Essay: Contemporaneous war reporting Mar-Aug 2026

War news

• Text Of MOU Released--Major Geopolitical Shifts Ahead

• Prof Robert Pape: Stage IV Begins? -- Inside the Bloomberg's Iran MOU.

"the United States may now be entering Stage IV of the Escalation Trap: acceptance of the gradual emergence of an Iranian sphere of influence.

"a stronger Iran creates new incentives for Israel to act before Iranian power grows further. And if Israel concludes that diplomacy is accelerating rather than limiting Iranian influence, the next sixty days could become more dangerous, not less."

• Scott Creighton: MAGAfact: Trump on Minab Massacre - Sh*t Happens.
• Lessons for Iran from the Korean War.
• Andrew Sullivan: America's Suez Moment. [2]
• Krainer: The West's Political Legitimacy Crisis Is Triggering World War III.
• Aurelien: Life is full of surprises.

I’m reliably informed that there are people in Washington and other western capitals who were “surprised” by the ineffectiveness of the recent US/Israeli campaign against Iran, and by the effective surrender of the US as demonstrated in the very one-sided Memorandum of Understanding agreed last week. I put “surprised” in quotation marks, because it’s a word I will come back to several times, and it’s a kind of leitmotif for western policy and western misunderstanding over the last couple of generations. It’s not unique to the West, to be fair, but the West has been the most powerful politico-military actor of modern times, and we’ll concentrate on the West for the most part. In fact, governments experience surprises all the time, in the sense that things happen which were not expected, or things happen that were thought possible but very unlikely, or things that were thought inevitable don’t happen at all. This is sufficiently common in international politics, and sufficiently serious in its implications, that I thought it might be useful to devote an essay to the question of Why such surprises happen: a subject which hardly anyone takes an interest in, since politically it’s usually enough just to condemn you opponents for being naive, ignorant or stupid, demand an enquiry and the job is done. [...] The only way to deal with the problem of information saturation is by structured analysis of each piece of information, but this takes far more time than most government people have. What’s the source? Is it reliable? Has it been reliable in the past? Is there collateral for it? Does it sound logical and reasonable? Is it what I want to hear, rather than what is necessarily true? And so on. These sorts of questions—part of the training of intelligence analysts and for related disciplines— are just not feasible at scale.

Excellent summary & analysis. RobS^{WWJD? Would he claim 2 gay bathhouses in Russia compared to 300 in America justifies nuclear war?} 12:20, June 24, 2026 (EDT)

"Best of the public" (see also 12-12-12 Rule) refers to the general population, those with an IQ between 90 and 110 (in this sense, User:Conservative's Essay's can be considered "the best of the public"); it should be remembered however it was "the Best of the public" that led to the 12 Plagues of Egypt and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. RobS^{WWJD? Would he claim 2 gay bathhouses in Russia compared to 300 in America justifies nuclear war?} 13:00, June 24, 2026 (EDT)

• Conflicts Forum: The Price and Consequences of Defeat.

• [ Even the CIA-controlled Wikipedia recognizes it as a defeat].

• Chas Freeman: The Forever War in West Asia and its Implications. A Scene Setter for an Energy Intelligence Colloquium.
• Scott Ritter: Ukraine and the End of NATO.

Western mainstream media and its social media echo chambers promote a narrative centered around the notion of Russian fatigue, Ukrainian resilience, and western resolve, and take delight in highlighting talking points premised on a Russian-generated quagmire that has dragged on longer than the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. This narrative parallels that of the officially held positions of most of the nations that make up the membership of NATO, which is no surprise, given the hand-in-glove relationship between corporate-controlled media and governments possessing a revolving door relationship with these same corporations. This narrative is deliberately misleading, since it is not designed to reflect fact-based truth, but rather promote a fiction that is being used to shape public perception so that the -Russo-Ukraine conflict can be sustained through to its desired conclusion—the strategic defeat of Russia. This objective is the formal position of NATO and its key constituent members, having been given voice numerous times since first being articulated in May of 2022. The concept is built around three basic pillars, those being the economic collapse of Russia brought about by economic sanctions, the military exhaustion of Russia brought on by an endless war underwritten by the collective west, and the disintegration of Russian societal structures leading to the termination of the Russian government headed by President Vladimir Putin....

• Peter Beinart: “An Imperial Decline Story”. Aslı Bâli and Trita Parsi on what comes next for the US, Israel, and Iran.
• Biden stooge reports on "frontline visit" to Ukraine four years too late.
• "NATO Faces A Stunning Defeat", Mearsheimer's Chilling Ukraine Prediction | NATO SUMMIT
• Chas Freeman: Too Quick on the Draw: Militarism and the Malpractice of Diplomacy in America.
• Korybko: Foreign Affairs Is Right: The Old Model Of Nuclear Deterrence Is No More.
• Larry Johnson: DeBasification… A Fancy Word for Booting the US Out of the Middle East.
• Transition Protocol: BREAKING: EX CIA -PEPE: Iran is now forcing the United States out of Persian Gulf 10-day countdown. [3]

The Arsenal Ledger [SOURCED] The material foundation of the entire crisis is now visible: the United States is expending precision munitions — PAC-3 and THAAD interceptors, HARM, Tomahawk, JASSM, PrSM — faster than they can be replaced, with rebuild timelines our analysis puts at four to six years per category. The chokehold on the rebuild is not budgetary but material: the guidance systems run on rare-earth elements that China effectively monopolizes. Meanwhile Iran’s early-war destruction of billion-dollar radar and satellite-communication nodes in Bahrain and Qatar has compressed American warning time on incoming missiles to one or two minutes — which is the technical explanation behind this week’s confirmed defensive failures. Overnight, reports indicate U.S. personnel have been withdrawn from Muwaffaq Salti and King Faisal air bases — the base struck on July 17 now emptied within the week. Our assessment, stated plainly on today’s show: this is no longer repositioning. It is expulsion, base by base. The Second Chokepoint [CONFIRMED] / [SOURCED] The blockade itself is confirmed and public: Ansarallah declared a maritime embargo on Saudi shipping Monday, framed in its own statements as “a siege for a siege” — reciprocity for the eleven-year blockade of Yemen. Loaded tankers are accumulating off Yanbu. The Suez alternative adds roughly forty days to Asian deliveries. Our reporting adds two layers the public record lacks. First [SOURCED]: the blockade’s design contains a deliberate exemption — tankers carrying Saudi crude to China are permitted through the Bab el-Mandeb. Every other destination waits. Read that exemption carefully; it tells you whose energy security this blockade is engineered to protect, and it is the single most revealing detail of the week. Second [SINGLE-SOURCE]: a direct conversation between Pepe Escobar and a well-placed Yemeni contact two days ago yielded a first-time account of the timing — that Yemeni intelligence, working with Iranian counterparts, uncovered indications of a planned large-scale American operation against the wider Axis of Resistance, and that the blockade was a preemptive complication introduced against it. That account has no independent confirmation and should be weighed strictly as attributed intelligence. Why it matters. Riyadh’s position is a strategic bind with no military exit: striking Yemen invites the destruction of the Yanbu terminal itself — the kingdom’s last distribution point — while inaction concedes a chokehold. Our Islamabad reporting indicates the Saudis are already negotiating through Pakistan, and that Pakistan has declined, categorically, to fight Yemen on Riyadh’s behalf: mediation, not war. The defense pact has found its limit, exactly where our Monday reporting said it would.

• The Psychological Underpinnings of Western Foreign Policy: Hunter Biden, the "Closeted Mafia," and the Atlanticist War Engine

In a wide-ranging podcast interview, Hunter Biden—the scandal-plagued son of former U.S. President Joe Biden—offered a provocative psychological framework to explain the relentless hawkishness defining Western foreign policy. Moving beyond standard geopolitical theories of resource competition or alliance commitments, the younger Biden asserted that a “closeted gay mafia” exercises profound influence over Washington’s national security establishment—a dynamic that analysts argue finds a direct parallel within European governance structures, fueling the West’s collective confrontation with Russia.

This "closeted gay mafia" exercising profound influence over Washington’s national security establishment is who User:Conservative continues to be loyal to and supports.

• The Dual-Front Collapse: Washington’s Dual Military Failures, the End of the Petro-Dollar, and the Fracture of NATO.

A wide-ranging strategic assessment reveals a grim trajectory for American foreign policy in 2026. Analyzing the simultaneous, escalating conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it is increasingly evident that the United States is actively losing two major wars—one directly against Iran in the Persian Gulf, and the other by proxy against Russia in Ukraine. Rather than adapting to operational realities, Washington’s political establishment has retreated into a rigid 'Manichaean worldview, substituting binary framing (”Good versus Evil”) for pragmatic statecraft. This ideological inflexibility is accelerating a series of irreversible geopolitical fault lines: the collapse of the petro-dollar economy, the neutralization of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the emergence of a Chinese-anchored Greater Asia, and the domestic political fracture of NATO and the European Union....

• Alastair Crooke: Iran & Russia Give Up on Diplomacy & Go on the Offensive.
• Ian Proud: NATO’s $Trillions Delivered Two Strategic Defeats in Four Years. Now We’re Too Broke to Fight.
• The Tail That Couldn’t Keep Up: How the US Navy Ran Its Own Sailors Short on Food and Soap.

Question: Why does the country that spends 50% of all military spending on the planet and more than the next 7 nations combined have trouble furnishing soap to active duty naval personnel?

Comment: During the ObamaCare debate, I had a series of discussions with Rattrolls @ both Conservapedia & Rationalwiki over the comparative healthcare costs in the United States with our subsidized socialist allies in NATO and the Asia-Pacific. I tried explaining the real cost to the average American citizen of maintaining a "security" umbrella or guarantee versus our socialist allies paying for it themselves (I was actually ahead of Trump, as the record can prove) and how US defense spending allowed for a European welfare state (or a $24 kidney transplant in New Zealand as Ace McWicked claimed). Hopefully now, the average American will begin to see the real cost of a bloated military that only Pelosi, Zelensky and their friends benefit from. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 14:11, August 17, 2026 (EDT)

• Russia Truth: [4]

By analyzing the specific vulnerabilities of Trump’s psychology—characterized by extreme delusional grandiosity, intolerance of perceived weakness, and reliance on external flattery—hardline foreign policy networks and mega-donor factions executed a psychological “bait-and-switch.” This maneuver not only drew Trump into an open-ended Middle Eastern war of attrition, but fractured the populist electoral coalition, systematically isolating the executive and locking him into institutional and financial dependence on neoconservative and pro-Israel donors.... The wreckage of American unipolar statecraft in the Persian Gulf cannot be understood through the lens of rational grand strategy alone. While military analysts point to depleted interceptor stockpiles, unviable maritime supply lines, and industrial manufacturing deficits, the primary driver of this historical catastrophe was psychological.

• Larry Johnson: Feeding the Enemy: How Washington’s Obsession With Iran Subverted Its Own War on Sunni Terror.

See also Seymour Hersh, The Redirection, The New Yorker, February 20, 2007 for background.

• Joe Kent: World War III Just Began And We Have One Last Chance To Stop It. [5]

Deja vu all over again.

This is one of the stupidest social media postings ever written

President Trump wrote:

“

President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell Weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — And that statement included Chinese Companies. Considering our relationship, I take him at his word and, besides, l am doing him very big favors, also. Likewise, President Putin, despite the horrible War going on in Ukraine (The relationship remains, as it does with President Zelenskyy), told me that he would not sell Weapons to Iran. He understands that I do not sell Weapons to Ukraine, but to NATO Countries. They pay full price, and how those Weapons are distributed, I have no idea....

”

So President Putin knows and understands that as long as US military contractors profit, it's OK to kill Russians.

It's insulting that anyone (User:Conservative excepted) would believe this crap. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 01:58, July 25, 2026 (EDT)

So what's going on here? Unlike User:Conservative's assertion that the United States will remain top dog for the foreseeable future, Trump asserts the US is just a bit player in a troupe of actors. Once the American people realize that we are at war with China, Russia, Iran (and North Korea) at the same time IN A WAR THE UNITED STATES STARTED AND CANNOT WIN, Trump will present himself as the "peacemaker" and say, "those guys lied to me".

Either way, Trump's strategy refutes User:Conservative's obnoxious posting. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 02:24, July 25, 2026 (EDT)

• Transition Protocol: The Two Wars Just Merged. Ukraine struck Iran in the Caspian Sea this weekend. Tomorrow, Zelensky and Netanyahu both walk into the same White House. And sources say the real decision was already made in Tehran.

• Why Does the US Want to Spread Its Wars to the Caspian?

• Update: Sundance:

Ratcliffe wasn’t simply telling Naryshkin not to hit back; he was telling Naryshkin that European NATO provocations against the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad (between Poland and Lithuania) were not ‘fully’ sanctioned by the United States [bolden added].

Yah right. Per Trump, Putin understands that as long a Pelosi's stock portfolio benefits from MIC sales of weapons to Ukraine, it's okay to kill Russians.

Confirmed vs. Unverified — The Honest Ledger

Because precision matters here, it’s worth separating what’s solid from what’s sourced-but-unconfirmed: Confirmed: the Caspian strike and the sailor’s death; Zelensky and Netanyahu both at the White House Tuesday; Netanyahu’s UN visit; the Strait of Hormuz disruption; the assassination of the previous Supreme Leader and his family. Unverified, sources only: the Sistani/fatwa concurrence; the 600+ casualty claim; the 15,000-missile and one-million-troop figures; the non-functional US bases; the guided-munitions shortage tied to China; the Pakistan back-channel “exit ramp”; the petrodollar collapse framing. None of the unverified material should be read as settled. All of it is worth watching — because if even a fraction holds up, it changes what “winning” this war would even mean for either side.

• Zerohedge: Iran Blasts "Freeloader" Zelensky For Ordering Deadly Attack On Caspian Vessel "At Israel's Behest".

• Zerohedge: Trump Ready For 'Strong Military Action' If Talks Fail, With Saudi Aramco Under Houthi Fire.

Comment: What a joke. Coercion and threats is not "negotiation". The whole world sees that now. Trump's reference to "talks" is a stalling tactic while the US copies more Iranian, Russian, and Chinese innovations in modern warfare. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 14:05, July 28, 2026 (EDT)

Comment: The religious ruling (fatwa) that Ali Khamenei issued barring nuclear weapons as haram or sin, and that Western media has lied about since 2003, according to a consensus of present day Shia scholars in Iran (the Assembly of Experts) died with Khamenei. Mojtaba Khamenei doesn't have to retract it, or so the sources claim.

Futher comment: if true, this is one more example of the idiocy of Trump, Netanyahu and intelligence agencies in starting this war of aggression.

Robert Pape

Trump is essentially warning Xi and Putin to stay on the sidelines Strong indication big escalation is coming soon Trump threatening two great powers with nuclear weapons shows just how dangerous is this Escalation Trap Brace for impact! [6]

It's too late. They are committed. See:

“

The Deadline Passed in Fire [SOURCED] Sunday’s briefing reported Beijing’s informal Monday [July 20] deadline for de-escalation, transmitted through Ishaq Dar after Shanghai. That deadline has now expired — and the answer was escalation on every axis [ed. bolden added]. Our reporting adds the uncomfortable nuance: Beijing is driving the diplomacy and is in no particular hurry for it to succeed on Washington’s timetable. China’s interest in reopening Hormuz is real; so is its interest in watching American precision-missile inventories drain and American bases empty. Both things are true at once, and Pakistani officials navigating between them know it. Islamabad’s instruction set from Beijing — get both sides to the table — remains in force; what has changed is that the party refusing the table, per our sourcing this week, was not Tehran.

”

IOWs, China told Trump to back off on Hormuz by Monday July 20, 2026 or they'd get involved. Trump refused, and his Truth Social posting is an attempt to CYA his butt and play victim for what's coming.

• How China’s Geopolitical Red Lines and the Interceptor Crisis Ended Washington’s Middle East Hegemony.

“

The sudden, quiet stand-down of American strike packages against Iran following weeks of apocalyptic “gates of hell” social media declarations has exposed the profound structural limits of U.S. power. While mainstream news outlets focus on the critical depletion of Western precision interceptors (such as Patriot and THAAD batteries), a far larger geopolitical shift has taken place behind closed doors: Beijing has formally stepped forward as the primary security umbrella and diplomatic mediator across Southwest Asia....

”

• Global21: Iran: UAE Opens Vaults and Pushes Deals Under Chinese Guardianship.

Mark Wauck

• News Roundup: Trump Setting Stage For Global War,

"Problem: Both the Russians and the Chinese quickly told Trump to pound sand. Their foreign ministers, Lavrov and Wang Yi, prominently met with Iran’s Araghchi in Manila. ...Trump went on to claim that he has no idea how the weapons he sells to NATO are used. [Bolden added] A typically brazen Trump lie that must only increase Russian and Chinese disdain for Trump. Russian is striking ships heading towards Odessa, including ships that are coming from US ports. Russian escalation is coming....

[...]

"It’s possible that Trump is blackmailed into these crazy steps and that the real target of the trap is the American public. If the US attempts to “finish the job”—as we keep hearing Jewish Nationalist purchased retired generals [ Jack Keene, Keith Kellogg, et al on FOX News ] urging—and suffers significant casualties, the idea might be that this will trap the American public into a forever war—or even escalation to nukes."

• US Merges Wars in Eurasia, West Asia. Sergey Lavrov touched on it again on July 24 [2026]:

“

A significant portion of the support provided to Vladimir Zelensky (from the West) comes from the United States. This is not only because the Americans sell weapons to the EU, which then transfers them to Ukraine, but also because the United States provides intelligence and reconnaissance, Starlink remains operational, and advanced technologies that require specialist expertise on the battlefield do not find their way there by accident. That is the way things are.

”

Chris Martenson

• The United States is about to unleash the worst catastrophe ever on economies and financial markets.
• See also

“

The most powerful and simple of economic charts is the “P-Q” chart. It shows the relationship between price, supply, and demand to discover the true market-clearing price for an item. If you alter that relationship by artificially holding the price too low, the effect will be to cause demand to be too high relative to supply....My conclusion is that someday in the not-too-distant future, inventory panic will set in, prices will explode higher, and that will cause a severe economic shock. At that point, we’ll all be sorry....

”

Martenson is talking about the crude oil price right now. However, what he is describing across an entire economy over an extended period of decades is what caused the Soviet Union to collapse. IOWs, our "capitalist" "free market" oil-based economy is being "Sovietized".

The price is artificially being held down for propaganda purposes, to pacify the public and manipulate public opinion in advance of the November elections. This is how the Soviet Union pacified the public and hid bad news for decades. Unlike the American people however, at some point the Soviet public woke up and realized they were being lied to.

Andrew Korybko

• Lavrov Is Right: It’s “Embarrassing” To Fantasize That Russia Is Arming Iran Against The US.

Good read for the advanced student (that excludes Nazi trolls like User:Conservative).

Excerpts:

“

“Non-Russian Pro-Russians” need to realize that they were lied to by many of their top influencers about Russian-Iranian relations and Putin’s personal approach towards Israel since continuing to cling to the lie that he’s an anti-Zionist with all that entails only discredits their community as a whole.... The false narrative has been propagated by them alleging that Russia isn’t just giving targeting intelligence to Iran, the earlier reports of which were assessed here and here to be accurate [boldened added] despite Russian and US denials... Many average NRPRs have been preconditioned to believe it due to the top influencers among them lying for years that 'Putin is an anti-Zionist who’s secretly allied with Iran against Israel.... ...they project their dislike of Israel onto him [Putin] due to believing that he always supports whatever causes they consider to be just... ... many top NRPR influencers have laundered this lie since the start of Russia’s anti-terrorist operation in Syria in 2015, which they falsely spun as opposing Israel despite Putin and Bibi clinching a deal in the run-up thereof for coordinating their strikes there. While Russia bombed ISIS, Israel bombed the IRGC, Hezbollah, the Syrian Arab Army, and allied militias hundreds of times....

”

• Russia Truth: The Terminal Hegemon - Part I: The Substitution of Proxy Force for Sovereign Power

• Part II: Forced Contraction and Internal Reorientation
• Part III: The Mechanics of Contraction—Why the Empire Cannot Threaten Its Way Out of History.

1. The Disconnect: Messianic Rhetoric vs. Industrial Realities

The tragedy of contemporary American statecraft lies in the delusion that executive bluster can substitute for heavy industrial manufacturing and strategic coherence.

When Donald Trump issues apocalyptic warnings to “open the gates of hell” or claims absolute personal authority over global events, he is attempting to project an image of unchecked dominance. Yet, as our analysis demonstrates, these declarations are the performative theater of an executive who is both a hostage to his own fragile narcissism and a convenient kinetic battering ram for an establishment seeking plausible deniability.

• Ian Proud: Western diplomacy is dead: a post-diplomacy world. Why western leaders refuse dialogue with their adversaries while pursuing unwinnable wars.

"Foreign policy isn’t diplomacy. Diplomacy is merely a tool that a state can use to pursue its foreign policy instead of, for example, warfare. In both cases, Iran and Ukraine, war, or proxy war is chosen over diplomacy."

West Asia

• Transition Protocol: The Mecca Pact Nobody Can Read.

"Three men stood in Mecca today, prayed facing the holy city, and signed a mutual-defense pact with an Article 5-style clause — an attack on one is an attack on all. Saudi Arabia. Turkey. Pakistan. A nuclear power is now treaty-bound to a country it has never trusted and a monarchy hedging every direction at once. And here is the part that should stop you: there were no leaks. Not from Istanbul, not from Islamabad, not from Riyadh. On the exact same day, in the exact same region, Iran and Oman are finishing a separate deal that hands Tehran effective control over one-fifth of the world’s oil supply — and Washington isn’t in the room for either one."

Comment: Yemen has attacked Saudi Arabia several times since the pact was signed, so the pact obviously refers to a non-Muslim state attack against the alliance.

• Times of India: China's Gulf Coup Against U.S.? America On Retreat, Saudi’s Mecca Pact Hands Xi A Big Win | Details.

Where's that obnoxious troll User:Conservative to defend his years of idiotic spamming and trolling? He hasn't edited in over a month.

