By sundance
Well, this is weird. After weeks of the horrible Putin narrative, Newsweek softens the tone, perhaps sees a larger landscape where Russia is working strategically though a plan and says, “Putin’s Bombers Could Devastate Ukraine but He’s Holding Back.” Wait, what?
According to the anonymous Newsweek sources – intelligence officials who fear speaking publicly for fear of severe repercussions – it would be very easy for Vladimir Putin to level the key cities and industries in Ukraine, but he’s not doing it.
The strategy Newsweek is seemingly beginning to admit is the same strategy Col Douglas Macgregor has been speaking about.(Newsweek) – As destructive as the Ukraine war is, Russia is causing less damage and killing fewer civilians than it could, U.S. intelligence experts say.
Russia’s conduct in the brutal war tells a different story than the widely accepted view that Vladimir Putin is intent on demolishing Ukraine and inflicting maximum civilian damage—and it reveals the Russian leader’s strategic balancing act. […] Understanding the thinking behind Russia’s limited attacks could help map a path towards peace, experts say.
In nearly a month since Russia invaded, dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns have fallen, and the fight over the country’s largest cities continues. United Nations human rights specialists say that some 900 civilians have died in the fighting (U.S. intelligence puts that number at least five times UN estimates). About 6.5 million Ukrainians have also become internally displaced (15 percent of the entire population), half of them leaving the country to find safety.
“The destruction is massive,” a senior analyst working at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) tells Newsweek, “especially when compared with what Europeans and Americans are used to seeing.”
But, the analyst says, the damage associated with a contested ground war involving peer opponents shouldn’t blind people to what is really happening. (The analyst requested anonymity in order to speak about classified matters.) “The heart of Kyiv has barely been touched. And almost all of the long-range strikes have been aimed at military targets.” (read more)
What the article boils down to is an acceptance, albeit couched in the U.S/NATO narrative, that Vladimir Putin is working through a careful and methodical plan to eliminate –with extreme prejudice– one severe faction of the Ukraine military (Azov battalion Nazis), and yet carefully and surgically leave intact the areas of greatest population.
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The capture of Ukraine, with as little damage as possible, while eliminating the elements with the connections to western government manipulation, appears to be the process. This, in addition to the removal of the Zelenskyy government, is what Macgregor has been pointing out from the beginning.
Putin seemingly plans to rebuild most of eastern Ukraine (closest to Russia) where a civil war has been ongoing for over a decade. That region is also the location of the most ultranationalist of the Ukraine forces, so the military targeting has been severe in that area
This makes sense when we see what is happening on the ground in Ukraine.
Putin could never subdue and control the non-Russian leaning part of Ukraine.
But Putin could totally control and rebuild the Russian-leaning parts of Ukraine.
He could, after subduing the rest of Ukraine, try to install a Russian-leaning puppet to replace what he looks at as a Western-leaning puppet in Zelensky.
What the West has been saying is happening (genocide) is patently false when we look at the numbers and the restraint Puting puts his forces under.
Putin is demanding a Ukraine buffer between NATO and Russia, between the EU and Russia.
What he’s had is an American money laundering state that flirted with joining the EU and/or NATO.
Putin’s problem is Putin. He is suspicious of NATO because he fears they would do what HE would do, which is try to take over other countries. How many countries has NATO invaded vs countries the Soviet Union/Russia has invaded? Or even, that Putin himself has invaded?
Actually, Putin has made the point for ANY country that doesn’t want to be under the Russian heel to join NATO.
I doubt Putin’s goal is to occupy a devastated Ukraine, but as long as the Ukrainians resist, the destruction will continue. Mariupol seems to have been selective to make a statement of what will happen elsewhere unless they surrender.
Of course he could destroy more; during World War II, without precision weapons, entire cities were destroyed to try and destroy the enemy’s ability to make war. Nowadays, the specific military targets can be surgically removed. Russia seems more interested in terrorizing the populace or his smart weapons aren’t that smart.
Putin’s goal is to devastate Ukraine and install a Putin puppet to control what’s left of it. He would then gradually extend Russia’s control over the rest of Europe, taking one eastern European country at a time while keeping the rest quiet through threats and intimidation.
