An Israeli politician issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine. Amir Weitmann, the head of the libertarian caucus in Israel’s Likud Party, appeared on Russia’s state-run RT News network this week and spoke about fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, as well as Russia’s war with Ukraine.
While speaking about recent claims relating to al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Weitmann criticized Russia, saying that “we’re gonna finish this war, we’re going to win because we’re stronger. After this, Russia will pay the price, believe me, Russia will pay the price.”
“Russia is supporting the enemies of Israel. Russia is supporting Nazi people who want to commit genocide on us and Russia will pay the price,” Weitmann said. “We’re gonna win this war. Afterwards, we’re not forgetting what you’re doing, we’re not forgetting, we will come, we will make sure Ukraine wins. We will make sure that you pay the price for what you have done, you as Russia.”
https://www.newsweek.com/israeli-official-issues-warning-putin-russian-state-tv-1836164
Comment: I had to post the entirety of this interview. There’s something here for everybody. If Amir Weitmann was a woman, he’d be called hysterical and hormonal. As a male he can definitely be described angry beyond words. The RT interviewer, Rory Suchet, is skillfully taking advantage of Weitmann’s angry ranting for the benefit of his audience.
Beyond the mechanics of the interview, I do wonder if Weitmann’s attitude is shared among his fellow Likudniks. Up until last Friday, Israel was playing a balancing act between Moscow and Kyiv. Aid to Ukraine was practically nonexistent in exchange for Moscow keeping a lid on Iranian activities targeting Israel. For the immediate future, Israel will be totally consumed with their war on Hamas. If history is any guide and this newfound anger towards Moscow is real, Israel will turn this grudge into real support in Kyiv’s war against Moscow. Maybe next year.
TTG
Amir Weitmann, based on what I heard from X, is the head of the libertarian caucus in the Likud party, not the head of the Likud party. So maybe he represents the weed and sex part of Likud. But could represent a trend f’shu. I can’t believe I wasted 15 minutes of my life figuring this out!
drifter,
I have no idea what a libertarian likudnik is either.
It’s the “banality of evil” we are seeing. Rory Suchet is such a cool interviewer, he let Weitmann spewing hateful venom without much interruption.
TTG frowns on the use of salty language but is benevolent in measure. Therefore I agreed to suffer my application of the term ‘dickbrain’ to be limited to an undisclosed reduced quantity for reasons of security. He suggested duckbrain due to the small size of the creature’s head and maddening noisiness of it’s quacking, I dine overly frequently on slaughtered ducks roasted and coated in the styles of fine Chinese cuisine, in fact if I lived farther west in Flushing I might have died by now of their overconsumption, that’s how tasty it is to me. Nonetheless, I must get a grip on myself, they are the sky god deity’s creatures and surviving dinosaurs as are our political leaders unfortunately. “Dikki,” though in Russian means “wild,” so it is a very promising terminology.
This man Amir Weitmann is unsurprisingly given his origins a virulent racist and the gods of joking wove this fact indelibly into his name. He is in fact insulting the Russians not only because he is a wild angry duckbrain, but because he sees the Russians as white men. Say the name “Weitmann” to yourself silently – it’s exactly the same sound as “White Man.” “Amir” is “Ah’m here” or “I’m here.”
So in its deep essence his name screams: I’m here, White Man!
Saying – “Come and get a piece of this, whitey!”
Where has that been heard before?
IMO, this guy wants more U.S. arms without strings attached.
I don’t think we’re up to supporting Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and who knows what else, at the same time. The will to fight a global war among younger generations isn’t there. They keep comparing their earning power to the boomers, criticizing our racket healthcare system, keep putting off having children and don’t think living to work is worth it. Neither party wants to tax their financial backers to dig us out of a deficit, but they’ll agree to tax breaks and increased funding all the same.
Well, from my look at the military situation:
It aint good, Hamas seriously damaged the southern command, the idea of going into Gaza looks like a no-go. So, what are they going to do? People have been suggesting that gas in the tunnels is the only option.
10% of Israeli’s have duel citizenship, I understand many have left already.
Then the Hannibal Option, apparently all those dead Israelis were the result of IDF troops killing most of them.
