Every passing day bring it share of utterly nonsensical news out of the rump-Ukraine aka “Banderastan”. Today is not exception, see for yourself this headlines from the BBC’s website:
Sure enough, for the zombified TV watchers this might sound like something meaningful. But is it? Let’s recall where the current Ukrainian military comes form by remembering what the Ukraine’s military was at the moment this Soviet Republic became independent.
I have long destroyed my old archives and I simply did not want to scout the Internet for hours to find out what the Ukraine had inherited from the USSR. I knew that the Ukies had inherited what was called the “2nd strategic echelon” which translates into “not the newest weapons systems, but a lot of them”. And today, I suddenly came across an interesting article in the Russian press which gave me exactly what I wanted: a description of what the armed forces of the independent Ukraine began with. As it turns out, the Ukraine had:
700,000 servicemen
14 motorized rifle divisions.
4 tank divisions
3 artillery divisions
8 artillery brigades
4 Spetsnaz brigades
2 airborne brigade
7 attack helicopters regiments
3 air armies (about 1100 combat aircraft)
1 independent Air Defense Army
Not bad eh?
Today there are all sorts of figures thrown around about how big the Ukrainian military is, anywhere from several tens of thousands to a few hundred. It really all depends on what you count and how you count. We should stay clear from this kind of bean count and simply state the Ukrainian military is both unwilling and/or unable to crush a rebellion composed only of a few hundred armed men backed by a few thousand unarmed civilians (I am talking about the folks actually manning barricades and occupying buildings, not about sympathizers). In other words, the pro-Russian insurgency in the eastern Ukraine could be defeated with just one battalion of airborne troops. And yet, the regime cannot even muster that much.
Why?
There are two reasons. The first one is that there is a stream of consistent and mutually corroborating reports on the Runet (Russian Internet) which says that the pro-Russian insurgents and the Ukrainian servicemen simply do not want to shoot at each other, even when given the order to do so. Furthermore, they appear to be in regular contact with each other and there is an informal understanding that neither side will fire at the other.
The other reason is, of course, 22 years of “democracy”. Keep in mind that only 9 years of democracy almost destroyed Russia which by 1998-9 was pretty close to a total collapse. Several factors contributed to avoid this outcome, first and foremost the nomination of Putin, but Russia came very, very close to simply disappearing as a unitary state. If democracy could do that to a giant like Russia in only 8-9 years, one can only imagine what it could do to a much smaller and weaker Ukraine over 22 years.
Keep in mind that if the military was simply neglected and abandoned, then the rest of the economy pro-actively pillaged by the oligarchs. Think Berezovsky, think Khodorkovsky, then multiply them by 10 or 20 and increase their period of malfeasance from 9 years to 22 years and it is outright amazing that there still is a little something left of the Ukrainian economy in 2014. True, most of that is located in the East and was kept on life support by Russian money. Still, I have to say that while I am most definitely not an admirer of the Soviet system, the fact that it took so long to truly obliterate the Ukraine is a testimony to the resilience and what I would call a “capital of momentum” left by the Soviet Union to its successor states. Even Russia survived the absolute horror of the 1990s only thanks to all the “momentum” it inherited from the USSR.
No wonder that so many people today are becoming nostalgic of the Soviet era – by a strange self-protection mechanism the human being remembers the good much better than the bad (anybody who has gone through bootcamp will attest to that). And it is undeniable that compared to the empty promises, and actual horrors, of democracy the Soviet system was much, much better.
What is clear now is that the Ukraine has eventually wasted all of what it had been given by the Soviet Union. There is no more momentum left. The Ukraine is at a full stop, and it is rapidly disintegrating.
So what about this idea of return to a conscript military?
It is, to put it mildly, of truly breathtaking stupidity. There is no other way of putting it.
First, and this might sound paradoxical, the Ukraine simply does not need a military at all, if only because it cannot afford one. In fact, a country is MUCH safer not having a military than having a useless one because the latter can always be used to justify an attack whereas a country without a military is extremely hard to attack, at least in political terms.
Then, it takes decades and huge sums of money to (re-)built a military. The Ukraine simply cannot afford that at all, so why bother?
Also, the military is not the correct tool to use to put down insurgents, not the Russian speakers in the East, not the Banderists in the West. That is a mission for Internal Troops which have a totally different training and equipment than the regular military. In other words, what the Ukraine needs first and foremost today are forces like the Berkut which the junta has destroyed.
Then consider the economy. How wise is it to pull out of the economy a large segment of young men precisely when they could be the most dynamic and productive? And for how long to do pull them out? It takes 4-6 months to train a solider. Then, a typical term of service would be no less than 6-12 months depending on your system. In other words, at the very least a young conscript would leave home and be pulled out of the market and the economy for a full year. Without a well-oiled system and legal framework this can be catastrophic.
Besides, what does a large, under-paid, under-fed, and under-trained force become? Slave labor for the generals. They can be used to make roads and build mansions, but as a combat force their value is zero.
Furthermore, what does a conscription look like in a country which is breaking apart? It looks like a free distribution of firearms.
Last but not least – Turchinov and Iatseniuk are kidding themselves: a bigger Ukrainian army by no means implies a less pro-Russian one. What is the point of creating a conscript army if all it does is increase the numbers of servicemen changing sides and helping the Russian-speakers? Did I mention that the biggest population centers are, of course, also in the East?
To put it bluntly: to propose to return to a conscript army for the Ukraine is nothing short of absolute and total lunacy. I can only wonder which crazies in the West gave Turchinov and Iatseniuk this crazy idea. McCain? Hillary? Kerry?
The good news is that this kind of lunacy shows that the leaders of the junta in power have completely lost any sense of reality and that every single measure they officially announce with great pomp and earnestness only makes their situation worse.
If this insanity continues at the same pace the end of Banderastan might be very near.
The Saker
Thanks again for putting yourself out here. Always insightful. Here’s another (seemingly aligned) perspective. http://openrevolt.info/2014/03/08/alexander-dugin-letter-to-the-american-people-on-ukraine/
This is a new post from Chris Floyd. It covers what Saker said about Russia in the 90’s.