NATO isn’t going to let that happen. Member nations have all seen that movie before. NATO could tip the balance against Putin’s increasingly exhausted invasion overnight.
Unless military aid allows the Ukrainians to push the Russian military back across its borders on their own, there will likely come a dangerous demonstration of what NATO could do. The particulars are probably being discussed already. No one wants this, because everyone knows it could easily spin out of control, but what Putin wants is intolerable.
One guy dead wouldn’t resolve this problem, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Not putting my eggs in the NATO basket. So far they have been useless much like the UN.
It’s doubtful that a flattened Russian economy seems irrelevant to the Russians.
Not a deterrent and never imagined or intended to be a deterrent, according to idiot Biden.
Apparently you’re not paying attention.
There’s a point when a sane man stops trying to reason with a lunatic.
When has NATO ever done anything of significance?
Anchor Guard, Kuwait-Iraq, 1990; Ace Guard, Kuwait-Iraq, 1991; Operation Joint Guard, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992; Operation Allied Force, Kosovo-Montenegro-Serbia, 1999; Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, 2003; NATO Training Mission-Iraq, Iraq, 2004; Operation Ocean Shield, Somalia, 2009; Military Intervention in Libya, 2011; Ukraine? Turn on the news.
Operative word, significance
Someone is surprised there would be rules against photographing NATO military facilities?
What an effin’ idiot.
BTW, the “NATO Accreditation Office” isn’t the facility. It’s the NATO office that media representatives send their requests to be recognized as accredited media representatives. Identification credentials from Russian or Chinese intelligence agencies aren’t considered acceptable.
All flattened with high civilian casulties and humanitarian crises left in famine, great examples of war crimes.
Anchor Guard, Kuwait-Iraq, 1990; Ace Guard, Kuwait-Iraq, 1991; Operation Joint Guard, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992; Operation Allied Force, Kosovo-Montenegro-Serbia, 1999; Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, 2003; NATO Training Mission-Iraq, Iraq, 2004; Operation Ocean Shield, Somalia, 2009; Military Intervention in Libya, 2011; Ukraine? Turn on the news.
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but PUTIN is flattening cities, killing civilians, and creating famine, not NATO.
Your list is much larger and incomplete. NATO has one answer it is not diplomacy goose stepper.
Don’t ever recall President Trump requiring a list in order to select a reporter for a question.
“I’ve Been Given a List” – Joe Biden Calls on a List of Pre-Approved Reporters After NATO Summit (VIDEO)
And now back to the biden crime family.
EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden Bio Firm Partnered With Ukrainian Researchers ‘Isolating Deadly Pathogens’ Using Funds From Obama’s Defense Department.
That’s because Trump could formulate answers in his head with the knowledge he had, not have a few answers to pre-rehearsed questions on a piece of paper. Idiot Biden gets tougher and tougher questions because his statements provide NO information or else they directly contradict former statements (i.e. LIES).
Sure sure…Russia is losing, WWIII is coming…blah blah blah.
WORLD AT WAR Poll: Support For Further US Involvement in Ukraine Collapses When Americans Told it Risks War & Economic Hardship
80 per cent of Americans support further economic sanctions against Russia, but this number drops to just 44 per cent when respondents include the proviso that this will lead to “higher prices and financial hardship for Americans.”
Meanwhile, a reminder of Greg’s thoughts when his lord and savior Obama was in office:
And:
My views have changed over the past 7 years. Mitt Romney was right about Vladimir Putin. We’re seeing daily evidence of that.
Does that mean Obama was wrong and WE were right all along? You seem to be indicating that Obama’s policies (which are now idiot Biden’s policies) are what has brought this global crisis to fruition.
Nice from the way back machine. And greg embarrassingly says his views have changed. LOL
did they evolve like obamas on gay marriage?
Yeah, fool, my views have changed. That tends to happen when people pay attention and think about what they see. You should give it a try.
Donald Trump Sues Hillary Clinton Over 2016 Russian Collusion Allegations
Your entire childish world seems to revolve around somehow “owning the libs”.
When President Trump wins this suit, it will pay much more than stormy daniels
Maybe Trump needs the money, after Truth Social crashed and burned.
Maybe somebody could buy the domain name and turn it into a anonymous forum for people with sexually transmitted diseases. That’s something that might go viral.
