February 9, 2023
"SpaceX has taken steps to prevent Ukraine's military from using the company's Starlink satellite internet service for controlling drones in the region..."
"SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, which has provided Ukraine's military with broadband communications in its defense against Russia's military, was 'never never meant to be weaponized,' Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said.... 'However, Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,' she said.... Ukraine has made effective use of unmanned aircraft for spotting enemy positions, targeting long-range fires and dropping bombs.
'There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that.... There are things that we can do, and have done.'"
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70 comments:
Is this Musk not wanting his satellites blown out of the sky?
Or is it someone using Musk to keep the war going?
The case for AND looks strong.
He said in January that the system was not to be used to attack Russian territory, well, undisputed Russian territory, but the Ukrainians don't listen and they are bigly mad that he will not allow them to use his system to attack Moscow. Even Chuck is mad about Elon's reluctance to trigger a wider war with Russia.
So I got into "Ukraine" with another Althouse commenter a couple of days ago. He was trying to school me on the fact that, at no cost to Ukraine, Starlink had served to provide invaluable assistance in the early months of the war. And so why grip about Elon Musk's weirdly pro-Russian twitter feed?
I acknowledged the fact of the early Starlink assistance to Ukraine. There's no denying it.
Then I reminded the commenter that last fall, Musk said that the benefit was not without limit. The EU then stepped in with discussions about how they could reimburse Starlink.
The simple question is the one Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?
That is the question for the entire free world.
Dual-use technology is a viable choice but commensurate to wielding a double-edged scalpel.
Some people seem awfully blase about provoking World War 3.
Another civilian resource turned into a military boon. Notwithstanding the Pentagonese of they didn't realize starlink could be used by Ukraine in such a fashion, which is a lie of epic proportion, the question is now how will the Chinese use all their satellites, balloons and other ELINT to crush Tawain? Because now, it is clear what a force multiplier starlink has become.
Russia will eventually overcome Ukraine due to human wave stratergies, but it will bleed for every inch of Ukraine due to starlink and what other weaponry the US will give to Ukraine. But you can bet China is watching the current war between Ukraine and Russia very closely.
Huh. "Grip" should be "gripe" of course. Did spellcheck do that because "grip" is a more real word than "gripe"? Could be an iPhone thing and not a blogspot thing.
“Human wave…” the shit people believe, even Ukraine ally Israel says losses by Ukraine are almost a full order of magnitude higher than Russia’s. Believing the lies only increases American resolve to get more Ukrainians killed in a hopeless cause.
As for Chuckle’s rhetorical question, this fight is none of our business, let them hash it out. It’s thousands of miles from our border.
“Russia will overcome Ukraine … but … will bleed for every inch…”
You say that, like it’s not a bad thing.
An invasion force, directed by a former-KGB-officer-Russian autocrat. Who regards the U.S. as his ultimate enemy. In the process of committing war crimes and atrocities on an historic scale.
That's right old and slow, some people ate quite blase about it. Like Vladimir Putin.
Kevin said...
Is this Musk not wanting his satellites blown out of the sky?
This is not as big a problem for spacex as people think.
It is very expensive and difficult to blow up a satellite. Much more expensive than it is to launch it.
"Russia will eventually overcome Ukraine due to human wave stratergies, but it will bleed for every inch of Ukraine due to starlink and what other weaponry the US will give to Ukraine. "
Not really. They're running out of men. What's worse they're running out of men who want to fight. I'll be very surprised if they go another year without using tactical nukes. Providing Putin is still in charge.
Chuck said...
So I got into "Ukraine" with another Althouse commenter a couple of days ago. He was trying to school me on the fact that, at no cost to Ukraine, Starlink had served to provide invaluable assistance in the early months of the war. And so why grip about Elon Musk's weirdly pro-Russian twitter feed?
I acknowledged the fact of the early Starlink assistance to Ukraine. There's no denying it.
Then I reminded the commenter that last fall, Musk said that the benefit was not without limit. The EU then stepped in with discussions about how they could reimburse Starlink.
The simple question is the one Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?
That is the question for the entire free world.
So Chuck supports Ukraine killing ethnic Russians in a genocide since the 2014 coup against Yanukovich.
If Chuck was honest about freedom he would let the eastern provinces decide their own independence from Ukraine which they have voted for several times.
Also Zelensky has jailed his political opposition and and journalists.
Zelensky is a dictator too.
