February 18, 2022

"The mess began last Friday, February 11th, when National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gave an address warning American citizens to evacuate Ukraine...."

"... American reporters began telling audiences a curiously detailed story about upcoming Russian invasion plans. PBS NewsHour’s Nick Schifrin cited 'three Western and defense sources' in saying Vladimir Putin had already made up his mind to invade. He then cited six sources — 'US and Western officials' — who told him the U.S. expected an invasion of Ukraine the following week. These voices left little to the imagination, saying the invasion would be a 'horrific, bloody campaign,' with two days of aerial bombardment, followed by electronic warfare and possible regime change.... That afternoon of the 11th, Politico cited 'a person familiar'.... reporting that Joe Biden held an hourlong call with Western leaders pegging February 16th as a possible invasion date.... It should be clear to any reporter that a national security source who whispers not only the alleged date of a coming invasion, but the number of days of aerial bombardment and the war’s expected level of horror and bloodiness, is either yanking your chain with a fairy tale, or using you, or both."

Writes Matt Taibbi, in "Another All-Time Media Faceplant/After the Biden administration and the press wrongly predicted a Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 16th, they kept compounding the error in spectacular fashion" (Substack).

94 comments:

Enigma said...

The Keystone Kops are running US foreign policy. This was soooooooooooooooooooo transparent that only a echo-chamber-bubble-dwelling partisan would fall for it.

And.
They.
Announced.
It.
In.
Public.
With.
An.
Alarmist.
Tone.


Our only hope may be the sane Democrats still left, and their marginal ability to persuade. Sinema? Manchin? Gabbard? Speak up now or watch your party's credibility and the credibility of the US crumble (further).

Charlotte Allen said...

Great stuff for GOP election ads.

gilbar said...

wasn't it actually CornPop that was going to invade the Ukraine, not Putin?
AND, isn't The Only Reason he didn't was 'cause Our Hero, Jo Biden; hit him with a chain?

rehajm said...

At the time of the ‘leaks’ was there other information unflattering to the left being disclosed?

Quaestor said...

The Althouse journalism tag, applied no doubt with a derisive smirk.

Kevin said...

Can we expect more newspeople to suddenly be fired for minor infractions of company policies?

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Jake Sullivan is having a bad week.

tim in vermont said...

Jake Sullivan... Jake Sullivan, where have I heard that name before...

Oh yeah, he's the guy who was pushing lies to the FBI in order to get Hillary elected. Totally trustworthy! Plus his wife works at the Department of Just Us! Round up your boys, grab them. by the ear and take them down to the recruiting office! The adults are in charge!

Michael said...

.
Are you implying that the State Dept, CIA and the Pentagon are lying to us for the 4,732nd time?

Mike Sylwester said...

The invasion did not happen on Wednesday, because Biden sent 3,000 US soldiers to Europe and also threatened sanctions.

Because of Biden, Russia canceled its invasion.

Fritz said...

gilbar said...
wasn't it actually CornPop that was going to invade the Ukraine, not Putin?
AND, isn't The Only Reason he didn't was 'cause Our Hero, Jo Biden; hit him with a chain?


No, he put a dead dog on his porch.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

The Democrats know that if they lose control of the house and senate that will unleash an aggressive and effective series of investigations, including impeachment. They have a lot to hide and, this time, hopefully jail time will be in the table. Urging on a small war in Europe is just the beginning of a massive series of deflections in a desperate attempt to save their careers and more. I expect some whistleblower activity from the bureaucracy about D activity to get ahead of the curve though. If they are smart, which is rare, there is an R reach out to the deep state now- come out now and be a hero or face prosecution in a year.

Derve Swanson said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
iowan2 said...

The Ukraine invasion always had 'made for TV' smell to it.

This is nothing but a PR move to give the Biden administration one thing in the positive column
The entire event has been over hyped. And coordinated. All the talking points were the same, all the information for "those close to the administration/Stated Dept/Intelligence Community, had the same talking points. This was not a distillation of disparate sources of information into the same conclusion, but the exact same information coming from disparate sources.