• Alex Krainer: The Mecca Pact Is a Dollar Event, Saudi Arabia Is Buying Protection From Pakistan and Turkey.
• Mecca Pact Signed — Pakistan Says Iran Is Already In. While the wires call this a Sunni alliance against Tehran, Islamabad's own channel says Iran was briefed before the ink dried — and the country left holding the bag i
• Iran invited to the Mecca Pact: What does it mean?.

• PEPE: Maximum Pressure Just BACKFIRED in Bessent’s Face. Iran Secretly Invited Into the MECCA PACT. [7]
• The Mecca Pact: Iran wants Iraq, and its strategy could target the Kurds and isolate Israel. The lingering question is whether the bloc can survive the immense political pressure from the US through Israeli maneuvering. But the cards are on the table, and the Kurds are on high alert.

• Iran: No country should fear us unless it aids aggressors.

• Bessent’s “Biggest Sanctions” FAILS Iran Moves Toward Mecca Pact as Trump Begs Pakistan for an Off-Ramp.

Israel

• Alex Jones: Israel has one trump card and its nuclear.
• Peter Beinart: “This Reallignment is Happening.” Brad Lander on the Jewish community’s shifting values on Israel-Palestine.

"Our guest is Brad Lander, who last week won the Democratic nomination for Congress in New York’s 10th district. Brad’s victory is a milestone: A Jewish politician, running on his support for Palestinian rights, winning in one of the most Jewish districts in the country. Even a few years ago, it would have been unimaginable...."

• What a joke. Brad is no symptom. He is unstable. Upto a year ago he was linked to zionists. Beinart changed when Trump rose over a decade ago. Oddball Brad needs to see what they did with Scott Wiener even after he uttered the G word (due to intimidation). Or with the liberal victims of Oct 7, like this one https://x.com/Mazelit_/status/2074156335411642596 LaMarina (talk) 01:04, July 7, 2026 (EDT)

What do you know about Abdul El-Sayed? The Intercept: Abdul El-Sayed Becomes First Senate Candidate Backed by Pro-Palestine Jewish Group. RobS^{Do normal heterosexuals spend 20 yrs Googling the locations of gay bathhouses?} 10:46, July 7, 2026 (EDT)

• Israel Hayom: You could have been the greatest president of all, but you failed.

Israeli media owned by Miriam Adelson has accused President Trump of betraying Israel and undermining Western interests.

“Mr. President, you have harmed the interests of the civilized world and may be remembered as a president who humiliated America. YOU BETRAYED ISRAEL and now all the humiliations you previously faced seem completely justified.”

• Andrew Korybko: Russia Wouldn’t Mind The Expansion Of Israeli Influence Into Central Asia.

Lebanon

• Islamic Republic claims. PressTV reporter hit by Israeli drone while reporting live.

• Senior US officials: Israel maintains ‘right to defend itself against’ Hezbollah attacks under US-Iran deal. “The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire,” an official said on Monday. [8].

• Senior US official. Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon not a condition for deal.

[9] Telling (talk) 23:55, June 15, 2026 (EDT)

• Alastair Crooke: IRAN’S TRIGGER WARNING: ‘Withdraw from Lebanon… Any Violations and We Strike.

RobSmith (talk)

• While US Iran reach a deal via biased Pakistan/Qatar, Iran's Hezbollah attack... Amid U.S.-Iran Deal, Hizbullah Continues Attacking IDF Troops in South Lebanon

LaMarina (talk) 14:45, June 16, 2026 (EDT)

• Times of Israel: "A senior US official told reporters on Monday that the MOU signed a day earlier with Iran is not conditioned on Israel withdrawing from Lebanon. However, the deal still envisions a ceasefire that covers Lebanon, as well as Iran, the US official said in a briefing with reporters."

Comment: What's happening is fairly simple to see: US negotiators are saying, "We can't control what Israel does" and Iranian negotiators are saying "We can't control what Hezbollah does." So the can gets kicked down the road. Nonetheless, Iran does not concede its demand that Israel withdraw from Lebanon, not just a ceasefire. RobS^{WWJD? Would he claim 2 gay bathhouses in Russia compared to 300 in America justifies nuclear war?} 15:01, June 16, 2026 (EDT)

• Open Source Intel: Iranian Mehr News Agency has published the supposed 14 clauses of the MOU;

This item here:

• "Iran's missile program and support for resistance groups are removed from the agenda entirely"

is what gives the American side the right or position to claim it cannot control Israeli actions.

Iran

• The American Conservative: Trump Just Changed the Conversation About Iran. Washington and Tehran need not be enemies forever.

“We got along very well with Iran,” Trump said on Monday in a joint press conference with France’s President Emmanuel Macron. “I find them to be more rational, very smart,” Trump told NBC News last week.

• NYT: "While Mr. Trump has praised Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as pragmatic, he has called Mr. Netanyahu crazy, ungrateful and lacking in judgment"
• Stockman: On The Donald’s Surrender To The Mullahs: Good for America But Too Late To Save His Own Skin.

"This last and most pathetic Regime Change War may finally destroy the UniParty consensus which has prevailed since the end of the Cold War in 1991; and set off a civil war in the Republican party that may finally rid the remnant that emerges from the baleful grasp of the Bibi/neocon Fifth Column. Stated differently, what the neocons will denounce as the Donald’s surrender will underscore better than anything else that the war was a gigantic mistake;"

• Daily Caller: Here Are The 3 Factions Slipping Poison Pills Into Trump’s Peace Process.

"the Israelis, the Iran Hawks and Israel Firsters, and hardliners in the Iranian regime."

• Paul Craig Roberts: 'Israel First Is Prevailing Over America First. Betrayal by Trump and the Republicans.

• Daily Mail: How Iran's $100k missile destroyed $1.5bn of US equipment.

$100,000 is 1/15,000 of $1.5 Billion; is this why the boys in the Pentagon need another half Trillion ($500,000,000,000) in the War budget so it can fail again at a crucial time in coming years and decades? RobS^{WWJD? Would he claim 2 gay bathhouses in Russia compared to 300 in America justifies nuclear war?} 23:27, June 19, 2026 (EDT)

• Korybko: Don’t Read Too Deeply Into Ghalibaf’s Quip About A Sino-Iranian Bloc.
• The Grayzone: What's behind Iranian calls for revenge on Trump?
• Bombing Railway Bridges

BREAKING: US President Donald Trump claims Iran called him “a while ago” and has told him it wants to make a deal, according to Reuters.

• Doug Bandow: This is what he always says when HE wants to make a deal. He knows he has to get the oil flowing again. He knows the US has used up many of its missiles. He knows that all his claims about victory have been false. [10]

Comment: Iran is through "negotiating" with Trump. Trump cannot keep his word. Next step is for Iran to announce its formal withdrawal from the NPT.

• Ted Postol: Iran Missiles STRONGER THAN ORESHNIKs. [11]

Wow. Unreported news. Military experts from the US & Russia, Gen. H.R. McMaster & Gen. Apti Aludonov both say Oreshnik has given Russia "nuclear superiority" for the next 15 years.

Must see video: Postol

• mathematically demonstrates the probability of President Trump's claim of shooting down all Iranian missiles yesterday is 1 in 10 Billion of being accurate;
• supposedly Iran's MIRVing capability was unknown (despite me having posted video of it a year ago in Conservapedia during the 12 Day War) by American military and intelligence until yesterday.

• They Saw it Coming. How American military planners anticipated failure in Iran.

"In mid-February 2026, before the US military initiated the airstrikes that began Operation “Epic Fury,” the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an agency of the executive branch created to synthesize the analysis of the US’s 18 intelligence agencies, submitted to the president a classified report detailing the prospects of an attack on Iran. This assessment, first reported on in the Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by the Associated Press, painted a grim picture. It concluded that an offensive operation launched by the US military would be unlikely to dismantle the central pillars of the Iranian government. Assassinating Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could backfire, resulting in the consolidation of Iranian military and political structures and the activation of emergency protocols the Iranians had been preparing for years. Iran’s domestic opposition was unlikely to be able to seize power in such a scenario. A limited air campaign or even a protracted war stood a serious chance of failing to achieve regime change..."

• Julian Macfarlane: Hacking America. Cyberwarfare.
• Matt and Julia: INSIDE IRAN IN 2026 (Intense)

Full text of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, jointly and in good faith, agreed on the following on June 18, 2026:

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States of America, and their allies in the current war, by signing this memorandum of understanding, declare an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and commit not to initiate any war or military operation against each other henceforth, to refrain from threats or use of force against each other, and to guarantee the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final agreement will confirm the permanent end of the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and the other provisions of this clause.

2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America commit to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America commit to conduct negotiations and reach a final agreement within a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4. Immediately upon signing this memorandum of understanding, the United States of America will begin lifting its naval blockade and any harassment or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will completely end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, ship traffic will be proportional to the pre-war traffic volume as established by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America also commits to withdraw its military forces from the peripheral area of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final agreement.

5. Upon signing this memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements with its utmost effort for the safe passage of commercial ships, free of charge for only 60 days, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. Commercial ship traffic will commence immediately and will be established within 30 days considering the necessity of removing technical and military obstacles and mine clearance by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran will negotiate with the Sultanate of Oman to determine the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in accordance with applicable international law and the sovereign rights of the coastal countries of the Strait of Hormuz, and will also consult with other Persian Gulf coastal countries.

6. The United States of America commits, together with its regional partners, to create a definitive program agreed upon by both parties for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, providing at least 300 billion dollars. The implementation mechanism of this program will be finalized as part of the final agreement within 60 days. All necessary approvals, waivers, and licenses for the related financial transactions will be provided by the United States of America.

7. The United States of America commits to end all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including United Nations Security Council resolutions, International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary, according to a timetable agreed upon as part of the final agreement. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the fundamental importance of the issue of sanction removal mentioned above and express their intention to address these matters promptly in negotiations to reach a mutual agreement on them.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it will not produce or acquire nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America have agreed that the status of stored enriched materials will be resolved through a mechanism agreed upon by both parties and according to the timetable set forth in clause 7, at least by dilution on site, under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Both parties also agree to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed topics related to the nuclear needs of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on a satisfactory framework to be agreed upon in the final agreement. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this clause. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the fundamental importance of the nuclear issues mentioned above and express their intention to address these matters promptly in negotiations to reach a mutual agreement on them.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America agree to maintain the status quo until a final agreement is reached; the Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the status quo in its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions against Iran nor deploy additional military forces in the region.

10. The United States of America commits to immediately issuing waivers from the Treasury Department for the export of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services including banking transactions, insurance, transportation, etc., upon signing this memorandum of understanding and until the sanctions are lifted.

11. The United States of America commits to fully making available the limited or blocked funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran for use upon implementation of this memorandum of understanding. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedure for releasing these funds during the negotiations. These funds, whether held in the main account or transferred, must be fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America commits to issuing all necessary approvals and licenses in this regard.

12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America agree to establish an executive mechanism to monitor the successful implementation of this memorandum of understanding and future adherence to the final agreement.

13. After signing this memorandum of understanding and subject to the commencement of implementation of clauses 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this memorandum and the continuation of these actions, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America will exclusively begin negotiations on the remaining clauses of the final agreement.

