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US gets a nasty surprise in Ukraine
Asia Times ^ | M.K. BHADRAKUMAR

Posted on 10/27/2022 8:43:20 AM PDT by FarCenter

Something has got to change in Ukraine, for sure. The plea by 30 left-wing US lawmakers from President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party on Monday seeking a negotiated settlement with Russia to end the Ukraine war was an extraordinary event.

In the US Congress, they form part of a nearly 100-member block called the Congressional Progressive Caucus, chaired by Pramila Jayapal, a representative from Washington state. They are a motley crowd of democratic socialists and self-styled “progressive capitalists,” but what the party bosses cannot ignore is that they stand in the way of the Trumpist juggernaut, and their potential to defeat Trumpism may be crucial in 2024.

Therefore, the Biden administration’s low-key initial response to their plea on Ukraine cannot be taken as the last word. In the past few days at least, there has been no tirade against them in the US commentariat.

...

Several extraneous factors are also at work. For a start, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s planned visit to China comes so soon after the unveiling of the US National Security Strategy in Washington, which visualized China as the enemy. Europeans are dissenting.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on the US to take the lead to engage with the Kremlin, echoing what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been demanding. There is discontent in Europe, hit hard by the economic crisis, that the American oil companies are “war profiteering.”

Lurking below the radar is the hidden truth that Ukraine is a basket case with a non-functioning economy. The US cannot expect its European allies to keep that economy afloat.

Meanwhile, a massive military Russian buildup signals plans to launch a major offensive in a few weeks from now, aiming to end the war on Moscow’s terms.

However, dovetailing with all this is an unthinkable development casting shadows on the US-UK tandem navigating the Ukraine war, which may turn out to be the ultimate clincher.

What emerges is that UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace’s secretive visit last week to Washington was more in response to a summons from the White House than a British initiative. Wallace said in a dark tone as he was leaving that there were things to be discussed that were far too sensitive to reveal.

At any rate, after the flurry of phone calls on October 22 by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with his French, British and US counterparts regarding the possibility of Ukraine using a “dirty bomb” in the war, the foreign ministers of France, the US and the UK promptly issued a joint statement rejecting “Russia’s transparently false allegations” and called it “a pretext for escalation.”

Nonetheless, acting on the Russian allegation, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been told to undertake an investigation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Rafael Grossi, the agency’s director general, on Monday and “welcomed the IAEA’s readiness to visit Ukraine.”

Blinken also spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday and, strangely enough, “called for continued Western unity and support for Ukraine.” But, interestingly, the State Department quietly removed from its website the US-UK-France joint statement.

This was when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov disclosed on Monday: “Detailed information indicating the institutions that may be commissioned for this purpose was conveyed through the defense minister [Shoigu] during his contacts with his counterparts in the United States, Britain, France and Turkey. More contacts are planned between our defense ministries.”

...

It is no secret that Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Special Air Service (SAS) are in the driver’s seat in the Ukrainian military command in Kiev and on the front lines. The paradigm is something like the tail wagging the dog. MI6 calibrates the dynamics of the war while the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pentagon claim success for Biden’s Russia strategy.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mkbhadrakumar; putinlovertrollsonfr; putinsbuttboys; putinworshippers; zottherussiantrolls
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To: FarCenter

“Meanwhile, a massive military Russian buildup signals plans to launch a major offensive in a few weeks from now, aiming to end the war on Moscow’s terms.”

Russia is going to launch a WINTER offensive? That won’t end well.

Their February invasion made sense because they were going into the spring. But a winter offensive? The Russians already have logistical issues and now they want to run an offensive during a season when their army will need MORE supplies?

I already feel bad for all the young Russian men who are going to die.


21 posted on 10/27/2022 10:46:44 AM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: FarCenter

Biggest load of BS I’ve read in many days, this screed is...


22 posted on 10/27/2022 11:22:18 AM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperatly need him)
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To: Cathy; kiryandil; All

This is playing out as a real life global rulers determining the fate of nations movie.


23 posted on 10/27/2022 1:02:37 PM PDT by A strike (LGBFJRoberts)
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To: A strike

And we are piggy in the middle.


24 posted on 10/27/2022 1:03:09 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Cathi

Thanks for the info and the link! :)


25 posted on 10/27/2022 1:07:33 PM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: MeganC
I already feel bad for all the young Russian men who are going to die.

No young Ukrainian men or women have died.

At least not in the "news" here in the West...

26 posted on 10/27/2022 1:08:52 PM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: FarCenter

Haha - these idiots can’t even present cohesive propaganda:

I thought it was the US that secretly had all sorts of operatives on the ground and running the show in Ukraine... They got swapped out for the Brits? /s


27 posted on 10/27/2022 4:32:08 PM PDT by Paul R. (You know your pullets are dumb if they don't recognize a half Whopper as food!)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

Yes, we can blow up their satellites too, but can you imagine the impact on our world if GPS stops?

Can we? I seem to recall Cackles Harris say we weren’t going to have ASAT weapons.


28 posted on 10/27/2022 9:15:57 PM PDT by rxh4n1
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To: FarCenter

As long as there is any Russian Federation military within any of the territories of Ukraine (as the borders were 20 years ago; not counting those areas with the Russian Federation’s military as tenants 20 years ago) then its impossible for anyone (unless they are supporters of mass murder) to side with the Putin regime. This whole conflict in Ukraine is a terrible tragedy of immense human suffering. What is needed is to have a peacekeeping force sent in from neutral countries like Indonesia and Vietnam into the disupted territories to ensure that cease-fires get put in place, that they are strictly enforced, and so that all disputes can be settled through war of words, not violence.


29 posted on 10/27/2022 9:24:55 PM PDT by Degaston (odds)
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To: FarCenter
What emerges is that UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace’s secretive visit last week to Washington was more in response to a summons from the White House than a British initiative.

Somebody got caught with their dirty bomb down?

30 posted on 10/27/2022 9:32:45 PM PDT by McGruff (Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up - Barack Obama)
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