And if the western governments want Starlink to provide support for their proxy war against Russia they should pay Starlink for the service.
But in every post Chuck makes he is just a dishonest piece of shit.
That is what Chuck does.
Lie.
The grind of Fox News' pro-PutinTrumpIsolationism, as seen in Pew Research polling over several months:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/01/31/as-russian-invasion-nears-one-year-mark-partisans-grow-further-apart-on-u-s-support-for-ukraine/
His company, his rules.
Don't like it?
Build your own satellite internet company...
SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, which has provided Ukraine's military with broadband communications in its defense against Russia's military, was 'never never meant to be weaponized
What . . . what did they think the Ukraine was going to do with it? There have been reports of Ukrainian forces using it to coordinate drone strikes and so on from almost immediately after Musk gave them free access, haven't there?
Re: Chuck --
If not wanting to give the Ukraine a blank check to fight Russia is pro-Putin then, well, I'm pro-Putin. I think draining Russian resources by propping up the Ukrainian war effort is overall beneficial to the US. Russia has been hostile to US policy, particularly in the strategically important Middle East. The Ukraine has not. The enemy of our enemy is our friend. But there have to be limits.
The only satellites that are vulnerable to attack are large capacity expensive ones. Starlink uses many small ones that are redundant and cheap, thus not worth shooting expensive weapons at.
I wonder about what kind of security space x has for its sites. I would guess Russia and China would love to make a proxy terror strike on them, at least to delay the new super ship and run up insurance costs.
LLR and Whitmer Fanboy Chuck: "The simple question is the one Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?"
Name one other current or would-be military contractor to the US government or foreign governments for whom you demand they provide free of charge services and/or products for the Ukraine war effort or else you label them pro-Putin.
FYI, it should be noted that LLR Chuck never served and would never serve.
Richness:
"Also Zelensky has jailed his political opposition and journalists.
Re: tim in vermont:
even Ukraine ally Israel says losses by Ukraine are almost a full order of magnitude higher than Russia’s.
First, I don't think Israel is an ally as such. Last I heard they were still pretty careful navigating their relationships with Russia and the Western powers.
Second, are you talking about the report about Israel's estimates that came out in a Turkish newspaper? I'm not sure how credible that is. Ukrainian losses have certainly been astronomical -- EC President von der Leyen let slip months ago that the estimate was over 100,000 dead, and the pace probably hasn't slowed much since then. I don't know that there is a credible estimate of Russian deaths. I think BBC verified around 10,000 and estimated twice that, but that's probably a lower bound.
The simple question is the one Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?
That is the question for the entire free world.
Chuck supports blowing up pipelines, like the other Democrats.
Sounds okay to me. You lend someone something of yours you have the right to put conditions on how they use it.
"You say that, like it’s not a bad thing."
Cunt.
Elon Musk and his companies continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise democrat fascist wasteland.
I never questioned Starlink's right to be paid for services. I said that previously. The EU was negotiating payment, as I understand it.
The newest development is Starlink essentially saying, "We don't want to be involved in any military operations."
Starlink can say that. I suppose Starlink has a right to say no. The simple question is whether it is the right decision?
LLR Chuck: "Starlink can say that. I suppose Starlink has a right to say no. The simple question is whether it is the right decision?"
Your ignorance of basic global business operations reveals itself fully in this moronic comment.
Starlink, like all companies that operate across the globe, must take into account all relevant global economic, business, social and political considerations and then structure their global operations to maximize financial/shareholder success.
It makes absolute sense for Starlink to not become seen as a weaponized US military contractor and/or being seen to act as an appendage of the democratical controlled government, such as Chuck's beloved leftwing social media companies did in censoring conservative thought/opinions.
These are common and "everyday" sorts of ideas that anyone who is not trapped within a partisan democratical idea bubbles can comprehend. So no, I don't expect you to understand.
Dude1394: "Elon Musk and his companies continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise democrat fascist wasteland."
That's precisely why LLR Chuck is so upset.
"...Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?"
It is perfectly understandable that Zelensky would propose such a dilemma. Zelensky was elected on two promises: 1) to end corruption and 2) make peace in Donbas. He completely failed to do both. It was a measure of desperation on behalf of Ukrainian people that they elected a young comedian to change the situation in their country. Now having failed on both promises, Zelensky transitioned into a 'Putin fighter'.
The answer to the proposition is screw them both, Putin and Zelensky.
