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  • https://interaffairs.(ru)/jauthor/material/3295 [remove parenthesis]

    Russian foreign ministry view of the conflict with NATO today and in the future as well as a lot of ruminating on 19th century Russia and its ambitions parallelled with the modern day.

    without achieving victory or creating military-political conditions that will be unconditionally perceived as victory within Russia and abroad, it will be impossible to force the West to negotiate with us. Historically, they have always been much more inclined to consider our proposals for the formation of a new security architecture (or guarantees) when Russian troops were stationed in Paris or Berlin. And vice versa, from time immemorial our constructiveness has been regarded in the West as weakness, provoking opponents to raise rates, act more assertively, aggressively, promoting their interests without regard to Russia’s position.

    we must consistently explain to our opponents all the risks that the course of escalation with Russia leads to for their countries and peoples. This is especially true for conditionally «led» countries, which, having agreed to participate in someone else’s adventure, only at the end of the war, when their allies retreat under the blows of the Russian army, will understand that they were simply used as a less valuable asset. The Finns, Hungarians, and Romanians felt this in 1944, which helped them avoid the worst in 1945. However, frankly speaking, they got off easy then. Especially the Finns, who today have the audacity to openly violate the military articles of the Peace (Paris) Treaty of 1947.

    History teaches that splitting an enemy coalition is sometimes more effective than fighting everyone at once. By the way, the same F.I. Tyutchev wrote about this: «The only natural policy of Russia towards the Western powers is not an alliance with one or another of these powers, but their separation, their division. For only when they are separated from each other do they cease to be hostile to us - out of powerlessness... This harsh truth may offend sensitive souls, but in the end this is the law of our existence

    the West has never needed Russia as a strong and independent partner - only as a victim or a trophy. We must act firmly, confidently and assertively - and then, we are convinced, we will be able to fully ensure the security of Russia and achieve lasting peace on terms favorable to us. Indecision and a display of willingness to compromise only provoke the enemy into even more aggressive actions.

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    To add some of my own thoughts.

    I reckon there's something to be read between the lines.

    1850s UK wanting to strip Russia of Poland, Georgia (pre-genocide)-Circassia, Finland and parts of the Baltics giving them independence or handing them to other regional rivals is presented in parallel to Nazi Germany of the 1940s who wanted to eradicate the russians, to the Russian administration these are comparable, this reminds me in ways of Hitler (I know, trite comparison when it comes to Russia) he saw the defeat of Germany as being equavelant as the end of Germankind and therefore his people might as well die with the war, if Russia cannot be a strong independent great power with vast buffer states surrounding it then that is comparable to their peoples extermination.

    Given some conjecture, Russia in its current chaotic form still desires these buffer zone states of Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland, Poland and the Baltics in addition to Ukraine (which they still view as Russia) Russia pacifying eastern europe is essential to ensure the Russian states lasting independence and total victory in Ukraine and 'elsewhere' is seen as neccesary to achieve the power needed to start diplomatically splitting these states apart.

    Military means isn't always neccesary to pacify the border states, the role of the diplomats will be to accomplish this without it, but ultimately it is seen as neccesary to split these states apart so they do not pose a future threat to Russia with the right tools used to do this splitting picked based on the specifics of the country in question, in some cases under certain conditions, military can be used.

    Less interesting but somewhat tying into this is the parts about the preparations for war between the west and Russia, Russia has in its own way been preparing its people mentally for this since the Ukraine war broke out, to their people who watch their news Russia is already fighting with NATO troops in significant quantity inside Ukraine, so to them it's going to be less of a shock when Russian troops are fighting NATO troops elsewhere.

    Contrast to the French who have recently begun warning people of the death that is coming (to great shock) its not something they've been preparing them for the last four years, westerners today generally dont' know about any NATO troops fighting in Ukraine, other states have not given the news to their people about the consequences they will suffer during what the elite now claims as inevitable.

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    Actually just very impressive

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  • Yermak is a slippery fucker.

    On November 28, Yermak told the New York post he intended to head to the frontlines. This was interpreted by many as a way to avoid justice. As a soldier, Yermak would be under the jurisdiction of the State Bureau of Investigations, which is widely considered totally controlled by Yermak’s men.

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  • Google searches for Rahmanullah Lakanwal spiked in Israel and Washington DC in the days before he shot two national guards.

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    I had a look at the linked article, the poster initially gave me hope that they understood what normalised data is before comprehensively demonstrating that they did not.

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    While I agree they don't understand what 100% means, the timeline of the few searches which did occur is very interesting.

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  • I think it’s fair to say we’re officially at the point where everyone in the cabinet & deep state is doing what they want because Trump’s cognition is past the point of no return much like Biden’s was.

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    Trump has always been an easily-swayed idiot, however he is still very much the final authority even if they're Rubio/Bessent/Lutnick's plans that he got talked into (and just as often out of) on a whim.

    Very different from the Biden appointees ruling on their own and then wheeling out the figurehead to stumble through announcing their decisions.

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    Is this really true? I know Trump has declined significantly since his first presidential run in '16, but he still doesn't look nearly as bad as Biden in his last year.

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    His personality is still being held together by the sheer power of his narcissism.

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    Yeah, the guy's brain isn't even bleeding out through his eyeball yet. Trump isn't well, but he's nowhere near Biden/Wilson territory.

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    He's on his way to becoming a new Biden. Right now my money is on Vance running a major portion of the foreign policy from here on out. Who the fuck knows who runs domestic policy.

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  • A little meta, the deluded kids from one of the two main Romania-related subs (the one from which I've not yet been banned, lol) have made a screenshot of the comment I made on this mega-thread when it comes to that Black Sea terrorist attack by the Ukrainians, and then used that as a dedicated comment on the same piece of news but which had been posted on that Romanian sub. Or course, none of the kids in there were deploring our Black Sea potentially getting environmentally fucked up, because, of course, why would they care about that? That screenshot alone became the highest-voted comment in there, another big lol. Also sorry to the mods here for the extra-brigading this might have caused, but that's life on this God-forsaken and ideologically sick website.

