19558

Fareed Zakaria interviewed Netanyahu on his show today and they discussed both Iran and Ukraine/Russia. Amazing how much of a hardliner he is with no concessions on Iran he is and as soon as the conversation changed to helping Ukraine suddenly it becomes a situation that requires being careful and how much worse this could get if we made Russia angry. But hey, if he’s reelected he’ll “look into it” with regards to providing military support.

19559

Diplomatically, this is a great response IMO

Earlier today, the defense ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu at his request. Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.

The USA, UK and France jointly call bullshit.

19560

The problem we have is that leadership in the West is very weak right now. While the current government in the US is doing the right thing, it’s painfully obvious that there’s a good chance that we are about to elect a bunch of pro autocrat crazies to power, at which point we really won’t be fit to lead the west against Russia. Likewise, the UK is a shit show at the moment.

19561

Heh, translation matters:

19562

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19563

There are not enough facepalm GIFs.

19564

Man that is some “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength” level stuff. I know Ben Garrison is clinically insane, but it is still discouraging to see a human’s sensory organs perceive the horrors of war and then the neurons in his brain somehow turns it into this rubbish.

19565

Putin is, in a way, heir to both Nazism and Stalinism, is it a surprise that his propagandists should sound like those from a book intended to depict the common horrors of both?

19566

The Russian Defence Ministry has put its forces on alert in case Ukraine detonates a “dirty bomb”. (as reported by Russian official propaganda)

Whatever those forces are. I sure miss the good old days when Ukraine had biolabs and chipped birds and didn’t get involved in this dirty business.

19567

image

I mean, it wasn’t a great game, but it wasn’t terrible either…

19568

It makes sense, though. I’m assuming their bioengineered supermutant soldiers are immune to radiation.

19569

Inside, I am screaming.

19570

I forgive you for thinking this must be a parody. But it’s not.

When you wonder why Russian citizens allow all that happens remember that Ban Garrison and, I presume, a lot of other people, think in these terms and not just because thinking otherwise is a criminal offense.

19571

So how does this end - a coup or a nuke?

19572

The madman theory is popular again.

19573

According to Oryx, visually confirmed tank losses for Russia have now exceeded 1,400 with 490 (!) of those being captured.

On social media (which I do not trust) I’m seeing talk of the AFU not only repelling the latest Russian assaults on Bakhmut but actually pushing them back from the city. If anyone sees any reliable info that might corroborate that, please post a link!

19574

I have seen similar posts, including from sources that have been reliable in the past, but so lacking in detail that I’m still not sure how much faith to put in them.

19575

Something of a click-bait headline. As the article also concludes, an equally likely scenario (probably the most likely one) is just more war.

I think the most likely end result - assuming all actors are rational - is that Ukraine eventualy pushes back the Russian army back to pre-February borders and Russia spinning this as some sort of victory for the special operation.

19576

I think Ukranie will loose both Donbass and Luhansk, but they big problem is Kherson, they can’t really loose that region, it is vital to their strategic and defensive interests, and also, they need it for ports, otherwise, they are in danger of being landlocked.

So there will be no negotiations until that’s recaptured, that’s for sure. Also, nobody will do any dirty bombing, that’s just horseshit and anyone pimping that agenda is an idiot. Giving Putin an off-ramp isn’t an issue either, cause fuck him, anything but total victory won’t save him from internal unrest anyway.

19577

A few days ago Russia hoisted the flag at the concrete plant just east of the city. Today there is footage of Ukrainian forces lounging at the same spot - so they shoved them back at least 2 km.

Edit: