🚨Update: Secretary Marco Rubio stated - Ukraine conflict is a ‘PROXY WAR’ between US and Russia; Ukraine has no plan to end the war!! pic.twitter.com/n9L01s5bIh
— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) March 6, 2025
March 6, 2025
"It's been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted stalemated conflict. And frankly, it's a proxy war..."
"... between nuclear powers — the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia. And it needs to come to an end. And no one has any idea or plan to bring it to an end. The plan of the Ukrainians up to now — and their allies on Capitol Hill and people you talk to in other countries — is let's just keep giving them as much as they need for as long as it takes. That's not a strategy."
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50 comments:
The Ukrainians have completely changed the nature of warfare with their ever-developing drone battle execution. A swarm of attack drones costing $10-20mm can likely disable a $12 billion aircraft carrier. While the current stalemate needs to end, and Trump is providing the only plausible pathway, I hope the Defense Department is at least extracting all the information it can about waging 21st Century drone warfare. It also has the potential to make a significant portion of current defense spend obsolete.
I agree with Money Manager. Drone warfare is new arc in military tech . This war has devolved into a stalemate. Russia wanted a land corridor to Crimea and now has it. Ukraine will lose territory in a peace agreement.
Kudos to Rubio for participating in Ash Wednesday. I think it's the first time I've ever seen any prominent person in politics do this.
Mayor Wu of Boston had the ashes on her forehead in a press conference yesterday, too.
Yes, I noticed the Ash Wednesday cross. Glad he found the time to attend a service.
CIA staged a coup in Ukraine in 2014. The current government is a CIA puppet. Ukraine’s great history as a “sovereign” state is utter bullshit. It’s one of many warlord tribes in the 1000 year history of constantly shifting borders of the Steppes. That Nazi history the U.S. has been trying to suppress by appointing a Jew as its figurehead is true and horrifying. 1918 pogroms murdered over 100,000 Jews. Victoria Nuland selected the puppet government, and admitted to the existence of many “biological research” labs, i.e., biological warfare labs of the Wuhan type, along the Russian border. The Ukraine War has been an utter insanity waged by spooks willing to risk WWIII for the loot from massive money laundering scams. Both parties have been in on this scam.
I understand now why Europeans want the Ukrainians to keep fighting for a year. In Europeans’ view Ukrainians need to be so decimated that they don’t rise up against their European puppet masters. Cities ruined, lives lost, and for what?
Give up defending Ukraine for Lent.
Reminds me of that time Ted Turner called his ash forehead employees “Jesus freaks”.
From ABC News 2001 (before 9/11): “Outspoken U.S. media mogul Ted Turner apologized Friday for calling Catholic employees "Jesus freaks" for wearing ashes to mark Ash Wednesday.
The comment last week from Turner, who's been dubbed "The Mouth of the South" for his freewheeling remarks over the years, outraged Christian groups.
"I apologize to all Christians for my comment about Catholics wearing ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday,"
The major European powers do not believe that they are under Russian threat. If they did, their defense budgets would exceed NATO commitments as they geared up to defend themselves. Britain reportedly has 40 operational main battle tanks. That’s not a military force. The President of Poland recently asked why 400 million lion Europeans need 300 million Americans to defend themselves against 140 million Russians. Good question.
It takes two seconds to find pictures of Biden with ashes.
Bravo for Rubio (and Trump)! The only thing not explicitly said: "The lunatics from previous administrations (this includes Trump-I) miscalculated, and we lost this proxy war, now we need to salvage as many lives and as many territories as we can through bribing Russians". Hopefully, whatever is left of Ukraine, will finally get a rest from the last 111 years (at least) of nearly uninterrupted horrors.
Eva Marie said...
I understand now why Europeans want the Ukrainians to keep fighting for a year. In Europeans’ view Ukrainians need to be so decimated that they don’t rise up against their European puppet masters. Cities ruined, lives lost, and for what?
3/6/25, 6:22 AM
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The problem here is that the Ukrainians want to keep fighting.
Worshipers don't apply the ashes themselves, you fool. The priest does it. You don't know what you've got until you get to a mirror. Can we assume now that complete ignorance of a subject is no impediment to your bloviating about it?
Vibhuti, also known as bhasma or tirunīru, is a sacred ash used in Hinduism. It's made from burnt wood, cow dung, and sometimes cremated bodies
Of course it has been a proxy war. Who do you think has been providing the targeting data for the drones and other weapons? Of course it is the US. Are the US/UK special forces actually in Ukraine controlling the drones? - I think probably. Lets stop pretending that Ukraine held off Russia with just material support.
In many African tribes, particularly the Mundari people of South Sudan, ash from burned cow dung is commonly used as a natural antiseptic to protect the skin of both people and cattle from insects and the sun, essentially acting as a protective layer, often applied to the body as a cosmetic and with significant cultural meaning signifying purity and humility; it can also be used as a form of insect repellent and even as a toothpaste.
