Anthony McIntyre  ✒ Perhaps now, with the war against Ukraine under way, all the social media experts, previously peddling their wares on Covid will switch lanes and proclaim a new expertise, this time in Russia-Ukraine relations.

Predictably, a barrage from the internet equivalent of Stalin's Organ shall be fired off in the direction of those not persuaded of the purported expertise, with plenty of shrapnel thrown, for good measure, the way of any not remotely tuned in to the tub thumping. As Donald Gannon is reputed to have quipped, where facts are few, experts are many. Anticipate quite a lot of self-proclaimed foreign policy buffs over the course of this unilateral war of aggression. Expect also acumen on a par with that of a Young Earth Creation scientist.

I feel marginally more knowledgeable about Ukraine in the 1940s than I do about its current situation. That comes from a passing interest in the Nazi war on the Eastern front; the battles for Kiev, and Kharkov, the siege of Odessa and the atrocity of Babi Yar. Ukraine lost 1.4 million troops and 7 million civilians as a result of Operation Barbarossa and its aftermath. On today's crisis, my observations are at best tentative and impressionistic.

Viewing the images and footage of the assault on Ukraine by the armed forces of Russian oligarchs, underpinned by a false pretext, it is hard to disabuse comparisons with the wars unjustifiably launched on Iraq in 2003 by Blair and Bush. Thus far the damage inflicted seems nowhere near as extensive as the television viewer is accustomed to seeing courtesy of Israeli savagery in Gaza. But these are early days, and the situation can only be expected to worsen. 

The Moscow plutocracy, like Blair, Bush and Netanyahu, will not shy away from barbarism and crimes against humanity. There is the spectre of the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya to alert us to the likelihood of that. Through her endeavours, a wider audience than the Kremlin felt comfortable with was made aware of the horror of Russian intervention in Chechnya during the second war there. Already Amnesty International is airing its suspicions that the Russians have perpetrated war crimes in the opening days of the onslaught.

With the UN affirming that 120,000 civilians have already fled the country, Ukraine is expressing concern about the figures possibly soaring to 5 million. If the war does not cease that is a certain humanitarian disaster. A large female exodus may not be considered unreasonable. When Soviet forces, justifiably on that occasion, entered Nazi Germany: 

Altogether at least two million German women are thought to have been raped, and a substantial minority, if not a majority, appear to have suffered multiple rape.

Ukrainian women fearing likewise for historic reasons, will not feel any safer as a result of the West’s economic sanctions, which if effective, will only work over the long term. 

It is so long ago that I gave up on believing Western leaders when it came to wars, that I have since forgotten when I ever believed them. Nevertheless, Putin was lying from the get-go. It was always his intention  to wage war. When he formally recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, to the chagrin of both Ukraine and the West, the war of position had come to its end. The VI point had been reached and there was no turning back. The war of manoeuvre was as certain as night following day.

Russian aggression for sure, yet it seems ill-advised to downplay the apprehension within the Kremlin  "about encirclement by NATO and forward missile deployments," even if Putin is gilding the lily by claiming such a move is "like having a knife against our throat." Jeffrey Sachs makes a point worth considering:

As misguided as the Russian actions are . . . . American intransigence regarding Nato enlargement is also utterly misguided and risky. True friends of Ukraine, and of global peace, should be calling for a U.S. and NATO compromise with Russia—one that respects Russia's legitimate security interests while fully backing Ukraine's sovereignty.

For now, it can only be hoped that “neither Russia nor the West have the slightest intention of fighting each other.” 

 ⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

War On Ukraine

Anthony McIntyre  ✒ Perhaps now, with the war against Ukraine under way, all the social media experts, previously peddling their wares on Covid will switch lanes and proclaim a new expertise, this time in Russia-Ukraine relations.

Predictably, a barrage from the internet equivalent of Stalin's Organ shall be fired off in the direction of those not persuaded of the purported expertise, with plenty of shrapnel thrown, for good measure, the way of any not remotely tuned in to the tub thumping. As Donald Gannon is reputed to have quipped, where facts are few, experts are many. Anticipate quite a lot of self-proclaimed foreign policy buffs over the course of this unilateral war of aggression. Expect also acumen on a par with that of a Young Earth Creation scientist.

I feel marginally more knowledgeable about Ukraine in the 1940s than I do about its current situation. That comes from a passing interest in the Nazi war on the Eastern front; the battles for Kiev, and Kharkov, the siege of Odessa and the atrocity of Babi Yar. Ukraine lost 1.4 million troops and 7 million civilians as a result of Operation Barbarossa and its aftermath. On today's crisis, my observations are at best tentative and impressionistic.