14. The final agreement will be endorsed by a binding resolution of the United Nations Security Council.

---

• Global21: Trump, Iran, the GCC and the battle of time. Who will fall first, iran, the GCC, trump or the world economy?

Netanyahu once again triggered the front in Lebanon, where through it he holds the power to grant or deny any type of agreement between Trump and Iran. When netanyahu reheats this front, he also moves the entire Israeli lobby in washington, because hezbollah is a unanimous issue across all currents of the Israeli lobby. There is not the slightest possibility of a peace agreement that preserves the existence and financing of hezbollah and is accepted by israel. Anything in this direction would allow hezbollah to rebuild its arsenal, which frightened israel with its attack power when israel was announcing that it had already exterminated the group. Up to this point netanyahu holds and will exercise this power since his political survival is tied to it. Trump has other factors tied to his political survival, passing primarily through inflation control and then elections. Many people may disagree, but trump’s methods of deceiving the market are giving him political and economic survival. With each false agreement, with each expectation created on Mondays, trump wins more time and puts the market on the back burner.

• Trump Threatens Iran Delegation in Switzerland "If you don't make a deal . . . you won't even make it back to your f------ Country!"

• BREAKING: Iran's FM Araghchi announces the US has now launched the $300 billion reconstruction plan, waived all oil & petrochemical exports, lifted the naval blockade and released some frozen Iranian assets, extracting all of these items shortly before the delegation walkout over Trump's assassination threat. [12]

• Pepe Escobar and Larry Johnson: How did Pakistan's hidden tech stop kill chain in Iran? [13]

• Iran Challenges US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare.

• Iran Must Strategically Reorient Itself in Peacetime.

• David T. Pyne: Trump Restarts the War Bombing Four Iranian Military Sites.

• Iran: much with little. America: little with much.

• Hindustan Times: Trump Forced to Tap Out: Iran’s Deadly Strikes on US Naval Base in Bahrain Trigger $400 Million Bill.

• Rachel Blevins and Prof Robert Pape: U.S. CAUGHT IN ‘ESCALATION TRAP’: IRAN NOT DETERRED FROM FIGHTING BACK.

• Trump weighs restarting Iran war. [14]

• US Strikes; Iran, China React.

America struck Belt and Road railway. China move to pop the AI bubble and crash the US economy....most heavily defended U.S. airpower operating base outside Israel lost at least two critical structures to a Iranian salvo of just 10 missiles...two facilities hit in Jordan were built & operational only since July 2, 2026. Iran destroyed them on July 9, with Ballistic Missiles fires from more than 1000km away....

• Larry Johnson: China’s Beidou Satellite System is a Game Changer in Iran’s War with the US.

• Mark Wauck: The BeiDou Advantage.

• Iranian Attacks on Bases in Jordan Break the American Logistical Backbone.

• How Iran Appears to Have Engineered the Embargo on Saudi Vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb. Tehran acted in the shadows, but strategically, to halt Saudi exports via Red Sea.

• Andrew Korybko: Pakistan’s US-Iranian Mediation Services Were Just A Bid To Get A Multibillion-Dollar Bailout.

“

Exactly as many suspected, its mediation wasn’t a selfless diplomatic service for regional peace, after all. Reuters reported that “Pakistan seeks $10 billion fund from US after mediating Iran talks”, which presented its US-Iranian mediation services as nothing but a bid to get a bailout. Up till this point, Pakistan and its media surrogates touted the aforesaid services as supposed proof of the country’s strategic importance, even going as far as claiming that they herald an era of global importance for it. Those narratives were now revealed to have been a combination of wishful thinking and propaganda. While Pakistan’s location is indeed strategic since it could serve as the “Zipper of Eurasian Pan-Eurasian Integration”...

”

I can see User:Conservative is getting all excited over the idea...

The Ten-Billion-Dollar Ask [SOURCED] Pakistan is converting geopolitical access into financial protection. Our reporting: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has formally requested a rare $10 billion U.S. exchange-stabilization facility — a direct Treasury backstop, potentially maturing over five years — delivered personally to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. This is not an IMF extension; Washington has historically granted such facilities only to a handful of strategically indispensable states. Islamabad’s theory of the case is explicit: it has kept the only credible mediation channel alive, and it expects to be compensated at Treasury level for it. Why it matters. Watch the facility as a barometer. Approval would signal Washington still values — and intends to keep using — the Islamabad channel. Refusal, or slow-walking, would tell Islamabad its leverage is depreciating, with consequences for how hard Pakistan works the next round. It also cuts the other way: a Pakistan visibly susceptible to American financial pressure is a Pakistan that Tehran in Larry Johnson’s phrase from today’s episode, handles “like a cobra” — useful, but gripped firmly.

• Piers Morgan Uncensored: “YOU’RE The Evil Monster!” Mohammad Marandi vs Alan Dershowitz on Iran.

• Robert Barnes : What Trump's Inner Circle Tells Him.

Hormuz

• [ The War is Back? Trump Resumes Attacks and Focuses on Rallying Allies]. Obviously, Iran is also accelerating its missile production, refurbishment, and upgrades. Proof of this is the precision with which Iranian missiles struck targets in Jordan, nearly 1,000 km away

In response to the ongoing American strikes, Iran launched a massive wave of missiles against Persian Gulf countries and surrounding areas, reportedly hitting strategic targets. In Qatar, the main hangar and fortified fuel tanks at Al Udeid Air Base were struck. In Bahrain, Sheikh Isa Air Base suffered damage to helicopter maintenance facilities, the P-8 electronic warfare aircraft hangar, and the air defense command center. Kuwait was heavily targeted, with attacks on Ali Al-Salem Air Base damaging fuel tanks and a possible Patriot system, as well as impacts on Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base that disabled an FBS radar, launch platforms, and missile depots. In Oman, Iranian forces destroyed a long-range FBS air surveillance radar, a ship-detection radar, and struck U.S. Navy replenishment and logistics platforms at the Port of Duqm. The offensive extended to Jordan, where King Hussein Air Base saw ammunition depots and fuel tanks set ablaze. In the UAE, missiles and drones hit Al Dhafra Air Base and oil drilling platforms in the Gulf. In the maritime environment of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran claims to have attacked U.S. warships and struck two Emirati-flagged commercial tankers. Finally, secondary military bases hosting U.S. troops in Iraq were also bombed.

• Larry Johnson: 50,000+ U.S. Troops Deployed as Iran Pounds American Bases Across the Gulf.

• Looks Like A Busy Night.

3 days ago: “Iran wants to make a deal so badly” Trump now: “I’m attacking Iran in hope that they ask for a deal” Tonight it looks like the US is on the defensive. Iran is systematically taking apart US bases. All of Iran’s important sites are underground and well protected. American air bases are, by their nature, out in the open and vulnerable.

• Hal Turner: Iran Parliament Votes To HALT All Negotiations with USA.

• Times Now: Iran Says US Strike Hit Near Children's Cancer Hospital in Ahvaz.
• U.S. CentCom Attacks Commercial Shipping After Bombing Iran For Doing The Same. See also Danuel Davis.

The Wall Street Journal, a newspaper of record, reported, [1]

• Press TV: Donald Trump seeks to fabricate an achievement for himself by a possible strike on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain.
• Iran rejects proposal for 50/50 control of Hormuz with Oman. Iran, Oman, GCC & US part of talks.

Iran has a bigger coastline along the Hormuz than Oman.

But User:Conservative is naive enough to believe it.

• Iran Agreement With Oman Will Not “Open” Strait of Hormuz as Trump Hypes Non-Existent Talks; Ansar Allah Threatens Red Sea Escalation; Trump-Hegseth Row Over Weapons Shortages.

Trump's latest TACO

A major US-Israeli campaign against Iran would create a credible risk of retaliatory pressure against the most concentrated Israeli fuel systems first, followed by wider pressure against GCC refining, LNG, power-water, storage and export systems if those states are perceived as enabling the campaign. The strategic danger is not a single damaged facility. It is the possibility that several tightly coupled systems fail faster than substitute supply, repair capacity and emergency logistics can be mobilized.

For defensive analysis, the report assumes that the first retaliatory pressure would fall on Israel because Israel would be a direct combatant and because its domestic fuel system is concentrated in two refineries. The model then examines a widening second stage in which selected GCC systems could face pressure if Gulf airspace, bases, logistics, intelligence, energy support or political alignment were viewed as materially supporting the campaign.

The regional system is composed of several national networks that appear diverse at a map scale but depend on a limited number of refineries, LNG trains, shared utilities, storage systems, marine terminals and pipeline corridors. The same physical and commercial dependencies recur across every jurisdiction: reliable power, control systems, product segregation, marine access, spare equipment, qualified personnel and insurance acceptance.

Israel has no geographically diversified domestic refining system. Haifa/Bazan and Ashdod carry effectively the entire national burden for diesel and jet/kerosene production. The larger Haifa complex supplies approximately two-thirds of the combined middle-distillate baseline and roughly 70 percent of diesel. Ashdod is the only substantial domestic alternative if Haifa becomes unavailable.

Haifa/Bazan is the central Israeli fuel-security exposure because it combines the largest refining burden with interconnected support systems. A future disruption would not need to eliminate every crude or conversion unit to create a national deficit. Loss of electrical integration, steam, hydrogen, internal transfer, controls, tankage or product certification could constrain several process trains simultaneously.

Under the planning case, Haifa provides approximately 57.6 kb/d of diesel and 10.7 kb/d of jet/kerosene. If Haifa were unavailable and Ashdod remained operational, domestic middle-distillate supply would fall to approximately 36 kb/d. Against an 88 kb/d sustained requirement, the replacement requirement would be approximately 52 kb/d before allowing for stock rebuilding, distribution losses or quality constraints.

Ashdod is strategically important less because of its absolute size than because it is the only substantial domestic refining alternative. If Ashdod alone were unavailable while Haifa remained operational, the sustained-case deficit would be approximately 19.7 kb/d. That deficit could be manageable through diversified cargoes and controlled stock draw only if reception, certification, storage and internal distribution remained effective.

If both refineries were unavailable, domestic middle-distillate output would fall from approximately 104.3 kb/d to zero. Approximately 88 kb/d would then need to come from accessible inventories and imports under the sustained case. This would exceed ordinary spot-market replacement and would require exceptional allied allocation, government direction and functioning delivery access.

The most plausible immediate retaliatory pressure would center on Israel because its fuel system is concentrated, its military posture is highly fuel dependent and its ability to replace a two-refinery loss would depend on uninterrupted reception and finite stocks. A wider campaign against GCC systems would create the larger regional and global consequence by degrading refining, LNG, power-water, storage, ports and alternative export routes at the same time. The decisive contest would be between the speed of systemic disruption and the speed of substitution, repair and commercial re-entry.

Ed. note: This intelligence analysis says nothing about gay bars and bathhouses, as Israel is reported to have more legally operational gay bars and bathhouses than Iran with a population less than 10% of Iran.

• Russia Truth: Why Trump’s Last Resort of a Tactical Nuclear Strike on Iran Fails and Triggers Immediate Hyper-Escalation and Global Conflagration.

• UAE paid Iran $3 Billion in gold.