French crash course for Ukros, compiled by Nussiminen and Christine Lagarde/IMF. Un, deux, trois:
Mes chers petits bêtas ukrainiens,
Ça me fait beaucoup plaisir de vous envoyer un message de Mme. Lagarde sur le sujet de votre dette et aussi celui de votre avenir national.
”Le FMI vous offre un emprunt dont les termes sont ouvertement intolérables pour l’économie, un peu comme le traité de Versailles en 1919 pour l’Allemagne. Quant à votre avenir national, il n’y en a pas. Vous serez complètement anéantis par notre régime d’austérité sanglant.”
My money is on McCain. Here’s why:
Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty
By TIM DICKINSON
October 16, 2008
At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation’s capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It’s the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.
McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in the building next door.
There’s a distance between the two men that belies their shared experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a “confession” to his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn’t survive the mistreatment. But Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded two Air Force Crosses, one of the service’s highest distinctions. McCain would later hail him as “one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met.”
On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.
“I’m going to the Middle East,” Dramesi says. “Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran.”
“Why are you going to the Middle East?” McCain asks, dismissively.
“It’s a place we’re probably going to have some problems,” Dramesi says.
“Why? Where are you going to, John?”
“Oh, I’m going to Rio.”
“What the hell are you going to Rio for?”
McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.
“I got a better chance of getting laid.”
Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. “McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man,” Dramesi says today. “But he’s still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in.”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/make-believe-maverick-20081016
I had pretty well concluded that if there were any trained eager excess number of Right Sector etc. men to fight in the east, they would already have been sent But at this point, it looks like most of these guys are in Kiev. Since they haven’t arrived in even modest numbers, they just aren’t there. Also – no soldiers from ANYWHERE in the country can be found that would shoot at civilians in the East, in a systematic organized way.
There have been horribly embarassing stories about government appeals to the public to donate money for soap for the soldiers.
So – what next? Oligarchs hire Blackwater? Country assets get sold off via the IMF? Oligarchs move out to Germany, Switzerland, Israel, or elsewhere?
As for “democracy” – there was a 1990’s Ukrainian language joke about what “democracy” stands for – de mozhna kraste” – neaning “where (one can) steal.”
Yep, the Russians were very very lucky to get PutinI heard of hopes and plans to shatter the Russian Federation back in the early 1990’s. Judging by the anger in the column by Zbig Brzezinski in the Washington Post,, US plans have been seriously derailed.
The US MIC is salivating at the prospect another tax-payer funded hardware (and a lot of training contracts for both uniformed services and mercenary outfits) give-away program. I have no doubt that the coup gov was urged by the US to do this.
Perhaps it has nothing to do with the actual army as such, and is merely a result of another “advise” received from over the ocean. Its sole purpose might be taking away a bulk of people capable to effectively resist the regime in Kiev, and subjecting them to mind control and brain washing under watchful eyes of advisors from the same source.
“Then consider the economy. How wise is it to pull out of the economy a large segment of young men precisely when they could be the most dynamic and productive?”
Nobody needs their work! Ukraine is the first somewhat european state that is becoming a failed state. Look at Libia and others and you see the same pattern. What we see in the Ukraine is that good old capitalism is not able to use its labour resources anymore. Capitalism has become too productive for its own sake.
Greece, Spain and others will/do offer cheap labour – nobody in the west needs Ukraine’s workforce. That is the bitter truth.
The regime in Kiev will continue to play muppet show because that is all that is left.
In this May of 2014 AD things will change big time.
2nd of May EU, UKR and RU will meet in Poland to talk about paying the gas bill. My best guess: For the time being no money to RU. Germany’s RWE will sell its stored gas and the EU will pay for it.
11th of May: many cities in the east will become: independent or part of RU or their own states or maybe vote for Captain Kirk for president.
25th of May: what is left of UKR will vote for … I really don’t care and it will not matter.
So at the end of May we will have total and complete chaos in the Ukraine:
1. Russia will stop selling gas to the UKR or maybe stop gas to the EU too
2. We now have the Ukraine, 5 new countries (nobody acknowledges), 4 independent cities and maybe Darth Vader as a major in one city
3. A new “president” in the Ukraine and only elected by the western part of the country. Neither Russia nor the new eastern former Ukrainian-based countries will recognize.
WOW!
Compared to that today’s pathetic draft was nothing!
I understand that the idea of a conscript army is a mad one, and I agree with the reasoning as to why that is.
The issue as I see it though is this:
When people do silly things they carry on doing silly things, they don’t stop.
So, now we are at a very ticklish juncture where people in Kyiv, possibly at the urging of their mentors, might just end up doing something really stupid that tempts the Russians into responding. A cycle of silliness ensuing leading to very unintended consequences.
Right now, no matter what one might think of the rights and wrongs of Crimea, meddling in the east, or even what the Russian government has been saying, the big takeaway thus far has been the discipline of Russians at all levels from the top, Putin, to the bottom, the infantry on the ground in and around Ukraine. Hugely impressive – but how long will that last if a ‘conscript’ army of Right Sector and other bored, disaffected get their hands on weapons and the sanction for a bit of violence?
Crazy Ivan says…
Yet another totally worthless post from The Saker.
What’s interesting is:
1. US wedge between Germany and Russia (Eurasian Economic Union) aka return of the US into Eastern Europe.
2. Naming Russia enemy of NATO.
3. Reviving NATO power
4. Transatlantic and Transpacific Unions (economic slavery to the US).
5. Ukraine: will “the little green men” emerge in the pro-Russian defensive positions without radio communication activity on the Russian side which made CIA and other US military intelligence fools for themselves?
6. Ukraine: why the Kiev thugs cry through every media bullhorn/outlet they will start military hostilities against civilians tomorrow morning? Did Hitler published in press in advance the blueprints of Barbarossa Plan?
7. Ukraine: how many death will make Russians to press the button “go ahead” for their armed forces?
According to https://twitter.com/spainbuca who is in direct contact with military command, the idea to recruit 18 year olds came from the “private military” advisers (the graystone or whatever people). They say the young ones are “good in the field of battle”. He comments that this idea to recruit young troops must have originated once they’ve realized the current troops are never going to fight against the pro-Russians because they feel part of them.
