Russian military sources, speaking on background, also now admit the invasion was deeply flawed from the start. “There was no tactical plan,” said one. “Our plan, to the extent that there was one, was to ‘play it by ear’ and to just cope with any resistance as it appeared. This was because the expectation had been that we would take all these cities in one to four days and that Ukraine’s military would be immediately overwhelmed.”
Today “Russia has no more Kalibr missiles left in strategic reserve,” said a Ukrainian defense enterprise director familiar with the program, “but that is not the end of their troubles. The guidance system, the seeker head and other critical modules [in the missile’s front end] contain about 60% imported electronic components. None of these will be available after the long list of sanctions being imposed on Russia now, so it is hard to see where any new missiles would ever come from.”
One Ukrainian intelligence officer tells Breaking Defense that there are “numerous shortages of [Russian] weapon systems. The famous KBM plant in Tula and other factories controlled by longtime Putin allies the Rothenberg brothers are unable to physically fulfil orders for infantry weapons and ammunition.
“Weapons that are officially on the books and should be available for delivery to active-duty units are missing and the next production runs will be complete only in three to four months,” the officer said. Even that estimate assumes that the raw material inputs have not been pilfered as well and are still available — if not, the time frame could be considerably longer.
Ukrainian Armed Forces (ZSU) sources state that multiple Russian units were already out of petrol by the third day of the war and were running low on ammunition as well. In Kharkiv, groups of as many as ten demoralized Russian soldiers are reported to have surrendered to the first, lone representative of the Ukrainian forces they encounter.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Yes, indeed.
Whilst actively doing everything possible to ensure it happens.
We need Putin removed.
Although mostly left of centre I'm also a pragmatist and that means that selective assassinations are a necessary tactic for the greater goal of world peace. The Israelis are particularly good at doing it.
In the meantime, for the sake of civilisation we have to stand up to this bully. Yes it may risk world war three. So be it.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
I turn 50 next year. I'm mulling over doing something that'll mean I'm the fittest I've ever been. Not decided quite what yet. Perhaps 50 marathons in 52 weeks (though that doesn't scan well). Something that will last throughout the year, even though I don't turn 50 until March.
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
The only way I could ever do 50 Marathons is to go back in time before they were called Snickers.....
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
Its not bonkers because our glorious Plan is drastically hampering our response in the way of hammering Putin with alternative hydrocarbon sources. Which are the best way of hammering Putin.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
I turn 50 next year. I'm mulling over doing something that'll mean I'm the fittest I've ever been. Not decided quite what yet. Perhaps 50 marathons in 52 weeks (though that doesn't scan well). Something that will last throughout the year, even though I don't turn 50 until March.
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
That's impressive even to read never mind do! But you know what they say - it's all about balance. So maybe for every marathon you do a day of couch potato just thinking about this and that.
It really does feel like the west is heading into a lost decade.
It's depressing that wherever you look it is the corrupt, the bullies, the liars, the greedy and the downright evil that seem to rise to the top.
There is something deeply flawed about the way humans organise themselves because it's rinse and repeat ad nauseam throughout history. In Europe, at least, I really believed that the sort of thing we are now witnessing was behind us and yet here we are again.
When a madman has nuclear weapons there are no answers I'm afraid and Putin knows that. We all know we have no realistic options but to let him do what he likes.
I appreciate that the UK and USA are not remotely comparable to Russia but even there when there are many decent and honourable people in the Conservative Party and the GOP we opt for liars and charlatans like Johnson and Trump. There are days when I am very glad I am in my 70's!!
I empathize strongly. For me the root of all evil are narcissistic megalomaniac men seeking to "make their countries great" and harnessing all sorts of mumbo jumbo about "destiny" or a "special history" and all of that absolute brainrot to con people and stir up their baser emotions . We're all the same. There are no innate national characteristics or "great nations". It's all just a vocabulary to mask the reality of the world, which is billions of people who just want to live their lives in peace and above the poverty line.
Its precisely why I call myself what I do on here - wars are always created by states
And the destruction of states has presaged many of history's mass killings. As is now happening in Ukraine.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
MISTY has gone down not just a rabbit hole but a rabbit hole that exists in a different parallel universe that you can only reach through a wormhole in a Christopher Nolan Sci Fi film.
It's such a bizarre and twisted perspective that it's impossible even to begin to debate it with him (her?).
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
MISTY has gone down not just a rabbit hole but a rabbit hole that exists in a different parallel universe that you can only reach through a wormhole in a Christopher Nolan Sci Fi film.
It's such a bizarre and twisted perspective that it's impossible even to begin to debate it with him (her?).
The best way to hammer Putin is via alternative hydrocarbon sources. We have plenty, because Britain is essentially a lump of coal.
The People's Great Net Zero target means those resources have been and still are to a certain extent off limits.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Absolutely spot on
Translated.
1. Declare war on Russia. 2. Declare war on Russia. . . 5. You apply to join NATO, not the other way round - that's how it works.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Well, says the person who thinks CNN is a source of unbiased truth. Pot, kettle, black...
The same stuff (it looks identical) was on Newsmax the other day. It was put to John Bolton. He tore it to shreads.
If it was up to John Bolton, we would be in World War 3 already. Not someone I would like in charge. Also, he’s not exactly going to be unbiased when it comes to anything relating to old Trumpski.
It’s a magnitude of how Trump has deranged his opponents that people like Bolton and Dick Cheney are now lauded as paragons just because they are against Trump. The two of them - if they had any power - would be amongst the two dangerous individuals in the world.
