A
brief overview why the West should stop painting Putin as crazy. The stupidity
of the PR operation is so childish, Putin's crazy, Putin's a bad man, is this
name calling in a playground? Are we in the prelude to World War 3, and if so
what plans are being made in the West by the leaders to ensure our safety? Is
it time to pull money from the banks and stock up on food and supplies? One
thing seems to be emerging, Russia appears to be creating an exodus of
Ukrainians to flee to the West, these people will overwhelm natural resources
and supplies thus creating a bigger exodus. The Russians have a plan, they are
on the offensive, the Ukrainians cannot go on the front foot, they can react
but time, material and supplies are in short supply.
Thursday 3 March 2022
The Laird Report - Episode 6 Vladimir Putin isn't crazy but we would be if we fell for the propaganda
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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...
The biggest plane in the world - one of the wonders of the 20th century - was destroyed by Russia.
ReplyDeleteOne of the side issues here is the cost of the war to Russia, not only on a day to day basis, but the reparations after hostilities end will be crippling. They will have to pay because they have huge reserves of their currency lodged overseas and they will not be able to use it until they agree to pay.
The cost of the plane by the way is estimated at 3Billion.
One of the reasons that the British Army withdrew in the end from NI was that they were never accepted as anything other than an occupying force. That was despite the fact that half of the population wanted them there, the fact that the other half didn't want them there made the situation untenable. That was a tiny wee province compared to Ukraine where hardly any of the population wants the Russians to be there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is a reason why the Russian air-force has been so ineffective so far. The Ukrainian radars were all knocked-out in the first days of the war and yet Russian jets can still be tracked. Why do you think that is? Also, I'm not convinced that NATO drones are not being operated by Ukrainians while this is all happening. Maybe not, but is it impossible?
The prospect of conscription, marshal-law in Moscow, Nuremburg-type war-crimes trials after the conflict is over, worldwide reaction to the power station attack, use of cluster and vacuum bombes in residential areas etc etc will all have a psychological effect on Russian thinking and it won't take long.
ReplyDeleteI lived in 2 countries which had previously been under sanction. One country hardly noticed any difference. They were short of wheat and had to get themselves used to eating rye-bread, but that's about it. The second country however were completely hobbled by sanctions. I remember spectacles used to be handed down father to son and mother to daughter as there was no other way of obtaining them in that country at the time. That country went from cassette players straight to computers and flash-drives, when sanctions were lifted. They missed-out CD's entirely and many folk had never even seen them before.
This 40 mile long Russian convoy of tanks and artillery is intriguing isn't it. The purpose of that convoy was to lay siege to Kiev but it sounds as if the convoy is under siege itself and cannot move either forwards or backwards.
I was just reading there: 'why not a United Nations Security Council no-fly zone instead of a NATO no fly-zone'. You just need to call for a vote and it's done.
ReplyDeleteI find it all odd coming so fast after Covid.
ReplyDeleteI'm personally sick and tired of Putin threatening this and threatening that. One thing's for sure, there are plenty of sophisticated anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles finding their way to the Ukrainian front lines one way or another and they have a big enough and smart enough military that knows how to use them. Good luck to them. I have seen the Clarkston disaster in my time (I don't know if you remember that) that was described as akin to a bomb going off. The Ukrainians are having to deal with thousands of cases just like that every day and so I think the whole world is with them.
ReplyDeleteThere is talk of Poland gifting MIG fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots are trained to use them.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of modern weapon systems is to destroy infrastrucure. You can see the extent of the damage on your TV screens every night. What you don't see or perhaps realize is that at least spme of the apartment buildings that look relatively undamaged are in fact severely damaged to the point where they will have to be demolished come the end of the war. An absolute disaster then.
ReplyDeleteThe UK seems to be having a good effect after Brexit. Liz Truss excepted as she seems to me to be out of her depth but Ben Wallace and all the rest of them are doing well. It's not much comfort to the Ukrainians, but they would probably rather deal with the UK just now than with anyone in Europe.
I was reading in the Independent that the Russians are losing 1,000 soldiers each day. This is in the east of the country where on the face of it anyway they should have some support. In the west of the country they have little or no support and so it is an un-winnable war for them. If Putin continues, if proves to me anyway that he is away with the fairies.
