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686

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Everything posted by 686

  1. Things just got a lot classier in Ukraine:
  2. I appreciate your optimism, but wheat, barley, and rye harvest starts in July. Hopefully they have plenty of silo space available to store if logistics aren’t sorted. The fact that we’re already talking about sending Harpoons, etc. means we’re taking it seriously which is great. Even if the Ukrainians sink another couple surface ships, I still feel like the psychopath Russians will stage their subs to try to torpedo the freighters. They still think they will get traction blaming a famine on us somehow. Whoever sends freighters and escorts needs to have a live video feed of the boats if possible and make a Don Corelone homage declaration that if a freighter should get shot in the head, or hang itself in its jail cell, or be struck by a bolt of lightning — then there will be blame cast upon some with boats in the Black Sea and no forgiveness. Haul the grain largely straight to Africa / Turkey and publish the whole thing and take a humanitarian victory lap. If I was the blockade running country, I would spring to have bags printed at the destination ports (like USAID does) that say something like “this grain was brought past Russian blockades by me at mortal risk to avert famine in your country. As-salamu alaykum. Go with God. May we meet one day as friends… (P.S. I would value your warm recollections of this event and forbearance regarding my future military or political maneuvers that may trespass against you, or those that have in the past. Very truly yours, etc..)”
  3. Nice Punisher logo. It really makes things easy from a graphic design perspective when you can just use all the American/western graphics without worry because your populous has little access to outside media to realize you plagiarize as much as possible from the entity you blame all of your troubles on. I guess imitation and flattery, etc.
  4. Ukrainians erased a decent size convoy here:
  5. Lukashenko is not a smart man. This makes me believe Zeihan’s theory that the Russian/Belorussian schools really only do teach propaganda anymore.
  6. Exactly. The Montreux Convention doesn’t allow non-Black Sea navy’s ships with guns larger than 8” to pass (missiles are in dispute I think), and closes the strait to all non-Black Sea navy access during a conflict. We’re not sailing up the straight unless something really changes, that’s why Turkey’s navy needs to go get that grain, and tell Russia that firing on the Turkish escorted convoy will be an act of war and will trigger Article 5 of NATO. Then we could help defend Turkey, and they could maybe grant us access to the Bosphorus to aid in their defense (per my understanding) without breaking the Convention. We have a Carrier Strike Group in the western Med right now. If Russia shoots at the Turks or sinks a grain freighter under escort, (likely using their subs which all put to sea about a week ago) I would like to see someone sink that sub in retaliation. That said, “this business will get out of hand and we’ll be lucky to live through it”.
  7. If tyrants want to drive their own country into the dirt while staying within their borders and the citizenry are largely ok with it (no civil war), there isn’t a great track record of success at turning these situations around. (Russia, NK, Iraq, Taliban, Somalia, etc.) Also, when we interdict, half the world sees us at the tyrant. It’s tough.
  8. This guy got his whole day ruined:
  9. Repeated bitching about the quality of the cigarettes and use of the phrase “co-thieves” lends to the credibility of author.
  10. The EU is serious about using the oligarch money and the frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. I do think it would be kind of fun to have a charity auction in Monte Carlo of all the oligarch yachts, house furnishings, art, etc., all proceeds tax deductible and go to Ukraine reconstruction. Play it up and guilt all the big money into coming like a big Met Gala, but for a good cause. (Rimshot) On a serious note, it’s really hard to know how much residual value those yachts have. I mean, who wants to own Putin’s yacht while he’s still alive. GRU could repo it from you on the high seas and park it in Polyarny. “Our lawyers are working intensively on finding possible ways of using frozen assets of the oligarchs for the rebuilding of Ukraine. I think Russia should also make its contribution," https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-exploring-using-oligarchs-frozen-assets-rebuild-ukraine-von-der-leyen-2022-05-19/
  11. Nice turret pop here:
  12. This guy is an asshole, but his assessment of the situation seems accurate and informed. He seems more adversarial towards the west than Putin, don’t know if that’s a role he’s playing for Putin’s political theater or if he’s a lunatic politically and a realist militarily or what.
  13. Turkey needs to grow some balls and escort the freighters to get that grain. They and their neighbors are going to need it. Play the politics right and they’ll be the hero that saved the Islamic world, and the third world, from famine.
  14. Hopefully not, as that might be effective to a degree. I was hoping they were an aluminum extrusion of some sort that shrapnel would go right through.
  15. Some aftermath footage at the big failed water crossing: http://
  16. Orcs still tying anything they can find to their trucks. I think the cruved piece maybe a screen from a combine, I can’t figure out what the black things are. http://
  17. Yeah, at first blush, it’s not a morale booster for the troops that leadership might have slipped out. But, if the troops know any leadership elements are going straight to a GRU torture chamber for information extraction followed potentially by summary execution, I’d want my leadership gone before the GRU gets something out of them that’s gets a bunch of my brothers KIA.
  18. Interesting if true. Maybe the Azov leadership decided to stay and go down with the ship or LOL if the Ukrainians got the leadership out the back door during the retreat. http://
  19. Good interview with a Georgian fighter in Ukraine, (the”You missed me, dickhead!”guy from several weeks back). Worth the read. “For Georgians, this is our chance to beat this evil empire here, where we have a chance to do so,” he says. “It’s that, or dying next in Georgia.” http:// https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-story-behind-the-viral-viking-soldier/
  20. Going to get more interesting if we move on from freezing to confiscation to dispersement of Russian foreign assets. http://
  21. Begun, the cancellations of Russian equipment orders have: http://
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