Viewing the images and footage of the assault on Ukraine by the armed forces of Russian oligarchs, underpinned by a false pretext, it is hard to disabuse comparisons with the wars unjustifiably launched on Iraq in 2003 by Blair and Bush. Thus far the damage inflicted seems nowhere near as extensive as the television viewer is accustomed to seeing courtesy of Israeli savagery in Gaza. But these are early days, and the situation can only be expected to worsen. 

The Moscow plutocracy, like Blair, Bush and Netanyahu, will not shy away from barbarism and crimes against humanity. There is the spectre of the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya to alert us to the likelihood of that. Through her endeavours, a wider audience than the Kremlin felt comfortable with was made aware of the horror of Russian intervention in Chechnya during the second war there. Already Amnesty International is airing its suspicions that the Russians have perpetrated war crimes in the opening days of the onslaught.

With the UN affirming that 120,000 civilians have already fled the country, Ukraine is expressing concern about the figures possibly soaring to 5 million. If the war does not cease that is a certain humanitarian disaster. A large female exodus may not be considered unreasonable. When Soviet forces, justifiably on that occasion, entered Nazi Germany: 

Altogether at least two million German women are thought to have been raped, and a substantial minority, if not a majority, appear to have suffered multiple rape.

Ukrainian women fearing likewise for historic reasons, will not feel any safer as a result of the West’s economic sanctions, which if effective, will only work over the long term. 

It is so long ago that I gave up on believing Western leaders when it came to wars, that I have since forgotten when I ever believed them. Nevertheless, Putin was lying from the get-go. It was always his intention  to wage war. When he formally recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, to the chagrin of both Ukraine and the West, the war of position had come to its end. The VI point had been reached and there was no turning back. The war of manoeuvre was as certain as night following day.

Russian aggression for sure, yet it seems ill-advised to downplay the apprehension within the Kremlin  "about encirclement by NATO and forward missile deployments," even if Putin is gilding the lily by claiming such a move is "like having a knife against our throat." Jeffrey Sachs makes a point worth considering:

As misguided as the Russian actions are . . . . American intransigence regarding Nato enlargement is also utterly misguided and risky. True friends of Ukraine, and of global peace, should be calling for a U.S. and NATO compromise with Russia—one that respects Russia's legitimate security interests while fully backing Ukraine's sovereignty.

For now, it can only be hoped that “neither Russia nor the West have the slightest intention of fighting each other.” 

 ⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

28 comments:

  1. They may have no intention of fighting each other overtly but they sure as shit will be doing it on the down low.

    And this whole debacle will serve as a lesson to fledgling dictatorships; pursue nuclear weapons for your survival. Ukraine surrendered hers and has reaped the result.

    North Korea will surely have noticed as will Iran.

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    1. that unfortunately is the logic of nuke weapons. It is impossible to make the case for a nuke free world when the big powers are intent on holding onto them.

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  2. For the last 2 years I have been teaching a class in Rzeszow, Poland close to the border with Ukraine. All of my students have friends and/or family in Lviv. I have also been having my haircut by a Lithuanian national for the last 10 years. What unites them all is a hatred for Russia. The USSR occupied and abused the locals for decades and at the end of the Cold War tried desperately to keep them under Moscow's orbit. They all see the EU and Nato as a guarantee that their sovereignty will be respected. If Ukraine is a sovereign nation then should they not be allowed to join the club? Russia knows that the US has no desire to invade it or take territory from it. If Russia doesn't want nukes on its neighbours' territory then it needs to stop threatening its neighbours' sovereignty, give up its desire to keep its neighbours under their influence and negotiate.

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    1. There will always be wider security concerns and realpolitik that limit the freedom of sovereign states to pursue options. I don't know if it is wise for Ukraine to join NATO given the instability it can generate. One observer suggested a 20 year moratorium on it joining and allow time for a new architecture to be build that would determine how the countries in the region conduct their business with each other. As sovereign states cannot automatically claim such sovereignty enables them to acquire nuclear weapons, some might feel the same about NATO.
      I would not be so confident that NATO would not at some point seek to infringe on Russian territory. The West has already waged unjust war - Blair & Bush, for example.
      There is still something to be said for the old Realist/Neo Realist school of international politics and its emphasis on power and security.

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    2. You would not expect the RoI to accept UK demands to stay in the Commonwealth or stay out of the EU due to "wider security concerns". It is a sovereign nation and can make its own decisions. Lithuania never accepted USSR occupation and Gorbachov sent in the troops in 1990 when they declared independence. They have felt the threat from the East ever since. Propaganda that the Russian minority was under threat. At least as a NATO member they know that they will receive military help if Russia invades. Ukraine want the same guarantees. Should they be allowed into the EU? If so should they be in the EU but not NATO? Would the EU defend Ukraine?
      "I would not be so confident that NATO would not at some point seek to infringe on Russian territory"
      Where and why would NATO seek to take territory from a nuclear sovereign state?