Just like the letter to the DoJ from the National Association of School boards had their letter written by the White House, All the fed agencies leaking to the press, are leaking a story supplied by the White House.

Temujin said...

Official Washington sounds disappointed that their much marketed next war has not yet materialized. They had all the pieces in place. The media is very much on board. The talking heads are bouncing on their own shoulders. Blaring, urgent headlines along with Very Serious Broadcast Face showing up across all networks. Magazine covers. Urgent email blasts.

Everything seemed ready to go- to change the narrative at home. Remove the nasty film of incompetent Biden and unbelievably light Kamala and replace those images with Hardened Leaders we can all believe in.

Everything was going as planned....until the Russians apparently decided they didn't want to follow that script. At least not yet. Not at Biden's time of choosing. Or...maybe never. Either way, Putin sure had fun yanking the chain of the West. It's almost as if he can sit back in a chaise lounge and simply move his pinky. The West does the rest.

In the meantime...China rolls on...

rrsafety said...

100% disagree. They only give an exact date if they think they have accurate information. If they know it is spin, they would NEVER give an exact date that is proven to be wrong. Taibbi has this one entirely backwards.

J said...

Putin gets $90 per bbl oil.The extremist short stump of Western foreign policy types gets another look at their four pointed contacts.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I was puzzled by their whole Chicken Little act regarding Ukraine. No one is impressed by our NatSec team running in circles and screaming “the Russians are coming!” over and over. Somewhere around Tuesday the episode started taking on a farcical even Kabuki air, with Boris blustering and Macron making declarations and the Kremlin trying to sell the de-escalation story. Soon it will be time to start asking Ron Klain what the purpose of this charade is. Jake Sullivan is a snake and not serving the Country or Joe well at this point.

michaele said...

I have assumed that if there is a Russian invasion of Ukraine, it will happen after the Olympics hosted by China are over. Putin and XiJinping met on the day of the opening ceremony and their public demeanor was very friendly. I am sure it was communicated by Xi that doing anything to wipe the world's news attention off the games would not be appreciated.

Christopher B said...

@rrsafety, nah, remember none of the DNC stenographers in the elite media are going to ask embarrassing questions.

If the balloon had gone up on 16 February it would have just proved our intelligence was right, Putin is unwilling to negotiate, etc

The balloon didn't pop so now it's gonna be how Biden and Jake's excellent diplomacy deterred Putin (from doing something he probably never intended to do.)

tim maguire said...

rrsafety said...100% disagree. They only give an exact date if they think they have accurate information. If they know it is spin, they would NEVER give an exact date that is proven to be wrong. Taibbi has this one entirely backwards.

Taibbi's point is that they had plenty of reason to think they were being played. And now the date has come and gone without an invasion, so it doesn't really fit the facts to say he has it backwards.

Lincolntf said...

Russia will almost certainly invade Ukraine within days. When we withdrew nearly 90% of our troops from Germany in the Nineties/00's, we guaranteed a European war.

David Begley said...

What idiots. It’s like those nuts who predict the end of the world on a date certain and then it doesn’t happen.

lgv said...

I don't think Taibbi is correct here. The specificity is a purposeful and effective strategy. Biden can't and/or won't do anything directly to stop Putin. By exposing Putin's exact plans, he lets the world know that Putin was always going to invade and that any rationale for such an invasion is a fabrication. By doing so, Putin chooses not to invade on the 16th as it would validate the intelligence that the US is spilling on the charade to justify invasion. So, the US has now forced a delay, which is all they can do for now.

As soon as this whole invasion plan began, I felt the only way to stop Russia is to formulate a response that sends young soldiers back to their families in body bags. It is the only deterrent to Putin. It was the only deterrent in Syria, except in Syria Putin had the cover that the dead soldiers were "military contractors". Not so this time. The west must arm the Ukrainians enough to create real Russian losses.

tim in vermont said...

