Patterico's Pontifications

9/21/2022

President Putin’s Desperation Showing As He Threatens To Use Nuclear Weapons

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:21 am



[guest post by Dana]

After suffering intense humiliation on the world stage due to Russia’s loss of a significant amount of territory to Ukraine, President Putin’s desperation is showing:

President Vladimir Putin ordered a Russian mobilisation to fight in Ukraine on Wednesday and made a thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons, in what NATO called a “reckless” act of desperation in the face of Russia’s looming defeat.

Flights out of Russia quickly sold out following the announcement of the country’s first military mobilisation since World War Two, a dramatic reversal after months in which Moscow had insisted its operation was “going to plan”.

Putin emphasized that he is not bluffing with regard to using nuclear weapons.

According to Russia’s defense secretary, an estimated 300,000 people would be mobilized.

Additionally, he plans to take steps to annex Ukrainian regions:

Putin effectively announced plans to annex four Ukrainian regions, saying Moscow would facilitate referendums in Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions on joining Russia. A day earlier, Russian-installed officials in the four regions announced plans for such votes this week, which Western countries denounced as shams.

Ukraine remains unmoved by Putin’s threats:

“Referendums and mobilization in the Russian Federation will not have any consequences, except for accelerating the collapse and revolution in Putin’s Russia,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

All of this underscores Putin’s desperation and the narrowing of options available to him.

President Biden opened his speech this morning at the United Nations General Assembly by rightfully condemning Putin:

“Let us speak plainly: A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor,” Mr. Biden said, adding later, “This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state.”

He also excoriated the Russian president for threatening to use nuclear weapons, saying that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

In light of Biden’s comments, there’s a bit of irony when one considers that the U.S. State Department approved issuing Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

66 Responses to “President Putin’s Desperation Showing As He Threatens To Use Nuclear Weapons”

  1. I read that the effect of all of what has happened and Russia’s inevitable failure will have a definite impact on the citizens of Russia, but not necessarily in the way we think:

    “The effect on public sentiment will be gradual…

    Mobilisation will be gradually expanded. Society will slowly become irritated and indignant — do not expect mass protests, but rather waves of indignation…This is the erosion of Putin’s power in its purest form.”

    Dana (1225fc)

  2. Two points, as I see it.
    One, the deal is that Putin was humiliated a few days ago in Uzbekistan, when he was forced to publicly acknowledge that China and India had “concerns” over his illegal immoral invasion.
    And now, just days later and still smarting from that visit, he announces that he’s ratcheting up.
    Those are the words of a desperate despot, and he could very well lose his mandate from either the Russian people or the Kremlin or both.

    Two, Trump put out a “truth” this AM, asserting that Putin would never have invaded if the election wasn’t “stolen”.
    Instead of fantasizing about what would’ve happened (or not happened) in his fictional 2nd term, Trump would be providing a real service to the world if he called on Putin to stop his invasion and withdraw from Ukraine, all of it, including the Crimean and Donbas regions, but Trump won’t do that because he’s a self-centered jackass.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  3. This… is very concerning.

    To me, this is his last resort.

    I fear for WW3 if Russia uses even tactical nukes, and I’m not sure how even European nations would respond to that kind of escalation.

    whembly (b770f8)

  4. There is an old term for conscripts who have little training, poor leadership, and inferior weapons: “cannon fodder”.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  5. He won’t use nukes– especially on territory he wants to reabsorb into the ‘Russian Empire’– but he knows how to bigfoot foot-in-the-mouth-Joey’s embarrassing blabbering at the UN.

    You don’t call up 300,000 reserves and announce they may be battling through a radiation-laced wasteland.

    Chernobyl.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  6. “Let us speak plainly: A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor,” Mr. Biden said, adding later, “This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state.” – Squinty McStumblebum, 2022

    Plainly spoken:

    “Putin knows, if I am president of the United States, his days of tyranny and trying to intimidate the United States and those in Eastern Europe are over.” – Farty McPantspooper, 2019

    IDIOT.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  7. Getting out of Dodge, or at least Mother Russia:

    ………
    ………Google Trends data showed a spike in searches for Aviasales, Russia’s most popular flight-booking site.

    Direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul in Turkey and Yerevan in Armenia, both destinations that allow Russians to enter without a visa, were sold out on Wednesday, according to Aviasales data.

    Flights from Moscow to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines were either all booked or unavailable until Sunday, as of 1415 Moscow time (1115 GMT).

    Some routes with stopovers, including those from Moscow to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, were also unavailable, while the cheapest flights to Dubai cost more than 300,000 roubles ($5,000) – about five times the average monthly wage.

    Typical one-way fares to Turkey shot up to almost 70,000 roubles ($1,150), compared with a little over 22,000 roubles a week ago, Google Flights data shows.
    ………

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  8. Ms. Applebaum has a point, that Putin’s little talk (and how it was scheduled) is a sign that he’s in trouble.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  9. Another one bites the dust:

    Anatoly Gerashchenko, the former head of Moscow’s Aviation Institute (MAI), died in a mysterious fall inside the institute’s headquarters in the Russian capital on Tuesday.

    The organization’s press office released a statement describing the 73-year-old’s death as “the result of an accident,” adding that his untimely demise was a “a colossal loss for the MAI and the scientific and pedagogical community.”

    Russian news outlet Izvestia, citing an unnamed source, reported that Gerashchenko “fell from a great height” and careened down several flights of stairs. He was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene.
    ………

    Sad!

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  10. Paul,

    I think those are solid points. In the video linked above (or I read it somewhere) President Xi is closely watching how things unfold because if the West doesn’t wholly support and provide for victory in Ukraine, he will have no reason take seriously the warnings that the United States would come to Taiwan’s aid if China made a move.

    Dana (1225fc)

  11. The list of ‘Allies’ still propping up Vlad are who a competent POTUS should have called out at the UN today. It’s double-talk. Just peruse this list and ask yourself why ‘allies’ in the West are still doing business w/Russia:

    ‘Over 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia to some degree beyond the bare minimum legally required by international sanctions — but some companies have continued to operate in Russia undeterred.

    https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  12. Ms. Applebaum has a point, that Putin’s little talk (and how it was scheduled) is a sign that he’s in trouble.

    Bidenoptics.

    Memo to Vlad: a bunker works wonders; ask Joe.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  13. Dana, people may forget that our military is larger than the next nine largest militaries combined. The ChiComs have to know that our tens of billions in support for Ukraine won’t diminish our military support for Taiwan. We can do two things at once, and we have the means.
    Also, our commitment in providing military/humanitarian aid to Ukraine has to serve as a deterrent against any plans Xi may have for invading Taiwan, because we’ve also given similar security assurances to the island republic.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  14. “What could he do? His back was against the wall.”

    —- Bob Dole

    Colonel Haiku (76a1de)

  15. Right. But if we fail to help Ukraine at this juncture, or Washington tightens the purse strings to where Ukraine troops are seriously impacted, Xi will see that as a lack of seriousness and monetary concerns taking precedent that he will view Taiwan as a viable option.

    Dana (1225fc)

  16. We can do two things at once… Except we can’t: see LBJ’s Vietnam vs. Great Society

    “…and we have the means.” Except we don’t; both financially [see LBJ’s Vietnam-fueled inflation for details] and logistically; as my USMC officer neighbor has worriedly and often mentioned, wargaming w/PRC had the U.S., losing repeatedly at worst- and occasionally stalemating at best [a la Korea], due to basic supply chain and logistics issues.