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    3. I would want Ireland to exist in an interdependent world with the expectations that go with it. Had England a large history of being invaded rather than a large one of invading, been on the receiving end of atrocity rather than perpetrating atrocity, Ireland would need to take cognizance of its genuine fears, particularly if Ireland was going to join a bloc which contained other countries that had inflicted atrocity on England.

      The Russians as part of the Soviet bloc were subjected to the greatest atrocity of the Second World War - the War of Extermination in the East. And the Nazis came through territory bordering it.
      I think the Russians do feel a threat but so too do the counties bordering it.
      If Ukraine feels it would receive military help from the West if Russia invades were it a member of NATO, the problem you flagged up of why would the West take Russian territory given its nuke status simply reappears.
      I can think of lots of reasons why the West might want to weaken the Russian sphere of influence and if they could infringe on Russian territory without taking a nuclear hit, they might.
      What we do know about international relations is that since World War 2, the US has waged more wars than any other state. One estimate has it that 80% of global conflict has involved the US. That is why so many genuinely think they are a threat to world peace.
      The EU is trying to defend Ukraine but through sanctions rather than overt military intervention.
      There is no doubt in my mind that the Russians are wrong here but we should resist concluding that the West is motivated by humanitarian considerations exclusively or even primarily.
      I think there were places the West should have intervened in but refused to - Rwanda being a case in point. That was an authentic genocide and the West did nothing. The French actually assisted the Hutu Power movement.
      At the heel of the hunt, being no expert, I refrain from supporting or opposing Ukraine's wish to join NATO. Whatever way it goes, problems will abound.

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    4. England has a long history of being invaded and suffering atrocities. It was invaded by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and Normans. It rebuffed invasions from the French, Spanish and Nazis, in which Ireland colluded.
      Russia's response to the war in the East was to occupy and oppress its neighbours. Now that those neighbours are free they deserve their own , full sovereignty. Their sovereignty should not be curtailed because the oppressor's butt is hurt.
      I don't know why you keep talking about Bush/Blair and the U.S. They are not NATO. NATO nations refused to take part in Iraq and some (e.g France) actively opposed it. NATO is a mutual defence alliance, on what possible conditions would a defence alliance want to take Russian territory? NATO ain't perfect but we are seeing the need for it now. "I refrain from supporting or opposing Ukraine's wish to join NATO" but do you support Ukraine's sovereign right to decided which clubs it applies to join?

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    5. Peter, I allowed for that when saying if it had a large history of being invaded rather than being an invader. The balance sheet shows its invasions and atrocities dwarfing what it sustained. In terms of aggressive war and expansionism, it is one of the main daddies on the block. But were it not a net aggressor and was instead a country that had suffered like the Russians had during WW2, I would not want to see Ireland do anything that might pose a threat to its security.

      The Soviets behaved abominably to the satellite states they set up, even if part of the reason for creating a buffer was to prevent anything like the Nazis attacking again.

      Why I refer to Blair and Bush is simple: Britain is a key component of NATO and was not booted out despite the unjust war of aggression in Iraq. Without the US, NATO would be pretty lame. NATO bombed Afghanistan and Libya. Are the Russians supposed to trust NATO when it allows a nuclear power with an appalling record of invading and attacking other countries to be part of it? Britain's unjust wars of aggression are in living memory - this is not Vikings stuff.
      Sovereignty is curtailed - it it were not, then all countries should have the sovereign right to develop nuclear weapons. If a terror state like Israel can have a nuclear capacity then so should Iran. I don't think it is a good idea for Iran to have such a weapon and I do not support them having it on the grounds of the same sovereign rights as any other state. I would like to see it removed from Israel rather than given to Iran.
      In the international arena of equal sovereignty, some states are more equal than others.
      I don't at present see why NATO would seek to take Russian territory but if strategic calculations at some point in the future make it or something equivalent an appealing option, I am unable to convince myself that it would not happen.
      I do support the right of Ukraine (and Russia) to apply to join NATO. I don't think it would be a good idea. I also think the club we might wish to join should have a say on whether it lets us in.
      Not often that I agree with Kissinger but I do feel he raises some worthwhile points:

      Russia must accept that to try to force Ukraine into a satellite status, and thereby move Russia’s borders again, would doom Moscow to repeat its history of self-fulfilling cycles of reciprocal pressures with Europe and the United States.
      The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country. Russian history began in what was called Kievan-Rus. The Russian religion spread from there. Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories were intertwined before then. Some of the most important battles for Russian freedom, starting with the Battle of Poltava in 1709, were fought on Ukrainian soil. The Black Sea Fleet – Russia’s means of projecting power in the Mediterranean – is based by long-term lease in Sevastopol, in Crimea. Even such famed dissidents as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky insisted that Ukraine was an integral part of Russian history and, indeed, of Russia.

