Tag: war

Col Macgregor Calls Out AIPAC

34 years ago it was my honor and privilege to lead American soldiers to victory in battle to witness the courage and valor of American soldiers at a time and a place when death was all around us. Fortunately we sustained very few casualties however in the years that followed I watched many of the soldiers I served with pass on, not on foreign battlefields, but on American soil, frequently forgotten by the nation they served. In one case, a major who served with me as a lieutenant in 1993 committed suicide, the memories of the friends he lost in Iraq during a pointless, self-defeating occupation after 2003 were more than he could bear.

Yet who today remembers the Iraq war that began in 2003, or that the American military intervention was justified on the utterly false grounds that weapons of mass destruction were being built inside Iraq. The conflict took the lives of nearly 4,500 Americans in uniform, not including contractors, of course, and cost $2 trillion. At least 800,000 Iraqi citizens were internally displaced and several hundred thousand Iraqi citizens lost their lives.

Tonight I break my silence, not just for the young officer that committed suicide, but for the wives, husbands, children, and parents who endured the crushing grief of loss, who received a folded flag and were left alone to trace the name of a loved one on a cold gravestone. War is a predator. It consumes our best, our strength, and our resources, but its most terrible damage is often unseen. War also forces Americans to embrace brutality, to justify barbarism, to become something harder, colder, less humane. President Trump promised to stop the endless wars; now he really needs to do it. Americans currently stand at what Lincoln would call the fiery trial, through which we pass war with Iran or peace for America. The choice will echo through generations. We’re very fortunate the Iranians are willing to talk to us again, and perhaps we can reach a solution but, there are no guarantees. That will take leadership from the highest levels from President Trump.

Let me speak plainly about what awaits if Washington chooses war with Iran. Within hours of the first strike, Iran will seal the straight of Hormuz, choking the artery through which one of the world’s oil flows. Gas prices will not merely rise they may erupt like a volcano burning through family budgets. The economic security Americans built with their own hands since the pandemic disaster could be wrecked. Immediate price increases and loss of supplies could also result, yet the cost and treasure stands as nothing before the cost in blood. Iran is not the Iraq of our past wars. Iran consists of 85 million people fortified by mountains when the Roman Empire was young, defended by modern weapons and effectively allied with nuclear-armed powers, Russia and China, that have drawn clear and unambiguous red lines.

For the first time since missiles stood in Cuba we face not only the shadow but the real substance of nuclear confrontation, not for our country, but for the regional ambitions of a foreign state 7,000 miles from home. We must face the truth that weaker allies often attempt to make their wars our wars. America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines should not be sacrificed for territoria lexpansions that serve no vital American strategic interest.

I did not witness war through PowerPoint slides or sanitized screens and situation rooms, but through bloody fog of war. I tell you with the full authority of my battlefield experience, this war, if it comes with Iran, is not necessary. this war is also not just. This war is not worthy of America. We must not sacrifice American lives on foreign soil while American soil thirsts for our attention. We must not trade American prosperity for another state’s regional hegemony while American prosperity deteriorates. We must not abandon America’s democratic principles for imperial ambition while those principles, our best hope for justice, fade for lack of devotion. The true strength of America has never been measured by regimes toppled, but by lives improved.

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Putin Calls Out Kiev

The Russian President has offered unconditional peace talks to the Kiev regime.

I will repeat: we have proposed steps towards a ceasefire on many occasions. We have never refused to engage in dialogue with the Ukrainian side. Let me remind you again: it was not us who interrupted the negotiations in 2022; it was the Ukrainian side. In this connection, despite everything, we propose that the authorities in Kiev should resume the negotiations that they interrupted at the end of 2022 and resume direct talks. And, I stress, without any preconditions.

We suggest starting without delay next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held earlier and where they were interrupted. As you know, Turkish colleagues have repeatedly offered their services to organize such talks, and President Erdogan has done a lot to organize them. I recall that as a result of these talks a joint draft document was prepared and initialed by the head of the Kiev negotiating group, but at the insistence of the West it was simply thrown into the basket.

Tomorrow we are going to have a conversation with the President of Türkiye, Mr Erdogan. I would like to ask him to provide such an opportunity to hold talks in Türkiye. I hope that he will confirm his desire to contribute to the search for peace in Ukraine.

We are set on serious negotiations with Ukraine. Their aim is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and to achieve a long-term lasting peace for a historical perspective. We do not rule out that in the course of these negotiations it will become possible to agree on some kind of new truce and a new ceasefire. And a real ceasefire that would be observed not only by Russia but also by the Ukrainian side and would be the first step, I repeat, towards a long-term, sustainable peace, rather than a prelude to continuing armed conflict after the Ukrainian armed forces have been rearmed, re-equipped and frantically digged trenches and new strongholds. Who needs such peace?