Yemen, Iraq & Hezbollah groups, involved already…
What are they going to do? I understand now why they’ve used the starve and bomb options.
All on screens for people to see. This will be the very last of humanitarian mumblings. This is the final last breath of a rules based order if I’ve ever seen one!!!
Kim Sky,
I don’t know about Hamas damaging the southern command, but it doesn’t appear the IDF has the stomach for digging Hamas out of the tunnels with infantry attacks. As my father often said, “They don’t know whether to shit or go blind.”
The Hannibal Directive supposedly only applies to IDF soldiers. I don’t put much faith in the rumors of the IDF killing the Israeli civilians, but I also don’t much faith in the claims of 1,000+ civilians slaughtered by Hamas. I’ve seen as much proof of those casualties as the 500+ casualties in the Baptist Hospital courtyard bombing. The bombing of the Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church is another example. Some reports say it was destroyed. The reality seems to be the Israelis bombed something next to the church which damaged the church and did kill some refugees seeking shelter in the church grounds.
TTG
According to the Wikipedia page on the ‘Hannibal Directive’:
“In 2009 Israeli civilian Yakir Ben-Melech was shot dead by Israeli security guards while trying to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel, by jumping the fence at the Erez crossing … officially, Ben-Melech was mistakenly identified as a potential terrorist … according to a report by Israeli radio the Hannibal procedure was declared and Ben-Melech was shot to death when he refused to stop.”
So there is some reason to believe that a secret version of the Hannibal Directive applies to civilians – but personally I would put the probability at less than 0.50.
Kim Sky,
MEMRI scored an interview with the head of Hamas this week, provides insight into his thinking. https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-leader-abroad-khaled-mashal-october-seven-israeli-civlians-no-apologies-hizbullah-arab-countries-do-more#:~:text=Mashal%20responded%20that%20Hamas%20only,%22greater%20things%20are%20needed.%22
Reminds of Bin Ladin’s tragic self-delusion that everybody would jump in and join the cause because they would have no choice after “it” was in the fan. Didn’t work for Bin Ladin, isn’t working for Khaled either.
Mark,
This is a little different. Hezbollah has made a commitment to attack Israel if Israel invades Gaza. And they’ve spent the last week targeting Israeli positions in the north, blowing up tanks, and destroying electronic monitoring stations.
– Eliot
Memri is an organ of the Israeli right wing, if not the actual government. In the words of Col Lang, consider the information AND the source.
This inconsequential (drunken?), raving, idiot is not aware of the far right “Banderas” in Ukraine and their, literal, Nazi history and current ideology?
Israel ain’t goin’ do diddly about Russia/Ukraine. Israel has its own massive problems to deal with. The idiot is just butt sore over Russia helping the Syrian government fight the very jihadis that would eventually turn on Israel. He’ll wake up with a hang over and regret the interview.
Eric Newhill –
You may be correct about Israel not doing diddly about Russia/Ukraine.
Weitmann may be a Likudnik, but how much weight does he have within parliament, or with Netanyahu or on foreign policy. I’m guessing little to none. Googling him I don’t find much other than finance plus investment in hi-tech agriculture.
But Weitmann is right about Putin being a Nazi. 21st century Banderas are in the Kremlin.
A Nazi is an real defined noun. It is a member of the Nazi party of Germany circa 1933 – 1945. The Nazi party was wiped out in 1945. Putin, therefore, is not a Nazi, no matter how much you dislike him.
Btw, Saddam Huessein was not a Nazi, nor is Donald Trump, though many intellectually stunted, brain washed members of the Democrat party like to indulge in calling the latter a Nazi and disingenuous members of congress got the intellectually stunted brain washed members of the press to hurl the label onto the former for consumption by intellectually stunted, brain washed citizens of the US.
Ukrainians who have Nazi symbols inked all over their bodies and hold up Bandera as a nation hero are, more correctly, wannabe Nazis.
My neighbor’s dog barks at night and keeps me awake. I starting to hate the damn thing. I’m trying to decide if the dog is a Nazi, or if my neighbors are, or perhaps they all are. He’s not a German Shepard, nor a dachshund, nor a Dobermann. More like a terrier. So a British pest, but a Nazi all the same.
