Part 2 of long 🧵w/ former UK diplomat:
' The flunkies charged with the management and the running of ‘the system’ are confused. Their (high) self-esteem until now has rested on their articulation of ‘correct views’ ' 26/
t.me/rocknrollgeopo… 'and espousing the ‘prescribed causes’ – more than manifesting any particular competence in their work. Now they do not know what to say, or which cause is ‘correct’. Narratives are falling apart; the Twitter revelations have disrupted the former ‘equilibrium’. ' 27/

Former UK diplomat:
‘At War with Russia’, Europe Peers Down the Abyss'

"Russia is unlikely to take the bait: It has the real strategic advantage in all areas of engagement with the Ukrainian forces." 1/

t.me/rocknrollgeopo… 'There is too much ‘noise’ in the system, and it is obscuring the view.

Davos has always been ‘weird’. But this year, the kookier aspects were so obvious. The WEF is dying on the vine. ' 2/

Why, Despite RAND’s Recommendation, the Ukraine War Is Unlikely to End in a Negotiated Settlement 1/

nakedcapitalism.com/2023/01/why-de… ' The sanctions failed to prostrate Russia, & have harmed the collective West. Russia has destroyed the original Ukraine fighting force, dispatched much of what can be credibly called a 2nd army, and absent major errors, looks set to defeat a 3rd, assured-to-be-weaker force' 2/

'Having declared a de facto war on Russia and openly calling for the removal of Vladimir Putin, the neoconservative pimps of war watch with dread as Ukraine is being pummeled by a relentless Russian war of attrition. ' 1/

consortiumnews.com/2023/01/30/chr… 'Turning logic on its head, the shills for war argue that “the greatest nuclear threat we face is a Russian victory.” The cavalier attitude to a potential nuclear confrontation w/ RUS...frightening, especially given the fiascos they oversaw for 20 years in the Middle East. 2/

' Fortunately for the Biden National Security flunkies, today’s American military appears to be commanded by the most astounding assemblage of carefully selected moral cowards in our nation’s history. ' 1/

sonar21.com/phantoms-of-th… 'instead of planning its objective and evaluating what manpower and equipment would be required to achieve it, the American NATO defense establishment jumped right in and waited until the beginning of 2023 to announce two studies, by CSIS and Rand projecting rough prospects. ' 2/

'Moscow was expecting something shorter, less bloody & quicker at the beginning & was probably surprised by the resistance of the Kiev regime & NATO’s unhinged support....it’s the timing of the next step that we seem to get wrong.' 1/
@imetatronink

sonar21.com/whats-next-by-… 'By now everybody who is paying attention knows that the Ukraine battlefield is part of a world war in which those who control the US empire are trying to hold onto their dominance.' 2/

'The omnicidal war fiends won the debate over sending tanks to Ukraine, so now it’s time to start arguing for sending F-16s....' 1/

consortiumnews.com/2023/01/27/cai… 'When even the myopic empire scribes at NYT are acknowledging that Western powers are escalating aggressions in a very dangerous direction, you should probably sit up and pay attention. ' 2/

Ukraine's Three Armies, by @MarkSleboda1 open.substack.com/pub/markslebod… 'The Kiev regime’s second army cobbled together during the first half of 2022 by NATO states consisted of the tattered remnants of the first, as well as pretty much the entire remaining Soviet legacy arsenal of the former east Bloc countries that have since joined NATO ' 2/

After providing US blueprint for 'unbalancing Russia', implemented in UKR, Rand Corp think tank now warns:

'The costs and risks of a long war in Ukraine are significant and outweigh the possible benefits of such a trajectory for the United States. ' 1/

https://twitter.com/MoonofA/status/1619017515023175697

MoA comments section: Why Left should support Russia:
'(1) overlaps with anti-imperialist efforts to weaken if not end US empire;
(2) is the only force capable of creating peace and stability in Ukraine, i.e. ending the civil war started by the US...&the ultra-nationalists' 2/

'2 complete armies have by now been destroyed in Ukraine. The resources for a smaller 3rd one will be delivered...during the next months....It is doubtful that the West has enough material left to provide Ukraine with a fourth one. ' 1/

greatpowerrelations.com/ukraine-crisis… '2 visions of the future of the world order define a global competition that has become existential in nature....the main players in this competition comprise the 5 declared nuclear powers, ' 2/

'Russia is now the counterpoint and antithesis of Israel.