      When all that is thrown into the mix, it just seems complicated to the extent that it defies easy fixes.

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    6. I think we can both agree that Blair should not be free to speak his mind on national TV, he should be behind bars.

      "...it seems ill-advised to downplay the apprehension within the Kremlin "about encirclement by NATO and forward missile deployments." Russia is the aggressor here, Russia is the one threatening its former satellites and denying them full sovereignty.It is Russia that abandoned democracy to install a dictator. NATO has no claims on Russian territory or sovereignty. If Russia doesn't want missiles on it doorstep it should cease to be a threat and negotiate. The Baltic states, Poland, Romania etc just want to get on and have a slice of the EU pie. Ukraine deserves no less.

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    7. I don't oppose him being allowed to speak his mind but I think when he does he should be reminded of his war of aggression.
      Russia is the aggressor, of course. But that does not invalidate the authenticity of its security fears. Imagine Ireland joining the Chinese security block and allowing Chinese troops, bases and weapons on its soil. England would have genuine security concerns - but those alone would not justify it waging war on Ireland.
      The US and Russia possess between them 90% of nuclear weapons. There is a long history of friction and tension between them. Two serious power players in the international arena butting heads in a continuous battle for influence, power and security is going to play itself out on the territories of other states. America is at the heart of NATO. Were it not, the Ukraine situation might not just be so electrified. US unilateralism has long caused problems across the globe and is hardly a good example for Russia to follow.
      Russia should negotiate. It should desist from its belligerence. The fact that I think Putin is a thug on a par with Netanyahu and Assad, does not prevent me from thinking about solutions which might not always be an exact fit for the problem. But that is the world we live in. I don't mind your ethical argument in the slightest, as I very much identify with it. But often these matters are settled practically and not completely ethically.
      Being a believer in global government as an ideal, I would prefer a world without NATO or CSTO, and simply one global security architecture.

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  3. Special military operation is a euphemism for war. The Russian position is one of aggressive action for defensive purposes. Claims of protection of ethnic groups in the eastern Ukraine are secondary considerations. Ukraine has fallen foul in a game of geopolitical chess being played by two power blocks. The attacking game has historically been deployed by the the West, and by NATO. Broken promises and empty commitments inflamed Russian grievances over three decades. The end result is what we see today.

    Russia's military objectives are twofold. One is to create create pro-Russian satellites in Unkraine in the shape of mini Republics, and two, to prevent NATO gaining a logistical foothold in the country.

    Ukraine will be the net losser in this war. By the end, it will see a reduction of geographical sovergnity, as well as, a Russian presence on its soil.

    Unfortunately, war crimes are a inherent in war. They are unavoidable.

    Alex

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  4. I am glad to hear that Ukraine is applying to join EU which as a sovereign independent democratic nation it has every right to do; it also has the right to join NATO for those very reasons.

    It's playground bully of a larger neighbour has spun an entirely spurious narrative of a threat to Russian's security from "NATO expansionism". The only threat to the playground bully, the psychopathic kleptocratic thug resident in the Kremlin is the threat of a good example of an outward looking democratic ex colony of it

    Democracies have stand up to Putin and use every available legal means to make Putin's invasion fail. Alex, Ukraine has not fallen victim to geo-political chess game involving two power blocs. It has fallen victim to the 21st century Hitler who didn't start attacking Ukraine last week but eight years ago; who invaded Georgia in 2008; who intervened in Syria to partner the serial war criminal Assad in his homicidal war and, of course, fought an disinformation war to help to "get Brexit done" and to put Donald Trump in the White House.

    Ukraine is the crucible of a global struggle between the values of open liberal democracy and those of neo-totalitarianism. There can be only one side to pick.

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    1. FFS Barry, you are almost accusing Putin of being Netanyahu with that description - "psychopathic kleptocratic thug." They would make good cell mates.
      You call Putin the 21st Century Hitler yet would be screaming anti-Semitism when Israel's Nazi-like atrocities are described as such. Putin hails from the territory which sustained the most barbaric act of WW2 - the war of extermination in The East. Like Blair and Assad, he is a thug who should be resolutely opposed, but describing him as Hitler is ludicrous. He does what Israel does - Nazi-like war crimes and expansionism. But all war crimes are Nazi-like.
      In this dispute there is only one side to pick, but in picking it be aware and wary of the shortcomings and that solutions based on black and white binaries rarely work.

