Among the suggestions for action by Ukraine’s western allies – at which they would probably baulk – are “missile strikes on the production plants of these UAVs in Iran, Syria, as well as on a potential production site in the Russian federation”.

The document goes on: “The above may be carried out by the Ukrainian defence forces if partners provide the necessary means of destruction.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/27/revealed-europes-role-in-the-making-of-russia-killer-drones

Ukraine is pressuring the west to launch missile strikes on Syria and Iran, and say they will do it themselves if given the missiles. This isn't "Russian disinfo" its in a fucking Guardian article, and they have documents proving these conversations happening between Ukraine and western governments.

Ukraine is freaking off the rails. They want to open up a front against fucking Iran? How do they think this goes for them?

#Brandonomics

Well I think I can say the writing is kinda on the wall for Ukraine.And if this ends they way I think it might end, can libs finally digest and realize, just what a cluster fuck they call a government, in Ukraine? All the weaponry and money sent, and they still got 4 oblasts and untold number of people, they’re own people, fucking slaughterer for fucking nato membership??? They broke 2 Minsk accords to become a fail state? Letting Nazis run your military and 9 years later, Crimea is still Russian.

Biden went to the picket line and now libs are talking about how he's the most pro-union president ever while saying that the railroad strike ended with him giving the union what they wanted. It really is easy to entertain clapping seals with the smallest gestures.

FUCK I HATE IT when I applaud nazis by ACCIDENT

The "partisan who fought the communists" was a Nazi, Jason. A fucking Nazi.

Amazingly The Economist is finally admitting the obvious about Ukraine's counteroffensive.

The war in Ukraine has repeatedly confounded expectations. It is now doing so again. The counter-offensive that began in June was based on the hope that Ukrainian soldiers, equipped with modern Western weapons and after training in Germany, would recapture enough territory to put their leaders in a strong position at any subsequent negotiations.

This plan is not working. Despite heroic efforts and breaches of Russian defences near Robotyne, Ukraine has liberated less than 0.25% of the territory that Russia occupied in June. The 1,000km front line has barely shifted. Ukraine’s army could still make a breakthrough in the coming weeks, triggering the collapse of brittle Russian forces. But on the evidence of the past three months, it would be a mistake to bank on that.

Granted, the article goes on to advocate for turning Ukraine into a fortress state with a robust war economy so it can throw infinite Ukrainians into the meat grinder of a long war of attrition that will beat Russia if we all believe hard enough, but it's interesting to see the mainstream press begin to look down the barrel of Ukraine's clear failure here.

https://www.politico.eu/article/why-the-slovak-election-doesnt-really-matter/

Love how mask-off the imperialists are here. 'Your election outcome doesn't actually matter, even if the anti-Ukraine left populist wins, because Slovakia already emptied its arsenals and public funds into Ukraine. It's too late. People of Slovakia you've been looted and there's nothing you can do about it. We've already squeezed you dry like a lemon and you have no more juice, into the trash you go"

To anyone else living in America, do you ever become 1% more Maoist when you have to socialize with other Americans?

did the yankees ever find their runaway f-35 btw?

With all this talk about Nazis I was reminded of the worst article I have ever read. The (so-far) undisputed crown of dipshittery. The take to which all other bad takes aspire.

Re-reading it now, it still makes me feel physically ill.

Mariupol Could Be the Thermopylae of the 21st Century, April 21st, 2022.

In more positive news: some Chinese and Russian universities have established a joint architectural program, and in celebration, have made a giant model of the formerly planned Palace of the Soviets

There is a book called Waffen-SS im Einsatz (Waffen-SS in Action), published in West Germany in the 50s - this is pure Nazi apologia. The DDR in response published SS im Einsatz, which details the war crimes of the SS with documents and witness accounts in 600 pages. I have this book on my shelf.

The last chapter is titled: "The rehabilitation of the SS and its incorporation into the West German NATO armed forces" I started reading it and it gives us details as to what happed to Waffen-SS officers who stayed in West-Germany.