No, it's a sign of how ghastly an individual Trump is that he's managed to make some other terrible people look less terrible.
It really does feel like the west is heading into a lost decade.
It's depressing that wherever you look it is the corrupt, the bullies, the liars, the greedy and the downright evil that seem to rise to the top.
There is something deeply flawed about the way humans organise themselves because it's rinse and repeat ad nauseam throughout history. In Europe, at least, I really believed that the sort of thing we are now witnessing was behind us and yet here we are again.
When a madman has nuclear weapons there are no answers I'm afraid and Putin knows that. We all know we have no realistic options but to let him do what he likes.
I appreciate that the UK and USA are not remotely comparable to Russia but even there when there are many decent and honourable people in the Conservative Party and the GOP we opt for liars and charlatans like Johnson and Trump. There are days when I am very glad I am in my 70's!!
I empathize strongly. For me the root of all evil are narcissistic megalomaniac men seeking to "make their countries great" and harnessing all sorts of mumbo jumbo about "destiny" or a "special history" and all of that absolute brainrot to con people and stir up their baser emotions . We're all the same. There are no innate national characteristics or "great nations". It's all just a vocabulary to mask the reality of the world, which is billions of people who just want to live their lives in peace and above the poverty line.
Its precisely why I call myself what I do on here - wars are always created by states
Well, no, you get wars between warlords in regions where the state has failed and gone away. Afghanistan frinstance. Wars are always created by states is merely true by definition, because war is the name for state sponsored violence. Doesn't mean there wouldn't be as much or more violence without the state, we would just call it something else.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
I turn 50 next year. I'm mulling over doing something that'll mean I'm the fittest I've ever been. Not decided quite what yet. Perhaps 50 marathons in 52 weeks (though that doesn't scan well). Something that will last throughout the year, even though I don't turn 50 until March.
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
That's impressive even to read never mind do! But you know what they say - it's all about balance. So maybe for every marathon you do a day of couch potato just thinking about this and that.
I think I'll need six couch potato days!
Running every day last year did me in mentally, not physically. Having to get up early, having to schedule runs around home schooling, even running whilst on holiday. Mrs J was a saint.
Some of these extreme-ish challenges are 80% mental willpower, 20% physical. If you're fit enough to contemplate doing them, you're probably fit enough to do it. What gives in is your head.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Notwithstanding the overnight scare, I'm convinced we need more nuclear power stations. Fission, bien sur, but we're quite close to the holy grail of Fusion reactors.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.) It's also very green.
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
As the first of thousands of refugees have begun arriving in Estonia the mood is turning darker. Several guys I know have gone the join the "international brigade". Putin is reminding Estonians of the darkest parts of their history and there is growing rage that Russians continue to beleive the propaganda of the regime. If the Russians continue to follow Putin, then they will be the object of hate and contempt for years to come. There is respect for those who have resisted, but frustration and anger that this has not spread further.
Meanwhile the eastern border is seeing a flood of Russians getting out. They are unlikely to be greeted as warmly as the Ukrainian refugee families that are finding homes across the whole country.
BREAKING: The BBC will “temporarily suspend” the work of all its BBC News journalists and support staff in Russia after authorities passed legislation which director-general Tim Davie said appeared to “criminalise the process of independent journalism”. https://twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1499782029122150406/photo/1
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Notwithstanding the overnight scare, I'm convinced we need more nuclear power stations. Fission, bien sur but we're quite close to the holy grail of Fusion reactors.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.)'
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
Down the line, fine
What we need now is GAS and lots of it. We were prevented from developing it in recent years by the People's Net Zero Policy and the green lobby, and they have deprived us of an enormous weapon in the fight against Putin.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Who would you like in charge? would it make a difference?
Maggie.
We need to give Putin an ultimatum, Cuban missile crisis style.
YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO CEASEFIRE, AND ENTER TALKS, OR WE INSTALL A NO FLY ZONE.
At least with Maggie i/c they'd not be able to do her in I suppose..........
She was great.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
You're confusing me. You said earlier that you were a "left of centre pragmatist" (who believes in "selective assassinations"). And now Maggie's biggest fan.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Who would you like in charge? would it make a difference?
Maggie.
We need to give Putin an ultimatum, Cuban missile crisis style.
YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO CEASEFIRE, AND ENTER TALKS, OR WE INSTALL A NO FLY ZONE.
At least with Maggie i/c they'd not be able to do her in I suppose..........
She was great.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
The Falklands happened because Maggie was running about like a headless chicken and Henry Leach (chief of naval staff) took the opportunity to take control and effectively told her to send the task force. I would prefer someone made of sterner stuff than that.
Finland's president is on a v short notice trip to Washington.
A fast, unanimous, NATO accession for Finland would send a message.
Its not as easy as that. The petition to the Eduskunta asks that they debate a proposal for a referendum rather than take the vote themselves. Apart from taking a lot longer, as we know, referenda can be dangerous and unpredictable things. It may be some time before Finland is in a position to formally join NATO. That being said, I think that support for NATO is high and growing in Finland, if not yet -I think- to the same degree in Sweden.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
I turn 50 next year. I'm mulling over doing something that'll mean I'm the fittest I've ever been. Not decided quite what yet. Perhaps 50 marathons in 52 weeks (though that doesn't scan well). Something that will last throughout the year, even though I don't turn 50 until March.
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
The only way I could ever do 50 Marathons is to go back in time before they were called Snickers.....
