Free Republic

The war in Ukraine has dominated the past year. Other global crises of soaring energy and food costs are collateral damage from the conflict in Ukraine. The conflict is not simply a localized one in the center of Europe on Russia’s doorstep involving a reactionary anti-Russian regime in Kiev. The conflict represents a historic showdown between the United States and its allies in the NATO military alliance it leads, and Russia. The showdown has been a long time coming. It didn’t have to happen in this violent, atrocious way. Russia had long warned the United States and its NATO partners...

Ukraine is facing technical problems with western artillery amid war with Russia. According to New York Times, one-third of the howitzers sent to Ukraine have developed snags. A U.S. official said that a third of the 350 howitzers sent by the west to Ukraine are out of action. The New York Times reported that the United States Department of Defense is concerned over the development. The U.S. reportedly set up a repair facility in Poland to fix "faulty" weapons, the NYT reported. ...

According to Scott Ritter, the Ukrainians deliberately launched the Ukrainian S300 missiles into Poland. NATO knows it is a Ukrainian missile, and it was deliberately fired into Poland. But Zelensky might not know the truth. There are elements in the Ukrainian military who would do it unilaterally, Ritter believes. The Ukrainians want Patriot missiles and a no-fly zone since they are losing badly, especially under the barrage of missiles from Russia. They’re losing their energy systems. Zelensky and his military don’t seem to care if they start World War III.

A former NATO commander said that it was “highly unlikely and illogical” that Russia deliberately attacked Poland during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance in the wake of a reported missile impact.“If you’re Putin and you have decided to attack NATO, the odds of launching two random missiles into a field in Poland, that’s not how this is going to start,” retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, told MSNBC host Chris Jansing. “So if you had to bet right now, I think you’d bet these were errant missiles. They went astray. That will require a significant response...

The best Scott Ritter interview I've seen (being interviewed by Czechs from the Czech Republic.) Brutal historic truth about NATO leading up to today's disaster and how we got here. I consider Ritter to be a "Giant Among Pygmies." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VYZGuaqT5Y "If there was no NATO expansion, there would be no conflict in Ukraine."