There is a waiting list of over 250K on Trumps Social media platform, how is it crashing and burning, what does your tv tell you what to think and say?
That’s funny. Is it intentional humor?
Sure goose stepper, you answer questions like the unqualified administration that races to a hot war.
Gawd if Greg had a son.
https://twitter.com/Ccampbellbased/status/1506636920348188676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1506636920348188676%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2022%2F03%2Fepic-comedian-performs-oscar-worthy-rendition-t
How has it “crashed and burned”?
And what has been the point of the constant stream of false accusations, unsupported indictments and lawsuits against conservatives throughout the years? Nobody wants to “own libs”. What is the benefit of owning something proven worthless?
Greg 2014:
And more:
Even more
Are you trying to argue against positions I took 8 years ago? Because I have left them long behind me.
Apparently the opinions of others have also changed, since I the views I expressed back then have lately become very popular on the right.
You’ve changed nothing. When Obama didn’t mind Russia invading a sovereign country you didn’t mind. When Biden got upset about Russia invaded a sovereign country you got upset.
Pathetic really.
The old posts that you’ve just dredged up obviously demonstrate otherwise.
Yes, they show you change your mind when the libs tell you to change your mind. No compass. No moral fortitude.
Sad.
Trump supporters really shouldn’t try to lecture others about moral fortitude.
Can you try for 1 day not to trump trump trump. This is Bidens problem.
Lets see how Zelensky acts if the USA says sorry dude we are broke cant give you a fkn thing, no cash and prizes.
I would, if people stopped singing his praises, trashing the President, and cheering for Putin. I’m beginning to view that as all part of a single outlook. Because around here, it’s all part of a single outlook. Praise Trump, Trash Biden, Promote Putin. Then repeat.
IOW, don’t talk about anything that Comrade Greggie, being a typical leftist, doesn’t want you to talk about. Because the more people remember the costs of things like gas and groceries when Trump was Prez, the worse Joey (On The Take) Biden looks and Comrade Greggie simply cannot tolerate that.
When did this epiphany happen? When the CCP told you it happened? Do you think you will ever have an epiphany that the Communist Party of China is responsible for the Wuhan flu?
Aside from yourself, who keeps bringing up Trump? Did you leftists stop trashing Trump when he was trying to conduct sensitive negotiations? Idiot Biden is CAUSING these problems; he doesn’t get a pass simply because you are all embarrassed by putting such an incompetent, corrupt puppet in office using election fraud.
Why not? We are the SOURCE of it and someone needs to show you gutless, anti-American gutless leftists what it looks like and how necessary it is.
Kind of like everyone in the idiot Biden regime pledging sanctions would deter Putin from invasion (though no one would describe the upcoming sanctions so the deterrent effect could commence) and now idiot Biden saying sanctions “never deter” and were never intended to deter Putin? Oh, wait… that’s just outright incompetence, stupidity and lying.
grggie, you never have a position of your own, only what the lefties tell you to have. Bidden will have this country in inflation above 10% with the policies you and the dems continue to push. Like global warming being caused by carbon dioxide and methane. Supporting Iran when much of the middle east and Israel are finally getting together to Combate terrorism IAW the Abraham Accords that Trump initiated. You are a major part of the problem by supporting the ignorant lefty policies, like calling MRNA a vaccine instead of gene therapy. You and the left killed millions of people worldwide by failing to allow alternative treatments.
Gosh, that looks a LOT like Russian disinformation and Putin-love.
You know, if you had a sense of history and was paying attention at the time, you could have avoided supporting a regime of terrible policies that were, as was pointed out then, a threat to world stability and peace. Just a helpful hint.
But… but… but, NUCLEAR WAR!!!!
Someone who has heard CNN claiim their news is the absolute truth
Why? What would possibly be the point of that?
It would also be easy to turn the Kremlin into a radioactive crater, but that’s not being done either.
03/24/22 – Russian military ship destroyed in Berdyansk, Ukrainian Navy claims
03/24/22 – Fierce Resistance In Ukraine Is Causing Russia To Rethink Its Strategy
and the ruinous prospect of trying to hold onto it all. Stupid, stupid move.
Trying to hold Ukraine will be Putin’s ruin. It’s been a disaster already and it’s only going to get worse.
So says the chief propagandist