Tag: Russia

Angels vs Demons

There shouldn’t be any question which side is on the side of the angels and which is most definitely not in what purports to be a war between Russia and Ukraine. One side is openly Christian and is fighting on their own land. The other side is led by an avowedly anti-Christian regime that is funded by Clown World and is literally persecuting priests and closing down churches.

It’s a cold, rainy, damp morning in the deep Donbass countryside, at a secret location close to the Urozhaynoye direction; a nondescript country house, crucially under the fog, which prevents the work of enemy drones.

Father Igor, a military priest, is blessing a group of local contract-signed volunteers to the Archangel Gabriel battalion, ready to go to the front lines of the US vs. Russia proxy war. The man in charge of the battalion is one of the top-ranking officers of Orthodox Christian units in the DPR. A small shrine is set up in the corner of a small, cramped room, decorated with icons. Candles are lit, and three soldiers hold the red flag with the icon of Jesus in the center. After prayers and a small homily, Father Igor blesses each soldier.

This is yet another stop in a sort of itinerant icon road show, started in Kherson, then Zaporozhye and all the way to the myriad DPR front lines, led by my gracious host Andrey Afanasiev, military correspondent for the Spas channel, and later joined in Donetsk by a decorated fighter for the Archangel Michael battalion, an extremely bright and engaging young man codename Pilot.

There are between 28 and 30 Orthodox Christian battalions fighting in Donbass. That’s the power of Orthodox Christianity. To see them at work is to understand the essentials: how the Russian soul is capable of any sacrifice to protect the core values of its civilization.

A fact that has been assiduously avoided by the pro-NATO media is that a significant number of the “Russian” forces, and a disproportionate number of the Russian casualties, are not soldiers of the Russian Army. They are members of the local militias who are residents of the Donbass, the two republics that voted for their independence in 2014 and were formally annexed by Russia in 2022, and many of those soldiers have been fighting the Ukrainian military forces for a decade.

It’s as if Texas declared independence, was invaded and occupied by the US military, which was later driven out by the Texans with the assistance of Mexico. The analogy is imperfect, because Russia has taken, and will continue to take, Ukrainian land outside of the Donbas, but the special military operation is, and has always been, more a war of liberation than a foreign military invasion.

Russia has relied upon the local militias, as well as the Chechens and private military companies, in order to preserve most of its regular troops to fight the US Army. And, of course, the morale of the local militias is incredibly high because they are literally fighting for their land and their own homes.

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The Third Economic Destruction of Germany

The combination of financially backing the EU, supporting NATO’s Russian sanctions, the primitive Green agenda, and the importation of millions of economically net-negative immigrants has finally overwhelmed what was once one of the world’s great economic engines:

One in three German manufacturers is considering moving production to other countries amid economic troubles, double the number recorded in 2022, Bild news outlet reported on Saturday, citing Siegfried Russwurm, the head of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

According to the report, among the latest firms planning to relocate is household appliance manufacturer Miele, which plans to cut 2,000 jobs in Germany and move 700 positions to its site in Poland. Heating manufacturer Viessmann had already moved 3,000 jobs to Poland.

Volkswagen said last year that it would build a new battery factory in the US, and BASF announced plans to invest €10 billion in a petrochemicals plant in China amid job cuts at its headquarters in Germany. French steel pipe manufacturer Vallourec shut down production in Germany in September last year, while tiremaker Michelin and its US rival Goodyear said they would also close their German plants by the end of 2025.

Russwurm says that a growing number of companies have reported that their “patience with Germany is at an end.” According to him, the slowdown in economic growth and high rates of inflation, especially with regard to energy, have resulted in less investment, and Berlin lacks a strategy to turn the situation around. This in turn leads to a gradual decline in manufacturing, he said, and while existing production lines may continue to operate for a while, “new ones are no longer being built in Germany.”

Many companies point to the high energy prices, which soared after Germany lost access to Russian natural gas in 2022, as one of the major causes of their problems. This was exacerbated by Berlin’s decision to phase out nuclear energy and coal and switch to renewables, which, according to Russwurm, put manufacturers working in Germany at a significant disadvantage compared to other industrialized nations.