      I pick Ukraine for the same reason I pick Palestine.

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  5. it is hard to disabuse comparisons with the wars unjustifiably launched on Iraq in 2003 by Blair and Bush.

    Or the first gulf war in 1991 launched by Bush Snr and Major. Their propaganda machine was in full flow then. CNN First Gulf War bloopers. And who can forget Nayirah Kuwaitis preformance that should have gottenan Oscar? What about the lies how Sadam was mad and he sent troops in to a hospital to murder new born babies

    Today I came arcoss an article by Kit Knightly today called fake news stories from Ukraine7 ....Or, to quote HL Mencken: "Never believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.” And I opened it and copy/pated the piece (with the links) and almost at the end of the piece Kit Knightly says....."It’s somewhat beautiful irony that so many of the clips prompting outrage in Western liberals actually come from wars their governments started."

    1 THE GHOST OF KIEV Early Friday morning it was reported that a single Ukrainian plane, a MiG-29, was patrolling the skies above Kiev. The English speaking press called the unnamed pilot “The Ghost of Kiev”, and claimed he had downed 6 Russian jets in air-to-air combat in less than 2 days, making him an official Fighter Ace, and probably one of the fastest to ever earn that title. The trouble is there is almost no evidence this happened at all. To quote Newsweek: There is zero evidence the “Ghost of Kyiv” exists”. Neither side can confirm Russia has lost six planes in total, let alone to one man inside a single day. And a video alleged to be “the Ghost” in combat – shared by the Ukrainian Armed Forces – is confirmed to actually be footage taken from a video game. Nevertheless, he already has his own Wikipedia page. A testament to how fast a lie can move while the truth is putting its boots on.

    2 RUSSIAN PLANES FLYING OVER KIEV A lot of people have been sharing a short video of Russian planes allegedly flying low over the city of Kiev. The Times used it a still from it in their story Will sanctions stop a Russian shell? The problem with that is it’s not Kiev, it’s Moscow. And it’s not today, it’s two years ago. It’s footage of what is likely a rehearsal for the 2020 Victory Day Parade flyover.

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  6. 3 ZELENSKIY VISITING THE TROOPS Possibly no politician in history has had a PR makeover quite as fast as Vlodomyr Zelenskiy. Last week he was just some guy, this week he’s a war hero, there’s talk of building statues of the man. A (not at all staged) “leaked” phone call had him turning down the US offer of an airlift to safety. Twitter is dotted with people sharing photos of him in combat fatigues, comparing him favourably to Trump and Trudeau and asking “what other leaders would fight alongside their troops?” But the problem with that is the photos are all almost a year old, taken when he visited the troops last April:

    4 LUHANSK POWER STATION EXPLOSION Early on in the confrontation, this video started doing the rounds on social media:. The video went viral, receiving 100,000s of views. Hundreds of accounts shared it, even major news networks used it, all claiming it shows a power station in Luhansk exploding after being hit with Russian missiles. It does not, it’s a chemical plant exploding in Tianjin, China in 2015.

    5 VIDEO GAMES. AGAIN. This footage, claiming to show Ukrainian ground forces downing Russian aircraft, also went viral recently, even appearing on Spanish television news. …It’s from the video game ARMA 3.

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  7. 6 RUSSIAN WARSHIP GO FUCK YOURSELF This was the first major propaganda narrative following Russia’s advance onto Ukrainian territory. Allegedly leaked audio showed Ukrainian border guards on tiny Snake Island in the black sea communicating with a Russian warship. Upon being told to surrender, the guards say “Russian warship go fuck yourself”. The Western press reported that all 13 of the men were killed, and the Ukrainian government released a statement saying they would all be awarded posthumous honors. However, while the supposedly fallen heroes were being canonised all over the western world, Russia was reporting that they had not been killed at all, but taken alive and unharmed back to the mainland. A story both the press and the Ukrainian government have since reluctantly admitted is likely true.

    7 SYRIAN DRONE STRIKES FOOTAGE Another video doing the rounds, and again shared by official Ukrainian accounts, was drone footage supposedly showing the destruction of a column of Russian vehicles. It’s actually footage of a Turkish drone strike in Syria from 2020 . Meanwhile, other accounts were sharing footage of combat from Libya or Israeli bombardments of Gaza under the hashtag #StandWithUkraine. Middle East Eye has compiled a list.

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    1. Frankie

      No show without Punch You quote from Kit Knightly, editor of Off-Guardian having been sacked by my daily read. He is a crank who promotes Covidiocy and a serial apologist for Putin and Assad.

      I suppose you believe the scenes of Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border are faked; that the civilian death roll of 200 plus is fake news.

      Frankly you are in Lord Haw Haw territory. You are in the same company with fellow Putin fawners such as Farage, Trump and Le Pen.

