By Ted Belman
From now on comments on every post must relate to the content of the post.
Comments that don’t relate to the post must go here.
Any person who contravenes this demand will be put on moderation. Also their offending comment will be trashed.
The reason for this demand is so that people who want to read comments which pertain to the post, don’t have to wade through the chatter.
Everyone will be happier.
LANDSLIDE’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9vShlnNr8Y
@Sebastien
I had to remove your comment regarding Phillip’s article. She has requested that we not post her material. Hence, while it is regrettable, it remains necessary that we oblige her request. I hope you understand.
I agree with Edgar and peloni about the decline the quality of Israel’s senior officer corps since 1967. 1957. However, we also should remember that UitzhakRabin, who was chief of staff in 1067 in the run-up to the war , collapsed from “nervous exhaustion:” during the run-up. amd his deputy, Ezer Weizman, a future president of Israel, had to take over for him for the rest of the run-up and the war itself. Maybe not such a bad thing, since Weizman was a senior officer in the IDF air force, which played a crucial role in the Israeli victory. Yhe cabinet appointed Moshe Dayan, a familiar figure to the Israeli public because of his leadership role in the 1948 and 1956 wars, and the counter-guerilla campaign between them, was appointed Minister of defense shortly before the Israeli pre-emptive strike, replcing the prime minister, Levi Eshkol, who had simultaneously held the defense portfolio as well. Dayan didn’t do much but swagger and make belligerent statements during the war, but the Israeli soldiers and civilians, liked his defiant gentures and found him a reassuring presense. Just a rminder that the IDF’s senior leadership wasn’t perfect in 1967, and in that sense was perhaps comparable to out present flawed military and political leadership. But we won in 1967, and with the help of Hakadosh Boruch Hu we will win this time as well.
@Edgar
Quite true. Many things are of course different today from where they were in 1967, but the lack of steel in the General Staff would certainly be counted as among the most detrimental changes to be counted upon.
PELONI-
This is a strong indication of the weakness of the General Staff, and Gallant.
They waited to “absorb 200 strikes”..BEFORE they responded.
Definitely nor the IDF of 1967. We may never see its like again. G-d Forbid.
As I predicted some on this site would try and deflect from the Russian crimes and treatment of journalists.
Those same Russian’s are the allies of those trying to destroy Israel, including Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah!
Putoni 1986, as you said to Bear,
You continue to dodge my own question,
WHERE’S THE MAP???
150 Hezbollah launchers have been destroyed in Lebanon which prevents the potential launch of thousands of rockets.
Israel is currentyl conducting preemptive strikes on Hezbollah after absorbing 200 missile attacks today.
@Bear
As you have gone to great lengths now (no less than 5 additional comments) to share some more anti-Putin propaganda, perhaps you will answer my rather simple question.
We live in an age of totalitarians. Best that we not confuse this reality as being only present among those who we oppose. To be certain, the despotic sweaty green tshirt guy is not the least of such totalitarians, as he has banned religions, encarcerated clergy, imprisoned and beaten political opposition before ransoming their release, banned the publication of unauthorized language publications and schools, overseen the publication of a public execution list of politicians, opponents and journalists, and allied himself with neo Nazis while also celebrating a literal living WWII Waffen SS officer. Quite an impressive record as totalitarians go, actually.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/12/russian-exile-journalism/
Evan Gershkovich: Updates on the Freed WSJ Reporter.
This Jewish American Journalist was imprisoned by Russia with made up charges.
https://www.wsj.com/news/evan-gershkovich
https://news.sky.com/story/marina-ovsyannikova-former-russian-state-tv-journalist-has-fled-country-after-escaping-house-arrest-lawyer-says-12723068
Continue https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/journalists-flee-russia-putin-cracks-ukraine-invasion-rcna19959
I know there will be those on Israpundit in denial or trying to divert attention away from the evil Russian treatment of journalists by badmouthing Ukraine whether truthfully or not. Whatever Ukraine does in this war to defend themselves including at times war disinformation does not excuse the Russian invasion and tyranny towards any reporter disseminating information that does not meet the official Russian allowed parameters.
The dangers faced by journalists in Russia have been known for years, and unfortunately, there have been cases of journalists being killed. Here are some notable incidents:
Anyone who believes the press in Russia are free to report what they want and not the approved Putin narrative is at best naive or part of the Russian propaganda spinners in the west or just has their head in the sand because they do not want to hear the truth.
Some examples that were newsworthy.