By exposing Putin's exact plans, he lets the world know that Putin was always going to invade and that any rationale for such an invasion is a fabrication

Exactly! Joe Biden is just as much of a hero as Superman was the last time he saved the planet, when Joe saved the world from WWIII! Joe Biden is the most masterful diplomat... ever!

Except that we have seen this movie; Joe Biden is a pathological liar.

Howard said...

Anyone who thinks they know what is going on is a fool.

Truth Is the First Casualty in War
quoteresearch quoteresearch
2 years ago
Aeschylus? Philip Snowden? Ethel Annakin? Samuel Johnson? Anne MacVicar Grant? E. D. Morel? W. T. Foster? Agnes Maude Royden? Hiram Johnson? Arthur Ponsonby? Anonymous?

readering said...

What lgv said. But when you make prediction and it did not come to pass folks will point that out.
Rabbi just does it in snarkiest way.

tim in vermont said...

It would be sort of fitting, if you were writing a play, to make Joe's constant dissembling on everything else, including the vast corruption that he has participated in in Ukraine, the reason that nobody recognized the one good thing he did.

Except that we installed that puppet regime in Ukraine, precisely to partake of the graft.

Quayle said...

With all eyes on the Ukraine, the Nazis were able to invade Canada.

My advice to President Biden is to quickly put in a call to President Obama for advice on how to call up the 1980s and arrange for their foreign policy to be returned.

gilbar said...

this is All So Ludicrous
Russia is NEVER going to invade The Ukraine.
The Ukraine is like the 4th largest nuclear power in the world
Their SS-20's are getting old, but will be a completely adequate deterrence for the next 100 years

what's That? The Ukraine GAVE UP their nuclear arsenal because the US talked them into it?
How's Otter's quote go?
"You can't spend your life dwelling on your mistakes.. You f*cked Up, you trusted US"

fairmarketvalue said...

I'm still trying to figure out the geostrategic importance of Ukraine to the U.S. Why would Brandon want to spend American blood and treasure on a country with historically flexible borders that at least in some time periods of the past was part of Russia (starting at least with Catherine the Great) and isn't even a NATO ally? Perhaps the domino theory is at work again!

Josephbleau said...

There are only two reasonable scenarios. Either Putin and Joe are cooperating in a scam for their mutual benefit, higher oil price, political theatre, midterm- support me I am fighting the commies. Or Putin does want war and is just applying maskrova to confuse his enemies into a less effective defense posture or to possibly get so many concessions from Europe that it is better not to fight. There is no way to choose based on public knowledge.

My guess is the first. Putin needs to play his drum set every now and then to cover his own domestic shortcomings too.

Lurker21 said...

If you were Putin, wouldn't you just play the waiting game -- give aid to pro-Russian elements in the Ukraine and help them to hollow out Ukrainian resolve and consolidate their own control in the East? Would you really launch an old fashioned ground war and take the losses that would result? This all looks like a Wag the Dog scenario -- a trumped up rumor of war that will allow Biden to take the credit for preventing a war that wasn't going to happen. Russian troops were on the border for maneuvers -- war games -- and Biden took advantage of that to create an imaginary crisis. Of course, I could be totally wrong about all that, but I don't think so.

Bob Boyd said...

What does Putin want?
Is he getting what he wants?

One thing he wants is more respect for Russia and acknowledgement of its power in the region and its sphere of influence.
Putin wants to end any chance of Ukraine becoming a NATO ally. That would be intolerable to Putin and to a lot of Russians. Putin might lose the support that assures his power and position if he allows Ukraine to become a western ally. His aggressive posturing says to NATO, "Russia is willing to die on this hill. Are you?"
So far, the answer from the west is clearly, "No."

If ending the West's push to expand NATO to the countries bordering Russia is Putin's goal, he may have already won.

Biden didn't learn much from his encounter with CornPop. That face off occurred because Biden dissed Cornpop and forced his hand. Now he has done the same to CornPutin. Biden got out of taking an ass-beating by apologizing to CornPop and showing him respect. Hopefully the situation with CornPutin will work out the same way.