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Notwithstanding the overnight scare, I'm convinced we need more nuclear power stations. Fission, bien sur but we're quite close to the holy grail of Fusion reactors.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.)'
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
Down the line, fine
On nuclear, you mean.
But I can put up solar panels and a wind turbine and convert my energy intake in the next 24 hours.
The answer to this planet's anthropogenic global warming and other ravaging of the planet is absolutely NOT further rape of the earth.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Tosh. All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Absolutely spot on
Translated.
1. Declare war on Russia. 2. Declare war on Russia. . . 5. You apply to join NATO, not the other way round - that's how it works.
1 & 2 - I think you'll find the rogue state of Russia has already declared war on all we in the democracies hold dear. 5. Dancing on a pin-head. They can just stay no with the Russian bear at the borders.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
PB Pedant alert. They have aerial superiority, as their airpower is certainly greater than that of Ukraine. They may or may not have aerial supremacy, which is when you deny the other side's ability to have any aerial power at all. I don't think there is an official term for when you have such aerial dominance that you can operate without losses of any kind, i.e. you can operate with impunity.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Notwithstanding the overnight scare, I'm convinced we need more nuclear power stations. Fission, bien sur but we're quite close to the holy grail of Fusion reactors.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.)'
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
Down the line, fine
On nuclear, you mean.
But I can put up solar panels and a wind turbine and convert my energy intake in the next 24 hours.
The answer to this planet's anthropogenic global warming and other ravaging of the planet is absolutely NOT further rape of the earth.
The evil which men do ...
Do that then. If evil men take over then battle against climate change ends anyway. And the best way to defeat them in the short term is GAS.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
PB Pedant alert. They have aerial superiority, as their airpower is certainly greater than that of Ukraine. They may or may not have aerial supremacy, which is when you deny the other side's ability to have any aerial power at all. I don't think there is an official term for when you have such aerial dominance that you can operate without losses of any kind, i.e. you can operate with impunity.
The Russian Duma has just adopted a new law, promising three years in prison for calls for sanctions against Russia. In which connection, let me reiterate my support for strongest sanctions against Russia in view of its continued aggression against Ukraine. https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1499664508570247170
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Your fear of Putin continuing into eastern Europe was one I shared (and said on here many times) before the conflict began.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Who would you like in charge? would it make a difference?
Maggie.
We need to give Putin an ultimatum, Cuban missile crisis style.
YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO CEASEFIRE, AND ENTER TALKS, OR WE INSTALL A NO FLY ZONE.
At least with Maggie i/c they'd not be able to do her in I suppose..........
She was great.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
You're confusing me. You said earlier that you were a "left of centre pragmatist" (who believes in "selective assassinations"). And now Maggie's biggest fan.
You're all over the place, with all due respect.
All over the place is not uncommon among the multiple identity community on PB. Not so much an Overton Window but a kaleidoscope.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Well, says the person who thinks CNN is a source of unbiased truth. Pot, kettle, black...
The same stuff (it looks identical) was on Newsmax the other day. It was put to John Bolton. He tore it to shreads.
If it was up to John Bolton, we would be in World War 3 already. Not someone I would like in charge. Also, he’s not exactly going to be unbiased when it comes to anything relating to old Trumpski.
It’s a magnitude of how Trump has deranged his opponents that people like Bolton and Dick Cheney are now lauded as paragons just because they are against Trump. The two of them - if they had any power - would be amongst the two dangerous individuals in the world.
No, it's a sign of how ghastly an individual Trump is that he's managed to make some other terrible people look less terrible.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Tosh. All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
Tosh
There is a non zero chance that Johnson can actually arrange for Putin to be assassinated. I am in the minority of posters here, or at least that's how it feels, in not making nudge and wink claims about knowing more about MI5 than I can really let on, old boy, but I imagine he could ask the double 0 section to have a stab at it. But he can only do that if he has expressly ruled it out before he does it, because what if 007 dies in the attempt and is identified as English by his m&s underwear?
Finland's president is on a v short notice trip to Washington.
A fast, unanimous, NATO accession for Finland would send a message.
Its not as easy as that. The petition to the Eduskunta asks that they debate a proposal for a referendum rather than take the vote themselves. Apart from taking a lot longer, as we know, referenda can be dangerous and unpredictable things. It may be some time before Finland is in a position to formally join NATO. That being said, I think that support for NATO is high and growing in Finland, if not yet -I think- to the same degree in Sweden.
I think that the question is being accelerated very quickly in Finland. It feels perhaps like a question of join NATO or cease to exist as an independent country.
EDIT to add, the fact this meeting in Washington is taking place at all indicates something is up.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Absolutely spot on
Translated.
1. Declare war on Russia. 2. Declare war on Russia. . . 5. You apply to join NATO, not the other way round - that's how it works.
1 & 2 - I think you'll find the rogue state of Russia has already declared war on all we in the democracies hold dear. 5. Dancing on a pin-head. They can just stay no with the Russian bear at the borders.
What is "war". In a modern world is it actually troops on the ground? What about cyber attacks? What about drones?
At the end of the day (earth) what actions will make Putin press the big red button?
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
They have air supeiority but not supremacy. It is actually utterly bizarre that they should have invaded without first having wiped out Ukraine's air defence. I can only think they believed their own propaganda that the Ukrainians would wave them in as liberators
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Your fear of Putin continuing into eastern Europe was one I shared (and said on here many times) before the conflict began.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
The worry is that, if it is a stalemate without a regime change in Russia, Putin will learn the lessons and try to eliminate those vulnerabilities in logistics and production and, once he has, resume this campaign to new frontiers.