Saker. What is the best way to deal with the 1% who propagate war and destruction just in case a war brokeout. Should they be allowed to govern or should the public across the world turn around and dish half of the pill to them… is that even a possibility. And if yes, will it bring the war to a halt?
I thought it was time we started talking about this ghosts who control us now that we know how they operate, we can send them to the abyss if necessary… What is your take?
Mine is to start the conversation to prepare the public at least mentally. lol sorry for this question
Here is an excellent and up to date source of information on the activities on NATO
Stop NATO…Opposition to global militarism
Espina said
The military and the monetary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCb7YKqQUq4
Scotland
I think that the latest economic statistics from The Real Evil Empire of Eternal Exceptionalism may, in large part, explain the reckless aggression of the psychopaths at present. The date at which China surpasses the USA as the world’s largest economy (and without the gigantic incubus of the USA’s massive engine of self-destruction, the financial kleptocracy)grows closer every day. I’ve noticed that the local ruling Rightwing psychos are growing more frantic here in Oz. They constantly speak of China being in trouble (they have predicted that for forty years)because its growth is ‘only’ 7.4%, whereas growth in the REEEE of 0.1% (minus 1% without Obamacare’s contribution)is another sign of our Imperial Master’s ‘resilience’. And the current hard Right Federal regime has just had a hand-picked cabal of psychopaths present an economic blue-print to privatise the country and turn it into a fully-fledged neo-feudal Hell of inequality and privilege. Social solidarity zero, greedy, atomised, hyper-individualism, infinite. As if the last forty years of neo-liberal class warfare and stagnation, boom and bust and rising inequality was a very good thing, indeed, and we need more of it. This is where Putin is winning, I would say. The rulers of the West are now so plainly revealing themselves as evil, endlessly mendacious psychopaths who fear and hate all others (including one another-as they say, ‘If you want a friend on Wall Street, buy a dog’), that someone like Putin, merely by standing up to them makes himself attractive to the remaining fraction capable of independent thought. Which is why brainwashing sewers like the odious ‘The Guardian’ are screeching that RT must be banned, and the MSM is united in hysteria in denouncing the evil Putin. The plebs are waking up, and the Bosses are worried.
It’s truly amazing the difference between russian and ukrainian development in the last decade and a half. I was not aware of this shocking disparity until the present crisis. Vladimir “the Saviour” is certainly one of the best heritages the defunct USSR left Russia. Brilliant analysis (as always), Saker.
Greetings from Singapore:
Der Spiegel comes with a big headline today:
Senator McCain findet Merkels Führungsstil “peinlich”
Translation: Senator McCain finds Merkel’s leadership style embarassing.
This confirms my view (and rumours) that Germany is no longer following the U.S stategy, at least, it is acting as a brake on further sanction madness originated by the EU.
Germany cannot afford to stick to loosers (the warmonger’s club) and might as well see a compromise with Russia.
Re: a rebellion composed only of a few hundred armed men backed by a few thousand unarmed civilians (I am talking about the folks actually manning barricades and occupying buildings, not about sympathizers).
These numbers are not quite enough to liberate all of Novorossiya. Just about right for Donbass though.
This is what I wrote on the issue on March 24, 2014. I could call it the Order of Battle for the liberation of Novorossiya:
Peter Lavelle – No, Moscow will abide by international law and not interfere with Ukraine’s internal affairs. Russia will win and control Novorossiya, but it will not happen through military intervention, not now.
This is not a military conflict, so no Russian military action is needed. This is a non-violent conflict of the Gene Sharp variety. Violence will be used, but only non-lethal violence. This is the post-nuclear World War 4*, so the weapons will be fists, stones, and baseball bats.
What is needed:
• 100,000 protesters at demonstrations on city squares
• 10,000 unarmed self-defense activists to man roadblocks to isolate Novorossiya
• 1000 loyalist police to protect self-defense forces.
• 100 Ukrainian Spetsnaz to protect police
• 10 Ukrainian local leaders to organize resistance
• 1 Putin
• 1000 Russian Spetsnaz in reserve to support Ukrainian Spetsnaz
• 100,000 troop on standby near border to deter NATO invasion
• 100 tactical nuclear warheads for force protection
• 1000 ICBMs for deterrence
The fighting is left to the people. Each level in the pyramid only exist to give support to the lower level.
(* It is quite a coincidence, that Einstein predicted that World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. It may turn out to be true, but for very different reasons. Cold War was naturally WW III.)
Mr. Nora did a bit of a double-take when I read him this, then looked me in the eye and went “heh, heh, heh” — and I knew there was one, and only one, word on his mind. Fragging.
Ugh.
Otoh, Saker, your observations and predictions just keep coming true. Our idiots in charge keep trying to blame the whole thing on Putin but with the exception of the already-brainwashed, it just doesn’t stick. Meanwhile, I’m thinking more and more he’s just sitting back with his arms crossed and that quizzical look on his face, waiting. And truth be told, he may not have to lift a finger.
And here is another hysterical story. Or pathetic. Or both. Apparently Elon Musk, in the name of the greater glory (or profits) of Space X won a court order yesterday blocking the Air Force from buying a Russian-made rocket. Because sanctions, and as a result the Pentagon Can. Not. Find. a replacement and may “soon find it problematic to continue launching its military satellites.” You really can’t make this stuff up.
http://rt.com/news/156248-russian-rocket-engines-pentagon/
Dear saker- I agree with paul craig-there is no point of Russia thinking of anglosphere world anything but as permanent enemmy and deal with the situation if russia wants to survive.
===============================
quote “Washington Drives The World To War — Paul Craig Roberts
April 14, 2014
Quote “
The danger for Russia is that the Russian government will rely on diplomacy, international organizations, international cooperation, and on the common sense and self-interest of German politicians and politicians in other of Washington’s European puppet states.