      The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN gave Putin some solid advice: emulate Hitler by putting a bullet into his head. That's if the Russian military don't do it beforehand.

      You have probably worked out that I think Putin is a cunt whose desire to show off his uber-masculine ego possibly is a cover up for a small penis.

      Delete
  8. Barry,

    For lots of reasons there are two sites I pay attention to. The first is TPQ and the other is The Corbett Report, James Corbertt (the host) recently wrote a piece called The Ukraine Crisis: What You Need to Know. And he asked the same question that Anthony asked in his piece ..."Where is the cut off point to start and understand?".....And the best you can come with is...

    I am glad to hear that Ukraine is applying to join EU which as a sovereign independent democratic nation it has every right to do; .

    The EU....In 2014 Victoria Nuland who today works for Bidens office and also worked for the Clinton's and Obama's offices, was caught on a phone call with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyat saying " Fuck the EU. And US policy hasn't changed much. As things stand Ukraine can't afford to sign up to the EU. Ukraine joining the EU isn't going to happen anytime soon.

    who didn't start attacking Ukraine last week but eight years ago; who invaded Georgia in 2008;

    As I said Barry both Anthony and James Corbett both mentioned in their pieces about dates and cut off points to start to understand that part of this rock we live on...You should take time out to read what they both say.

    it also has the right to join NATO for those very reasons.

    What about in 1990, when US Secretary of State James Baker promised Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO wouldn't expand after the reunification of Germany and German diplomat Jürgen Chrobog assured the Russians "that we would not expand NATO beyond the Elbe." Do we just forget about the promises made to Russia?

    I suppose you believe the scenes of Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border are faked; that the civilian death roll of 200 plus is fake news.

    I don't think the death toll is fake news. I've seen verified videos of dead bodies. It would be foolish of me to think there is anything fake about them. But as for "The Polish border refugees." What I see is men aged between 18-60 being turned away and separated from their families, handed a gun and told they must fight in a war even if they want no part in it. Imagine for 30 seconds of your life Barry that you are an Ukrainian husband who wants to take your family to safety in the EU but somebody in a uniform with a gun stops you at a border but lets your wife and kids pass. Would you pick up the gun and fight for Zelensky or fight the person in a uniform with a gun in front for you for the right to be with your family?

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  9. Not only is Ukraine flooded with guns that will end up the hands of Ukrainian Nazi's ....Volodymyr Zelensky thinks is is a good idea to release prisoners'


    In an address on February 28, Zelensky told the people of Ukraine that everyone who can "join the struggle against the invaders must do so" and that the country is dedicating "every minute" to the conflict. During the announcement, Zelensky confirmed that those with previous combat experience would be released from custody to help with the "struggle for our state."....

    Do you think prisoners' "with previous combat experience" who have been convicted of rape, murder....in prison because they have Nazi schools of thoughts, once released and are handed an AK47 will go to the front line for Zelensky and take a bullet for his cause or when the dust settles (and it will) , do you think they will hand the guns back? Zelensky has also called for anyone opposed to Putin (any nationality) to go to Ukraine and fight for them. If you feel so strongly about kicking Russia out, then go to Ukraine and pick up a gun and fight for Ukraine.

    Frankly you are in Lord Haw Haw territory. You are in the same company with fellow Putin fawners such as Farage, Trump and Le Pen.

    I would have a pint with Nigel in the same vain as Ruairi O Bradaigh said in the 1986 SF Ard Fheis...." I'll shake hands with everyone and at everytime and not just in front of the media. To me The Donald is great entertainment, why you can't see that is for you to figure out. Marine, my oldest wee girl who lives in France thinks she (Le Pen) has a very good chance of getting in or at least closing the gap to 60/40 against her. Whats your take on French politics?

    The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN gave Putin some solid advice: emulate Hitler by putting a bullet into his head. That's if the Russian military don't do it beforehand.

    You have previously said you are convinced Putin has serious mental health issues and is mad. You sometimes work with people who have mental health issues, do you suggest to them to take their lives too?

    You have probably worked out that I think Putin is a cunt whose desire to show off his uber-masculine ego possibly is a cover up for a small penis.....

    I have never once thought about the size of Vlads flute Barry. If it turns you on feel free....I'm sure if Vlad read your comments etc, he'd call you a fool.

    No show without Punch You quote from Kit Knightly, editor of Off-Guardian having been sacked by my daily read. He is a crank who promotes Covidiocy and a serial apologist for Putin and Assad.