Wikipedia informs me that our Secretary of State is sporting a Greek (or Hellenic) cross which is also used as a national symbol of Greece, Switzerland, and Tonga.
I’m a Torah observant Jew. I was so happy to see the ashes too. Our country is best with more religious people and with more religion. The world too. Glad to see it. I think all religious Jews feel the same.
The corrupt Democrat Party is War Machine Cheney.
Thank God Rubio has come around and seen the light. I thought he was going to be a Cuban Lindsey Graham there for a while.
Just as Alioto was shocked at Roberts/ACB supporting a judicial abuse that may cost taxpayers 2 billion dollars, I've been shocked at the bloodthirsty desire of our Power Elite to "Kill Ruskiees" and destroy Ukraine rather than give up some small oblasts to Russia.
Any negotiated peace will have to recognize reality. Russia has incorporated Crimea and the occupied Donbass into Russia. The current frontline is now the new border between Russia and Ukraine. That isn't going to change.
Nor is Russia going to accept Ukraine membership in NATO or having NATO troops in the Ukraine. But until Jan 2025, the Power Elite position was Russia had to give up all conquered territory or its forever war.
Hopefully, Trump will cut off aid and stop this bloody, useless war.
As for Rubio and ashes, why are Protestants so boring? You'd never know Easter even existed if it was up to Protestants. I suppose the Puritans hated it, just like they hated Christmas.
One great thing about Catholics is they center Christ - his birth and his resurrection. And they have lent, etc.
I grew up Catholic in an area with a lot of Catholics. Admittedly, I've been out of the loop since the '80s, but I don't recall ever seeing ashes that size.
The "Catholic Guide to Ashes" calls that one "Father's Revenge"
“The problem here is that the Ukrainians want to keep fighting.”
It’s very hard to tell.
1. The Ukrainians who have left, the majority don’t want to go back, never mind keep fighting.
2. The further away Ukrainians (in Ukraine) are from the fighting, the more they support continuous war. The closer they are to the fighting, the more dispirited they are.
3. Zelensky suspended elections - only one reason for that: fear of getting voted out.
All in hindsight now, but I’m wondering if Ukraine should have stood by as Russia invaded and then fought a guerrilla war. Maybe even hit St Basil’s in Moscow - as psychological a move as downing the World Trade Center.
Perhaps revealingly, the ashes I got on my forehead as a young boy from the priest at my Catholic parish just outside Boston in the 1960s and 1970s resembled more the shape of a fingerprint than a cross.
Ash Fashion
@RCOCEAN ... you need to keep up. Ashes are now a big deal among the most likely to virtue-signal Protestant denominations. Some even do drive-up imposition. Very different from when I was a young Lutheran, though.
I never saw them (ashes) on television until some years ago. I like that more people are being out in the open with them. I did notice his is very cross-like which most used to be little more than possibly cross-like smudges.
(Lapsed Catholic here)
Little Marco is about to give Zelenski his come to Jesus talk
Ukraine is exactly in the same class as Vietnam. We have a western oriented nation where the US meddled in its politics that was invaded by an eastern oriented nation.
In Vietnam we had a US proxy with US troops fighting a proxy of an eastern nuclear power. In Ukraine we have a US\EU proxy fighting a non proxy nuclear power with no great number of western troops in combat.
Minor differences, but the political factions have switched. Democrats say destroy Russia, Republicans say make peace. This is amazing to me.
The party of McGovern refuses to give peace a chance and wants to destroy the aggressor for future peace according to the domino theory. I have now seen it all.
Give peace a chance democrats.
There is nothing significant about the ashes themselves, rather what they represent. Ditto no meat Fridays, giving up something for Lent, etc.
The ashes are typically made from the palms used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday before Easter. So 11 months previously.
I did notice his is very cross-like which most used to be little more than possibly cross-like smudges.
We all start off with cross-like and we get smudged throughout our sinful day.
It takes two seconds to find pictures of Biden with ashes.
All the pictures I saw, Biden just looked like a guy who needed to wipe his forehead.
Rubio's cross is dynamic and it makes me think it was on purpose. He did the interview right after he got the ashes.
"The problem here is that the Ukrainians want to keep fighting."
Assumes facts not in evidence. It does appear to be true, that at least some of the Ukrainians who are not fighting want the Ukrainians who are fighting to keep on fighting.
It is sickening to watch the numerous videos of this fighting. The video is taken by the "spotter drone". A couple boys in absurdly ineffective "camouflage" run across a stubbled field, and dive on the ground. A killer drone swoops into the picture and detonates. After the camera has recovered from the flash, one child is horribly maimed, probably dead, while the second gets up unsteadily and runs a short distance, then falls. Another killer drone is likely on the way already, to finish him off.
Ashes are now a big deal among the most likely to virtue-signal Protestant denominations.
Episcopalians have been doing it for a few decades now. We updated our Book of Common Prayer in 1979, and that included a prayer for the imposition of ashes.