For Russia this could be a fatal mistake. There is no good will in Washington, only mendacity. Russian delay provides Washington with time to build up forces on Russia’s borders and in the Black Sea and to demonize Russia with propaganda and whip up the US population into a war frenzy. The latter is already occurring.
In my opinion, Washington does not want the Ukraine matters settled in a diplomatic and reasonable way. It might be the case that Russia’s best move is immediately to occupy the Russian territories of Ukraine and re-absorb the territories into Russia from whence they came. This should be done before the US and its NATO puppets are prepared for war. It is more difficult for Washington to start a war when the objects of the war have already been lost. Russia will be demonized with endless propaganda from Washington whether or not Russia re-absorbs its traditional territories. If Russia allows these territories to be suppressed by Washington, the prestige and authority of the Russian government will collapse. Perhaps that is what Washington is counting on.
In my opinion, the Russian and Chinese governments have made serious strategic mistakes by remaining within the US dollar-based international payments system. The BRICS and any others with a brain should instantly desert the dollar system, which is a mechanism for US imperialism. The countries of the BRICS should immediately create their own separate payments system and their own exclusive communications/Internet system.
Russia and China have stupidly made these strategic mistakes,
By Paul Craig Roberts
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/04/14/washington-drives-world-war-paul-craig-roberts/
When and if Russia act-which she must in order to survive, then she must use a heavy strong fist with a speed of hurricane.
no half way measure .
enemy-that is anglosphere -must be destryed.
Since the Ukraine, borderland, was the very womb of “all the Russias” around AD988, I personally expect the whole region’s return to the resurrected federation or Commonwealth.
As China told Russia,
“Don’t Glasnost before Perestroika.”
On the Elon Musk story, here is a different, funny quote:
http://rt.com/usa/156240-spacex-musk-injunction-russia-rockets/
‘After being hit with sanctions, Rogozin announced over Twitter on Thursday that he had a new plan that could help get the US into space without relying on Russian companies any longer.“
“After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the US delivers its astronauts to the ISS [international space station] with a trampoline.” Rogozin wrote.‘
Crazy Ivan says…
@ Anon 01 May, 2014 23:48
Mr. Paul Craig Roberts knows very well the inner mechanisms of decision makings in the Washington.
That’s why reading His opinions is absolutely a MUST for everybody wanting to understand the West (the most evil part of the West).
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org
BTW. The title of my previous comment “Yet another totally worthless post from The Saker.” should be softened from the beginning – “Yet another worthless post from The Saker in the context of ongoing events in Ukraine.” I simply know the things he wrote, at least most of them.
Yet another totally worthless comment by another visitor from Langley
Anonymous 22:25,
I like your style; it seems familiar… And in some ways what you’ve written would rival Joseph Heller (Catch-22) or Jonathan Swift (A Modest Proposal). Only it’s actually funnier. And true. And sometimes it’s hard not to get demoralized just facing how truly hideously we treat people. All I know is I’m glad nobody I know is going to end up being a 2nd lieutenant over there, and I just wish to hell nobody else will ever have to either!
Petri Krohn,
There is an elegance to your formulation. But mostly, I so, so, so like the decrease in lethality!
Saker’s analysis about the reliability of a conscript army for the current Ukrainian regime reminds me of a story I heard many years ago (sorry no links, just something that a comintern veteran who was active in the 30s and 40s told me*).
This was from someone active in the Balkans. He encouraged all of his young cadre to join the military. They should pay attention to military tactics and weapons handling. The training will be invaluable. He also instructed them to be ready to desert and make sure they carry as much weapons and ammunition as they can. It also implied in all of this, they would know when to act — circumstances will arise such that they know will know when it is time to bolt. This instruction was said to be from Lenin and Trotsky’s experience in 1917.
Something like this must have happened in Yugoslavia in the 1930s. It is hard to imagine where that partisan army came from that tied up 300,000 German troops for the duration of WWII (and that managed to kill over 100,000 of them during that period).
I would not be surprised if that word of mouth tradition has not continued to the present among the Slav people.
*I asked this old timer if his story applied to me: he said, of course not, go to college and get a good education, which I did. We lived in the US at that time.
Theodore Svedberg,
One of the least pleasant aspects of our significantly lowered standards for entering the military under Dubya is precisely this phenomenon. Lots of unappetizingly racist/militia types who otherwise would not have passed muster deliberately signed up just for the training. Some people worried about it at the time, but not anyone whose opinion actually mattered.
Looks like the junta wasn’t lying when they said an operation was about to begin. Whether it was a Ukrainian or merc pilot, somebody got shot down if this video isn’t fake:
https://twitter.com/ISNJH/status/462057007969619968
I knew if the ‘GRU colonel’ in Slaviansk was worth his salt he’d have to anticipate that the junta would try to hit him with air assets or even a drone in a decapitation strike before moving armor into the city. We’re about to see how many casulties the Right Sector thugs dressed in Ukrainian Army uniforms or loyal units from Western Ukraine are willing to take.
Angela Merkel has smoothly built on Steinmeier’s efforts of earlier in the week. First with her Frankfurt speech on Wednesday and then the telephone call to Putin made at Merkel’s instance.
It is my understanding Merkel will be speaking with Obama today – I would love to be a fly on the wall (or NSA guy with the headphones) for that one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKoWP0TAIs&feature=youtu.be
Here is the CVA’s take. I found the video here:
https://www.facebook.com/ConcernedVetsforAmerica/posts/498082436980552?stream_ref=10
Published on Apr 2, 2014
This is no April fools joke. Political pressure from Angela Merkel, not Barack Obama, has gotten Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian borders. This is yet another demonstration of weak U.S. foreign policy under the current administration. Jessie Jane Duff joins Neil Cavuto to talk about the lack of true U.S. leadership abroad.
Jessie Jane Duff served 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps and retired a Gunnery Sergeant and is on the Organizing Committee for Concerned Veterans for America. Jessie provides political analysis on national issues.
Stay connected with the Concerned Veterans for America Newsletter HERE: http://bit.ly/QXtuct
http://www.ConcernedVeteransforAmeric…
http://www.Facebook.com/ConcernedVets…
http://www.Twitter.com/ConcernedVets
And this.
