3 Feb, 2023 14:17

UK military could run out of ammo in single afternoon – ex-commander

British armed forces have been “hollowed out by spending cuts,” General Richard Barrons has said

The UK could deplete its ammunition stocks in mere hours should it be drawn into large-scale fighting, a former British commander warned on Thursday. This and other issues make the UK military unfit to be regarded as a “top tier” NATO member, he said.

Retired General Richard Barrons, who formerly headed the UK’s Joint Forces Command, sounded the alarm in an op-ed published by The Sun in which he said the fighting force has been “hollowed out by spending cuts.”

Barrons claimed that the British armed forces “are smaller and less ready to fight than at any time in living memory.” He also warned that the UK Army is on course to slip below 76,000 troops. However, even these service members often do not receive adequate training, Barrons noted.

British tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces mostly date to the previous century, while “years of cuts to ammunition production mean that, for some types of key weapons, the army would run out in a busy afternoon,” the general said.

Barrons added that the Royal Navy and Air Force are “in better shape” and boast some “outstanding modern equipment,” but cautioned that without experienced personnel, ammunition, and spare parts they might turn out to be just a “glittering shop window” without much to show for it on the actual battlefield.

The former commander said the UK should focus on Europe, arguing that the “tilt to Asia can wait.” He urged London to invest in modern capabilities, including drones, missiles, and cyber and electronic warfare capabilities. Britain should also double its reserves to 60,000 troops, he said.

Regarding Russia, Barrons estimated that to be able to handle a “surprise attack,” the British Army will need to spend “£3 billion ($3.67 billion) this year, and every year for the next ten years.”

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted in the House of Commons on Monday that the military has been “hollowed out and underfunded.” His comments followed a Sky News report alleging that a top US general had told Wallace that British forces are “barely tier two” in terms of fighting capabilities.

(Anons Boris Johnson was here in US desperately begging Atlantic Council and US to provide more weapons for Ukraine,seriously, we need to figure out how deep in debt to Ukraine, he isRemember that picture of him on a swing at night with a child nearby, maybe child trafficking.)

https://www.rt.com/news/570915-uk-military-underfunded-ammo/

3 Feb, 2023 07:30

EU nation slams US ambassador over ‘interference’

Nobody can tell Hungary’s citizens how they should live, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto asserts

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto issued a scathing rebuke of the US ambassador to Budapest on Thursday, asserting that he has no business meddling in the nation’s internal affairs.

The minister’s comments came after Ambassador David Pressman, who has represented Washington in Budapest since September 2022, told Politico earlier this week that Hungarian policymakers “continue to push policies endorsed by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.” He was referring to Budapest's opposition to anti-Russia sanctions and support of Moscow’s proposals for a ceasefire.

When asked to respond to the statement at a press conference, Szijjarto said, “Nobody can tell us from the outside how to live, so it is of no interest what a citizen of another country – be it an ambassador – thinks about the domestic political processes in Hungary.

“We ask for more respect for the Hungarians, even from the ambassador,” he added.

It is not Pressman’s “job to interfere in the internal affairs of Hungary,” the minister declared.

“If he wants to use his stay in Hungary to qualify the activities of the government elected by the Hungarian people with a fairly clear majority… then he will have a very difficult time,” he added.

Szijjarto noted that when Hungary receives foreign ambassadors, it expects them to behave appropriately and work to improve bilateral relations. “We welcome non-governors and non-regents,” he stated, emphasizing that the era of foreign envoys telling Hungarians how to live in their own country “is over.”

Hungary, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy, has repeatedly voiced opposition to sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West in response to the ongoing Ukraine conflict. It has argued that the restrictions have wreaked havoc on the EU economy, but failed to meaningfully weaken Russia.

Last month, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also slammed Germany’s decision to support Ukraine by supplying 14 Leopard 2 tanks, noting that such steps make Western countries active participants in the conflict. According to Orban, instead of arming Kiev, the West should pursue “a ceasefire and peace talks” in Ukraine.

https://www.rt.com/news/570891-hungary-us-ambassador-meddling/

picture of Pressman, gay lives with husband and two children in Hungary

>>18278198

clown and creep, researchDavid Pressman

Biography

Raised in a Jewish family,[7] Pressman received his Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 2004, where he graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif.[7] He clerked for the Supreme Court of Rwanda - where he evaluated post-genocide transitional justice initiatives - and at the Southern Poverty Law Center.[7] He then served as a press lead for the Clinton administration.[7]

Pressman is an American human rights lawyer and former aide to United States Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. He has advised several highly visible individuals on foreign policy and related advocacy strategies.[8] In 2008 Los Angeles Times referred to him as George Clooney's "consigliere."[8][9] With George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, Pressman co-founded Not On Our Watch Project, a leading advocacy and grant-making organization focused on raising awareness about mass-atrocities.[10]

Pressman served as an assistant secretary of Homeland Security, and was responsible for policy development on global criminal justice issues at DHS.[11][12][13] He also served as the Director for War Crimes and Atrocities on the White House National Security Council, where he coordinated the government's efforts to prevent and respond to mass atrocities, genocide, and war crimes.[14][15] Pressman served as a member of President Obama's Atrocities Prevention Board.[16]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pressman

Obama Hires a Clooney Confidant

David Pressman took George Clooney on his first trip to Darfur. Now Obama’s hired him to a new position to help combat genocide and mass atrocities.