    When China finally ‘liberates’ Taiwan– as Russia did w/Crimea- the question becomes, do you commit Americans to a unilateral kinetic war w/a superpower that holds much of your debt and commerce hostage, take casualties and battle basic geography to take back the rubble; or apply “sanctions.” And we all know how poorly both sanctions [see Russia] and distant wars w/long logistics issues [see Afghanistan] go. The United States military and the Artemis program have something in common in late 2022: poorly managed, lousy logistics and unready to commence operations.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  17. The problem with defending Taiwan is the fact that it is close to China and far away from the US. And if China decides to blockade Taiwan (as they demonstrated after Pelosi’s visit) and use cyber attacks rather than a direct military attack, the US has few options. Would the US initiate an attack to break a blockade?

    The Navy’s aircraft carriers are sitting ducks for Chinese hypersonic missiles such as the Dong Feng 17; the US has yet to deploy its own combat-ready missiles; it is still ttesting different approaches. If the carriers move out of range of the missiles, then they are too far away to do any good.

    The United States completed tests for four different hypersonic weapon prototype systems this past summer, with one failure and three successes. Securing wins in hypersonic weapons development has been a major priority for the U.S. Defense Department in its quest to catch up to China, which recently launched a hypersonic glide vehicle in an exercise near Taiwan, and Russia, which used hypersonics for the first time in warfare in Ukraine.
    ……..
    After three testing failures in 2021, the Air Force’s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) system conducted two consecutive successful flight tests in May and July.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  18. Charlie Sykes raises a disturbing possibility: Putin may be hoping to be bailed out by the return of Trump.

    Putin has gotten a lot wrong lately, but he undoubtedly thinks that if he can wait out the Biden presidency, he could do business with Trump 2.0… with all that means for the fate of Ukraine.

    And why wouldn’t Putin think that Trump would lick his boots, again?

    But, and we should hope this is so, the “Czar” may be running out of time.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  19. @13. … people may forget that our military is larger than the next nine largest militaries combined.’

    =sigh=

    Who has the biggest military? Breaking it down by active and reserve members.

    -China has the largest military based on active personnel
    -Vietnam has the largest military based on active personnel and reserves
    The United States has the largest military budget at 801 billion US dollars
    -The United States has the most powerful military in the world

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/08/27/who-has-biggest-military-world-most-powerful/7888866001/

    You don’t always get what you pay for… as Letitia James whined just today. 😉

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  20. “no reason take seriously the warnings that the United States would come to Taiwan’s aid if China made a move”

    I still don’t see a good outcome for anyone if Xi chooses to attack Taiwan. It’s not that I don’t think that China could eventually overcome the resistance. It’s more about at what cost and what truly is the benefit. The chip fabrication facilities would likely be lost in any prolonged engagement. This would certainly cause chaos in the world economy….and is that what China needs? Sure, China gets to pull out the whipping stick and gets to test its military chops…but if Ukraine has taught us anything…..a determined people fighting for their homeland can elevate the cost of any invasion. Is p*ssing off the world in China’s interest? I just don’t see it. Maybe a strike against external islands to make a statement. Initiating a war that likely will involve another superpower….when nothing really presses it…just doesn’t seem likely

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  21. Dana (1225fc) — 9/21/2022 @ 11:38 am

    the spratleys and paracels have more strategic significance than ukraine, and obama/biden let china take those over unchallenged and build military bases

    wasting billions on ukraine and risking a nuclear war isn’t sending a message to Xi that we know how to act in our own interests

    the chicoms already know what sort of president they’re dealing with

    JF (0fdb44)

  22. @20. What really needs to be vetted now are the decades of over-estimations and incorrect if not poor and outright wrong assessments of Russian military capabilities by the Pentagon dweebs and their hanger-on-ers – blood thirsty neocons, bureaucratic armchair hawks and expense toy lovers all, hungry for bigger and bigger budgets clearly wasted on a faux threat assessment– or in the case of Afghanistan, outright abandoned ‘to the enemy.’