Says Russia has “no ill intentions towards its neighbours” and calls for international cooperation to return, for relations to normalize. "We see no need to exacerbate the situation or worsen our relations," Putin said. "I think everyone should think about normalising relations and cooperating normally.""
Starting to realise that they've screwed up? Massive disconnect from the Macron call, so maybe this is for domestic consumption to claim that the West is persecuting him?
If firing thermobaric weapons at your neighbours doesn't constitute ill intentions, we wouldn't want to see what happens if you really fall out.
Playing [redacted band name] at loud volume all night?
- Cases are still falling slowly, overall. But getting close to flattening off. The increase in rates for the oldest groups is showing up as... - Increases in admissions, which are still small, but need watching. - In hospital is either flat or falling slightly - MV beds is either flat or falling slightly - Deaths falling steadily.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
Putin being a dickhead doesn't mean climate change isn't happening.
True, but it means you have to refine the questions again:
Are the claims true, and with what probability
Can it be reversed scientifically and mathematically in the time scale available - is net Zero/carbon reversal achievable
Is it still achievable if the next 50 years involved non cooperative standoffs between superpowers and regional wars
Do recent events alter the priorities.
As with Ukraine there are no good answers, only bad and worse ones. Which means you can't attack a thought merely because the outcome is bad.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Tosh. All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
I've got plenty of criticisms of Johnson, but this just isn't one.
Johnson saying he's not in favour of Putin being assassinated is (a) completely unsurprising - leaders of countries just don't go around calling for other leaders of countries to be bumped off; and (b) completely irrelevant - anybody in Moscow contemplating either a coup or a suicide mission really doesn't give two sh1ts whether they have the British PM's blessing.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Absolutely spot on
Translated.
1. Declare war on Russia. 2. Declare war on Russia. . . 5. You apply to join NATO, not the other way round - that's how it works.
1 & 2 - I think you'll find the rogue state of Russia has already declared war on all we in the democracies hold dear. 5. Dancing on a pin-head. They can just stay no with the Russian bear at the borders.
What is "war". In a modern world is it actually troops on the ground? What about cyber attacks? What about drones?
At the end of the day (earth) what actions will make Putin press the big red button?
Armed attack it says in the nato treaty which presumably rules out cyber attacks. And harsh language and karate.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
They have air supeiority but not supremacy. It is actually utterly bizarre that they should have invaded without first having wiped out Ukraine's air defence. I can only think they believed their own propaganda that the Ukrainians would wave them in as liberators
military analyst on the unherd video that was posted here a couple of days ago said all the signs are there was no planning.
It takes a while to plan an air supremacy campaign. Seems all the signs are that in order to maintain the fiction that all these troops were on the border just for training they told none of the troops or did any detailed planning until the v last minute when Vlad decided to go in.
This all explains the convoy of miles of troops who seem not to know what the plan is or why they are there. Basic tactical planning in detail just not done.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
it is clear behind the scenes a lot is going on .
Don't kid yourselves.
We in the west have done nothing. Nothing that actually matters. Nothing that stops Putin getting away with this. Putin is pulverising Ukraine.
Which he is and will continue to do.
To say the west have done nothing, that's just provable bullshit.
The Russian invasion has got massively bogged down as they have faced a lot more incoming from better weapons than they thought the Ukrainians had (which have been supplied ahead of time primarily via the UK).
Also many reports the Ukrainian SoF have recorded a lot of important wins, including against deployment of the Russian VDV, and it is known the SoF have received a lot of training from SAS in recent years.
That doesn't mean Putin won't flatten big parts of the Ukraine and claim victory, but it is clear the Ukrainians aren't going to just give up. It seems clear even if he claims military victory, a Ukrainian insurgency will be there.
Putin can't win quickly, his whole narrative has fallen apart. At best he is going to be bogged down in a war for years to come and bust his country in the process.
Putin's narrative may have fallen apart, but so has our government's narrative.
I have been hammered for posting this, but until 10 days ago it was government policy that climate change was the chief threat to mankind and policy must perforce be pointed in a direction that will end it.
A chief justification for this policy was that everyone in the world was on board. Glasgow told us that. Everyone believed it was two minutes to midnight and no-one serious would contemplate and tolerate war.
The way Putin is behaving, and the way the Chinese are ambivalent, shows voters that vast swathes of the world see the climate change argument as nothing more than a giant delusion.
Whether it is or it isn't a delusion is not important. The fact is it is never, ever going to be achievable, given the world's attitude to it. There clearly is no consensus whatever. The old certainties of power and territory prevail.
The policy is utterly shattered and an broken.
This global warming stuff is bonkers. It is possible to think about more than one thing at once.
I think the important point is that they're related - and worse, pull in opposite directions. Speeding up the rate at which the West stops producing gas and coal means we hand de facto monopolies to Russian and China (respectively) - which gives them unfortunate opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise to abuse their newfound economic powers for geopolitical gains. And we'd possibly rather screw the planet in the long run than hand it over to authoritarian megalomaniacs in the short run.
Notwithstanding the overnight scare, I'm convinced we need more nuclear power stations. Fission, bien sur but we're quite close to the holy grail of Fusion reactors.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.)'
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
Down the line, fine
On nuclear, you mean.
But I can put up solar panels and a wind turbine and convert my energy intake in the next 24 hours.