• US tried to bribe IRGC with Billions to stand down. [15] It worked in Venezuela and years ago against Saddam, but not against Iran.

Gulf States

• Yanis Varoufakis: U.S. Surrenders to Iran & Gulf States Must Adjust.
• Key US Fifth Fleet facilities in Bahrain damaged by Iran in spring — WSJ.
• YNet: After Iran strikes, US rethinks Gulf bases and weighs Israel.
• Times of India: ON CAM: U.S. Troops Run Away From Doha Base, Abandon CENTCOM HQ After Iran Missile Attack

Note: this action by the US military, or reporting by the Times of India, has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with gay bars, bathhouses or drag queens, contrary to User:Conservative's understanding of what foreign policy, news reporting, or what an encyclopedic knowledge base is. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 22:56, July 23, 2026 (EDT)

• Iran’s Asymmetric Deterrent: How Targeting GCC Desalination Plants Means Total Regional Annihilation.
• US Forced out of Persian Gulf by Iran, Never to Return /Matt Bracken

Yemen

• Patarames: Iran is intentionally suppressing its true Power-level:

Analysts watch Yemen using anti-ship ballistic missiles against Saudi tanker at 1000km+ range.

Yet they don't realize that all that is possible for Iran and at several-times the scale.

Logic: Iran is working with active hand break for reason we don't know for certain

• Global21: Yemenis Hit Saudi Ship Over 1,000 km Away, Proving Iran Avoided Attacking the US Navy.

Turkiye

• NATO ally Turkiye issues "genocide" arrest warrant against Netanyahu, [16] asks Interpol for help getting enforcement. [17]

Pakistan

• Did Pakistan’s Tech disrupt Kill Chain in Iran?
• Pakistan, Iran sign MoU, renew commitment to $10bn trade target.

Europe

• Piracy in the English channel.
• Hegseth Announces Six-Month Review of U.S. Posture as Part of NATO 3.0.

• Zhirinovsky: NATO will collapse in 2026.
• ‘NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street for too long. This will not continue’ - Hegseth.

• Korybko: Zelensky Lied Through His Teeth About What Happened During Budanov’s Trip To Poland. [18]
• The American Conservative: European Rearmament Is a Trap.
• Victor Davis Hanson: While Europe Reminisces About the Good Old Days, It’s Being Destroyed From Within.

• Victor Davis Hanson: Europe’s Fall to a Second-Class Continent.
• Turkey Gave NATO Leaders Handguns as Gifts – EU Leaders Don’t Know What to Do.
• NATO's Plan BACKFIRES - Russia Ramps Up Ukraine OFFENSIVE | Vladimir Brovkin.

“

As you know I'm a historian of the Soviet Union. So I was a Soviet history professor. Soviet history, 20th century Russia. And one of the key aspects of Soviet history was a kind of a fake reality that everybody was supposed to believe, that everything is wonderful, that the party is leading the masses towards a bright future, everything is always good and getting better all the time. This is kind of a Soviet idealized picture. As I was watching this so-called NATO summit, I couldn't escape the idea that it's Soviet. Everything is wonderful. Everybody is friendly. Oh, he is such a good chap and he pats on the back, you know, Trump with Zelensky or Trump with Erdogan. The reality of relationship is much more complex, and it's certainly not just on the level of good chap. In other words, in one word, I think this is a fake summit, or at least a fake in a sense of outward unity. There is no unity. There are serious, profound contradictions between all of them. I could just outline between the West European hawks and Trump with all of the Europeans about Israel and about the Israeli connection for Trump about the war in Iran which they don't want to have anything to do with. And Trump hates them for that. There are many, many other things that all this so-called unity is just a show behind which one could try to analyze who is with whom, who wants what. and then we will see there is no unity.

”

• NATO Essentially Committed Itself To A Forever War With Russia During The Ankara Summit.

• Richard Sakwa: Russophobia is leading us toward war. Glenn Diesen. [19]

• The Russo-Ukraine War is on the Brink of Catastrophe in Europe with Prof. Richard Sakwa.

• Why’d The Baltic States Betray Poland At The European Parliament In Defense Of The UPA?.
• Scott Ritter: How NATO & Russia Came to the Edge of Nuclear War under Biden. [20]

Ukraine

• Zelensky curse: World leaders who shake Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hand are subsequently removed from office, often in a humiliating fashion.
• Andrew Korybko: Russia Must Defeat Ukraine Before Trump 2.0’s “War Of Attrition” Really Gets Going.

• Berletic: US-Ukrainian Drone Campaign Targeting Crimea.
• HistoryLegends: Ukraine’s DESPERATE Attempt to Force Peace on Russia.

• Events in Ukraine: Concentration camp army. Mobilizing and beating to death drug addicts, the mentally disabled, and conscientious objectors.

The Ukrainian army has developed an ingenious method to deal with the desertion wracking it throughout 2025. Mobilized men trying to escape are murdered. Drug addicts mobilized during their methadone treatments. Mentally disabled men mobilized and beaten for discipline. Ordinary drafted men subjected to the laws of the post-soviet prison system. Drug addicts going through agonizing withdrawals, hallucinating and throwing piss in the same punishment dungeon as conscientious objectors. All troops go to the toilet under the barrel of a gun. Often all they have is a bottle in their tent. Wrapped up in duct tape and thrown into a concrete floor after an escape attempt, shitting on the floor beneath their immobilized body. To prevent escapes, training bases are surrounded by mines. Men still try to run away, or perhaps simply prefer suicide by mine to the constant beatings and torture endured daily to break the spirits of the new recruits. Nine suicides witnessed by one man in four days at the training camp. Commanders play with their recruits, forcing them to beat each other in mock gladiator fights. A mobilized man beaten so hard his face is blue, commanders laughing that he can only crawl, calling him ‘bluey’. Dozens officially dead of ‘pneumonia’ this year. A 50 year old Baptist conscientious objector, forcefed through an IV drip after he went on hunger strike, beaten daily by a medic whose call sign was ‘Satan’. His wife said his broken body had an ‘inexplicable dent’ in his back. His face unrecognizable, only identifiable by a mole. Heart problems, the doctors concluded. No signs of a violent death. A soldier suffering from methadone withdrawals dragged around the base from a quad bike. He and others photographed with large patches of skin missing. Complains to family he’s being beaten so hard he’s shitting himself. He escapes to a hospital and tells doctors of his ordeal. Dead a few days later. Dogs maul those trying to escape the camps. The training camps. Dogs are set on anyone else breaking discipline. Ribs broken during meetings if you mess up paperwork. Commanders call all of them ‘one-time uses’. That’s all that any soldier is good for — one assault operation. At least someone in Maryland or London can get some frisson from news of counter-offensives by the daring, democratic Ukrainians. The west is funding a concentration camp army. That’s from the words of Ukrainian soldiers, quoted by the most liberal, western-funded Ukrainian media out there. Of course, this latest investigation into the obscene brutality reigning in the army won’t be translated into English any time soon. ...

• Zelensky’s Interview Poured Fuel On The Flames Of His Spiraling UPA Dispute With Poland. [21]

• The media and the bloodbath. Western responsibility for the assault units.

“	They are the army, they are the defense. I am the guarantor of the Constitution and I am the Supreme Commander-in-Chief who must give them everything they need to protect our people and our land. And if they are motivated by their heroes, the name of heroic historical figures whom they respect, and if it is very important for them, I must do everything they tell me. The Poles received this answer from me.	”
—Volodymyr Zelensky

“	Recalling what he earlier alleged about how Ukraine is defending Poland, Zelensky is essentially claiming that Poland’s defense is dependent on Ukrainians who glorify Hitler’s genocidal collaborators. This is incredibly insulting, and seeing as how he said that he sent this answer to Poland, it’s little wonder that Nawrocki decided to revoke his country’s highest honor from him.	”
—Andrew Korybko

• Next Phase of Psyop: Ukraine Now Accuses Belarus of Rapid Militarization on Border.
• MoA: Ukraine Isn’t Winning (posted for User:Conservative to balance his reading before making Conservapedia an MSM echo chamber with more liberal claptrap & Russia hoax spam.} "There is an ongoing Ukrainian propaganda campaign to depict the country as winning the conflict with Russia. bla bla bla..."
• The Fire Point Precision Strike - Russia Blew Up Britain's Missile Plant after UK Drones for the First Time struck Russian Regions | The Ust-Dunaysk Interdiction. [22]

User:Conservative is becoming a 'useful idiot' of a Ukrainian Nazi psyop

• Andrew Korybko: Zelensky’s 40-Day Influence Operation Against Russia Is Unlikely To Succeed.

The timing points to this being his modus operandi considering September’s Russian State Duma elections. Putin’s foes hope that United Russia fares worse than its 49.82% of the popular vote during the last elections in 2021, thus forcing it into a coalition with either the communist or nationalist opposition parties.

(A) Unlike Ukraine, democratic Russia is having elections in wartime. (B) Both the communists & nationalist are more hawkish than Putin. This is definitely another idiotic Western intel operation. They think by getting rid of Putin, like getting rid of Ayatollah Khamenei, solves all their problems. Their understanding of Russia is on a par with User:Conservative.

• Simplicius: 'Mystery' Valdai Meeting Between Putin and Lukashenko Stirs Speculation Amidst Zelensky's Latest Threats.

"One of the most interesting updates surrounding the current Ukraine war escalations has been the ‘mysteriously’ abrupt visit of Belarusian president Lukashenko to Valdai yesterday for a meeting with Putin that has now spanned two days. The length and secrecy shrouding the meeting has caused various speculations, particularly given Belarus’s central focus recently amidst Zelensky’s major ongoing psyops meant to broaden the conflict and push Russia into a ceasefire Ukraine is in dire need of.

"The meeting was reportedly unannounced and Kremlin spokesperson Peskov revealed that no official transcript or statements would be provided—which is certainly odd. “Officially” the agenda was said to include Union State matters, economic and trade agreements, etc. But the implication given the nature of the meeting is clearly that, instead, matters of grave military importance were discussed, which required Putin and Lukashenko’s direct face-to-face contact at Putin’s own private retreat.

"We can therefore only logically infer that this was a kind of emergency meeting where the two leaders ironed out a coordinated plan as to how their two respective countries should proceed militarily should Zelensky continue his upward spiral of provocations. A matter that required such an immediate and private face-to-face meeting is certainly one justified in its urgency, a fact which further implies that Zelensky’s threats are serious enough, and have a high enough likelihood of materializing, as to require such a serious joint brainstorming session.

"As previously seen, Zelensky has announced a new “campaign of terrors” lasting 40 days that is meant to be a kind of grandiose final arc to top the war. The ploy’s chief mechanic is obviously set to be a series of major escalations combined with an unprecedented information campaign to paint Russia as collapsing, and more importantly, Putin as being in the throes of an uprising. This is the age-old playbook used by Western intelligence agencies in Iran and elsewhere. Few could have missed the massive propaganda push the past few days, wherein all the regime stooges and ‘useful idiots’ have been mobilized" [ Ken isn't even being paid ]...

• Larry Johnson: Ukraine’s Desperate Propaganda Campaign While Russia Advances Along the Entire Front.

"It's all a load of crap."