    Also when it comes to Romanians being deluded, one of the most prominent pro-Western and liberal media entities here buried that Black Sea attack somewhere at the bottom of their news feed, with, again, no mention of the potential environmental danger this terrorist attack might have caused to us, Romania, but with this added at the end of the article (via google translate):

    At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Saturday that, following a successful operation in the direction of the eastern city of Dobropilia, the city of Pokrovsk, which has been the scene of fierce clashes with invading Russian troops for weeks, is holding out under Kiev's control, EFE reports.

    and especially this:

    "Pokrovsk holds" the Ukrainian Armed Forces official added.

    Yes, they've used the "[Ukrainian city] holds" meme with no irony whatsoever when commenting about a terrorist attack that could have also very negatively affected our (Romania's) Black Sea coastline, they have no shame.

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    Here is some visuals of that attack

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    deluded kids

    I work (but luckily don't live) in a city where the Greens (otherwise an around 10% max party) managed to win a plurality in the last two elections. It's a larger city without any significant industry, just various large government departments, corporate headquarters and major universities. You know, a müsli lib hive. It goes without saying that pro-Ukraine agitprop and anti-peace demonstrations have been absolutely huge here and the local youth participated heavily. Now, the current government re-introduced a "draft light" - and the same people who, with foaming mouth, demanded (and continue to demand) total victory in the East are agitating against conscription. It's hilarious.

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    They are hypocritical and they will continue being hypocritical. I am starting to wonder whether this is just because of their egoistic biases or whether it is just a phenomenon in human psychology. A lot of these people have very limited knowledge of politics. Also, a lot of these people want confirmation bias and inclusiveness in their wider social circles, which are brainwashed as well. That's why it is so comfortable for them to never challenge the narrative and just fit in, avoiding any risk of social ostracization. 

    I want as much as you do to have an honest and fair world, however, we do not have the power to implement it. Unfortunately, this might even mean that humanity as a whole does not have the power to implement it. We have seen this time after time throughout history and here we are wasting our times on such issues once again. 

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  • Just watched this presentation on missile interceptor fraud.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdPTpRfhdWM

    TL;DW - The American military rigs ICBM interceptor tests to try to get good interception rates, but can't even do that so they have to get creative with numbers to say their systems have a 61% intercept rate. When an ICBM is up in space, it deploys decoys and benefits from debris that obscures the interceptors' optical systems. The video goes through, in detail, how it's basically impossible to hit the warhead with any reliability. Atmospheric interception doesn't work because it'll already be too late at the speeds these things travel. It might be possible to intercept a missile right when it launches, before it leaves the atmosphere, but this requires systems that are geographically close enough to intervene, which the US apparently doesn't have, except maybe theoretically from North Korea. So the intercept rate is effectively 0%.

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    but this requires systems that are geographically close enough

    Hence the desire for Ukraine. It's required for full spectrum dominance

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    Dr. Ted Postol is a national treasure. Just know that listening to him already makes you more educated about national security topics than probably 99.9% of the people in Washington.

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    The BBC did a series of docos on "Star Wars" (the Strategic Defense Initiative) in the 1980's, and "Son of star wars" (National Missile Defense) in early Y2K, and fraud and grift feature prominently in both programs.

    However, the programs were held to be responsible for the fall of the USSR, which could not keep up with the industrial levels of grift the West was able to keep up against inefficient communism.

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    What's your take on hypersonic weapons? I'm a noob to materiel, I only catch bits and pieces from online commentators who might not be all that reliable or informative in the first place. But I remember Scott Ritter saying, I think on Danny Haiphong's show, that Oreshnik was designed as a non-nuclear deterrent to US nuclear-capable ground-based systems that could be deployed close to Russia. Does this suggest that, while the US might not be capable of intercepting at the boost phase, that Russia (maybe some of the other hypersonic-capable countries too) are making progress in that direction?

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    Hypersonic weapons are actually ancient: ICBMs fly at hypersonic speeds, and are very hard to intercept.

    But "hypersonic weapons" these days incorporate ways to modify their course continually and randomly.

    Russia and Iran seem to have them working well, the West is still catching up.

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    What's the deal with hypersonic IRBMs/MRBMs then? Do they offer a real strategic advantage, as Ritter suggested, since ICBMs are already so difficult to intercept?

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    I might be totally wrong, but ICBM are very risky to deploy because there is no way to know if they are nuclear armed or not, so if someone was to send 20 ICBM with kinetic payload everyone would just see 20 potentially nuclear armed weapons being fired and everyone would only have a couple of minutes to decide if they are taking a gamble on dooming the human race or not.

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    I guess the fact that Iran does not yet have nukes means that hypersonic missile launches into Israel are not an existential threat, to either country.

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    Hypersonic is just about the speed, countries are developing hypersonic missles that aren't ICBM which is the big deal. ICBM are always hypersonic, but their flight pattern means that when you launch an ICBM the whole world hold their breath due to them being possible strategic nuclear weapons. If you have a missle with a flight patern that looks like a ballistic missile but is hypersonic you aren't gambling the end of mankind each time you launch one.

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    Hypersonic is just about the speed

    I once thought so too, but I was corrected in here.

    These days "hypersonic weapons" are regarded as having pinpoint precision and random course corrections to prevent interception.

    If you have a missle with a flight patern that looks like a ballistic missile but is hypersonic you aren't gambling the end of mankind each time you launch one.

    I don't quite understand what you're saying here. Hypersonic missiles can be nuclear-armed. An exchange of hypersonics between two mutually nuclear-armed states would be extremely risky.

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    I stand corrected about hypersonic, it's not just speed, but tried to make it as easy to understand as possible.

