India Punchline
US narrative won’t survive defeat in Donbass (The US info warriors will try to get ahead on this, like accuse Russia of resorting to WMD because it was losing, the seeds of which have already been planted for some time.)M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service and former ambassador
https://www.indianpunchline.com/us-narrative-wont-survive-defeat-in-donbass/
Where the West is stuck: The fascism of the 1930s and the ‘fascism’ of the 2020s (longish and detailed. fascism = nationalism + populism + exceptionalism + oligarchy + narrative control + militarism + imperialism + moral derangement.)
Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog
http://thesaker.is/where-the-west-is-stuck-the-fascism-of-the-1930s-and-the-fascism-of-the-2020s/
A West-mandated Russian “default”: who wins and who loses? (Speculative but some interesting info, too.)
Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/the-rules-based-order-knows-no-distance.html
EU Commission, U.S. Submit To Reality
US blocks initiatives to verify Biological Weapons Convention - Russian Defense Ministry
https://tass.com/defense/1442039
Russian Defense Ministry reports drone chemical attack on Russian troops in Ukraine
A West-mandated Russian “default”: who wins and who loses? (Speculative but some interesting info, too.)
Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog
http://thesaker.is/a-west-mandated-russian-default-who-wins-and-who-loses/
Moon of Alabama
The 'Rules Based Order' Knows No Distancehttps://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/the-rules-based-order-knows-no-distance.html
EU Commission, U.S. Submit To Reality
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/eu-commission-us-submit-to-reality-.html
TASS (Russian state media)
US prepares provocations to accuse Russia of using tactical nuclear weapons
https://tass.com/defense/1442031
Staged use of mass destruction weapons aimed at Russia’s isolation - Defense Ministry
US prepares provocations to accuse Russia of using tactical nuclear weapons
https://tass.com/defense/1442031
Staged use of mass destruction weapons aimed at Russia’s isolation - Defense Ministry
https://tass.com/defense/1442033
https://tass.com/world/1442059
https://tass.com/defense/1442039
Russian Defense Ministry reports drone chemical attack on Russian troops in Ukraine
https://tass.com/defense/1442035
https://tass.com/world/1442057
Sputnik International (Russian state-sponsored media)
US Has Moved on to WMD Provocations After Economic Pressure Against Russia Failed, Zakharova Says (USD/RUB now trading in the mid-70s)
Caitlin Johnstone
The Geopolitics
Changing Course: Yoon Suk-yeol and the New North Korea Policy (Yoon is a hardliner. Expect sparks.)
Southfront (sanctioned by the US Treasury Department)
Internationist 360º
From Volnovakha to Mariupol: Liberated Donbass Cities Are Coming Back to Life
US Has Moved on to WMD Provocations After Economic Pressure Against Russia Failed, Zakharova Says (USD/RUB now trading in the mid-70s)
https://sputniknews.com/20220423/us-has-moved-on-to-wmd-provocations-after-economic-pressure-against-russia-failed-zakharova-says-1094994876.html
CaitlinJohnstone.com
Please Use My Writings And Quotes, With Or Without Attribution (gift-based model, aka "gift economy," which was the first economic structure, as David Graeber pointed out in Debt) Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/04/23/please-use-my-writings-and-quotes-with-or-without-attribution/
Changing Course: Yoon Suk-yeol and the New North Korea Policy (Yoon is a hardliner. Expect sparks.)
