Tag: perpetual war

Ukrainian offensive into Russian territory is first direct attack into Russia since 1941

The Ukrainian offensive deep into Russian territory marks the first direct attack on the country since 1941, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The operation, which began in the Kursk region, is not merely a diversion but signifies a new direction in the conflict, the newspaper suggested.

On Aug. 7, Ukrainian forces seized at least three localities in the Kursk region, as confirmed by local media reports on the same day. Mykhailo Podolak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also confirmed the offensive on Aug. 8.

In recent months, particularly last spring, Ukrainian forces faced additional challenges due to a Russian attack on the Kharkiv region. Although the aggressors failed to penetrate deeper into Ukraine, it added further strain to the already stretched Ukrainian military.

The operation in the Kursk area might be an attempt to force Russians to redeploy their troops to this region, thereby relieving defenses on other fronts, and possibly even to recapture territories occupied by Russia.

There is also a possibility that the operation is intended to be demonstrative, to convey that, after months of difficult situations, Ukrainians are again in control of the battlefield dynamics.

“The idea (behind this attack) is to show that Ukrainians are still brave, formidable, and not merely retreating,” said an anonymous representative of the French military. The Kursk region is poorly defended compared to areas around Donetsk, where the heaviest fighting is ongoing.

Keep reading

Is the stupidity of Australians terminal?

On 15 September 2021, Australia’s Anthony Albanese Labor Government agreed with America’s Biden and UK’s Sunak to form together against China in the Southern Hemisphere a Pacific Ocean mutual-‘defense’ Treaty like America’s 1949 original one for the Northern Hemisphere and the Atlantic Ocean (NATO), to be called AUKUS, for U.S., UK, and Australia, thus jointly committing themselves to wage a war against China, which is Australia’s main trading-partner. For Australians, it’s insanity.

Ever since 2022, Australia’s Lowy Institute polling organization has polled Australians about this, and has been finding that, pretty consistently, half of Australians think that AUKUS “will make Australia/our region more safe”; only 8% say “less safe”.

On 14 June 2023, Australia’s Financial Review headlined “Labor’s internal dissent over AUKUS is building”, and reported that behind the scenes, “criticism of AUKUS that has been levelled by Labor elders Paul Keating and Gareth Evans, as well as” others, was growing in the Labor Party.

Finally, on 8 August 2024, Britain’s Guardian bannered “Aukus pact will turn Australia into ‘51st state’ of the US, Paul Keating says: Former prime minister argues Australia has made itself a target by aligning with American ‘aggression’ towards China”. It reported that on that night, Australia’s former Prime Minister, Keating, was interviewed at length about AUKUS, and,

Australia had no quarrel with China, Keating said, and concerns about China’s designs on Taiwan were not justified because the island was “Chinese real estate”.

“Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,” he said, adding that the American attitude to Taiwan was like China deciding that Tasmania needed help to secede from Australia.

“What Aukus is about in the American mind is turning Australia into suckers, locking us up for 40 years with American bases all around … not Australian bases,” he said.

“So Aukus is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean, what’s happened … is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States.”

Keating told the show’s presenter, Sarah Ferguson: “We’re now defending the fact that we’re in Aukus.

“If we weren’t in Aukus, we wouldn’t need to defend it. If we didn’t have an aggressive ally like the United States – aggressive to others in the region – there’d be nobody attacking Australia. We are better left alone than we are being ‘protected’ by an aggressive power like the United States. …

Keating, a longstanding opponent of Labor’s support for the pact, said Australia had not been threatened by China, whose expanding military presence, he said, was in line with its position as the world’s second superpower.

“What do they expect [the Chinese] to do?” he said. “To move around in row boats? Canoes, maybe?

Keep reading

Zionism on the Brink: The Gaza War Beyond Netanyahu 

The idea that the war on Gaza is essentially waged and sustained by and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, for long, dominated political analyses on the subject.

The notion is often kept alive by public opinion inside Israel.