The German dirt is no more magic than the American variety. Generations of Turkish gastarbeitern combined with Merkel’s refugee wave means that manufacturers based in Germany are no more guaranteed actual German workers than if they just set their factories up in Turkey or in China.

The biggest lie that the neoliberal economists ever told was that immigration is good for the economy. While immigration can be good for the economy, such as when you’re replacing Native American nomads, African slaves, and Irish indentured servants with hard-working German immigrants, the 20th century movement of peoples has proven, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that replacing Northern Europeans with any other population is very, very bad for the economy in every sense of the term, including by the most basic GDP-per-capita metric.

To say that “immigration is good for GDP” is a literal tautology, because GDP increases with the addition of every single economic actor. Of course, it does with every dollar of debt too, and yet no one is dumb enough – a few professional neo-Keynesians aside – to claim that “debt is good for the economy”. But in both cases, the historical data proves – does not suggest, proves – that mass immigration is reliably very, very bad for an industrial economy.

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Zelensky Pulls the Trigger

The Kiev regime has replaced Valerii Zaluzhny as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Oleksandr Syrsky, an ethnic Russian general who barely speaks Ukrainian and has a track record of uniform and very bloody failure. Simplicius explains the reason behind this already-unpopular decision:

Why would Zelensky appoint a commander that the entire armed forces allegedly hates?

In fact, this is a ‘design feature’ not a bug.

Recall that the reason Zaluzhny was given the boot was he had become too powerful: he was too loved by the troops, and by the people. Why? One of the reasons is likely because he fought for the troops multiple times. In early 2023, documents were leaked showing that he nearly begged Zelensky to pull troops back from Bakhmut, but the narco-Fuhrer refused, wanting it as a symbolic city defense—perhaps taken with romantic delusions of Stalingrad.

During the grand summer ‘counteroffensive’, Zaluzhny pulled the brigades of the 10th Army Corps back and began to use them sparingly—much to the chagrin and disapproval of US sponsors—after the initial first few wipes devastated columns of Leopards and Bradleys along the infamous road of death near Rabotino and Mala Tokmachka.

Recently it was claimed Zaluzhny likewise attempted to get Avdeevka totally withdrawn. It does not seem that he likes to waste men for what he knows to be fruitless efforts. Syrsky on the other hand appears glad to grind them down.

So, has it become obvious yet? Zelensky needs a commander-in-chief he can control, someone not universally loved by the troops; someone who cannot use those troops at a time of opportunity to ‘march on Kiev’ and oust Zelensky from his citadel. Syrsky appears to fit the perfect prototypical role: undefiant, unpopular, uncharismatic, and most importantly, untempted by political ambitions—the ideal subserviant factotum to Zelensky’s regime.

We do appear to be rapidly approaching the final stage of the Ukraine chapter of WWIII. Which should not be confused with the final stage of WWIII. We’re still in the beginning phase, albeit possibly getting closer to the end of the beginning.

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Why Tucker Went to Moscow

Russia Today suggests a logical explanation for the belated interview:

A few years ago, Russia was accused of interfering in American political processes. Now the opposite has happened. US domestic politics is dragging the Russian factor – represented by President Vladimir Putin – into its own electoral process.

Journalist Tucker Carlson is a strongly ideological man who represents a certain political camp. He brought to Moscow a profound spirit of internal American confrontation.

Carlson was probably personally curious to hear a lot of previously unknown things about our circumstances, but the goal wasn’t to learn or broaden horizons. The Putin interview was a challenge to the establishment in his home country.

The aim was to break through the conventional narrative – supported by the mainstream media – so that an alternative can fill the breach.

Tucker wasn’t finally permitted to go and do the interview with the President of Russia. He was sent by one of the saner factions of Clown World to try to extricate its empire from the suicidal path on which it has been set by the lunatic neocon faction.

The question is whether this saner faction, which still wants to preserve Clown World and its evil clown empire, is merely trying to avoid simultaneous war with Russia and China or if it still playing Cold War games and trying to make nice with Russia while gearing up for direct conflict with China.