Chuck said...That is the question for the entire free world
Still pretending the western world is free...
The idea that Russia has only suffered 20,000 KIA at the absolute highest end is hilarious.
Case in point for what upsets the lefties like LLR Chuck so very much.
Yoel Roth, lying in front of congress over and over again with the certain knowledge that a weaponized DOJ will not lift a finger against him, yields this exchange:
Roth claimed to not know if visibility filters were placed on the accounts of elected officials (of course, as we all know, that would only happen to conservative elected offiials...you know, the ones LLR Chuck despises)
Jonathon Turley summarizing Tweet: "Roth says that it would not surprise him if "visibility filters" were placed on the accounts of elected officials without their knowledge."
Elon's response Tweet: "Since he placed many of them there himself, he would indeed not be “surprised” lmao"
That, in a nutshell, is why the Troll Army of the Left, comprised of thousands of LLR Chuck's, is out and about attempting to denigrate Musk at each and every opportunity.
The good news? It's not working anymore. Too much info has already escaped the lefty dominated bubble.
Candide: "It is perfectly understandable that Zelensky would propose such a dilemma. Zelensky was elected on two promises: 1) to end corruption and 2) make peace in Donbas. He completely failed to do both."
In a bit of small defense of Zelensky, information has now emerged that Zelensky was considering agreements that would have staved off a potential conflict and potentially bring a bit of peace, with concessions, to the Donbas.
However, the Grifter Army jumped in and made sure to scuttle any potential deal.
That Grifter Army is now quite prepared to sacrifice every Ukrainian man, woman and child in their pursuit of more profits as well as lay the foundation to break up Russia into 20+ different republics, all of which could then be controlled by the WEF cats because, why not?
But, you know what happens when the Grifter Army led by the idiotic neocons like David Frum, Max Boot (what's with that hat BTW? Dude thinks he's Mickey Spillane) get involved. Things don't really ever work out correctly.
Well, at least not for the west. For the Taliban and others, they get entire Armies worth of equipment left at their doorstep.
"We don't want to be involved in any military operations."
Not what he said Chuck, but you rely to heavily on your propaganda sources, and don't bother with primary sources. What did you study in college before law? Home economics?
What he said was that Ukraine could not use StarLink for strikes inside of Russia, long range strikes. But I know that parsing the meaning out of plain English is not your strong suit. Ukraine did drone strikes against a strategic bomber base inside of Russia, why would Musk want to be a part of that kind of shenanigans. Use somebody else's tech if you want to start WW3.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1620536119522922497
"There's no denying it."
And that is really saying something, when it comes from you.
Independent estimates of Russian casualties are in the range of an order of magnitude lower than Ukrainian ones, estimates from lots of sources. US media simply report numbers as provided by the Ukrainians. I have provided links on this, and will do it again, if you have any doubts.
We should end this war before it gets down to Lindsay Graham's beloved "last Ukrainian."
Chuck said...
Richness:
"Also Zelensky has jailed his political opposition and journalists.
Notice that Chuck admits tacitly that Zelensky is a dictator and all of his bloviating about freedom is complete bullshit.
Then he puts up to links to more stupid regime propaganda.
Hillary belongs in jail. She admitted to committing 33000 crimes that service members are in jail for right now.
Chuck is just a terrible person.
tim in vermont said...
Independent estimates of Russian casualties are in the range of an order of magnitude lower than Ukrainian ones, estimates from lots of sources. US media simply report numbers as provided by the Ukrainians. I have provided links on this, and will do it again, if you have any doubts.****************
If what you say were true, Putin would not have been calling veterans out of retirement, increasing conscriptions, and ordering general mobilizations. He had an enormous army to start with. He obviously has had to replace many people.
So an "order of magnitude lower" just doesn't compute.
effinayright: "If what you say were true, Putin would not have been calling veterans out of retirement, increasing conscriptions, and ordering general mobilizations. He had an enormous army to start with. He obviously has had to replace many people."
The army was not "enormous" to start with, at least not by Russian/Soviet standards.
About 1.5M, not too far off from US numbers. Well, before General Milley Vanilli's Woke Strategy kicked in.
Many of the russians being needed to hold down the east.
Further, large conscription in Russia has been paused because they hit their numbers...not to mention the irritation of the populace.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been conscripting 16 yr olds to 60 yr olds and demanding that EU nations forcibly return military age males that left the Ukraine.
