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On the 31 st July 2023, I did a blog post called ‘political death looms in Rutherglen’, my contention was that the by-election on paper see... -
When former Nicola Sturgeon was cornered like a rat by the Holyrood press pack, you could see in her demeanor that she extremely uncomfortab...
I couldn't watch the video George for whatever reason I couldn't get on to YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThis though, is what always happens during war and especially a war which contravenes all the rules of warfare as this one does.
I watched Channel 4 News last night and there was a young mother in hospital who had been blinded and horribly disfigured by a Russian shell fired into an apartment block. Another woman who had just been machine-gunned at close range and for no reason.
World public opinion is a strange thing and not that easy to manipulate and my guess is that world opinion is with Ukraine and it will not matter what atrocities are committed by either side, that situation will not change.
I was reading there that according to NATO, the Russians have had 40,000 killed so far and that is an astonishing number. I think they only had 140,000 in the invasion force and so they presumably no longer have the numbers to carry-out a full country-wide invasion. I don't know if they ever had the numbers, but they don't have them now and that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteAlso, who would want to be in a Russian tank just now? They are being picked-off in huge numbers by Ukrainians on quad-bikes; NLAWS, baguette missiles and all the rest of it. A small but well equipped and well motivated army are making it impossible for Russia.
Youtube has marked the content over 18 only, however here is a link to Rumble.
ReplyDeletehttps://rumble.com/vz2wa1-the-laird-report-episode-10-ukrainian-torture-of-russian-pows-is-a-turning-.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=4
I couldn't watch it, war is war and there's probably a lot worse, unrecorded
ReplyDeleteI watched it there and I agree with you. The only thing I disagree with is that I reckon the Russians would have attached Ukraine anyway....even if Ukraine declared that they were neutral. I say this because I heard the President of Latvia explain it a few days ago and that was the way he was thinking. The other countries are members of NATO not because they want to attach Russia, but because they are afraid of being attacked by Russia. Poland is an example.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the sanctions will affect first is Russia's ability to build and maintain military equipment. Although that is all built in Russia, they use western manufactured components a lot of the time and that is next to impossible to replicate; impossible to do it quickly anyway.
Remember the 40 mile long column of tanks and armoured vehicles which were heading for Kyiv? I was reading there that that no longer exists. Presumably they have been withdrawn further east or north, or wherever they came from.
ReplyDeleteOutright victory might be all that works for Ukraine, otherwise it will be spun as a defeat in Moscow. That almost happened during the Falklands War in the 80's where the Argentinians almost came-out on top. There wasn't much in it in the end and so it is possible. The thing that makes it so difficult in this case is that Russia are prepared to carpet bomb the cities and I can't say that any other country outside of Russia uses that as a tactic of war.
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me that they cannot hold any territorial gains because that requires soldiers to be visible and to dominate the area. That takes more soldiers than Russia have got and also the bombed-out city landscape makes it a lot easier for snipers to pick-off the Russians. Basically, no Russian wants to go-forward or to stand still and hold ground. They only want to retreat and go home.
ReplyDeleteA right balls-up for Russia then. It's a war they will never win in a hundred years. Personally speaking, I think it's a good outcome because any other outcome would take the world order back 60 or 80 years.
It's a great tragedy that so many lives have been lost or changed forever for what is the hubris of one man.
It seems to be turning into a proxy war between the West and Russia. Everything from redundant ammo that the West will probably never use, to the most up-to-date missiles are being provided, presumably FOC. Rather than making NATO look weak, you could say it makes them look strong because if this is what a NATO proxy can fight like, who is going to confront NATO themselves?
ReplyDeleteI notice that Putin threatened to turn-off the gas to Europe in mid week but elected in the end not to do it.
ReplyDeleteHolyrood's Chief Vainglorious Tit, John Swinney, agrees with you. He thinks it is 'utterly uncivilized conduct'.
ReplyDeleteI hear the Ukrainians are looking for offensive weapons now, not defensive. That's tanks, multiple rocket launchers and all the rest of it. You can only defend for so long and you need other types of hardware to drive the Russians out.
They have some offers of tanks from Germany already and I think the Germans are keen to make amends to Ukraine. Many in Ukraine reckon the Germans were to easily led into thinking that new gas pipelines straight to their door, bypassing Ukraine, was all about business when in fact it was all about geopolitical war mongering.
It also looks like those in the West are becoming lass anxious about Putin's war machine and what it is capable of.
There was a chap cycling down the road and he was machine gunned by the Russians. There are stories in today's papers about three hundred civilians killed in a town on the outskirts of Kyiv. Some were bound, blindfolded and shot in the head. Some in Ukraine are saying the Russians are worse than Isis. It all has a credible ring to it and when hostilities are over, and we all hope that that is soon, there will be unstoppable pressure for a Nuremburg type trial. I can see Russia paying a huge price for this. I don't think the Russian public can see it, but I cannot see it ending any other way now.
ReplyDeleteOn another subject - I hear there's to be a Perjury investigation into the Alphabet Women involved in the attempted Alex Salmond stitch-up. In most parts of the UK, you would have confidence that law would prevail; does anyone in Scotland have that confidence?
ReplyDeleteThe Polish PM said yesterday regarding Putin: 'Nobody negotiated with Hitler'. His point being, Putin needs to be beaten on the battlefield because that's all he understands. It's easy for me to say that of course but I suspect he is right.
ReplyDeleteThe Russian Embassy in Dublin depends on an oil fired boiler for heat and hot water. I heard there that all of the oil companies in Ireland have agreed not to supply them, under any circumstances. Not an insurmountable problem of course and I expect they will go all-electric within days. But, at the same time, let's do all we can to piss them off. The Russians will get nothing from anyone from this year onwards.
ReplyDeleteTobias Ellwood was on Channel 4 there saying that, not NATO, but a collaboration of willing nations could impose a naval exclusion zone around the port city of Odessa.
ReplyDeletePersonally speaking, I think it is about time the Ukrainians got some real military assistance. The Russians are no great shakes after all; old clapped out tanks from the 70's, driven by 18 year old neds.
When sanctions start to take effect, and I'll bet that won't be long now, life will start getting mighty tough for all Russians. Expensive cars will start being laid-up all over the place because they cannot get spare parts to fix them.
ReplyDeleteGive the Ukrainians heavy offensive weapons - tanks, missile systems and all the rest of it and they will defeat the Russians. I think that rape has been used as a vicious, demoralizing and inhuman weapon of war for centuries and it is no surprise to hear about it happening in Ukraine. My own thoughts though are when kids are being abused, then we are in uncharted territory as far as warfare goes. Russia is a delinquent nation and many of the generation before us knew that. Give the Ukrainians tanks and plenty of them.
ReplyDeletejust watch x22 report on rumble
ReplyDeleteNever trust anyone from SNP and never trust a feckin Russian either.
ReplyDeleteIf we gave Ukraine intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of attacking Moscow, then these would be considered offensive weapons. But to give them tanks, or the famous Polish MIG jets to defend their own country, how is that offensive?
ReplyDeleteI see that even the Israeli ambassador to Germany is pleading for them to re-arm to ensure the future security of Europe. These Germans have saved themselves billions over the years by declaring themselves neutral and leaving the Americans to do all the heavy lifting.
When the North Sea was fully opened-up to oil and gas exploration by Thatcher we were in an economic mess and it was North Sea revenues that saved us. It's time to open it up again. If we could all stop buying Russian oil and gas, this war would be over very, very quickly.
ReplyDelete