Gagan Hitkari
https://thegeopolitics.com/changing-course-yoon-suk-yeol-and-the-new-north-korea-policy/
Consortium News
EARTH DAY: Activists Block Newspapers Over Climate Coverage (narrative control)
RT — Question More (Russian state-sponsored media)
US warns China about Pacific base
https://www.rt.com/news/554368-us-respond-china-solomon
EARTH DAY: Activists Block Newspapers Over Climate Coverage (narrative control)
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/04/22/activists-block-newspapers-over-climate-coverage/
US Imposes Flawed Food System on the World (industrial model of agriculture)
Jim Goodman, Common Dreams
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/04/23/us-imposes-flawed-food-system-on-the-world/
Covert Action Magazine
U.S. Media Are Lying About Russian Atrocities in Mariupol, Says Embedded Reporter at Ground Zero (
Zero Hedge
Macron Claims Banning Islamic Veil Would Spark "Civil War" In France
Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News
U.S. Media Are Lying About Russian Atrocities in Mariupol, Says Embedded Reporter at Ground Zero (
Sonja Van den Ende, Dutch independent journalist (She has a YouTube channel. Not the greatest post. For interviews see also Patrick Lancaster on YouTube. They are among the few reporting from the front.)
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/04/23/u-s-media-are-lying-about-russian-atrocities-in-mariupol-says-embedded-reporter-at-ground-zero/
One World
It’s Fifth Generation Warfare To Falsely Describe Imran Khan As Fascist ("Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW), which can also be described as Hybrid Warfare, generally refers to the non-kinetic/non-military means that are employed by a foreign state to destabilize a targeted one." Regime change is less costly than kinetic warfare and leaves infrastructure in place after a takeover.)
https://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=2774
The ONLY Way That Global Warming MIGHT Be Able To Be Stopped (attack the problem at the root, financial capitalism, although Korybko does not use that terminology).
https://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=2773
Andrew Korybko, American geopolitical analyst and independent journalist based in Moscow, and member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People’s Friendship University of Russia
Macron Claims Banning Islamic Veil Would Spark "Civil War" In France
Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/macron-claims-banning-islamic-veil-would-spark-civil-war-france
US warns China about Pacific base
https://www.rt.com/news/554368-us-respond-china-solomon
Southfront (sanctioned by the US Treasury Department)
https://southfront.org/poland-preparing-for-war/
From Volnovakha to Mariupol: Liberated Donbass Cities Are Coming Back to Life
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/04/22/from-volnovakha-to-mariupol-liberated-donbass-cities-are-coming-back-to-life/
Strategic Culture Foundation
The Moskva Riddle (SCF is not available through normal channels. So here is a hard copy.)
Get ready: something lethally “asymmetrical” may be about to pop up.
Neither NATO nor Russia is telling us what really happened with the Moskva, the legendary admiral ship of the Black Sea fleet.
NATO because in theory, they know. Moscow, for its part, made it clear they are not saying anything until they can be sure what happened.
One thing is certain. If the Russian Ministry of Defense finds out that NATO did it, they will let loose all the dogs from Hell on NATO, as in “asymmetrical, lethal and fast”.
On Moskva’s location: it was positioned near one of 3 drilling rigs, used for monitoring a whole sector of the Black Sea with hydrophones and NEVA-BS radar, the most westward one, BK-2 Odessa, approximately 66 km northeast from Snake Island. The whole thing was integrated in the regional monitoring systems. As in everything, literally, was monitored: ships, low flying targets, smaller echoes, even the bobbing head of an unsuspecting swimmer.
So there was a quite slim chance that anything – not to mention subsonic Neptune missiles and Bayraktar drones – could have slipped through this aerial net.
So what could have possibly happened?
It could have been some kind of underwater drone, released either from some sneaky sub, or by a SBS team, coming from the western coast, with a stopover at Snake Island. Then that drone somehow managed to drill itself through the Moskva’s hull from below – and exploded its payload inside.
What follows comes from a top source in Brussels: serious, trustworthy, proven record spanning nearly two decades. Yet he may be just spreading disinformation. Or bragging. Or that may be rock solid intel.
Before we start, we should point out it’s hard to believe the Neptune/Bayraktar fairytale angle. After all, as we’ve seen, the Russian fleet had established a multidimensional surveillance/defense layer in the direction of Odessa.