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  23. wasting billions on ukraine and risking a nuclear war isn’t sending a message to Xi that we know how to act in our own interests

    Yep. And time is on their side.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  24. “I’m not bluffing” is what people say when they are bluffing.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  25. @24. Precisely.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  26. I am always amazed at those who are patriots when their side is in power, but turn around and defend the other side when their guys are out. Partisans on both sides do this, as they figure that harm to the country is acceptable so long as their political opponents get blamed.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  27. Were Putin to use nukes, the US would not respond with nukes, but we would respond. Most likely NATO enters the war.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  28. The Security Council seat was established as the USSR’s seat. The USSR is no more. It became Russia’s seat by default, but I’m not sure that cannot be undone. China’s seat fell to Taiwan for the longest time after the Communist post-war victory, and only much later fell to Beijing.

    I wonder if they cannot just declare the USSR seat vacant and find some new powerful country to take it over. Perhaps India.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  29. As anyone who understands basic demography knows, China’s time is getting shorter and shorter. The population will soon start shrinking (if it has not already), even while the number of retired Chinese grows. It is estimated that, within a few decades, China will lose a net of 250 million workers.

    And with a total fertility rate currently at 1.16, there is no way they can solve that fundamental problem in “Emperor” Xi’s life time. India will surpass China in population soon, if it has not already. And India is a much younger nation.

    Here’s what three experts say:

    Ryan Hass, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, said, “China is at risk of growing old before it grows rich, becoming a graying society with degrading economic fundamentals that impede growth.” He went on to say, “The working-age population is already shrinking; by 2050, China will go from having eight workers per retiree now to two workers per retiree. Moreover, it has already squeezed out most of the large productivity gains that come with a population becoming more educated and urban and adopting technologies to make manufacturing more efficient.”[31]

    Nicholas Eberstadt, an economist and demographic expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said that current demographic trends will overwhelm China’s economy and geopolitics, making its rise much more uncertain. He said, “The age of heroic economic growth is over.”[32] Brendan O’Reilly, a guest expert at Geopolitical Intelligence Services, wrote, “A dark scenario of demographic decline sparking a negative feedback loop of economic crisis, political instability, emigration and further decreased fertility is very real for China”.

    (Links omitted.)

    (There are responsible scholars who believe that Xi’s agressiveness is motivated, at least in part. by the knowledge that China’s time is running out.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  30. The problem with defending Taiwan is the fact that it is close to China and far away from the US

    There are Taiwanese possessions in swimming distance from mainland China.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  31. China also has an excess of unmarried young men, generally the most difficult cohort to control. Married men are far less prone to trouble as they have more to lose.

    tl;dr cannon fodder.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  32. @28.

    ‘The Russian Federation succeeded to the Soviet Union’s seat, including its permanent membership on the Security Council in the United Nations after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, which originally co-founded the UN in 1945. The succession was supported by the USSR’s former members and was not objected to by the UN membership…

    The legality of the succession has been questioned by international lawyer Yehuda Zvi Blum, who opined that “with the demise of the Soviet Union itself, its membership in the UN should have automatically lapsed and Russia should have been admitted to membership in the same way as the other newly-independent republics (except for Belarus and Ukraine).” The elimination of Soviet (and subsequently Russian) membership on the UN Security Council would have created a constitutional crisis for the UN, which may be why the UN Secretary-General and members did not object. This situation could have been avoided had all the other nations but Russia seceded from the USSR, allowing the USSR to continue existing as a legal entity….

    The transition led to increased debate on the relevance of the 1945 system of a Security Council dominated by five permanent members to the present world situation. Russians abroad note that Russia is “only half the size of the former Soviet economy”; the transition thus marked a significant change in the entity exercising this permanent seat. Mohamed Sid-Ahmed noted that “one of the five powers enjoying veto prerogatives in the Security Council has undergone a fundamental identity change. When the Soviet Union became Russia, its status changed from that of a superpower at the head of the communist camp to that of a society aspiring to become part of the capitalist world. Russia’s permanent membership in the Security Council is no longer taken for granted. The global ideological struggle that had for so long dominated the international scene is no more, and the new realities have to be translated into a different set of global institutions.”…

    Professor Andrew MacLeod of Kings College argues that the Russian example could be a precedent for hypothetical independence developments in the United Kingdom. Should Scotland, Northern Ireland, or both choose to leave the country, he argues, this would dissolve the Acts of Union and the Act of Settlement, and hence the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would no longer exist.