The dangers faced by journalists in Russia have been known for years, and unfortunately, there have been cases of journalists being killed. Here are some notable incidents:
Anyone who believes the press in Russia are free to report what they want and not the approved Putin narrative is at best naive or part of the R
@Adam
Parallel universe indeed. I will shortly have more to comment on the subject of Kursk, and which has an interesting relevance to something you stated hear. Later…
@Bear
So there are reports of Russian reporters being thrown off rooftops, but you seem oblivious to the Ukrainian reporters who were placed on an sanctioned Ukrainian website which marked them for death. Also, don’t forget the tragedy which befell Gonzo Lira, a man who gave me ample reason to dislike, but who was in fact not only a journalist but an American. Yet Lira was checked into the Ukrainian prison system alive, and yet he checked out dead a few weeks later.
So your tale about Russia and its reporters is not terribly shocking and hardly unique in this Borderlands war even if it is accurate, which wouldn’t surprise me to be honest. I am curious if you have an opinion on the treatment of Ukrainian reporters who have been hunted down and murdered, or on the fate of the defaming Gonzo since you raised the one sided subject of the plight of Russian journalists.
@peloni: a report from t Ukrainian parallel universe. The Ukrainians claim that their soldiers morale remains high even though they are fighting Russian soldiers who are both far more numerous and on the whole better armed than they are. There is some confirmation for this description of the Ukrainian soldiers from what the Ukrainians call Russian “military bloggers,” who post mainly on Telegram sites. Ukrainian sources quote some of these bloggers as saying that the Ukrainian resistance is fierce and unrelenting, and that the Russian high command has not given the Russian soldiers enough high-quality military eqipment, and sometimes not even enough food and clothes, to fight effectively. While admitting that they are suffering heavy casualties, the Ukrainians claim that the Russians are suffering even more casualties and even more losses of tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, etc. Here too, they claim that the Russian military bloggers, whose voices the Ukrainians sometimes record in order to prove their authenticity (it doesn’t prove their authenticity to me because I don’t speak Russian. But Western journalists reporting from the scene generally support the Ukrainian version of events, although this is no surprise. However, they also sometimes film scenes of Ukrainian troops dug in in trenches and taking heavy fire, but also resisting fiercely. These film clips look authentic to me.
While the Russians have been making steady progress in the Donbass during their summer offensive, it has also been slow progress, according to the map-making sites that map the war on a daily basis. The Russians are still not even close to having captured or recaptured 100% of the Donbass according to the military map-makers.
The war sounds and looks very much like World War I, another war that was fought in trenches, in which both sides were able to make only slow progress, Back more than 100 years into the past. Incredibly tragic.
Mikkele-
“All here are mad except thou and I” and I’m not sure about thee….!!
You forget that most here on this site have forgotten more than you ever knew nor could know with your stultified comprehension-good only for cribbing from the Internet.
@Adam
One thing to note, an advancing army does not need significant earthworks.
Also, the extension of the lines of communications into Russia presents Ukraine with a liability to maintain that force, and it requires increase in men and munitions with this new front which has no strategic value to preserve Ukraine’s 1991 borders, which are still crumbling as recently as yesterday. Importantly, in an article referencing the Kursk invasion, the spokesman for the Ukrainian 110th Mech Brigade told Politico that
So will we see if this 400-1200 sq mile toehold in Russia come to completely undermine Ukraine’s hold on what used to be Ukraine? As Russia is now increasing its already advancing gains towards the capture of Pokrovsk (a tongue twister to be certain) it would seem to be somewhat curious that Ukraine would so recklessly abandon or at minimum endanger its control over the Dombas. So while it has been falsely claimed that Russian troops are being drained from the Dombas, it seems clear that Ukrainian arms are instead being drained from that collapsing front to feed Ukraine’s Russian front. Notably, Pokrovsk, unlike Kursk, stands as a strategic objective, and one which Russia is likely to gain, sooner now because of the Kursk invasion if this report from Ukraine’s own forces are to be believed.
@Felix
Quite true. This is why Ukraine has no embedded reporters.
People must understand that all news from Ukraine has been very strictly censored. I have seen videos of the Ukrainian attacks on civilians in Odessa and Donbass and they are Holocaust type of situations. One video, I have lost the URL, is a true eye opener. It is total open attack on civilians . I have to search for this so I can share it widely. These were things we got nowhere near knowing about.
@Felix
That is very ironic.
You guys crack me up! NOT ONE OF YOU CAN READ A MAP!
What absolute, illiterate ignorance!