Eric Newhill,
Thank you for that. Nazi is just shorthand for peckerhead, both the worthless and the dangerous kind. Or if you prefer a more British term, “no good shit.” I don’t fully understand the fascination with Nazi symbology. There are even Russian units that wrap themselves in that stuff.
Nazi anything appeals to stupid frustrated peckerheads and cold hearted bastards that are trying to prove, in lame fashion, that there is some kind of legitimate historic connection to their violent fantasies. I prefer to call things what the actually are. Putin is a quasi-authoritarian attempting to politically navigate a corrupt society and so is Zelensky, but Zelensky is also a pathetic bitch to the corrupt US/British world dominance crew. Zelensky will lose because he is handicapped by the bitch aspect. The whole thing is a race to the bottom that I could care less about other than 1. I like to see all of the servants of the corrupt be proven wrong and 2. I hope the corrupt don’t get so carried away that they forget that it’s about making money and appeasing oligarchs such that they blow up the earth 3. I strongly resent my hard earned money going to any of it and making the corrupt bitched wealthier than they already are. 4. That my amazement over the jar headed Roger that sir, yessir, Ukraine freedom or death crew buying into any of the narratives continues to activate tells me that I haven’t become as cynical as I should be.
The very same jihadis in Syria with whom Israel had an understanding? You are aware that Israel gave medical care to many of these jihadis and also supplied them with arms? After helping Hamas in its early days….it would seem Israel hasn’t learned to stop helping jihadis.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-acknowledges-long-claimed-weapons-supply-to-syrian-rebels/
Yes, Stefan. I know that. Which is why I mentioned that the jihadis would turn on Israel when they were done conquering Syria. I like irony. It’s good fun to my mind. Also, I was adding to the point about the Likudnik being an idiot.
None of this makes jihadis and less of a real threat. It only shows that Israel is wont to make strategic blunders by thinking it can use them to achieve short term ends. Clever by half.
Nesmiyan with his take on why the Ukraine war will be drawn out (and another reason why Amir Weitmann is an ass). It’s not, btw, because Russia is going to do anything special on any battlefield. Also China may order Russia into a war it knows Russia will lose so China has more time to get itself together.
Two Concepts.
https://tinyurl.com/23ftkmfp
Dear TTG
QUOTE: the bombing of the Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church is another example.
1) the whole bombing of X-church is propaganda, commentators spend hours, who did it? Again, who cares? The whole place is being denied food, water and getting the sh*@t bombed out of it.
2) Again, successful propaganda, Hamas=ISIS, I’ve heard accounts where the hostages were rounded up then the whole lot just about killed by IDF, I believe it, soldiers were not ready, did what armed men do under fire.
So… who do what, when and where, Israelis have lost their minds, I understand this, going around arresting 5,000 in West Bank, shooting, mutilating Palestinians. How does a society recover from this? Led by the propaganda, they did this to us, we do this to them.
Much less the geopolitical situation right now.
My theory is: the US-congressional-military-complex has led us into self-destruction! The Janissary comes to mind, the first standing army in Europe, the eventual self-destruction… great story!
Calm yourself. Do you realize where and how we live and even more so the mid east? Think of a large fishbowl with way too many fish, so many that they are killing each other off because otherwise they would all vanish due to famine and the fish wars produce lots of dead fish and guess what? Fish eat fish. That’s all this is my friend. That’s all it is, it isn’t any other thing. 🧸
Larry Johnson on the explosion in the al-Ahli hospital parking lot:
https://sonar21.com/after-weighing-the-evidence-israel-appears-responsible-for-the-bombing-of-the-al-ahli-hospital/
A friend with expertise in this area passed this on:
Classic LJ & his friendly deep, insider knowledge circles. …
LJ needs to play to his audience, which consists of rabid antisemitic conspiracy theorists on the right and rabid America hating Euro-trash on the left (much cross-over with Moon of Alabama). His comment section is always an utter intellectual cesspool. So he feeds them the maggot ridden red meat they love.
What is the first commandment at this website? No Ad Hominem attacks.
Mr. Newhill is displaying all the hallmarks of an ignorant troll.