Kurt Meyer, an SS brigadeführer and commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", was sentenced to death in 1947 for the murder of Canadian prisoners of war. His sentence was later commuted to 20 years in prison, and he was released before the end of his sentence. He received compensation of 4,800 marks for his "suffered" imprisonment.

This was from the book.

Next I'm going to paraphrase wikipedia:

In early 1943, Meyer's reconnaissance battalion participated in the Third Battle of Kharkov. He reportedly ordered the destruction of a village during the fighting around Kharkov and the murder of all its inhabitants.

On 12 February, LSSAH troops had occupied two villages: Yefremovka and Semyonovka. Retreating Soviet forces had wounded two SS officers. In retaliation, LSSAH troops killed 872 men, women and children five days later; about 240 were burned alive in the church in Yefremovka.

The Ardenne Abbey massacre occurred during the Battle of Normandy at the Ardenne Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, near Caen, France. In June 1944, 20 Canadian soldiers were massacred in a garden at the abbey by members of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend over the course of several days and weeks. This was part of the Normandy Massacres, a series of scattered killings during which up to 156 Canadian prisoners of war were murdered by soldiers of the 12th SS Panzer Division during the Battle of Normandy. The perpetrators of the massacre, members of the 12th SS Panzer Division, were known for their fanaticism, the majority having been drawn from the Hitlerjugend or Hitler Youth.

Meyer petitioned for clemency in late 1950, offering to serve in a Canadian or United Nations military force if released. At the time, the new West German government was seeking the release of German war criminals incarcerated in Allied prisons, and the Canadian and other western Allied governments were looking to gain West German support for NATO to oppose possible Soviet aggression in Europe. The Canadian government was willing to let him return to a German prison, but not release him outright; he was transferred to a British military prison in Werl, West Germany, in 1951. Meyer was released from prison on 7 September 1954, after the Canadian government approved a reduction of his sentence to fourteen years. When he returned to Germany in 1951, he told a reporter that nationalism was past and that "a united Europe is now the only answer".

Regardless of his claims, Meyer always remained a covert, steadfast adherent of Nazism.

Meyer experienced poor health later in life, with heart and kidney disease and requiring the use of a cane. After a series of mild strokes, he died of a heart attack in Hagen, Westphalia, on 23 December 1961. Fifteen thousand people attended his funeral in Hagen, with the customary cushion-bearer carrying his medals in the cortege.

the entire west is filled with crackers jumping at every opportunity to defend literal nazis and there's almost nothing I can do about it

Back in Beirut today after 10 days in Syria, I definitely have lots to say, but give me a few days.

On a completely unrelated note, I was reading the news on Twitter today and saw some guy make an interesting point that I dismissed as cope, but made a lot of sense when i thought about it. Since the start of the war in Feb 2022, Russia with its regular troops has only committed to one single major offensive, which started in Feb 2022 when troops crossed the border and ended in the southern direction after the capture of Mariupol, then ended in the east with the capture of Lysychansk in July 2022. Then they went into a transitional phase from attack to defence, which was uncoordinated and chaotic, and then led to the Sep-Nov 2022 period of Ls for Russia. After Surovikin's undoubtedly correct decision in withdrawing from Kherson in November, regular Russian troops have not gone on a large offensive in any sector and have committed to a clear defensive organisation. Wagner was the only Russian side making territorial gains during that period, but that operation also had Russian regular troops in only defensive positions on the flanks.

Ukraine on the other hand have started two and a half major offensives since July 2022. They started shifting from defence to attack around that period, and went on the first real offensive in Sep-Oct 2022, which lasted around 2 months and was successful. They also had a big offensive in Kherson starting from Aug 2022 and ending in Nov 2022, but that offensive didn't have any western toys, and the commitment wasn't big enough to call it a major offensive. They got mostly mauled in Kherson, and only reached their objectives when Surovikin ordered the retreat due to the river conditions. The third counter-offensive finally came three months ago, which is the current disaster around Orikhiv. So in 580 days or so, Russia have only gone on the offensive once in the first months of the war, then committed to almost pure defence. Ukraine have gone on the offensive two and a halv times in around 13 months.

