April 26, 2022

CNN: Austin's assertion that US wants to 'weaken' Russia underlines Biden strategy shift

"As Russia's invasion of Ukraine has transformed into a grinding war of attrition with no meaningful peace deal in sight, the US and its allies have begun to convey a new, longer-term goal for the war: to defeat Russia so decisively on the battlefield that it will be deterred from launching such an attack ever again.

"That message was delivered most clearly on Monday, when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters after a trip to Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv that "we want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine." "

"..."The way we are looking at this is that it's making an investment to neuter the Russian army and navy for next decade," said a congressional source familiar with the ongoing military assistance to Ukraine."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/politics/biden-administration-russia-strategy/index.html

Neuter Russia - for a DECADE? Were they smoking Hunter Biden's crack?

Cal88 said:

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The same switching of allegiances happened in the Donbas, and that's when Kiev launched its "Anti-Terrorist Operation" in 2014 to crush the rebellion. They largely failed to do so in a bloody civil war, until 2022 when they raised a large, well-equipped and well-trained (NATO) army that was about to overrun the Donbas rebels with Crimea as the next target.

That is when Russia intervened.

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Once again, you leave out that Russia was actively leading this rebellion on Ukrainian soil. They had already unofficially declared war on Ukraine by doing this and seizing territory in Crimea. Ukraine just didn't have the firepower to do anything about it at the time.

Anyway, we have been over this ground before. You will never assign any negative responsibility to Russia. Just wanted to make clear what actually happened in the years leading up to the current war.

movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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What percent of the Donbas and Crimea voted for the Maidan coup?

sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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The Russians did not "send in their military and take the land", the entire Crimean garrison of Ukrainian army stationed in Crimea defected and declared independence from Kiev. They and their people wanted nothing to do with the post-Maidan Coup regime, which they did not vote for (neither did the Donbas, or the entire southeastern quadrant of Ukraine for that matter).



And yes, Crimeans did vote to join Russia, overwhelmingly so. The Kiev regime then punished Crimeans by cutting off their main source of freshwater from the Dniepr river, dumping their water into the Black Sea, crippling Crimean agriculture and hurting its tourism industry, damaging main Crimean economic activities on purpose.

Here is Zelensky the comedian making fun of the forced drought on Crimea:

Tone-deaf Balt and NATO officials reject peace talks, want Ukraine to fight in a losing cause to the last Ukrainian:

🇪🇪 Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas explains to Europeans that peace talks are not needed.

"Ukraine must win the war, and Russia must understand that it has lost. This is our plan A, B, and C. Words and sanctions are important, but they are not enough. Ukraine needs weapons,… pic.twitter.com/XRyi11RzWH

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 27, 2024

Give war a chance. The new slogan of the neocon Left?

Zelensky's current popularity rating is below 20%, that's the real reason there weren't any elections in Ukraine.

When he was elected, he run on a pro-reconciliation platform and identified as a Russophone Ukrainian, he did a 180 degree afterwards, shut down opposition parties and closed opposition media.

Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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The Russians did not "send in their military and take the land"

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Let me just get this straight: you are saying that Russia did NOT send in their military when annexing Crimea? That's your claim?

sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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The Russians did not "send in their military and take the land"

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Let me just get this straight: you are saying that Russia did NOT send in their military when annexing Crimea? That's your claim?

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My claim is that, IIRC,19,000 of the 21,000 Ukrainian army personnel stationed in Crimea in 2014 defected and declared independence from Kiev. This grassroots Crimean army was sufficient to dissuade the Kiev regime from invading Crimea, knowing that they would also have Russia's backing.

So Kiev focused its military efforts instead on the Donbas and southern Ukraine, not wanting the same scenario to unfold there, sending in their tanks into Mariupol, Donetsk and Luhansk to repress the local separatist rebels. The Russians did not intervene directly in that conflict, to the dismay of DPR and LPR militias. Putin initially sought to resolve the civil war through negotiations with the EU, relying on leaders like Merkel, with whom he had a close relationship.

What you are claiming is that Crimeans did not want to join Russia, or that the Kiev regime cared about them. This is patently false.

Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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The Russians did not "send in their military and take the land"

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Let me just get this straight: you are saying that Russia did NOT send in their military when annexing Crimea? That's your claim?

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My claim is that, IIRC,19,000 of the 21,000 Ukrainian army personnel stationed in Crimea in 2014 defected and declared independence from Kiev.

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Defected to who? Who was there to take their surrender?

Business Insider: The US gave up sending Ukraine Excalibur guided artillery shells costing $100,000 because they rarely hit their target, report says

"Classified reports revealed the Excalibur shell strike success dropped from 55% to 6% last summer." [incl Russian jamming]

Economist: There is an explosive flaw in the plan to rearm Ukraine

Europe lacks TNT and other propellants for shells and missiles

https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/05/26/there-is-an-explosive-flaw-in-the-plan-to-rearm-ukraine

sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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sycasey said:

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movielover said:

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If Crimea is ethnically Russian, historically had been Russian, and 80, 90, 95% want an alliance w Russia... is Putin supposed to say no?

If a section of San Diego decided to join Mexico, what would happen? Sorry, 70% or more of San Diegans would oppose it. That apparently never happened in Crimea.

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I don't give a damn how much if it was ethnically Russian. They just sent in their military and took the land, going back on an agreement the Russian government had once signed. That's called an invasion. Nobody actually got to vote for that.

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The Russians did not "send in their military and take the land"

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Let me just get this straight: you are saying that Russia did NOT send in their military when annexing Crimea? That's your claim?