Larry is not everyone’s cup of tea but he is genuine and his work rests on firm foundations.
walrus,
Larry is indeed genuine and sincere, but his work does not always rest on anything firm. We argued over damned near everything, but I wish him well. His inquisitive and questioning mind is needed in this world.
Go participate in the comment sections atLJ’s. Come back and tell us about the experience.
He permits his commenters to slander all US veterans as baby killing zombi war criminals – more than once. He’d rather kiss the ass of ignorant pukes that write such things (for the hits) than run an honorable discussion forum. Fuck LJ.
Eric Newhill
Weren’t you a part of LJ’s comment section for a good while ?
wiz and others,
Okay. Everyone’s had their fun. You, Eric Newhill and everyone else can read and comment on any blog you desire. So what. You can all write letters to the Penthouse editor if that’s you cup of tea. On this blog stick to your comments on ideas and opinions presented, not the presenter.
Walrus.
Indeed he does. A man who uses his spare time to batter elderly male persons in the head with his fists – self described. It’s silly to listen to anything he has to say. He’s a brute and his prescriptions are brutal and cruel. He’s one of a huge number of people around the world who worship the Russians because their image of that country is primarily one of brutish thugs. There is a large subset who adore Russia due to the overhang from the days of socialism but EN sure isn’t one of them – he goes on at length about “marxists” and “the left” in typical comic book style.
Eric,
He does have a lot more trolls than SST. If he posted at 5pm rather than midnight the Europeans wouldn’t be the first comments seen and he might have a bit more time to actually moderate them. The comments from SE Asia are often very interesting but most of it is boorish.
Israelis have had their own ‘Tunnel Rats’ for 20 years or more. They are the so-called ‘Weasels’, a platoon of the IDF’s combat engineer Yahalom unit. Most of their experience has been against tunnels used for smuggling, but they have reportedly done some underground combat and are considered as an elite special forces unit. Doubtful one platoon could clear the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels in Gaza. But then they also use robotics. Plus I’ve seen suggestions that tunnels in northern Gaza are not connected to those in the south. Primarily due to a couple of Wadis cutting through the strip where the water tables underneath would not easily permit tunneling. Could Hamas’s tunnelers dig even deeper underneath the Wadi’s water table? The answer to that is beyond my ken, but certainly possible.
The US faced similar problems in Nam with the infamous Cu Chi & Iran Triangle tunnels which also comprised several hundred kilometers. Our tunnel rats would go in usually armed only with a pistol, sometimes creeping for a mile or so. From what I heard from an 101st Airborne acquaintance who served there the Aussies used sappers called ‘Ferrets’ in those tunnels and were better at it than our tunnel rats. Gassing the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels with CS never worked. Neither did our attempts to flood the tunnels nor our tries at smoking them out. It finally took major B-52 carpet bombing using delayed fuses that exploded underground. Even then much of the tunnels never caved in.
You can be sure the Gaza tunnels are also similarly zigzagged and layered in depths to defeat gas or smoke or flooding. But technology is better now so maybe the Izzies can figure it out.
It’s going to be scary for Volodya to watch it all go down and wonder if it’s all not a rehearsal for what the US is planning to do to him.
If they offer big bucks they can get some really bad ass international mercenaries.to go into Gaza – put bounties on Hamas members, open the six packs and say thank you Emperor Nero-Caligula Robinette Biden. Let it take months, show it on all TV stations. Fit starving lions with bullet proofing and send them in. Komodo dragons, scorpions and rattlesnakes. Let’s have a party. Run the show right up to the election in November 2024. Each candidate will by then have backed a faction – the fair ferret fighters or the beastly bombers & poisoners or .. shudder …. the holed up no good hamas bad guy killers and kidnapping terrorists. Hollywood and the media crime families are already salivating and signing contracts for scripts.
F&L –
Speaking of scorpions and poisonous snakes: They were a threat in the Cu Chi tunnels back 50 or 60 years ago. But in reverse. They were placed there by the VC as deterrent to the GI tunnel rats and Aussie ferrets.
BTW, it was the “Iron” Triangle not Iran Triangle. Damned spell checker missed it. My bad.
Thanks Leith. This is how you add value to SST. Or whatever TTG calls it now.
