Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tu ... b21e8bf6db

It pisses me off that the western nations led by the USA and the rest of NATO suckered Finland into requesting NATO membership knowing that any member like Turkey would most likely object. The likelihood of Finland getting in is zero without 100 percent agreement. So, who cares if Finland can't actually get in the USA and NATO scored huge bonus points over Russia which was their likely aim all along. Fucking assholes the lot of them. I recall another time Finland was left in the cold when it was convenient.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Switzerland is looking at different options including joint military exercises with NATO.
"Ultimately, there could be changes in the way neutrality is interpreted," Pulli said in an interview last week. On a trip to Washington this week, Defence Minister Viola Amherd said Switzerland should work more closely with the U.S.-led military alliance, but not join it, Swiss media reported.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-05-15/

Switzerland is not part of the EU, but it is a signatory to the Schwengen Treaty on open borders and EU policies on firearms apply to them.
Last edited by highdesert on Mon May 16, 2022 10:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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From the make do with duct tape dept.
Wrecked Russian fighter jets are being found with rudimentary GPS receivers "taped to the dashboards" in Ukraine because their inbuilt navigation systems are so bad, the UK's defense secretary, Ben Wallace, said.... "[W]hilst Russia has large amounts of artillery and armor that they like parading, they are unable to leverage them for combined arms maneuver and just resort to mass indiscriminate barrages," he added....

Last month, Ukrainian troops paraded what they said was a Russian drone that had been covered in duct tape and fitted with a generic plastic bottle top for a fuel cap. In March, Ukrainian troops found what appeared to be Russian army bandages dating to 1978 discarded on a battlefield. In his Monday speech, Wallace said Russian vehicles "are frequently found with 1980s paper maps of Ukraine in them" and that soldiers were using "pine logs as makeshift protection on logistical trucks" and attaching "overhead 'cope cages' to their tanks."
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia ... -uk-2022-5

I guess the Russians don’t have baling wire to go with duct tape.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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On Finland v. Turkey, I've seen the point made that Erdogan has unresolved issues with the rest of the alliance and this provides an opportunity to renegotiate. I.e., "hey, those S-400s y'all were worried about? Yeah, they don't seem to fit our air defense needs after all. So, howzabout some of those F-35s? " There are other points of contention viz Kurds, but that's the big one that comes to mind. Also, Turkey has really stepped up with Bayraktar drone sales to Ukraine and closing the Bosphorus, so maybe we recognize them as a significant regional power with significant cultural and political differences but an essential contributor to Western security?

Not saying Finland or Sweden aren't. The rest of Scandinavia - NATO North - has agreed to multilateral alliances with both in the interim. Turkey and Hungary will try a little extortion but the homeland will be protected so long as nobody goes all "For Greater Karellia!" and opens the territorial dispute objection can-of-worms.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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A prescient bit on our current situation, from a Russian military perspective circa 2015.
But there can be only one exit from the Ukrainian crisis — under no circumstances should the Russian Federation Armed Forces be allowed to be dragged into the conflict in the south-east. Our country, the army and navy, needs to note objectively that we are still not ready for large-scale armed confrontation employing only conventional weapons. If you sort out all the criteria of the state’s readiness for war (Armed Forces training, preparation of the country’s economy, the preparation of the country’s territory to support the RF Armed Forces, preparing the population for defense), then most of them have very substantial problems.
https://russiandefpolicy.com/2015/03/24 ... ar-begins/

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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So, the Z thing. In the Cyrillic alphabet, the letter Z is written "3". While several different letters were chosen to designate forces invading Ukraine - Z, V, X - it was the Z that captured the most attention. I figured part of it was that straight lines are easier to stripe on than the Slavic curves of "3" or "B" or "KS" but the more I look at it, the more I buy into Galeev's notions of Russian cultural identity and revanchist neonationalism as driving forces for the invasion. To wit - former Soviet republics / Russian imperial territories "belong" to Russia, and refusal to bend the knee makes them enemies. The greatest enemy of Russia in recent history was Nazi Germany.

Therefore, Russia is Z. Everyone else is "Not Z."

And whoever started pushing this particular symbology is at least conversant in English, if not fluent.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1525 ... 38177.html

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the NATO alliance on Wednesday, a decision spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but face objections from Turkey to an accession process that is expected to take only a few weeks.
"This is a historic moment which we must seize," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a short ceremony at NATO headquarters in which the Swedish and Finnish ambassadors to the alliance handed over their application letters, each in a white folder embossed with their national flag.

