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Ukraine said its forces were advancing on several axes in their counteroffensive but were struggling to counter Russian air and artillery superiority hobbling its assaults in the east and south. Now into its second week, Ukraine’s ambitious attempt to take back Russian-occupied land is proving to be a hard slog against dense minefields and well-prepared defenses. After Ukraine’s first probing attacks yielded mixed results, its forces have mostly paused their advances in recent days as commanders take stock of the past two weeks and analyze ways to punch through Russian lines without taking huge losses. Russia has taken advantage of...

Nato needs to brace itself for the prospect of Ukraine’s counteroffensive failing to achieve major success. Indeed, so far, Kyiv has attained only limited gains. But those who expected a lightning breakthrough were always going to be disappointed. This is not German panzers against Polish horse cavalry, nor is it American shock and awe against demoralised Iraqi forces in antiquated tanks with no air cover.Instead, we are seeing something closer to an attritional style of warfare, with attacking forces battering against heavily fortified defences. Current operations are at the stage of reconnaissance-in-force along four separate axes of advance, with Ukrainian...

The current military operations conducted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are deemed necessary “due to the coercion by the Russian Federation and its Armed Forces,” said Yakubets.“Where we advance by one or one-and-a-half kilometers, those are indeed successes. However, when we progress by 100-300 meters, it essentially amounts to a standstill.”Yakubets said that covering a distance of 100 to 300 meters entails “crossing or overcoming half of the neutral zone,” which, according to him, extends from 300 to 500 meters in certain directions.“Strategically, I am deeply concerned about this issue because if we persist in advancing at the current pace,...

A Ukrainian 'traitor' appointed mayor by Russia has been 'blown up' and left with serious injuries, it has been claimed. Andriy Shevchyk has been hospitalised with injuries of "varying severity", reports suggest. The door to the entrance of the home of the self-proclaimed head of the people’s administration was struck in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar. The explosion took place this morning, with the major said to have been hurt. He was immediately rushed to hospital and remains under medical care. Adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko tweeted about the blast. He posted: "Traitor mayor...

The whole movie. For real.

Former CIA Director John Brennan Thursday on MSNBC accused President Donald Trump of playing to a “very debased” group of people. Discussing Trump’s comments on Roger Stone today at a prison graduation ceremony in Las Vegas, Brennan said, “He’s clearly giving every indication he wants to act like a mob boss. And he’s going to try to take care of him and his soldiers.” He continued, “It’s outrageous he would try to make any moral equivalency between someone like Roger Stone who the judge said has trampled the law and public servants like James Comey and others who really tried...

The hometown newspaper of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., criticized him for “doing the dirty work” to protect President Trump, after he wrote up a memo that allegedly outlines surveillance violations by the U.S. government. “What, pray tell, does Rep. Devin Nunes think he’s doing by waving around a secret memo attacking the FBI, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency?” the Fresno Bee wrote in an op-ed published Thursday. “He certainly isn’t representing his Central Valley constituents or Californians, who care much more about health care, jobs and, yes, protecting Dreamers than about the latest conspiracy theory.”

Republicans and third-party representatives filed a formal complaint Monday with the Colorado Secretary of State demanding the release of all election records after “partisan” election judges allegedly infringed on the ability of election watchers to monitor vote-counting. “Watchers’ effectiveness has been marginalized, and watchers’ rights to challenge voters and judges’ decisions have been infringed,” according to the complaint, which was obtained by The Daily Caller. The complaint involves all 2014 races in Colorado, including the U.S. Senate race won by Republican Cory Gardner, but the Senate and gubernatorial races in the state will not be swung at this point by...

Democrats make a lot of silly statements. The trick isn’t finding a pronouncement by a liberal politician which — in a way nearly unique to politics — simultaneously brings a grimace, a giggle, and a groan, but figuring out whether the speaker is an outright liar or just living in a liberal echo chamber reminiscent of Pauline Kael (or at least the political mythology surrounding her). Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is a reliable representative of the outright liar camp: No echo is loud enough to make her actually believe that Democratic candidates...

You probably missed the president’s admission that he did something terribly wrong. Just when we were beginning to think that, the sole purpose of Barry Hussein Soetoro’s existence was to correct all of Bush’s mistakes, America’s mistakes, the Constitution’s mistakes and the founding fathers’ mistakes the president revealed that he has made a mistake too. You who blindly support the president were probably too busy defending against Donald Trump’s legitimate questions about the president’s constitutional illegitimacy to notice so I’ll catch you up. (see story) President Barry Hussein Soetoro has admitted that while he was a Senator he was an...

