Dead men walking
Click on photo to link to SouthFront site._
SouthFront entitled "No Army Left" after did the VO. Personally, I think it should have been “Almost No Army Left”.
The Ukrainians are still fighting, with staggering losses.
As Gilbert Doctorow points out, (much of this article is based on his articles so please check out is site) this is urban warfare, which always gives an occupying force an advantage unless its enemy decides to just completely level the city or town, as the Americans did in Iraq, with massive bombing and shelling.
Villages and towns that are being fought over have been mostly evacuated, but the Russians are trying to preserve as much of the infrastructure as they can, knowing somebody has to pay to rebuild afterwards. In this civil war Donbass is really Russian territory. Western Ukraine are occupiers. Aggressors.
The Russians are of course trying to reduce casualties among their soldiers, not always easy with mines, drones, snipers and the like. The casualty rate is well over 10 to 1 in their favor, but their soldiers still die - just not on the scale the Western media like to say quoting Kiev propaganda.
Ukrainians so far have lost close to 70,000 men KIA in just the last few months.
The casualty count in Kursk is now about 24,000 and rising, and will top 30,000 in a few weeks, with UAF vehicles stuck in the Autumn mud and soldiers pounded by Russian artillery.
As the video indicates, the Ukrainians don't have much left. Nobody wants to die for Zelinski. Forced conscription crews are are hugely unpopular and often attacked. Young people worried about called up are fleeing for the West - or even Russia.
All this has prompted Zelinski to make wild claims and desperate pleas for assistance. One set of fantasies was of course Russia's use of Iranian missiles and North Korean soldiers, neither of which are much talked about anymore in the mainstream news, even in the NYT and WaPo, which would rather focus on telling us that Israelis are really good guys and we CAN win against Iran, yes we can.
Then there is Zelinski's "victory" plan which is supposed to counter the simple reality that Ukraine lost the war a long time ago.
Naturally, he wants long-range missiles and to be permitted to make strikes inside Russia-- which is not going to happen since Putin has spelled out exactly how he would respond if that did occur-- namely by countering with punishing strikes on NATO bases inside NATO territories--plus alpha.
Plus alpha is what you — and NATO — and the US have to worry about.
Zelly wants NATO membership – which he will never get – and NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, Plus a lot more money-- and more weapons . And, and, and….
This is a proxy war, Zelly.
Proxies are paid to do things someone else doesn’t want to— or, for one reason or another can't do for himself / herself /itself. When the proxy doesn’t succeed in doing those things, deals off. Usually the whole venture is cancelled.
So Zelinski has tried to bribe the West by offering up all of Ukraine's natural resources, which are considerable. And promising military forces to help out the West, presumably in the Middle East or Asia— not that anybody wants help from a bunch of losers.
The US isn't biting. It's an election year in the US and the Ukraine war is increasingly unpopular.
So the US has gotten Australia to offer up mothballed Abrams tanks, which have proven themselves even less suitable for combat than German Leopard tanks . Australia, as you know, is thinking of dumping King Chuck as Head of State, and nominating the next US President.
By the time the next president sets up shop in the Oval Office in January 2025 , the Russians will likely have reached the banks of the Dnieper and will be debating whether to push to the Polish border or create a buffer buffer zone on the West Bank, including Kiev. They of course want control of Odessa.
At that point Zelinski will likely be no longer.
It is clear that the Banderites are not happy with him. Nobody is happy with him. He will be taken out or flee to the open arms of Sean Penn.
The upshot is that with Zelly gone, you will have conflict between Banderite Nazis and non-Nazis. The former would fight on. The latter would negotiate with the Russians to meet their terms-- naturally, denazification, demilitarization, a new constitution, referenda, and recognition of oblasts wishing to join the Russian Federation --whose growing economy as a lot to offer -- unlike Europe, which is in a state of collapse.
Russian terms offer…financial rewards.
The General Staff of course want to drive straight to the Polish border as does Dmitry Rogozin, Putin’s' likely successor and also one -time President, Medvedev. Public opinion appears to support a more aggressive stance.
Putin, however, will likely try to triangulate to avoid another military campaign. offering peace terms that only Ukrainian liberals would agree to. He would get the same results with Western Ukrainians fighting each other as he would sending in troops to the Polish border.
Special Article. Raging against?
Coming along fine.
I made a lot of progress today. But found a lot of holes in my reasoning—the usual discontinuities. Fixing those adds to length, of course.
So this is a two-in-one or three-in one special article.
On the other hand, the article makes connections that few others have made. Among them is the concept of “pathocracy”.
Piketty writes about “infinite accumulation” — the drive for possession — of everything. This is also a characteristic of psychopaths— who come in two forms — “unsuccessful” like Bundy —and “successful” like most politicians and many in the One Percent.
“Successful” psychopaths kill a lot more people than serial killers. Deep down the pathology is the same.
A man named Netanyahu killed these children and thousands more like them so Israel could possess the tiny chunk of land they called home.
Coffee Time
Mailing list almost complete. But I will be accepting new names for at least a week or so. This time I will email download links for this article (Part 3) and the previous two. Please let me know if you want others.
Click HERE to buy me and Ichi and Chappy coffee.
He Prayeth best, who loveth best;
All things great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us;
He made and loveth all.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Ancient Mariner
To avoid conscription, young people are fleeing to the West or even Russia.
Why ´even’ Russia? Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are fighting for Russia and millions are in Russia, 70% voted for better relations with Russia, so it makes pretty good sense to go there if it is possible, where they are welcomed and are certain of a job.
Zelensky can't bribe the US Empire any more than Petain or Quisling could bribe Nazi Germany.