Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Indeed we have

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Brandon has all but directly admitted responsibility, but he has intimated this several times.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Cute meme. There are lies, statistics, and lying statistics. No need to lash out. China has its share of participating in and starting wars as well.

woodguru

I'm gonna go with you on that one...Putin's first defense on something he intends to do is blame the other side.

woodguru

Putin hasn't been willing to sit down for talking about anything except what he wanted to take, both land and resources. There was nothing to talk about of Ukraine said not interested, Russia had no right to take anything from the Ukraine...period, nothing to discuss.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

Grow up liar. I have no dog in this fight. I don’t care if they blow each other up to smithereens. That’s what’s been reported. Now go blow your Zelensky doll again.

Marty 2020 Loc: Banana Republic of Kalifornia

😂😂😂😂😂

okie don

~~~~~
Weasel,
In my view this is serious as hell.

Word is the PTB are denying we did it.
This truly is an ACT OF WAR'!!!!

Further, when our Allies in Europe realize we shut down the energy flow from Russia so we could sell them LPB and haul it over for big bucks$$$ they will not be happy campers. I wonder how many will freeze to death or maybe starve???
I am ashamed of what China Joe has done.
As bath house Barry Obama has said if anyone can screw something up,Biden can do it!
Now the question is will Russia attack?
We have technically fired the first shot.

okie don

~~~~
Woodbrain,

I want you to quietly think about this.

It appears that we, the USA destroyed a gas pipeline which both Victoria Nuland and China Joe Biden admittedly stated publically that it would be stopped.

Do you realize this is an 'ACT OF WAR' AND TERRORISM?

Do you realized that German factories are being shut down and people are chopping down trees to stay warm and be able to cook food?

Do you realize we, the USA have done this to allies and fellow members of NATO?

Do you realize what Biden has down open to door for an attack by Russia on our homeland.

Like Obama said if anyone can screw something up, Biden can!.

Hope you have a good shelter as we took the first shot, so to speak!
.

BIRDMAN

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

Elon Musk has shut Zelensky down. He knows the truth. Zelensky is using drones to drop Chemical Weapons.

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

How ignorant can you possibly be???

https://youtu.be/pT5ksxLVroM

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

China now has more ICBM launchers than US: military report
By Allie Griffin
February 8, 2023 12:13am

China now has more land-based intercontinental-range missile launchers than the US, American military officers told Congress last month — raising concern among government officials, according to a report.

The commander of the US Strategic Command, which oversees nuclear forces, notified the Armed Services Committees in both branches of Congress of the development on Jan. 26, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China’s growing number of the missile launchers have caused some alarm for US officials — but the States has more land-based intercontinental-range missiles since many of the Chinese launchers are empty, US officials told the outlet.

The US also has a much larger nuclear fleet than China and is in the process of modernizing its nuclear arsenal, according to the Journal.

News of China’s missile launchers came after the country launched a spy balloon over the US, where it hovered above Montana, home to a portion of the military’s ICBM arsenal.

Republicans in Congress said the growing Chinese launchers is enough of a threat for the US military to react by expanding its own nuclear forces. They said China’s increase in ICBM launchers is indicative of the country’s future plans to build a massive nuclear arsenal.

China has not agreed to enter negotiations with the US to limit its production of nuclear weapons.

“China is rapidly approaching parity with the United States,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, according to the Journal. “We cannot allow that to happen. The time for us to adjust our force posture and increase capabilities to meet this threat is now.”

The Alabama Republican added that the US cannot build up its arsenal due to limits on long-range forces set by a treaty known as New START between the US and Russia. The treaty is set to expire in 2026.

However, opponents of nuclear weaponry said the treaty and limits should be extended — and the US should try to bring China in as well.

“It’s in our national interest to keep the Russians under the New START limits. We need to complete our nuclear modernization according to plan, not pile on new requirements,” Rose Gottemoeller of Stanford University, who negotiated the landmark treaty for the US, told the Journal.

The Biden administration last week accused Moscow of violating the treaty by refusing to allow on-site inspections. Russian officials said they are still adhering to the limits.

The US is keeping watch on both China and Russia as the top nuclear threats.

“By the 2030s the United States will, for the first time in its history, face two major nuclear powers as strategic competitors and potential adversaries,” the Pentagon said in a policy document last year.

China is expected to field roughly 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 — a massive uptick from its 2021 stockpile which was estimated at 400, according to the Pentagon report cited by the Journal.

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

We have an Idiot in the Whitehouse that wants to be a Dictator. We have to put him down like a Rabid Dog ... The sooner the better..

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Preparing for Peace in Ukraine
The World Must Embrace Zelenskyy’s Peace Proposal and Peace Summit

Michael McFaul (former ambassador to Russian Federation)
Feb 7
Most people around the world want peace in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy has taken the first step towards this goal and outlined a ten-point peace settlement proposal. He has also called for an international peace conference to discuss the plan. Last week, European Union officials visiting Kyiv endorsed both the proposal and the summit. With greater vigor, the rest of the world should follow suit. President Biden should also acknowledge this peace plan and lead the rest of the world in organizing this peace conference, as well as taking other steps towards post-war justice and reconstruction. Zelenskyy has offered a starting point. We should assist in turning the proposal into reality.