Updated Jul. 14, 2017 1:04PM ET / Published Apr. 13, 2010 6:16PM ET

Since their 2006 trip, Pressman and Clooney have circumnavigated the globe to raise awareness and press for peace in Darfur and other hot spots. They also established a nonprofit, Not On Our Watch, alongside Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Don Cheadle, which is now focused on torture and political oppression in Burma and the public health and economic crisis in Zimbabwe.

Despite all the publicity they generated and the millions they raised, Pressman now seems to downplay his own role within Not On Our Watch, comparing the slick group to the high-school volunteers who organized Dollars for Darfur.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-hires-a-clooney-confidant

3 Feb, 2023 19:12

Russia wants ‘revenge’ – Zelensky

(Ukraine outraged and lying again!)

Kiev will go on the offensive if the West delivers more weapons soon, the president said

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that Russia wants “revenge” and is preparing for a major offensive in late February or early spring. Speaking after a meeting with visiting EU officials on Friday, Zelensky said Kiev was already preparing for the blow.

“We think there will be increased pressure in the east,” said the Ukrainian leader. “Russia wants revenge in the exact place where it previously failed. It wants to take the east,” he added, referring to areas east of Kharkov where Ukrainian troops advanced in the fall.

“Our mission is to prevent that and hold them off until our army is equipped with adequate weapons. I think we have every chance of that,” Zelensky asserted. The US and its allies have promised main battle tanks to Kiev, such as the American M1 Abrams, the British Challenger, and the German Leopard 2, but said that delivering them would take weeks or months.

Ukrainians need to remember the “motivation and spirit” from the start of the conflict, Zelensky added, noting that some parts of the country feel like they’re “on vacation” instead of at war.

Asked about the embattled city of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut by Ukraine), Zelensky insisted that the Ukrainian military does not intend to withdraw.

“Nobody will surrender Bakhmut,” he said, adding that if Ukraine’s Western partners speed up deliveries of long-range weapons, Kiev will instead launch an operation to “liberate the territories occupied since 2014.”

A key Donbass crossroads, Artyomovsk has seen heavy fighting for months and is close to being in operational encirclement due to the advance of Russian troops north and south of the city. The Wagner Group private military company has been at the forefront of Russian efforts there.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin sent a message to Zelensky on Friday, urging him to keep fighting in Bakhmut to the last.

“Dear Vladimir Alexandrovich, many people are asking you to withdraw troops from Bakhmut. Do not do that,” Prigozhin wrote. “Artyomovsk is the main event of this war. We must keep fighting. You will show cowardice. You will no longer be respected. The Ukrainian people will not forgive you for surrendering Artyomovsk to a private military structure. Resist. Fight to the end.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/570930-zelensky-ukraine-revenge-offensive/

3 Feb, 2023 12:09

Ukraine announces new ‘Attack Guard’

The Interior Ministry has urged “patriots” to enroll in volunteer brigades and “dispose of enemies”

Kiev has called on citizens to enroll in newly-created ‘storm brigades’, with acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko saying that the government expects serving police officers, border guards, and members of the National Guard to form the core of the units.

The force, dubbed ‘Attack Guard’, is intended forUkrainians “who have enough rage to beat the enemy,” (I guess the Nazi’s are not angry enough), the minister said on national television on Thursday.

“First of all, they are the people who went through the furnace of 2014-2015,” Klimenko explained as he described the intended recruits. “Some of them went to war in 2022, too. Some of them were injured.”

After the 2014 armed coup in Kiev, the new authorities relied on so-called ‘volunteer battalions’ – militia units formed predominantly from far-right Ukrainian nationalists – to fight rebel forces in the east of the county who rejected the new Ukrainian government.

Those units were given access to heavy weapons and later partially incorporated into the newly-formed National Guard. The notorious Azov

Regiment is arguably the best-known entity to have followed that path.

Moscow stated the need to remove extremist forces and protect people in Donbass from a new onslaught by Kiev among the reasons why it sent troops into Ukraine last February.

The ‘Attack Guard’ website lists eight brigades that recruits can choose from, including one named ‘Azov’. Klimenko said six of the units are meant for national guardsmen, while the other two are for police officers and border guards respectively.