    The question would then be how the reinstated Kingdom of England could claim to be the continuing state for UN and Security Council membership.’ – source, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_and_the_United_Nations

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  33. The US has had a sorry history of backing off commitments. We bailed on SE Asia, although we did try. More importantly, we failed to enforce the non-proliferation treaty, first with NK, then with Iran. If we were to toss Ukraine to Putin, Taiwan would go lickety-split. Then India and Japan start thinking about what they might want.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  34. The succession was supported by the USSR’s former members and was not objected to by the UN membership…

    That does not make it a charter membership.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  35. Sorry for omitting the link close.

    But here’s a little more: About five years ago, I saw (in a WSJ review of a book) this claim: Half of wealthy Chinese wanted to be out of China within five years. There was no source, no definition of rich, both of which left me annoyed.

    But I think the basic claim is almost certainly right: Those who can leave China often are, or are planning to, or at least thinking about doing so, because they don’t see a good future there — and they have more direct knowledge than I do. Maybe even mre direct knowledge than DCCCP does.

    And so we see things like the well-off there buying whole-life policies (through cellphones!) from US companies — until that loophole was closed. Or buying so much expensive property in Vancouver, BC, that it has distorted the property market there. Or Jack Ma buying a large estate in upstate New York.

    And so on.

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  36. The question would then be how the reinstated Kingdom of England could claim to be the continuing state for UN and Security Council membership.

    “Who has the nukes” is the way Russia did it.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  37. the spratleys and paracels have more strategic significance than ukraine, and obama/biden let china take those over unchallenged and build military bases

    The Spratleys and Paracels are claimed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Taiwan, and China. It was up to Vietnam or Taiwan to defend their claims, obviously they would be no match for China. The US never had a claim to either island group. Would you have favored a military confrontation with China over the islands?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  38. @36. The question would be- would the Scots give them up to England in they go indy,– a la Ukraine back to Russia. It’s clearly been an issue there over the years; recall the grumbling over them even when living in the UK back in the day when there were two Germanys and the Cold War was still a hot issue:

    ‘The Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde lies on the western coast of Scotland, 40 km (25 mi) west of Glasgow in the Faslane area. A nuclear submarine fleet is based at the site, facilitated by Prime Minister Clement Attlee’s authorisation of a British nuclear weapons programme in 1947. A 1958 agreement between the UK and the United States (US) was followed by a 1962 US agreement, whereby it provided information about its submarine-launched missile system, “Polaris”. The UK’s first Polaris submarine, HMS Resolution, was launched in 1968 and the entire system was modified in the early 1970s to the British “Chevaline” system.

    Then, in 1980, the Thatcher Government purchased the new “Trident” missile system from the US to replace Chevaline and this was finalised in 1996. Submarines carrying Trident nuclear warheads are based at HMNB Clyde and the Scottish National Party affirmed that it would remove the submarines if independence was gained following the 2014 referendum. While experts suggested that the submarines could be relocated to a Devonport base in the English city of Plymouth, the Scottish CND advocates for the complete abolishment of the Trident warheads.

    In January 2013, the Scottish CND released a report in which it stated that a much greater population would be put at risk if the weapons were transferred to Devonport. The report claimed that, in the event of an accident at Devonport, an estimated 800 people would be killed by leaking plutonium, while as many as 11,000 people could die from radiation poisoning If the weather was calm. Ainslie further explained to the media that an accident would mean “a large proportion of the city would be abandoned for hundreds of years.”