Our proposal is, as they say, on the table.

Even President Trump says that Kiev should accept:

“President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,” the US leader wrote. If it becomes clear that reaching a deal is not possible “European leaders, and the US, will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly,” Trump stated.

It appears Kiev is rapidly running out of rope. The Russians don’t need peace to acquire whatever they want, but the Ukrainians do if they are going to survive as an independent state; Poland and Hungary are already looking at taking back some of their historical lands when the Kiev regime collapses. The problem, of course, is the the Kiev regime is not Ukrainian and doesn’t give a damn about the Ukrainian nation, only its own ability to somehow extricate itself from the situation with all of its ill-gained loot.

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The Emptiest of Threats

The total emasculation of the European countries and the irrelevance of the US military has never been more obvious than seeing the British Prime Minister and other Clown World puppets shaking their tiny little fists at the Russians.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ‘called Putin out’ and demanded ‘no ifs or buts’ as he joined world leaders in cranking up pressure on Russia to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland arrived in Kyiv on Saturday for talks with Ukrainian President Zelensky in a show of unity of the ‘coalition of the willing’, a day after Putin hosted his allies for a Red Square Victory Day parade.

Speaking in a press conference alongside his European counterparts, Sir Keir said Europe is ‘stepping up’ on the 80th anniversary of VE day to secure Ukraine’s long-term future – after Putin called a three-day ceasefire for his Moscow event.

‘Volodymyr, we stand with you to secure the just and lasting peace that Ukraine deserves,’ the PM said.

‘It’s almost two months now since you agreed to an immediate 30 day ceasefire. In that time, Russia has launched some of the most deadly attacks on civilians of the entire war, including here in Kyiv. Normal lives, homes, families, destroyed.

‘This is what Russia offers in place of peace along with delays, smoke screens, like the current 72 hour ceasefire. And so all of us here together with the US are calling Putin out. 

‘If he’s serious about peace then he has a chance to show it now. By extending the VE day pause into a full unconditional 30 day ceasefire, with negotiations to follow immediately after a ceasefire is agreed. No more ifs and buts, no more conditions and delays. Putin didn’t need conditions when he wanted a ceasefire to have a parade. And he doesn’t need them now.’

This isn’t that hard. Putin wanted a parade. He doesn’t want Kiev to rearm its depleted military. If Kiev is going to rearm during a ceasefire, then there will be no ceasefire. Russia has already been through this twice already and does not intend to do so again.

Who, or what, do these clowns think they’re impressing? I think the only reason the Russians don’t simply hazeltree the lot of them at one of their bi-weekly ritual gatherings is because Putin knows that even if their posturing is tedious and annoying, their ineffectual non-leadership isn’t getting in the way of the Russians achieving their objectives.

It’s like a spin on the old Robin Williams joke. “Sanctions! Now stop, or I shall sanction you again!”

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When Society Fears its Veterans

It is a society that no one will defend and is not long for this world. A veteran of the Iraqi War explains that he’s not merely a “right-winger” but a man who was betrayed by his government.

Everyone thinks I’m a right winger but they are wrong. That’s way too simple of an explanation. I’m a product. I’m a result. I’m what happens when society kicks the can of betrayal down the road for too long. I am unfortunately necessary. I will never negotiate with evil. I cannot be bought. I do not care about power. I do not care about money. I do not care about success. My dog in this fight isn’t any of these earthly trinkets everyone is grasping at. I am here for justice. I am here to make amends for the sins I’ve committed. I am here to witness the evil so it can be judged. I am here to be the voice for the weak, helpless, and silent. So help me God.

Meanwhile, the Russians are doing the precise opposite, by putting a plan in place to groom military veterans for political and business leadership, and ensuring they find an honored place in Russian society.

The program “Time of Heroes”, aimed at the development of participants and veterans of the SVO, starts today, its goal is to prepare managers to work in government, Dmitry Peskov said. Requirements for participants of the “Time of Heroes” program: citizenship of the Russian Federation, higher education, experience in managing people, participation in SVO and no criminal record. The program will be mentored by the heads of the presidential administration, governors, members of the government, mayors, heads of leading companies.

This is what is possible when a nation is not ruled by a foreign elite that fears its replacement by a nationalist elite.

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Houthis 3, US Navy 0

Another F-18 was lost in the Red Sea, presumably due to its carrier having to take evasive maneuvers after being targeted by land-to-sea missiles from Yemen:

The US Navy has lost another fighter jet in the Red Sea, marking the second incident involving an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS Harry S. Truman in just over a week, and the third such loss since Washington intensified operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The aircraft reportedly plunged into the sea after experiencing an arrestment failure while attempting to land on the carrier, forcing both the pilot and weapons systems officer to eject. CNN first reported the incident on Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

“The arrestment failed, causing the aircraft to go overboard. Both aviators safely ejected and were rescued by a helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 11,” an unnamed defense official told USNI News. “The aviators were evaluated by medical personnel and assessed to have minor injuries. No flight deck personnel were injured.”