The Moskva was near Odessa, closer to Romania. A year ago, the source maintains, a new phased array locator was installed on it: the illumination range is 500 km. According to the standard Ukrainian narrative, first the Moskva was hit by a drone, and the locators and antennas were smashed. The Moskva was half blind.
Then – according to the Ukrainian narrative – they launched two Neptune cruise missiles from the shore. Guidance was carried out by NATO’s Orion, which was hanging over Romania. The missiles zoomed in on the ship with the homing heads turned off, so that the radiation beam would not be detected.
So we have guidance by NATO’s Orion, transmitting the exact coordinates, leading to two hits, and subsequent detonation of ammunition (that’s the part acknowledged by the Russian Ministry of Defense).
A strategic hit
The Moskva was on combat duty 100-120 km away from Odessa – controlling the airspace within a radius of 250-300 km. So in fact it was ensuring the overlap of the southern half of Moldova, the space from Izmail to Odessa and part of Romania (including the port of Constanta).
Its positioning could not be more strategic. Moskva was interfering with NATO’s covert transfer of military aircraft (helicopters and fighter jets) from Romania to Ukraine. It was being watched 24/7. NATO air reconnaissance was totally on it.
As the Moskva “killer”, NATO may have not chosen the Neptune, as spread by Ukrainian propaganda; the source points to the fifth-generation NSM PKR (Naval Strike Missile, with a range of 185 km, developed by Norway and the Americans.)
He describes the NSM as “able to reach the target along a programmed route thanks to the GPS-adjusted INS, independently find the target by flying up to it at an altitude of 3-5 meters. When reaching the target, the NSM maneuvers and deploys electronic interference. A highly sensitive thermal imager is used as a homing system, which independently determines the most vulnerable places of the target ship.”
As a direct consequence of hitting the Moskva, NATO managed to reopen an air corridor for the transfer of aircraft to the airfields of Chernivtsi, Transcarpathian and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
In parallel, after the destruction of the Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet, according to the source, “no longer seems to have a ship equipped with a long-range anti-aircraft missile system”. Of course a three-band radar Sky-M system remains in play in Crimea, capable of tracking all air targets at a range of up to 600 km. One wonders whether this is enough for all Russian purposes.
So what do we really have here? Fantasy or reality? There was only one way to know.
I ran the info past the inestimable Andrei Martyanov, who knew the Moskva “as Slava in 1981 when she was afloat in the Northern Bay of Sevastopol and my class which was at first summer practice on board of old cruiser Dzerzhinsky was given an extensive introduction to her. So, she was an old lady and it is too bad that she had to finish her long life this way and at this time.”
Martyanov, once again, was the consummate professional, stressing no one, at this stage, really knows what happened. But he made some crucial points: “Per NSM (if we accept this version), even with its Low Observability and GPS guidance under normal (that is sea up to state 5-6) and normal radio-permeability, even the Moskva’s old frigate radar would have seen those missiles in distances of tens of kilometers, somewhere between 15-20 for sure. NSM, as any NATO anti-shipping missile, are subsonic, with their velocity roughly 300 meters per second. That leaves, even in a 15 kilometer range, 45 seconds to detect track and develop a firing solution for whatever ‘on duty’ AD complex. More than enough reaction time.”
Martyanov also stresses, “it is impossible to hide the external impact of the anti-shipping missile – one will immediately know what hit the ship. Moreover, to hit and sink such a target as the Moskva one has to launch a salvo and not only two missiles, likely 3-4 at least. In this case, Russia would know who attacked Moskva. Does NATO know? I am positive this event has NATO written all over it, if it is not an internal sabotage which absolutely cannot be excluded at this stage. I am sure if Nebo was operational it would have seen the salvo.”
Which brings us to the inevitable clincher: “If NATO was involved, I am sure we will see some retaliation, after all, as I am on record all the time, US bases in Middle East and elsewhere are nothing more than fat prestigious targets.”