ARNO SCHUETZE
FRANKFURT – Reuters
Published Wednesday, Apr. 30 2014, 4:13 PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Apr. 30 2014, 4:17 PM EDT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday ruled out military intervention in the dispute with Russia over Ukraine and said she was counting on a diplomatic resolution to Europe’s worst crisis since the Cold War ended.
In a speech to about 1,200 people in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, ahead of the European parliamentary elections next month, Merkel said the lessons of two world wars in the last century could not be forgotten.
Would we have learned anything 100 years after the start of World War One and 75 years after the start of World War Two if we resorted to the same methods? No, said Merkel, whose country has a deeply pacifist streak after those wars.
I’ll continue working towards a good partnership with Russia, said Merkel.
We will not resolve our conflicts in Europe with military means. Military solutions can be excluded, she added to loud applause.
Germany, which relies heavily on Russia for natural-gas supplies, has been trying to defuse tensions over Ukraine and is seen in the West as reluctant to ratchet up sanctions against Moscow.
An opinion poll for ARD television on Wednesday evening showed that 72 per cent of Germans are worried about the return of a cold war between Russia and the West while only 18 percent are in favour of military support for Ukraine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/30/us-ukraine-crisis-merkel-idUSBREA3T10Q20140430
Brian
Well, RT is reporting it too, with the same video.
“The Ukrainian army has reportedly begun a special operation against pro-autonomy activists in the eastern town of Slavyansk early Friday morning, as air raid sirens went off and gunfire was heard.
“Slovyank self-defense forces told RIA Novosti that the Ukrainian military has attacked several positions.
“The attack is targeting a few roadblocks at the same time. A few armored vehicles and airborne combat vehicles arrived and airborne troops descended from the helicopters and attacked the roadblocks. Some forces were dropped off around the train station, where we didn’t have anyone,” RIA Novosti quoted the press secretary of the Slavyansk self-defense units as saying.
Early Friday morning, a city siren – which is designed to warn local residents of a Ukrainian military attack – went off and shots were heard. A few minutes later, the siren stopped and everything calmed down, according to reports.
“For now everything is calm in the city center. There are no reports of injuries yet,” the spokesperson said.
Thick smoke was spotted on the outskirts of the city, where the roadblocks are located.
There are unconfirmed reports that a Ukrainian military helicopter has been shot down.”
Russian language chatroom LIVE feed with people calling in via landlines from Slovyiansk is available here…English speakers can sort of follow the chat via Google translate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c76RtJ485U
All of this concerns the development of human consciousness from the time of our nomadic forbearers who possessed thought patterns we’d consider to be schizophrenic today. As small human groupings settled down and grew larger, they develped technology, making evermore sophisticated tools, first physical then abstract, through war, conquest and trade. I am describing a ten thousand+ year struggle between our own natural spiritual wisdom and those who would conquer and direct it up to the present day.
When I refer to Zizek as a neo-Kharazarian I am (too cynically) describing the forward march of masculine ideals. These thought patterns are embodied in their purest form as what we generally think of as Jewish thought today. The Jewish people are the primary carriers of this legacy in the modern world. The German Ideology (Marx and Engles) is actually the Jewish ideology expressed in a German context. This work and thousands more like it are examples of what happens when a conquering masculine ideal comes into contact with and imposes itself upon a less defined (but much more expansive), underlying feminine reality.
Let’s put this in a modern context. Mother Russia endures the advances of Western civilization and suffers for it terribly. It also benefits as natural wealth is exploited and turned into physical prosperity. Putin, I believe, sees the pattern of excessively masculine (Jewish) consciousness as both beneficial (leading to material progress) but also destructive until it is balanced against the wisdom of more expansive feminine consciousness — as embodied by Orthodox Russian civilization.
Below is a link to a video showing Zizek’s arrival at Occupy and the absurd antics that ensued. Occupy was a highly organized and tightly controled effort to direct the anger of a generation that had been raped by Wall Street gangsters. Huffpost always reeks of the propaganda and tactics used by the puppet masters to control and direct the frustrated masses.
Slavoj Zizek Joins Occupy Wall Street
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/slavoj-zizek-occupy-wall-street_n_1003566.html
@Saker
Sorry, last posting was under the wrong blog entry.
The junta attacked Slavyansk 3 hrs ago.
Still they haven’t entered the city in a mass. They are at the railway station which is not defended by the self-defence guys, and they have captured the TV tower and, maybe, TV transmission centre.
One of the Ukie’s copter shot down, another one damaged, with the pilot captured. Downing of the third copter not confirmed yet.
Several of the city defenders wounded.
About 20 copters have been in the air, firing non-guided missiles. After the 2/3 copters shot down, the sky is clear.
God help the defenders.
shed
@ Anonymous,
Q: …will “the little green men” …
R: Actually, they’re gray, so they blend better in with the masses…
Interesting feed on Twitter @PaulaSlier_RT in Slavyansk.
@ Brian J.
Q: I would love to be a fly on the wall…
R: SPLASH!
“Taken care of the vermin, boss.”
FYI: Pro-Russian rebels say Ukraine tries to retake town
This conscription deal is weird. As “Mr. Nora” remarked about “fragging”, that points out how conscription undermined the U.S. military in Vietnam to a huge extent, and is why the USA has been afraid to reinstitute the practice for their more recent war crime extravaganzas. Even though they have a problem falling enlistment. Conscription in the Ukraine now is bound to create much more of the same problems the banderivtsy have already had with trying to get Ukrainians to assault Ukrainians. That should be obvious.
So why would the zionazis have their bandera bum bandits do this? Are they that stupid they don’t see the likely outcome? Neocons, who seem to be handling the tactics for Israel-America in the Ukraine, are noted for being rather goose-stepping dim.
Or is there some other reasoning going on in their beady little zionazi minds? My own guess is the zionazi-nazistan simply wants chaos in the Ukraine, and is not overly concerned how that is achieved or what is done there, as long as it creates division and strife so as to draw Russia in and distract them and demonise them.