The russkis have been surprisingly successful in developing an economy that allows for full war prep/production without the need for much from other nations, with the exception of advanced electronics/microchips which are certainly available on the world market and thru 3rd parties like the ChiComs and the Iranians.
I wouldn't say the russki's are sanctions proof, but they are certainly stubbornly sanctions resistant and have had no problems selling off enough natural resources to keep the cash flowing.
Recent reports have the russkis purchasing more gold buillion than any other nation last year.
So our Magnificent Western Leaders really haven't delivered any knockout blows and the russkis have hardened their capabilities. As expected.
Not to worry though, a couple dozen more tanks and the mere thought of NATO aircraft should have the Ukrainians knocking on the doors of Moscow by the end of Spring!
It is very expensive and difficult to blow up a satellite. Much more expensive than it is to launch it.
Yes, but it's much cheaper to test your anti-satellite technology on someone else's satellite than your own.
"If what you say were true... I wouldn't be reading all of this stuff in the American press about how Ukraine is kicking Russia's ass." FIFY
The Chris Hedges Report: Ukraine and the crisis of media censorship (video)
^^^
Former bureau chief NYT and Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent explains that the western press is simply relaying lies about Ukraine, with receipts.
"he idea that Russia has only suffered 20,000 KIA at the absolute highest end is hilarious."
Who said that?
From an article in the publication DEFENSE ONE:
In May 2020, the company [SpaceX] signed a cooperative research and development agreement with the Army to look at battlefield applications for the Starlink broadband. Later that year, Starlink played a key role in the service's inaugural Project Convergence experiment to test new and more interconnected weapons and systems.
Broadband satellite connectivity from SpaceX and other providers was an even more important part of the following year’s Project Convergence, according to two military officials who spoke to Defense One at Yuma Proving Grounds that year. A big part of the reason for that was the increase in the number of commercial low earth orbit satellites like Starlink.
“The biggest difference in 2021 is really just the availability of low Earth orbit satellite constellation has matured much more,” said one official. “We were having minutes of windows of time for [low earth orbit satellite communications], last year. This year, we're going on 24, you know, almost a continuous capability.”
That high-bandwidth, low-latency satellite connectivity was important in helping the Army better meet mission objectives, finding and engaging more targets, faster.
So as we see here at the Althouse blog, Liz Cheney’s observation about there being a “pro-Putin wing” of the TrumpRepublican Party is, quite simply, a reality.
It would make for a great Althouse Blog Poll.
Drago,
I agree that Zelensky did make an effort to do the right thing and fulfill his campaign promises to Ukrainian people, in which he was quickly frustrated first by radical Ukrainian nationalists and then by US and Ukrainian corruptocrats. That was a tragic part of his presidential career. Now he is strutting the world stage in paramilitary garb, true to his old comedian persona, while his country is burning to a crisp.
I read the comments of Chuck and his detractors and think, "Which one is Iran and which is Iraq...?"
Candide: " Now he is strutting the world stage in paramilitary garb, true to his old comedian persona, while his country is burning to a crisp."
Can't argue against that. Zelensky has clearly taken to his role as The New Churchill/Lincoln/Patton/Messiah while the cash flows in like a river.
So as we see here at the Althouse blog, Liz Cheney’s observation about there being a “pro-Putin wing” of the TrumpRepublican Party is, quite simply, a reality.
As far as I am concerned, the most humorous thing in American politics over the last fifty years is the current preoccupation of the Left with attacking Trump and Republicans as being too friendly with Russia.
First of all, Trump was harder on Putin and Russia than any Democrat has ever been. This war would never have happened if Trump was still president.
Secondly, it was the Democrats who colluded with Russians to interfere in an American election when Hillary created the Steele dossier.
It was Sen. Kennedy who wrote the Soviets and asked them to interfere in an American election.
Up until the day that blamed Hillary's loss on Russian interference, it was the Democrats who favored the Russians. Republicans have been harder and less friendly with the Russians/Soviets going back to the 1940's. The only reason the Democrats hate Nixon is because of what he did on HUAC. (He actually governed while president as a Democrat: created the Education dept and the EPA, ended the war in Vietnam, and opened up Communist China.
Ukraine should have read the EULA.
there is a LOT a stuff going on in The Ukraine..
Who's lying?
Who's winning?
Who's dying?
Who's blowing up stuff?
What's it All FOR?
BUT here, is ONE SIMPLE THING, that we can ALL get our Minds Around..