The incident reportedly occurred the same day the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group “took a shot” at the Truman, though it remains unclear whether the two events are connected.

That represents just under 1 percent of the US F-18 fleet lost to the Yemeni military, which is impressive in that Yemen does not even have an air force.

Perhaps more importantly, it tends to give the lie to President Trump’s unexpected claim yesterday that the Houthis have “capitulated” and have opened the Red Sea to the US Navy.

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War on the Subcontinent

India and Pakistan aren’t hitting each other hard yet, but they are definitely exchanging real cross-border blows:

Powerful explosions lit up the night sky over Pakistan shortly after midnight as India launched strikes on nine separate sites in response to last month’s Islamist terror attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which left 26 civilians dead.

Shocking footage circulating on social media showed massive fireballs erupting as missiles struck targets across Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Delhi was quick to stress that its attacks – named Operation Sindoor, after the red pigment traditionally worn by the wives of Hindu men – targeted ‘terrorist infrastructure’ and did not strike Pakistani military assets, describing them as ‘focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature’.

But Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed the strikes hit civilian areas and described them as an ‘act of war’ as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that India’s ‘heinous act of aggression will not go unpunished,’ erasing hopes that a dangerous escalation might still be avoided.

Just hours later, Pakistani missiles reportedly brought down five Indian fighter jets before pounding Indian positions across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border separating Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, with mortar and artillery.

Earlier today Pakistan’s armed forces were authorised to respond to India’s strikes. A statement from the National Security Council said: ‘The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorised to undertake corresponding actions in this regard.’

So now we’ve got war on the Asian-European frontier, in the Middle East, and on the subcontinent. It’s interesting to see that neither Africa nor the Americas are engaged in it yet. President Trump would do very well to extricate the USA from involvement in either the Ukrainian war or the Israeli wars, but unfortunately, he has no shortage of advisors encouraging him to entangle the USA in both.

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The Return of the Mercenary

Which raises the natural question: if mercenaries are back, is the return of the City-State next?

At my Australian High School, there was a weekly assembly of all students and time was always set aside for us to sing the national anthem. Yet almost no one sung it. Some would mouth it, others hum, while many did nothing at all. At most someone would start to sing it, lasting about 10 seconds before folding back into the hum. The only exception was our principal, who had served in the military. Even he struggled, and not for lack of memory of the lifeless lyrics, but in the battle against the apathy of everyone around him. This is emblematic of the loss of national consciousness that has occurred in Western countries, though I doubt we Westerners are the only ones. The loss of national consciousness makes the current political order and all others that have been seen since the French Revolution untenable. German-speakers of the 13th century cannot fight for anything but God, family, their local lord or money. The national consciousness simply does not exist.

Shortages of military recruits is a common problem to many Western countries. Despite generally offering salaries + benefits equal to or in excess of what would be found in private industry for an average young man there is a deficit of applicants. The flag simply isn’t motivating enough to die for anymore. This calls in to question the viability of even the professionalised state militaries that are supposed to fight the post-Vietnam Cabinet’s War. Indeed, the United States has been afflicted with an enduring shortage of recruits, this is despite replacing much of their front-line soldiers with mercenaries (Private Military Contractors). The significance of the use of mercenaries can be most clearly seen through their share of total combat deaths. As of 2020, total US military service-member (government soldier) fatalities in Iraq numbered at 4586, while total Private Military Contractor fatalities in Iraq numbered at least 3413. So as at least 43% of total American fatalities in Iraq were American Private Military Contractors. 2009 was the point when American Private Military Contractor fatalities year-on-year surpassed those of US government soldiers. Such a ratio of mercenary to state soldier fatalities in an army is more reminiscent of a medieval campaign than what would have been considered a “modern” war for the last 250 years.


Any attempt to fight the long-term trend of neomedievalism by forcible conscription will end as Vietnam ended. Additionally, any attempt to “change the culture” to get more volunteers will have the same effect as my school principal awkwardly singing the national anthem. The pressure or emotion to “answer the call” of the nation-state has been lost due to multiple factors. The key complaint is “what are we fighting for”. It’s an important one. What precisely a Brit, Australian, Frenchman, American, Canadian etc. is has lost much definition since the end of World War 2, particularly in the last 40 years. Intra-country political and ethno-religious differences now trump inter-country hatred. People also do not trust the media as they once did, so the media does not have a monopoly on truth which it once had. Use of the media is a crucial tool in rallying the masses for secular wars, without it the need for coercion multiplies. Coercion, which the outcome of Vietnam in the United States showed cannot be supplied. I don’t think that there is anything that would cause majority of Western male Zoomers to be out on the streets protesting, rioting or otherwise actively resisting the government; with the sole exception of military conscription to a war. Gen Alpha will be much the same.

