Tag: Economic Warfare

In Ukraine, the United States Is In Over Its Head

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

By Thomas Meaney. Mr. Meaney, a fellow at the Max Planck Society in Germany, writes regularly on American foreign policy and international relations.

The greatest blunder President Vladimir Putin may have made so far in Ukraine is giving the West the impression that Russia could lose the war. The early Russian strike on Kyiv stumbled and failed. The Russian behemoth seemed not nearly as formidable as it had been made out to be. The war suddenly appeared as a face-off between a mass of disenchanted Russian incompetents and supercharged, savvy Ukrainian patriots.

In Ukraine, the United States Is In Over Its Head

Washington Seeks to Drum Up Support for Sanctions on China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Joe Biden administration is pressuring allies to sanction China if Beijing decides to send arms to Russia, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Top American officials have claimed the Chinese government is considering providing weapons for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Washington Seeks to Drum Up Support for Sanctions on China

Related:

US House committee advances slew of sanctions bills related to China and Taiwan

Pentagon Wants To Return Special Ops Propagandists To Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

An article by The Washington Post titled “Pentagon looks to restart top-secret programs in Ukraine” contains some interesting information about what US special ops forces were doing in Ukraine in the lead-up to the Russian invasion last year, and what they are slated to be doing there in the future.

Pentagon Wants To Return Special Ops Propagandists To Ukraine

Previously:

Report: Pentagon wants to revive top secret commando program in Ukraine

What About the Unprovoked U.S. Aggression Against Iraq?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an editorial in Saturday’s Washington Post exclaims that Ukraine’s “struggle is also a crucible for Europe and an assault against the most basic precept on which the Western system rests: the impermissibility of unprovoked wars of aggression.”

In a follow-up editorial today, the Post calls for an international tribunal to try Vladimir Putin and his “henchmen” for waging a “war of aggression” against Ukraine. The Post quotes the Nuremberg tribunal: “To initiate a war of aggression … is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”

What About the Unprovoked U.S. Aggression Against Iraq?

Why Does Humanity Still Tolerate the Tragedy of Wars in the 21st Century? The Big Picture

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Since the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), there have been many civil wars and several important regional military conflicts between two or more countries, but none has evolved into a general world war involving all the most heavily armed countries. The most serious regional wars were the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the Iraq War (2003-2011), the Syria War (2011- ), and the Ukraine War (2022- ).

Why Does Humanity Still Tolerate the Tragedy of Wars in the 21st Century? The Big Picture

H/T: Der Friedensstifter

Expanding on a previous entry re: CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades

While the covert program, run by paramilitaries working for the CIA’s Ground Branch* — now officially known as Ground Department — was established by the Obama administration after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, and expanded under the Trump administration, the Biden administration has further augmented it, said a former senior intelligence official in touch with colleagues in government.

Previously:

The CIA has backed Ukrainian insurgents before. Let’s learn from those mistakes + Project Aerodynamic

*Ground Branch: The CIA’s covert alternative to special operations

Ground Branch is a part of the CIA’s Special Activities Division**, which also includes Air Branch and Maritime Branch. As the author noted, GB paramilitary officers are primarily recruited from the special operations community. At one point known as a sort of good-old-boys network, Ground Branch was once heavily represented by former Marines. Later, GB became heavy with retired Delta Force sergeant majors. These days, things are a bit different, with the CIA preferring to contract younger former sergeants out of Army Special Forces who they can raise up through the ranks of the agency over a longer period of time.

…

GB has been very active in both Afghanistan and Iraq during the Global War on Terror, but their actions are rarely reported by the press. Even less known is the role that GB played in the Libyan Civil War, when Gaddafi was overthrown after President Obama signed an executive action authorizing clandestine support to rebel factions. Today, GB officers are active in northern Syria with the Kurdish YPG militia, where they provide tactical support in the war against ISIS.

**CIA Special Activities Division (SAD): 12 Things You Never Knew

There are two separate groups that now operate under the CIA:

1. SAD/SOG: The elite unit was established for tactical paramilitary operations.

2. SAD/PAG: The separate group is used for covert political action.

…

In addition, its believed that Political Action Group members clandestinely organize various government protests and demonstrations in hostile nations.