The Lie Long Republican, Chuck; is TOTALLY on board with the Ukrainians and the Biden's..
Think about THAT. NOW, Does This MEAN, that the russians are on the right side?
Nope, but it DOES MEAN, that Chuck supports the Ukrainians.. Which should be ALL you need to know.
Can ANYONE here, think of a single issue that our Lie Long Republican was on the right side of?
"The simple question is the one Zelenskyy rightly proposes: Do you want to side with Putin or against Putin?"
My preference would be to not be involved at all. What American honor or interests are at stake?
It's a pretty standard land grab as has been occurring for around the last 80,000 years or so. As such things go, it is neither unusual, nor particularly brutal. Sucks to be Ukraine, but they've spent the last couple of hundred years being dominated by the Russians, this is a return to norm.
Drago passes over in silence thet FACT that Russia HAS had to engage in conscription, HAS had to call up veterans, and HAS had to invoke mobilization, despite having a much larger army than the Ukraianians, and the largest in Europe, yet AFTER A YEAR is stuck in the SW part of Ukraine.
He offers irrevelevances---Ukraine has to conscript soldiers too!!! He says Ukraine has asked for other nations to return fleeing likely conscripts----with what effect?
He claims Russia can get all the high-end chops they want.
He says Russia diverts troops to "hold down" the East---who from, the freakin' Chicoms!!??
SNORT
Look, I hate this war, but I sure as shit don't consider the Russkis anything more than an imperialist revanchist thuggery determined to subjugate a nation they stupidly see as a threat.
Anyone who believes it's now established that the U.S. blew up the Nordstream pipelines is a damned fool. The fact that Sidney Blumenthal says it's true is very strong evidence that it's false. And his story doesn't add up: see for instance this brief Twitter thread by @BadBalticTakes, or this one by Oliver Alexander.
effinayright: "Drago passes over in silence thet FACT that Russia HAS had to engage in conscription, HAS had to call up veterans, and HAS had to invoke mobilization, despite having a much larger army than the Ukraianians, and the largest in Europe, yet AFTER A YEAR is stuck in the SW part of Ukraine."
Not only did I not pass "over in silence" the fact the the russkis had a conscription, I mentioned it.
As far as being "stuck in the SW part
Of Ukraine", I strongly suggest you break out the maps for some remedial review.
And yes, the russkis keep troops in the East. They always have.
Did you just awaken from a coma?
effinayright: "He offers irrevelevances---Ukraine has to conscript soldiers too!!!"
Are you always like this?
Yes, its important that Ukraine is conscripting 16 to 60 yr olds and demanding EU nations force Ukrainian immigrants of draft age to return to Ukraine.
You sure are an excitable fella.
effinayright: "Look, I hate this war, but I sure as shit don't consider the Russkis anything more than an imperialist revanchist thuggery determined to subjugate a nation they stupidly see as a threat."
So what?
Gahrie: "First of all, Trump was harder on Putin and Russia than any Democrat has ever been. This war would never have happened if Trump was still president."
This is indisputable.
But facts dont matter to those FakeCon LLR's that only show up on blogs such as this to smear conservatives and attempt to drive a wedge between the blog host and her readers.
NATO is was formed, to protect western europe from the Soviet Union.
Currently, a piece of the Soviet Union is fighting with another piece of the soviet union
HOW is that, ANY concern of NATO?
If it IS a concern; How is it different from:
First Chechen War?
Second Chechen War?
Georgian Civil War?
Russo-Georgian War?
First Nagorno-Karabakh War?
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War?
Tajikistani Civil War?
War of Dagestan?
Deployment in Kazakhstan?
Here's the thing.. The ONLY reason, i Give a SH*T about wars in the former SSR's, is that they Might expand into something involving US.
You know who is expanding The Ukraine, into something involving US? US.. That's who
That is BullSh*t.
We don't care about an invasion overrunning OUR borders.. But we DO care about some SSR's borders?
BULLSH*T!
Could Zelensky-haters try to at least be consistent? Claiming he's done nothing about corruption while accusing him of arresting members of opposition parties - if you'd read the actual news from Ukraine (Kyiv Independent - website or Twitter - is a good place to start), you'd know that he has fired a bunch of politicians (many of them in his own party) for corruption, and arrested a bunch of politicians and non-politicians for treason.