    You believe bat flu started in a wet market in Wuhan sometime late 2019. There are leading scientists who say the same, others think it was some sort of lab leak around the same time (their jury is out if it was on purpose or an accident).....Then why according to the WHO data base vigiaccess have the WHO been tracking adverse drug reactions for Covid 19 since at least 2015? Open the link to vigiaccess and search "Covid 19 vaccine" and read the data on adverse drug reactions per year...

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    1. Frankie

      You are a fascist apologist. Not something I say lightly but your self-professed admiration for the Donald, Le Pen, Farage your ill-disguised shilling for Putin and hostility to the EU and liberal democracy in general would lead anyone to that conc lusion.

      I daresay that in the 1930s you would have found the fellow with the moustache who came to power in Germany funny.

      There were no binding treaty obligations to stop the expansion of NATO to the east. Newly liberated nations from the Soviet yoke had every right to join NATO and the EU. Russia was even offered the opportunity to join NATO.

      I am useless with firearms. There are plenty of other ways to help the struggle to save Ukrainian democracy. One would be to call for unrestricted refugee statues in the UK and all EU member states.

      Delete
    2. And yes, Frankie, I have worked with suicidal clients as well as people afflicted by anxiety and depression and in recovery.

      People in genuine distress as opposed to the psychopathological ogres who now occupy the Kremlin and the White Housed from 2017 to 2021.

      Your comedic resources are rapidly diminishing.

      Delete
    3. Frankie

      My take on French politics is that the stench of Le Pen and Zammour needs to be removed as just like the reemergent antisemitism in that country.

      Delete
  10. Barry,

    Are you finished with your insults? And also stop trying to spin what I said.

    There were no binding treaty obligations to stop the expansion of NATO to the east.

    I said what about the promises made to Russia in 1990 that the West wouldn't expand NATO. And the West/NATO didn't keep their word. The partnership of the California National Guard, USA, with the Ukrainian military structures has never been stronger and gets stronger every single day.

    "I’ve been involved in partnership [with Ukraine] since 1993 and it has never been stronger. It gets stronger every single day,” Major General David Baldwin, Adjutant General of the California National Guard, said in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The California National Guard has been cooperating with Ukraine in the security and defense area since 1993. Since the beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014, this cooperation has intensified significantly."

    Do you think there are still US forces in Ukraine today Barry or do you think they played ball and went back to Malibu to top up their tans?

    If you go to Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Hundred And Forty Four you'll see a link to a piece called Kissinger on Ukraine; how the Ukraine crisis ends! and even he doesn't suggest anything close to what you say. He talks about the history of Ukraine and why it is more complex than the media tell you me and a boy name Sue. He thinks that Ukraine joining NATO is a non starter. You should also read ..Chris Hedges: Russia Was Baited Into War but That Does Not Absolve Its Criminal Aggression

    "Preemptive war, whether in Iraq or Ukraine, is a war crime. It does not matter if the war is launched on the basis of lies and fabrications, as was the case in Iraq, or because of the breaking of a series of agreements with Russia, including the promise by Washington not to extend NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany, not to deploy thousands of NATO troops in Eastern Europe, not to meddle in the internal affairs of nations on Russia’s border and the refusal to implement the Minsk II peace agreement. The invasion of Ukraine would, I expect, never have happened if these promises had been kept. Russia has every right to feel threatened, betrayed, and angry. But to understand is not to condone. The invasion of Ukraine, under post-Nuremberg laws, is a criminal war of aggression........"

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  11. If you read the Kissinger piece he also talks about corruption within the Ukrainian Government but the West are only talking about Russia's dirty money. Daria Kaleniuk who is a member of the World Economic Forum and the "journalist" (<----although I have yet to see anyone apart from the media call her a "journalist") who recently challenged British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about what the West are going to is the co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, a Ukrainian organisation to promote transparent democracy. The group has been critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy including accusing him of failing to get a grip on the country’s problem with corruption. Daria Kaleniuk who also has direct links to the Clinton Foundation isn't as lily white as she wants whoever to believe....." This Reuters video reveals Daria Kaleniuk leading a protest in Ukraine calling for Victor Shokin’s resignation in March 2016. Shokin was investigating $4.4 million from the U.S. intended for Russia but was diverted into the Soros group AntAC. The Obama administration had the U.S. embassy in Kiev put pressure on Ukraine to drop this investigation, days after Shokin was fired".

    your self-professed admiration for the Donald, Le Pen, Farage your ill-disguised shilling for Putin and hostility to the EU and liberal democracy in general would lead anyone to that conclusion.