Applicants can expect financial compensation, social benefits, and other perks, as well as “an opportunity to dispose of enemies,” Klimenko promised. The forces’ “immediate goal” is to fully secure Ukraine’s “internationally recognized borders.”

When asked about the new force on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Donbass has yet to be fully secured by Russian troops, “which is why the special military operation continues.” However, Peskov added that the security of Crimea, another former part of Ukraine, “is well provided for.”

Ukraine has reportedly ramped up military mobilization due to heavy frontline losses, although Kiev denies this. Aleksey Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, claimed in an interview this week that Ukrainians are lining up at conscription centers every day to submit information for possible mobilization.

He dismissed videos circulating online which purportedly show a heavy-handed approach by mobilization officials, claiming they showed the detentions of dangerous criminals.

https://www.rt.com/russia/570908-ukraine-offensive-guard-ministry/

3 Feb, 2023 08:59

Trump calls for restraint in arming Ukraine

The US should send less military aid to Kiev and instead focus on a diplomatic solution to the conflict, the former president said

The US should do its best to pave the way for a peace settlement in Ukraine while scaling back the military assistance Washington is sending to Kiev, former President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday.

During an interview with American radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump was asked whether he believed the US should send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help in its fight with Russia. “I think the United States shouldnegotiate peacebetween these two countries, and I don’t think they should be sending very much,” the former president stated.

However, he also complained that the US had committed much more resources to prop up Kiev than the EU has. “The other thing is Europe has to do much more, because Europe is doing probably just a small fraction of what we’re doing,” he said, explaining that the Ukraine crisis “affects Europe more than it affects our country.”

Trump dodged the question when asked whether he wanted to completely cut off aid for Ukraine, stating instead that he wanted “to make it so that Ukraine and Russia have to… fight for the last day.”

“This thing has to stop, and it’s got to stop now. And it’s not going to stop if we continue to just load something up,” he cautioned.

The former US leader has on numerous occasions criticized the way the administration of President Joe Biden is handling the Ukraine conflict. Last week, Trump said his successor “has brought us to the brink of World War III” through “weakness and incompetence.” He doubled down on his claim that, if he were president, the conflict between Moscow and Kiev would have never started.

On Monday, Biden stated that the US had no plans to send F-16s to Ukraine. The delivery of modern fighter jets is also said to be off the table for the EU, with the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell pointing out that this idea had caused a lot of division among member states.

As of January 25, the US has committed more than $27 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including heavy artillery and tanks, air defense systems and infantry fighting vehicles. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against arms shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they will only prolong the conflict while making NATO a direct participant to the hostilities.

https://www.rt.com/news/570894-trump-restraint-ukraine-support/

3 Feb, 2023 00:52

Kremlin and White House deny Biden offered Putin ‘20% of Ukraine’

The CIA also quickly disavowed explosive claims by the Swiss-German paper of record (why use quickly?)

President Joe Biden allegedly sent CIA chief William Burns on a secret mission to Moscow and then Kiev in mid-January, according to a report in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NNZ) on Wednesday. The White House, the CIA, and the Kremlin all denied that the US had offered Russia 20% of Ukrainian territory as part of a peace proposal.

According to confidential conversations with two German lawmakers dealing with foreign policy – one from the ruling coalition, the other from the opposition – Burns reportedly offered a “land for peace” deal in which Russia would keep some “20% of Ukraine’s territory” – about the size of Donbass.

The Swiss-German newspaper mentioned the supposed proposal in passing, focusing on the chain of events that led to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden announcing they would send Leopard 2 and Abrams heavy tanks to the government in Kiev.

The NZZ report is “not accurate” and the CIA will say the same, deputy spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, Sean Davett, told Newsweek. A CIA official later told the US outlet that reports of a secret Moscow trip by Burns, or a peace proposal on behalf of the White House were “completely false.”

On Friday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov also dismissed the report, describing it as a “hoax.”

The Washington Post reported earlier that Burns had taken a secret trip to Kiev ahead of the tank announcement, in order to meet and brief Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

From what the two German politicians told NZZ, the peace offer hinted at a split in Washington regarding the conflict. While Burns and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan want to wrap up the fighting in Ukraine quickly to focus on China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are committed to backing Kiev.

The Swiss outlet further pointed to a recent report by the Rand Corporation, urging Washington to avoid a “long war” in Ukraine – among other reasons, so the US can focus on China.

Both Ukraine and Russia refused the US proposal, NZZ claimed. Kiev said it was unwilling to give up any territory, while Moscow was confident of victory. Asked about the NZZ report, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy told Newsweek he found it “interesting” but declined to comment on “speculation.”

https://www.rt.com/news/570884-cia-russia-ukraine-land-peace/

I kind of believe this story, this admin is so incompetent