Ukraine

[Petrushka]

Just appeared in my inbox:

https://samf.substack.com/p/whos-afr...m_medium=email

Thanks, HD.

[french frank]

Just appeared in my inbox:

I'm not sure if that's the whole article. It seems to end a bit in the air. But I did enjoy:

"On 21 September the nuclear message was underlined by a test firing of its newest ICBM, the RS-28 Sarmat, although the effect was diminished when the missile exploded in its silo, destroying the test site."

[HighlandDougie]

I'm not sure if that's the whole article. It seems to end a bit in the air. But I did enjoy:

"On 21 September the nuclear message was underlined by a test firing of its newest ICBM, the RS-28 Sarmat, although the effect was diminished when the missile exploded in its silo, destroying the test site."

When I open it (as in the link), the article ends with, "Harris’s policies get less attention because she is committed to backing Ukraine against Russian aggression and so she represents continuity. But if she becomes president she will also faces new challenges, with continuing questions about how best to support Ukraine against the backdrop of a wounded Russia lashing out where it can." ??

[french frank]

When I open it (as in the link), the article ends with, "Harris’s policies get less attention because she is committed to backing Ukraine against Russian aggression and so she represents continuity. But if she becomes president she will also faces new challenges, with continuing questions about how best to support Ukraine against the backdrop of a wounded Russia lashing out where it can." ??

Article ends intriguingly: "Just how much Trump might be prepared to give to Putin was illustrated a couple of days after the debate." So how much????

[Petrushka]

When I open it (as in the link), the article ends with, "Harris’s policies get less attention because she is committed to backing Ukraine against Russian aggression and so she represents continuity. But if she becomes president she will also faces new challenges, with continuing questions about how best to support Ukraine against the backdrop of a wounded Russia lashing out where it can." ??

The remainder of the article is for paid subscribers only. Sir Lawrence did promise at the start of the conflict that his articles on the Ukraine war would be free to everyone. I'm disappointed that this promise has not been kept.

[HighlandDougie]

That's all a bit rum - the following might produce the same result:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-149160252?source=queue

as

https://samf.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-vladimir-putin?utm_campaign=email-post&r=w1xt&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I subscribe but I also thought that there was essentially open access to the posts.

[Petrushka]

That's all a bit rum - the following might produce the same result:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-149160252?source=queue

as

https://samf.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-vladimir-putin?utm_campaign=email-post&r=w1xt&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I subscribe but I also thought that there was essentially open access to the posts.

The result is the same. I have the substack bookmarked on my own computer and the result is still the same. It could be argued that the article isn't specifically about the Ukraine war, as in discussion of military tactics, but veers off into discussion on the US election. If so, that's a pretty thin excuse.

[Retune]

I subscribe but I also thought that there was essentially open access to the posts.

Clicking your link for the first time (or subsequently if I use a private browser window) I get something like:

[HighlandDougie], a paid subscriber of Comment is Freed, shared this with you. Follow [HighlandDougie] and continue reading.

But then I'd need to create a substack account to go any further, which I haven't yet. If I did, I'm guessing I'd get this first article free on you, but would have to subscribe to Comment is Freed to read any more of their paywalled articles?

[HighlandDougie]

I seem to be able to share the post but to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or an email address. It also says, "Copy link", but it is no different from before. I'm not sure about having to subscribe (as in pony up some dosh) to the Friedmans' site but it might be worth creating a Substack account and then seeing what happens. I'm happy to share it to your e-mail if you PM me your e-mail address.

[Historian]

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman's latest (free to read) thoughts on Ukraine: what next?

[Historian]

The BBC has at last caught up with the news about Russia targeting civilians with drone attacks in Kherson. These attacks have been going on for several months.

While I realise that the BBC has to seem even-handed I think they could probably risk being a little less neutral:

The Russian military did not respond to the BBC’s questions about the allegations. Since its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians.

Well, yes, but that is obviously not true, as seen throughout the whole conflict in Ukraine and elsewhere (Chechnya, Syria, etc. etc.)

[french frank]

Russia rather than Ukraine, but this BBC headline raised a smile. What planet are they on?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxvnwkl5kgo

[Serial_Apologist]

Russia rather than Ukraine, but this BBC headline raised a smile. What planet are they on?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxvnwkl5kgo

That would be a much easier way for Putin and his mob to take over the entire world than by waging war!

[Ian Thumwood]

I think it is quite interesting how this conflict is now being reported and seen as a marker of why Western demography is working. For example, the use of Anerican long range missiles is being seen as a game changer and being justified as tit for tat with the employment of North Korean soldiers. This is not the case . If the 12000 figure is to be believed, this is about 6 times the daily casualty figure of the Russian forces . North Korean troops are untrained and don't speak Russian. I also have heard that they are serving as service corps. The US response is not proportionate

I also think criticism of the aiding of Ukraine from the Left and organisations like Stop The War is ignored and never reported. There is no counter argument.

The other thing that really troubles me is that there are British services on the ground in uk and this has never been put through Parliament. Everytime th3 British start getting involved in foreign conflicts, things become messy and we get it wrong. Supplying long range missiles will not solve the problem.

I was adamant that Russia were 100 % reaponsible for the invasion and that this was a consequence of NATO provocation if a Russian leader who was u hinged. This is now being bourne out. The situation is no longer clear cut and I feel that perhaps it is time to both cease military support fir Ukraine and also get out ofNATO now that Trump had been re-elected.

I cannot understand why no efforts have been made to reach out to Iran. Why has no one offered them support against Israel on the proviso that they cease supplying drones to Russia ?

Labour's foreign policy is no more balanced than the Conservatives. Corbyn not getting elected in 2016 is probably the worse thing to happen from a foreign policy perspective to this country since Suez.

[french frank]

For example, the use of Anerican long range missiles is being seen as a game changer and being justified as tit for tat with the employment of North Korean soldiers. This is not the case . If the 12000 figure is to be believed, this is about 6 times the daily casualty figure of the Russian forces . North Korean troops are untrained and don't speak Russian. I also have heard that they are serving as service corps.

It's reported otherwise today:

Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence services have said that many of the troops deployed to Russia are some of Pyongyang’s best, drawn from the 11th Corps, also known as the Storm Corps - a unit trained in infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassinations.

These soldiers are “trained to withstand a high degree of physical pain and psychological torture”, says Michael Madden, a North Korea expert from the Stimson Center in Washington.

“What they lack in combat they make up for with what they can tolerate physically and mentally,” he adds.

[Mark Cancian, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)] agrees that “if these are special operations forces, they will be much better prepared than the average North Korean unit".

"Further, the Russians appear to be giving them additional training, likely on the special circumstances of the war in Ukraine,” he adds.'

It's the eternal dilemma for free democracies. Socialism is founded on ideals of equality and social justice, peaceful coexistence, the strong helping the weak. How do they cope with authoritarian dictatorships which flout all the norms of human rights and threaten weaker nations with aggression, war and conquest?