The incompetocracy that currently rules the west, despite failures on every front, has become so arrogant and so lacking in humility, so repulsive in character, that even the majority of their own citizens can't stand them and would like to see them have their noses rubbed in their own shit before they are tossed out the door by the scruff of the neck. I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of Americans have more respect for leader of Russia than they have for the current US President, a shocking and unprecedented turn of events.

tim in vermont said...

Anybody who thinks they know what's going on based something Jake Sullivan is pushing is a fool twice over.

MikeR said...

@rrsafety "100% disagree. They only give an exact date if they think they have accurate information. If they know it is spin, they would NEVER give an exact date that is proven to be wrong. Taibbi has this one entirely backwards."
"they would NEVER..." You know this how? It makes their narrative more believable (see for example the words of @rrsafety in response) and it costs them nothing at all. If Russia invades this week instead, they will proclaim validation and victory, and never fuss about the wrong date. If Russia never invades, they will ignore it or say that they scared him off. Because no one cares about their thousands of wrong statements.

narciso said...

Jake sullivan is a tool of the dragon, likr half the regime

Critter said...

This always was a disinformation campaign by Putin who took the measure of Biden and his team and knew it would work. It discredits Biden and the U.S. while getting important concessions from the U.S. and NATO countries. It also enables Putin to see how NATO would react in terms of any kinetic responses, logistics, etc. Valuable stuff in terms of Russia achieving its goal of effectively annexing the Eastern parts of the Ukraine where there are large Russian-identifying populations.

Lost under the sound of Biden’s war drums is that Biden has been desperately seeking further concessions to get Putin to back down from his threatened invasion. Chief among them is a promise not to seek to bring Ukraine into NATO, but undoubtedly there are more offers in the negotiations in Munich, etc. Biden also cancelled U.S. support for the competing natural gas pipeline that would benefit Israel.

There never was any compelling reason for Putin to invade militarily now. He now knows he can pull off some sort of action to consolidate the provinces he wants with little or no Western opposition. He may never need to shed much blood to accomplish his goals. The art of war is to achieve what you want without incurring the costs of fighting.

Biden and his team are being played by Putin and shown as the incompetent fools that they are.

tim in vermont said...

Nobody has yet posited an endgame whereby Putin could invade Ukraine and come out ahead by enough to make it worth the costs and the risk. I know Bideen green-lighted a "minor incursion," but seriously. The US Empire is the aggressor here, forcing NATO right up to Putin's border after our CIA apparently pushed a "color revolution" to put our guys in charge of the loot there. Putin, quite reasonably, would like NATO back within its original boundaries, rather than creeping toward Russia and encircling her.

Oh BTW, The same China that has lavished graft on the Biden family, including extremely underage girls for Joe's son Hunter, videotaped of course, which was all on Hunter's laptop, that same China is very happy to have Russia and the US at each other's throats.

tim in vermont said...

Patrick Lancaster@PLnewstoday · 11m
Air raid sirens going off in center Donetsk now https://pic.twitter.com/lmZulIXH4J


Looks like Biden's puppets, who fired that prosecutor on his order because he was getting too close to the billionaire kleptocrat paying his son millions in protection money is starting to wag the dog.

tim in vermont said...

Hot link
https://mobile.twitter.com/PLnewstoday/status/1494680332351717381

William50 said...

Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.

Bob Boyd said...

Putin's actions say to NATO, here is what it would really look like for you to be committed to defending Ukraine against all comers. NATO's reaction? "Well...um...we uh...shit."

Bob Boyd said...

Air raid sirens going off in center Donetsk now

Test?

Oh Yea said...

Putin was always going to wait until the end of the Olympics, he doesn't want to distract from his partners moment of glory.

tim in vermont said...

If Biden says so, he can take it to the bank.

JAORE said...

Because of Biden, Russia canceled its invasion.

Filed under: Headlines From the Future!

cubanbob said...

Mike Sylwester said...
The invasion did not happen on Wednesday, because Biden sent 3,000 US soldiers to Europe and also threatened sanctions.

Because of Biden, Russia canceled its invasion."