We should able to determine that if Tucker follows up his interview with Putin by one with Xi or not.

All that being said, I very much doubt the “divide and conquer” strategy on which the clowns have relied for centuries will work. Both the Russian and Chinese presidents are not only very smart, but very well aware of the strategy and its consequences for their nations.

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Tucker-Putin Interview: Complete Transcript

This is an autotranslation of the Russian transcript provided by the Kremlin.

INTERVIEW TO TUCKER CARLSON
Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson – journalist, founder of the Tucker Carlson Network video platform.

TUCKER CARLSON: Mr. President, thank you very much.

On February 24th, 2022, you turned to your country and nation when the conflict in Ukraine began. You said you were acting because you came to the conclusion that with the help of NATO, the United States can start a sudden attack, attack on your country. For Americans are like paranoia. Why do you think America could deliver an unexpected blow in Russia? How did you come to this conclusion?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: It’s not that America was about to deliver an unexpected blow in Russia, I never said. Do we have talk shows or do we have a serious conversation?

TUCKER CARLSON: This is a beautiful quote. Thanks. We have a serious conversation.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: You have a historical basic education, how I understand, huh?

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Then I will let – just 30 seconds or one minute – give a little historical help. Do you mind?

TUCKER CARLSON: Please of course.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: See where our relations with Ukraine began, from where did she take it, Ukraine?

The Russian state began to gather as centralized, it is considered a year the creation of the Russian state – 862, when Novgorodians – there is such a city of Novgorod in the north-west of the country – invited Prince Rurik from Scandinavia to the prince, from the Varangians. 862 year old. In 1862 Russia celebrated its 1000th anniversary statehood, and in Novgorod there is a monument dedicated 1000th anniversary of the country.

In 882, the successor of Rurik, Prince Oleg, who performed, in fact, the functions of the regent in the young son Rurika, and Rurik died by this time, came to Kiev. He removed two brothers from power, who, apparently, were once members of the Ryurik squad, and thus Russia began to develop with two centers: in Kiev and in Novgorod.

Next, a very significant date in the history of Russia, – 988. This is the Baptism of Russia when Prince Vladimir, this is the great-grandson of Rurik, baptized Russia and received Orthodoxy – Eastern Christianity. Since that time the beginning the centralized Russian state is being strengthened. Why? Common territory, single economic relations, one language and after the baptism of Russia – one faith and power prince. Central Russian begins to take shape state.

But for various reasons after the introduction succession – also in ancient times, Middle Ages – Yaroslav the Wise, a little later, after he passed away, the succession was difficult, not transmitted directly from father to elder son, and from the prince who passed away, his brother, then sons on different lines. All this led to the fragmentation of Russia – of a single state, which began to take shape as one. Nothing this is not special, the same thing happened in Europe. But the fragmented Russian state has become easy prey to that the empire that Genghis Khan once created. His successors, Khan Batiy, came to Russia, plundered almost all cities ruined them. South the part where Kiev was, by the way, some other cities, they simply lost their independence, and the northern cities retained part of their sovereignty.They paid tribute to Horde, but part of sovereignty saved. And then with the center in Moscow, the beginning a single Russian state is taking shape.

South part of the Russian lands, including Kiev, began gradually reach for another « magnet » – to the center that was developing in Europe. It was the Grand Lithuanian Principality. He was even called Lithuanian-Russian, because the Russians made up significant part of this state. They spoke ancient Russian, were Orthodox. But then the union of – the union of the Great princes of the Lithuanian and Polish kingdom. After for several years another union was signed already in the spiritual realm, and part Orthodox priests obeyed power Pope. So these lands were part of the Polish-Lithuanian state.

But the Poles for decades engaged in the impoverishment of this part of the population: they introduced their language there, began to introduce the idea that these are not entirely Russian, that, since they live near the edge, they are Ukrainians. Initially, the word « Ukrainian » meant that man lives on the outskirts of the state, « near the edge », or is engaged in border service, in fact. It didn’t mean some special ethnic group.