The answer to this planet's anthropogenic global warming and other ravaging of the planet is absolutely NOT further rape of the earth.
The evil which men do ...
It is for the time being until we have fully viable and scalable renewable options.
What if everyone decided to put up solar panels and wind turbines. How long would that take. Where does the supply come from ? You need products from oil to make them anyway.
We need to replace every gas boiler too either with hydrogen (if it proves to be reliable) or electric. Again a colossal task. It will take years to do.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Your fear of Putin continuing into eastern Europe was one I shared (and said on here many times) before the conflict began.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
Without being complacent, I think it is also apparent that without the threat of their nuclear weapons it is likely that NATO would have no problem whatsoever in kicking their out-of-date butt. Fact is, though, they do have nukes, so the butt kicking will hopefully not take place at all.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Tosh. All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
I've got plenty of criticisms of Johnson, but this just isn't one.
Johnson saying he's not in favour of Putin being assassinated is (a) completely unsurprising - leaders of countries just don't go around calling for other leaders of countries to be bumped off; and (b) completely irrelevant - anybody in Moscow contemplating either a coup or a suicide mission really doesn't give two sh1ts whether they have the British PM's blessing.
And could I suggest (c) eminently sensible, which is not an accusation that I'd normally level at BJ.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Your fear of Putin continuing into eastern Europe was one I shared (and said on here many times) before the conflict began.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
The worry is that, if it is a stalemate without a regime change in Russia, Putin will learn the lessons and try to eliminate those vulnerabilities in logistics and production and, once he has, resume this campaign to new frontiers.
Paradoxically, this may be an argument against direct NATO intervention in the short term because it would make it more likely that Putin could reconsolidate power internally.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Er, I rather think that while he'd not mind if it happened that there are concerns if a publicly Head of Government suggested it would be ok for another Head of State/Government to be assassinated. Particularly when that other one is known to use assassination.
As others have noted it's a dumb thing to criticise for, and a prime example of a common issue where people attack Boris for things that don't warrant it, when there are many many things it would be appropriate to criticise him for.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
You're suggesting that a leader of one nation call for another to be assassinated? Are you trying to start WW3?
No, he should say that it's not something on which it is useful to comment.
Even saying that is dangerous. Sack whoever asked him that publicly.
Questions like that will always be asked - there's long been a number which get the 'we will neither confirm nor deny' response.
"UK PM refuses to rule out targeted assassination of Putin SHOCK"
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
Tosh. All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
I've got plenty of criticisms of Johnson, but this just isn't one.
Johnson saying he's not in favour of Putin being assassinated is (a) completely unsurprising - leaders of countries just don't go around calling for other leaders of countries to be bumped off; and (b) completely irrelevant - anybody in Moscow contemplating either a coup or a suicide mission really doesn't give two sh1ts whether they have the British PM's blessing.
It's not a big deal to me - I was just taking issue with those who said he had no choice but to answer as he did.
Finland's president is on a v short notice trip to Washington.
A fast, unanimous, NATO accession for Finland would send a message.
Its not as easy as that. The petition to the Eduskunta asks that they debate a proposal for a referendum rather than take the vote themselves. Apart from taking a lot longer, as we know, referenda can be dangerous and unpredictable things. It may be some time before Finland is in a position to formally join NATO. That being said, I think that support for NATO is high and growing in Finland, if not yet -I think- to the same degree in Sweden.
I think that the question is being accelerated very quickly in Finland. It feels perhaps like a question of join NATO or cease to exist as an independent country.
EDIT to add, the fact this meeting in Washington is taking place at all indicates something is up.
We certainly hope so. Estonia would be very happy to have Finland fully onside. We getting a lot of cyber attacks at the moment, but Estonia is well guarded against these attacks, and I expect that large chunks of Russian cyberspace will become unusable if they continue to annoy us.
Another horrific video from Ukraine. For balance, this is - it seems - an ambushed Russian convoy. It is very gruesome. Prepare yourself if you click on. NSFW
I make no apologies for posting these. If we have people like @JackW and @Heathener calling for war, for the western world to go to war, we need to know what war REALLY looks like. It looks like THIS
What do you think is going on in Ukraine if not war? If we do not stop Putin now then he will offer us this bitter pill again and again. Finland? Sweden? Moldova and the geography of defending the Baltic states is terrifying.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states. 2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect. 3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours 4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine. 5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
Your fear of Putin continuing into eastern Europe was one I shared (and said on here many times) before the conflict began.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
The worry is that, if it is a stalemate without a regime change in Russia, Putin will learn the lessons and try to eliminate those vulnerabilities in logistics and production and, once he has, resume this campaign to new frontiers.
Conversely making good those deficits and at the same time recovering from sanctions looks like a decade's work minimum and I hope he doesn't have a decade left in him
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
They have air supeiority but not supremacy. It is actually utterly bizarre that they should have invaded without first having wiped out Ukraine's air defence. I can only think they believed their own propaganda that the Ukrainians would wave them in as liberators
military analyst on the unherd video that was posted here a couple of days ago said all the signs are there was no planning.
It takes a while to plan an air supremacy campaign. Seems all the signs are that in order to maintain the fiction that all these troops were on the border just for training they told none of the troops or did any detailed planning until the v last minute when Vlad decided to go in.
This all explains the convoy of miles of troops who seem not to know what the plan is or why they are there. Basic tactical planning in detail just not done.