You forgot the sarcasm tag. Please adjust your post accordingly lest someone might believe you really believe this.

JPS said...

gilbar, 7:54:

I hear you, and largely agree, but - the Ukrainians never did have operational control of the missiles and bombs on their territory, right? They had an arsenal parked on their territory that they never could have used.

I mean, in principle they might have been able to bypass the Russian security measures and either gain control, or get out the pits and make their own. In practice I would guess this would be nigh unto impossible.

Yancey Ward said...

Wag the dog is what all of this is on the part of the US government. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a fool. If Putin wants to destroy Ukraine, there are easier and more effective ways to do so than by sending in his armed forces, and I think it obvious that he knows this.

And if Putin does invade Ukraine, Joe Biden ain't going to do anyting to stop it, nor should he. If the Europeans want to do anything about it, let them.

Quayle said...

Great men need great conflicts to solve in great ways, greatly.

Except that sometimes things can get away from them. They think they are in control but they aren't. Nations rise. Nations fall. Its a lot like an axe that thinks it cut the tree down itself. Or people who slept and dreamed, and in the dream they ate, but when they wake up they find that they're still hungry.

cubanbob said...

Putin was never going to invade Western Ukraine. He doesn't need a hostile population. Putin has all he wanted except in name. NATO effectively pushed Ukraine to be Finlandized. War scare raised oil prices, something noticed positively by the Saudi's and who are working with Russia to keep prices high. Ukraine will make a "deal" with Russia to formally relinquish the Eastern Ukraine to Russia. The Black Sea will once again be a Russian lake. Putin will in time extract lifting the sanctions as part of a "deal" with the West. Putin is smart and evil. Biden is stupid and evil. In this round of The Great Game Russia wins.

Andrew said...

Putin appears to be the most clever and shrewd leader on the world stage right now. Except perhaps for his Chinese counterpart.

How did the West end up with such a uniformly mediocre leadership class?

MayBee said...

I wish I could puzzle out all of the Ukraine situation. Why someone deep in the bowels wanted Trump impeached over Ukraine, why the impeachment hearing was so much about firing a particular ambassador, why Biden is closing the embassy there with little fanfare....what is going on in our intelligence agencies and our State Department that Ukraine is such a thing?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Jefferson's Revenge said...
The Democrats know that if they lose control of the house and senate that will unleash an aggressive and effective series of investigations, including impeachment. They have a lot to hide and, this time, hopefully jail time will be in the table. Urging on a small war in Europe is just the beginning of a massive series of deflections in a desperate attempt to save their careers and more.

"Wag the Dog" only works with patriotic voters.

The Dem voters aren't patriots.
The GOP voters don't trust the Biden* Admin to do anything right

So such a strategy is doomed to failure

Greg The Class Traitor said...

MayBee said...
I wish I could puzzle out all of the Ukraine situation. Why someone deep in the bowels wanted Trump impeached over Ukraine

Because Biden engaged in corrupt deals and Payoffs in Ukraine, with the backing of the entire Obama Admin, and Trump was looking in to it.

Which meant a whole bunch of people facing corruption charges.

Of course they were panicked. It's not like the Dem Establishment has any people in it who are not corrupt

narciso said...

Hunter was paid by the owner of privat who owns half the part, funds a nasty nationalist militia the azov, his bank collapsed less than a year after the extorted loan to the tune of 6 billion

Readering said...

Because Ukraine desperate for military equipment authorized by Congress, but our Pres told theirs, not until you announce you are criminally investigating my election challenger.

Michael K said...

This was an obvious ploy from the beginning.

There is considerable talk in the media right now about Russia and Ukraine. Russia has moved troops close to the Ukrainian border. The Biden regime, which has no interest in the US southern border, has expressed alarming determination to stop a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why are they so interested in a corrupt country that has no strategic importance to us ?

That was three weeks ago.

henge2243 said...

Did Vlad just get so tired of hearing how Joe used to tie an onion to his waist before running serpentine across the Edmund Pettus Bridge under sniper fire that he decided to call off the invasion?

