[energyintel] After decades of ignoring Russia’s national security concerns, the West is confronted with a military invasion of Ukraine which serves as a precursor for a new Cold War that will define Russia’s relationship with the West for years to come.
Let there be no mistake, on Feb. 24, the world awoke to a new reality. Prior to this date, Russia was treated by the West as an annoyance, belittled by economic and even military elites as little more than a "giant gas station masquerading as a nation," to quote John McCain, the now-deceased senator from Arizona.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been subjected to a series of sophomoric psychological profiles that trivialized Russian national concerns as little more than the psychotic whim of a troubled individual. The caricatures that emerged of the Russian state and its leadership colored the analysis of Russia’s oft-stated concerns over what it viewed as its legitimate national security.
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[Bit Chute]Reader comment follows: MaryCarmelNews
"So They invaded Ukraine under Biden and Obama .. SOROS, and make money , launder , deny it. But it was getting worse with bio labs and perhaps weapons , more oppression under Soros nazis .. just like Syria Putin w/Trump cleaned ISIS up ... but when weak deep stare Joe is president the globe is very unstable .. Putin perhaps trying to clean their shit up again ...a lot ox US tax money gets lost over there for bad things . I had this global western mafia . I hope they all get tried for treason . It’s actually completely global now . God help us all."
#1
Putin's concern with corruption in the Ukraine was he wasn't getting the biggest cut. He's never been interested in "cleaning up" anything except opposition to his rule.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/27/2022 21:13 Comments ||
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#1
It has been said after Olympics China will overwhelm Taiwan. Close ties with North Korea would tell me South Korea is on the menu. Biden again and again will be a no show. His only weapon of influence is economic isolation but with China he will avoid any such effort.
[AspenBeat] About those "sanctions"....
In short, war crimes are not excused by the fact that they’re in the context of a war, especially if the war was started by the war criminal.
Which brings us back to Putin. The Mossad knows how to handle people like him. In doing so they will save thousands of lives and will deter future aggressors. Send them in.
The Mossad is not going to go after President Putin, with whom Israel has come to a modus vivendi. Y’all are going to have to do your own assassinating.
The Lew Rockwell libertarian perspective. A taste:
[tomluongo.me] Up until February 23rd, 2022, the powerful countries of the world played a very rarified game.
Too many people try to analyze geopolitics like it is a game of chess. Move, counter-move. Push a pawn? Threaten a knight, that type of thing. It’s easy to understand and makes for good copy.
In the past I’ve tried to liken it to a multi-player version of Go, with anywhere from four to 6 different colored stones on the board trying to take territory. It was a better metaphor but nearly impossible to describe adequately. In fact, at times, it was exhausting.
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#1
Looking at reports of Russia having insufficient military supplies already has me wondering. I'm starting to think Putin looked around at Russia's economy (size of Florida) and his military stockpile (always aging and never as great as promote) and Russia's slowly diminishing influence in the world, realized that Russia will have zero influence after four more years of Trump.
Because of that he decided to gamble that the Ukrainians would fold quick and he'd have their food and resources to extend Russia a bit longer. If he did it now the West wouldn't do all that much and they'd be ready to patch things up sometime during Trump's return.
Except the Ukrainians fought tooth and nail against the invasion, and they got lucky in a few places.
#3
Biden is a nobody. This is a dramatic change of events negatively degrading the USA as a significant player in world events. In the next days watch how this plays out. The USA has missed the bus. Kerry will lament environmental degradation with Gore crying on his shoulder.
#4
Re #2: Tucker's stance is hypocritical. He has belittled Ukraine and the Russian threat to it. Now that the war has begun, instead of admitting he was wrong, he makes it a tool to bash Biden.
BTW, Tucker still hasn't got it was the Russian side that was bribing Hunter. From there, his other analysis is wrong as well as superficial.
#5
How were the Russians bribing Hunter? Hunter was on the board of Burisma, a Ukraininan company. The Ukrainians were going after the corruption when the big-guy had the prosecutor fired.
Perhaps the Russians were also bribing Hunter but that doesn't mean Ukraine wasn't knee deep in it as well.