That makes sense in one respect, but not in another. This must be one of the few offensives in history that has been ordered without any planning if that is true. It is certainly the only one that I am aware of since the days of aerial warfare where minimal attempt has been made to defeat the opposition's air force before sending in ground troops.
It really does feel like the west is heading into a lost decade.
It's depressing that wherever you look it is the corrupt, the bullies, the liars, the greedy and the downright evil that seem to rise to the top.
There is something deeply flawed about the way humans organise themselves because it's rinse and repeat ad nauseam throughout history. In Europe, at least, I really believed that the sort of thing we are now witnessing was behind us and yet here we are again.
When a madman has nuclear weapons there are no answers I'm afraid and Putin knows that. We all know we have no realistic options but to let him do what he likes.
I appreciate that the UK and USA are not remotely comparable to Russia but even there when there are many decent and honourable people in the Conservative Party and the GOP we opt for liars and charlatans like Johnson and Trump. There are days when I am very glad I am in my 70's!!
I empathize strongly. For me the root of all evil are narcissistic megalomaniac men seeking to "make their countries great" and harnessing all sorts of mumbo jumbo about "destiny" or a "special history" and all of that absolute brainrot to con people and stir up their baser emotions . We're all the same. There are no innate national characteristics or "great nations". It's all just a vocabulary to mask the reality of the world, which is billions of people who just want to live their lives in peace and above the poverty line.
Its precisely why I call myself what I do on here - wars are always created by states
And yet mass violence has not required it, unless one still believes the phony myth about pre-state cultures always being peaceful.
As the first of thousands of refugees have begun arriving in Estonia the mood is turning darker. Several guys I know have gone the join the "international brigade". Putin is reminding Estonians of the darkest parts of their history and there is growing rage that Russians continue to beleive the propaganda of the regime. If the Russians continue to follow Putin, then they will be the object of hate and contempt for years to come. There is respect for those who have resisted, but frustration and anger that this has not spread further.
Meanwhile the eastern border is seeing a flood of Russians getting out. They are unlikely to be greeted as warmly as the Ukrainian refugee families that are finding homes across the whole country.
Presumably, though, the Russians are people who detest Putin.
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Who would you like in charge? would it make a difference?
Maggie.
We need to give Putin an ultimatum, Cuban missile crisis style.
YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO CEASEFIRE, AND ENTER TALKS, OR WE INSTALL A NO FLY ZONE.
At least with Maggie i/c they'd not be able to do her in I suppose..........
She was great.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
You're confusing me. You said earlier that you were a "left of centre pragmatist" (who believes in "selective assassinations"). And now Maggie's biggest fan.
You're all over the place, with all due respect.
All over the place is not uncommon among the multiple identity community on PB. Not so much an Overton Window but a kaleidoscope.
Not 100% but having taken the time I think I'm smelling the (mystic) roses.
As the first of thousands of refugees have begun arriving in Estonia the mood is turning darker. Several guys I know have gone the join the "international brigade". Putin is reminding Estonians of the darkest parts of their history and there is growing rage that Russians continue to beleive the propaganda of the regime. If the Russians continue to follow Putin, then they will be the object of hate and contempt for years to come. There is respect for those who have resisted, but frustration and anger that this has not spread further.
Meanwhile the eastern border is seeing a flood of Russians getting out. They are unlikely to be greeted as warmly as the Ukrainian refugee families that are finding homes across the whole country.
Presumably, though, the Russians are people who detest Putin.
Or people who want to be able to have an iPhone, a working credit card, and cash in the ATM.
I don't think the decimation facing Russia has been fully understood. War is costly. The UK may have won the 2nd world war but we were massively drained as a world power. Russia's economy is facing into the abyss. Diplomatically it is isolated alone with Belarus, Syria, Eritrea and North Korea. Having spent a decade trying to restore their military might they are running through men and equipment in no time and will not be in a position to replace it with the economic mess.
I honestly think we should start to question Russia's position on the UN Security Council. It has been a malevolent actor on the world stage for decades and giving up that seat could be one requirement to removing sanctions. How possible would it be to replace them with India or would Kashmir be too much of a problem?
What do my Brexiteer friends and former colleagues think of the fact that the EU has proven itself to be far more muscular and effective than the U.K. government led by Boris Johnson? Across the board: delivering weapons, increasing defence budgets and enforcing sanctions. https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1499789959137484806
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Who would you like in charge? would it make a difference?
Maggie.
We need to give Putin an ultimatum, Cuban missile crisis style.
YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO CEASEFIRE, AND ENTER TALKS, OR WE INSTALL A NO FLY ZONE.
At least with Maggie i/c they'd not be able to do her in I suppose..........
She was great.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
You're confusing me. You said earlier that you were a "left of centre pragmatist" (who believes in "selective assassinations"). And now Maggie's biggest fan.
You're all over the place, with all due respect.
All over the place is not uncommon among the multiple identity community on PB. Not so much an Overton Window but a kaleidoscope.
Not 100% but having taken the time I think I'm smelling the (mystic) roses.
I think, to be fair to @Heathener, that we are seeing a bit of a conversion on the international relations front. From "There will be no war in Ukraine" to "We need to go to war with Russia". It's a fair old distance from one to t'other....
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes
This isn't necessarily true. Russia has apparently lost three Su-25s today alone, so they don't have air superiority at the moment.
They have air supeiority but not supremacy. It is actually utterly bizarre that they should have invaded without first having wiped out Ukraine's air defence. I can only think they believed their own propaganda that the Ukrainians would wave them in as liberators
military analyst on the unherd video that was posted here a couple of days ago said all the signs are there was no planning.