So get ready: something lethally “asymmetrical” may be about to pop up.
10 comments:
It was an iceberg.
Bermuda Triangle.’ Rust in the bottom.
Increase in Op tempo creates more dangerous conditions.. accidents etc…
A few chemical facilities back towards Moscow also had fires this week…
War is dangerous…
Ship looked pretty old…
What's really strange is Turkey attacked Northern Iraq and nobody said a word.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GeorgeSzamuely/status/1517126162639724544?cxt=HHwWgIC9uZ6N9Y0qAAAA
So are Russia expecting something to happen in Syria?
A NATO three-carrier battle group is in the Eastern Med, France has moved airborne anti-submarine assets to Crete, the RAF reinforced their detachment in Cyprus. And now Turkey has closed its airspace for Russian military planes, making rapid reinforcement (or evacuation) de-facto impossible. And Turkey has also entered Northern Iraq, closing a potential route via Iran.
That would start world war 3. Escalate very quickly.
What are you saying?
False flag being prepared in the Middle East?
Mabeyees aye, Mabeyees naw
Just saying do you not think it is strange that Turkey attacked another NATO country Northern Iraq and nobody said a word ?
Where's the outcry, the sanctions, the cancellation of the country and the triggering of Article 4&5 of the NATO charter. The shock and awe of missiles raining down on Istanbul?
No weirder than the MSM's neglect of the war in Yemen.
Iraq is in NATO?
As much as Ukraine was already unofficially a member.
Iraq is one of a range of countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area – often referred to as "partners across the globe" – with which NATO is developing relations.
Relations with Iraq build on cooperation that developed through the NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I) from 2004 to 2011, during which 15,000 Iraqi officers were trained.
In 2011, NATO agreed to grant Iraq partner status and a jointly agreed Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme was signed in September 2012, providing a framework for political dialogue and tailored cooperation.
At the 2014 NATO Summit, Allied leaders expressed readiness to consider undertaking measures with Iraq in the framework of NATO’s Defence and Related Security Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative.
At the request of the Iraqi government, NATO agreed in July 2015 on a package of defence capacity building measures to provide assistance in a number of priority areas where NATO could provide added value. The first phase of out-of-country training was launched in April 2016, with a ‘train-the-trainers’ course provided to 350 Iraqi officers in Jordan.
At the 2016 NATO Summit, Allied leaders decided to provide direct support to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS/Daesh with NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft. They also agreed to provide a training and capacity-building effort within Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government.
In January 2017, a small Core Team of NATO civilian and military personnel was established in Baghdad to coordinate training and capacity-building activities in support of Iraqi security forces and institutions. Mobile security sector reform teams began to travel to Iraq to conduct training.
In May 2017, NATO became a full member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS/Daesh, in which all individual Allies were already taking part.
NATO commended Iraqi security forces for defeating ISIS in Iraq and restoring sovereign control over all of its territory in late 2017.
At the Brussels Summit in July 2018, Allied leaders launched a non-combat training and capacity-building mission in Iraq, in response to a request from the government of Iraq to scale up training and advising efforts. NATO Mission Iraq is providing additional support to Iraq’s efforts to stabilise the country and fight terrorism.
NATO Allies remain committed to their partnership with Iraq. Due to the security situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO Mission Iraq had to temporarily suspend some activities and relocate some personnel in spring 2020. However, the mission has now rebuilt its capacity in Baghdad and – in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS – is planning for NATO’s future expanded engagement.
In February 2021, in line with a request from the Iraqi government, Allied defence ministers decided to increase the size of NATO Mission Iraq and to expand training activities to include more Iraqi security institutions, and areas beyond Baghdad.
Turkey is in NATO, a bit more officially.
re the Moskva, couldn't it just be simple incompetence? The grunt manning the warning radar was on a 12 shift and fell asleep or had to take a shit? 45 second notice isn't much time if you were caught off guard.
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