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-2 attack helicopters (Ka-52 and Mi-35)
-1 armed transport helicopter (Mi-8)
-3 electronic warfare helicopters (Mi-8MTPR-1)
-1 Il-22M airborne command post/comms relay plane
Yesterday, the Washington Post slyly ran a fake investigative piece, no doubt dished up by the intel agency, headlined “CIA director, On Secret Trip To Ukraine, Hears Plan For War’s Endgame.”
Hahahaha! A secret trip to Ukraine! On the WaPo’s front page! These guys are so funny.
The sub-headline explained the “endgame” isn’t about winning. “During meetings in Kyiv, William Burns was told of Ukraine’s ambitious goal to retake territory and push Moscow into talks by the end of the year.”
Talks! By the end of the year. In a serious, non-circus world, this sea-change in Proxy War policy about how the war will end would be earthshaking news. Until ten seconds ago, the official Biden policy has been “no deals.” Recent disclosures have shown that Washington has even frustrated and blocked several earlier peace talks.
Before continuing the story, it is helpful to note the clock the Biden Administration is under. The Proxy War must be wrapped up by the end of this year to avoid becoming an election-year issue in 2024. The general rule is that virtuous, exciting, NEW wars are helpful to a candidate’s re-election chances, whereas old, languishing wars of attrition are NO BUENO. ...
In addition to telling us all about Zelensky’s “secret meeting” with the head of the CIA, William J. Burns — and just what is the CIA even doing in Ukraine, one wonders; and what does the CIA have to do with negotiating a peace deal? I mean, whose war is it anyway? — the paper also told us all about Ukraine’s “secret” new strategy to improve its negotiation position: first move artillery and missile systems near the boundary line of Russian-controlled Crimea; push further into eastern Ukraine; and only then open negotiations with Moscow for the first time since peace talks “broke down” (with U.S. help) in March of last year.
“Russia will only negotiate if it feels threatened,” explained an unidentified, anonymous senior Ukrainian official. More specifically, the strategy is to build up pressure so the war-torn country isn’t negotiating from a position of weakness:
In agreeing not to take Crimea by force, Kyiv would then demand that Russia accept whatever security guarantees Ukraine can secure from the West, said Ukrainian officials.
Conspicuous by its absence was any mention of getting back the “disputed territories” in Eastern Ukraine that Russia now claims to have annexed into the Motherland. Maybe revealing this change in position was the article’s real goal, to re-set liberal expectations for what might be considered acceptable terms.
Interestingly, WaPo’s story also dropped the nugget that the U.S. intelligence community knew as early as mid-June that the Wagner Group was plotting an armed assault of some kind, according to an unidentified, anonymous U.S. official. Then the newspaper assiduously assured its readers that Biden had nothing whatsoever to do with the Wagner “rebellion,” just like he didn’t have anything to do with blowing up Russia’s gas pipelines.
But … I mean … where’s the old journalistic curiosity? Exactly HOW did the CIA know about Prigozhin’s little civil war ahead of time? Hmm? The WaPo didn’t speculate.
But look at what the relatively-short article did admit:
Ukraine has taken heavy casualties as its troops and armored vehicles navigate thick minefields and fortified trenches across wide-open territory. The challenging terrain has left troops vulnerable to Russian airstrikes and missile attacks. Zelensky has acknowledged that the counteroffensive is going “slower than desired,” and officials have confirmed the destruction of some Western-provided Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
Uh oh. So, I guess things aren’t exactly going swimmingly in the Proxy War. Here is the timeline that one can piece together from this fake news story:
1) Ukraine was losing the “last chance” counteroffensive.
2) The CIA waited for the Wager Group’s rebellion, which came, if you think about it, at a particularly peculiar time, given that Ukraine was losing. Was Wagner’s implosion a deep-state Hail Mary?
3) Then, the WaPo published this story stating, for the very first time, there’s a “secret plan” to negotiate and end to the war with only “security guarantees.” Forget about that stupid “not one inch” business.
Now, I’m just a lawyer, not a deep-state color revolution plotter, but as a litigator I have LOTS of experience with negotiating. And I can assure you with no reservations that telling your negotiating opponent about your secret negotiating strategy ahead of time is NOT a typical move. Loose lips sink ships, and so forth. Usually, giving away your secret haggling formula is not especially helpful to getting what you want.
