Long gone are Western headlines heralding Ukraine’s NATO-trained and armed forces and the prospects of them able to “sweep Putin’s conscripts aside,” as former British Army Colonel Hamish De Bretton-Gordon claimed in an article published as recently as June this year. As Ukraine’s offensive forces broke across extensive Russian defenses all along the line of contact from Zaporozhye to Kharkov, the realization that Washington, London, and Brussels underestimated the Russian Federation economically, politically, diplomatically, and most importantly, militarily and industrially, began to set in. Today, different kinds of headlines now…

When a title in the Washington Post is so revealing, you can understand that the handwriting is on the wall, and that really is SO revealing, and if it is not an “I hate to tell you so but I told you so” moment, then how else can we interpret the headline “Ukraine’s inability to demonstrate decisive success on the battlefield is stoking fears that the conflict is becoming a stalemate and international support could erode?”. Has not the veneer of legitimacy not already eroded enough to lay bare the bedrock of a military conflict that never had to be, but is instead…

Just recently head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union should double its assistance to Ukraine. She went on to say the EU should create a support fund of 50 billion euros by the end of the year and that everything should be done to ensure victory on the battlefield for the Ukrainians. The European Union has created a “support package” for Ukraine for 2023 of up to €18 billion. This money, however, is not in the form of gifts, grants, or to create an emergency war chest. These billions are a loan under an EU macro-financial assistance program…

Any human rights activist or soldier can tell you why cluster bombs should be banned, as only too often they fail to hit their intended target, end up hitting civilians, or even their own soldiers, as was the case with Israeli-made cluster bombs used in the 2008 Georgian-Russian military conflict. Many of the Georgians, including Georgian soldiers, who died were killed by friendly-fire, according to those, as referenced herein, and who were among the first to investigate the impact of cluster bombs in the conflict zone…

Who can forget Princess Diana’s visit to Angola and Bosnia in 1997 to walk through areas of mines and to engage with the victims of the explosives? Just days after her untimely death, the United Nations Mine Ban Treaty was signed by 164 countries. Today, Lady Diana’s visit is still talked about in Angola. But her legacy, stopping the wanton killing of innocents, seems buried with her today…

Arresting priests, especially based on the orders of someone claiming to be Jewish, is not a wise decision. Ukrainian leaders, including Zelensky, have accused the long-established Ukrainian Orthodox Church of undermining “Ukrainian unity,” although it’s unclear what exactly that means. Religion is being weaponized in Ukraine, a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history in both the Church and Europe. However, this proxy war inspired by the West is complicating matters that should have been allowed to progress naturally—and be resolved by the Orthodox Church itself…

The “Good Guys” come from those same countries that are screaming the loudest over the audacity of Russia for having used them themselves, and to add insult to injury, those are the same countries that developed this business model in the first place – even the Vatican with its long tradition of Swiss Guards, were afraid of local hires, as they might turn and murder the Pope instead of risking their lives to protect him. And not to forget all the “rigmarole and fanfare” over the proffered coup attempt by the Wager Group, or protest, depending on your standpoint…

Ukraine has become a symbol for all those who understand the war; there is money for blood. And there has been no negotiation to end hostilities because the money is and will continue to flow by the tanker load. Let’s briefly examine who stands to gain from the death of hundreds of thousands. Blackrock and JPMorgan top a list of banking pirates raking in profits because of the shifted economics of the Ukraine conflict. Prices for commodities tied to Ukraine and Russia are making investors in these and other firms ecstatic. However, real profit is on the horizon when government and public sector investments in the war-torn country…

As I was recently departing Batumi, Georgia, on the Black Sea, the announcement was made, “Please Passengers, the train is about ready to leave the station, so please leave the train”, in English. Of course, something was lost in translation. However, the same could be said about the status of Ukraine in the wake of its aspirations for fast-tracked NATO membership—and how it and some NATO members want to overlook the requirements for membership and its own Charter.It is clear that NATO is being a proxy-to-a-proxy, and due to believing in its own rhetoric it has backed itself into a corner…

History is the most interesting subject for many reasons. Not the least of which is the fact it tends to repeat itself. And the fact that some are doomed by ignorance of this is an important lesson for today. Take German tanks, for instance. First, let’s rehash a little history about the steppes of Russia and Eastern Ukraine and unlearned lessons. From the 5th of July 1943 until the 23rd of August 1943, the largest tank battle in history took place in what became known as the “Kursk Salient,” an area that stretched from the tiny town of Kirov on the Bolva River in the north, through Belgorod in…

“Only if” is the key phrase in what Ukraine is asking for next, in terms of planes, tanks, you name it – in spite of the cruel reality that they are far behind on the “technological treadmill” and technology transfer. The latest hand me down, often obsolete military hardware will not make an “iota of difference” in the final outcome.  They all know this too, the West knows, Defense Contractors know, soldiers on the front know—and the pilots know best of all. It is not only about planes…

I think Nazi symbols will be America’s official and unofficial excuse to walk away from Ukraine. It will be even deadlier, more political blowback; it will be like in Afghanistan but worse. The first stage, with the West growing sick and tired of the never-ending demands, and with little real results, is to cut back on funding—and then to let the Neo Nazis and their NATO partners stew in their own juices. But for the sake of discussion, I just want to know what happened to the films about WW2, fascism, and denazification…