News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]

@Korvinus

US Presidents - with the CIA, NSA, FBI, DIA, etc advising them - find it necessary to maintain strategic arms reductions talks with the Russians...

If only they consulted instead with Korvinus - who could have saved them all that energy and effort.

Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 18 [611]


I reread my own message several times to try to understand what you were reacting to, but in the end I failed.

My point was simple - countries can be very ****** in the way they are run, and in the quality of life available to the citizens - but there will always be a sizeable cohort of "true believers" that are strongly ideological and if guided by an able hand will put up resistance.

-//-

Here - I will spell it out for total avoidance of doubt:

1) If the remaining Venezuelan leadership pivots to continued resistance (perhaps following some displays of solidarity by neighboring Leftist governments like Colombia and Brazil)

2) Continues to do so for ten days or so, or some weeks - enough time to embarrass Trump, basically.

3) And finally forces Trump to do what he doesn't want to do - and deploy US troops on the ground to effect a full occupation with a US administration

4) Thereby pulling America into another expensive and lengthy exercise of "nation building"

5) There is then a high likelihood that a powerful resistance movement will emerge of disenfranchised Chavistas and other people loyal to the former regime. As happened in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and practically everywhere where such a thing was attempted.

Ditto for Cuba - if you invade - and occupy them.


I'm realizing I may be wasting my time.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


You are on a roll today.

Didn't think that in addition to everything else, you also belong to the Church of the Witnesses of Rusty Russian Nukes.

Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 18 [611]


I wrote no such thing.

What I wrote is that most people are completely apolitical.

They don't care who rules them - Maduro or Rodriguez or Gonzalez - so long as services work, the economy hums along, and they can have confidence that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.

That is - these are "America's customers". They will cheer the end of the regime, and they will not think in categories of:

1) Our sovereignty was trampled and this is not good.

2) What does this mean for security in our region and the world at large.

...and so on, and so forth.

These are NORMAL people. Good people. I am not saying anything bad about them.

-//-

I think you missed my other point, that there are also people for whom bread, a roof over their head, and access to consumer goods doesn't mean nearly as much as ideas. And Latin America seems to produce a lot of such people.

-//-

This is just my conjecture of how things may further unfold there.

Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 18 [611]


In any given society you have the following breakdown - which I just made up completely while sitting on the toilet:

1) 80% of people who just want to be left alone and live their lives.

2) 20% that are ideologically active. They follow the news, get angry about world events, participate in protests and what not.

Now I agree that North Korea has a pretty rotten system, and that many people would jump at an opportunity to escape - but there's also then a cohort of "true believers" that would go down with the ship.

In Venezuela - this cohort of "true believers" - people that got their first housing from the Chavistas, people that first got a chance at a university education, or simply people that were given power by them - constitute about 25-30%. I have no doubt that if organized and properly led they would constitute a strong resistance on the ground.

In Cuba it is likely the same.

In Iraq it was the same.

Hell even in Poland and Russia it was the same - and in Russia they actually staged a revanche 30 years after being seemingly defeated.

-//-

Life is not some game of Monopoly. If you break something, then you will own it.

We want to own Ukraine - eyes wide open - knowing what a potential cancer we will import consisting of Ukrainian nationalists and all sorts of other people that can't stand Russia. Ukraine is simply too important for us, and we're willing to swallow these costs.

Are you willing to deal with the Chavista and Cuban remnants, just as you dealt with ex-Saddam functionaries and Sadr militias, or Shadow Taliban?

Do you expect these people to simply disappear overnight, or fly to Mars?

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


Interesting metric.

So then Pakistan has 20% of brown antisemites, and India another 15%, while China can claim only 93% of yellow antisemites... but not 95%.

Much to think about, much to think about...

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


Hahahaha!

I have a joke for you Barney:

A Russian and an American die simultaneously in different corners of the globe. Both being sinners, they are denied entry to Heaven, and are both sent to Hell.

In Hell, they end up standing next to each other in a queue. Finally the Devil receives them, and offers them two options - they can choose to go to the Russian Hell or the American Hell.

Russian: What's the difference - may we know?

Devil: In the Russian Hell everything is just as on Earth, with the small difference that every morning little demons will deliver to your apartment door two buckets of sh*t. You are obligated to finish consuming these two buckets by the end of each day - and this will continue for 10,000 years. In the American Hell, everything is exactly the same - except instead of 2 buckets of sh*t, you only have to consume a single bucket of sh*t per day.

