Multiple observers who actually have some sort of understanding of what this brand-new weapon system we saw being used in Djnepro is, were shocked by it. MIT professor Theodore Postol, internationally recognised expert on these advanced weapons, urged all of us to take note of what Putin said. In an interview with the YouTube-channel 'Dialogue Works', he even went as far as to say Putin was the only leader with a brain.
John Mearsheimer added his two cents in a talk with former colonel Daniel Davis on his channel, saying something similar. Again and again insisting that our leaders, and 'experts' parroting Neocon nonsense, whether civilians or former generals, are talking out of the back of their heads. The Russians are winning on the battlefield, and if Putin has to worry about the homefront, it is about those Russians who feel he is too soft. That may change soon enough, as NATO is set to introduce even longer range cruise missiles, according to some sources.
While this demo of Russia's capabilities largely failed to deter Western leaders, and even encouraged them to seek an open war, or so it seems, it likely did go a long way to please the Russians urging Putin to get tough with NATO, for the time being. Yet, NATO, hell-bent on escalating further, inspired Zalushny, former top commander of the Ukrainian army, demoted to serve his country as liaison in the United Kingdom, to tell Politico that World War III has started. And I think he is right. But not for the reasons he offered. There still is no proof whatsoever of participating North Koreans, or Houthis. But what is certain, is that mercenaries paid for by NATO countries are fighting on Russian soil, and that NATO countries are now participating openly through firing missiles at targets deep inside of Russia.
Rob Bauer, Dutch admiral and head of the NATO military committee, serving next to former Dutch PM Mark Rutte, now secretary general of the organisation, lifted the veil on why NATO decided to open fire on Russia. He revealed that NATO is set on executing preemptive 'pin-point strikes' to disarm the country, considering that it is much stronger than NATO in Europe today, after the European NATO-countries gave everything they had, and then some, to Ukraine, which burned through it in two years time. Those were not his exact words, because he merely offered that NATO was 'talking about that option', but everyone who has followed the news on the war up till now knows that every escalation so far already started before it was formally acknowledged by NATO. So we're now in a full fledged war with the Russians, with our leaders assuming Putin won't dare to hit back.
All the noises coming from the NATO-countries are saying the same thing. They do not observe any 'Red Lines'. Most neutral observers from the 'Realist School' are telling us that nuclear war does not have to break out, because Russia has 'options'. They even offer suggestions, like arming the Houthis, or Hezbollah with sophisticated weapons, or some other form of asymmetric warfare. Though I think the Russians are bound to do that as well, reluctantly, they will not respond to the launch of cruise missiles by striking Ukraine again as a 'Last Warning'. It is my assumption that this Oreshnik hitting Djnepro wás the 'Last Warning'. Next they will take off the gloves, and make the NATO-countries themselves pay. My bet would be the UK. Certainly not one of the very vocal but harmless 'Midgets' closest to their borders. But I'm guessing.
Mearsheimer said that Russia didn't have to make a fuss. They are clearly winning. Ukraine is defeated. It has nothing left to fight with. No men. New soldiers arriving are over 45. One Ukrainian officer said that in 2022 he was ready to kill Russians with his teeth. In 2023 he was tired. And now he no longer gives a damn. The 'War of Attrition' worked for the Russians, without mobilizing, relying on well paid voluteers, and now they are on the move. Posting large territorial gains, and close to taking the last prepared lines of defense, with lots of speculation about when they will take Zaporizhzhia. Not if. Fifty ATACMS, almost half of those spent by now, are not going to make a difference, he argued. Add the last of the remaining British 'Storm Shadow' and French 'Scalp' missiles, and it is still not going to change the outcome. But many Western observers keep returning to this idea that territory would satisfy the Russians at some stage. Forgetting that Putin's original argument, back in 2007, was that Russia felt threatened by NATO.
As Theodore Postol explained, Trump's 2019 decision to leave the INF agreement, and the subsequent announcement that by 2026 NATO would station Nukes in Germany, was about allowing the Russians no response time. He referred to Putin's speech, in which the Russian president said Russia had abided by the INF agreement so far, but that Russia would mirror what NATO did. And this test with a non-nuclear Oreshnik, leaving no European country with sufficient time to prepare, was a demonstration of the consequences if NATO insisted to go down that path. But when will they pop up on the doorstep of the capital of NATO, Washington? Not with a second strike sub, but with a first strike missile base? As shocking as it was to see what Oreshnik was capable of, he offered that if Russia decided enough is enough, it would have no problem whatsoever to make all of Germany look worse than Hamburg did after the allies fire-bombed it in 1943.
Though we can't be sure about what Trump will do, if all is not yet lost by then, I think he will opt to take a back seat, let Europe take care of Russia, and task Japan and Taiwan with 'containing' China, selling weapons as he ramps up production in the US, as part of his 'MAGA'-strategy, restoring the industry, while taxing his 'friends' to cripple their economies, turning them into willing 'soldiers of fortune' for his cause. This is not a positive outcome for Russia and China, although it is far worse for us in Europe, or NATO's 'friends' tasked with being hostile towards China, obviously. I don't know about the Japanese or the Taiwanese, but the Europeans are 'thick'. They refuse to learn from experience, always finding new excuses to go to war and destroy wealth just when your thought they had become sophisticated enough to keep their noses clean.
Anyway, I'm rambling and holding people dear to me, my readers, close to the fire, hoping they will wake up from their stupor, and *do* something to prevent mass murder for a change. Part of me is sad. Part of me is angry. I cannot stop a runaway train with my bare hands. Miracles do happen. Perceptions of developments may be ill informed, mine included. A pretty solid track record so far, predicting developments from before the war started in 2014 with Nuland's regime change operation, are no guarantee of future success. It has not been easy to retrieve reliable information about the war from the beginning. I was not fooled by the 'Ghost of Kiev' stories, and all the rest. But with the war expanding to a global scale, this is 'Russian Roulette'. Anyone predicting which pull of the trigger will kill the 'Deer Hunter' in the service of his country, and having it right, shouldn't claim to have had some brilliant insight.