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US Foreign Policy 3.0: We're The Mets of International Diplomacy

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Kepler said:
Wagner bugs out.
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Prigozhin might be faced with another tough choice soon:

VTuPskE.jpg
 
If there was anybody left in Bakhmut, well... there isn't anymore.

(Warning: this isn't nice.)

This is allegedly shot from the ground. Phosphorus incendiaries, which are against international law.

The area in the footage is residential high rises with several schools. Hopefully it had all been evacuated a long time ago.

FvY1zncakAAA7Yt
 
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I've seen a couple sources remind people that it's not white phosphorus they're using. Different incendiary compound. Still not good.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
I've seen a couple sources remind people that it's not white phosphorus they're using. Different incendiary compound. Still not good.
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OK, thank you.

I guess the rules are you can't use it on a civilian population because there is no conceivable reason why you would other than terror -- it exists to burn off tree cover and expose positions.
 
Kepler said:
OK, thank you.

I guess the rules are you can't use it on a civilian population because there is no conceivable reason why you would other than terror -- it exists to burn off tree cover and expose positions.
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Well, BBC says that Russia was accused of white phosphorus weapons. So I guess who knows.

the problem is, white phosphorus is but one of dozens of incendiary weapons.
 
Yeah….read up on the US bombing campaigns in WW2. Napalm exists because it was the best formulation (devised by Harvard chemists, no less) for creating conflagration in replica cities that they assembled using authentic Japanese construction techniques.
 
LynahFan said:
Yeah….read up on the US bombing campaigns in WW2. Napalm exists because it was the best formulation (devised by Harvard chemists, no less) for creating conflagration in replica cities that they assembled using authentic Japanese construction techniques.
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I thought Illinois-Champaign and Dow Chemical brought us that little crime against humanity.
 
Kepler said:
I thought Illinois-Champaign and Dow Chemical brought us that little crime against humanity.
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Dow was famous for producing it during Vietnam, but they didn’t develop it. According to wiki, napalm was first tested in a field next to the Harvard Business School. <obligatory joke that they only missed by thiiiiiiis much>
 
Getting very weird in Ukraine. Wagner and the far right are claiming Ukraine is overrunning former Russian positions and that the Russian regular army retreated in rout. Note: none of those actors are to be trusted, but it appears that there is an ultra-right fringe who now has put their money behind portraying the Russian army as collapsing, either to force Putin to purge the high command or to unravel the military-political control of the state and prepare for a coup.

This is funny... when it happens in a non-nuclear state.

Note that every Russian in this scenario is a ratf-cker.
 
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I'm watching a live DW feed of coverage of the Ukrainian counteroffensive on India television, pitched across a Mexican repeater station. They have occasional shots from Ukrainian tank crews. As they attack they are playing... Rush.

The enemy is Russian, the crews are speaking Ukrainian, the DW pick up is in German, the captioning is in Hindi, the feed metadata is in Spanish, and the band is singing in English.

And yet, I'm pretty sure this is what Hugo Grotius had in mind.
 
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Good news, everyone.

Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in localized counterattacks near Bakhmut, prompting responses from Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD). Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Russian forces retreated up to two kilometers behind Russian lines in unspecified sectors of the Bakhmut front.[1] Syrskyi’s confirmation of Ukrainian gains prompted a response from Prigozhin, who claimed that Ukrainian forces have started the counteroffensive and recaptured three kilometers of ground in and around Bakhmut.[2] The Russian MoD acknowledged the Ukrainian counterattacks uncharacteristically quickly, claiming that Russian forces repelled eight ground attacks and three reconnaissance-in-force efforts in the Donetsk direction but denied reports that Ukrainian forces broke through the Russian defensive lines.[3] Prigozhin’s and the MoD’s responses are reflective of increased panic in the Russian information space over speculations about planned Ukrainian counteroffensives and indicate increased concern among Wagner and Russian MoD leadership as well as reflecting Kremlin guidance to avoid downplaying Ukrainian successes.[4]
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Also, somebody may want to avoid tea and windows.

Unnamed Kremlin sources claimed that Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin’s recent rhetoric is “seriously disturbing the top leadership” of Russia. Two Kremlin sources told Russian opposition outlet Meduza that the Kremlin saw Prigozhin’s attempts to blackmail the Russian MoD on May 5 as a “serious threat” and that Prigozhin is not acting in the Kremlin’s interests.[13] One interlocutor stated that Prigozhin is committed to claiming Bakhmut as a personal victory in order to have influence over the Russian MoD. The Kremlin reportedly expressed further concerns over Prigozhin’s May 9 mockery of the “happy grandfather” figure who is responsible for future Russian generations.[14] ISW assessed on May 9 that Prigozhin was likely referring to Putin, and a Kremlin source claims that Prigozhin’s statement was a direct allusion to Putin. The second interlocutor claimed that Prigozhin’s rhetoric cannot be interpreted as a “direct attack” on Putin, however. Prigozhin attempted on May 10 to downplay his original statements, claiming that the “happy grandfather” did not refer to Putin.[15] The sources noted that Prigozhin’s escalating behavior is likely a result of his inability to meet an unspecified deadline for the capture of Bakhmut. One source claimed that Prigozhin is blaming conventional units in order to avoid accepting responsibility for failing to follow through on his “personal promise” to capture Bakhmut.

The interlocutors noted that Prigozhin may have crossed the Kremlin’s “red lines” and may alienate his supporters within the Russian inner circle. Prigozhin reportedly is losing contact with one of his patrons, Russian billionaire and Putin’s “personal banker” Yuriy Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk was reportedly one of the leading voices supporting the full-scale invasion of Ukraine after developing a strong relationship with Putin during the Covid-19 pandemic.[16] The sources noted that Russian propagandists received a directive to discredit Prigozhin as a traitor if he continues to critique the Kremlin – an effort that has previously failed.[17] The sources assessed that Prigozhin is not at risk while Wagner is still on the frontline, which allows Prigozhin to have contact with Putin.
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Kepler said:
That was good news, though, because that dude was supposedly a stalking horse being used by Erdogan to split the opposition.

If polling is correct, Ionian Gandhi is gonna win, but it's hard to believe Erdogan will go peacefully.
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Much appreciate the insight, as I didn't know the full backstory of the candidates.
 
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