Dear friends,I just took a short break from my life in “meatspace” to comment upon the great news of the day: Russia is introducing a full 12 months embargo on the import of beef, pork, fruits and vegetables, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and the Kingdom of Norway. Russia is also introducing an airspace ban against European and US
Daashing out of Iraq: Recent Military Maneuvers The timing of the Kurdish advance west in Daash held territory appears to be a well planned operation. Three events are significant. The first was that the advance and confrontation of the Kurds did not begin till the return of Former President Jalal Talibani. He is pragmatic and astute as opposed to Massoud Barzani who is Kurdish nationalistic and believed to be close
Quote of the Day, Castro on Israel: I think that a new and disgusting form of fascism is emerging with considerable force at this moment in human history 4th Aug: Red Crescent is reporting the detention of 100 Christian and Yazidi families by Daash at Tal Afar airport on Monday. The men were executed while the women and children were sent off to be sold as slaves. 4th Aug: Nuri
The Shrinking Cauldron – The Surrender of the 72nd Brigade The Southern Cauldron has entered the final stages of its existence; the agony of the units deprived of provisions has begun. The Surrender of the 72nd Brigade Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal Translated from Russian by Gleb Bazov Today, the remnants of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade fled into the territory of the Russian Federation. According to Russia Today: Four hundred and thirty
3rd Aug: Qassim Atta, spokesperson for the Iraqi Army states that the Iraqi government is willing to back local fighters from Mosul in their fight against Daash. He said that they should come within the fold of/assimilate into the regular armed forces. 3rd Aug: The Iraqi Army’s spokesperson, Qassim Atta, singles out two Television channels: Al Babiliya and Tagheer, as being sectarian. The Channels are owned by Saleh al-Mutlaq (Iraqi
IMPORTANT Nigerian Army alleges that explosives used by female suicide bombers in recent bomb attacks in Kano have been analysed and traced to a Chinese-run quarry in Yobe State of Northeast Nigeria that was overrun and seized by Boki Haram fighters last year. However, none of the recent bombings involving female suicide bombers have been claimed by any of the Boko Haram groups. Also sources in the Harakatul-Muhajiriin and its
First, a disclaimer: I am not a pilot nor an air traffic controller, and I never served with air defense units. I did spend some time with an airforce, but my role was one of electronic intercept analysis. So what follows are just the musings of an uninformed amateur. Caveat emptor.What I will try to do here is present a possible scenario which takes into account the basic facts established
El Murid SITREP, August 1, 2014 Defeating a Large Group of the Punitive Forces Could Start a Chain Reaction Original: El Murid LiveJournal Translated from Russian by Gleb Bazov Photograph: Viktor Drachev / AFP According to Russia Today (Experts: Kiev Military Operation is doomed to failure because of internal contradictions) “… Kiev is unable successfully to conduct the military operation in the east of the country, as it is not
Hostilities in Novorossiya – Briefings, August 1, 2014 Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal Translated from Russian by Gleb Bazov Map: Positions of the Factions near Shakhtersk The end of day on August 1, 2014 saw the Ukrainian army retreat in several areas of the front. Specifically, the Ukrainian military abandoned three border crossing checkpoings at Dolzhanskiy, Izvarino and Chervonopartizansk and retreated from Saur-Mogila, which it unsuccessfully attempted to occupy for several
1st Aug: UN figures for fatalities in Iraq in July: 1,737 Iraqis killed, 1,978 injured 1st Aug: The Iraqi Air force attacks gatherings of Daash/rebel fighters in Jurf Al Sakhar, North West of Musayib in Babil province south of Baghdad. The attacks result in 200 militants being killed. 1st Aug: Daash rebel attack Peshmerga positions to the north of Mosul. The attack was on an oil terminal and dam. The
Correction: The report regarding the resettlement of 10000 families by the government of Baghdad to four provinces of Central Iraq, dated 26th July, should in fact read 10000 individuals, not families. 25th July: Indian Sunni Cleric Salman Nadvi writes a letter to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia offering to raise an army of 500000 Sunni Muslim volunteers from India to help fight in Iraq (against Shia militias) and establish a
Dear friends,I have to admit with a great deal of embarrassment that I simply have not found the time to thank those of you who have sent donations to support this blog in person. I realize that this is rude, but my choice was stark: every minute spent on sending out personal thank you notes is one I did not spent working on this blog and maintaining contacts with the
Introduction I have been putting off writing about this topic for a very long while. In fact, I wrote several articles trying to explain the self-evident truism that the US/NATO/EU does not have a military option in the Ukrainian war. First, in an article entitled Remembering the Important Lessons of the Cold War I tried to explain that the reason the Cold War did not turn into a hot, shooting,
The Ignominious Conclusion of the Kiev Junta’s July Offensive, July 30, 2014 Original: IAC Cassad – M.V. Litvinovtranslated by Gleb Bazov The Conclusion of July Activity As could have been expected, the last weekend of July was marked by yet another offensive gamble by the Kiev regime. More precisely, there were, in fact, two such offensive gambles. At the same time, it must be noted that the second one,
by Pyotr AKOPOV translated by ‘A’ In the global conflict of Russia and the USA which consequence war in Ukraine turned out to be also, there is an important change which will affect all fronts where Russia resists to atlantist. Germany, some months resisting to pressure of the USA, conceded and agreed to enter economic sanctions. This step seriously will influence Putin’s tactics in the Ukrainian events. It is quite
Information from very reliable sources. These sources are in Novorossiya, Russian Federation, EU and Ukraine: 29.07.2014 in afternoon Ukraine time 4 SS-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missiles were fired by Ukraine Armed Forces. At least two were clearly aimed at Saur Moglia with the idea of the Ukes trapped in The Cauldron having a sudden escape route opened for them. Moments before launch Russian Federation units surged toward the border at
We are pleased to publish this first testimony of a francophone reader of vineyardsaker. Filo is of Yugoslavian origin. He emigrated to the West in the 70s, and tells us of his disillusionment on the Western model as well as that of an entire people. The French Saker Editors 1989, The year when the West did everything wrong, by Filo I was born, a long time ago, in a country
Dear friends, I am exhausted. Totally. Wiped out. And this has shown in the past couple of days when I failed to police comments which never should have made it to begin with. I hope to be able to address what I see as The Key Issue (all in caps!) by Thursday morning/early afternoon: will the US/NATO attempt to attack Russian and/or Novorussia and, if yes, how? But tomorrow I