It takes a while to plan an air supremacy campaign. Seems all the signs are that in order to maintain the fiction that all these troops were on the border just for training they told none of the troops or did any detailed planning until the v last minute when Vlad decided to go in.
This all explains the convoy of miles of troops who seem not to know what the plan is or why they are there. Basic tactical planning in detail just not done.
This doesn't make logical sense to me.
You could easily maintain the fiction whilst planning in detail. You just say "Okay guys - this military exercise is all about what we do if - heaven forbid - there was some dreadful NATO provocation that forced us to occupy Ukraine. So if you could all crack on and plan that in extreme detail on the off-chance that, as I say, those cheeky buggers at NATO do anything that forces our hand."
Johnson says he doesn't think Putin should be assassinated.
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
Er, I rather think that while he'd not mind if it happened that there are concerns if a publicly Head of Government suggested it would be ok for another Head of State/Government to be assassinated. Particularly when that other one is known to use assassination.
As others have noted it's a dumb thing to criticise for, and a prime example of a common issue where people attack Boris for things that don't warrant it, when there are many many things it would be appropriate to criticise him for.
That sort of thing has only ever helped Boris.
Simple self preservation indeed plays a part or bloody well should. Putin has a track record long as your arm for London assassinations, Boris has yet to open the score book in Moscow as far as we know
What do my Brexiteer friends and former colleagues think of the fact that the EU has proven itself to be far more muscular and effective than the U.K. government led by Boris Johnson? Across the board: delivering weapons, increasing defence budgets and enforcing sanctions. https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1499789959137484806
Well he is wrong on the delivering weapons front. The UK was right there even before the invasion whilst the EU were still dithering. And as far as increasing defence budgets goes - about time. It is nothing for them to crow about that they have finally started to match what the UK has been spending for decades to help defend them.
On sanctions they are doing far better and deserve credit. But that has bugger all to do with Brexit and everything to do with the specific party we have in power.
Comments
Sainsbury's said it would also change the name of chicken Kiev to "chicken Kyiv" to match the Ukrainian spelling of the capital.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60621332
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/03/letter-from-kyiv-putins-war-on-ukraine-is-pozor-rossii/
Russian military sources, speaking on background, also now admit the invasion was deeply flawed from the start. “There was no tactical plan,” said one. “Our plan, to the extent that there was one, was to ‘play it by ear’ and to just cope with any resistance as it appeared. This was because the expectation had been that we would take all these cities in one to four days and that Ukraine’s military would be immediately overwhelmed.”
Today “Russia has no more Kalibr missiles left in strategic reserve,” said a Ukrainian defense enterprise director familiar with the program, “but that is not the end of their troubles. The guidance system, the seeker head and other critical modules [in the missile’s front end] contain about 60% imported electronic components. None of these will be available after the long list of sanctions being imposed on Russia now, so it is hard to see where any new missiles would ever come from.”
One Ukrainian intelligence officer tells Breaking Defense that there are “numerous shortages of [Russian] weapon systems. The famous KBM plant in Tula and other factories controlled by longtime Putin allies the Rothenberg brothers are unable to physically fulfil orders for infantry weapons and ammunition.
“Weapons that are officially on the books and should be available for delivery to active-duty units are missing and the next production runs will be complete only in three to four months,” the officer said. Even that estimate assumes that the raw material inputs have not been pilfered as well and are still available — if not, the time frame could be considerably longer.
Ukrainian Armed Forces (ZSU) sources state that multiple Russian units were already out of petrol by the third day of the war and were running low on ammunition as well. In Kharkiv, groups of as many as ten demoralized Russian soldiers are reported to have surrendered to the first, lone representative of the Ukrainian forces they encounter.
Whilst actively doing everything possible to ensure it happens.
We need Putin removed.
Although mostly left of centre I'm also a pragmatist and that means that selective assassinations are a necessary tactic for the greater goal of world peace. The Israelis are particularly good at doing it.
In the meantime, for the sake of civilisation we have to stand up to this bully. Yes it may risk world war three. So be it.
Rewilding restricts domestic food production.
As is now happening in Ukraine.
Putin will eventually crush Ukraine unless NATO intervenes :
1. Establish a no fly zone. NATO did this in Europe in 1990's in Yugoslavia defending non NATO states.
2. Ukraine to join NATO with immediate effect.
3. Russian forces to begin withdraw within 24 hours
4. Seized assets to used to rebuild Ukraine.
5. Finland. Sweden, Moldova and Georgia to be offered NATO membership.
It's such a bizarre and twisted perspective that it's impossible even to begin to debate it with him (her?).
Translation: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNA7IwSXMAEKP0x
Russian senator alleging that conscripts had contracts signed for them before 96 out 100 were KIA or MIA.
He should refrain from telling us.
The People's Great Net Zero target means those resources have been and still are to a certain extent off limits.
Wish we had her in No. 10 right now.
Sigh.
1. Declare war on Russia.
2. Declare war on Russia.
.
.
5. You apply to join NATO, not the other way round - that's how it works.
Running every day last year did me in mentally, not physically. Having to get up early, having to schedule runs around home schooling, even running whilst on holiday. Mrs J was a saint.
Some of these extreme-ish challenges are 80% mental willpower, 20% physical. If you're fit enough to contemplate doing them, you're probably fit enough to do it. What gives in is your head.