Balfegor said...

It seems like the bit about Russian invasion coming as early as February 16 may have got confused into "on February 16." I think regime change unlikely here. Putin's objectives are probably the same as the Russo-Georgian war in 2008 -- warn its neighbours off trying to join NATO. If Putin wanted to install a pro-Russian government in Kiev, he wouldn't have carved off the most pro-Russian pieces of the Ukraine in 2014, leaving an overwhelmingly pro-Western rump.

To the extent he has territorial objectives, it's probably just to help the separatist movements in the two easternmost provinces finish taking the rest of their respective provinces. In 2019, the remaining bits of those provinces were the only parts of the Ukraine to vote in pro-Russian candidates, so they're probably the only bits that could be taken without getting bogged down in a protracted war. Again, similar to what happened with the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia in 2008.

The situation seems so close to the Russo-Georgian war, in fact, that Putin might be counting on the current Ukrainian government misjudging US support as Saakashvili did, and escalating against the separatists, whom Russia could then step in to "defend." But I think the current Ukrainian government, particularly given Biden's slip about "minor incursion," knows perfectly well that the Western powers won't lift a finger to help them, any more than they did in 2014, so it will be harder for Putin to manufacture an excuse. It will perhaps be left to the eastern separatists to escalate alone, with Russian forces poised on the border as a deterrent against agressive Ukrainian counterstrikes in defense.

Or something like that.

Skeptical Voter said...

Conductor Jake Sullivan called "All aboard" as the Ukraine Invasion Train got ready to leave the station on February 16. And while Putin had a ticket, somehow he didn't get on the train.

Maybe he didn't have a ticket after all--and it was just a figment of Jakey and Slow Joe's imaginations? Do you think?

GRW3 said...

We are not lead by serious people. Sullivan is probably concerned about a process server showing up with an invitation to talk to the Durham grand jury.

Big Mike said...

Poland, which is a NATO ally, requested 1000 US Javelin antitank missiles. The US military says they can’t provide them, blaming “red tape” problems. I take that to mean either (1) that there is some sort of quid pro quo going on between Slow Joe Biden and Vlad Putin not to interfere when or if the latter invades Ukraine, or (2) that the Pentagon itself doesn’t believe the war drums. I suppose there’s a third possibility, which is that under the leadership of people like Austin and Milley the entire US military couldn’t fight its way out of a New Orleans whorehouse if you gave them a battalion of British SAS troops for assistance.

Barry Dauphin said...

The invasion has been imminent for some time now. Perhaps the Russians have now figured out who has been giving the US information making it sound like they were going to invade.

Jupiter said...

Who do you suppose gives the WaPistas and NYTistas their instructions? Are they funneled through their editors, or do their users control them directly?

During the Floydian Trip, I exchanged e-mails with a reporter at a national publication, who had written that Floyd had been "killed" by the MPD. I pointed out to him that Floyd had died in police custody, but what had killed him was still very much an open question. He replied that the editors at his paper gave explicit instructions as to how articles were to describe the demise of St. Floyd.

Jupiter said...

Lincolntf said...
"Russia will almost certainly invade Ukraine within days. When we withdrew nearly 90% of our troops from Germany in the Nineties/00's, we guaranteed a European war."

It's too bad they can't make troops in Europe.

tim in vermont said...

"Because Ukraine desperate for military equipment authorized by Congress, but our Pres told theirs, not until you announce you are criminally investigating my election challenger."

Do you have a source for that? A direct quote or testimony from the people involved that that is what he said? Or is this more twisting the realities of what happened until you get the story you need?

tim in vermont said...

Forget it Chinatown, it's Jake.

Balfegor said...

Re: Big Mike:

I take that to mean either (1) that there is some sort of quid pro quo going on between Slow Joe Biden and Vlad Putin not to interfere when or if the latter invades Ukraine,

I doubt there's a quid pro quo, but Putin probably thinks it unlikely that the US will do much in response.