Drifter –
That was from more than half a century ago. I think Colonel Lang or one of the contributors wrote up the Aleppo tunnels used just eight or nine years ago but I can’t find the post.
I’m wondering about the effects of thermobarics in those Hamas tunnels after reading the LJ piece linked by Keith Harbaugh above. It seems it would be effective, but how much so? I guess it depends on how sustained the blast is and how high the over-pressure? Would the Israelis use it knowing that the 200 or so hostages are probably in those tunnels also?
Genghis Khan used cars with their tails lit on fire. Be very entertaining to see Greta and all the animal rights activists going raving mad on TV. As they dine on pot roast and send out for burgers while scrolling through pornhub.
Oh no, the poor kittty Cats! Sniffle, boo hoo hoo. Don’t kill Hamas such a mean way, shoot them and bomb them and destroy the entire gaza strip but don’t hurt a little kitty please. And no littering. Hey return that bottle.
I thought Russia was already defeated? Israel hasn’t even begun to fight Hamas and allies in earnest and they will pivot to Ukraine? Which one of Blinken’s people came up with that idea?
… 3, 2, 1
Blinken. Little Blinky himself. i’ll bet anything on it.
F&L,
Private school in Paris and NY. Harvard. Columbia Law. Proclaims “I’m Jewish” while representing the USA and trying to ‘prevent’ a regional war from going global. Muslims duly impressed.
Academe’s best and brightest.
Any day now, Fred – any day.
The drunken Russians are about to run out of ammo and their officers keep shooting all of the enlisted for sport. Which will they run out of first? Vodka?Ammo? or enlisted men targets?
Those crafty Ukros are just sitting back waiting for the Russians to do themselves in, but the risk in their strategy is that if it is the vodka that runs out first, the officers might stop target shooting their enlisted men and start aiming at the Ukros. The Ukros should be asking not for more artillery and rockets, but for NATO allies to drop cases of vodka behind the Russian lines.
But yes, good question. With impending victory – veritable light at the end of the tunnel so bright that the Ukros have to wear shades – now that the Ukro offense has matured into a massively successful venture, why on earth do the Ukros need any help from little Israel? And was Israel in the dark days before the dawning of the great Ukro victory?
Tying the two issues of Israel and Ukraine together is surely a diplomatic error of the first order.
I turned to President Biden’s speech looking for a clear statement of what the American response would be to the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But it kept veering off Israel and returning to the subject of Ukraine. By the end of the speech it was difficult to tell what subject the speech was actually about!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/20/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-unites-states-response-to-hamass-terrorist-attacks-against-israel-and-russias-ongoing-brutal-war-against-ukraine/
It’s maybe an effective speech for internal American consumption. Team Biden wants more aid for Ukraine and that’s getting trickier as time goes on. So tie that in with money for Israel and he gets both. With an appeal to pork barrel in case some dumb Congressman doesn’t get the message that what’s good for Raytheon is what’s good for American jobs:-
“We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores — our own stockpiles with new equipment — equipment that defe- — that defends America and is made in America: Patriot missiles for air defense batteries made in Arizona; artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country — in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas; and so much more.”
And a nod to the American dislike of body bags. Body bags are for the proxies, the more the merrier if we can give the Russians a bloody nose, but not for us. We’re going to ensure American security and as a bonus we can do it without having to fight for it ourselves. No fear that American soldiers need die. The Ukrainians can do that for us:-
“It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations, help us keep American troops out of harm’s way …”
So all the right buttons, ending up with the usual tribute to Madeleine Albright who, together with “Zbig”, is the current inspiration of Team Biden. Secretary of State Blinken made that clear not long ago in a keynote address:-
“Dr. Brzezinski also believed that one of his most enduring contributions to international affairs was shaping America’s rising scholars and practitioners – including President Carter, who described himself as “an eager student” of Zbig; and Ian, Mark, Mika – all of whom have strived to bring us closer to what Zbig called the pragmatic fusion of American power with American principle.”
https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-remarks-to-the-johns-hopkins-school-of-advanced-international-studies-sais-the-power-and-purpose-of-american-diplomacy-in-a-new-era/
But those are the buttons to press when trying to persuade America that Team Biden is looking after American interests. As a message to the world, as a clear statement of how America stands on the crisis in Gaza, it’s a diplomatic disaster.