Not me I was quoting Michael perhaps forgot italics but your points are good
History is not on their side but is on the side of Putin. He entered Ukraine in order to halt a real genocide of Russian speakers
@Felix
Not likely.
In fact, Ukraine has been retreating over the past year for three reasons:
1. They lack force generation
2. They lack munitions
3. They lack morale
While the issue of morale may see a temporary increase due to the Kursk invasion, the reasons for Ukraine’s low morale can not be addressed in Kursk, namely the ongoing losses in Dombass, the fact that the war in Dombass is lost, the new conscription law, and the new tax law.
What is more, the gains in Kursk have resulted in at most the capture of a small portion of Kursk, while the vital possession of the mineral rich and sea access in Dombass has been nearly completely ceded to Russian forces. Also, the Russian reinforcements coming to Kursk are not coming from Dombas, which is why the ongoing gains in Dombas are still ongoing. The Kursk raid increased the line of scrimmage between Russia and Ukraine, but Ukraine has not increased the forces it can field to defend that line of scrimmage, while the same can not be stated for Russia. Some Russians are describing the Kursk invasion as a Russian trap laid for Ukraine, and while this is silly propaganda, the reality is that Ukraine did itself no great favor beyond feeding their addiction to headlines in attacking in Kursk.
The longevity of the Kursk raid will be known with time, but I am not betting on the side whose lack of success over the past year has been due to having too few men and too few arms to prevent its ongoing retreat.
One more thing to note, is that is it reasonable that the Ukrainians will have the psychological drive to hold onto Russian territory when they failed to be driven to do so with Ukrainian territory? Well, we shall see, but I feel safe in betting on the Russians to win in Dombas, to win in Kursk, and to win the war, not because of Russian propaganda, but because they have a force generation capacity as well as an arms production capacity which the Ukrainians simply can not match.
By the way, if the war were to be decided based on imagination and fake news productions, well, Russia wouldn’t have a prayer, but fortunately for Russia, this war will be decided by numbers, numbers of men and munitions, and fake news can not change this reality.
Peloni,
It’s as I expected — you have NO NAP to substantiate anything.
BTW, if and when you DO produce a map, I do not want you to give me a map of Kiev from 1827. I want to see a map from the beginning of the failed Russian offensive of 2023/24, which includes both the Kursk region and the Donetsk basin.
As you well know, you have no proof concerning what Adam has said: Ukrainian territorial gains in Kursk far outstrip Russian gains in Donetsk; and Ukraine is well on the way to doubling its gains. Again, SHOW ME THE MAP. I don’t want any more BS from you.
@Michael
Russia has made massive advances over the past year. Recall that it was just six months ago that Russia took the vital stronghold of Avdiika which withstood assaults for a decade, a structure which should have been manned by upwards of 50,000 men or more, but fell while being defended by a fraction of that number – and that is just one of three pressing issues which has brought Ukraine to a steady retreat ever since while suffering massive casualties. Hence Adam is quite correct in stating
Hi, Adam
I don’t know where you, Ted, Peloni et al found “information” about massive Russian advances this past year. If you look at the actual map
https://liveuamap.com/
of the situation on the ground, and compare it with a similar map from a year ago, you will find that, despite an incredible loss of live (recently 1200 Russians killed or captured every day), the ground situation is essentially static — except, notably, for the fact that Ukrainian forces now control part of Russia.
Pick any map you choose. Edgar, Peloni, Ted, etc. do not dare show ANY map; because no map in the world actually SHOW the bull crap they are talking. This is all I have to say to you illiterates:
GO FIND A MAP, ANY MAP, THAT SHOWS, DURING THE PAST YEAR, RUSSIAN CAPTURING MORE TERRITORY THAN UKRAINE.
Just produce the map. I won’t respond for more ignorant bullshit.
Felix
I never said this or anything remotely like it. Never even thought anything like it. You seem to have confused me with someone else. I have never “ecchoed the BBC.”
I do think that Ukrainian troops have advanced into Russian territory in the Kursk region. But nearly everyone, including Ted and Peloni, have agreed that this has actually happened. But I haver said, or even thought, that “it far exceeds all the Russian advances into Ukraine so far this year.” Russia’s advances into Ukraine so far this year have been devastating to Ukrainians and have resulted in immense Ukrainian casualties, despite the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian soldiers, and their willingness sacrifice their lives for their country. Whether the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kurak will result in serious damage to Russia is unknown at this point. It remains to be seen. I think it has undermined the prestige of the Russian military, and possibly the Russian government, in the eyes of the Russian people.