    A Ministry of Defense spokesperson responded to the discussion and report in January 2013, by stating: We are therefore not making plans to move the nuclear deterrent from HM Naval Base Clyde, which supports 6,700 jobs, and where all of our submarines will be based from 2017 … The government is committed to maintaining a continuous submarine-based nuclear deterrent and has begun the work of replacing our existing submarines.

    In campaign material released in April 2014, the Scottish CND explained that “All British nuclear weapons are in Scotland” and “a total of 120 nuclear warheads on Trident submarines” are based at the HMNB Clyde in Faslane.’ – source, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Campaign_for_Nuclear_Disarmament

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  39. In fact, the KMT government in China claimed the Spratleys and Paracels in 1947, so it is not a recent claim. China occupied the Paracels and built their first military installation in 1972, driving out the Vietnamese.

    1947-China, under the rule of the nationalist Kuomintang party, demarcates its territorial claims in the South China Sea with an eleven-dash line on a map. The claim covers the majority of the area, including the Pratas Islands, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which China regained from Japan after World War II.
    ……..
    1972-A year after the Paris Peace Accords, which end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Chinese forces occupy the western portion of the Paracel Islands, planting flags on several islands and seizing a South Vietnamese garrison. Vietnamese troops flee south and establish the first permanent Vietnamese occupation of the Spratly Islands. Meanwhile, Beijing builds a military installation, including an airfield and artificial harbor, on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracels.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  40. @27

    Were Putin to use nukes, the US would not respond with nukes, but we would respond. Most likely NATO enters the war.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/21/2022 @ 1:18 pm

    I can’t find it right now, but there was an interview recently of an american general (??) who essentially stated that the US would destroy Russia’s Black Fleet if they use any nukes on Ukraine.

    whembly (b770f8)

  41. It is difficult to lose a war when you have nuclear weapons. But not impossible. Hopefully someone their will do their duty.

    asset (19cffe)

  42. Charlie Sykes raises a disturbing possibility: Putin may be hoping to be bailed out by the return of Trump.

    Sykes voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. – source, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Sykes

    A numbskull; A Neocon. A Never-Trumper.

    DCSCA (9510c6)

  43. OT: And in Vlad & Joe’s real world:

    NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio, Crewmates Arrive Safely at Space Station

    ‘NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and two cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing its number of residents to 10 for the coming week.

    The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carrying Rubio, as well as Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos, docked to the station’s Rassvet module at 1:06 p.m. EDT. Following two orbits, docking occurred about three hours after a 9:54 a.m. launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will join the Expedition 67 crew when hatches open about 3:45 p.m. Expedition 68 will begin Thursday, Sept. 29, on the departure of Roscosmos cosmonauts Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, and outgoing station commander Oleg Artemyev. The trio will land in Kazakhstan following a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.’

    https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-frank-rubio-crewmates-arrive-safely-at-space-station

    Meanwhile, today: NASA Artemis 1 fueling test springs another leak that’s deemed ‘manageable’

    https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/nasa-artemis-fueling-test-leak-deemed-manageable

    “Manageable:” Hydrogen proellants. Like o-ring seals and foam/tile issues were. Translation: a ‘work around.’ It is Challenger/Columbia management mind set in play again.

    This rocket is not ready to fly.

    They’re rolling dice again w/a known ‘fix-it-later-problem and courting another eventual disaster– and Apollo era management/engineer teams would tell you so.

    … and so it goes.

    DCSCA (6a83da)

  44. Charlie Sykes graduated college summa cum laude, and has nine published books, so it is no surprise to see that he is smart enough to be called a “neocon”, and smart enough — and decent enough — not to vote for the loser.

    (As we all know, the loser loves the uneducated.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03)

  45. @44. All evidence to the contrary.

    DCSCA (6a83da)

  46. Is that Charlie “Three Wives” Sykes?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  47. Until Joey explains this list of U.S. and NATO member companies still doing business or partial business w/Vladimir’s Russia all his bullcrap on Ukraine is classic stink from Farty McPantspooper:

    https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain

    C’mon, man– here’s the deal: explain this to Americans about theirt own countrymen and out so-called allies why you keep suckering into giving billions to Bugs ‘Z’ Moran, Joey.