    And you can have a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, but it would be a tactical weapon not a strategic one, so while a huge escalation on the nuclear ladder, it wouldn't be the end of mankind as we know it, ICBM can strike anywhere on the planet and the Satan 2 missle from Russia can carry 16 different warheads. If you see one of those fly toward the US or Europe, it might means 16 cities are about to disappear, something a ballistic missile can't do.

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    IRBMs and MRBMs are shorter range weapons, so they're not directly comparable with ICBMs. Iran wouldn't attack Israel with an ICBM because it's right next door.

    One of the amazing things about hypersonic missiles is that the kinetic energy of a piece of tungsten travelling at hypersonic speeds is about the same as the chemical energy in a chunk of TNT of the same mass.

    Hypersonic weapons are great for destroying underground bases, because that kinetic energy is directed in the direction of travel, whereas an exploding bit of TNT tends to direct its energy in all directions.

    People often compare hypersonic weapons with nuclear weapons, which makes some sense: the combination of a directed attack and extreme precision gives them some of the properties of tactical nukes, which are less precise but are directed at small targets.

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    Thanks very much for the rundown!

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    I didn't realise the new season of Stranger Things was already out. That's what this is, right? He saw something on TV and thinks it's real?

    Well in any case, this certainly doesn't scream of utter desperation. Imperial prestige stays absolute.

    EDIT: I commented before reading the link, it's worse than I thought. He didn't watch Stranger Things he watched Annabelle. Also, this article is satirical, and possibly viral publicity for the stand up comedian mentioned.

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    Jokes are always best when they're explained, I think.

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    lmfao to negotiate what? Absolutely nothing will change. Their demands are for Russia to capitulate and reimburse them.

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    That's the benefit of avoiding near-peer war for the better part of a century: the claims of effectiveness of your wunderwaffen remain uncontested

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  • Have we reached media numbness?
    There are headlines in all the outlets but I havent really felt much noise about the downed national guard people, ukraine quietly going towards the shed or the new no fly zone in Venezuela.

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    I havent really felt much noise

    What is the appropriate response to such silliness?

    It's not as if a public uproar will make any difference to the adminsistration's actions.

    I don't really think manufacturing consent is necessary any more, the media just go through the motions out of inertia.

    At some point they'll stop telling us anything at all, except where to invest.

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    Ì suppose that makes sense but I cant seem to shake off the feeling that there has been a very palpable numbening.
    Even the boomers that used to fret over every little thing Putin said or didn't say back in 2022 and up to 2024 seem to have stopped bringing up the subject.
    The sensitive libs feel hurt by anything negative these days (since their capacity to get you fired for wrongthink has been reduced) and the self declared chuds clutch their Nothingeverhappens rosaries with confident faith.

    And yeah, maybe hellfire isnt raining in our western skies yet, but a lot of things have happened in the last five years; not to mention 2025 alone and we still have a month to go before it's done.

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    I cant seem to shake off the feeling that there has been a very palpable numbening.

    I don't think my statement is inconsistent with yours.

    People are beginning to realize that what they think doesn't actually matter.

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    It's American Thanksgiving

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    It's been happening for a while though. The Venezuela stuff has been ramping up for months, but i feel like no one is talking about it. I saw far more discussion about Russia gearing up for war with Ukraine, and that didn't even directly impact the US. But it's looking more and more likely we're going to do military operations in Venezuela and I've heard no one talk about it in depth.

    I'm not sure if people just stopped giving a fuck, or if everyone has adopted a policy of TACO or Nothing-Ever-Happensism.

    I don't mean just regular people I talk to IRL or online, but even the media and online political personalities/spaces just don't seem to give a fuck. It really seems like everyone is worn out over everything.

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    Yep seems Bannon was correct about "flood the zone". The USA has struck 30-40 boats in the Gulf and Pacific and no one, and I mean no one, seems to give a shit.

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    My mom, and I agree with her. believes that the strikes are bullshit. She finds it extremely hard to believe that none of the family members of any of those killed are in any media saying anything. We’re from the Dominican Republic, she reads/watches spanish language media. Even the most thuggish of thugs have family. that absolutely no one has come forward and said anything seems bizarre. Maybe she’s wrong but I agree, if the media is able to get statements from families of Palestinian Afghan and Iraqi fighters, how on Earth is nothing being heard from families of those killed in the caribbean. Something’s not adding up but I’m willing to be proven wrong.

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    Even mainstream English/US news orgs have interviews and articles occasionally, I couldn't speak to Spanish. I would like to think the strikes are fake but that's cope

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    I was wondering about that, actually.
    A possible explanation could be a media black-out, either intentional or because they don't give a shit.
    I searched at the time of the first two strikes for info on venezuelan and colombian news but I didn't find anything at least on the big media outlets.

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    The only news source I found searching in spanish language websites comes from Associated Press. The link is from a publication that is critical of chavez but virtually all other news outlets cite the AP report.
    https://www.elnacional.com/2025/11/identifican-a-victimas-venezolanas-de-los-ataques-de-ee-uu-en-el-caribe-segun-ap/

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    You can enforce that on American mainstream outlets but it requires going to great lengths and at best only on mainstream media outlets. this isn’t happening in some jungle on an uninhabited island. There is an extremely vibrant press in Latin America. If truly 83 people have been killed it is absolutely impossible to believe there aren’t at least 100 family members that wouldn’t be in the press talking about their family members being summarily executed whether they were drug runners or not. It’s just not possible. It’s a theory I’ve already had on my mind for a while, and after talking it over with my mom on Thanksgiving she pretty much confirmed it for me. She’s doesn’t even really follow politics like that, to her it’s just common sense. Everyone has social media, everyone has a cell phone even the most backwater uneducated person you can’t think of. You can’t murder almost 100 people and keep that under wraps.