Somehow, I don’t think neo-medievalism and all of the incumbent serfdom was what most people had in mind when they bought into the lies of Clown World.

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Sanctioning the Wrong Side

President Trump has completely failed to address the war in Ukraine in an appropriate manner capable of bringing it to an end, and now we’re back to the failed neocon strategies of the past:

The US has finalized a new set of economic sanctions targeting Russia as leverage to force Moscow to settle the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported on Friday, citing several sources. It remains unclear, however, whether US President Donald Trump will approve the measures.

Earlier media reports suggested that Trump has not ruled out the sanctions if a ceasefire is not reached soon. On Monday, Moscow offered a 72-hour ceasefire from May 8 to 10, portraying the initiative as a chance to begin “direct negotiations with Kiev without preconditions.” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky dismissed the overture as “manipulation,” insisting on a 30-day truce.

The targets of the new sanctions under discussion include state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom and major entities involved in the natural resources and banking sectors, an administration official told the agency, without providing specifics.

Apparently the USA remains agreement-incapable under President Trump. At some point, Washington is going to realize that its rhetoric is no longer capable of reshaping reality, and that sanctions will never have the desired effect on major powers. But today is not that day.

If President Trump wants to end the war, he would do much, much better to sanction Ukraine and the EU.

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Russia Ready for NATO

An explanation for the huge increase in troops being mobilized and new arms being produced that have not shown up on the front lines is finally explained by Russia’s preparations for a direct confrontation with NATO:

The U.S. estimates that around 30,000 Russians are signing up each month, up from about 25,000 last summer. Some Eastern European intelligence officials say the ranks are now swelling by some 40,000 soldiers a month. The extra manpower has allowed the military to rotate new troops in and out of Ukraine, and to build new units trained and housed in Russia, according to some European intelligence assessments.

So, not only do they confirm that Russia is regenerating 30,000 men per month, and even 40,000 according to some sources, but the biggest bombshell of all is made which fully redeems my reporting over the past year and a half: Russia is siphoning some of the newly recruited troops into new units stationed in the rear of Russia proper; i.e. reserves.

This should once and for all conclusively put to bed theories around where the Russian 30k+ monthly troops are going: a portion is replenishing hard losses, a portion replacing contract non-renewals, and a portion is going directly to the rear to stand up new armies meant to prepare Russia for a much bigger clash against NATO proper…

And if they do fight NATO, they’ll do so with more than 200,000 North Korean troops fighting with them.

“Our source reports that DPRK soldiers will take part in the war on Ukrainian territory (previously they fought only in the Kursk region) if Trump’s peace case stalls. The source points out that if the war escalates, then by the end of the year more than two hundred thousand North Korean soldiers will be fighting in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces using their own equipment. Such an “infusion” threatens the collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ defense.

President Trump would do very well to put leashes and muzzles on Kiev, Brussels, and most of the European leaders and force a peace settlement to Russia’s liking or Russia is going to simply decide the fate of Europe without any input from the USA or anyone else.

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The Lessons of War

North Korean troops have gained valuable combat experience in Russia, while NATO simply refuses to admit that it needs to learn anything despite the changing face of the battlefield:

I saw these guys several times in business. And every time I caught myself thinking that they were preparing for another war. Which looked a little strange. Still, North Korea is a military state. For 70 years they have been de facto at war. Huge budget funds go on national defense, and a meeting with the Ukrainian army made Koreans think and reconsider their views on the war.

Very soon, they realized that you can’t stumble, and attacking with a line is not a good idea. And they heard the REB and the UAV, but they did not understand the true meaning.

Once again, I note that in order to learn from the war, you need to lose your soldiers on the battlefield. Koreans have paid their price and will now process this valuable experience. Commanders mouths grow to the generals. And all their careers they will remember the nasty buzzing of the FPV drones, and will do everything to minimize their threat.

All military personnel of this world are watching the SVO. But true conclusions will be available to only a few. Most will make decisions based on objective control materials and dry intelligence reports. And I am sure that most generals will not be able to draw the right conclusions from the experience of the SVO. Which, however, is in our hands. The time is now dashing, and only a few armies can boast of combat experience.

There is an old saying that generals always prepare for the previous war. Which is why the US military is mostly geared up for police occupations and counter-insurgency operations. Neither it nor any of the European militaries are even remotely ready for a war with Russia, with or without popular support.

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