Josh Hawley trying to get some Russian help for his future Presidential hopes... https://www.axios.com/josh-hawley-b...hip-8ea2f9e0-f892-4e6b-8050-0b5e9fba3d95.html Exclusive: Hawley calls on Biden to drop support for Ukraine membership in NATO
Biden himself has said there are no plans for Ukraine joining NATO. Also that issue isn't solely up to the US but to NATO as a whole and Ukraine. Hawley also said this: "Such a deployment can only detract from the U.S. military’s ability to ready and modernize forces to deter China in the Indo-Pacific," Hawley writes, arguing that "Americans’ security and prosperity rest upon our ability" to curtail Beijing's dominance. Does Hawley not realize that Xi is watching what is happening with Ukraine and simply caving into Putin's demands will likely embolden Xi? Hawley and others are approaching Neville Chamberlain levels of appeasement.
Germany's inaction makes NATO membership a non-starter. Hawley likes playing up the yokel rubbernecker if only to remind people he served in the military
I know that @basso has been tooting that horn for quite a while. I'm sure he's very supportive of this move by Biden.
British PM Boris Johnson and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call to work towards a 'peaceful resolution' of the crisis over Ukraine http://aje.io/tzwwew Wait a second ..sounds vaguely familiar hip hip hooray old chap
U.S. intelligence: Russia may stage video to create pretext for Ukraine war | Reuters Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia has formed a plan to fabricate a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine, potentially by producing propaganda videos showing a staged attack, according to a senior Biden administration official. Russia is formulating several options to give it an excuse for an invasion of Ukraine, the official said. One is a fabricated video showing the graphic aftermath of an explosion, including equipment appearing to belong to Ukraine or allied nations, according to the official, who requested anonymity. "The video will be released to underscore a threat to Russia's security and to underpin military operations," the official said. "This video, if released, could provide Putin the spark he needs to initiate and justify military operations against Ukraine." The U.S. official said Washington is publicizing the specific allegation in order to "dissuade" Russia from following through with such plans. "We don't know definitively that this is the route they (Russia) are going to take, but we know that this is an option under consideration," U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer said in a media interview. It "would involve actors playing mourners for people who are killed in an event that they (Russia) would have created themselves... (and) deployment of corpses to represent bodies purportedly killed," Finer told MSNBC.
Watch this exchange between State Dept spokesperson and reporter at a news conference today. Mind boggling... TLDR recap of video: Reporter asks State Dept spokesperson for proof of Russian disinformation campaign. Spokesman states it's based on declassified information. Reporter asks him to reveal where the information is. Spokesperson says "I just did". Reporter basically states WTF, no you didn't.
this false flag operation suggests that Putin is not so sure that the Russian citizens are behind the Ukraine invasion The video, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby added, would even suggest that some of the equipment involved in the “attack” would be made to appear like “Western-supplied Ukrainian — to Ukraine — equipment.” As part of an ongoing campaign to sow disinformation and destabilize the Kiev government, Russia intended to use the bogus video to accuse Kiev of genocide against Russian speakers, thereby justifying military action against its western neighbor.
So the theory on the right is that Biden is just lying about Putin wanting to invade Ukraine because somehow potential WW3 is supposed to help him politically?? What a freaking stupid theory. Start with the fact that Putin has already invaded and annexed Crimea… which for the ignorant around here… is part of Ukraine, or was. Second, we are supposed to not believe the Ukrainian soldiers on the borders giving firsthand accounts and interviews about Russian troops amassing at the border? Lastly we are supposed to ignore Putin’s endless amount of manifestos and speeches about his desire to reform the Soviet Union, as well as his recent demands in Geneva in exchange for NOT INVADING UKRAINE!! The right wing (obviously pro Putin) media really really thinks you guys are the dumbest people on the planet. Also your obvious notion to believe a Pro Putin line (that Putin isn’t even denying outright) instead of your countries own military intelligence officials (I thought the right was pro military??) really speaks to some thoroughly diminished patriotism here.
It's also very well documented that Russia has run disinformation campaigns. We know they did it with the Brexit campaign and with both 2016 and 2020 elections here in the US. They've also done it with Ukraine. Whether they do it or not with the current crisis this is part of the overall psychological battle. The Biden Admin. knows they can't just allow Russia to drive the narrative.