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  • Was just reading some delicious comments on this thread on The Guardian:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/29/russia-ukraine-peace-deal

    Some people think that Russia likely 'has no functioning nuclear weapons', others think all Ukraine needs is lots of artillery shells and some missiles and they will 'send Russia packing'. Others think we should simply 'stop buying stuff from India and China'.

    It seems to me these people have done NO research into the tactical and strategic realities of this war, and yet they all speak so confidently about subject matter they clearly no next to nothing about. It's staggering to me, are they still living in 2022?

    You see it on reddit all the time as well, some fella yesterday commented about how the US should simply start flying B-2's into Russia to blow things up with 'plausible deniability'. Because the multi-layered LF/VHF/HF bistatic/multistatic radar system in Russia would have no chance of seeing any of them over the thousands of miles they would have to fly...over Russia.

    Anyway read the comments if you fancy a laugh, the ignorance is off the charts and if you give it a few hours you will be able to read 100's of comedy comments from people who apparently live under a rock.

    I actually admire it in a way, generally if I don't know something about a topic I will just keep my mouth shut, but for many out there (no doubt the smartest people in the universe...), they have no problem with holding forth confidently and at length on topics they have done little if any research into.

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    It’s not “seems,” it’s “are.” They are historically, politically, and economically illiterate on this issue.

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    I know a guy, who is very smart and kind, who believes that all we need to do to achieve peace is to carpet-bomb Russia up to Moscow city limits.

    Like.

    Bro.

    Things like the Oreshnik ballistic missile, or the Dead Hand system, or GOOD FUCKING LORD this new Burevestnik cruise missile, are simply not addressed in Western media. If someone isn't inclined to pursue the topic on their own, they'll just go along with the conventional wisdom of Russian backwardness and weakness.

    Then he'll say something like, "Well why doesn't Ukraine have the right to join NATO if that's their democratic wish?" He's the essence of Mearsheimer's "Great Delusion of Liberal Dreams".

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    There’s not getting through to these people. They only consume liberal, partisan media, and their ideology is so muddled that they will explicate the most brazen, Nazi-sounding jingoism against certain peoples (the typical suspects) while upholding extremely naive pacifism for everyone generally.

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    It's amazing how this admin continues to run its programming like early 2000s reality TV throwing possible plotlines like wet noodles against the wall and see what gets the public's attention.
    At this rate, Maduro has been served enough time to at least not go down like a total whimp, will he use it wisely?
    Find out in next week's episode of keeping up with the Trumps!

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  • Europe thinks the unthinkable: Retaliating against Russia - Politco, 27 Nov 2025

    Europeans “should be afraid and tremble like dumb animals in a herd being driven to the slaughter,” said Medvedev in early October. “They should soil themselves with fear, sensing their near and agonizing end.”

    Unacceptable rhetoric. My Gardenoid honor has been besmirched. A forceful response is needed.

    Ideas range from [...] faster and more coordinated attribution of hybrid attacks by quickly pointing the finger at Moscow to surprise NATO-led military exercises

    Terrors of the Earth unleashed, Medvedev in utter shambles.

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    To be fair Medvedev does sound a lot like Katz which is to say like a fucking dweeb. Would absolutely have been turboposters on /pol/.

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    Does Dima make these posts? In my mind he has a coterie of zoomers making le epic smackdowns for him. Either way, it's lame!

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  • What a fucking joke this website and by extension the western controlled plantation of the internet is. Upvotes are botted, your posts are shadowbanned, or your account is banned. The censorship in the west is through the roof. They must be really afraid.

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  • Looks like the Ukrainians attacked two Russian oil-tankers in the Black Sea, using drones, just off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea. Both tankers are on fire, so hooray for the ecological disaster (Romania also has a Black Sea shoreline but we won't say anything, because we're cuckolds to these idiots in Kiev and to their masters in Brussels). Fuck this gay Earth for what the Ukrainians have just done to our beautiful Black Sea, and I hope to God that whoever was behind all this mess will pay it heavily some day.

    Don't have any mainstream media links yet, it's on other subs and on Twitter, and of course that the Ukrainians have not said that this was them, they'll never say that, they'll blame it on the Russians for blowing their own oil-tankers up in flames. Again, whoever gave the order for this ecological blasphemy should end up burning in Hell.

    Later edit: Because this piece of news has literally made me depressed for the evening, a feel good YT under-water video with dolphins swimming just off the Romanian Black Sea coast, as a sort of psychological counter-balance. How can the shitheads in Kiev be so stupid? For the life of me...

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    It says that the ships were in ballast ie:empty, so thats something

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    That's good. Just saw a POV video of one of those sea-drones, so I guess I was also wrong on the Ukrainians not-taking responsibility for it, at least they did tacitly.

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  • The Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is not keen on handing Russia's assets to Ukraine:

    “In the very probable event Russia is ultimately not officially the losing party, it will, as history has shown in other cases, be legitimately asking for its sovereign assets to be returned”

    I'm guessing that saying "If Russia Wins" is against some sort of Eurozone style guide.

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  • Holy shit Zelensky gave up Yermak. The head of the president's office has been officially terminated by presidential decree.

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    Came here to write that, looks like things are finally happening in Kiev. Is Zelensky's ship sinking? What's keeping it still afloat? These are going to be a very interesting couple of days.

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    I'd put my money on the Brits installing Zaluzhny and big Z fucking off to the Bahamas.

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    White (depending on who you ask) al-Julani is coming.

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    Yes, I did not expect this so soon. IMO - it's a message to Zelensky to make a deal, or you're next.

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    IMO - it's a message to Zelensky to make a deal, or you're next.

    I disagree, EU is opposed to this deal and the anti-corruption agency there is funded and staffed by their people, not the americans. The timing could well be coincidence, part of the retaliation for trying to get rid of the agency earlier this year.

    Though becoming isolated like this will make Zelensky more likely to take the russians deal I think you're right about that.