The owner of an arms factory was arrested a couple of months ago for exporting some of the weapons he made to neutral countries from which they were re-exported to Russia. Arming the enemy in wartime! Maybe more for the money than for love of Russia, but who cares? Was it wrong to arrest him?
Just last week there was a story about how the Ukrainian FBI hacked into a Zoom meeting in which a bunch of Ukrainians in different places were getting their instructions live straight from Moscow. Was it wrong to cut in and say "You're all under arrest!" and then do just that? Ukrainian citizens have been caught calling in GPS locations of targets for the Russians, and arrested, some sentenced to 12 or 14 years, which seems low for treason.
The main reason to believe that the Ukrainians are winning, and that their estimate of Russian battle dead (135,000+) is accurate, and that their own losses are way less (1/3 to 1/2 that) is that the Russians act like they know they're losing. See for yourself what the top propagandists say, subtitled by @JuliaDavisNews. Or read what the Russian military bloggers and ordinary soldiers (via intercepted phone calls) say, translated by @wartranslated. Just today GREY ZONE, one of the biggest military blogs, was complaining that they'd lost 30 armored vehicles in just one day at just one place (Vuhledar); that the Ukrainians had video from the same place of a Russian soldier running across a field in flames - too dumb to "stop, drop, and roll"; also video of a Russian armored vehicle turning around to get away so fast that it ran over 2-3 Russian soldiers and dragged their bodies along in its treads.
Russian milbloggers are surprisingly open in calling their superiors (all except Putin) idiots and admitting that they are losing badly. And the Wagner Group, which captured Soledar (316th largest city in Ukraine) with mass attacks by criminals released from prisons, has given up recruiting prisoners, since word has gotten around: very few (maybe 15%) of the first batch of recruits are still alive, so no one else will join.
I don't believe it's "now established that the US blew up the NS pipelines." I believe that it is the most likely explanation, bluster elsewhere aside.
And it is established truth that the current US regime is as corrupt and compromised as any we have ever suffered, and that normal Americans have no reason to trust their word on anything,
and have only themselves to blame.
I'll just note that one criticism of Hersh is that he wrote on Substack rather than for the New Yorker "which has editors and fact-checkers,"
Talk about damned fools.
LOL, a thread full of ad hominem and mind reading with the fantastical claim that, despite the fact that senior American diplomats, senior Polish politicians, etc, all celebrated the demise of nordstream, that Putin had motivations to destroy his lever over Germany and Europe.
Victoria Nuland denouncing the pipeline and vowing to end it
https://youtu.be/tcBUokKFcX8
"The Biden administration is very happy to know the pipeline is “a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea,” - Victoria Nuland
Joe Biden threatened to end the pipeline, and assured us that he had the ability to do it.
"Nord Stream 2 has damaged the West enough. Time to put an end to it." Politico
Vindman issued a celebratory tweet when the news came out.
Why are all of these enemies of Putin so happy about something that was in Putin's best interests? There's lots more.
I guess you have to think like a Ukrainian to understand why Putin would blow up his own pipeline to help himself, and it makes all of his enemies extremely happy.
The Germans aren't buying it. Nobody is buying it actually except shills for the hyper nationalists in Ukraine who thought that picking a war with Russia was a good idea.
What part of "the war is none of our business" is pro-Putin. The war is thousands of miles away from here. It's a fight between slavs over their historical grievances with each other. It is taking place within the borders of the former Soviet Union. It doesn't concern us. What does concern me, and suggests to me that Putin should be treated respectfully, is the fact that he has 6,000 nukes. That corrupt shithole where Hunter Biden goes to hoover up and launder money is not worth taking even one nuclear strike anywhere over.
They should be paying SpaceX with some of the gazillions that US taxpayer dollars have provided their leadership. Of course, most of that cash is now residing in the numbered offshore accounts of the Zelenskyyyyyyy braintrust and the elite US grift machine of Biden, Kerry, Pelosi, McConnell, etc......
Do you want to side with the Chinese communists or against them?
Do you want to side with Saddam Hussein or against him?
Do you want to side with the Taliban or against them?
Simple questions.
I wonder why everybody seems to have found these so hard.
" if you'd read the actual news from Ukraine (Kyiv Independent..."
Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's like reading Pravda to learn the truth about life in the Soviet Union, or the New York Times, and believing every word it said. The great journalists who made the reputation of the New York Times, for example, have all been pushed out, or left because the restrictions on what they could say were unacceptable to them, what's left are people who like the cushy jobs plundered prestige, and and are happy rewrite whatever their bosses say, but write it more stylishly, as long as they can keep their cozy sinecure.