    DCSCA (0aea27)

  48. I can’t find it right now, but there was an interview recently of an american general (??) who essentially stated that the US would destroy Russia’s Black Fleet if they use any nukes on Ukraine.

    whembly (b770f8) — 9/21/2022 @ 1:59 pm

    America WILL retaliate with ‘a devastating strike’ against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet or bases in Crimea if Putin follows through on threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, US Army’s former European commander warns

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  49. Is that Charlie “Three Wives” Sykes?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/21/2022 @ 4:35 pm

    So “Three Wives” is relevant to what? His credibility? His character? His judgment? Not sure I buy it but it’s an interesting concept. I wonder if you apply it equally to all “Three Wives” guys.

    lurker (cd7cd4)

  50. The images from Russia are astounding. They intend to induct nearly every man under 35 and send them to Ukraine to salvage Putin’s honor.

    The men, mostly reservists under 35 who served in the army and have junior military ranks, were handed written notices in their offices or at their homes. In some cases, they had their identity documents checked on the street and were told to appear for a health check. Others got orders by telephone.

    Anxious relatives, meanwhile, began searching for ways to flee the country or otherwise avoid their loved ones being called for service. Flights to the few cities abroad still offering direct service to Russia — most destinations have been cut off by sanctions — were suddenly sold out.

    Google search trends showed a spike in queries like “how to leave Russia” and even “how to break an arm at home,” raising speculation some Russians were thinking of resorting to self-harm to avoid the war.

    “They’ve been chasing me since February, trying to offer me a contract,” one Moscow resident, who served in the army and has prior combat experience, said in an interview.

    The man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said that unlike others who had received written summonses, he had received a personal call from the military enlistment office, which has had his number on hand for months. “I was ordered to undergo a [health] commission tomorrow morning,” he told The Washington Post. “So, I doubt I will be spared now.”

    Military analysts said it was far from certain that the partial mobilization would be able to turn the flagging military campaign to Russia’s advantage quickly, if at all. But by Wednesday night, it was clear that the political backlash Putin feared — and that led him to resist a mobilization for months despite repeated battlefield setbacks — had begun.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/21/putin-russia-mobilization-public-protest/

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  51. It is difficult to lose a war when you have nuclear weapons. But not impossible. Hopefully someone their will do their duty.

    It is far easier to lose a nuclear war that to win one.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  52. It was up to Vietnam or Taiwan to defend their claims, obviously they would be no match for China.

    You’re mostly correct about who’s responsible. The US Navy assumed the mantle of defender of the sea lanes after the UK gave it up, but there are clearly limits.

    As for who would win, China attacked Vietnam in 1979, attempting to save their client Pol Pot from the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia. China claimed victory and left a month later, although none of their demands were fulfilled. Most people say that Vietnam won.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  53. At 43: See! NASA can still get to the space station! Good old Amurican ingenuity.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9)

  54. Don’t believe anything that comes out of Russia! Nothing at all! From no one!

    nk (1d9030)

  55. Charlie Sykes graduated college summa cum laude, and has nine published books, so it is no surprise to see that he is smart enough to be called a “neocon”, and smart enough — and decent enough — not to vote for the loser.

    (As we all know, the loser loves the uneducated.)

    Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/21/2022 @ 4:10 pm

    The slaves who built the Capital and the White House produced more of lasting value than Sykes and his degrees ever will.

    Factory Working Orphan (bce27d)

  56. It is difficult to lose a war when you have nuclear weapons. But not impossible.

    As the loss of the Cold War showed.

    DCSCA (60093b)

  57. As for who would win, China attacked Vietnam in 1979, attempting to save their client Pol Pot from the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia. China claimed victory and left a month later, although none of their demands were fulfilled. Most people say that Vietnam won.

    Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/21/2022 @ 6:17 pm

    Except for the Spratlys and Parcels.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  58. We have to hope that the Russian frog boils before Putin resorts to desperate measures. It’s important to Russia to lose, but it’s even more important for Russia to lose suddenly.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  59. Putin’s “partial” mobilization is looking less partial or more full.
    One, Putin is hitting the ethnic minority republics hard.
    Two, Putin has a shortage of personnel, particularly for riflemen, mechanic-drivers and gunners for motorized rifle units.
    Three, Putin is being aggressive in his quest for more fodder.

    Russian authorities are forcibly recruiting Russian citizens to fight in #Ukraine on flimsy pretexts, openly violating the #Kremlin’s promise to recruit only those with military experience just 24 hours after its September 21 declaration.

    Paul Montagu (753b42)

  60. I just read that Allahpundit has left Hotair and is moving to the Dispatch, the home of the True Conservative. WHile its sad that he left Hotair its good he will continue to fight against Trumpism, Lakeism, Palinism and Foxnewsism. His efforts to elect Hillary and Biden are well appreciated by we American patriots who believe in Small Government and traditional values.

    Some may wonder why he doesn’t simply join the Democrat party, the land of True conservatism, but that would be to misunderstand his Edmund burke small government moral vision. As an independent thinker, he disagrees with the NYT/Wapo view on most issues, (excluding TRump, trade, immigration, Crime, Climate Change, Domestic terrorism, foreign policy, the need to help wall street, and social issues), and as such couldn’t join the Democrats.

    I look forward to his independent pro-Biden viewpoint at the Dispatch. You can’t get that anywhere else!

    rcocean (1eeacc)

  61. BTW, has there been any thought of the Dispatch hiring Liz Cheney to write for their magazine? A recent news article states that she is currently campaigning to elect small Government, Ed Burke Democrats running against Trumpist, fascist UnAmerican candidates in various states.

    After standing with true conservative Nancy Pelosi, to investigate the attempted overthrow of the Government on Jan 6th 2021 by a dangerous Trumpist mob, she has lost her primary, and is out of job in 2023. Should her courageous struggle against the massive Trump machine and Faux News go unrewarded?

    rcocean (1eeacc)

  62. rcocean, thanks for catching us up on the perspective from Redstate. All opposition to Trump and his authoritarian machinations is clearly just repressed support for Biden. And smart people like Cheney and Allahpundit Nick are just tools giving comfort to the enemy. Got it. Because there’s no sense fixing a broken GOP that can’t decide what it believes about elections, classified documents, Russia, and the integrity of our legal system. It’s better to just stay on message, purge the tent, and get lean and mean…because who needs Liz Cheney in the GOP when you have the potential of Herschel Walker, JD Vance, and the pillow guy.

    AJ_Liberty (5f05c3)

  63. No use fretting over Cheney, she’s toast. Good riddance and bon voyage…

    Colonel Haiku (17b3b0)

  64. Colonel, Liz is still a Republican. Thank God. We may lose her in 2024, if authoritarian semi-fascist Trump gets enough votes and is nominated. This will of course, put Democracy in danger and it was from 2016-2020. So Liz will leave the party.

    Until then, with many at the Bulwark/Dispatch, she will couragely fight the influence of fascism/Trumpers in the Republican party and help elect Democrats, who stand with her in their love for joe Biden, and share her core values: lower taxes, small government and pro-life. She’s already launched attacks on Lake in Arizona and the R Senate candidates in Ohio, and Missouri. Not to mention, Danger to Democracy Senator Hawley.

    Like her hero US Grant, she has just begun to fight. Hopefully, if Pelosi wins the House, she can continue to serve the J6 committee in some capacity, even if it means making coffee and giving everyone dounuts.

    rcocean (6d7cfb)

  65. Hey, when they’re not selling out their ostensible fellow Congress critters and readers/voters who paid attention to them in the not too distant past, they’re soliciting and accepting funding from far-left benefactors.

    Colonel Haiku (17b3b0)


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