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    The NABU is staffed by Europeans but was established by the CIA & FBI. That place is bugged up the ass. Every single thing that happens there is known by the Americans, everything.

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    Yeah, if anything, it's the NATO war party playing one of its cards to keep the thing going

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    Yermak sounds like a discount grocery store chain.

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    and NABU is also an environmental protection NGO in Germany. They count birds and stuff.

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  • Mods. please for the love of god. Leave the megathread stickied.

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    Button on the sidebar

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  • Apologies for the double post, but despite it being a day late and my not being American I am nonetheless today thankful for the Syrians FINALLY GROWING SOME FUCKING BALLS AND DOING WHAT I CANNOT EXPLICITY CONDONE ON THIS DOGSHIT WEBSITE. Link entirely unrelated. FYI, Beit Jinn is predominantly Druze and Christian. Happy Thanksgiving!

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    Hey, just report the news dispassionately, we'll join the dots.

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  • Surprised nobody has yet posted the video of the IDF executing two unarmed men in Jenin.

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  • So, Saw a man tonight not make it under intensive CPR/Flight for Life that began while under observation with multiple other conditions (I think), and the impact on the family, was devastating. Heart disease is no joke. Take care of yourselves out there. 80 percent of it is preventable and life style is a huge factor as in many things.

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    Cardiac arrest calls are always rough. Was it your first one? Many need a debrief afterwards, especially if it's your first death. Ask your colleagues for it if you didn't have one. <3

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    life style is a huge factor as in many things.

    Especially heavy alcohol consumption, I'm talking here about Eastern Europe where I've seen it with my own eyes how it ate people from the inside as the years went by. One thing that Trump is doing right with his life is that he's a teetotaler.

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    Killed my dad this year, he was always a fairly heavy drinker but after retiring he decided that his best retirement hobby would be a complete descent into alcoholism. Retired at 65, dead two years later at 67 looking like a skeleton wearing a skin coat. They obviously won't list the cause of death as 'booze', they said it was down to 'numerous bacterial infections, a weakened immune system', and ultimately 'sepsis'...but he got that weak because of all the drinking, he was fairly robost just two years prior.

    Not really looking for sympathy he was always a bit of a wanker and never were that close, but it was incredible how quickly it killed him.

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  • Anders Fogh Rasmussen:

    Europe must stop waiting for signals from Washington and take the initiative in Ukraine. Paper guarantees mean nothing to Putin. Only concrete commitments matter. That’s why I now call for Europe to deploy up to 20,000 troops behind Ukraine’s front lines, establish an air shield with around 150 combat aircraft, and unlock frozen Russian assets.  Europe earns its seat at the table by bringing real capability, not by asking for permission.

    That's what this is ultimately all about, isn't it? Our seat at the table.

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    That’s why I now call for Europe to deploy up to 20,000 troops behind Ukraine’s front lines, establish an air shield with around 150 combat aircraft.

    Yeah that's called 'going to war'. Are these people smoking the rock?

    The troop figure stated also shows how numerous 'democratic police actions' have warped their ideas of what real high intensity warfare looks like. Those soldiers will all be gone within 4-6 weeks.

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    lol this again 

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    He isn't anywhere remotely important anymore (in fact I searched all of reddit and the only mention of this I found was from you, which indicates how few people care about him)

    If the european leadership are as convinced as they say they are of Russias impending invasion, then in my eyes it doesn't make sense to wait for Ukraine to fall before sending troops to fight Russia, Ukraine has the largest standing allied army in the fight in this scenario we're talking about an optimisic 800.000 EU troops to defend against Russia if we had half a decade of prep time, Ukraine is out here with those kinds of numbers today, if you know you're going to fight the war eventually why choose to fight it after the largest allied army is gone?

    But how did they become convinced Russia is going to attack them? Russia believes its homeland is entirely safe because of its massive nuclear arsenal and they already have a large and growing standing army from fighting Ukraine, a limited strike into the practically defenseless baltics could prove the emperor has no clothes e.g 90% of NATO and 70% of the EU not sending help when an allied nation is attacked based on who Russia saw actually helping Ukraine this year, which would in short order disintegrate both NATO and the EU, leaving Russia to negotiate with a bunch of smaller individual powers to end the embargo, some would cave instantly and the rest would trickle in with time, not held back by a greater whole.

    You remember that Putin is (or is at least seen as) a betting man and you sprinkle in the misplaced elevated self worth and a lot of mental damage in the current european leadership from the ongoing collapse of the old order and you can see why they're are convinced this is going to happen.

    But then you also remember that to them there's no one better to send troops to Ukraine than every other country except for theirs and maybe at the end of the day that's going to have to be what keeps us out of escalation.

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    European leaders have fallen for the same DDLG nonsense (Decisions, Declarations, and Line Graphs) as American leadership has. It is as if they were feudal lords and church officials of long past, they can simply announce "We must defend our homeland against the impending invasion," no differently than announcing "Crusade!" and determine that pre-plundered loot can finance such action, that all the knights of the land will magically self-organize and know how to support deep supply lines into hostile territory, instead of infighting and stepping all over eachother when hostilities begin with an ultimate failure of their primary objective (Just like the Crusades)

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    If the european leadership are as convinced as they say they are of Russias impending invasion, then in my eyes it doesn't make sense to wait for Ukraine to fall before sending troops to fight Russia

    It does not. Europe isn't going to send troops or provoke a war against Russia. They could not win a war against it (although they certainly could defend themselves on their home turf) and they don't act like they feel threatened by Russia because they are in fact not threatened by Russia (their rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding). I'm pretty bullish about nothing happening. But jfc is the Euro leadership deranged an stupid and considering this I can't put the likelihood of them doing something stupid at zero.

    Rasmussen is just an example. I know he's out of formal power and busy making cash via his Rasmussen Global consultancy. But he's still a good example for the attitudes of our leadership.

