To: Les H who wrote (43568) | 9/16/2024 12:48:32 PM | From: Les H | | | Ukraine is bleeding out. It cannot fight forever. Supporting Ukraine “as long as it takes” does not match the reality of this conflict
At our last meeting, a few months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, he had described an almost giddy sense of national solidarity, with young activists talking about a mountaintop festival to defy Russian threats of using tactical nuclear weapons. But that mood has changed.
“We thought that once we showed solidarity, Russia would back off,” he told me. “Now it seems the war could last for decades.” He described a “radicalization” of intellectual life, in which the core principle had become: “We have to kill as many Russians as possible and find innovative ways to do it.” The war has transformed the country. “It’s so kinetic, when ballistic missiles are raining down on you daily. It’s a different reality.”
washingtonpost.com
From the CIA whisperer Ignatius at the Washington Post. He might clarify that Ukraine had just purged all the politicians, news media, and others who were in favor of the peace agreement that was blocked by US and NATO. Even the 'left-wing' US blog Daily Beast put out a hit list of Ukrainians opposed to the war or reporting the Donbass side of the conflict. |
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To: Les H who wrote (43572) | 9/16/2024 4:24:10 PM | From: Les H | | | Netanyahu, don’t fire Gallant: The first time was tragedy, the second could be worse Booting the defense minister amid Israel’s gravest crisis, with conflict on multiple fronts, is reckless and dangerous. It would delight Israel’s enemies, deepen division at home By David Horovitz Today, 10:10 pm
Netanyahu’s endlessly bitter relationship with Gallant is public knowledge. He fired the defense minister in March 2023, after Gallant presciently warned the nation that the coalition’s bid to destroy judicial independence was weakening Israel and emboldening its enemies — and reinstated him two weeks later, after a vast public outcry.
He publicly took Gallant to task two weeks ago for daring to denounce the cabinet’s decision to insist on maintaining an IDF presence along the Gaza-Egypt border, even at the potential cost of torpedoing a deal for the release of the hostages still held by Hamas, almost a year after the terrorists’ invasion and slaughter in southern Israel.
The two are said to have been at odds in recent days, too, over Netanyahu’s reported decision that the time has come for a major military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to some accounts, however, Netanyahu’s prime and urgent motivation for dumping his defense minister is Gallant’s abiding refusal to advance legislation that would continue to exclude most ultra-Orthodox men from military service. Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have reportedly told him that they will bring down his coalition if the legislation is not pushed through, while Sa’ar would not oppose it.
Whatever the mix of explanations, the move would be unforgivably dangerous.
Senior sources in a US administration that broadly trusts Gallant and despises Netanyahu, and on whose military and diplomatic support Israel depends, were quoted on Monday night as calling it an act of madness. And they are right.
timesofisrael.com |
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To: Les H who wrote (43577) | 9/17/2024 12:02:30 PM | From: Les H | | | Pagers explode across Lebanon in attack targeting Hezbollah members At least 8 dead and 2,800 injured in pager explosions, says Lebanese health minister
cnn.com
"The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said. A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had such devices, speculating that malware may have caused the devices to heat up and explode. The official said some people felt the pagers heat up and disposed of them before they burst."
t.co |
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To: Les H who wrote (43578) | 9/17/2024 12:08:23 PM | From: Les H | | | Russia to boost size of army by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million By Christian Edwards and Anna Chernova, CNN Published 11:42 AM EDT, Mon September 16, 2024
The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Monday. The new staffing will come into effect in December, it said.
Since 2022, Putin has ordered two previous expansions in the number of combat troops, in addition to a mobilization of military reservists and conscripts.
In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase of 137,000 troops by the start of the new year, which put the military’s staffing at just over 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops.
The next month, after a sudden and successful Ukrainian offensive that liberated most of the eastern Kharkiv region, Putin ordered the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens. The mobilization meant citizens with military experience were subject to conscription and that military reservists could be called up.
The mobilization prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country – many to neighboring Georgia and other formerly communist countries near Russia’s border – and sparked angry demonstrations, particularly in Russia’s ethnic minority regions that have borne the brunt of previous recruitment drives.
The mobilization was suspended in November 2023 after officials said the target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met.
Then in December, Putin ordered another official expansion of 170,000 troops, bringing the total to 1.32 million.
cnn.com |
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