ReplyDeleteThat's Mastercard and VISA pulling-out of Russian now. So, a fortnight ago a Russian could have bought a new Mercedes and paid for it by Mastercard or VISA. Now, he'll have to buy a Chinese car and pay for it by cash. I don't see the Russians standing for this somehow.
ReplyDeleteIt's the decision of Poland whether to supply MIG jets to Ukraine or not. If they do, they will presumably be flown from Poland by Ukrainian pilots. That would bring a NATO country into the conflict, according to Putin anyway. So, the next week will sort-out whether he is serious or not.
ReplyDeletePutin's set-out 4No conditions to be met by Ukraine in order to stop the war. They all sound reasonable enough to me. Why not agree and stop the killing and let folk back to their homes. Eastern Europe is much colder this time of year than Scotland. Russia will pay reparations for this once it is all over. It's been the mother of all needless wars, this one.
ReplyDeleteHe's undoubtedly good at killing unarmed civilians, wrecking gothic architecture, infrastructure, power stations, leaving folk in psychiatric hospitals in need of medication and all the rest of it. Not so good at fighting a well armed and well motivated military. Some would say that he has made a right arse of himself already. Time to get-out now.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for days on end inside a freezing cold tank unable to move must make surrender at least a possibility. This is how not to fight a war. How not to do it.
ReplyDeleteSturgeon wants a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Is she looking forward to World War Three?
ReplyDeleteIs she aware that Scotland will be the first to be nuked? Does she care or is she only following orders?
There appears to be a dipolmatic hotline between Washington and Moscow to de-escalate things that might otherwise lead to nuclear war. I read about it a few days ago and my guess is that the Polish jets are a red-line for the Russians and so will not happen.
ReplyDeleteWe are all much safer in the hands of Antony Blinken who I doubt even knows who Nicola Sturgeon is. Nicola Sturgeon's hotline is to the National, isn't it. It isn't to Moscow and Washington anyway.
Nadine Dorries was predicting the end for the BBC a few months ago. Aren't we all glad they are here now to give us some decent, balanced and well-respected news in amongst all of this.
They say the cost in war reparations is already 300Billion. The cost of the financial crash to the UK was a Trillion, which (I think anyway) is a thousand Billion. So, the costs of war are unbelievably high. This will be the end of Russia for decades. All of their currency abroad is used to pay and money seized from Oligarchs will be used too. If they go-ahead a flatten Kyiv and they have flattened some of the other cities, then more than a century of religious and cultural heritage is lost for ever.
ReplyDeleteIs Nicola Sturgeon aiming to provoke Russia into a nuclear war?
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't she just shut her mouth.
I have grandchildren, and I don't want to fight a nuclear-armed country. Is she deranged?
Sturgeon: "Last week as Ukraine was in the grip annihilation she was pardoning persecuted witches from who knows when. Says all you need to know". Sturgeon knows nothing and her desperation to be different somehow to the English lead-on to these humiliating outbursts.
ReplyDeleteThings change quickly in a war. I was saying myself that a no-fly zone should be considered a week ago. It's been looked at and is a bad idea and if I can accept that, surely our FM should accept it too. I was watching Question Time the other night and hardly anyone believed that a no-fly zone was a good idea or would help settle the situation down. Most accepted that the opposite would happen. Anyway, I believe that these anti-aircraft missiles which the UK has just sent are more effective at bringing down Russian aircraft than old MIG-29 jets are. Each missile weighs only 2.5kg which I find amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't she offer to shelter Ukrainian refugees at Bute House. She's done that before hasn't she? Only, this time, just move-out permanently and let them move in. They would be a hell of a lot more positive for the Scottish psyche and our place in the world than Sturgeon has been.
ReplyDeleteRemember the 'alphabet women'? They were about half a dozen of them and they all set-out to frame Alex Salmond. They almost got away with it too. They certainly flummoxed the Judges, not the jury though.
ReplyDeleteI never really worked out who they all were although I hear that they are all still doing well. Why not sent them to Ukraine and we will accept a few thousand women and kids in return.
The alphabet women can patrol the streets of Kyiv after dark searching for Russian assassins. They'd be excellent at that.