After some thought, the Russian decides to choose the Russian Hell (to be closer to his own people), and the American decides to choose the American Hell.

10,000 years go by, and the Russian and the American bump into each other again in a queue in Purgatory.

Russian: So American... how was American Hell?

American: All in all it was ok, but I didn't enjoy eating a bucket of sh*t each day. What about you? How was Russian Hell?

Russian: Oh it was alright - they either forgot to deliver the sh*t, or there wasn't enough to go around.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


Your post gave me a good laugh.

Before she changed her name to Putina, Putin's mother carried the surname Shelomova.

Of course people argue that this is a Russification of "Son of Shlomo".

Yeltsin - many argue - was a Russified version of «Элцин» or even Elstein. Also, his daughter married a guy who is alleged to be Jewish, and his granddaughter married Oleg Deripaska - a Jewish oligarch. This is enough to convince people that Yeltsin was a Jew himself.

Going further back in history, people had a problem with Gorbachev's wife's name - Raisa. Sure enough, Raisa is a traditional Yiddish name, meaning "Rose". It didn't matter that all genealogical records indicated Ukrainian ethnicity - the name Raisa was sufficient for an indictment.

The collapse of the Soviet Union is blamed by many conservatives on the machinations of Gorbachev's Jewish wife.

And in this way you can go all the way back to Rurik to prove that every Russian leader was in the clutches of Jews.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Of course, of course...


Ahhh, was just about to list you another dozen ways in which America has recently interfered in EU and British affairs.

Not that that bothers me particularly - perhaps its deserved comeuppance for the Europeans that spent the last 500 years intervening in everyone else's business.

Very well - to be continued.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Hahahaha!

I thought travel and language acquisition was fatal to prejudice?!

Are you saying that it is the reverse? The more you learn, the less you are impressed?


Now you are arguing for the continuance of the US monopoly - and against any alternative schemes? Not very democratic, no?

People should have options in terms of how they move their money, and how they travel - I thought you might agree with that at least?

I find it shocking that you are willing to celebrate the trampling of European's rights as punishment for calling a spade a spade.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


They have sanctioned the judges of the ICJ for judging Netanyahu a war criminal.

A Canadian judge on the court arrived home and tried to use Alexa - but it was blocked. Her Mastercard and Visa credit cards don't work.

She can't shop online, can't use Uber, can't buy plane tickets, and can't book a hotel.

She sent her friends a small sum of money as a wedding gift - and that transfer has been indefinitely frozen. A relative was studying in the United States and her visa was revoked without explanation.

Here's her own words:

"The purpose is clear. They have said, basically, we're imposing these sanctions because of decisions you've taken in your role as a judge. So effectively, they are interfering directly with the independence of a judge," Prost said.

"I can't think of any other way to describe it but an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the International Criminal Court's independence as an institution, which is why I'm so interested in the public hearing this."

This is a Canadian judge, working for a court that the US doesn't even recognize - and this is happening to her.

Another judge now walks around with pockets full of change so he can buy his bus fares and train fares. He also tried to send money - for his son's tuition - and it was frozen.

-//-

Is that not intervention? Is that not pressure? Do you think you are somehow different from Russia, and that your world will be able to function if America starts to exert pressure?

Before it's too late, other countries - like the BRICS countries - need to create parallel infrastructure which will provide an alternative for those times when America decides you are "illegitimate".


I am in your part of the world these days.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Will you sing the same song when they come for you? It may be sooner than you think.

Yesterday - the wife of a top American official tweeted the below post. This is the wife of Stephen Miller, Trump's chief ideologue and deputy chief of staff.

It was concerning enough that the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland immediately issued a protest.

No matter.

When asked about it later that day aboard Air Force One, here is what Trump said:

"We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it," he said, quipping, "I can tell you to boost up security in Greenland, they added one more dog sled."

Trump added that "the European Union needs us to have it".

How's that, BB? I guess Denmark is ruled also by a bunch of tree-hugging, Leftist "illegitimates"?

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News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


In case you have not noticed, that America is long gone - and it's not returning any time soon.

Even when various Bushes and Trumps get voted out, the Obamas and Bidens that come to replace them still don't revert to some pink unicorn 1980s version of American foreign policy.