Adam
You do no more than echo the BBC
Ted and Peloni seem to have been confused by pro-Russian propaganda at the moment. This Ukrainian advance is very, very real. It far exceeds all the Russian advances into Ukraine so far this year.”
How can a Jew be an echo of the BBC?
A real hard one.
“
The Ukrainian lies are delivered to the world by a middle class operating layer of reporters. But more and more Ukrainian youth and workers have grown in their scepticism. This is ideological. They hate the lies.
Trump needs a boost if JFK Jr. can give him a couple of points in the swing states that might be the difference in the election.
Is RFK Jr dropping out to endorse Trump?
Hi, Peloni
I didn’t say how long before Feb. 2022, nor how good a chance Russia and Ukraine had; so the quibbling is of questionable value. As long as Russian troops remain in Ukraine, there is ZERO chance of of reconciliation.
Russia’s latest contribution to the “peace” effort has been increased:
https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-launches-3rd-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-this-month/7747206.html
Just think, Peloni: Putin’s answer to a limited Ukrainian incursion into Russia, has been massive bombing of Ukraine’s CAPITAL. It doesn’t take a genius, to realize that the “tit-for-tat” he is begging for, is a massive Ukrainian attack on Moscow.
Now, won’t that be jolly peaceful!
@Michael
You fail to appreciate that the differences were between the US and Russia, and that Ukraine was merely America’s stooge in this game. Hence, there was no chance of resolving the differences, as was made plain by the revelation that the Minsk agreement was used by the West in bad faith to build up Ukraine’s military to use against Russia. The only thing to which the Russian invasion put an end was the pretense that there was any chance of the resolving the differences which existed without war.
Russia was wiling to negotiate before and after their invasion, but the West had no intention of negotiating anything. They wanted regime change in Russia and believed they could achieve it, and in this they badly miscalculated.
Regarding where things stand in Kursk, let us see what comes in the coming days and weeks. Fake News has been Ukraine’s greatest asset in this war, but Fake News can not hide reality forever. We will soon see which sources were blowing smoke and which were reporting news.
Yes, well first he has to win the election, and right now the Dems are clearly acting as if they do not need the support of the electorate to win the election, which has me quite concerned. So on this too, we will have to wait and see how things go.
Hi, Peloni. You said,
???
https://ukrainetoday.org/russian-troops-retreat-across-the-seym-river-destroy-bridges-as-ukrainian-forces-advance-in-kursk-region/
Russia is currently trying to escape encirclement south of the Seym, where the Ukrainians have them in a pincer move from the E and W. In the Dnipro R. region, meanwhile, the Russians have been suffering tremendous losses, over 1000 killed and wounded every day, in return for very little gain.
Before Feb. 2022, Ukraine and Russia had a good chance of resolving their differences. The Russian full-scale offensive put an end to that. We have a chance of seeing the situation saved, if Donald Trump is returned to the US presidency. I don’t expect to live much longer, either way. God’s will be done.
@Michael
Don’t let the 1986 in my username fool you. I was very much old enough to remember that event, as well as the German reunification which took place less than a year later – something to which I was very much opposed, and over which I penned my first political essay, though I found no one to publish it.
In any event, as I have said, we will see which of our perspectives prove more accurate, but I maintain that your conclusion that the Ukrainian raid will have any relevance similar to the fall of the Berlin Wall is ridiculous. As you said, this is my opinion.
You fail to grasp the reality that this war will not be won by seizing territory but by destroying enemy forces. The overextension of Ukrainian lines into Kursk will prove no more useful to their cause than was their ridiculous foothold at Krinky on the far side of the Dnipro River, which only served to provide the Russians with a ready Ukrainian slaughterhouse for over a year. As I noted below, Russia is already cutting the supply lines to the Ukrainians at Kursk, and expect their coming isolation will be soon followed by their elimination. But again, time will tell which of us is correct in our beliefs.
This Anna is cute!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bJ8vNAQEYw
Peloni, let’s stick to the facts.
1. “the Ukrainian raid was as impactful as the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
The comments have scrolled off-page; but I’m quite sure I said that the fact that this is the first invasion of a non-nuclear state into a nuclear state, EVER made this incursion as impactful as the fall of the Berlin wall. You may not be old enough to remember the latter, but I am. The event was treated as a matter of little importance; and indeed it was — except that it was just a signature moment of something much larger; and within very few years it would lead to the collapse not only of the Warsaw Pact, but of the Soviet Union as well.