#6
This is the end of American dominance - an unreliable ally and a fake hegemon that's totally incapable of preventing chaos and preserving order in the world.
Nations will rely on themselves from now on
No one will look to America to keep the peace or guarantee stability
Now there will be a rush to get nukes
Nations will find alternatives to the dollar and SWIFT (yen, crypto)
End of an era
#7
Pres. Yanukovitch was a Russian installed puppet. The Russians stole the election for him in both 2004 and 2010. The 2004 election drew massive protests and got overturned (the first Maidan revolution). In 2010, Yanukovitch proceeded to turn Ukraine into a corruption syndicate to weaken the country for Russian domination. It was under his rule that that Burisma was illegally consolidated under his energy minister. They were all working for the Russians and getting paid, in Burisma's case, with very favorably priced gas and oil. Some of that Russian money was used to pay Hunter. The Big Guy stepped in to prevent Burisma from being prosecuted after the second Maidan revolution in 2014.
BTW, the 2014 revolution began when Yanukovitch reneged on a popular association deal with the EU.
#9
Re #6: Have you looked at the currency exchange rates. Since the Russian invasion, the dollar has increased against other currencies.
The Ruble has fallen. Severely. It is costing the Russian government billion of dollars each day to prop up the Ruble in currency exchanges so it does not fall even more. Soon the dollars will run out and the Ruble fill fall much further. I believe to less than one penny for a Ruble.
#11
^ I think this used to be Common Knowledge™ . Paleos excepted
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2022 14:55 Comments ||
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#12
The new currencies that replace the US fiat currency will be tied to critical commodities like oil and strategic metals - when the oil price soars the dollar crashes. Oil will hit $150 soon
Most of the countries that have tons of those metals and that oil won't rely on the US any more
#13
I have watched all of Tucker’s statements about the Russia/Ukraine situation. His main points have been;
1. Why are we so fixated on the territorial boundaries of Ukraine when we let 2 million plus people a year invade our country? There are hundreds, if not thousands of years, of border disputes and changes in that area.
2. We are not protecting a “democracy” in the sense we see it. Ukraine jailed the opposition leader (last May) and ended freedom of the press prior to this conflict breaking out. Are the citizens of Ukraine that desire stronger ties with Russia not allowed a voice? Is that Democracy?
3. Biden’s disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan and other displays of weakness, which have been discussed on this site ad nauseam, have contributed to this mess.
4. How about we focus a bit on the American people for once. Over 100,000, mostly young, Americans died from Fentanyl and other drugs streaming across our border last year. And will again this year, so Democrats can import the votes they need. A callous and evil operation.
Tucker doesn’t praise or support Putin. I think he sees him for what he is. He also sees Unkraine for what it is. And spends a great deal of time focusing on China, because of our dependence on that hostile regime.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2022 19:20 Comments ||
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#15
@ #9 - What happened in previous times in crisis (gold moving to the US around WWI). Money will flow to the US. Don't be surprised if the stock market turns around soon. European money's gotta go somewhere, and that somewhere is the US (for all of its faults).
#16
Confucius' song: "Long-ago wrongs
Forgotten!" Smoke, chopsticks, and tongs.
"New friends, let us feast
With a faceful of grease
On not one but a hundred Hong Kongs!"
[Breitbart] On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) stated that poor decisions in the past by the Biden administration have put us in a bad spot in the crisis in Ukraine and remarked that it would be helpful if some of the weapons and equipment the U.S. left behind in Afghanistan “was in Ukraine right now” to better arm the Ukrainian people to repel the invasion by Russia.
Jordan said, [relevant remarks begin around 4:30] “Sean, think about this: Dan just talked about weapons and what we need to get to the Ukrainians, it would’ve been nice if that $85 billion of weapons and equipment we left in Afghanistan, if that was in — some of that was in Ukraine right now to help the Ukrainian people. That’d be nice. It’d be nice if the State Department would be focused on real diplomacy versus when they sent out the email that said, oh, what pronoun do you want to use? And, oh, we’re going to have gender-neutral passports now, for goodness sake. So, that’s the problem, bad decisions early on that put us in this terrible position. And the Ukrainian people feel it as we speak.”
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[AspenBeat] 