Obama created Libya, which is a festering sore on Europe's belly - and the main conduit for refugee flows which strain European budgets. In case you forgot.

They supported the Islamic State in Syria, against the legitimate and internationally recognized government of Bashar Al-Assad - wrecking the country in the process - and flooding Europe with millions of refugees.

They supported the Muslim Brotherhood against "illegitimate" Mubarak - nearly wrecking Egypt in the process. Egypt managed to extract itself out of trouble, through the arrival of a military junta.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Where does this trust into the righteousness of the US come from?

You trust them to decide by themselves - who is bad and who is good?

The same people that send their Vice President to a conference in Germany, where he attacks the current government as "orchestrating a national suicide" and agitates people to vote for the AfD?

You trust the country that twice lied to you in the last 20 years about the evidence which they used to legitimize wars? Where are Saddam's chemical weapons stockpiles? Where are Gaddaffi's nukes?

They are lying about the fentanyl - knowing full well it comes from Mexico and China. They are lying about their concern for the people of Venezuela, instead giggling like little boys about "tremendous oil wealth".

Why do you trust somebody who is proven to be a liar on numerous occasions?

Do you enjoy it when someone pisses in your face, and calls it morning dew?

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


Yep... pretty much. Law of the jungle.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


So you are saying, that all you need to bomb another country and kidnap their president - is to announce someone as "illegitimate" and get a grand jury indictment in Manhattan?

Does not that scare you?

No need to consult Congress? No need to convince the UN Security Council? Just the decision of a New York court?

This sounds acceptable to you?

What prevents China from declaring the leadership of Taiwan "illegitimate" and framing an attack on Taiwan as a mere judicial matter following a decision by a Beijing court? Unlike Venezuela, Taiwan has the added problem that most countries in the world do not recognize it as a sovereign state.

What prevents Russia from declaring whomever it doesn't like as "illegitimate" and working off the decisions of Moscow courts?

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


In fact Putin never uttered the words "Kiev in 3 days".

If you do a lot of Googling, you will see that these words belong to Lukashenko.

-//-

My opinion, is that Putin genuinely did not consider the possibility of abducting a foreign head of state and bringing him to Moscow for trial. America is opening some new frontiers here, and others are studying the experiment.

Putin has a curiously legalistic mindset. He likes for everything to be wrapped up and sealed nicely.

Furthermore, I think Putin calculated that killing Zelensky would backfire on Russia.

Just because America can do it, doesn't mean we are allowed to. The Europeans could have reacted even more strongly had Zelensky been killed - in this way, some appearances were preserved.

Also, making a martyr of Zelensky could backfire - better to allow him to fully hit rock bottom and let the Ukrainians grow fully disappointed with him.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Look - Pablo Escobar and Nicolas Maduro are not the same.

Escobar was a private person. This other fella, is a head of state - with all that implies.

-//-

At least, Bush sent Colin Powell to the UNSC with some yellow powder in a vial - as proof. At least, Condoleeza Rice cited some intelligence indicating chemical warfare capabilities.

It was all a total sham - in the end - but they at least tried to go through the motions.

This indictment that was unsealed two days ago against Maduro is a legal document that any first year law student would tear to shreds. It's full of circular reasoning, and logical holes.

-//-

In case you don't know how US law works - an indictment doesn't mean that there is "incontrovertible evidence" floating around somewhere that Maduro is a "narcoterrorist" (whatever that means).

It means that prosecutors showed something to a grand jury - and it found probable cause - that's all. No defense was present - just the prosecutors. A famous US judge once said that a "grand jury can indict a ham sandwich".

My feeling is that this case against Maduro will collapse in court, and the US will send him back to live in Moscow or Bogota.

I don't understand how they will prove that a HEAD OF STATE had:

1) Knowingly

2) Intentionally

3) Directed or led...

... a criminal enterprise that meets the statutory definition of "narcoterrorism".

It's practically impossible. This is probably why Maduro is walking around and cracking jokes to DEA officers.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


Where did it go? Lol.

If anything, Soviet commandos could not dream of the capabilities that modern Russian commando teams possess.

They have access to all the latest Western kit. Up until 2014, they regularly trained with elite Western equivalents.

Technology has advanced by an enormous amount since.

Russia may be poor and backwards - but it will always have the resources to maintain an elite detachment of 500-800 personnel. It could be millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars that are necessary for their annual maintenance - and this is of course an extravagant luxury for smaller states - but it's still fully feasible for Russia.