First, back in 2014, when a lot of Biden's current foreign policy team were serving in the Obama administration, Russia invaded the Ukraine and annexed the Crimea, and we did nothing to intervene. We put some sanctions in place and that was about it.

Second, Biden has already said that as long as it's just a "minor incursion," we won't do much in response. Sure his team have tried to walk that back, but he's already shown his hand here.

Third, we haven't done much to prepare ourselves to respond militarily.

The only credible threat we have is sanctions, maybe, but there's a significant risk that the EU won't go along with any sanctions broad enough to hurt because the EU gets something like 38% of its natural gas from Russia, alongside other natural resources (there were articles recently about how chipmaking supply chains are dependent on Russia and the Ukraine). So that might not even be a particularly credible threat. As long as energy prices are high Russia probably doesn't care.

gilbar said...

Do you have a source for that? A direct quote or testimony from the people involved that that is what he said? Or is this more twisting the realities of what happened until you get the story you need?

seriously, if *i* were the one paying reedering or gladfry to troll here, i'd expect a little more competence on their parts. Just making things up, and blathering them out doesn't seem like it would fulfill their contracts

Rabel said...

People like to say that Biden's not really in charge - that he's a puppet of Xi or Obama or Hillary or whoever.

But the American response to Putin's accumulation of forces on the Ukrainian border looks to me like a plan that came from Biden himself.

Talk big, threaten his opponent with a trip behind the gym, make a show of how tough you are how much you know and when the invasion that was never going to happen doesn't happen, claim victory.

That's Joe all the way.

Blinken and Sullivan look foolish because they have been forced to lie and fabricate according to Biden's thinking, not their own. They're the puppets here.

Putin was never going to mount a large scale attack and takeover of Ukraine.

Why not? Because it would fail and he knows it. Modern anti-armor weapons would turn a large scale attack into a bloodbath for an invader. The rpg's we faced in Iraq are toys compared to the man-portable missiles available to Ukraine. They have thousands and, aparrently, men willing to put them to use.

And after that failure Russia would be an international pariah cut off from the rest of the world economically on the level of North Korea.

It's a losing proposition and Putin is far too canny to do something so stupid. Why would he?

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Biden cut off every viable source of natural gas to Europe except Putin? Good times, good times.

Rabel said...

Perhaps I should withdraw my previous comment.

I see that Vice President Kamala Harris is in Munich and has taken over the US response to the situation.

WWIII may now be inevitable.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Readering said...
Because Ukraine desperate for military equipment authorized by Congress, but our Pres told theirs, not until you announce you are criminally investigating my election challenger.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-announces-sale-anti-tank-missiles-ukraine-russian/story?id=53450406
US announces sale of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine over Russian opposition

The U.S. has announced it will sell Ukraine 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles

Now, let's compare to the Obama / Biden Admin, which didn't sell Ukraine any lethal weapons, and sent Joe over to tell them they wouldn't get any US aid until they fired the US State Department approved anti-corruption prosecutor who was looking in to the company that was paying off Hunter Biden, and through him paying off them VP Joe Biden.

Let's pretend for a moment that Readering's claims are true
For Readering, telling a foreign country to examine corrupt US politicians is worthy of impeachment
But telling a foreign country they must fire a prosecutor going after corrupt companies that are paying off US politicians?

THAT is business as usual

I'm so glad I'm not a Democrat. I'd drown in the slime

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What better excuse not to cover the Canadian truckers story than an honest to goodness hot shooting’m up with real bullets war. It’s In the bed interest of the most powerful allies; this White House and the mainstream media.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

I'm always amused at the people who say "Ukraine used to be a part of Russia" as if that's a GOOD reason for Russia to invade. Ukraine - like Poland, like Moldova, like much of the Caucasus, like the Baltics, even like Finland - was invaded and occupied by Russia in the past. Only after WWII and the Cold War ended were these countries given anything close to their own say in their own affairs.

I'm also baffled about why NATO should give a rat's ass about what Russia wants other than it's not nice to piss off a belligerent ex-Commie. I hold no warrant for NATO, but building your foreign policy in reaction to a belligerent third-world country's self-esteem issues is a great way to get another world war.