    Again Barry not only do I find The Donald great entertainment but Saturday Night Live had a parody about him while he was in office. Get over it, I find the Donald funny. Le Pen would have made a better job of sorting out Frances finances than Macron who is morally corrupt, has done. And Le Pen would have probably had a 'Frexit' vote. My guess is France would vote to leave the EU if offered a vote. Nigel, I'd have a pint with most people on this rock. My "hostility to the EU "....I personally want no part of it or their central banking system, I also want Westminster to fcuk off too and leave the Irish to sort out are own problems. The EU...Didn't they rape Ireland in 2008 to pay their corrupt bankers while a lot of people on the island lost their homes, their jobs....A lot took their own lives.

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  12. your self-professed admiration for the Donald, Le Pen, Farage your ill-disguised shilling for Putin and hostility to the EU and liberal democracy in general would lead anyone to that conclusion.

    Again Barry not only do I find The Donald great entertainment but Saturday Night Live had a parody about him while he was in office. Get over it, I find the Donald funny. Le Pen would have made a better job of sorting out Frances finances than Macron who is morally corrupt, has done. And Le Pen would have probably had a 'Frexit' vote. My guess is France would vote to leave the EU if offered a vote. Nigel, I'd have a pint with most people on this rock. My "hostility to the EU "....I personally want no part of it or their central banking system, I also want Westminster to fcuk off too and leave the Irish to sort out are own problems. The EU...Didn't they rape Ireland in 2008 to pay their corrupt bankers while a lot of people on the island lost their homes, their jobs....A lot took their own lives.

    I daresay that in the 1930s you would have found the fellow with the moustache who came to power in Germany funny..

    I don't find anything funny about what Hitler done. If you want to understand the real reason why Hitler lost WW2, then read this from bilderberg.org ......

    "because the board was made up of a group of subtle fascists, and racial supremacists that approved the ethic cleansing being practiced by Adolph Hitler? A group of subtle fascists that were members of the Council on Foreign Relations? A group of subtle fascists who had infiltrated Hitler's Nazi party, not to destroy it, but to bring it to power, to justify a second World War?"

    That sounds like a tin foiled hat 20h Century conspiracy theory until you listen to who not only Klaus Schwab has in his pocket but also how many Governments in the 21st Century his WEF have infiltrated. The "bilderberg.org " piece goes on to say....

    "Were American Council on Foreign Relations and British Royal Institute of International Affairs members aware of Mein Kampf for many years. Were English translations of this book available American and British Round Table members as early on as 1923 when it was published in Germany? Did American and British Intelligence agents infiltrate the National Socialist German Worker's party and help Hitler write Mein Kampf?"

    Again if that sounds like a tin foiled hat conspiracy theory....Didn't the British infiltrate and help write some of the Provisional IRA's scripts at the tail end of the conflict?

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  13. I am useless with firearms.

    Barry I am in no doubt that if you contacted Zelensky who is also a member of the WEF and if you are intrested this is his acceptance speech to the 'big club' that George Carlin said "We aren't in." and told him that you have no experience in fire arms, not only would he train you up but he'd also shake your hand and salute you as you walk off to the front line.

    There are plenty of other ways to help the struggle to save Ukrainian democracy. One would be to call for unrestricted refugee statues in the UK and all EU member states.

    Unless it's a Ukrainian male aged 18-60 who are restricted from going anywhere. On the refuees situation...Are you going to contact your local authority and tell them you have an open door policy and would gladly give up your bed to sleep on your sofa for Ukrainian reguees? What about other refugees from Palestine, Iraq, Syria etc...Same open door policy?

    People in genuine distress as opposed to the psychopathological ogres who now occupy the Kremlin and the White Housed from 2017 to 2021.,

    From the Free English Dictionary..
    psychopathological
    1. The study of the origin, development, and manifestations of mental or behavioral disorders.
    2. The manifestation of a mental or behavioral disorder.

    Again you are a trained mental counsellor and you agree with Sergiy Kyslytsya, that someone who is alledged to have serious mental health issues should "put a gun to their head." Don't you think that it may have the opposite effect and make him angry? Make him more less predictable? Maybe even say "Fcuk this" and go for the nuclear option....? Some people called Sen. Roger Wicker 'psychopathologica' when he recently called for a nuclear strike on Russia . Should he put a bullet in his head aswell?

    My take on French politics is that the stench of Le Pen and Zammour needs to be removed as just like the reemergent antisemitism in that country

    How do you propse to remove them? Do you think they should also 'put a bullet or their heads'?

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  14. Frankie

    My take on French politics is that the stench of Le Pen and Zammour needs to be removed as just like the reemergent antisemitism in that country.

    Through the ballot box. Macron on course for a crushing victory over Le Pen and Zammour because of the latter's, in particular, public infatuation with Putin.

    I notice that nowhere in that pastiche of conspiracist garbage obsequies to the modern European far right and ad hominem comments on me you offer not a single condemnation of the unprovoked war that Putin has launched on Ukraine. You really do lead a sad existence.

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