So here the Poles polished in every possible way and in principle treated this part of the Russian lands quite harshly, if not cruelly. All this led to, that this part of the Russian lands began to fight for their rights. And they wrote letters to Warsaw, demanding compliance with their rights so that people, including Kiev, are sent here…

TUCKER CARLSON: When it was, in what years?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: It was in the 13th century. I will now say what happened next, and I will name the dates so that there was no confusion.

And in 1654, a little earlier, even – people who controlled power in this part Russian lands, appealed to Warsaw, I repeat, demanding that sent people of Russian origin and Orthodox faith. And when Warsaw is basically nothing did not answer and almost rejected these requirements, they began to turn to Moscow so that Moscow would take them to itself. You didn’t think that I came up with something, I will give you these documents…

TUCKER CARLSON: I do not think that you are making up something, no.

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Continue reading “Tucker-Putin Interview: Complete Transcript”

A Tale of Four Presidents

There is no mystery as to why the global satanists were desperate to prevent a public interview with the President of Russia being presented to Western audiences, or why they are throwing the full weight of their pet media into trying to discredit the interview, the interviewee, and the interviewer in a futile attempt to mitigate its inevitable effects.

Because anyone who listens to more than five minutes of it will immediately conclude that not only has Ukraine been defeated, but that the USA, NATO, and its so-called allies are absolutely and utterly doomed.

THE PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: The West is afraid of a strong China more than it fears a strong Russia because Russia has 150 million people and China has 1.5 billion population and its economy is growing by leaps and bounds or five percent a year. It used to be even more, but that’s enough for China. As Bismarck once put it, “potentials are the most important.” China’s potential is enormous. It is the biggest economy in the world today in terms of purchasing power parity and the size of the economy. It has already overtaken the United States quite a long time ago and it is growing at a rapid clip.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is some movement, and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, let me be choose my words—there’s some movement. There’s been a response from the, uh, there’s been a response from the opposition, but um… I think as you know initially, the president of Mexico, El-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.

Just for the record, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the President of Egypt. The President of Mexico is Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

When the strongest argument for Clown World’s continued survival is that its enemies are correct and its demi-global order of representative democracy is a corrupt facade designed to conceal the real rulers of its satanic empire, it is pretty clear that the Rastas are right and Babylon gwan fall.

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Tucker’s Putin Interview

I’m not at all interested in why Tucker Carlson is interviewing Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader is, after all, one of the most influential men on the planet and one of the few people whose opinion actually matters. I’m more interested in learning why Tucker is interviewing Putin NOW.

My guess is that after decades of demonization, and two years of relentless pro-Zelensky propaganda, Clown World has deemed it necessary to put a human face on the Russian leader in order to permit public acceptance of a negotiated surrender that the Ukrainian and NATO leaders are now desperately seeking prior to the next big Russian offensive that will reconfigure the situation on the ground.

Russia has claimed that its terms remain the same as they were at the start of the Special Military Operation, so it will be interesting to see how Putin portrays Russian aims in the interview.

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Ethnic Cleansing in the EU

If you ever wonder why I expect that the tens of millions of Arab and African migrants who have invaded Europe will not be permitted to stay there permanently, note that an EU state has already begun the process of deporting large numbers of unwanted foreign residents.

Latvia is attempting to deport thousands of Russian-speaking people – and apparently, these ‘purges’ affect not only newcomers who have recently applied for a residency permit, but people who have lived in the country their entire lives.

The New York Times recently told the story of Russian-speaking widow Nina Marcinkevica, who was born in Latvia 63 years ago, when the Baltic republic was still part of the Soviet Union. She married and raised a family there, and has never lived anywhere else. Nina resides in the predominantly Russian-speaking city of Daugavpils in the eastern part of the country. In the fall, she received an official notice stating that she had lost her rights to residency, her state pension, and medical care. “You must leave the territory of the Republic of Latvia by November 30, 2023,” the letter stated.

The Latvian authorities have the opportunity to expel Marcinkevica due to her Russian citizenship. Over 3,200 Russian nationals living in Latvia received notifications about potential deportation in early October, according to the news portal Rus.lsm.lv.