The ten-point peace plan of President Zelenskyy is as follows:

1. Radiation and nuclear safety.
2. Food security.
3. Energy security.
4. The release of all prisoners and deportees.
5. Implementation of the United Nations Charter and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the world order.
6. The withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities.
7. Justice – by establishing a Special Tribunal regarding the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and an international mechanism to compensate for all the damages caused by the war.
8. The prevention of ecocide: the need for immediate protection of the environment.
9. The prevention of escalation by effective security assurances, for which Ukraine has put forward the Kyiv Security Compact proposal.
10. The confirmation of the end of the war by a jointly signed document.

Russian propagandists, as well as skeptics in the West, have denounced Zelenskyy’s plan as impractical because it does not offer Putin any concessions. But why should Zelenskyy offer Putin any concessions, especially at the beginning of a negotiation? Putin started this barbaric, unnecessary war. He is now losing, which he understands (more on this here.) Did Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill offer Hitler face-saving “off ramps” in 1943 after Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad? Did the U.S.-led coalition of countries that pushed Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991 offer to give the Iraqi dictator twenty percent of the country he tried to annex in the pursuit of peace? Zelenskyy’s plan may not be the end point of a peace settlement, but it most certainly is a logical beginning. If Putin doesn’t like Zelenskyy’s ideas, he should publish his own proposal. To date, he has not done so.

When endorsing Zelenskyy’s peace plan and the idea of organizing a conference, Western leaders should refrain from undermining Zelenskyy’s negotiating leverage by publicly suggesting their ideas for compromises and peace settlements. Ultimately, it is only Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian parliament, and the Ukrainian people who have the authority to decide whether to agree to concessions or not. Right now, they are focused on liberating their entire country from Russian occupation. For Ukrainians, this remains the number one priority. And it should be for their international supporters, too.


Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the EU-Ukraine Summit in Kyiv with President of the European Commission Von der Leyen and President of the European Council Michel | Source: www.president.gov.ua
Even if Zelenskyy and Putin succeeded in signing a peace agreement this year, the issue of sustainable security will remain. Several initiatives toward that goal should be started now.

First, the international community should begin now establishing the mechanisms for holding war criminals accountable. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to establish a special international tribunal to prosecute Russians for their war crimes, recently supported by the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, is a welcome sign. Ukraine, the European Union, and the Netherlands have also already backed the idea of a special tribunal.

Twitter avatar for @vonderleyen
Ursula von der Leyen
@vonderleyen
Ukraine is taking important steps on its path to the EU, while fighting an aggressor. (The current configuration of Ukraine should not become part of the E.U.)

I know that they will keep the peace.

Because Ukrainians are fighting for a democratic future and the freedom of their children.

Second, leaders of the world must think more creatively about how to work together to help rebuild Ukraine after the war. A few weeks ago, the European Union, G7, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and European Investment Bank (EIB) came together to announce the launch of a new Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine. This is a good first step, but only a first step. Next, steps must include the creation of new funding streams, including the confiscation of frozen Russian Central Bank assets held in the West, the transfer of wealth from Russian oligarchs, and eventually reparations to be paid by the Russian government. Western and Ukrainian leaders must give special attention to creating ways for Ukrainian civil society to be involved in the decision-making about and monitoring of reconstruction spending. In fact, to do this giant task right, a coordination platform may not be enough. Maybe a new international agency should be created from scratch, complete with a new international advisory board to (1) monitor progress and spending, (2) liaison between the government of Ukraine and the international donor community (3) interface private sector actors, and (4) provide a special new emphasis on transparency, decentralization, and the strengthening of democratic institutions to create the permissive conditions for effective rebuilding.

Third, the day after the war ends, the United States and NATO must immediately begin rebuilding and strengthening Ukraine’s armed forces. Henry Kissinger, one of the most vocal critics of NATO expansion, recently wrote, “Ukraine has acquired one of the largest and most effective land armies in Europe, equipped by America and its allies. A peace process should link Ukraine to NATO, however, expressed. The alternative of neutrality is no longer meaningful, especially after Finland and Sweden joined NATO.” On this issue, Kissinger is right. NATO should build that link as deeply and quickly as possible right after the war. The best way to deter future Russian military attacks is by arming and training the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the fullest capacity.

Finally, once the war ends, Biden and European leaders should propose a multilateral negotiation to enhance European security more broadly. Before the war started, I outlined some ideas for such a negotiation in Foreign Affairs, calling it Helsinki 2.0. (Check it out here!) While Putin remains in power, it is hard to see Russia playing a constructive role in any dialogue about European security. But any negotiations about a new European security architecture will take years to conclude, so better to start now, even without Russia for the time being.