So. The Proxy War clock is running.
Looks like the mainstream media got new narrative. Now they are putting pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal.
personal
richwicks says
personal
Argue ideas not personalities. Ignore really does work, and you don't have to push a button.
I am sick and tired of people NOT doing this.
We could completely crush propaganda and ACTUAL disinformation in months, if not weeks, if people just fucking posted goddamned links.
richwicks says
I am sick and tired of people NOT doing this.
I'm just saying that you can refute their ideas without personal attack, or ignore the idiots.
Even better subtly mock them.
I doubt it. We would then be arguing over validity of sources.
Proudly link impaired. Do your own triangulation tango.
UN Spox Left Speechless When Confronted Over U.S. Occupation of Syria While Lecturing About Ukraine Conflict
July 4th 2023, 12:29 pm
UN stooge struggles to explain the difference between U.S. troops occupying Syria and Russian troops occupying eastern Ukraine.
A UN spokesman struggled to explain how the U.S. was not violating the international “rules based order” by continuing its military occupation inside Syria.
In a clip from March receiving renewed interest online, UN Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq was confronted by Chinese journalist Edward Xu over the hypocrisy of the U.S. foreign policy of occupying any nation they wish but condemning other nations for doing the same.
“Do you think the presence of the U.S. military in Syria is illegal or not?” Xu asked Haq.
Haq was caught flat-footed by the question.
“Uh, that’s not an issue that we’re- that we’re dealing with at this stage. There’s been a war…” he responded, referring to the Syrian civil war that kicked off in 2011, over a decade ago.
Xu suggested the situation “sounds very familiar” to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where Russia has decided to occupy a portion of Ukraine’s eastern territory.
“Because it sounds very familiar,” Xu said. “This week we talk a lot about the UN Charter, the international law and relative resolutions. But it sounds to me, a foreign presence in another country without invitation sounds like something else to me.”
Haq dodged the question, saying, “I’ll leave your analysis to you. That there’s- at this stage….in Syria there’s no…”
Xu pushed forward, asking, “What’s the difference between the situation in Syria and the situation in Ukraine?”
Haq insisted there’s “no US armed forces inside of Syria.”
“So I don’t have a…it’s not a parallel situation,” Haq added, clarifying there’s U.S. “military activity” but no “ground presence” in Syria.
But Xu pointed out that earlier this year, 5 U.S. service members were wounded in a suicide drone strike in Syria that resulted in retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria.
“Five U.S. soldiers were injured in that attack. If there were no U.S. service members in Syria, how could they [have gotten] injured?” Xu asked.
Haq was left speechless.
“That’s weird right?” Xu asked. “Should I asked you about that?”
Of course there are still U.S. troops in Syria, because the U.S. House of Representatives in February voted down a proposal put forward by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to withdraw those troops from the region.
“Congress has never authorized the use of military force in Syria,” Gaetz said in a statement upon introducing the bill. “The United States is currently not in a war with or against Syria, so why are we conducting dangerous military operations there? President [Joe] Biden must remove all U.S. armed forces from Syria.”
Why do you do this? Do you think this is funny?
Some people have a hard time with parody and sarcasm. Either take it at face value or research until you find out that it really is a joke.
@DavidSacks
On July 4, 1821, John Quincy Adams gave his famous speech declaring that America “goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” The speech still resonates today:
“She (America) is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own...
“She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.
“The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.”
This is a stupid conflict which Ukraine cannot possibly win.
Besides - what does a Russian "win" look like at this point? Hanging onto parts of Eastern Ukraine and dealing with a grinding insurgency for the next quarter century?
The war and killing stops tomorrow if Putin makes the call.
Besides - what does a Russian "win" look like at this point? Hanging onto parts of Eastern Ukraine and dealing with a grinding insurgency for the next quarter century?
I used to think maybe Zelenskyy, now a billionaire, just didn’t have any suits.
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https://twitter.com/HinchaPenta/status/1496700652084473857?s=20&t=T1inEM5Hv6ahmrL4nzNirQ&source=patrick.net