Team Biden, tunnel vision to the last, don’t seem to understand that the buttons that work in the States don’t necessarily work outside the West. They don’t necessarily work for the Saudis or for the Chinese or for many others. Tying the fight against Russia in with support for Israel is a slap in the face for most of the world. And Biden delivers it without even realising how counterproductive making that connection is.
Weitman, above, makes the same error, putting Russia, whether that’s the true Russian position or not, unequivocally in the anti-Israeli camp . ““Russia is supporting the enemies of Israel. Russia is supporting Nazi people who want to commit genocide on us and Russia will pay the price,” Weitmann said. “We’re gonna win this war. Afterwards, we’re not forgetting what you’re doing, we’re not forgetting, we will come, we will make sure Ukraine wins. We will make sure that you pay the price for what you have done, you as Russia.”
So too the Ukrainians. From Zelenski down asserting repeatedly that they stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. Even the statue of Bandera, not in the past an Israeli icon, gets lit in the colours of the Israeli flag,
https://twitter.com/Ramy_Sawma/status/1712812520296112616
This is what wrong with Biden’s speech and his response generally to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He’s saying the fight against the Palestinians must be the fight against Russia and both must go together. However well that plays to the Christian Zionists and the Ukrainian diaspora in the US, or however well it convinces Congress, it’s the most maladroit diplomatic response to the bombing of Gaza that could be imagined.
EO,
Biden: “Whereas my friend Madeleine Albright said, “The indispensable nation.”. Madelene Albright who wasn’t worried about American, proxie, or even foreign body bags. (i.e. 500,000 dead Iraqi children is worth it!).
https://www.newsweek.com/watch-madeleine-albright-saying-iraqi-kids-deaths-worth-it-resurfaces-1691193#
This comes on the heels of Blinken telling everyone “I’m Jewish!” as if that were relevant for an American ‘diplomat’ who is not running for election in a US city but where he is supposed to prevent the spread of a regional war into a global one. Meanwhile who else is afraid of body bags, or even speaking out? Well his majesty did put out some words days later. Nothing while thousands march in support of terrorists in his nation’s capital. But he’s fully backing Ukraine as you know better than we.
Well Eric, Biden drew the battle lines in that speech. Team Biden and the poodles against the Rest of the World. Tread clumsily and carry a broken stick.
For the first time in a long time I have some sympathy for the career professionals in State. The ones who have to look after American interests while watching all this.
EO,
I’m not Eric. The career professionals at State are the ones who’ve been waving the rainbow flags from every embassy which has hardly been a promotion of America’s interest.
That’s the second time I’ve made that mistake. Damn. Eric’s was the comment I was following on from. Apologies to you and Eric.
Say what they like, I doubt the West would be in this pickle if Trump had got back in.
Sooner than you think.The hospital bombing with orthodox Christian trappings was a nice touch.Played at the right time Unfortunately it was predicted and a waste.
I would take the his likudnik seriously.Sooner rather than later.Unfortunately a lot of israeli Arabs died at the rave.They are pissed off too.
Also evacuate hebron.I would.
I have my suspicions about those so called hamas militants on caption.Where were they from.Definitely not local Arabs.
Vav yod
Meanwhile in Ukraine:
Ukrainian parliament votes to ban Orthodox Church
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/20/ukrainian-parliament-votes-to-ban-orthodox-church-over-alleged-links-with-russia
Of course ‘connected to Russia’. I wonder which religous groups are connected to Hamas terrorists and should be banned?
Fred,
The ban would be against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), not the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Kyiv wants the UOC to cut its ties with Moscow. Given that the Russian Orthodox Church is apparently raising and trainings PMCs to employ against Ukraine, That’s going above and beyond praising the Lord and passing the ammunition. I don’t see Kyiv’s demand as too outlandish.
TTG,
You mean every priest in every church was part of the conduct? When was the trial held to prove that?
Fred,
Any priests going to trial are doing so individually based on individual charges. A ban against the UOC as an organization is based on official connections to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow which is acting as a permanent arm of the Kremlin. The EC will certainly have something to say about the ban.