The successful invasion of nuclear-armed “super-power” Russia, by a country that was up until now considered a second-rank, non-nuclear power, has a similar significance as the fall of the Berlin Wall: both are events once thought impossible; but they are harbingers of what, in a few short years, will be a completely changed world. That is my opinion. Believe it or not, as you will.
2. ” If the Ukrainian raid in Kursk could change the Russian advance into a Russian retreat, it will have had a significant impact on the war”
I don’t believe I even commented on the impact of the Kursk invasion on the current war. Now that you mention it, though, it has been noted that this Ukrainian advance has gained far more territory than all the Russian advances of the past year.
BTW the Ukrainians do not have to dig many trenches — the fleeing Russians left an intact, strong defensive system for them to use.
@Michael
Ironic that you should state such a thing after having recently claimed that the Ukrainian raid was as impactful as the fall of the Berlin Wall.
As I noted before, nothing which is being achieved by the raid into Ukraine is sustainable, and neither is it changing the trajectory of Ukraine’s movement along the line of contact, which has been consistently to retreat over the past year. If the Ukrainian raid in Kursk could change the Russian advance into a Russian retreat, it will have had a significant impact on the war, even as it would be less significant than the fall of the Berlin Wall. Contrary to your belief that this raid changes everything, Russia continues to gain ground and the Ukrainians raiders are being encircled.
Hence, I would suggest your overselling the impact of the Ukrainian raid is due to your being confused by the Fake News in which you find value. Well, I leave you to your fantasies, and simply suggest we wait and see how long this Ukrainian gambit lasts before ultimately being extinguished due to Russian encirclement and a lack of Ukrainian resupply. As we will likely see come to be, the trenches now being dug by the Ukrainians will serve to be their graves – there will be no prisoners taken as they have been marked as terrorists and as such they are marked of execution, everyone of them.
Hello, Ted. You said,
I believe you!
Adam, you said,
“Some pro-Ukraine podcasters claim that Russia is beginning to suffer shortages of petoleum products and many other supplies.”
I have heard this too, but have not verified it. Considering what you said about potential peace talks between the two belligerents, I doubt that we will see any real movement unless Donald Trump regains the presidency.
I maintain that you can’t trust anything that Western Commentators say. I follow only the Russian accounts and find them to be much more reliable. The Ukrainians in Kursk are being destroyed.
Ted and Peloni: Please save my post about possible peace negotiations btween Russia and Ukraine in this space. This post disappeared when I pushed the comment button. Regrettable in my opinion because I think that many Israpundit readers, might appreciate a summary of the current state of proposals for a negotiated peace between the two sides in this conflict, and what Western, mainly American and British commentators and the Ukrainian press are reporting about the peace proposals of both Russia and Ukraine.
Some pro-Ukraine podcasters claim that Russia is beginning to suffer shortages of petoleum products and many other supplies. These podcasters claim that among other things, Russia has banned the export ofrefined petrolem products, such as gasoline or kerosine, because all of their allegedly dwindling supplies are needed at home, both the provide fuel for the Russian army in Ukraine and provide for the needs of Russian civilians. These podcasters and bloggers also claim that machinery is breaking down at many Russian factories and oil wells, and that the because the Western companies that assisted Russia in designing and buiolding these plants, and in providing replacements for worn out and proken machinery, are no longer willing to provides these services to Russiabeccause of the Western government’s sanctions. As a result, it is alleged, many Russian factories, power plants, and oil wells have already been forced to shut down, and many more will have to be shut down by December or January, making it impossible for Russia to continue the war. Putin’s calling for a negotiated end of the war and putting forward a peace plan are said to be mptivated by his belief that Russia will soon run out of the resources to continue the war. Ukraine suffers from all the same probablems, even more accutely than Russia. And so President Zelensky has also announced Ukraine;s desire for peace and proposed a Ukrainian peace plan. Obviously there is a considerable distance between the two peace proposals. But both sides have expressed a willingness to negotiate in an effort to narrow the gap. Most Western sources think that the negotiations are most likely to take place in Turkey, which has retained reasonably good relations with both sides throughout the war. In addition, Turkey has been the site of earlier efforts at negotiations between the two warring states, Switzerland has also been prooposed a a possible mediator between the two countries, since like Turkey it has maintained reasonably good relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past two and a half years of war.
But will there be peace? Ameerican patriot Patrick Henry,once declared in the Virginia House of t in the Virgina House of Burgesses, “All men cry peace, but their is no peace.” Is possible that the same situation may prevail in Russia and Ukraine a year from now? At least that what the pessimistic commentators think.