This isn’t the outrage it is portrayed to be. The Latvian people absolutely have the right to their own country, and no Russian or any other non-Latvian has the right to invade their borders or reside among them if the Latvian people don’t want them there. Particularly in a democracy, even a limited representative democracy, mass immigration and the free movement of people cannot be permitted by any nation which wishes to survive as a nation.

But it is incredibly hypocritical, given the way in which the EU authorities have, despite the clear opposition of the majority of its peoples, encouraged the mass invasion of the European nations. Which means that even in the unlikely event that the EU doesn’t collapse in the next ten years, a clear legal precedent has been set for the mass repatriation of migrant populations that have proven to be incompatible with the languages, laws, and cultural traditions of the host nation.

Finland appears to be following Latvia’s lead, as it plans to pass a law banning Russians from acquiring property in Finland. No doubt repatriations will soon follow.

Finland is preparing to completely prohibit Russian citizens from purchasing real estate in the country, Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement published on Finland’s official government website on Friday.

In truth, given current economic and cultural trajectories, the children of those Russians expelled from Latvia or Finland will probably be deeply grateful that their parents returned to Mother Russia, however involuntarily the return.

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NATO’s Sicilian Expedition

Russian generals and military analysts increasingly betray open disdain for the incompetence of their Western counterparts. Even the ever-wary Putin, despite his habitual caution and openness to negotiation, radiates a distinct contempt for the enemies of Russia, perhaps in part due to his anticipation of them reliably choosing suboptimal courses.

And lest one think that the Russians are simply striking poses in order to put themselves in a better negotiating position, consider the insane new British plan to do just that as reported yesterday by RIA Novosti. Autotranslated from the Russian:

MOSCOW, Feb 2 — RIA Novosti. Great Britain invited NATO allies to consider sending an alliance expeditionary force to Ukraine, an informed source told RIA Novosti.

“In connection with the unfavorable development of events for Kiev at the Ukrainian theater of operations (TVD), Britain invited NATO allies to consider sending an alliance expeditionary force to Ukraine, as well as establishing a no-fly zone over the territory controlled by the Kiev authorities and increasing the supply of weapons and equipment VSU”, — said the agency interlocutor.

Nevertheless, the British side expects that with a significant weakening of the Armed Forces and the successful advancement of the Russian army deep into the territory of the former Soviet republic, the Allies will approve the initiative, the source noted. He specified that the kingdom offers to secretly transfer to Ukraine large highly maneuverable NATO forces from the border regions of Romania and Poland for the occupation of defensive lines on the right bank of the Dnieper.

In addition, the British plan involves the deployment in Norway and Finland of a contingent of the alliance and armies of individual members of the organization to “spray” the forces and means of the Russian troops, he said. “At the same time, attacks can be made on strategic infrastructure facilities in the northern regions of Russia,” — the source emphasized.

Then, according to him, the NATO military will create a buffer zone within the occupied positions, including the border with Belarus and the territory around Kiev, and the released reserves of the Armed Forces will be sent to the special operation zone. Thus, according to London, NATO will supposedly be able to undermine Russia’s offensive capabilities and Russia will have to negotiate, he said.

Britain intends to complete the preparation of such a scenario by May of this year, the source of the agency summarized.

London proposed to send NATO expeditionary force to Ukraine, RIA NOVOSTI, 2 February 2024

The last time Britain organized an expeditionary force against Russia, it did not go well. Very few in the West now recall the North Russian Intervention, which involved 32,000 British, French, and US troops being sent to Archangel for a year-and-a-half. But the Russians assuredly have not forgotten it. From Infogalactic:

The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought about the involvement of foreign troops in the Russian Civil War on the side of the White movement. The movement was ultimately defeated, while the British-led Allied forces withdrew from Northern Russia after fighting a number of defensive actions against the Bolsheviks, such as the Battle of Bolshie Ozerki. The campaign lasted from March 1918, during the final months of World War I, to October 1919.