I was surprised at how many people showed up at our 7:00 a.m. service (in the middle of a big storm). And I was also surprised to run into several people wearing ashes during my day.
If people are "virtue signaling" Christianity, then I'm in favor of virtue signaling. Way better than wearing a Covid mask, that's for sure.
Eva Marie (8:42am):
You need to find better sources of information:
1. Most of the Ukrainians living in exile would love to return home, and will as soon as the terror bombing of civilians throughout the country ceases. Some, of course, can't return home because Russians are occupying their homes, or have destroyed them.
2. Ukrainian soldiers come from all parts of the country, and I know of no evidence that westerners are more enthusiastic, or easterners more depressed, about how the war is going. They're all pissed at Trump for cutting off supplies and information, which makes it easier for Putin to kill civilians.
3. Elections are suspended by the constitution, not Zelenskyy. Even if they weren't, they cannot be held without massive slaughter of civilians, since polling places, having fixed locations and advertised hours, are easy targets for terror bombing, and the Russians seize any opportunity (funerals, train stations) to kill as many as they can. As I have pointed out before, Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, who hate Zelenskyy and each other, agree that elections cannot be held and that he is the legitimate president.
It is also false to say that Zelenskyy fears he will lose. His approval rating is higher than Trump's: 57% and rising, last I heard. And the only politician who has a chance of beating him is Zaluzhnyi, former head of the army and now ambassador to Britain, who is even more anti-Russia than Zelenskyy, so electing him would not bring the "peace" (meaning surrender, and slavery, or continued war) that so many seem to want to impose on Ukraine.
"The problem here is that the Ukrainians want to keep fighting."
assumes facts, not in evidence..
IF they DID want to keep fighting, WHY do they need armed press gangs to shanghai draftees? in fact.. WHY do they need draftees?
Every American that supports pouring more money into that quagmire should take the next flight out to Ukraine, sign up to fight (or sign up their sons and daughters) and do so in haste, because Zelenskyy needs you right now.
For those of you who are actually interested in real information, special envoy to Ukraine general Kellogg gave an interview at the council on foreign relations that is up on YouTube right now.
@Dr Weevil:
I based my comments on 2 Ukrainians who left Ukraine relatively early on. They tell me they are not planning to go back and neither are the expats they know. They’ve established new lives. They have no plans to go back and admittedly what they have told me is colored by their decisions.
I asked Grok just now and Grok seems to verify their sentiments:
“Surveys cited in late 2024, like those from Gallup, show a shift: by mid-2024, 52% of Ukrainians favored negotiating peace soon, up from 27% in 2023, reflecting growing exhaustion. Yet, many still cling to the fight, with 38% wanting to continue until victory, driven by a belief in sovereignty and justice. Those near the frontlines or in occupied areas might prioritize survival over ideology, while others, especially in safer regions, maintain hope in Ukraine’s future, often tied to EU or NATO aspirations.”
Let me just add, those Ukrainians who think Ukraine will join NATO are either delusional or been fed as much propaganda as Zelensky has apparently been fed.
I asked Grok how many expats planned to return:
“the best estimate is that 3.5 to 4 million expat Ukrainians—about 58-65% of those abroad—plan to return, but that’s a soft number, shrinking as time and adaptation take their toll”
The 65% who said they wanted to return said, in general, that they would return “when it was safe”. That’s a very squishy response. I would estimate that that number will keep going down.
Eva Marie:
You said "the majority don't want to go back" and now you quote Grok saying that 58-65% want to go back. It looks like you were wrong and I was right. And that number will go up, not down, if it looks like Ukraine can liberate the occupied territories. At the moment they're advancing on several fronts and Russian military on social media admit they're getting slaughtered.
As for whether Zelenskyy would be reelected if elections could be held, the latest polls (link) show 44% for Zelenskyy, less than 24% for Zaluzhnyi*, 10% for Poroshenko, and 5.7% for Tymoshenko. As I said, only Zaluzhnyi seems to have any chance of defeating him.
*Bastards at the link say Zaluzhnyi is "trailing him by more than 20 percentage points" but don't give the actual number.
JIM (1:06pm):
In fact Zelenskyy - you mean the nation of Ukraine - needs more F-16, lots more M-1 tanks, more Patriot missiles and launchers, and some Taurus missiles from Germany. He's not asking for American troops, just the weapons and ammunition.
1) Ukrainians are not going back. I have hired a 20 year old Ukrainian male. He's not planning to head back to Ukraine after getting to America via 2 other countries.
2) Ukraine is indeed asking for American troops. That is what a security guarantee says. It means if war starts again, USA has fight.
That’s true. 65% is a majority. We’ll see if it holds.
I understand the unhappiness about ending the war with the status quo. That said, give us a better plan.
Narayanan @ 8:03am,
Are you quoting from someone? I'm curious about "particularly the Mundari" since this is, in fact, a widespread practice among all the Nilotic groups.
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