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    But jfc is the Euro leadership deranged an stupid and considering this I can't put the likelihood of them doing something stupid at zero.

    Most of this kind of stuff I see is from recently ex-leaders or long-ago leaders, I don't see this rhetoric from people currently in charge of anything.

    Except maybe Macron.

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    Or perhaps they just want to see the world end in nuclear hellfire.

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    He’s 100% correct.

    If Europe’s leaders are serious people then they need to send their militaries into Ukraine and get directly involved. No one is going to save you from the impending Russian invasion other than yourselves.

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    EU is now probably producing more directives than industrial goods. The big economies Germany, France and Italy are weighed down by debt. Together with ex-EU member Great Britain, they're still for some reason desperately trying to trigger an open war against Russia.
    On the world stage, the EU is on the verge of becoming insignificant. It's outpaced by China, parked by Russia, and abandoned by our master and patron, the United States.

    EU's future looks more and more like it could end in a collapse.

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    they're still for some reason desperately trying to trigger an open war against Russia.

    Europe's leaders are little different from Zelensky's regime: totally corrupt, and about to make megabucks from the MIC. I'm just surprised how competently they've sewn it all up, given how incompetent they are at leading Europe towards a brighter future.

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    The guy is a lunatic for saying that, pure and simple.

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  • lol

    Russia will cease hostilities when Ukrainian troops leave the areas they are now occupying — Putin

    'And if they don't, we will make them'

    LMAO

    ‘Legally impossible’ to sign peace treaty with Ukraine now – Putin

    Moscow is, however, interested in reaching an agreement with Kiev at some point, the Russian president has reiterated

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    These are some of the strongest and most direct statements from Putin regarding the war, and Russian military strength, since maybe the first few days when it all started in 2022.

    IMO, it indicates not only Russian strength but Ukrainian weakness. Anyone paying attention knows this, but for Putin to say it so directly shows Russia is almost 100% confident it can manage the war to achieve it's goals.

    I don't think this can be understated.

    Almost 18 months ago Prigozhin was marching on Moscow, the Kursk incursion was a little over a year ago. We now have Putin stating publicly that they will finish it all militarily if they can't get a deal negotiated that protects their interests and takes into account the reality of the war.

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    Almost 18 months ago Prigozhin was marching on Moscow

    I agree with all of your post, just wanted to point out that, unfortunately, this is 2025, I say that because even though we're almost in December I still treat it as 2024. Prigo' died in 2023.

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    Most easily predicted thing of 2025. Maybe ever!

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  • It’s hard to believe how completely delusional the West is. So now the spin is that Russia wants a ceasefire so they can re-arm to fight Europe in 2029? The west is publicly negotiating with itself, meanwhile Putin has said publicly just this week, that he’d rather finish this off militarily rather than have fake peace and to start this again later. Yet the west is rattling off about a “just peace”.

    And when Russia just continues to steamroll Ukraine? What then? These people can barely keep the narrative going for 24 hours anymore it’s beyond bizarre at this point.

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    And when Russia just continues to steamroll Ukraine? What then?

    Then the Europeans attempt to pivot to militarization and re-armament. No one will question why they handled this war so poorly, or why anyone listened to European "leaders" like Kallas or Stoltenberg.

    I don't know how Germany, the UK or even France can afford it given their relative economic situations and how the EU manages it's finances via the EMU. And - we all know what happened the last time Europe decided to launch an arms race between continental powers.

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    They can't afford it but that's a problem for their successors to deal with. Right now they're just getting their CVs in order.

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    now the spin is

    Hasn't that been the story for at least the last 11 months? The rush to re-arm came with both German and Danish and whatever intelligence services all saying Russia is preparing to fight us somewhere around 2027-2029 depending on the scale of the war with Germany claiming they had until 2030 to prepare for it but now claiming the sabotage that happened this year makes them think its coming sooner.

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    Yes the Russia wants to take on Europe in 2029 has been floating around for a while. But now they’re layering on the non-existent ceasefire negotiations onto it too. That Russia wants a ceasefire so they can rearm because Ukraine is a stalemate. Every accusation is a confession with these people, and they think they are clever about it too.

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    That Russia wants a ceasefire so they can rearm because Ukraine is a stalemate

    Were they really not using the same argument back in winter going into spring when almost the same deal was floating around? Denmark was rather insistant Ukraine had to be kept in the fight otherwise the baltics would be at risk by 202X+2 which was before Germany was ready to fight, whereas as long as Russia was kept occupied in Ukraine there was no risk of them invading.

    Speaking of, if they're so confident now that Russia is going to attack in 2029, do they think Ukraine will concede by 2027? (giving Russia the 2 years they claimed they needed minimum before starting another war) Because in January, Germany was rather convinced Ukraine would hold until 2030.

    This puts the Germans closer to reality than in january when they were smoking something good.

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    Abdulla was crushed to death by the Israeli army jeep during a raid in his village of Kufr Malek, northeast of Ramallah before dawn on June 14, 2015.

    According to a lawsuit filed by the family against Israel in June 2017, Abdulla was trapped under the jeep and bled to death after Israeli forces denied him medical aid. 

    He was slowly executed, Naela Atiya, the family’s lawyer, told Al Jazeera. “According to witnesses, locals begged the soldiers to lift the jeep 10 centimetres as he was being crushed; they didn’t allow them,” Atiya said.

    In response to an Al Jazeera query on the matter, the Israeli Ministry of Defense said it “submitted a statement of defence to the court stating that the event in which the plaintiff was killed constitutes wartime activity as defined by the law, and, therefore, the state is immune from prosecution in this event”.

    It added: “In light of the damage that was caused to the [military] jeep [as a result of the Molotov cocktail thrown by the plaintiff], the ministry has filed a countersuit.”

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    Putting aside any potential vibration issues, what even is the function of a 40 ton IFV?