Looking at this, it's easy to see why optimism is slowly rising on the pro-Russia side. All the mobilised dudes have been getting high level training for a year now, assualt troops have been chilling for over a year, and Russian rear logistics finally seem fixed as well. Ukraine have burnt through their best men and equipment in random fields in Zaporozhye, with their offensive potential now drastically reduced for at least a year. I don't believe that Russia will begin an offensive any time soon like most Pro-Russian media are hyping right now, but the potential is surely there now when Ukraine has to transition from attack to defence and Russia having the potential to active at least 2-3 dead fronts.

Tanzania: five million birds killed to protect rice fields

A total of five million Quelea Quelea, small red-billed birds, have been exterminated in Tanzania to protect rice fields, notably using drones, the national plant and pesticide monitoring agency said on Wednesday.

I don't care if it's electoral politics. Pulling the fire alarm in Congress so you can delay a vote is funny and cool. Shout out to Jamaal Bowman. Anyone saying he should be disciplined is a fucking loser.

Stores in bougie part of city get BTFO by a large number of based looters.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/following-american-money-in-ukraine-60-minutes

60 MINUTES OVERTIME In Ukraine, U.S. tax dollars are funding more than just military aid

As the war in Ukraine grinds toward its third year, America has provided more than $70 billion in aid, with billions going not just toward the military, but also to help farmers, subsidize small businesses and pay the country's first responders.

The bulk of America's contribution to Ukraine has gone toward military aid. American rocket launchers are now reaching deep into Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

The war has also impacted Ukraine's financial standing, with the country's economy contracting by an estimated 31% last year, according to the United States Agency for International Development.

The U.S. government is subsidizing small businesses in Ukraine, including Tatiana Abramova's knitwear company, to keep them afloat.

American officials from USAID helped Abramova find new customers overseas. In the midst of war, her company is supporting over 70 families.

The U.S. government has also bought seeds and fertilizer for Ukrainian farmers. America is covering the salaries of Ukraine's first responders, all 57,000 of them.

A report from the Pentagon's Inspector General last year found the U.S. government was unable to monitor weapons transfers in the early months of the war, in part because the American embassy's staff was evacuated. Criminal groups in Ukraine stole some weapons and equipment from the country's military, though they were later recovered by Ukrainian intelligence services.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was recently in Kyiv, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Lindsey Graham, to monitor the situation.

"We have to have confidence that the dollars we're spending are actually being spent in defense of the nation," Warren said. "All of that is important. But that's why we're here."

The senators, and other U.S. officials, told 60 Minutes there have been no substantiated cases of American weapons being diverted.

Americans face their own financial challenges and many question if the country should be sending so much money overseas. Sen. Graham feels it's some of the best money the U.S. has ever spent.

"Here's what we've gotten for our investment. We haven't lost one soldier. We reduced the combat power of the Russian army by 50%, and not one of us has died in that endeavor," Graham said. "This is a great deal for America."

The outcome of the war may be decided by America's willingness to keep paying. Lieutenant Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a father of two who enlisted on the day Russia invaded Ukraine, pointed to the cost for Ukrainians.

"Ukrainians pay with their lives," he said. "And I believe and I hope that their lives cost much more than money, much more than taxpayers' money."

Russian crude exports increase 50% despite sanctions

The European Union, G7 countries and Australia introduced a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian oil in last December, aiming to curb Russia’s ability to finance the conflict in Ukraine. However, Russian oil revenues are likely to increase due to constant increases in crude prices and a reduction in the discount on its own oil, the FT report said, citing Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) estimates.

Almost three-quarters of all the seaborne Russian crude flows travelled without western insurance in August, according to an analysis of shipping and insurance records by the Financial Times.

"But you need our insurance to do anything! We're the financial powerhouse of the planet! You can't just transport it without us! Obey the oil price cap!"

Russia cut its seaborne diesel and gasoil exports by nearly 30% to about 1.7 million metric tons in the first 20 days of September from the same time in August. Russia’s temporary ban on exports of gasoline and diesel to most countries, announced last week, was expected to further tighten supplies.