To date, we've certainly seen the expected litany of reactions to the U.S. intervention in Libya. But there has also emerged a new category which displays such a blatantly stratospheric level of wanton hypocrisy that it strains the very term. Looking at the various brands of hypocrisy can tell us all we need to know about the different attitudes in America about military interventions in general and about the U.S. intervention in Libya specifically. The Odd Bedfellows When the United States intervenes militarily anywhere in the world, the sincerity of both the far left and far right is invariably on...

For all the accolades President Barack Obama has won for his call to end the blame game and restore civility, there is one audience he has failed to win over: the ones pointing the fingers. Partisans on the left and the right continued Friday to say it is right to call the other side to account. They said Mr. Obama’s speech in Tucson Wednesday night amounted to a ducking of tough choices, not a heroic embrace of ambiguity. <---- snip ----> “The call for toning down the ‘heated political rhetoric’ is a convenient scheme by the permanently intemperate and propaganda...

In one of life's delicious ironies, the President, who campaigned as the Great Uniter, is worsening the split between the right and left and losing support in the process. Ordinary Americans, typically apolitical, are choosing sides -- and more are choosing the side of freedom every day. Lovers of liberty should rejoice. Division gets a bum rap. Imagine for a minute if Mr. Obama were able to unite Americans behind his radical agenda. We wouldn't just have bank bailouts and auto industry takeovers and a pork-laden stimulus, but, in short order, we'd have Cap and Trade and healthcare reform, Obama-style....

"We couldn't have a better person at the table to represent our interests than Dennis Hollingsworth." You've heard that saying, "what a difference a day makes?" Well, what a difference a few months make. In talking with many of Senator Hollingsworth's GOP colleagues, it is very clear that his style of open, direct and inclusive leadership through this budget crisis has really solidified his position as leader. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dennis Hollingsworth for nearly two decades -- and in all of the time I have known him, Hollingsworth has exhibited the kinds of traits for which...

Here's a thought. Let's look at this question strictly from political calculus. Do you think Republicans would rather that Speaker Pelosi be removed or keep her job, weakened and with little or no credibility left. I personally would pick the latter, at least as far as political advantage goes. That is at the heart of the political civil war going on the Democratic party. About three weeks ago, I wrote about the political civil war going on in both parties. At the heart of the political civil in the Democratic party is the issue of what to do about potential...

As you know America is at war. But I’m not talking about the Iraq war no I’m talking about the war which many Americans think less important yet this war is much more insidiously devastating to America. This war has ripped the concept of truth right out of the soul of this nation and will be the death of this country if allowed to continue. This war is the war on credibility.

The Democrats finally have their issue. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned his seat in the House of Representatives Friday after news leaked that he had sexually harassed an underage male congressional page. Foley repeatedly e-mailed and instant messaged the page, revoltingly asking him to undress, to measure his genitals with a ruler, to list details regarding frequency and method of masturbation, and to tell Foley when he was aroused. "[I'd] love to slip [your shorts] off you … and [grab] the one-eyed snake," Foley messaged the teen. Why repeat these perverse details? To demonstrate that House Republicans were not simply...

Congress is unlikely to approve a bill giving President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program legal status and new restrictions before the November midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to one of the White House's top wartime priorities. House and Senate versions of the legislation differ too much to bridge the gap by week's end, when Congress recesses until after the Nov. 7 elections, according to two GOP leadership aides who demanded anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday that his chamber would bring up a bill by Rep. Heather Wilson...

Come to the National VFTT Boot Murtha Rally Sunday, Oct. 1st in Johnstown, PA Rally Location: Cambria County War Memorial Arena, 2 p.m. in downtown Johnstown, PA. Pre-Boot Murtha Rally Event: FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL MOTORCYCLE RIDE! Riders will gather after 10:00 AM at the Zepka Harley-Davidson showroom at 960 Eisenhower Blvd. in Johnstown for an 11:00 AM departure. David Beamer, Todd's dad, will be speaking prior to send-off. The ride to the memorial will be approximately 45 minutes, and a short reflection period will follow at the memorial. The group will then return to the War Memorial Arena, arriving not...

Democrats are outraged over President Bush's new series of national security speeches. There he goes again, politicizing the war. The Democratic leadership obviously believes the president should muzzle himself so close to the November elections because what is important for national security might also help Republicans, and that must be avoided at all costs. Democrats are furious over Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's speech to the American Legion this week, in which he compared today's appeasers to those of the World War II era and warned that we mustn't turn a blind eye to today's terrorists like many did to yesterday's Nazis....