It's the most naturally occurring form of energy in the universe and the one from which all others ultimately derive (unless you believe in God.) It's also very green.
Just make sure it doesn't leak.
Meanwhile loads more alternative local and off-grid homes: solar and wind powered. It's what I'm personally planning.
Meanwhile the eastern border is seeing a flood of Russians getting out. They are unlikely to be greeted as warmly as the Ukrainian refugee families that are finding homes across the whole country.
Honestly, the Russians are claiming they moved their nuclear preparedness level up one notch because of some utterly innocuous comments made by our Foreign Sec. What on earth do you think would happen if the PM implied he was OK with offing the guy with his finger on the button?
What we need now is GAS and lots of it. We were prevented from developing it in recent years by the People's Net Zero Policy and the green lobby, and they have deprived us of an enormous weapon in the fight against Putin.
You're all over the place, with all due respect.
But I can put up solar panels and a wind turbine and convert my energy intake in the next 24 hours.
The answer to this planet's anthropogenic global warming and other ravaging of the planet is absolutely NOT further rape of the earth.
The evil which men do ...
All he needs to say is that there is a long established policy in such matters, and it would not be useful to share his feelings on the matter.
5. Dancing on a pin-head. They can just stay no with the Russian bear at the borders.
Lindsay Graham's word is as reliable - and flexible - as Boris Johnson's.
In which connection, let me reiterate my support for strongest sanctions against Russia in view of its continued aggression against Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1499664508570247170
RIP.
The met today: "Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team is gathering evidence in relation to alleged war crimes in Ukraine"
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1499784530059829250
Going to be quite the questionnaire.
But now I see a glimmer of hope. Russia's massive forces have not had an easy victory. The sanctions are much harder, and more unanimous, than I expected. It might be that other eastern European states are safe for a few years.
And continued sanctions could really hurt Russia's ability to make up for their martial losses. They have a massive industrial base, but need lots of stuff from the west that will be increasingly hard to get - especially if China is unwilling to sell.
Russia's capability to wage war outside its borders is being severely tested.
There is a non zero chance that Johnson can actually arrange for Putin to be assassinated. I am in the minority of posters here, or at least that's how it feels, in not making nudge and wink claims about knowing more about MI5 than I can really let on, old boy, but I imagine he could ask the double 0 section to have a stab at it. But he can only do that if he has expressly ruled it out before he does it, because what if 007 dies in the attempt and is identified as English by his m&s underwear?
EDIT to add, the fact this meeting in Washington is taking place at all indicates something is up.
At the end of the day (earth) what actions will make Putin press the big red button?
- Cases are still falling slowly, overall. But getting close to flattening off. The increase in rates for the oldest groups is showing up as...
- Increases in admissions, which are still small, but need watching.
- In hospital is either flat or falling slightly
- MV beds is either flat or falling slightly
- Deaths falling steadily.
Are the claims true, and with what probability
Can it be reversed scientifically and mathematically in the time scale available - is net Zero/carbon reversal achievable
Is it still achievable if the next 50 years involved non cooperative standoffs between superpowers and regional wars
Do recent events alter the priorities.
As with Ukraine there are no good answers, only bad and worse ones. Which means you can't attack a thought merely because the outcome is bad.
There’s a lull in fighting now."
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1499779605082816512
As long as they don't pursue them, this looks to be a very successful counter attack from Ukraine.
Johnson saying he's not in favour of Putin being assassinated is (a) completely unsurprising - leaders of countries just don't go around calling for other leaders of countries to be bumped off; and (b) completely irrelevant - anybody in Moscow contemplating either a coup or a suicide mission really doesn't give two sh1ts whether they have the British PM's blessing.
It takes a while to plan an air supremacy campaign. Seems all the signs are that in order to maintain the fiction that all these troops were on the border just for training they told none of the troops or did any detailed planning until the v last minute when Vlad decided to go in.
This all explains the convoy of miles of troops who seem not to know what the plan is or why they are there. Basic tactical planning in detail just not done.
What if everyone decided to put up solar panels and wind turbines. How long would that take. Where does the supply come from ? You need products from oil to make them anyway.
We need to replace every gas boiler too either with hydrogen (if it proves to be reliable) or electric. Again a colossal task. It will take years to do.
ForgottenGenius
@ExStrategist
·
17m
We've had the worst Corbyn, the worst Piers.
But who is the worst Williamson?
Chris
Gavin
https://twitter.com/ExStrategist/status/1499783361992273929
As others have noted it's a dumb thing to criticise for, and a prime example of a common issue where people attack Boris for things that don't warrant it, when there are many many things it would be appropriate to criticise him for.
That sort of thing has only ever helped Boris.
https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/wpp_group_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?newsid=1556534&cid=1299
I honestly think we should start to question Russia's position on the UN Security Council. It has been a malevolent actor on the world stage for decades and giving up that seat could be one requirement to removing sanctions. How possible would it be to replace them with India or would Kashmir be too much of a problem?
https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1499789959137484806
Jeremy Bowen, BBC
You could easily maintain the fiction whilst planning in detail. You just say "Okay guys - this military exercise is all about what we do if - heaven forbid - there was some dreadful NATO provocation that forced us to occupy Ukraine. So if you could all crack on and plan that in extreme detail on the off-chance that, as I say, those cheeky buggers at NATO do anything that forces our hand."
On sanctions they are doing far better and deserve credit. But that has bugger all to do with Brexit and everything to do with the specific party we have in power.
So overall Boles is (as usual) talking bollocks.