    The BMP-3 weighs in at 18 tons, the bradley at 25 tons the cv-90 also around 25. 40 tons might aswell be an MBT

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    all British tanks are overweight. Challenger 2 is literally the heaviest tank in current use globally. Russia's are around 55ish, Leopard and Abrams in the 60s, Challenger is beyond 70

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    We are building our tanks as we build our population!

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    40 tons sounds like a lot but its not like contemporary designs, western or russian have been performing especially well. Looking at the trend towards turtle tanks maybe bigger is better? You're sacrificing mobility I guess, but what IVF is going to outrun a drone

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    The MoD said the decision "underlines our absolute commitment to the safety of our personnel.

    Deafening them in the first place demonstrates the opposite.

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  • Russian war correspondent Vlad Zizdok

    “The fox promises not to be cunning. The neighbor promises not to make noise. The dog swears not to steal food in the owner’s presence. The elephant promises to behave carefully in the china shop. The thief promises not to take the wallet. The wolf swears not to wear sheep’s skin. The official promises to act. The cat vows not to eat fish. The river plans not to overflow. The persimmon definitely does not astringe. And I promise never to drink again. The agreement is legally binding. Violations - sanctions.”

    Russian poetry making a comeback

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    His IG has been wild as of late, the prayer sessions have increased exponentially.

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    the Saddam strategy of faith-guided anti-imperialism

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    I don't blame him, if the US attack it's probably gonna be a shit show for the US, but Maduro is absolutely not gonna see trought that war.

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  • At the end of Trump’s first term, there were a few headlines about how he was the first president since Carter not to send troops to a new conflict. Is this also true of Biden & Trump II (so far)? This list seems to say yes for Biden, but it hasn’t been updated since July 2024.

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    U.S. troops have been in Ukraine and Israel. What do you call operating air defenses, ISR, and logistical coordination? I can be prosecuted for paying a man, giving him a gun, and pointing him to someone to shoot.

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  • Previously, I made a post talking about how the US Navy's battle-force (combat ships) has been significantly reduced in the last few years, and will in fact, continue to be reduced for at least the next year even though they are supposed to be gearing for a second pacific war with China.

    In even worse news for Uncle Sam's Nimrods. The Constellation frigates are being cancelled, what this means is that 3 surface ship classes built for the 21st century (Zumwalt, LCS, Constellation) are now duds, only the Ford Carriers and the America assault ships can be considered to be a success in that at least the ships are going forward with production, and considering that Trump was planning an executive order to force a switch back to steam catapults over the new electromagnetic one, maybe not even that.

    This is patently hilarious, building a frigate or a corvette (what normal countries call an LCS) is not some super-special-secret ability, every major country has its own native produced designs for corvettes and frigates, nearly ALL of coastal Europe has their own designs, the Constellation was supposed to be partially based on one of those designs, a joint French-Italian project called FREMM. Yet the only thing that the US Navy can produce correctly is its aircraft carriers, that as the Red Sea Yemen issue showed, are increasingly unable to project the power expected of them.

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    Maybe I'm stupid, but why would they even try to build a big fleet to fight China? The only reasonable scenario in which a war happens is if China invades Taiwan, meaning the fighting will be close to the mainland. In that case, China will be able to launch an ungodly number of hypersonic missiles at any American ship close to the action. There is no way they will be able to shoot all of them down. So what's the point?

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    You've received several reasonable answers, but they all fail to see the larger strategic playbook:

    • Step 1: Fool the Chinese into wasting trillions building a massive navy.

    • Step 2: Launch a nuclear first strike.

    There will be a 15 to 30 minute window where the US technically retains strategic dominance, which will last from that point until the permanent end of human civilisation.

    Victory!

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    Frequently struggle comprehending how Mearsheimer and think tank big brains handle cognitive dissonance of "we can't directly fight R*ssia because it'll go nuclear" and "We'll directly fight C*ina" which somehow won't go nuclear?????

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    China up until recently didn't had a huge nuclear arsenal, big enough that they offered a credible threat, but not big enough that an exchange with the US resulted in the end of civilization or the end of the US.

    Basically if china went nuclear against the US, the death toll would be high for the US but "manageable", meanwhile the US answer would result in the china being nothing more then a nuclear wasteland. This meant that china couldn't go nuclear without being completely suicidal without even being able to bring down the US with them.

    China atm is increasing it's nuclear arsenal at unprecedented rate, so this like of thinking is pretty much done for anyway.

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    I thought the thing about nuclear war was once the taboo is broken, everyone will start launching because everyone will think they're next. And China launching first doesn't seem plausible. They've enough conventional power to disable or eliminate US assets in the first two islands chains, including everything located in their vassals, and the Pentagon would be under immense to use nuke-armed subs.

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    Maybe I'm stupid, but why would they even try to build a big fleet to fight China?

    Because the US Navy is a big bureaucracy, and bureaucracies tend to resist reorganizing their hierarchies and rank structure. This resistance to change, at best, comes from not wanting to risk massive downtime or indecision as people are shuffled in, out, and around, as well as retrained. At worst, the resistance comes from self interest of those inside the bureaucracy who see any restructuring reducing their prestige, influence, and material benefits, even if those would improve the performance of the bureaucracy as a whole, or the nation or constituency the bureaucracy was created to benefit.

    So what does bureaucracy have to do with the Navy? Well, the Officer Corps of the Navy is a deep hierarchy. There are ten ranks, going from Ensigns at the bottom (O-1) to Full Admirals at the top (O-10) Out of the 75,000 commissioned officers of the Navy, about 10-15,000 are ensigns, while there are only 233 Admirals (O-7 to O-10). Not everyone who starts as an ensign will finish their career as an Admiral. While many who serve realize this and are content retiring at a position that was challenging for them and/or helped them to realize their limitations, most officers, especially those that came from the service academies instead of ROTC or OCS, are recruited based on their drive to want to become an admiral or general officer.