• Mark Sleboda: NATO's New Drone/Psyop Scheme And Russia's Crushing Response: The End No One Mentions/Slavyansk & Kramatorsk: The Final Battle for Donbas Has Begun.

• An Inside View of Western Consumers of the Anti-Russian Propaganda.

• THE WEST IS FLOODED WITH ANTI-RUSSIA PROPAGANDA. [23]

• Russian Zircon wipes out US Biolab in Kyiv. [24]

• Responsible Statecraft: Ukraine wants to make its own Patriot missiles. That's a bad idea.

• PATRIOT MISSILES FAIL MISERABLY, Here's the Video Evidence /MIT Prof Ted Postol, Daniel Davis / Deep Dive

Despite PR damage control that says the Patriot missile system has a 90% interception rate, Prof. Ted Postol, who helped design the system, says the interception rate is more like 2%. Nevertheless, Lockheed Martin was recently given another $5 Billion contract to build more.

“	This system is not working at all. But they'll be happy to sell it to you, to the American people. And they'll also be happy to jeopardize, let me underscore this, which makes me furious beyond stealing from the American people, jeopardize the future security of our country. Because if there's a problem with this system, we need to try to make planning adjustments, and strategy adjustments, and tactical adjustments as best we can to deal with this incredible shortfall. I'm not sure what those adjustments have to be, but I can tell you making believe that you're intercepting these things when the threat is only going to get bigger and more capable is really a bad choice for planning your national security.	”
—Ted Postol

• Simplicius: Ukrainian Authorities Panic as Patriots Run Out Amidst Russian Ballistic Frenzy.

"Even the Ukrainians had to admit not a single one was shot down because Patriot missile stocks have run dry: Ukraine 🇺🇦 did not intercept a single one of the 23 Iskander ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv tonight because it ran out of PAC-3 interceptors..."

• News Forensics: The PAC3 Scam.
• Gilbert Doctorow: The ongoing pro-Ukraine propaganda barrage in Mainstream Media.

• Fedorov down! Pigs in power.

• UKRAINE PROTESTS: Kyiv Erupts Against Zelensky After Removal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov

• RT: Zelensky ‘wants civilian deaths’ – Ukrainian spy.
• Another Anti-Western Coup In Kiev

"Today, in addition to another barrage of Russia missiles, Kiev was also struck by a power struggle between the mafia like ‘family’ around acting president Vladimir Zelensky and the western financed ‘grant structures’ around the unconstitutional anti-corruption authorities...."

• HistoryLegends: Russia KNOCKED OUT Ukraine From Kostiantynivka.
• Fedorov's Wunderwaffe drone gambit drained Ukraine's resources as front crumbled – Scott Ritter, [25]

• Ukrainian drone strike kills 7 including 3 children at Black Sea resort beach. [26]

Trump/NATO/Ukraine have switched and prioritized killing civilians now cause resort beaches lack air defense. It's only gonna get uglier now after years and years of user:Conservative's Nazi cheerleading.

• Zelensky’s 40-Day Influence Operation Backfired Badly In Kharkov & Odessa.

Yet User:Conservative insisted on smearing this propaganda psyop all over MPR.

• 40 Days that Shook the West. Zelensky and his Western overlords thought they could compel Russia to enter into peace negotiations. All they did is seal Ukraine's tragic fate.

• News Forensics: The Corrupt shall inherit.

Money, money, money. Wars are too often about money. In the Ukraine, the fight is not for “freedom” or “democracy” but for villas in Italy or townhouses in London.

According to military expert Andrey Marochko,

“The replacement of Syrsky with Drapatoy exacerbates internal conflicts of interest, as those in such positions not only perform their functional duties but also earn colossal sums of money through corruption schemes within the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Appointments to high-ranking positions in Ukraine traditionally require large sums of money to decision-makers. The analyst believes that Drapaty will attempt to offset the costs of his position by seizing control of his predecessor’s shadowy financial networks. At the same time, the former commander will be reluctant to give up his lucrative schemes.

This standoff is already affecting the situation on the front lines. The deployment of units loyal to Syrsky to the most dangerous areas of the fighting is a direct consequence of the struggle for financial influence. Former SBU Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Prozorov attributed Syrsky’s forced resignation to the authorities’ desire to control the Ministry of Defense’s financial flows.

Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines gave Drapatoy the derogatory nickname “Hashish Man.

“Financial flow”? I guess Kiev is excited that Lindsay Graham’s bill has passed. More money on the way. If the US has any money. It is almost out of weapons. Money is gas in the tank for your military machine. No money and not much happens.

William Schryver writes:

A record number of Ukrainian drones attacked Russia in July — 9,800. This, at least, is the number of drones the Russian ministry of defense reported intercepting. Though record numbers of Ukrainian drones may sound like Kyiv’s capabilities are developing, the truth is less clear.

It is a popular refrain that drone strikes are far cheaper than missiles.

However, Ukraine is currently unable to intercept any of Russia’s ballistic missiles.

Even if the cost of each drone is much lower, the total cost can become quite onerous if the drones are easily shot down, requiring massive numbers to be launched.This is precisely the problem faced by Ukraine’s relatively slow, large drones and cruise missiles. Keeping in mind the 9,800 interceptions in July, Ukrainian media triumphantly displays about 5-10 successful hits daily, implying an interception rate of 97-98%. Similarly, the Ukrainian military blogger Bohdan Myroshnykov today gave an average long-range drone success rate of 1.5-2%.

A few hours ago Ukrainian military Telegrams sadly posted, for instance, this video of an intercepted unmanned sea vehicle near the Russian city of Novorossirsk.

On July 31, Ukrainian sources glumly shared photos of a missile intercepted over the Rostov region (pictured)Pro-Ukrainian military analysts reported that over the course of May and June, six of the 39 Flamingo cruise missiles launched actually hit their target.

This is just based on open source data, and I suspect that Fire Point is less keen to share videos of Flamingos it unsuccessfully launches than it is of successful hits. The Flamingo has a maximum speed of 900 kilometers per hour, about 10 times slower than Russian ballistic missiles.

Just a few hours ago, all 5 of the latest Flamingo flight towards Russia were shot down, despite flying at very low altitudes along rivers to avoid detection. Perhaps all the rumours about the massive state privileges and graft characterizing Fire Point were true.

The Flamingo is a large and relatively slow target.

I recently reported on the claims in the Ukrainian media that defense minister Mikhailo Fedorov was dismissed in July precisely because he wanted to reduce the share of Fire Point drones in long-range strikes from 80% to 25%.

Not that this stopped European companies from investing billions into the enterprise, with le Figaro reporting in early July that Flamingo missiles feature French automatic guiding systems. But while automatic guiding is useful to overcoming electronic warfare, it is irrelevant if the drone is so slow and large that it can be easily shot down with other means. Anyway, Strana News Ukraine recently calculated that Ukraine’s air campaign against Russia costs around a billion dollars a month.

The main drones that Ukraine uses are the Liutyi ($200,000 per unit), the Beaver ($100,000), and the FP-1 ($60,000). These costs are estimates, all around the cost of Russia’s Geran drones (though generally much less advanced than the new Geran models when it comes to evasion and speed).

Assuming an average cost of $100,000 to $120,000 (depending on how many Flamingos are used), the 9,800 drones shot down in July would have cost Ukraine $980 million to $1.18 billion USD. Annually, that’s $12 billion, more than 12% of the entire defense budget.

It’s also necessary to factor in spending on intelligence, operational planning, and other infrastructure on the ground needed for these operations.This also probably accounts for why Ukraine has been rather illogically changing the target of its operations.

If the goal is to destroy the economy of the opponent, one would not take switch from target to target. Instead, Ukraine spent March and April focusing on Russian oil and gas port infrastructure, then shifted to oil refineries for a few months, and now, since July 18, has been targeting the warehouses of online marketplaces.

Recent strike on a Russian Wildberries e-shopping warehouse

There have been some more strikes on oil refineries in the past few weeks, but this changing focus allows Russia to repair damaged facilities. Following the spring strikes, Russia’s Baltic ports fully restored shipping operations. During the pause on oil refineries, most of the damaged plants were either fully or partially restored.

According to the Financial Times, only 7 of the 26 refineries that suspended production remained completely idle as of July 27. Eight had returned to full capacity and another eleven had partially resumed operations.

As a result, Russia’s fuel shortages have been easing, with restrictions removed or relaxed in much of the country, apart from Crimea and other territories close to the frontlines. Even Kuban, a region close to Crimea, has lifted fuel restrictions for vehicles.

Contrary to Ukrainian hopes, there have been no mass anti-government uprisings due to the shortages, even at their peak.

The conclusion is that Ukraine keeps on changing targets because it lacks sufficient drones to overcome the Russian air defenses that are developed once one set of targets is struck. This also indicates Ukraine will also eventually run out of unprotected targets.

All this was hinted at recently by former commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny, who wrote that Ukraine’s long-range strikes, despite all the hype, ‘are expensive, technologically complex, and ultimately provoke countermeasures’.

All wars are ultimately economic and logistic.

Will’s excellent report underscores the enormous gap between the Western “narrative” which is largely based on Ukrainian fictions, and what appears to be really happening.

Basic point : Ukraine is bankrupt and depends on money from Europe and the US, who hope for a “negotiated” settlement which will all so them to get their money back by plundering Western Ukraine’s natural resources .

The problem with that is Ukraine and NATO’s terrorist strikes will result in their being no Ukraine left to plunder!

All this money that has gone to Ukraine will have vanished through a black hole of corruption and greed and incompetence from this financial universe. Western economies will follow.

Russia is aware of the dynamics; hence its new tactics.

If current deep-water shipping blockades extend through the full season, the total maximum financial impact approaches $14 to 15 billion. Strikes on infrastructure throughout Kievan Ukraine will cost at least 10 billion to fix. So add 25 billion and the 12 billion spent on drones and you have a massive 35 billion in losses. Not counting losses on the battlefield, which are also economic as well as human.

In Russia, official figures boast a 10.2% increase in non-oil and gas revenues: Russia’s economy is successfully diversifying away from pure energy dependency.

Ukrainian sources say that the Russians have lost about $15 billion calculated on the basis of 160 successful strikes in 2025 This is taken as Truth in the West. But as Schryver points out the Russians are destroying over 98% of what is being thrown at them. Neutral OSINT sources support this saying 160 translates to 16 or 17.

Supposing that is correct (one never knows for sure!) divide by 10 and you get not $15 billion but $1.5 billion. Still a lot of coffees, of course.

As I wrote yesterday, however, Putin’s reforms and restructuring has yielded impressive results : in 2026 the non-energy sector increased by over 10%. In the same period, oil and gas windfall profits according to neutral OSINT sources are calculated to be about 15 billion.

I hate numbers. But in this case, they point to a simple fact: Russia is economically strong and getting stronger. It will continue to do so if the US acts on the Russian sanctions bill, if used in the form Lindsay Graham intended will accelerate the West’s descent into that financial Black Hole that Kiev calls home.

Russia and China are endlessly adaptable.

Despite heavy Western tech embargoes, Russia successfully circumvents technology controls to secure critical parts for its energy infrastructure. Specialized parts, control systems, and electronics are systematically rerouted into Russia via intermediary nations like China, Turkey, and Central Asian states.

