imho
couple of key pivots ahead
most of them economic (esp for russia)
would be a good time to negotiate some sort of cease fire/peace plan
or i hope so
Up until now, extreme polarization, squeezed through the media distortion field and a black hole of non-verified government information and straight-up propaganda, has given us what? A ton of wildly disparate estimates, typically with Russian casualties very high and Ukrainian figures either much lower or non-existent.
Alas, unfortunately, truth is the first casualty of war, my friend.
Up until now, extreme polarization, squeezed through the media distortion field and a black hole of non-verified government information and straight-up propaganda, has given us what? A ton of wildly disparate estimates, typically with Russian casualties very high and Ukrainian figures either much lower or non-existent.
A Google News search of Russian-Ukrainian casualties today will result in the top eight article headlines all speculating on why Russian fatalities and injuries are so high. While there is an acknowledgment that âmilitary casualties on both sides of the war are difficult to establish and verify; the warring sides often estimate rival losses, and are understood to downplay their own,â nearly every top story includes some effort by independent organizations and/or government source to size up the numbers â on the Russian side.
â(The) coverage invariably foregrounds and heavily publicizes Russian losses, while largely de-emphasizing Ukraineâs similar and arguably more devastating ones,â noted writer Branko Marcetic, in a RS article trying to make sense of the carousel of estimates in March.
This strange imbalance in information includes recent tracking from Mediazone, working with BBC, that hit all the headlines this week with an estimate of more than 27,000 Russian deaths based on publicly available information. Another, Meduza, also working with Mediazone and with publicly sourced info, pegs it at closer to 50,000 fatalities. Neither report focuses at all on Ukrainian casualties.
The speech, at Vilnius University, came after a series of important victories for Mr. Biden as NATOâs de facto leader, at a time of rapid change for the alliance.
His success in cajoling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to drop his objections to Swedenâs admission as the 32nd member of NATO makes it possible to turn the Baltic Sea into a region bounded almost entirely by the alliance (though Mr. Erdogan suggested that Turkeyâs Parliament may not take up the issue until October). NATO nations committed to boosting military spending that the United States has long complained was inadequate.
At the same time, Mr. Biden managed to quash an effort by Ukraine, with the support of Poland and several of the Baltic nations, to give a timetable for Ukraine to formally enter the alliance.
Thank God this all happened under Bidenâs watch. Under Trump this would have all been over and Russia would be carving it up like a Thanksgiving turkey. But in the end⦠Trump would be best buddies with Putin and his second-rate nation⦠so theres that.
The speech, at Vilnius University, came after a series of important victories for Mr. Biden as NATOâs de facto leader, at a time of rapid change for the alliance.
His success in cajoling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to drop his objections to Swedenâs admission as the 32nd member of NATO makes it possible to turn the Baltic Sea into a region bounded almost entirely by the alliance (though Mr. Erdogan suggested that Turkeyâs Parliament may not take up the issue until October). NATO nations committed to boosting military spending that the United States has long complained was inadequate.
At the same time, Mr. Biden managed to quash an effort by Ukraine, with the support of Poland and several of the Baltic nations, to give a timetable for Ukraine to formally enter the alliance.
I don't expect you to do anything. Defense ministers or generals, esp. in times of war, have a tendency to be flexible with the truth.
"Victory is just around the corner! Last throes! "
"The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real worldâand the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this endâis being destroyed."
—Hannah Arandt
âThe point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.â
â Garry Kasparov
Not my point at all. Read the bolded statement; it is, as you acknowledge, a lieâand an obvious one. Yet you posted it and expect us to take anything else he says seriously.
I don't expect you to do anything. Defense ministers or generals, esp. in times of war, have a tendency to be flexible with the truth.
"Victory is just around the corner! Last throes! "
Sure. Already established some posts ago. Both sides have used and will use them more.
Not my point at all. Read the bolded statement; it is, as you acknowledge, a lie—and an obvious one. Yet you posted it and expect us to take anything else he says seriously.
The supply of cluster munitions by the Americans to Kiev will prolong the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters on Tuesday.
"The whole world has already seen that they (the United States) have confirmed the transfer of cluster munitions. They justify this in different ways. They say that given the fact that conventional 155-caliber ammunition has actually run out, so now, until their production starts, they decided to cover it with these cluster munitions. This, of course, will affect the prolongation of the conflict," the minister said.
"Neither we, nor the Americans, nor Kiev have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, realizing the threat that such ammunition poses to the civilian population, Russia has refrained from using them in the special operation," Shoigu said.
"If the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian armed forces will be forced to use similar weapons against the Ukrainian armed forces as a response. It should be noted that Russia has cluster munitions in service, so to speak, for all occasions. At the same time, they much more effective than the American ones, their range is wider and more diverse," he stressed.
According to the minister, at present, the command of the Joint Group of Forces in the area of the special military operation is taking additional organizational and technical measures to protect personnel and equipment from striking elements of cluster munitions.
Hmm. R_P posts a couple of links to anti-Ukraine stories ... on TASS.com.
Seems obvious to me that particular 'news' source is going to be biased in RU's favour.
"The Russian News Agency TASS, abbreviated TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterprise, owned by the Government of Russia"
Founder: Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire
Headquarters: Moscow, Russia
The supply of cluster munitions by the Americans to Kiev will prolong the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters on Tuesday.
"The whole world has already seen that they (the United States) have confirmed the transfer of cluster munitions. They justify this in different ways. They say that given the fact that conventional 155-caliber ammunition has actually run out, so now, until their production starts, they decided to cover it with these cluster munitions. This, of course, will affect the prolongation of the conflict," the minister said.
"Neither we, nor the Americans, nor Kiev have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, realizing the threat that such ammunition poses to the civilian population, Russia has refrained from using them in the special operation," Shoigu said.
"If the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian armed forces will be forced to use similar weapons against the Ukrainian armed forces as a response. It should be noted that Russia has cluster munitions in service, so to speak, for all occasions. At the same time, they much more effective than the American ones, their range is wider and more diverse," he stressed.
According to the minister, at present, the command of the Joint Group of Forces in the area of the special military operation is taking additional organizational and technical measures to protect personnel and equipment from striking elements of cluster munitions.
