Tag: Asia Times

Zelensky Ukraine victory speech: Listen for the quiet parts

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
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Zelensky Ukraine victory speech: Listen for the quiet parts

Zelensky is going to give his “victory” speech on October 16 to Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, but much of the speech will be secret. The secret part is about giving up territory to Russia.

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The Rada has just passed new legislation that allows NATO officers to command Ukrainian units. So far, the Russians have been mostly quiet, probably because they do not believe NATO will supply field commanders for Ukraine’s military. But if it happens, and that is a big if, the Russians will see it as NATO sending combat troops and react accordingly.

Some speculate that Zelensky will hint at a desire to get some sort of ceasefire and establish a buffer zone patrolled by a kind of coalition of NATO-willing. This is being billed as a Zelensky “concession” to the reality of Russia occupying Ukrainian territory.

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There also are rumors that Ukraine may try to attack Transnistria, the breakaway area of Moldova that includes a few thousand Russian troops – some of them on an agreed peace-keeping mission and others protecting a huge ammunition dump left over from the Soviet period.

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The Russians also have been attacking dry cargo ships in the port of Odessa that are unloading weapons and military supplies from Turkey.  

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Moldova also has an important election on October 20. An attack on Transnistria could backfire and topple the current pro-NATO. pro-EU Moldovan government.

Following in the footsteps of Nikita Khrushchev? FYI, “Khrushchev Lied!”😉

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US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
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DARWIN, July 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with U.S. and Australian defence officials show.

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

Related:

US military eyes Australia’s Indian Ocean toehold to deter China

SYDNEY – A remote Australian island close to an Indian Ocean chokepoint for Chinese oil shipments is on a list of possible locations for US military construction aimed at deterring China, with the US saying it “may or may not” support American forces.

Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish

Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish

“We were given a warning order to support the Philippines defense forces in resupplying of the Second Thomas Shoal,” Marine Rotational Force — Darwin commander Col. Brian Mulvihill told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday at an Outback training camp in the Northern Territory.

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The Marines have been monitoring events at the shoal over a drone feed, Mulvihill said.

“We were ready to support the Philippine defense forces,” he said, noting that Marines across the Pacific are also ready to back the U.S. ally.

The rotational force can airlift food and water by pushing pallets out of helicopters, he added.

“We can control airspace and aircraft from many nations,” he said. “We provide a range of options if a host nation, through the embassy, requires assistance.”

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Darwin is an excellent platform for launching forces into Southeast Asia, according to Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. 

“It’s good to see Darwin and Northern Territory being used this way … rather than just as a training area for Marines, Air Force, and Australian and other forces,” he said by email Thursday.

The Marines can offer the Philippines fire support coordination. They can help with logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and guard locations that support Philippine forces operating towards the disputed shoal, he said.

“Of course, Marines can deploy aboard Philippine resupply boats alongside [Philippine] personnel,” he said.

Marine engineers could repair the Sierra Madre at the shoal and Marine helicopters could resupply it, Newsham added.

“A U.S. amphibious ship or two with Marines and their aircraft and other hardware aboard deployed to Second Thomas Shoal would be a serious force — and also sending a clear message,” he said. “Deploying Marines in the Philippines with their aviation, long-range rockets, and other hardware has a political significance in itself.”

Related:

Japan Forum for Strategic Studies

South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions

SeaLight, formerly Project Myoushu

[2005] The Tulip Revolution takes root

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

It all went down at the speed of light. In only a few hours on Thursday in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, the palace was stormed, the tyrant fled and a new order was starting to take shape. Or was it?

The Tulip Revolution takes root

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[2005] GEORGIAN ADVISORS STEPPING FORWARD IN BISHKEK

Although Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution has already turned out to be far more violent than similar uprisings in Georgia and Ukraine, the scenarios have a striking similarity. They suggest the presence of a strong network of human, material, and financial resources in the post-Soviet space, which is able to fight successfully with the authoritarian and mostly Russia-leaning regimes.

U.S. Wars and Hostile Actions (WW2 – 2014)

Euromaidan 2014 – Orange Revolution – War in Donbass

Serbian Analyst: How war in Ukraine resembles past conflict in Yugoslavia

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Interview by Adriel Kasonta, Asia Times, 9/24/22

Dragana Trifković is the general director of the Center for Geostrategic Studies in Belgrade, Serbia.

On September 8, a session was held in the UN Security Council on the topic of arms delivery to Ukraine by the West.

In the introductory part of the session, Trifković spoke about the weapons that were delivered to the battlefield during the war in Yugoslavia, comparing it to the current situation in Ukraine.

In the following interview, Trifković elaborates on that point for Asia Times.

Serbian Analyst: How war in Ukraine resembles past conflict in Yugoslavia

Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation

The Pentagon is not ready for a war on China. Iran is too strong and would respond to an attack by launching its huge missile arsenal on Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf. This leaves Syria*. It is unlikely by chance that the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. is coordinating Israeli airstrikes in that country:

Related:

*Report: Russia warns to strike US-allied militants in Syria’s al-Tanf region

Transcript of Vladimir Putin’s speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum Plenary session