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My claim is that, IIRC,19,000 of the 21,000 Ukrainian army personnel stationed in Crimea in 2014 defected and declared independence from Kiev.

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Defected to who? Who was there to take their surrender?

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They are Crimean Russian, they weren't going to take orders from the post-Maidan Coup Kiev regime and suppress their local brethren, and comply with a government which does not recognize their own language as official and which turned them into second class citizens.

The Kiev regime showed its true colors and true feelings towards Crimeans by cutting off their water supply, out of pure spite, as the water was diverted into the Black Sea.

Since Crimea has joined Russia, it has received huge investments in infrastructure from Moscow and its industry, tourism and agriculture are booming.

Quote:

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Crimean Economy Named Fastest Growing in Russia

Russian-annexed Crimea has experienced the fastest economic growth in Russia in 2019 so far, the RBC news website reported on Monday.

Crimea has received large cash injections from Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine. More than $13 billion in Russian funds will have been spent on the Crimean economy between 2015 and 2022.

NEWS[url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/05/29/russia-approves-5-billion-investment-crimean-infrastructure-tourism][/url]
Russia Approves $4.7 Bln Investment for Crimean Infrastructure and Tourism
READ MORE

Crimea's growth in January-March 2019 was buoyed by construction and manufacturing, which grew by over 20 percent each, RBC cited research by the Institute for Complex Strategic Studies (ICSS) as saying.

Agriculture, retail and services in Crimea averaged 3 percent growth in January-March this year.
Construction in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol Russia's second-fastest growing economy grew by almost 71 percent in January-March 2019, with agriculture, manufacturing, retail and services averaging 3.4 percent.

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https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/06/03/crimean-economy-named-fastest-growing-in-russia-a65851

Virtually no one in Crimea wants to be associated with the Zelensky clownshow. People who debate the legitimacy of Crimea as a Russian province have an incredibly poor understanding of the region and its recent history.

Zelensky is now lobbying for a June Global Peace Summit. Larry Johnson says it comes off like a CIA production. China has already said no?

movielover said:

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Zelensky is now lobbying for a June Global Peace Summit. Larry Johnson says it comes off like a CIA production. China has already said no?

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At the 1:00 mark, Zel lies about Russia using S-300 missiles to bomb Kharkov. Those S-300s certainly are Ukrainian anti-air missiles coming down after failing to hit their target. The reason Russia would not use S-300s for ground targets is that they are too expensive and too imprecise for ground attacks, they would instead use FAB gliding bombs, which are (1) much cheaper to produce, (2) much, much more precise and (3) pack a much bigger payload (5 to 15 times more TNT).

So is this a PR move, or are NATO and the Defense Department finally tacitly acknowledging Russia has the upper hand, is now moving more quickly, and logic dictates the longer they delay talks, the more land & lives are lost.

I didn't know China & Russia have a new 10-year grain deal.

Defense News: Boeing wins $7.5 billion contract from US Air Force for guided bombs

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/05/28/boeing-wins-75-billion-contract-from-us-air-force-for-guided-bombs/

Are we playing catch up with Russian technology?

From a $300 Million to a $7 Billion contract is a massive increase, with no quantities given for the fixed price, sole source contract.

Ominous.

Business Insider: The US gave sensitive plans for over 1,000 American weapons to Ukraine, say 2 officials who gave only a cryptic hint as to what they are: report

"The US has given Ukraine manufacturing plans for more than 1,000 American weapons in hopes of helping Kyiv bolster its own arms production, two officials told The New York Times."

So Ukraine doesn't have the manpower, money, or materials, but we gave them plans for 1,000 weapons... why?

Another grift for Ukraine to sell off out the back door? It makes no sense. Did they send out rigged, faulty plans that they hope Russia uses? (Unlikely)

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-gave-sensitive-plans-1000-weapons-ukraine-2024-5

Artillery shell production (per month)

Russia: 250,000
USA: 30,000
USA - new Dallas plant: 30,000

Exclusive photo of 88, 003, zip, and movie, at their regularly scheduled Putin Fanboy Club meeting:

Supporting facts to positions opposite of yours really spin your propeller.

movielover said:

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Supporting facts to positions opposite of yours really spin your propeller.

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I am starting to get worried about maintaining dialog with him. Something is not right.

Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons https://t.co/7PtGj0TcS8

— POLITICO (@politico) May 30, 2024

Russia have previously declared that they feel they are already in direct conflict with NATO. This confirms it.

This confirms that Ukraine-Russia is a U.S. proxy war.

Some (most?) of these Progressives are too emotional to objectively look at new facts.

A discerning eye could see that I (and others) have posted 'pro' UKR information. About a year ago I posted how UKR was reportedly ready to overwhelm Russia w 50,000 drones, and about six months later I posted multiple new countries where they might acquire new ammunition stockpiles.

Our legacy media rarely sheds any light.

Tucker Carlson is refreshingly honest. He asked Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban if Ukraine could beat Russia, and Orban laughed in his face. TC relayed the story, and his own ignorance.

Don't assume things. I once asked a weekend KGO radio host if Germany was a rich or poor country, and he didn't know.

Multiple sources say Biden (& State Dept) have given Ukraine the OK to target sites inside Russia with our long-range weapons (and likely our people operating said weapons).

So our weapons, people, recon, eyes in the sky, intell, etc.

This appears to be a dramatic change from mere days ago when Zelensky read a CIA-inspired call for peace talks.

If so, will Russia's integrated air defense shoot down most of the incoming missiles? If not, will Putins military strike American assets in the region? I'm guessing Putin may try to avoid that while continuing to grind down NATO and Ukraine.