As a reminder: Big wars start in multipolar worlds. China knows this, which is why it's angling for a new Pax Chinanensis. If it has to have a major world war to get that result, well, all the better. Russia would make a lovely client state, the Chinese think.

Readering said...

Trump didn't tell the Ukrainians to investigate Biden. He told them to announce that they were investigating Biden.

Aggie said...

So I guess that means that all the scary war news rhetoric that has been stem-winding its way into our consciousness the past 2-3 weeks can now be disregarded, and we can breathe a sigh of relief that it isn't war, after all.

With each passing debacle the Administration puts a jarring new spotlight on their utter cluelessness. I heard some official on NPR going on at length on the brilliance of this disinformation campaign that Biden has 'waged'. On how they got the whole Russian aggression against the Ukraine turned around on the sheer strength & brilliance of using the airwaves to construct a Potemkin village of virtual coverage.

Nowhere did the official question whether it had had any effect whatsoever on the actual evolution of events. (I suspect it didn't). Nowhere did the official contemplate how the listening public might react to learning that they have not only been played for chumps, but that the Administration is proud and considers it an accomplishment.

They may as well be a Lilliputian army inside a bell jar: Scream & yell, march about, declare victory, go home; and nobody outside the jar notices.

The voting populace, in their view, has been reduced to an audience of imbeciles to be guided for helpful emotional responses when they are required to advance policy. That should tell you something about them.

FullMoon said...

I have been reading all week about this manufactured crisis. Right now I am watching MSNBC while they wait for Biden's update. It's pretty funny until you realize how many ill informed voters get all their news from these type of outlets.

rcocean said...

So are the macho, chest-thumping, American risk players and world saviors, still expecting a Russian invasion of the sacred Ukraine our nobelest ally (the Kurds being forgotten)? Or it all over for this year?

rcocean said...

A Russian diplomat asked the Biden adminstration and the American Media to inform them when Russia's going to invade the Ukraine in 2023 so they plan their vacations.

Michael K said...

Blogger Readering said...

Trump didn't tell the Ukrainians to investigate Biden. He told them to announce that they were investigating Biden.


Bad case of TDS there, pal. You should put something on it.

gpm said...

>>I see that Vice President Kamala Harris is in Munich

I saw that earlier today. They're meeting in Munich? I mean, MUNICH??? Really. REALLY???

How tone deaf can you possibly be?

--gpm

readering said...

"Bad case of TDS there, pal. You should put something on it."

Will you be here all week?

Iman said...

Given the Biden administration has properfucked EVERYTHING it has touched, one would think lefties would have a genuine sense of embarrassment and shame, but one would be wrong.

They don’t embarrass easy.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Premature evacuation.

Josephbleau said...

The white house interns were watching you tube stoned and thought it would be great if cnn could show exploding tanks and tracers in the sky then cut to Beiden looking stern, like when Bush was prez.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Poor Readering. Can't claim that Biden should NOT be criminally investigated, and can't provide any credible links for any of his claim.

Because he's utterly full of sh!t, and he knows it

Readering said...

[Yawns]

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Ok, so we're done here

Readering wishes to claim that wanting a corrupt politicians investigated and prosecuted is worse than being a corrupt politician, using teh power of the US government to justify your pay-offs

I'm sorry you're so screwed up Readering, but when all is said and done, that's your problem, not mine

Readering said...

Promise?

Balfegor said...

I don't think this is a manufactured crisis, even if the administration is reacting a bit hysterically. Russia is apparently alleging Ukrainian genocide in the Donbas -- a familiar tool in the post-WW2 "foreign intervention" playbook, and one they have used before . . as part of their casus belli for the
Russo-Georgian war.
The EU report did not substantiate Russian claims that Georgia was committing genocide (although it also found that Georgia was responsible for initiating hostilities, something the Ukraine is probably not stupid enough to do.)

Ambrose said...

Who thinks Putin is giving different fake info to his aids to see where the leaks are.