Crazy Ivan says…
I only hope Mrs Merkel did not promise Mr. Putin 200 mld $ of new German investments if he agrees not to move Russian forces to defend East Ukraine.
The suggestion is obvious – money makes the world go round…
All birds chirp it was the US and Germany which conjured up the “revolt” in Ukraine.
I do not understand Mr. Putin now….
Neo Nazi’s march in Lviv: http://rt.com/news/155364-ukraine-nazi-division-march/
Real bastards, those Ukies!!!
The self-defence guys,who have shot down one of copters, are bewildered: another Ukie’s copter landed near the wounded pilot of the injured copter, the crew has taken the gun from the wounded man, and … flew away without him.
Guys from Slavyansk have taken him to the hospital in the city.
Animals!
The picture of the pilot and his saviors (he could have died if abondoned, due to loss of blood):
http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/1569352.html#comments
shed
Mulga Mumblebrain said…01 May, 2014 23:15
“Which is why brainwashing sewers like the odious ‘The Guardian’ are screeching that RT must be banned, and the MSM is united in hysteria in denouncing the evil Putin. The plebs are waking up, and the Bosses are worried.”
It’s the role the Jewish owned/run western media is playing makes it very obvious that zionazi, inc. is very much behind all this rubbish. The Ukraine is the opening salvo against Russia by these things. It’s also why the Russians are no longer planning to go along with the zionazi dollar/euro dominance in the economic sphere and are now openly working to dismantle it. That is a direct attack on the Jewish zionist financial mafia, and they are apoplectic, behind the scenes, about it.
As for RT, lately they have been more critical than usual about Israeli war criminality. The Guardian is a Jewish-supremacist rag, owned and run by fanatical zionist Jews. Preventing people from seeing what is published by RT silences a counter to the Guardian’s zionazi propaganda about the Ukraine and Russia and it also silences their exposure of Israeli war criminality. The latter, in Guardian Jewish zionazi eyes is the key sin against the polygarchy.
Ukrainian troops begin special operation in Slavyansk – reports
http://rt.com/news/156292-slavyansk-army-special-operation/
“…A third helicopter has been shot down by self-defense forces, according to reports. Earlier, two helicopters were reportedly shot down, with one pilot dead and another one captured, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The Slavyansk self-defense leader also said that helicopters are shooting down at the city with missiles, but that there have been no reports of damage, Interfax reported.
Slavyansk self-defense forces told RIA Novosti that the Ukrainian military has attacked several positions.
“The attack is targeting a few checkpoints at the same time. A few armored vehicles and airborne combat vehicles arrived and airborne troops descended from the helicopters and attacked the checkpoints. Some forces were dropped off around the train station, where we didn’t have anyone,” RIA Novosti quoted the press secretary of the Slavyansk self-defense units as saying…”
NATO’s second-in-command says Russia is now an enemy, not a partner
http://rt.com/usa/156204-nato-vershbow-russia-adversary/
The subhuman zionazis make another threat.
It’s what’s to be expected when you have high school dropouts illegally taking charged of the country. Stupid begets stupid. If it’s conscription just to provide muscular support to a bunch of illegitimate mentally-challenged neantherdal thugs in charge, I think, if I were a Ukrainian, I would be tempted to say “Thank you very much but pass”. I would apt to run to join a national rebellion/revolution against the Kiev terrorist regime if such a leader were to be found asking patriotic Ukrainians to rise up and overthrow those Kiev gangsters/Washington stooges.
From RT’s “Ukrainian Timeline”
http://rt.com/news/eastern-ukraine-army-operation-680/
“Friday, May 2
05:39 GMT: A leader of the self-defense forces in Slavyansk, known as Balu, has confirmed to RT’s video news agency, Ruptly, that two helicopters were downed by protesters. He would not, however, confirm any casualties.
“The Right Sector, the troops and god knows who else are trying to get to the center of the city,” he said. “We are going to hold back the enemy. That’s it. No fighting so far.”
05:12 GMT: PaulaSlier_RT @PaulaSlier_RT
Reports emerge that one pro-federalization activist was killed and one injured.
05:07 GMT: There’s a temporary ceasefire in Slavyansk, according to self-defense forces, cited by Interfax.
05:02 GMT:
Slavyansk is completely surrounded by Ukrainian troops, the leader of the self-defense forces, Igor Strelkov, said at a briefing, according to RIA Novosti.
“We estimate there are around 20 helicopters hovering above the city,” he added.
04:50 GMT: PaulaSlier_RT @PaulaSlier_RT
Follow
Shooting is heard in the area of the central train station.
04:48 GMT: Three Ukrainian army armored personnel vehicles (APCs) have been damaged by self-defense forces in Slavyansk, a representative of the local administration told RIA Novosti. He added that one of the pilots of the two downed helicopters was dead and another taken hostage.
The Ukrainian army has meanwhile been setting up artillery positions around the city’s TV tower, which government troops had earlier taken control of.
Local authorities in Slavyansk say the troops have taken over one the checkpoints around the city.”
This is comical, How can you guys on here keep pretending as though the nascent and frail Ukrainian government, the real victims, are a threat to their oppressively patronizing and suffocating giant of a neighbor Russia. No matter how many times RT’s propaganda about this phantom threat fails to materialize, you still quote them and pretend to panic every time they cry wolf. Folks on here keep pointing out how weak Ukraine is militarily, then simultaneously claim these same defenseless weaklings are about to murder Russians en masse. There has yet to be 10 Russians gunned down anywhere in Ukraine in all these faux attacks/ pogroms. So calm down, get some popcorn and enjoy your hero Putin lovingly rape another defenseless neighbor, the victim act is getting too transparent and stale
What neighbours has Putin taped ‘grunt’? And why not use your own name? You heard of this site and have come here to sow lies and discord :
Fighting in Slavyansk started at 04:30 local time. As of now, 10:40 local time, 4 Ukrainian choppers have been shot down and one wounded pilot captured.
Arty as being set up on the outskirts of Slavyansk and ‘tanks’ are on the move towards the city. ‘Tanks’ could mean anything from BTR’s to BMP’s to actual tanks.
