic and ballistic missiles almost instantly if war erupted.
Pretty astonishing that nine days after my investigation into how Ukraine is a British-led proxy war, and London was central to Kiev's disastrous 2023 counteroffensive, The Times publishes basically the same article with a bit more colour:
Key point here that I've made again and again. Britain has been training fascist paramilitaries like Azov, Right Sector etc in Ukraine since 2015. This policy was influenced by Chris Donnelly, #IntegrityInitiative chief currently overseeing Britain's management of the proxy war.
2015 Kyiv Post article on the fascist paramilitary training program, quoting Chris Donnelly and Lithuanian ultranationalist Audrius Butkevicius. They plotted the 2022 attack on Kerch Bridge together.
🧵: Made this point in countless articles and interviews in past few months, but it bears repeating here: it is completely unfathomable that European leaders remain determinedly committed to keep the Ukraine proxy war when it is irretrievably lost for the West. And scary too...
By any objective measure, this has been a disaster on every conceivable level for Europe. They've deindustrialised, wrecked their economies, borderline disarmed by sending equipment to Kiev. The Russians are still marching, and the US - even if slowly - is backing off. It's over.
Only now are European leaders and their mainstream lackeys getting serious about rearmament, conscription, increased defence spending, etc. Their populations don't want any part of it, and nothing implemented now will be remotely meaningful in the short-term. It's all rhetoric.