Stop drinking mcohen. It isn’t good for one’s health.
BTW, Have you had your MC O’Hen business cards printed yet? You may qualify for a discount.
Today is 23/10
mcohen
There’s reason to think you’re right and that there were mercs imported to do the real dirty stuff, but that’s too complex for the fast-food news audience’s diet who are fed highly simplified story lines. Sorry, MC O’Hen, and beware of fast food, they’re serving chicken sandwiches for years now. Tasty too.
Dear TTG,
I love your posts, even more your comments afterwards.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
four war fronts, israel, ukraine?
is it all going to dissolve into normalcy, as has the Rus/Ukr war, what is normal in the world?
Kim Sky,
Whether all is going to dissolve into normalcy depends on where you’re sitting, on your sofa or, in my case, in my gazebo. The Qassam Brigade’s violent and terroristic assault of 7 October coupled with Israel’s violent and terroristic reaction since then has elevated the cause of the Palestinians on the world stage. As long as Israel continues her campaign to crush Hamas and continues killing Palestinians in the process, the Palestinians will be on our minds. Whether anything will come out of that world attention is something I don’t know. I’m not hopeful. Much depends on whether the IDF can find itself and effectively root out Hamas without imposing the final solution on the Gaza Palestinians. I’m not convinced they have it in themselves to do so.
Ukraine’s fight to rid themselves of the Russian invaders will remain a priority for Europe and especially Eastern Europe, even if the US media looses interest. The current war in Ukraine will not be normalized like it was after 2015-2016. It will eventually come to a conclusion which will change European and world order for the foreseeable future. That includes the Kremlin.
I’m wondering if the Kremlin will openly realign itself with revolutionary movements like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others much like it did in the 60s. Or are they just anti-West. I doubt any of these changing and reforming battle lines are welcomed by China. China wants a world economic order which benefits primarily China. The only way to achieve that is through peace. The One Belt One Road Initiative can never be realized in a world at war. China wants economic, cultural and political competition, but not shooting wars. But wanting and making it so are two different things. I don’t see normalcy as something on the horizon.
“Or are they just anti-West.”
yes. Russia has long hated itself.
ked,
Since the times of Peter the Great, Russia has done a pretty good job of incorporating herself into the West. Lately, not so much. Ever since she became the vanguard nation led by the vanguard party, she’s been marching to her own distinct tune. Not necessarily terrible, just different. Some of her accomplishments under communist rule were quite impressive as have many under Putin’s rule. The 2014-2015 invasion of Ukraine was thrust into her lap by events. She handled it fairly well. Her actions in Syria remain impressive in my opinion. But in this invasion of Ukraine, Russia reminds me of King Louie in the Disney cartoon version of Jungle Book. She wants to be like the West, but she is not. In fact, she sees herself as far superior to the West.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwTClRr1x6g
BTW, that’s a pretty good tune in its own right.
TTG
That’s a pretty nice perch there from your gazebo.
Off topic a bit here and no doubt “cringe” to many due to memories of her father, but based on looks alone, coherence of speech and thought, sense of human dignity conveyed and respect for order and law, Liz Cheney here makes every other person in our upcoming presidential race look like rejects from a casting call for a 1950s B-movie flop. IOW – she’s flat out impressive and obviously really smart – and if anyone does she knows the game.
Liz Cheney says House GOP Chaos is .. (Face the Nation)
https://youtu.be/1n-Cx5D3GUE
I just want to say that there are some knowledgeable folks commenting over at Larry Johnson’s and B’s site. Yes, you have to dig into the slop sometimes to find the kernels.
Russia has won. It was always going to come down to an attrition battle. I know this is very difficult for those who believe otherwise but it is time to let go. It is over. The fighting continues but Ukraine does not have the bodies. It’s not about their will to fight or even weapons.