Preliminary reports are one dead and one wounded among the defenders.
German Businesses Urge Halt on Sanctions Against Russia
Vocal Opposition Has Helped Keep Merkel From Endorsing Broader Penalties on Moscow
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303948104579535983960826054?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303948104579535983960826054.html
Interesting, no?
If it is true. But it might be.
The first dead and injured
Greetings from Singapore:
I am watching rt.com, on tv, here in Singapore and I am disgusted and horrified to see ‘private armies’ attacking Slavyansk. People are being killed right now, to have Ukraine at the mercy of corporations, to do a repeat of what they did to Russia under Yeltsin. The usual predatory strategy to buy cheap and control afterwards everything, while the country itself goes from one debt re-schedule, to another one. How blind is the world? Have we reached the stage where the world becomes emotionally autistic? Irak was ‘freed’ and is now shambles. Lybia was ‘freed’ and is shambles. Afghanistan was ‘freed’ and is shambles too but produces record opium output to oil the financial world (which was not the case when the Taliban was in charge), Syria is being ‘freed’ too with not much success presently. How can anybody, seriously, trust a single word from an American politician. How can anybody side with the U.S. anyway, without having sleepless nights? Is it so simple? They call the ‘insurgents’ terrorists and they have ‘carte blanche’ to kill them? This seems to be a ‘code word’ or a magic ‘mantra’ to remove any human rights left and butcher people without any legal consequences. To me, and perhaps to others, people fighting now in Slavyansk against the stooges of Kiev are heroes, absolute heroes. Every single soldier of the Russian army, the many millions, which died fighting Nazi Germany were heroes and so are this brave men which are now fighting (out-numbered) in Slavyansk and any other part of Ukraine holding the St George ribbon.
Glory to this brave fighters and let’s pray for them!
@Anonymous #2, I agree very much with that post by Chris Floyd. I remember that election; I was there for a year and a half in a little town near Moscow.
And I even agree with his words about how Putinist Russia is in many ways an ugly mirror image of the US. I know Saker is an admirer of Putin, but what I see is how the support taps for humanist culture (which flourished among artists in the late Soviet era, and continued a tenuous existence in Russia afterwards) have been turning off one-by-one, while new support is going into culture that is more and more American at heart, while being shallowly Russian on the surface. And I think it’s hardly an accident that Putin has a lot of admirers among Tea Party Republicans.
At least many villages and towns in Putin’s Russia look a lot nicer than they used to, though. Clean, fresh coats of paint.
Did it have to be this way, though? Could “democracy” in Russia have turned out any different? There’s a well-known Russian saying: “What is good for an American is death for a Russian”. Lately I’ve been wondering just how much truth is in it.
Not sure what your game is : but an attack on Putin. At this time does not put u in a good light . Being anonymous also does not aid your cause. Without Putin there’d be no russia , no Syria no Iran etc . On the other hand a world without anonymous commentators is much to be desired
I’d bet conscription’s just a trick to issue weapons contracts with US oligarchs. IMF just lent 17 billions to the junta and I’d bet this is just more of the usual money merry-go-round trick; tax funds go to IMF, IMF lends them to Ukraine, Ukraine uses them to buy weapons from US manufacturers, tax funds go to US capitalists’ pockets. Minus, of course, a wad of cash or two accidentally forgotten in Turchinov and “Yats”‘s bag.
South Front – Events in Slavyansk (FOTO) http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/05/02/south-front-events-in-slavyansk-foto.html
People are building barricades on street corners inside Slavyansk. The number of downed helicopters is reported as three by now.
A wounded pilot of one of them was a spectacular case. When another (rescue) helicopter landed at the crash site, all they rescued was his weapon. They just left the guy to die and flew away.
What this tells IMHO, is the following: The Kiev Junta knows it cannot defeat the East militarily. So they are doing their best to scare other regions, by showing there will be blood, including civilian, if they dare to oppose.
They are also earning their money – this requirement for escalation was likely tied to releasing the first $1B today. Seemes Avakov refused to go along, so a little coup d’etat was carried out, giving Nalivaichenko, the known CIA asset, control over punitive actions in the east. More loonies at the steering wheel in Kiev…
People are building barricades on street corners inside Slavyansk. The number of downed helicopters is reported as three by now.
A wounded pilot of one of them was a spectacular case. When another (rescue) helicopter landed at the crash site, all they rescued was his weapon. They just left the guy to die and flew away.
What this tells IMHO, is the following: The Kiev Junta knows it cannot defeat the East militarily. So they are doing their best to scare other regions, by showing there will be blood, including civilian, if they dare to oppose.
They are also earning their money – this requirement for escalation was likely tied to releasing the first $1B today. Seemes Avakov refused to go along, so a little coup d’etat was carried out, giving Nalivaichenko, the known CIA asset, control over punitive actions in the east. More loonies at the steering wheel in Kiev…
@ Grunt,
Q: the victim act is getting too transparent and stale
R: Unless you survived a camp, of course…
Crazy Ivan says…
1. Mr. Putin waits the results talks between Mrs Merkel and Mr. Oabama. Be assured!
2. How easy is to shot down Mi-24! Apache-64 may go to scrap yard instead to the real war with strong enemy. They are good flying over potato fields in Iraq or Kuwait only.
3. Ukies are real scared attacking pro-Russian “forces”. They do not know Russian reactions.
What bothers me is that Mr. Putin waits and Ukies were given two days by Kiev authorities to suppress
Sloviansk defenders.
E said 02 May, 2014 07:36
To me it is irrelevant just exactly who Putin is or what his vision for Russia might be. My support for Putin is pretty simple — he seems to be the legitimate leader of the Russian people as witnessed by the incredible level of support for him. He is deeply hated by the pro-western imperialism press so that is something positive from my perspective. And he happens to standing up to the US in defense of legitimate Russian national interests.
The fact that he has lost the support of bourgeois leftist in the West who value art and high culture is too bad but it is a minor problem given his other attributes.