The Kiev Independent has a job of keeping up morale in wartime, nobody blames them for lying, lying is part of war, but believing them is desperation.
"We know the military is using them for comms, and that's ok," she said. "But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes."
Russia invades Ukraine, a soverign nation. Ukraine tries to force them out. Why is that conmsidered "offesnsive."
tim in vermont -- "The great journalists who made the reputation of the New York Times, for example, have all been pushed out ..."
You mean people like Stalin apologist Walter Duranty?
LLR and Whitmer Fanboy Chuck: "So as we see here at the Althouse blog, Liz Cheney’s observation about there being a “pro-Putin wing” of the TrumpRepublican Party is, quite simply, a reality."
Liz who?
What's the matter, couldn't you find an Adam Schiff or Aaron Rupar comment more to your liking?
LOL
It's an amazing thing to behold, but yes, its pretty clear now that LLR Chuck is literally outdoing Russia Collusion Truther and Hillary/FBI Hoax Dossier Dead Ender Inga in terms of moronic lefty talking points.
On the plus side, its nice to see Chuck finally and fully jettison his years long "principled conservative" fake online persona.
tim in vermont -- "The great journalists who made the reputation of the New York Times, for example, have all been pushed out ..."
jim5301: "You mean people like Stalin apologist Walter Duranty?"
Obviously tim in vermont was not including jim5301's lefty hero Walter Duranty in his comment.
I mean, obviously. In fact, its so obvious you'd have to be a jim5301 to miss it.
jim5301: "Russia invades Ukraine, a soverign nation. Ukraine tries to force them out. Why is that conmsidered "offesnsive."'
You can't possibly be this stupid.
On the other hand, well, if the stupid glove fits, jim5301 seems to have no problem wearing it.
Musk does not want his network utilized for Ukraine (actually the US an western powers) to attack within Russian national boundaries.
No different than the Desert Storm where the US and its pals ejected Saddam's Iraqi forces from Kuwait but did not move into Iraq. In fact, HW Bush himself stated that had the US pushed for continuing into Iraq the coalition would have collapsed.
Of course, we have LLR Chuck's pushing to denigrate Musk and Starlink because the message has gone out from DNC HQ that Musk is an enemy of the lefty people and thus must get the Emmanuel Goldstein treatment.
It's basically Smear Time again in LLR Chuck land. Which, if you recall, is one of the 2 primary purposes LLR Chuck admitted were the reasons he posts here. The other reason is to attempt to drive a wedge between Althouse and her readers.
My assumption is that LLR Chuck is making lots of appearances now so he can act as a democratical distractor from the disaster his political allies have created in the run up to the 2024 election.
Pretty basic really.
"...This war would never have happened if Trump was still president."
I think integral part of the progress to war was impeachment of Trump by Democrats for "interfering in Ukraine", in effect shutting down his attempts to get control of the Ukrainian corrupt mess.
My impression of first responses from Kiev to Trump's inquiries about Biden's corrupt dealings in Ukraine was to cooperate with Trump. In that part of the world when you receive orders from the highest office, you either run away or bring your own head on a platter. Gradually Kiev figured out that US President can be overruled and even defeated by the shadow (i.e. real) powers.
boatbuilder said...
"Do you want to side with the Chinese communists or against them?"
Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. So I guess it depends.
"Do you want to side with Saddam Hussein or against him?"
We supported Saddam against Iran, but crushed him for invading Kuwait. So I guess it depends.
"Do you want to side with the Taliban or against them?"
We supported mujahedin against USSR, but went to war with Taliban about Osama. So I guess it depends.
"Simple questions."
Simple answer is, It Depends. It Depends what better serves US National Interests at the given time.
Simple question, what US National Interests are served by the war in Ukraine right now?
'tim in vermont' (6:55am) is simply lying about the Kyiv Independent, which I'm quite sure he has never read. So far from having "a job of keeping up morale in wartime", they have in fact been severely criticized for running stories that are damaging to morale but true. There was a multi-part one about accusations that the leaders of the international volunteers fighting in Ukraine were mistreating their soldiers and lining their own pockets by stealing contributions and selling weapons. Of course 'tim' can't be bothered to read any of the sources I've recommended: if he did he'd see that he is utterly wrong in every possible way about Ukraine, and he can't stand to have his stupid prejudices challenged.
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