"I warmly welcome requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners, and your membership in NATO will increase our shared security," Stoltenberg said. The alliance believes the accession of Finland and Sweden will hugely strengthen it in the Baltic Sea. With the applications formally submitted, the Nordic countries and their many backers now face uncertain months where any resistance to their bids must be overcome, with all 30 of NATO's members needing to approve the enlargement.

Ratification by all allied parliaments could take up to a year, diplomats say.
Seeking to move the membership process along, Sweden's defence minister has already headed to Washington and will be followed by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto later this week. read more

The countries hope speedy ratification by the United States, the alliance's premier power, will help smooth their path to membership with the White House having said it is confident any obstacles can be overcome.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fi ... 022-05-18/

Finland and Sweden will buy portable firearms and anti-tank weapons together, Finland's defence ministry said on Wednesday, as the two Nordic country's handed in their applications to join the Western military alliance NATO.

The two countries will step up their cooperation in defence procurement by Finland joining an agreement to acquire anti-tank weapons from Swedish weapons maker Saab Dynamics, a subsidiary of Saab, the ministry said.

Finland's defence minister Antti Kaikkonen also authorised preparations for a joint purchase of small fire arms including assault rifles, shotguns and arms for personal protection, the ministry said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/finland-s ... 022-05-18/
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Russia Is Firing Its Senior Commanders. What Does That Mean For Ukraine War?

The Kremlin has fired several senior officials managing its invasion of Ukraine, yet another sign that the Russian war effort is significantly faltering.

In its latest Twitter update, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that Moscow’s centralized command is only going to come under more pressure as it tries to re-establish control behind the scenes.

The MoD explained that Russia “has fired senior commanders who are considered to have performed poorly during the opening stages of its invasion of Ukraine.”

Who Has Been Fired?

Lieutenant General Serhiy Kisel, who commanded the elite 1st Guards Tank Army, has been suspended after he was unable to capture Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

The commander behind Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Igor Osipov, is also likely to have been suspended after the cruiser Moskva sank in April.

The U.K. officials also think that Russian chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov is still in post, “but it is unclear whether he retains the confidence of President Putin.”

What Does That Mean For The War?

Without a clear command system, the Russian forces – already said to be disorganized and lacking supplies – are unlikely to secure any victories in Ukraine any time soon.

Russia Was Already Struggling

There seems to be a major problem with top military officials within the Russian forces right now.

President Vladimir Putin is also said to have taken over the day-to-day management of the war, despite such tasks typically falling to more junior commanders.

“We think Putin and Gerasimov are involved in tactical decision-making at a level we would normally expect to be taken by a colonel or a brigadier,” a Western military source said, according to the Guardian.
Full article here https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russia-f ... 6e4a0aebc8

Putin is doing a half assed job as a replay of Hitler in 1943-45, when Hitler took over the full command of the German army and was making tactical decisions at the unit level.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

915
Everyone knows Putin stepped in it. Let's hope he has the good sense to die so Russia can blame the war on him and save face so as to rejoin the world community.

As I've said, this is the first twenty first century war, and it's being fought on ethereal cyber and financial fronts while guys still bash each other with trench shovels on the ground. What a fascinating time. In a bad way but still fascinating.
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CDFingers
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Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Russian Diplomat To UN In Geneva Resigns Over War In Ukraine

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — A veteran Russian diplomat to the U.N. Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the “aggressive war unleashed” by President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter delivered Monday morning at the Russian diplomatic mission after a diplomatic official passed on his English-language statement to The Associated Press.

“For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year,” he wrote, alluding to the date of Russia’s invasion.
In his English-language statement, which he said he emailed to about 40 diplomats and others, Bondarev said those who conceived the war “want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity.”
Full article here https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russia-u ... 5d4d7a158a

I hope he doesn't need to open doors. I suspect that he might just become very ill soon. He said he was going to remain in Geneva, which is a smart move.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Russians diplomats and those in positions of power will need to make such outstanding statements of truth, stand against the corruption at the heart of their government. The Russian people have a democracy in name only. But the apparatus is there to put votes to use and enact regime change without revolution and bloodshed. The opportunity is there in any case. But it does take courage. Tremendous courage as displayed here by Bondarev.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/br ... 8370026ea9