E said 02 May, 2014 07:36
To me it is irrelevant just exactly who Putin is or what his vision for Russia might be. My support for Putin is pretty simple — he seems to be the legitimate leader of the Russian people as witnessed by the incredible level of support for him. He is deeply hated by the pro-western imperialism press so that is something positive from my perspective. And he happens to standing up to the US in defense of legitimate Russian national interests.
The fact that he has lost the support of bourgeois leftist in the West who value art and high culture is too bad but it is a minor problem given his other attributes.
These are IMF conditions. It was announced in the last day or so I think that if Ukraine breaks up the $17 billion loan won’t go through.
Also from Moon of Alabama comments there seem to be foreigners in the attackers. A Pole has been killed, locals report hearing English-speaking soldiers, unconfirmed. Right Sector fighters may have entered the town in civilian clothes. Igor Strelkov says Sloviansk is completely blockaded, from LifeNews latest.
Live streaming news in Russian here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/newsfront2
Summary made from recent tweets of https://twitter.com/spainbuca April 02 at 10 UST
Conversations between Russian and Ukrainian ministers of defense agree that Russian envoys will travel to the east to try to mediate in the situation. The assault on Sloviansk is being directed by the minister of the interior who follows orders from Timoshenko. Minister of defense is vehemently against all this. Minister of interior has gone as far as making threats against minister of defense and even PM. Members of some units have asked to surrender. The presence of foreign mercenaries among the attacking forces has been repeatedly confirmed. More than half of the attacking troops are not military, but either police, voluntary soldiers or mercenaries. Military cadets are asking to be pulled out of these units, they don’t want to be under the command of extremists. Others have asked to be allowed to surrender.
https://twitter.com/spainbuca
Strong argument among military command. They want to intervene by attacking the attacking units.
Two fighter planes take off, they are armed.
the anonymous trolls are beginning to take an interest in this site, and do what they can to harrass it, or whatever they are up to….the anonymouse troll with his Putin as rapist…..didnt his mother tell him not to lie?
this must warm the hearts of the american anon trolls
the regime is getting nasty
Retweeted by Steiner
idaltae @idaltae 12m
Civilian got rolled over by UA APC. Both legs broken pic.twitter.com/7oUi98olSC http://vk.com/feed?z=video182393207_168467747%2F9f1d5a73a46385dda2 … near Slaviansk
Aleksandr Kalinin @aleksiskander 43m
#Peskov: #Putin is immediately updated on #Kiev’s military op in #Slavyansk, Putin called it a “Criminal Act” – rg.ru
PaulaSlier_RT @PaulaSlier_RT 39m
Reports suggest that more than 2000 people from #Crimea volunteered to come to #Slavyansk to fight against the right sector
Steiner @Steiner1776 38m
#Ukraine Please spread this video. Brave citizens try to block #Kiev regime forces, roll over at least 1. http://vk.com/a_maydan?z=video227235570_168386089%2Fd4fc4cffb2d8d96793 … #Sloviansk
Retweeted by Steiner
PaulaSlier_RT @PaulaSlier_RT 41m
reports saying self-defence of #Slavyansk plans to sue #Kiev in the Hauge Criminal Court for killing civilians in the city
there’s some use in creating a conscript army :
first, it’s a way of doing something. and they badly need to show they’re doing something.
second, they may very soon find it of upmost important to take young men out of the street. if population in western ukraine gets rebellious it may be easier to control it inside baracks than outside. with weapons in storage only for trusted units. in the process it may break non obedient militias…
and in the long run that will make less unemployed..
as for the problem of arming russians, the new army will not be created (and paid for) in estern ukraine out of governement control.
the only problem is the cost, but imf just gave (if eastern ukraine stays out, the financial plan will expand)its ok.
https://twitter.com/spainbuca
Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation under the command of Timoshenko has failed again
~11:08 UTC
@ brian,
Your link http://vk.com/feed?z=video182393207_168467747%2F9f1d5a73a46385dda2 leads to a login page. Do you have a proper link? Thanks in advance.
About the pro-US trolls: my impression is they are usually army privates in the CAPOC, headquartered at Fort Bragg. Their job is simply to troll around the blogosphere posting pro-US comments, which they copy and paste more or less at will from an online manual. That’s why they seem to change style so abruptly from comment to comment, and also why there is no point in trying to argue with them. They are paid to do this; we are not.
In shades of Tianamen Square, If there’s any doubt about Svoboda & Right Sector being neo-Nazis running the coup-led gov in Kiev, this May 2nd video of aftermath of Kiev’s armored personnel carrier/light tank running over a elderly grandfather here with his flattened legs here as women cry in the background: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=309236825895432
The leadup video of the armored personnel carrier runnning him over & his screams can be watched/heard here as he is among a unarmed civilian group of women, elderly, & others trying to block/stop a convoy of armored personnel carriers like in Tianamen Square is here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=309231129229335&set=vb.303805939771854
For the latest updates, goto https://www.facebook.com/TruthfromUkraine
&
https://www.facebook.com/UkraineCrisisAntiMaidan
In shades of Tianamen Square, If there’s any doubt about Svoboda & Right Sector being neo-Nazis running the coup-led gov in Kiev, this May 2nd video of aftermath of Kiev’s armored personnel carrier/light tank running over a elderly grandfather here with his flattened legs here as women cry in the background: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=309236825895432
The leadup video of the armored personnel carrier runnning him over & his screams can be watched/heard here as he is among a unarmed civilian group of women, elderly, & others trying to block/stop a convoy of armored personnel carriers like in Tianamen Square is here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=309231129229335&set=vb.303805939771854
For the latest updates, goto https://www.facebook.com/TruthfromUkraine
&
https://www.facebook.com/UkraineCrisisAntiMaidan
https://twitter.com/spainbuca
~10:22 UTC
In some radio communications it transpires that some of these soldiers don’t know whose orders to follow.
Military command on the radio from Kiev says to a soldier “look in the eyes of the people you have in front of you. What do you see? Tell me, soldier, tell me what you see. Should I ask you again? Should I answer for you? [you see] mothers, grandmothers, like yours and mine. I cannot offer you money. I can offer you only misery. But don’t obey the orders meant to start a war where your people will be killed.”
Awesome… to hear that.