They never had the bodies. Also, they are bombing their own country. Nobody wins bombing half their own stuff. They lost. Keep believing though. You are still free to believe in all the nonsense you want. If you believe masks work, vaccines work, boosters work….keep doing that. I moved on the day Fauci said masks do not work. Enjoy what is in your mind. When reality hits it won’t matter. You will still believe what you want.
babelthuap,
Ukraine lost 2.5 million men in combat and more than 5 million civilians in WWII. Russia lost far more. At the current rates, Ukraine can continue fighting for decades before running out of bodies. Russia just as long. You’re living in cloud cuckoo land if you think the fighting will stop because there’s no one left to fight. They’ll run out of useable equipment and ammunition long before that point, especially the Russians.
Yeah, absolutely let the snake eater fantasy roll!
The Ukros can create their own version of Hamas and resist into perpetuity by killing a few Russians here and there, sinking a ship or two, blowing up this or that periodically.
Oh wait, that’s pretty much the stage they’re at now. Meanwhile, Russia, like Israel, will carry on and do what it pleases, especially now that Russia owns the land bridge to Crimea.
TTG,
“Human rights investigators have shared new information with Channel 4 News that they say casts doubt on some aspects of Israel’s account of the Gaza hospital explosion.”
https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1715437877604049094
TonyL,
I read about those legitimate doubts about the explanations of streaks and flashes. I don’t think anybody knows exactly what happened or who did it. What I do find odd is that no fragments have been found. Either they legitimately can’t be found or somebody doesn’t want to show the fragments.
Last post from me on middle east,stuff is beyond me. Heading to the gazebo with my home made chicken sandwich
Check this out.
https://twitter.com/Gerjon_
TTG, perhaps I’m missing something but aren’t Israeli tactics for going after Hamas in the Gaza strip flawed? It seems to me that the only way for a bombing campaign to work against a terrorist organization is that you need timely and accurate intelligence for where targeted personnel/materials are at used in combination with precision munitions so that you can actually hit the target you intend. Without either, most of the bombs will just blowup nearby buildings and kill lots of people which is what seems to be happening. In addition, has anyone actually thought about how a ground invasion will accomplish the goal of eliminating Hamas? I don’t expect that Hamas will attempt to engage the IDF in frontal combat unless they are suicidal. So, when the IDF invades, I suspect the Hamas fighters to blend in with the civilian population and fight a classic guerrilla campaign in a bombed out urban landscape that favors them. Unless the IDF occupies the whole Gaza strip for a long period of time and conducts and repeated building by building sweeps of the area, Hamas can either retreat to an unoccupied part, merge into the normal population, and keep fighting for a long time. Also, how many troops would be needed for such an effort and does the IDF have that kind of manpower given than much of their army are reservists who need to get back to their jobs in order for the economy to function? I look at all the difficulty the British had trying to suppress the IRA in Northern Ireland during the 70s/80s and think this is going to be a much more difficult operation – having to subdue 2 million Palestinians in a tiny urban environment vs. 600,000 Catholics spread out over a province, the entire Gaza population hostile towards the IDF vs. a majority of 900,000 Protestants (and some Catholics) supporting the British in their efforts, tens of thousands of heavily armed Hamas fighters vs. a much lower number of less armed IRA paramilitaries, etc. I’ll be the first to admit as a non-military person that I might be missing something obvious that professionals like yourself can point out, but I don’t see how a large-scale COIN operation can work under these conditions. Isn’t that burden why Israel originally withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005 after 40 years of occupation?
This Weitmann guy seems very angry. It’s an anger born of arrogance.
There’s a lot of that among the Israelis.
You are misunderstanding.Its a Russian thing.Killing those kids at the rave party was a mistake.Jihadi’s high on captigon butchering kids at a rave party.
mcohen,
Just like the Bataclan. Not a mistake. Jihad in action. No drugs required, unless that is your view of medeival Islam.
Drug of choice thanks to al-Assad’s brother, or perhaps Bashar also gets a cut of the profits?
mcohen
Killing those kids was an act of terrorism. Killing Palestinian civilians as a form of collective punishment is also an act of terrorism.
I don’t know why you bring Russians into this, cause they have next to nothing to do with those events.
Actually, on second thought, the arrogance I was referring to does kind of remind me of the overconfidence and arrogance of the Russians when they launched their special operation aka invasion of Ukraine.
They are paying high price for that overconfidence. Ukrainians do too. I sincerely hope we don’t see a repeat of that industrial scale violence in Palestine/Israel.