Most polls produced since the start of the Israeli genocide on Gaza suggest that an overwhelming majority of Israelis believe that Netanyahu’s decisions are motivated by personal, political and familial interests.

This conclusion, however, is too convenient and not entirely accurate. It wrongly assumes that the Israeli people oppose Netanyahu’s war in Gaza though, in reality, they have been quite approving of all tactics used by the Israeli army, so far.

For example, over 300 days into the war, 69 percent of all Israelis support Netanyahu’s desperate tactics of assassinations, including the killing of Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31.

While Netanyahu’s decision to target a political leader reflects his own failure and desperation, how is one to explain the Israeli people’s enthusiasm for the expansion of the circle of violence?

Keep reading

What Is The Objective Behind Ukrainian Incursion Inside Russia’s Kursk Region?

The Ukrainian armed forces incursion into Kursk Oblast in Russia raises questions – not the least of which is…why?

We have some possible answers:

The effort itself is not sustainable, and can expose the Ukrainian elements to encirclement, but perhaps the AFU commanders don’t mind that eventual possibility, if there are getting what they want in other ways.

First, the development could be all theater, to lay the groundwork for some bigger event our psychopathic overlords have planned as the 2024 election approaches.

Second, the incursion could be to gain territory for the inevitable peace negotiations that will have to come, if WWIII is to be avoided — a bargaining chip if you will.

Third, the capture of Russian territory could be a diversion to take Russia’s eyes off the Ukrainian  Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which may be the main target.

Keep reading

Israel Airstrike Kills Hamas Leader in South Lebanon Port City of Sidon

Israel carried out an airstrike against a car in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon on Friday evening, killing Hamas leader Samer Mahmoud al-Haj. A bodyguard, who has not been identified, was critically wounded.

Haj worked in a nearby Palestinian refugee camp called Ayn al-Hilweh. The Israeli military and Shin Bet issued a joint statement claiming he was responsible for directing attacks against Israel and was “training terrorists” at the refugee camp.

Sidon is located deep in southern Lebanon, almost 38 miles over the border. Israel has been carrying out strikes against Sidon this year, although most have been against Hezbollah, not Hamas.

Israeli strikes against Hamas targets inside Lebanese territory are relatively rare, but often target high profile Hamas members, as in January when Saleh al-Arouri was killed. Arouri had been in charge of the critical hostage negotiations with Israel throughout the Gaza War. He was struck down in an attack in Beirut, the Lebanese capital city.

Keep reading

US To Release $3.5 Billion in Military Assistance for Israel

The State Department is set to release $3.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing to Israel. The massive transfer of funds comes as the White House is asking Israel to investigate claims of rape in its detention centers for Palestinians.

CNN reported speaking with multiple officials who confirmed the funds will be released. The money was allocated by Congress in the $95 billion foreign military aid bill that included $61 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is a State Department program that gives US taxpayer dollars to foreign governments to purchase weapons from American arms dealers. However, Tel Aviv is allowed to use some of the FMF funds on Israeli-made weapons.

As the funds are used to contract with arms deals, the weapons are typically not delivered immediately.

Israel is heavily dependent on the US to arm its military, giving Washington significant leverage over Tel Aviv. Over the ten-month Israeli onslaught in Gaza, the White House has resisted domestic pressure to condition arm sales to Israel.

The release of funds will likely be viewed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a green light for Israel to continue its brutal treatment of the Palestinians.

One point where the White House could have used the FMF funds as leverage is to push Israel to investigate the rape occurring in its detention facilities. Late last month, Israeli military police arrested several soldiers accused of using sodomy as a means of torture that left the victim bleeding and unable to walk.

Keep reading

US Troops Get Hurt in the Middle East Because of the Government Who Put Them There

Looking forward to the countless western media headlines and denunciations from western officials framing the coming Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel as a completely unprovoked attack, like history began in that exact moment and Israel did nothing to warrant such aggression.