-//-

People in the West get confused by the Russian special forces hierarchy - and mix everyone together under one big umbrella of "SPETSNAZ".

The distance from some run of the mill Ministry of Defense Spetsnaz, and the truly elite SSO (Senezh) is like the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

There are tens of thousands of "Spetsnaz" operators in the Russian army, but only a few hundred personnel that can be compared to Delta or SEAL TEAM 6.

If you are curious you can read about them here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Forces_(Russia)

Only 4 of them died during the entire Syrian operation. In Ukraine, allegedly 29 have been killed.

This is completely different from regular Spetsnaz.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]

When Russia wants to, it can run Delta-style operations.

The invasion of Afghanistan began with a storming of Hafizullah Amin's palace in Kabul, by the KGB's "Alpha" and "Zenit" detachments (rough equivalent of Delta Force and SEAL Team 6).

They defeated 2,200 armed defenders of the palace, and killed Amin - all for a loss of 14 KIA, and 26 wounded. See the screenshot below.

In 1996, Russia killed the leader of separatist Chechnya with an air launched cruise missile that homed in on the signal of Mr. Dudayev's Inmarsat satellite telephone.

There are other examples. Like when Soviet commandos kidnapped the relatives of Hizbollah's leader following the murder of a Soviet diplomat in Beirut. Severed body parts of the relatives were sent to Hizbollah leadership as proof. The remaining Soviet diplomats were immediately released.

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Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


Naftali Bennet was discussing the possible killing of Zelensky - not an abduction.

If you doubt Russia's ability to kill Zelensky - then I don't know what to say... I think it's obvious that it can.

Russia daily targets Ukraine with ballistic missiles, which Ukraine is not capable of intercepting.

Ukraine is rife with Russian agents, as Russia had thirty years to plant its people within every sector of the Ukrainian government. Gaining an understanding of Zelensky's movement would be supremely easy for Russia to achieve.

-//-

If we are talking about an abduction of Zelensky - that's different.

I don't think Russia's special forces are especially incompetent in comparison to American ones, but rather we lack the other enablers America possesses. For example, America seems to possess some eye watering capabilities at shutting down electrical grids. Russia does not have this ability. America is capable of shutting down communication networks at will - Russia also doesn't seem to have this ability - cell phones and internet continued to work in Kiev on the morning of the assault.

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Wow Milo! Your neurons are beginning to activate, and make connections!

Now take it one step further - and show how Venezuela "threatened" America. Please?

Did it threaten America simply through being poor and bleeding millions of people - thousands of which ended up as illegal immigrants in the USA? In this case - why was Mexico not attacked - because we know it contributes much more to illegal migration?

Did it threaten America through smuggling fentanyl into the country? Has anyone demonstrated proof that any fentanyl came from Venezuela? So far we have seen proof only of marijuana and cocaine shipments. In this instance, we can again ask - why not Mexico - which is proven to be the major conduit for fentanyl flows?

Did Venezuela threaten America by applying to join a hostile alliance - such as Russia's ODKB? Currently, we can only state that Venezuela attempted to be friendly with countries like Russia, Iran, and China - but otherwise maintained its neutral status. It did not host any foreign bases. It did not ask Russia or China for ballistic missiles which could threaten American territory or ABM defense systems which could limit the efficacy of America's missile arsenal.

It seems that the primary crime Venezuela had committed was having the world's largest oil reserves.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


This has been addressed numerous times in the press. I believe it was the Prime Minister of Israel that spilled the beans on what exactly was agreed.

Bottom line, Putin promised Biden (via the Israelis) that he would not kill Zelensky. Several hours later, Zelensky emerged from hiding and gave his famous "I don't need a ride, I need ammunition" speech.

Here, I found the quote:

He gave me two great concessions," Bennett said of his March 5, 2022, meeting with Putin, when he flew to Moscow in an effort to mediate shortly after Russia began its invasion.

"I knew Zelensky was under threat, in a bunker... I said to [Putin], 'Do you intend to kill Zelensky?' He said, 'I won't kill Zelensky,'" Bennett recalled in the interview, which was published on his own YouTube channel.

"I need to understand. Are you giving me your word that you won't kill Zelensky?" Bennett said he asked Putin.

Bennett said the Russian president repeated: "I won't kill Zelensky."