Russian state firms have successfully reverse-engineered routine processing machinery. While highly sophisticated secondary units (like isomerization and hydrotreating) remain difficult to fix quickly, Russia’s energy giants are adept at rapidly rebuilding standard primary atmospheric distillation towers within weeks.

Russia also minimizes the systemic impact of infrastructure damage by immediately shifting its energy logistics to underutilized or alternative networks.

When a localized refinery is knocked offline, Russia simply redirects the unprocessed crude oil directly to its western or Baltic export ports. This minimizes the financial impact on state budgets by maximizing raw crude sales abroad.

To bypass restrictions and absorb Black Sea disruptions, Moscow relies heavily on its comprehensive shadow fleet of oil tankers. This allows them to quickly shift maritime export routes away from targeted ports (like Novorossiysk) to safer northern shipping lanes.

Moscow’s version of state capitalism means preserving the energy sector is a military priority, and it is reallocating massive financial and tactical assets to guarantee survival.

The Kremlin has actively pulled elite air defense assets directly off the front lines, redeploying them deep inland to form protective umbrellas around vital industrial zones and refinery clusters.

Most important is creativity.

Rather than relying purely on fixing Soviet-era legacy networks, state-backed entities like Rosatom are commissioning vast new megaprojects—such as the massive 300 MW Novolakskaya Wind Farm as well as developing new refining technologies in concert with Iran and China.

• The Kyiv Reporting Blackout | The Mechanized Chernihiv Axis and the Total Exhaustion of Western Interceptor | Russian Missile Output Surge - Kiev Struck - Russia Outflanks Donbass Cities.

• HistoryLegends: Ukraine’s Latest Drone Campaign DID NOT Go as Planned.

Question: How come the guy who created Conservapedia's Psyop article cannot recognize an obvious Psyop when it's before his face? After four years, he hasn't figured out every time Ukraine comes begging for more money & weapons, the MSM restarts the "Ukraine is winning" narrative again.

The American Conservative: MSM dials back Ukrainian cheerleading since Fedorov's firing. [27]

Fedorov

• Events in Ukraine:

Fedorov put out a video statement and article calling for wartime presidential elections. Fedorov, minister of defense from January to mid-July 2026, is a darling of the west and currently the main political figurehead of the western-funded liberal opposition, a class detractors call the ‘Sorosites’. Fedorov’s proposed elections would simply mean Zelensky accepting an offer to step down. After all, polls invariably show him as the fourth most popular candidate, give or take. Once he loses power, he will probably be hounded into jail by corruption investigations from the anti-corruption organs. Or he’ll have to move to Tel Aviv with the rest of his friends. Fire Point, his military industrial empire, and the rest of Zelensky’s Family will also be liquidated. Why on earth would he agree to that without a fight? Fedorov made his statement on August 18 for a particular reason: parliament returned. When Zelensky suddenly sacked Fedorov in mid-July, parliament suddenly announced a month-long holiday. Technically, parliament is meant to vote on the appointment of new defense ministers. Instead of a vote, Zelensky simply got rid of Fedorov and appointed the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) general Evheny Khmara as acting defense minister. The parliamentary vote to approve Khmara would thus take place in a month. No doubt Zelensky hoped that by then, the public protests in favour of returning Fedorov would die down. And parliament, though increasingly tired of many of Zelensky’s wartime whims, is still essentially under Zelensky’s control. However, the protests continued to this day. Often small, and invariably only attended by the westernized urban middle class, but still, that’s the class that matters in Ukraine anyway. So what will happen? Zelensky’s plan, already being implemented, is to centralize power in the hands of the ultra-loyal gangster-spook Oleksandr Poklad. All power in the SBU continues accumulating in Poklad’s SBU, with opponents ruthlessly purged. It is hence no surprise that the SBU has been arresting detectives in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the most powerful Sorosite institution in the country, one that Zelensky and Poklad unsuccessfully tried to shut down back in July 2025. This seems to be part of a larger plot to neutralize the liberal opposition. And the NABU, meanwhile, has spent the past few days announcing ‘special operations’ against figures in Zelensky’s administration and loyal parliamentarians. Besides his domestic enemies, Zelensky may have even more powerful foreign enemies. Zelensky will have to keep entrenching his police state, given the new rumours that his personal military industrial empire has come into a conflict with Ukraine’s most important American drone manufacturer — Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google. Meanwhile, besides calling for elections, the Sorosites are pointing the spotlight on Zelensky’s own drones. Those of Fire Point, the company managed by Zelensky’s clan/Mafia/family. These ineffective drones are costing the Ukrainian state billions, only to be destroyed by Russian air defenses almost instantly.

• Sundance on Fedorov's CBS News interview:

35-year-old Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was removed from his position about a month ago. Despite being heralded as the reason for Ukraine’s successful defense and strikes against Russia, there was internal friction about control of the war spending (ie ‘procurement). The old guard military leaders were unwilling to give up their ability to enrich themselves and their families, Fedorov was removed by President Zelenskyy. In this CBS interview with Fedorov the young outsider, who is still connected to the war effort and holds strong relationships with both Palantir (Alex Karp) and SpaceX (Elon Musk), outlines the current status of the conflict and gives his predictions on what comes next. [28]

• Zelensky rejects free, fair, and open democratic elections, again. [29]

"Too risky." Yah, cause the corrupt kleptocrat would lose.

Zaporozhe

• 'We're drinking our own urine': Ukrainian soldiers near Zaporizhzhia go weeks without food or water.

Synopsis: Defense Minister Fedorov, whom User:Conservative got all excited about, wanted to cut back the Ukraine aid Commander-in-Chief Syrsky was looting in order to fund drone attacks on Russian refineries. Zelensky fired him. An outcry ensued. Syrsky then got fired. Now front line soldiers are speaking out about the endemic corruption.

• Ian Proud: As Zelensky and co. get richer ordinary Ukrainians suffer: their lives are now worthless.

Russia

• Finian Cunningham : Trump’s Iran war debacle is ominous for Russia.

• Russia's Doomsday Radio Activates.

• Alastair Crooke: Russia Re-Introducing Fear on the World's Stage.

• Mearsheimer: Russia's Red Lines Have Been Crossed.

• Peskov: Nuclear Deterrence Only Force Preventing Global War.

• RUSSIAN NUKES READY: Kremlin Backs NUCLEAR Armada As 'PROTECTION' To Prevent WW3 | Times Now World.

• Larry Johnson: Putin Warns the West - Russia is Ready for War

• Consortium News: ‘Europe & Russia Stare at War’. Europe trash talks war. Putin says Russia is ready. The U.S.-Iran ceasefire breaks down again and does NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victories really signal a new direction for Democrat?

• Putin: Russia stands in the way of evil...No one has ever managed to get rid of Russia, and no one will succeed in the future”.

• Korybko: FSB Chief Bortnikov Is Right: There’s No One In Ukraine To Talk To Besides Zelensky].

former Israeli Prime Minister Bennett claimed in early 2023 that Putin promised him the year prior not to harm his Ukrainian counterpart, and he’s thus far kept his word in spite of Zelensky authorizing Putin’s attempted assassination at his residence in Valdai last December. For reasons that only Putin can account for if publicly asked about this or if he decides to share them on his own volition, he’s absolutely uninterested in authorizing Zelensky’s assassination. This is the objective political reality.... ...Trump reconciled with Zelensky after their public dispute early last year, subsequently reneged on his reported obligation to coerce him into withdrawing from Donbass in exchange for Putin declaring a ceasefire per the “Spirit of Anchorage”, and is now “escalating to de-escalate” with Russia. Far from being a liability, Zelensky is now viewed by Trump as an asset in his new “war of attrition” for coercing Putin into energy-related concessions after sensing weakness from him over the past year. Therefore, at this point, Putin’s hypothetical authorization of Zelensky’s assassination wouldn’t change the dynamics of this conflict in a way that would advance Russia’s interests. Trump made up his mind to double down on using Ukraine as the US’ proxy for coercing strategic concessions from Russia, and he’d be enraged if Putin took his new friend out, which could prompt him to radically escalate in revenge.

• ‘You’re playing with fire,’ RT editor-in-chief warns Europe (FULL INTERVIEW) Russian society is nearing the limit of its patience as Kiev’s Western backers assist Ukrainian strikes deep into the country, Margarita Simonyan has said. [30]

• The Economist: Russia’s war economy has problems—but is not about to crash.

• Simplicius: Russian Oligarch's True Warning Hidden in Plain Sight.

"After spelling out how the new Russia was built by internationalists, he admits that globalization was a failure because it was nothing more than a ruse to take away Russia’s sovereignty:

“	The advocates of global integration viewed this as a remnant of Soviet thinking. Time has proved them wrong, not because globalisation did not exist but because it was never neutral. Sanctions showed this plainly. They were written by some, in the interests of some, and can be revised for others by political decision. My own experience of Western sanctions matters here not as a personal grievance, but as evidence that the infrastructure of globalisation is politically conditional. Assets can be frozen; rights once considered inviolable dissolve the moment a political decision is taken. The systemic effect of sanctions proved broader than their original intent. Disconnection from global systems—financial, technological, legal, educational—confronted Russia’s creative class with a choice it had not anticipated: either full emigration with the severing of all ties, or a return to the question it had been avoiding for three decades: how to build its own world inside Russia, by its own rules, to its own standards.	”
—Andrey Melnichenko

Comment: I had asked User:Conservative 3 years ago to begin the SWIFT network article and contribute constructively; instead, he has spent the time Googling his favorite gay bars and drag queens in Moscow. RobS^{Do normal heterosexuals spend 20 yrs Googling the locations of gay bathhouses?} 22:35, July 10, 2026 (EDT)

• Russia Truth: The Theater of Desperation: How Ukraine’s Futile Media-Driven Strikes on Moscow Expose the Reality of Defeat.
• Russia Truth: The Exhaustion of the Illusion: Ukraine Air Defense Total Collapse - European Sanctions Paralysis - Zelensky Discusses Syrsky Sacking - Russia Cuts Off Odessa - The Looming Battle for Kiev.

• Surovikin back, takes over the Zaporozhe front.

• The American Conservative: How Western Belligerence Helps Putin Hold Onto Power. Russians see the West as a bigger threat than their authoritarian government.

Despite User:Conservative's advocacy, Russians do not want 'Western values' like gay rights and gay marriage.

Russian Chechen commander addresses Ukrainian POWs, 2022.

• Ratcliffe in Moscow. [31]

• CIA Moscow Meeting, What's That About? / fmr CIA Analyst Larry Johnson & Lt Col Daniel Davis.
• Steve Jermy :Why a massive C-17? Possibly to carry out bodies of dead CIA operatives recovered by the Russians.

• Russia Truth: The Strategic Illusion of Gradualism: Why Moscow’s Multi-Year Attrition Doctrine Risks Strategic Failure.

While incremental attrition exploits immediate advantages in artillery shell volume and glide-bomb ordnance, granting an adversary four additional years of operational runway provides NATO defense planners and Ukrainian technical units the exact resource they require: unconstrained time to iterate asymmetric technologies, bypass red lines, and coordinate deep strategic strikes capable of upending the strategic balance in an instant.