Presumably, the USA is behind this latest British brainstorm, just as it was behind the decision of the Kiev regime to fight a proxy war for NATO instead of surrendering in April 2022 at the behest of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But perhaps the neoclowns should focus on winning their latest war in Yemen and defeating that formidable military power before setting up to lose on yet another front in Ukraine.

Although it would be historically fitting if NATO were to end with its own Sicilian Expedition.

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The Russian Art of War

A new book by a French colonel explains the difference between Western and Russian military thought, and how the superiority of the latter is why the former loses its wars:

Throughout the Cold War period, the Soviet Union saw itself as the spearhead of a historical struggle that would lead to a confrontation between the “capitalist” system and “progressive forces.” This perception of a permanent and inescapable war led the Soviets to study war in a quasi-scientific way, and to structure this thinking into an architecture of military thought that has no equal in the Western world.

The problem with the vast majority of our so-called military experts is their inability to understand the Russian approach to war. It is the result of an approach we have already seen in waves of terrorist attacks—the adversary is so stupidly demonized that we refrain from understanding his way of thinking. As a result, we are unable to develop strategies, articulate our forces, or even equip them for the realities of war. The corollary of this approach is that our frustrations are translated by unscrupulous media into a narrative that feeds hatred and increases our vulnerability. We are thus unable to find rational, effective solutions to the problem.

The way Russians understand conflict is holistic. In other words, they see the processes that develop and lead to the situation at any given moment. This explains why Vladimir Putin’s speeches invariably include a return to history. In the West, we tend to focus on X moment and try to see how it might evolve. We want an immediate response to the situation we see today. The idea that “from the understanding of how the crisis arose comes the way to resolve it” is totally foreign to the West. In September 2023, an English-speaking journalist even pulled out the “duck test” for me: “if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.” In other words, all the West needs to assess a situation is an image that fits their prejudices. Reality is much more subtle than the duck model….

The reason the Russians are better than the West in Ukraine is that they see the conflict as a process; whereas we see it as a series of separate actions. The Russians see events as a film. We see them as photographs. They see the forest, while we focus on the trees. That is why we place the start of the conflict on February 24, 2022, or the start of the Palestinian conflict on October 7, 2023. We ignore the contexts that bother us and wage conflicts we do not understand. That is why we lose our wars…

In Russia, unsurprisingly, the principles of the military art of the Soviet forces inspired those currently in use:

  • readiness to carry out assigned missions;
  • concentration of efforts on solving a specific mission;
  • surprise (unconventionality) of military action vis-à-vis the enemy;
  • finality determines a set of tasks and the level of resolution of each one;
  • totality of available means determines the way to resolve the mission and achieve the objective (correlation of forces);
  • coherence of leadership (unity of command);
  • economy of forces, resources, time and space;
  • support and restoration of combat capability;
  • freedom of maneuver.
  • It should be noted that these principles apply not only to the implementation of military action as such. They are also applicable as a system of thought to other non-operational activities.

An honest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine would have identified these various principles and drawn useful conclusions for Ukraine. But none of the self-proclaimed experts on TV were intellectually able to do so.

Thus, Westerners are systematically surprised by the Russians in the fields of technology (e.g., hypersonic weapons), doctrine (e.g., operative art) and economics (e.g., resilience to sanctions). In a way, the Russians are taking advantage of our prejudices to exploit the principle of surprise. We can see this in the Ukrainian conflict, where the Western narrative led Ukraine to totally underestimate Russian capabilities, which was a major factor in its defeat. That is why Russia did not really try to counter this narrative and let it play out—the belief that we are superior makes us vulnerable….

This is very, very similar to what Martyanov describes in the current Castalia Library book, Losing Military Supremacy. Which should come as no surprise, as both men are familiar with Russian military thought and how different it is than what Victor Davis Hanson once described as the Western way of war. The short term thinking of the Western military strategists can most easily be seen in their historical obsession with “the decisive battle” and strange focus on the idea that losing a battle or two, or even denying him a sufficiently impressive victory, will somehow weaken the enemy leader and magically cause him to be replaced by a more amenable successor.

Which is why the Russians are patiently winning a brutal attrition war in Ukraine while the US bleeds itself out everywhere from Afghanistan to Yemen.

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