Bennett said he called the Ukrainian president immediately after the three-hour encounter with Putin, and told him, "I've just come out of a meeting - [Putin] is not going to kill you."

"[Zelensky] asked me, 'Are you sure?' I said 100 percent. [Putin's] not going to kill you."

Bennett recalled: "Two hours later, Zelensky went to his office, and did a selfie in the office, [in which the Ukrainian president said,] 'I'm not afraid.'"

Source: timesofisrael.com/bennett-putin-assured-me-at-moscow-meeting-he-wouldnt-kill-zelensky/

News / Will Poland help defend Greenland against US Imperialism [664]


Forget about Venezuela - will they at least stand up for Denmark - their own member state?

I just read Trump's statements on Greenland that you are referring to - so now I'm curious what Kaja Kallas and team will say.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


Again - why? Why do this?

Russians are pretty paranoid and conspiratorial in their thinking by nature - so you hear a lot of this inside the country as well... but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Just lying for lying's sake - with no practical dividend. Putin could be 80 - and what difference would it make to his power?

Another favorite thing for Russians to discuss is the alleged Jewish mothers or grandmas of its leaders. Every single Russian leader is alleged to be some crypto Jew - Putin included. It's believed by a big part of the population that you can't really be a leader of Russia unless you possess some measure of Jewish blood. Again - I don't understand why this would be necessary to conceal...

We have a country, which was openly led by Georgians (who spoke Russian with a thick accent), Germans (who didn't speak Russian at all), Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews (as in full Jews who were open about their Jewishness, not some secret Jews) - and yet the few Russians that did actually make it into power have to be playing at some secret game where they hide their Jewishness.

We already practically never have Russian leaders - but people will still believe that they are Jews - even when there is zero reason to think so.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]

@GefreiterKania

After Putin was done smirking and rolling his eyes during the press conference, his spokesman Peskov proceeded to dip Medvedev's face in sh*t a few more times.

Quote:

Commenting on Medvedev's statements, Peskov said that "in every country, members of the leadership may hold different views on current events. There are people in the US and European countries who are very hardline, so this is always the case."

Peskov stressed that what matters most is Putin's position: "In our country, foreign policy is defined by the head of state - President Putin."

Peskov was asked whether the Kremlin intended to advise Medvedev to tone down his statements on foreign policy.


It's hard not to feel sorry for him.

I still remember vividly his speech where he tried to sell us all on the idea that he had "always planned" to leave after a single term in order to allow his patron to return to power. The pain in his eyes and in his voice was palpable.

His presidency was also full of humiliations - like instances where ministers would tell him to go f*ck himself, while they would go and ask Prime Minister Putin what they should actually do.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


It got so out of hand, that Putin had to publicly scold him last year after Trump asked if America should take seriously Medvedev's threats of nuking the country.

That was quite awkward, and I'm sure resulted in some hurt feelings on Dmitry Anatolyevich's part.

He is only drinking so much because of his tragic life arc - used like a condom and then discarded into the rubbish bin.

For the person responsible to then scold him for his unparalleled patriotism just adds insult to injury.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 27 [1110]


Well that's what I was thinking - and this is certainly true.

That is - if Putin only does super carefully stage managed appearances - why does he then need a double for security purposes?

Further - Putin doesn't strike me as someone who does anything he doesn't want to do. It's hard to imagine him thinking in categories like: "those poor factory workers have been waiting for me - I cannot disappoint them! Send the double instead."

If Putin wanted to, he could sit at home all year without coming out - and literally nobody would say a thing or think any worse or better of him.

He does what he wants, when he wants.

The facial differences seem to be related to Botox. If he got the shot just recently - then he's all puffy. If it was a while ago, his face starts returning to normal.

I think it's very strange that he gets Botox injections, but then politicians are usually vain people.

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


No, I can't imagine this.

But we do have a certain gentleman named Medvedev - that used to occupy a high post - that likes to get properly liquored up in the dead of the night and then write long posts directed at "fascist pigs" and "globohomo scum".

Off-Topic / American Special Military Operation in Venezuela [339]


Hahaha!

Yes, that statement was a little out of line, but perhaps they could be forgiven... given the heinous things the Japanese did in China?


The world was dominated by China for many centuries - and nothing terrible happened - that's sort of my point...

However, I appreciate your point that this is a Communist country - with all that entails. Perhaps that does make this China different and more aggressive than all the Chinas before.