Wow. Sounds like Putin propaganda from an intolerant and despotic authoritarian dictator who doesn't allow open debate on public policy and imposes censorship on opposing views. Let's hope Putin gets defeated in the upcoming elections so these hot-heads who advocate a General European War now take over.

• Korybko: Is Russia Really Plotting To Test NATO’s Resolve?

UK

Zelensky is a MI6 influenced/controlled agent; Budanov is a CIA trained Nazi influenced/controlled agent. RobS^{WWJD? Would he claim 2 gay bathhouses in Russia compared to 300 in America justifies nuclear war?} 15:56, June 24, 2026 (EDT)

• BORZZIKMAN: British Nuclear Weapons in ODESA┃The UK has taken Vengeance on Russia for the deaths of SBS soldiers.

• UK MPs Want Probe of Illegal UK Arms Shipments to Israel.
• Finian Cunningham: Andy Burnham, Britain’s next prime minister, gets his marching orders. [32]

• Dr. Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) outlined the structural collapse of Western air defense support for Ukraine. With Patriot PAC-3 interceptor stockpiles estimated at roughly 600 PAC-3 and 200 older PAC-2 units, the West cannot match Russian ballistic missile production estimated between 700 and 1,400 Iskander-M and Kinzhal units annually. [33]

• Mark Felton Productions: Operation Paper Tiger - Britain's Useless Aircraft Carriers.

Poland

• Poland Finally Realizes The Geostrategic Challenge Posed By Ukraine
• Andrew Korybko: Poles Now Believe That Ukrainians Are Civilizationally Incompatible With The West.
• The leader of the Polish "FRONT" party sends aid to Russian troops
• Polish Opposition’s PM Candidate Called On The EU To Stop Funding Ukrainian Arms.

Przemysław Czarnek, the prime ministerial candidate of Poland’s conservative “Law & Justice” (PiS) opposition party ahead of fall 2027’s next Sejm elections, unexpectedly called on the EU to stop funding Ukrainian arms for now till the country “enters the path of pro-human values.” This is a reference to Zelensky’s state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits that prompted President Karol Nawrocki, nominally independent but allied with PiS, to revoke Poland’s highest honor from him.

Comment: A Polish-Russian anti-Nazi rapprochement against the pro-Nazi German & Ukrainian warmongers could upset NATO's planned 2029-2030 WWIII aggression.

• Korybko: Five Reasons Why Poland Won’t Deploy Troops To Ukraine.
• Polish politician Marianna Schreiber posted a video of herself throwing a portrait of Vladimir Zelensky in the trash, accusing Kiev of glorifying the Ukrainian nationalists who engaged in the massacre of Poles during World War II. See also.
• Nearly Half Of Poles Now Want To Stop Arming Ukraine.
• Korybko: Poles Shouldn’t Let Themselves Be Duped By Zelensky’s Dishonest Reconciliation Attempt.
• Five Takeaways From Russia’s Accidental Cruise Missile Incursion Into Poland.

Deconfliction works - but it takes diplomacy and negotiation to make arrangements.

In a deconfliction agreement, both sides realize that low IQ individuals down the totem pole, like User:Conservative, don't get the memo to stand down and are too quick on the trigger to escalate. So arrangements are made beforehand to enforce agreements and understandings.

• Korybko: Ukraine’s Outgoing Ambassador To Poland Once Again Spit In Poles’ Faces.
• Korybko: Poland’s Leading Conservative Opposition Party Wants To Deport Some Ukrainian Men To The Front. [34]

Germany

• Volkswagen Will Eliminate Almost Half of Production Brands After Losing Market Share to China.

Spain

• The Reality at the Ceuta Border.

John Kiriakou: Who is Really Behind the Migrant Crisis in Ceuta?

Central Asia

Armenia

• The Quiet Capture of Armenia: The Secret War the US Wages Beyond Armed Conflict.

East Asia

China

• Arnaud Bertrand: Is Ray Dalio correct that China is reviving the tribute system? I often like Ray Dalio’s takes on China but he gets quite a lot demonstrably wrong in his FT article on the “tribute system.”
• Simplicius: The New Third Front: China Quietly Revamps Country for War.
• Larry Johnson: Why is Trump Trying to Start a New War with China?

“

Trump, in the midst of a rapidly escalating war with Iran, had nothing better to do on Thursday night than launch a verbal attack on China for alleged meddling in the 2020 election. Now let me state up front that I believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, but it was not because of foreign influence. It was good old fashioned ballot stuffing. In fact, Trump’s own DOJ and the FBI have been gathering evidence in Georgia that is likely to confirm that Georgia defrauded Trump. But that’s another story for another day. Tonight, Thursday, Trump gave a roughly 30-minute primetime address from the East Room and made the following claims: Voter file theft. Trump said voter registration files in 18 states, totaling 220 million voter files, were “bought, stolen, or hacked by China,” and that China “carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history.” The files, he said, included names, addresses, and political affiliations. He called it an “unprecedented election security nightmare.” He attributed the intelligence to a White House task force and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Ballot manufacturing. He claimed Chinese meddling activities “included an attempt to manufacture illegal ballots” for Biden. Chas Freeman: The Sino-American Split: At Sea with a Broken Compass. Remarks to the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2021). [This is a critique of the Biden administration's foreign policy, especially its approach to relations with China. This not only confirmed the first Trump administration’s antagonism to China but added new rationales for it. These persist in the thinking of the American elite and inform the second Trump administration’s approach to China, which is based on President Trump’s alleged personal relationship with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, rather than on broader diplomatic engagement and dialogue. The split between China and the United States is costly to both countries but, arguably, more costly to the United States than to China.] Cover-up. He said the “deep state” worked to hide the “extent of China’s sinister election meddling,” and that the intelligence community did not previously inform the White House or Congress about the hack. Motive. He claimed China did not want him to win reelection — “They fought like hell not to have a Donald Trump to win” — and suggested Chinese meddling put Biden in office. Machines. He said forthcoming documents would show foreign nations and groups had the ability to modify the behavior and information collected by electronic voting machines. ... What Trump did tonight is one of the most ghastly examples of propaganda designed to stir up enmity. At a time when the US is utterly dependent on China for rare-earth minerals Trump decided it was a good time to insult them and threaten them.

”

• Karl Sanchez: Chinese Academics on Russia, Japan, ASEAN, DPRK, and China's Direction]. Part Two.

• Global Times editorial:

“

The US has set its own house on fire, yet it wants the whole world to help fan the flames, making the blaze even bigger - and in the end, it expects everyone else to foot the bill. Who would want to be such a patsy? The US has repeatedly labeled European nations "cowards" for refusing to join the war, further provoking a strong backlash from its European allies and creating a rare, deep‑seated rift in the alliance system. [35]

”

Japan

Tokyo’s abandonment of previous pragmatic resource balancing—exemplified by compliance with price caps and self-imposed reductions in Russian energy imports from Sakhalin—has accelerated current-account deficits and currency depreciation, while permanently closing diplomatic avenues regarding the Kuril Islands.

North Korea

• Korybko: Trump’s Resumption Of Talks With Kim Can Only Succeed If AUKUS+ Is Radically Reformed.

Western Hemisphere

• A Failed Murder-for-Hire Plot in Bolivia Exposes the Inner Workings of the US’s Donroe Doctrine.

United States

• CIA and USAID. [36]

CIA & USAID started the Ukraine war with the Maidan coup.

• News Forensics: The Golden Age of Lies.

"In some sense, Trump is the best President ever, because he is the worst liar ever — “worst” meaning his lies are so very obvious—they look like lies, which highlights the truth, at least for those who are interested in that. So when Trump tells us that he has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and then we see Iranian missiles and drones taking out American radars and bases, the truth flashes across the mind: the US has lost."

• Breaking Defense: Why Hegseth met secretly with emerging industry reps.

• Times of Israel: Trump to seek Congress approval for US-Saudi nuclear energy pact without safeguards.

• Saudi nuclear bomb? [37]
• Federal Judge Finds Credible Evidence of Saudi Government Involvement in 9/11 Attacks.
• Note: This important foreign policy issue has nothing to do with Gay bar tourism, contradicting User:Conservative's basic premise. Saudi Arabia probably has the lowest number of gay bars and bath houses - both legal or underground, - anywhere on the planet. Should Saudi Arabia be rewarded by President Trump and the United States with nuclear weapons for having the fewest gay bars & bathhouses?

Don't laugh, seriously. User:Conservative, with the owner backing him up, has spent years and years impeding other users productive editing with these vital questions. RobS^{Do straight normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 13:28, July 22, 2026 (EDT)

• Simplicius: Bombshell Report: Touted "Futuristic" 155mm Factory in Texas Produced Zero Shells in MIC Mega-Flop.

A bombshell report has been published by ProPublica which has been making the rounds concerning the much-vaunted new General Dynamics factory in Mesquite, Texas which was meant to massively boost US production of critical 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine and beyond. You’ll recall we covered this factory several times, as far back as 2024, citing a NYT piece at the time which proclaimed the plant would double US production and help reach the goal of 100k monthly shells by 2025: "Here, in the Pentagon’s first new major arms plant built since Russia invaded Ukraine, Turkish workers in orange hard hats are busy unpacking wood crates stenciled with the name Repkon, a defense company based in Istanbul, and assembling computer-controlled robots and lathes. "The factory will soon turn out about 30,000 steel shells every month for the 155-millimeter howitzers that have become crucial to Kyiv’s war effort. First, a major spoiler: the US never reached even remotely close to their 2025 goals. A recent report from the Department of Defense Inspector General found that the US still struggles to produce a measly 36,000 rounds, which has been the ceiling for the past two years: [38] Recall at a time when Russia was producing upwards of 250-350k monthly shells per the West’s own estimates, pro-Ukrainian cheerleaders promised us the indomitable American MIC would easily catch up to the impoverished Russians. It turns out the US is physically incapable of course-correcting its obvious industrial decline....

Of course, we can always pretend this is not happening..."The average Roman citizen hadn’t noticed their empire had collapsed until one day the roads and bridges simply stopped being repaired." [39]

Canada

• Council on Foreign Relations President Says Trump Gave Mark Carney an Ultimatum, USA or China? Carney Chose China.

Americans will feel the effects immediately in grocery prices, as Canada has chosen to sell Diesel to China rather than the US. Congrats to all who have trolled and suppressed educating Conservapedia readers on foreign policy over the past four and a half years as the 2026 Midterms approach. RobS^{Do heterosexual normies spend 20 yrs obsessing over gay bars, bathhouses and drag queens?} 18:02, August 23, 2026 (EDT)

• Former Canadian Finance Minister Ukro Nazi Chrystia Freeland Says Canada Must Focus on Psychological Operations Against Americans Now. [40]

Venezuela

• Earthquake strikes Venezuela oil port after US cuts off oil exports to China and seizes Venezuela heavy crude for itself. See also "Free trade".

• 11,000 Missing, 164 confirmed Dead, After Venezuela Earthquakes.
• Venezuela Kicks Out Clinton Foundation for 'Trafficking Children' Amid Earthquake Chaos. [41]

• WSJ op-ed: Venezuela’s oil boom under Trump collapses, per Wall Street Journal.