Now that the dust has settled in the aftermath of the latest Russian punitive measure aimed at the Kiev government, we can safely makes some conclusions about the direction that the war will go in going forward. First of all, let’s talk about the strikes themselves.
The western press is spinning this as a huge indiscriminate attack targeting civilians.
That only 11 civs top died is a huge point to get right.
I think the west's coverage will backfire, because they're running Russia's propaganda for them:
> Big Bad fires countless rockets and every civilian is shitting their pants; OMG be afraid of Putler!!!1!
Alternatively:
> Russians missiles are capable of targetting any part of the ukraine and there's nothing we can do about it.
“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.” - Heinrich Himmler
Good column, Rolo. Please keep that sardonic edge! The Western reaction to this was almost comical. The "brutal Russian attack" of over 100 missile impacts resulted in oh nos, 11 fatalities. Id call that a restrained response but then again Iraq 2 rather set the bar for this stuff. Yesterday was downright tame compared to what the Neocons like.
Im much more interested in the accuracy of ukie claims to shooting down more than half of the launched missiles. Those mid-intersection impact craters on the news were awfully damn small too. Even the footage of wounded civilians looked staged. Perhaps I've grown cynical but I'm seeing mostly staged propaganda like a certain radio station in Germany in 1939.
I woke up yesterday and couldn't believe the Russian military finally did something! It was like Christmas morning. Hopefully we see the gloves come off even more with this new general. Kyiv is an old Russian city and should rejoin Russia too. Plebiscite or not
Sorry to paste such a long section, but this will give you the idea. The rest of the article sounds even more dire.
The western military source again: “War is war, whether you want to use terms like hybrid war or proxy war. It means destroying the enemy’s capacity to make war. Shutting off the power in the rump Ukrainian state will do just that to the Ukrainians. If they then start to flee for refuge to Poland and Germany, this will be a disaster unparalleled in recent European history. Just the attendant collapse in telecommunications will make the place a madhouse. You can well imagine the rest. Already there are queues for water in Nikolaev, and who knows where else. How does queueing for water, if there is any, in temperatures of minus-20C to minus-40C sound? This won’t be like the blackouts from US sanctions and attacks in Cuba or Venezuela – there they didn’t have to worry about freezing to death, the pipes bursting, or irreparable damage being done to billions of dollars’ worth of pumping, electrical, and other equipment due to freezing.”
“How many people realize that a sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) circuit breaker, commonly used in electrical substations, requires an electric heating blanket to be functional in sub-zero weather? Most westerners don’t. They are common in high voltage substations which ultimately feed the grid lines with power. In the Ukrainian case, I suspect there is a mixture of those and older style oil circuit breakers (OCB), along with oil-filled large power transformers (LPT), which are essential to electrical distribution. And guess where most of the oil comes from to fill these devices?”
“I suspect that most of Zelensky’s officials and officials in the supporting EU governments have persuaded themselves with their own propaganda. They aren’t daring to think through these questions, any more than they care to understand that the housing of the pumps delivering their water and treating their sewage will freeze and split apart if they are not heated via electrical means. Even if the gas is on — and it won’t be — electricity is needed to ignite, then control, furnaces. How many of these officials understand the long lead times, compounded by manufacturing shutdowns due to high energy costs, which you must have to replace and restore everything?”
Alas, I read this morning I read (I think Paul Craig Roberts) that none of the missile attacks targeted Ukraine's actual power generating infrastructure (power stations), just some substations. Not sure if correct but if it is it means they are still pulling their punches; i.e. its just a another warning - the hundred thousandth it seems. Contrast this with US in Iraq. They smashed the countries entire infrastructure in double quick time crippling the country and its ability to wage war. Can it be that Putin is still yearning for negotiations (he seems to have just announced that he is ready to talk with Biden on all issues at the upcoming G20) - what is it with this guy? Does he want a another agreement they will break the minute it suits them? Someone this morning said to me that the only way the Russians could conceivably win this war is if the Ukrainians / NATO are stupid enough to assassinate Putin? But could they really be that stupid?
The German embassy was hit but not the US one ? Why not ? is Russia afraid of Uncle Samstein ? Also, why punish the spinless Germans, they have no say in any matters ?
Ha ha, they blew up the make up warehouse on purpose? That’s awesome. And that spook, maybe the Russians are laying back now and watching where the electronic traffic diverts to. They do that, right? I knew Russia was going to start breaking their nose. And NATO is disintegrating. The West is losing control in Europe, Saudi, India, everywhere. They’ll end up getting Saudi and Iran to cooperate together, they already made China and Russia best friends. I’ve been listening to Scott Ridder, too, I guess he knows what he’s talking about?
"where the peasants sunbathe and swill cheap bear in the woods."
Now there's an evocative typo. Drinking bears sounds very Indo-European, in a midnight blood ritual kind of way.
Fucking finally.
The western press is spinning this as a huge indiscriminate attack targeting civilians.
That only 11 civs top died is a huge point to get right.