    In order to have a good chance of becoming an Admiral, you either have to extensive surface warfare experience, or extensive naval aviation experience. That means service on aircraft carriers and/or littoral combat ships through cruisers. This means that existing officers who serve in those roles and want to become Admirals, as well have internal political power by controlling/offering billets for those positions to younger officers, are motivated to maintain using those ships and carriers to maintain the promotion structure of the navy. Even if those ships and carriers are becoming more expensive and less effective at accomplishing missions assigned to the navy.

    This isn't a new phenomenon in history. What's happening today in the US Navy also happened to the Ottoman empire in the 19th century. The Janissary Corps, were advanced for their time in the 13th century through mass deployment of firearm weapons at a time when most European armies either used pike and bow formations, or some shot formations embedded within pikemen in order to defend against cavalry. However, the failure of the Janissaries to adopt artillery within their framework was linked to how over time they became a hereditary system with greater political influence that could resist top-down reform from the Ottoman sultan.

    Even if Hegseth is trying to "reform" the Navy top down by reducing Admirals, and reintroducing stricter grooming, performance, and other standards for recruits, his efforts will fail because he has done nothing to address the fundamental issue, which is that promotions are based on time and effectiveness of leadership roles on... surface warfare ships and naval aircraft/aircraft carriers.

    To be able to turn this ship around (Pun compeltely intended) the DoD would have to start creating new promotion tracks now, for either controlling/deploying naval drones/robotic-boat fleets, maintaining and engineering those fleets, and expansion of submarines or other non-surface warfare/non-aircraft-carrier ships and missions, such as pier logistics. The addition of those promotional tracks would also mean taking away or reducing promotional opportunities from naval aviators and surface warfare officers.

    Upending this entire structure introduces many political concerns. If a bunch of LCMDs and CMDs in aviation found out they were unlikely to reach captain because there were going to be less carriers, they might mass resign, which would be equally as bad as not restructuring the Navy as needed.

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    Maybe I'm stupid

    Anyone trying to apply reason or thought to a subject usually isn't stupid, certainly I would consider you smarter than most Western leaders purely for being trying to use reason.

    Matters of ideology (liberal democracy), principles (defending those like us), national prestige (Imperial hegemony), "honor" (standing up against "authoritarian regimes") and legitimacy (we cannot look weak) are seldom reasonable or well thought out before we get into the desperation that comes with maintaining a failing empire. Most are in fact, entirely emotional responses driven by barely coherent, astonishingly incompetent people, this is not to say principle is inherently a bad thing, purely cynical, ruthless, selfish opportunism of the likes of Turkey and India are frowned upon in nearly all quarters. But getting high on your own supply has never been a good thing, Uncle Sam has chosen to stake all of the above in The Ukraine, Occupied Palestine and East China regardless of the actual utility or benefit to itself.

    So what's the point you ask? Declining empires are rarely rational, Uncle Sam faces a severe no-win situation, either

    a. They continue to push resources into maintaining the empire, continuing to overreach and strain themselves when they were already straining, continuing to cannibalize the homefront as material conditions continue to slip and domestic unrest reaches breaking point. OR

    b. Admit defeat and begin the process of drawing down the empire, thereby eliminating a key foundation upon which the government has staked itself...potentially causing a break in the elite...which is usually where civil wars start.

    I should say this is all theorycrafting, I don't really see a civil war. But either way, increasing levels of lethal violence are assured, its already happened anyhow.

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    There was a discussion about a possible blockade the other day. The main chokepoint would be the malacca strait, which is too far away for most missiles.

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    The point? To steal tax payer money duh!

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    He is based, and he is completely right. He is commenting on how bad it is for europeu to not be at the table. Unprecedented, but not unexpected, seeing europeans leaders are fucking trash.

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    Took me a little while to understand what you meant

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    Is it like a sort of political costume where that Isreali ultra's always look like slobs? same with smotrich and gvir, not a probably tied necktie to be seen. They look like lads half pissed at a wedding.

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    lol I would have thought It was me as I've never entirely figured out how twitter works

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    Me neither.

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    did you reply to the wrong comment?

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    No, i too arrive at a clip of an israeli mayor inciting murder (for a change) when following your link.

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    The great arc of dialectics is long and points towards what was known yesteryear as "Russian propaganda".

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    Oh herro donard

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    If Chinese is not phonetic, does that mean they can't write accents? Or do they have a different method of conveying mispronunciation by text?

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    We have investigated ourselves & found no wrongdoing.

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  • Alexis Tsipras (ex-PM of Greece) released his memoir. Although I'm no fan of Tsipras, I find his passage about Putin to be very interesting.

    In short, during Grexit/the crisis, Tsipras went to Vladimir Putin and tried to sell some Greek bonds to signal to the EU that Greece would partner with Russia if they exited the eurozone. According to Tsipras, Putin absolutely cooked this dude. Putin didn't give a fuck about Greece, the centuries of brotherhood in the Orthodox religion, or building a partnership. When asked about the investment, Putin told him that it would be like 'throwing money in the trash can' and he would rather give that money to orphanages. And even after this meeting, Tsipras reached out to Putin for advice, and Putin basically told him in his own way that he wanted nothing to do with this guy.

    Say what you want about Tsipras, but I think this passage is good evidence against the Western argument that Putin wants puppet states and soft power in the West. Putin was essentially offered a Western client state on a platter, and refused it. I think in Putin's grand vision, he wanted to watch the EU burn Greece to the ground (which they did), as the EU destroying one of their own would be more useful to Putin's vision than anything else.

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    Putin didn't give a fuck about Greece, the centuries of brotherhood in the Orthodox religion, or building a partnership.

    Serb bros... i don't feel so good /s

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    I guess Putin learned a lot of hard lessons from the USSR

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