National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday said that a Russian missile strike in western Ukraine signals Russian President Vladimir Putin’s frustration with the progress troops have made on its invasion of the country.
“What it shows is that Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought that they would make against major cities including Kyiv, that he’s expanding the number of targets, that he’s lashing out and he’s trying to cause damage in every part of the country,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan is so diplomatic. Anyone else would say Putin is batshit crazy.
Такер Карлсон явился на службу в соответствии с приказом!
The Murdochs could end this tomorrow, if they wished. What do they have in common with Putin besides a shitload of money? Perhaps that’s enough, but I wish some enterprising investigative reporter would make a project out of this.
Man, am I grateful for the Biden team at a time like this. Sullivan is artful in identifying that it is Putin’s weakness that animates his choices now. We are in a white knuckle moment that could last a while. I’m glad we have a cold-minded deep bench at State steering us through this minefield.
You can say that again. Imagine having people like Navarro in the room. People like Jared. And world war looming if you mess it up. Not ideal.
During an interview on CNN, Sullivan made clear that Russia’s assault on various areas of Ukraine “does not come as a surprise” to U.S. intelligence and the national security community because it was part of Putin’s plans from the beginning.
It also has to be frustrating for Putin that US and allied intelligence services have acquitted themselves well thus far. They provided the Intel that Biden courageously used to frustrate Putin at every turn early on by preemptively announcing his intentions. And I say courageously because I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, and if it had backfired, Fox would have run it 24/7.
Unfortunately they do not wish to end it. Here’s hoping Smartmatic hits them hard and deep in the coffers. Set a precedent showing the way to control/shut them down.
Yes, but I’d like to know why. Is it more than just their business model? Is there an ideological compatibility there?
I think one other thing they have in common is that they all wake up and wonder how they can inflict pain and suffering on the world. I’m serious. If given the choice between ending world hunger, or launching a war, they’d choose war. Watching the world suffer is simply their form of entertainment. Knowing that they’re the cause of world suffering makes their days worthwhile.
Under Trump, it felt like Putin had the “A” team and we had a “D-“ team, if even that. And worse than that, that our leader was a bit deranged while theirs was cool, calm, smart and strategic. Damn if that hasn’t turned 180 degrees.
Okay, I have a serious question: Are we prepared for a nuclear event? More specifically can we prevent panic and disorder in the West, here in the US if Putin unleashes even limited nukes?
A scenario: What if Putin nukes Poland? What if he targets military supplies on a couple of Polish airfields with small nuclear devices?
Every day that Ukraine resists, every day that costs Russia soldiers and arms brings Putin closer to defeat and danger from within. He is already in a very bad situation for himself.
He imagined a fantasy war that lasted a few days and ended with victory and the gratitude of a liberated Ukrainian people. What mad bullshit! (He is more deluded than Rumsfeld was in the Iraq War.)
Putin is extremely dangerous now because he’s cornered by his costly missteps and his isolation from people who could tell him the truth and give him good advice. This is what happens to autocrats. They live inside their heads, lie to themselves and go crazy. Look at Trump.
Putin is a lot smarter than Trump, of course, but he still doesn’t know much. In fact he’s made it terrifyingly clear he is misinformed and fixated on absolute delusions.
He has nukes and he is quite capable of using them. He is moving in that direction and there is very little we can do about it. Don’t expect a miracle. Don’t expect him to be offed by insiders. Not in time to stop a first nuclear strike somewhere.
So far, for the last 70 years, we’ve been lucky. It’s insane that we still have these suicidal weapons. How much longer are we going to be lucky?
ANTI-RADIATION IODINE PILLS ARE $30 ON AMAZON. I CHECKED.
Considering the mess they have created here I tend to think they are compatible with the Russians. The up side is this war gives us the chance to finally put nails in some of these bad actors coffins. Can’t come soon enough.
Charlie Koch’s relationship with Putin should be explored also.
I agree. There comes a point in wealth where there is nothing else you want that you can’t have in the blink of an eye. What is left is waging power over masses of people. Sometimes that works out well, but too often it turns into bloody catastrophe.
In what scenario can Poland be nuked at all without creating nuclear fallout in Russia, ultimately?
I think it depends upon how rigid the Russian chain of command is. I’m assuming the Russians have a multiple fail safe system like we do. Unless Putin has ordered all nuclear command under his specific authorization alone. If so, I think our intelligence people would have heard about it.
Well, yes and no. Putin has always had a D- team, but they owned (literally) our team, which allowed them to run roughshod over us. Now they don’t own our guys in charge (although they do own a bunch of senators and congressmen, and we do have an A team.
Pelosi famously said that with Trump, all roads lead to Putin. I’d just append that to with Republicans, all roads lead to Murdock. If he didn’t want Tucker or Hannity on the air, they wouldn’t be there. So he must want whatever it is they’re doing for whatever reason.
Very uplifting.