I think the west's coverage will backfire, because they're running Russia's propaganda for them:
> Big Bad fires countless rockets and every civilian is shitting their pants; OMG be afraid of Putler!!!1!
Alternatively:
> Russians missiles are capable of targetting any part of the ukraine and there's nothing we can do about it.
“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.” - Heinrich Himmler
Good column, Rolo. Please keep that sardonic edge! The Western reaction to this was almost comical. The "brutal Russian attack" of over 100 missile impacts resulted in oh nos, 11 fatalities. Id call that a restrained response but then again Iraq 2 rather set the bar for this stuff. Yesterday was downright tame compared to what the Neocons like.
Im much more interested in the accuracy of ukie claims to shooting down more than half of the launched missiles. Those mid-intersection impact craters on the news were awfully damn small too. Even the footage of wounded civilians looked staged. Perhaps I've grown cynical but I'm seeing mostly staged propaganda like a certain radio station in Germany in 1939.
I woke up yesterday and couldn't believe the Russian military finally did something! It was like Christmas morning. Hopefully we see the gloves come off even more with this new general. Kyiv is an old Russian city and should rejoin Russia too. Plebiscite or not
I don't know. Continued attacks on the electrical grid would bring Ukraine to its knees, at least according to opinions here.
http://johnhelmer.net/russian-army-fires-old-sparky-us-loses-the-electric-war-in-the-ukraine/
Sorry to paste such a long section, but this will give you the idea. The rest of the article sounds even more dire.
The western military source again: “War is war, whether you want to use terms like hybrid war or proxy war. It means destroying the enemy’s capacity to make war. Shutting off the power in the rump Ukrainian state will do just that to the Ukrainians. If they then start to flee for refuge to Poland and Germany, this will be a disaster unparalleled in recent European history. Just the attendant collapse in telecommunications will make the place a madhouse. You can well imagine the rest. Already there are queues for water in Nikolaev, and who knows where else. How does queueing for water, if there is any, in temperatures of minus-20C to minus-40C sound? This won’t be like the blackouts from US sanctions and attacks in Cuba or Venezuela – there they didn’t have to worry about freezing to death, the pipes bursting, or irreparable damage being done to billions of dollars’ worth of pumping, electrical, and other equipment due to freezing.”
“How many people realize that a sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) circuit breaker, commonly used in electrical substations, requires an electric heating blanket to be functional in sub-zero weather? Most westerners don’t. They are common in high voltage substations which ultimately feed the grid lines with power. In the Ukrainian case, I suspect there is a mixture of those and older style oil circuit breakers (OCB), along with oil-filled large power transformers (LPT), which are essential to electrical distribution. And guess where most of the oil comes from to fill these devices?”
“I suspect that most of Zelensky’s officials and officials in the supporting EU governments have persuaded themselves with their own propaganda. They aren’t daring to think through these questions, any more than they care to understand that the housing of the pumps delivering their water and treating their sewage will freeze and split apart if they are not heated via electrical means. Even if the gas is on — and it won’t be — electricity is needed to ignite, then control, furnaces. How many of these officials understand the long lead times, compounded by manufacturing shutdowns due to high energy costs, which you must have to replace and restore everything?”
Alas, I read this morning I read (I think Paul Craig Roberts) that none of the missile attacks targeted Ukraine's actual power generating infrastructure (power stations), just some substations. Not sure if correct but if it is it means they are still pulling their punches; i.e. its just a another warning - the hundred thousandth it seems. Contrast this with US in Iraq. They smashed the countries entire infrastructure in double quick time crippling the country and its ability to wage war. Can it be that Putin is still yearning for negotiations (he seems to have just announced that he is ready to talk with Biden on all issues at the upcoming G20) - what is it with this guy? Does he want a another agreement they will break the minute it suits them? Someone this morning said to me that the only way the Russians could conceivably win this war is if the Ukrainians / NATO are stupid enough to assassinate Putin? But could they really be that stupid?
Why “Cannibal General”?
The German embassy was hit but not the US one ? Why not ? is Russia afraid of Uncle Samstein ? Also, why punish the spinless Germans, they have no say in any matters ?
Watch these NATO cross dressers do something stupid, now, they’re probably freaking out.
What’s going on with Poland and Belarus? Maybe NATO will start a new offensive there. That’s what I would do. If I were a desperate maniac.
Ha ha, they blew up the make up warehouse on purpose? That’s awesome. And that spook, maybe the Russians are laying back now and watching where the electronic traffic diverts to. They do that, right? I knew Russia was going to start breaking their nose. And NATO is disintegrating. The West is losing control in Europe, Saudi, India, everywhere. They’ll end up getting Saudi and Iran to cooperate together, they already made China and Russia best friends. I’ve been listening to Scott Ridder, too, I guess he knows what he’s talking about?
The bridge was not the target, that aside an enjoyable post
https://ibb.co/TKnRHmh
Agh yes, the old do absolutely nothing for a long time then suddenly bring them to their knees method. Silly us, I should have seen it all along.
As necessary and expected.