Just as Israel, the poisoned blade of Western capitalism & imperialism, faces & constantly thrusts E & S, now Russia is the South & East’s defensive rampart facing West' 1/

thesaker.is/russia-now-the… 'Russia has gone from post-1991 kowtowing to Western liberal democracy – earnestly trying to join them – to realising that the West has declared total war against them. How can there be a reconciliation? ' 2/

UK historian:
'Putin’s restraint in the face of massive western military aid to Ukraine has been remarkable' 1/
irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/0… 'Should Nato be taking even a small risk of igniting a larger conflict that could kill millions? Recent decisions ...suggest that the materialisation of such a scenario is not so far-fetched.' 2/

Fmr. UK diplomat:
'The Most Egregious Mistake
The U.S. government is hostage to its financial hegemony in a way that is rarely fully understood. It is the miscalculation of this era...' 1/

t.me/rocknrollgeopo… 'Russia has survived, and survived relatively handsomely....Russian Resilience, at a single stroke, shattered the plate-glass floor to western convictions about its ability to ‘manage the world’. ' 2/

NATO wonder weapons have had marginal military impact, but lethal against civilians: 'since the delivery of long range munitions to the NATO forces in the Ukraine...the number of civilian victims murdered by NATO has increased by a factor of four' 1/

thesaker.is/tactics-withou… Having seen Russia destroy 3 iterations of the NATO army in UKR (& soon to see a 4th army destroyed]:

'The Empire is now facing a simple and extremely dangerous dilemma: ' 2/

'Retired Major General Harald Kujat — son of a Wehrmacht soldier killed fighting the Red Army who grew up to become chief of the German army & then of the NATO military staffs — ' 1/

https://twitter.com/BhadraPunchline/status/1617561426499100672

'is the author of a military assessment in which he blames the German press, ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister Boris Johnson, & other NATO allies he doesn’t name for a new German version of the stab in the back' 2/

🧵whose moment has arrived:
'The Atlantic’s 892-word plea for covid forgiveness called “Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty,” shows the establishment really isn’t ready for truth & reconciliation....They got their answer in one of the most brutal ratios ever seen on Twitter.' 1/

https://twitter.com/nashville_brook/status/1617197031080038401

'Here’s a few reasons why “forgiveness” is exactly the wrong approach

Oster petulantly asserts that those who got it right “got lucky.”....

Here’s the secret sauce: Those who got it right were following the science and rejecting evil occurring all around them. ' 2/

'Neocon contempt, hatred & fear of Russia is no different than their contempt, hatred & fear of the “deporables”. For those who view the world through an “us vs them” ideological prism all the “non-us” are dangerous “thems” which need crushing. ' 1/
thesaker.is/is-andrei-mart… 'the election of Trump was quite literally a slave revolt & a slap in the face. While Trump proved to be sub-pathetic by any measure, the fact that a majority of US citizens were willing to prefer him to the “Neocon & Woke diva” Clinton was absolutely traumatic. ' 2/

What if Russia has strategy to drag out a long war of attrition--against NATO--on the territory of Ukraine, until NATO / EU breaks. 1/

nakedcapitalism.com/2023/01/will-r… Per MacGregor: 'Russia had already burned through two Ukraine armed forces, the one it started out with and then the one NATO reconstituted. The West is putting together a third force, which Macgregor notes will be smaller, and he anticipates Russia will dispatch that one too' 2/

'As long as the Kiev...keep...throwing themselves into the artillery, missile & drone meat-grinder...w/ minimal Russian losses, why hurry?...The only ones in a hurry are in the West....on the verge of social, economic and political chaos.' 1/ 'nobody in Washington, used to fighting ill-trained, suicidal fanatics armed only w/ kalashnikovs, ever foresaw...500,000 + armed Russians are waiting on the borders of Kiev-held territory to liberate their Ukrainian brothers & sisters' 2/
thesaker.is/going-going-go…

'The plan to engage Russia militarily is a tacit admission that the United States can no longer maintain its global dominance through economic or political means alone. ' 1/
unz.com/mwhitney/ukrai… ' western elites have settled on a course of action aimed at dividing the world into warring blocs in order to prosecute a war on Russia and China. ' 2/

Tanks for Nothing: NATO Keeps On Demilitarising Itself in Ukraine

Or as one percipient observer recently put it:
'It's like a demented NATO arms-control program'

1/

thesaker.is/tanks-for-noth… Pre-war, UKR as #3 land army "in" NATO:

'2,416 armoured fighting vehicles — probably about 800 main battle tanks (MBTs) along w/ 1,600 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) & armoured personnel carriers (APCs) — 152 fixed-wing combat aircraft and 149 helicopters...' 2/