Moscow has found new markets for its oil despite sanctions imposed by G7 countries since the start of the war in Ukraine. The world’s third largest oil exporter, Russia has rerouted most of its oil to China, India and Turkey over the past year, and has also sent cargoes to countries including Brazil, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

(archived) https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/09/22/gao-blasts-contractor-led-f-35-maintenance-as-costly-slow/

GAO blasts contractor-led F-35 maintenance as costly, slow

lots of amazing bits about the F-35 here. I think the "only 55% mission-capable" figure was posted earlier, so I'll focus on some of the other stuff

The backlog of broken spare parts that need fixed has more than doubled since spring 2019, GAO said, from 4,300 to more than 10,000.

It now takes an average of 141 days to repair a broken spare part — far above the F-35 program’s goal of 60 days — and nearly three-quarters of those parts are sent back to the original equipment manufacturer for repair.

Rather than wait nearly five months for a repaired part, GAO said the F-35 Joint Program Office often buys new parts at a higher cost.

holy fucking shit this is literally just a Danger 5 bit

Pentagon officials do not think it’s a sustainable strategy.

yeah no fucking shit, buying an entirely new part every time there's a problem is literally antithetical to the very concept of maintenance

Maintainers told GAO they often can’t do their jobs because they don’t have enough parts or don’t know when they will receive spares. The maintainers identified Lockheed Martin’s supply chain process as the cause. One installation has resorted to “workarounds” to keep F-35s flying with broken sensors when they’re waiting for replacement parts to be delivered, GAO said, but this degrades the jet’s ability to fully carry out its mission.

At some installations, it is common practice for squadrons to borrow support equipment from other squadrons. But when an F-35 squadron deploys and takes most of the installation’s support equipment, that leaves the remaining squadrons “scrambling” to find equipment to maintain the remaining jets. That support equipment frequently breaks, GAO said, and because it is proprietary, contractors must come in to fix it — a process that can take months.

In the last few years, the F-35 program has grown to conclude it can’t afford the current strategy of contractor-led sustainment of the jet.

in any serious country, the phrase "contractor-led sustainment" being mentioned in the context of one of your most strategically important pieces of equipment would be cause for the immediate sacking of a bunch of officials, like how can you leave your national security in the hands of contractors?

Decisions made at the dawn of the F-35 are also coming back to haunt it — particularly the Pentagon’s early decision not to obtain technical data on the fighter from Lockheed Martin, and the considerable amount of concurrency in the program.

Concurrency refers to when a program’s development, testing, production and fielding phases overlap. In the case of the F-35 program, the jet has continued to undergo testing and refinement for more than a decade after the first lot was built and delivered to the U.S. military and international customers.

AAA game development applied to military hardware - just release it a broken mess and patch it afterwards, what could go wrong

There are now at least 14 different versions of the F-35 undergoing work at depots, officials at several locations told GAO.

You know who did this before? The Nazis: "when going through the Tiger reference bible, there were enough changes made during the production cycle that on average, every 6th tank was in some way different to the previous ones". It's like Western countries looked at WW2 German production and decided "this is actually pretty good" and made EVERYTHING into a fucking Tiger tank. The F-35 is the Tiger of planes, those Zumwalt-class destroyers are the Tigers of ships, the PzH 2000 is the Tiger of self-propelled artillery, and so on...

When the F-35 program began, GAO said, the Pentagon thought it would be more cost-effective to have contractors handle the bulk of the jet’s sustainment.