❖

Western officials like Antony Blinken and David Lammy have been urgently going on about the need for “de-escalation” in the middle east. You’ll never see western officials as opposed to escalation as they are when Israel has committed an insanely escalatory act of war against Iran but Iran has not yet retaliated. They’re fine to let Israel rampage completely unchecked, but as soon as it crosses the red line of someone strong enough to exact a heavy price, they’re all about “de-escalation”.

❖

Friendly reminder that all injuries and deaths of US military personnel in the middle east are always the fault of the Washington officials who put them there, not the middle easterners who are defending their own home.

Keep reading

The New National Defense Report Misses the Point

The American public must be informed, explains the Commission on the National Defense Strategy in a new report. Despite war propaganda daily flooding Washington, the CNDS complained that people “have been inadequately informed by government leaders of the threats to U.S. interests—including to people’s everyday lives—and what will be required to restore American global power and leadership.” 

In the Commission’s view, the United States is at great risk. Threats are multiplying around the globe. Only great effort can save the country. Americans must turn over more of their money and sacrifice more of their liberties. They must be scared into compliance.

In fact, this is nonsense. For decades the United States has been the most secure great power ever. The U.S. has dominated its continent and entire hemisphere since the mid-19th century. Surrounded by deep waters east and west and weak neighbors north and south, America is largely invulnerable to attack. 

Which enabled it to become the most dominant great power ever. With middling effort at home, the U.S. turned into the decisive power abroad. World War II left America as the globe’s most powerful nation, with half the world’s economic production as a foundation for the world’s most sophisticated military. Almost all of its allies remain dependent on US money and production. Today’s world is becoming multipolar, but military threats against the continental US remain minimal, other than assorted nuclear arsenals, most importantly Russia’s.

With Americans living in an extraordinary security cocoon, the 9/11 attacks came as a shock. Of America’s many conflicts, only the Civil War occurred at home. And it ended 159 years ago. Compare the U.S. to the other major powers. Russia, Germany, China, France, Japan, Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, South and North Korea, and so many other nations have been attacked, invaded, occupied—often repeatedly, and sometimes by the U.S.

Keep reading

EU endorses Ukraine’s incursion into Russia

The European Union fully supports the actions of Ukraine’s forces, including striking Russian territory, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano has said.

The statement came a day after Ukraine launched a major cross-border sortie into Russia’s Kursk Region early on Tuesday. At least five civilians were killed in assault as of Wednesday evening, according to the Interim Governor of Kursk, Aleksey Smirnov. Another 31 people – including six children – were injured in the Ukrainian shelling of the town of Sudzha, Russia’s Health Ministry said late on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the Kursk attack yet another “large-scale provocation” by Kiev, accusing Ukrainian troops of deliberately targeting civilians.

Commenting on the raid, Stano said Ukraine has the right to defend itself, “including by striking the aggressor on its territory.” 

“The EU continues to fully support Ukraine’s legitimate right to defend itself” and win back its lost territories, the spokesperson told the Ukrainian news network Suspilne on Wednesday.

Kiev considers the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Crimean peninsula to be parts of Ukraine. All five territories formerly joined the Russian Federation after a series of democratic referendums.

Keep reading

“Hyperscale” Weapons Factory Vision Outlined By Anduril

Defense technology contractor Anduril has announced plans to build a novel “hyperscale” production facility that will be able to churn out huge numbers of different military products, including uncrewed combat aircraft and autonomous underwater vehicles. The project closely aligns with the Pentagon’s aim of securing the ability to manufacture at scale, to meet future demands, especially for uncrewed systems that are increasingly seen as being critical in potential peer-state conflicts.

The California-based company announced today that it will build the first so-called “Arsenal facility” in the United States, using funding from a recent $1.5-billion Series F investment round. In a document titled Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy, Anduril lays out plans for the manufacturing facility, which will measure more than five million square feet and, once up and running, will be able to “produce tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems addressing the urgent needs of the United States and our allies.”

Keep reading