Opinion articles on why Finland should not be admitted to NATO. They echo my comments, Finland is in no danger of Russia considering Finland's military capability. I also spoke to a cousin yesterday, who is in Finland and a reserve officer. He is pro NATO but understands the reality that they would be the front line and first to receive a bullet. His thought was at least with NATO membership they would be guaranteed weapons in a war. I said don't bet on it, nothing is guaranteed. My cousin did confirm the Finnish military response would be rapid and the numbers of troops would easily be near a million. So, they are joining for guaranteed bullets.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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It had to be tough decisions for Sweden and Finland to seek admission to NATO, they avoided it for decades. Norway and Denmark were occupied by Germany in WWII and joined NATO in 1949, Sweden was technically neutral in WWII and Finland fought a long war. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union was corrupt but there was a collegial sharing of power once they got rid of Stalin. In Putin's Russia it's even more corrupt and there appears to be no collegial sharing of power, it's all Putin. European countries don't want a return to large powers fighting over European land, they have peace and prosperity and they want to keep it.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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highdesert wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 10:35 am It had to be tough decisions for Sweden and Finland to seek admission to NATO, they avoided it for decades. Norway and Denmark were occupied by Germany in WWII and joined NATO in 1949, Sweden was technically neutral in WWII and Finland fought a long war. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union was corrupt but there was a collegial sharing of power once they got rid of Stalin. In Putin's Russia it's even more corrupt and there appears to be no collegial sharing of power, it's all Putin. European countries don't want a return to large powers fighting over European land, they have peace and prosperity and they want to keep it.
I hope their calculus is correct, but I’m skeptical as long as the poster boy for NATO is the USA. The way the Finns I know see the relationship of being in NATO as access to US weapons. I think that is not an assured assumption.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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The ones who pay more to NATO get to have more of a say. These proposed new memberships will do everything to strengthen the alliance and nothing to weaken it. But the more powerful weapon appears to be finance. So these new members will stop trading with Russia and watch it starve.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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CDFingers wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:42 pm The ones who pay more to NATO get to have more of a say. These proposed new memberships will do everything to strengthen the alliance and nothing to weaken it. But the more powerful weapon appears to be finance. So these new members will stop trading with Russia and watch it starve.

CDFingers
Keeping a door open to the East has been a key component of Finnish business and foreign policy. It was a major ingredient in creating stability. I suspect that stability is gone. All it will take is another asshole like t to become president again any safety assurances are out the window. Y’all have a short memory.

Edit: the ones who pay more to the USA. Don’t be naïve, NATO is an extension of the US military. If it didn’t include the US, I might be more inclined to support a Finnish membership in an all only European alliance.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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Finland and Sweden are already in the EU. They have collective self defense agreements. They aren't as strong as NATO's Article 5. There's no assurance that Hungary and Turkey won't veto admission, but that isn't the point. The point is not land defense - Sweden has Finland for that - but air defense and naval support. Russia's Baltic fleet could wreak some havoc - mines and blockades - without necessarily escalating to the level that the rest of Europe would intervene. They have bilateral defense agreements with other countries in NATO. They cooperate extensively with NATO. Putin closed the eastern door, not Finland.

Neutrality and non-aligned status are hardly credible given their degree of integration into Europe already. Putin could send little green men to take over Switzerland and Austria but I doubt that the EU would stand by.

Turkey is still playing a largely neutral role despite NATO membership - sure, they sell Bayraktars to Ukraine, but there's still the S-400 deal last I'd seen. Lots of independent foreign policy positions within the alliance.

Re: Biden says Russia will invade Ukraine.

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wings wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 1:25 pm Finland and Sweden are already in the EU. They have collective self defense agreements. They aren't as strong as NATO's Article 5. There's no assurance that Hungary and Turkey won't veto admission, but that isn't the point. The point is not land defense - Sweden has Finland for that - but air defense and naval support. Russia's Baltic fleet could wreak some havoc - mines and blockades - without necessarily escalating to the level that the rest of Europe would intervene. They have bilateral defense agreements with other countries in NATO. They cooperate extensively with NATO. Putin closed the eastern door, not Finland.

Neutrality and non-aligned status are hardly credible given their degree of integration into Europe already. Putin could send little green men to take over Switzerland and Austria but I doubt that the EU would stand by.

Turkey is still playing a largely neutral role despite NATO membership - sure, they sell Bayraktars to Ukraine, but there's still the S-400 deal last I'd seen. Lots of independent foreign policy positions within the alliance.
I’d be all for it as long as the USA was not a part of it. The US is not a European country no matter how much it wants to be.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

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