WHY WOULD YOU EVER THINK THAT?! complete "capitalist efficiency" brain, "surely a big government institution like the military couldn't do things efficiently enough"

The acquisition philosophy in vogue at the time of the F-35 program’s launch two decades ago, dubbed Total System Performance, meant the contractor on the program would own it for the system’s entire life cycle

FUCKING WHAT? YOU DON'T EVEN FUCKING OWN THE PLANE

now this is modern media distribution applied to military hardware, where you don't actually own anything but only get to rent a digital copy of it, until the streaming service decides to just get rid of like half the content because they can't be bothered with licensing fees or whatever

Officials at an unidentified depot told GAO that maintenance manuals for some key parts are “ambiguous and rarely are detailed enough for depot personnel to make the repair.” “As a result, depot personnel not only cannot fix the part, but they cannot learn and understand how to fix the part,” the watchdog wrote. ... Training personnel acknowledged to GAO the maintenance training is “poor and inadequate,” adding that because Lockheed Martin runs the training, the firm controls what information is presented to maintainers.

don't you even think about fixing this on your own - that's a violation of our intellectual rights. Fucking John Deere tractor-ass plane

But at one location, F-35 maintainers told GAO that “they have access to so little technical information on the aircraft that they do not fully understand the aircraft or how to troubleshoot common problems.”

using military equipment that your guys don't even fully understand, surely nothing could go wrong

this is particularly funny in light of the news about the F-35 that kept flying on autopilot after the guy ejected - maybe the Air Force genuinely didn't know that something like this could happen, since they straight up don't fully understand how the system works

In one case, maintainers told the watchdog, a unit that had trouble with an F-35′s ejection seat had to transport a contractor by helicopter to a ship to fix the part.

HOLY SHIT LITERALLY THE NEXT LINE

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said the U.S. presidential race has devolved into a contest among candidates trying to outdo each other in "atrocities."

During a daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador said: "As the elections loom in the United States, there is a kind of contest to see who says the most atrocities, who is the most brazen in threatening Mexico, in blaming Mexico ... that is what is happening in the United States."

The president chalked it up to electioneering and called on the Hispanic community to disregard the rhetoric. "So what should we do? Well, not take these statements seriously, they are nonsense," he said. Lopez Obrador urged Mexicans residing in the United States to not vote for candidates who speak ill of migrants or support anti-immigrant policies.

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo was re-hired by Ukrainian propagandists shortly after being fired for threatening to hunt down and kill "pro-russian propagandists" throughout the world. She's the fash spokeswoman who can't contain her smile as she makes threats against Russian civilians. She probably will be re-fired because she just got pranked by Russians pretending to be Poroshenko (guess who lmaoooo, how do they keep falling for this?). In said prank call she dropped some insane fascist ramblings, but one thing was interesting is that she nearly confirms my theory that JD Vance got her fired while Zelenskyy was in DC.

Admits decision to fire Cirillo was “political” and came “the highest level” — so high that it didn’t come from Ukraine itself but “New York.”

Not New York, but Ohio lmaoooo

https://www.vance.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-vance-raises-concerns-over-conduct-of-purported-spokesperson-for-the-ukrainian-military/

https://eprimefeed.com/latest-news/sarah-ashton-cirillo-the-spokesperson-for-the-armed-forces-of-ukraine-who-was-fired-for-monstrous-calls-came-to-light/385240/

Some fun fash ramblings that were captured in the phone call:

https://twitter.com/wyattreed13/status/1707004495824027818

Italy: Meloni admits she hoped to do ‘better’ on migration as numbers skyrocket

When the Italian Prime Minister’s far-right party was elected last year, they promised to reduce mass immigration to the country - but the number of people arriving on boats from North Africa has nearly doubled in just one year.

Honestly, I wonder if European fascism even has the energy to differ significantly from neoliberalism when they're actually in office (versus their rhetoric about what they'd change beforehand). I feel like they just get into office and just do what the liberals were already doing, faster, but make sure to blame minorities for the bad effects of those actions.

In the same way, I don't really think that a "competent fascist" is on the horizon after Trump like so many people (including myself) warned. Or, rather, Biden is the competent fascist. Fascists that want to do Nazi-era blood and soil shit with death camps and all that in the 21st century have to contend with a system entirely penetrated by financial parasites and a ever-decreasing ability to build new things that don't directly benefit the top 50 richest people in the country.

Trying to do Hitler-esque fascism in a financial capitalist environment (as opposed to the industrial capitalism of the early 20th century) just doesn't really seem to work very well, though I guess we still have a number of decades before Western hegemony has fully collapsed for manmade horrors beyond our comprehension to emerge.