Beneath all the shitposting and memes about the war, the most moment i’ve felt about this was when i was in Cuba earlier this year. I had a conversation with an older russian man, and he showed me pictures on his phone. Pictures of his youth, hanging out with friends, drinking, partying, etc. But, he also showed me pictures of his unit. A ragtag mix of russians and ukrainians. All under the red banner. He showed me a picture of him at a cafe with those same people many years later. 2021. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever see them again.

pentagon defense procurement paper from last year

conclusions:

• no commercial application for missiles makes them unprofitable
• china makes everything
• nobody wants to invest in domestic manufacturing
• nobody wants to work in manufacturing, much less for the DoD

Georgia’s security service accuses Ukrainian official of plotting coup

The deputy chief of Ukraine’s military counterintelligence is planning an overthrow of Georgia’s government, its security service says.

On Monday, the SSG said Giorgi Lortkipanidze, the deputy chief of Ukraine’s military counterintelligence who used to be Georgia’s deputy interior minister, was plotting “destabilisation aimed at a violent overthrow of the government”.

The SSG said antigovernment protests “are being planned for October and December, when the European Commission is set to publish its decision on Georgia’s EU membership application”. It said the plot “is being carried out with the coordination and funding from a foreign country”.

👀

NYT: Evidence Suggests Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Tragedy

From their original article:

A Russian missile strike in Kostyantynivka that killed at least 17 and injured more than 30 others was one of the deadliest in months.

guys this is not funny anymore. Which one of you took my f-35?

I’m from New York and I’ve just received a letter (draft) demanding me to fight for The Ukraine.

What the fuck is going on

redditors furious that musk said the ‘counteroffensive’ hasn’t accomplished much of anything and cost a lot of lives

I know we dont vote BUTT I have a new campaign

No more tummy aches

PLEASE vote no more tummy aches 2024

"my tummy hurts"

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/mMjLr

Orthodox deacon captured by Ukrainian abwehr for assisting Ukrainian civilians escape from being apprehend by Zelenskyy regime thugs for forced conscription.

Ex-deacon accused of disguising men as missionaries to avoid conscription in Ukraine I,nvestigators say at least six individuals escaped to EU countries after deacon allegedly took bribes* by Lorenzo Tondo and Shaun Walker.

A former deacon in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa has been detained on allegations that he took bribes to help men evade conscription by disguising them as church missionaries so they could leave the country.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said last week that the former deacon belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox church, one of two main branches of Orthodoxy in the country and until recently linked to the Moscow patriarchy. Investigators say the former deacon – who has not been named – successfully facilitated the escape of at least six individuals to several EU countries.

“The suspect had compiled lists of missionaries who were intended to travel abroad on behalf of the diocese’s leader and the religious community, with the aim of becoming priests,” the SBU said.

During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Colombian President Gustavo Petro questioned the differential treatment that the international community gives to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.

Gustavo Petro: “I propose to end the war to defend life from the climate crisis.”

Only by ending the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine simultaneously would “hypocrisy as a political practice end,” Petro stressed.

During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro questioned the differential treatment that the international community gives to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.

“I propose to end the war to have time to save us. As soon as possible, the United Nations should sponsor two peace conferences: one on Ukraine and the other on Palestine,” he said.

Petro then pointed out that these peace conferences would teach the international community “to make peace in all regions of the planet” because only by ending the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine simultaneously would “hypocrisy as a political practice end.”

“They have called us to war. Latin America was asked to deliver war machines and men for the combat fields,” the Colombian president said, alluding to U.S. requests for support to the Ukrainian side.

“They forgot that our countries were invaded several times by the same people who now talk about fighting invasions,” he added.

“I propose to end the war so as to defend life from the mother of all crises: climate change,” stressed Petro, who also denounced that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “will not be achieved” in 2030.

“Gentlemen, you sowed injustice. The worst of all is to condemn humanity to war. That is why the current balance of social justice in the world is so bad… I propose to make up for lost time by doing two simple things: ending war and reforming the international financial system,” the Colombian president said."

Joe Biden urges world leaders to stop Ukraine from being ‘carved up’

US president Joe Biden called on world leaders to oppose early peace talks that would lead to the break-up of Ukraine, arguing that standing firm against Russia’s goal of winning a big chunk of land would deter future invasions of independent nations. Biden made the appeal in his annual speech to the UN’s General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the audience.

Biden warned that Russia was betting the world was growing “weary” of the conflict and would let Moscow “brutalise Ukraine without consequence”. While the US supported a diplomatic resolution to the war, Russia’s “price for peace” was “Ukraine’s capitulation, Ukraine’s territory and Ukraine’s children”, Biden said.

Perhaps this could have been avoided if you went with Russia’s terms in April 2022? Hell, if you tried to talk with them to avoid the conflict altogether?

“I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the UN Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?” Biden asked. “The answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.”

The United States doesn’t give the slightest fuck about the core principles of the UN Charter!

I’m sure the West will be quick to denounce this brutal invasion and send weapons to Artsakh, right?

No Maverick appeal: Air Force misses recruitment goal for first time since 1999

Despite hopes that movies like “Top Gun: Maverick” would recapture the imagination of youth and open their minds to the possibility of high-flying military service, the U.S. Air Force has missed its recruitment goals for the first time since 1999.

This is part of a service-wide trend (Army and Navy included) that has so far only spared the Marines, which at 33,000 has much lower target numbers than the Army, for example, which missed its goal of 65,000 new recruits in May. It was the second year in a row the Army fell short.

But the active duty Air Force’s failure to meet its goals is the first time in nearly a quarter century, presaging hard times to come. According to this report the active duty component fell just shy (90 percent) of its 26,877 goal, while its reserve and Air Guard fared worse, with 30 percent shortfalls in each.

Unlike the pre-9/11 days in 1999, which, despite small overseas operations against lesser rivals like Saddam Hussein, was considered peace time, military officials are worried about what these shortfalls mean for their ability to meet the current twin security challenges consistently identified by official Washington: Russia and China.

“The geopolitical landscape was so much different” in 1999, Air Force Recruiting Service boss Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein told reporters Wednesday. “Missing this year is kind of at a critical point.”

Is there one reason for the slip in recruitment? The short answer is no. As we’ve said in these pages before, the theories are moving targets, sometimes partisan, and varied. Some observers point out that young people have more economic and educational opportunities today. Others have noted that the pool of eligible recruits is shrinking — young people are more obese, have been on therapeutic drugs (disqualifying), are in poor shape, and have histories of using recreational drugs/alcohol and bad behavior.

On the left, critics say the military continues to be racially biased and misogynistic (particularly at the leadership level; the percentage of women across the military has actually increased to over 17 percent, while the level of minorities is close to 40 percent of the total military population).

On the right, critics say the military has become too “woke,” overtaken by the civilian world’s culture and identity politics, and focused more on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” than preparing men and women for future wars.

But another theory transcends partisan politics. As the trust levels in government institutions (including the military) has eroded society-wide, so has the number of men and women willing to put their lives in the hands of Uncle Sam. After 20 years of failed war policies, a citizenry that feels lied to, swindled, and misled at every turn is less inclined to believe that their children won’t be used as toy soldiers in some future Washington political gambit overseas.

What if a Chinese spy balloon hijacked the F35?

the f-35 has been upgraded into the unmmaned drone division and you terminal leftists think thats a bad thing