There should have been 120 men in each of the battalion’s companies, but some companies' ranks dropped to only 10 due to deaths, injuries and desertions, he said
92% attrition rate.
I’d be deserting too.
Soldiers acquitted of desertion due to psychological reasons set a dangerous precedent because “then almost everyone is justified (to leave), because there are almost no healthy people left (in the infantry),” she said.
Grim.
Settlers malding
BBC - Anger and distrust among displaced Israelis at ceasefire deal
But surrender is exactly what Netanyahu is being accused of by his political rivals - and some of his political allies too.
One poll yesterday suggested that more than 80% of Netanyahu’s support base opposed a deal, and residents in the north of Israel - large numbers of whom have been evacuated from their homes - are angry too.
Nationally, the picture was more split, however. One poll showed 37% of Israelis in favour of the ceasefire, 32% against and 31% saying they didn't know.
Rona Valency, evacuated from kibbutz Kfar Giladi on 8 October last year, told me she wanted to go home, and that a ceasefire was needed, but that the idea of Lebanese residents returning to these villages gave her “a real sense of unease and fright”.
From Kfar Giladi there are clear views of the Lebanese village of Odaisseh just across the valley.
“Apart from completely erasing these villages, and having no people there, there is no real physical thing that can make me feel safe. It’s just, you know, hope.”
wtf it’s been almost 24 hours since trump won and the Ukraine war is still going wtf
The Ukraine War is Lost. Three Options Remain
Beebe says the West has an erroneous idea as to the very nature of the conflict. The US and the Europeans defined the Russian invasion as a “deterrence model problem” rather than a “spiral model problem”. In the former, the adversary is a kind of Hitler that must be stopped at all costs.
“We have internalised that model as a universal truth in international relations. We believe every problem that we’re facing is that deterrence model problem and we can’t possibly negotiate.”
In reality, Beebe says, the conflict conforms to what Robert Jervis defined back in the 1970s as a “spiral model problem” – where you have one state that attempts to enhance its own security by taking measures (for example, Ukraine joining NATO) that another state (Russia) believes are threatening. You get into a dynamic of action and reaction that can spiral to the point where you get into a conflict.
“When you attempt to deal with a spiral problem by refusing to negotiate, you make the problem worse on both sides. It’s like pouring gasoline on a fire,” Beebe says.
The former head of the CIA’s Russia desk argues that if we are to think our way out of the disaster that is Ukraine, the West needs to rediscover diplomacy and the ability to negotiate with geostrategic opponents. US triumphalism after the fall of the Berlin Wall led, he says, to the US feeling it could abandon statecraft.
“We no longer felt that we had to engage in normal diplomatic give-and-take, attempting to balance interests as well as balance power – the kinds of things that statecraft has involved for thousands of years. We thought that wasn’t necessary. Number one: we know we’re right.
And number two: US power was just so disproportionately greater than any other country’s power, we could simply impose our views, whether they liked it or not.”
The Ukrainians face a terrible dilemma. Most seem to realize the war is lost. Any attempt at negotiation with the Russians, however, would unleash internal pressures inside Ukraine that could lead to a coup, assassinations or other upheaval. The US won’t want the war to end before President Biden leaves office in January 2025 – and may prolong the agony, loss of life and the ceding of yet more territory to Russia for US domestic reasons rather than the best interests of Ukraine. Where is all this leading?
George Beebe sees three options. NATO escalates and becomes directly involved in the fighting – action that could have unspeakable consequences. More likely, Ukraine could suffer a collapse – a combination of military and political failure as the ability to put an effective army in the field is lost.
“If I am wearing my analyst hat, I would say the more likely scenario is Ukraine collapses and becomes some sort of dysfunctional ward of the West. We then have more or less a security black hole in the middle of Europe that causes real problems.”
Absent an agreed framework, other hot spots could flare at any time – including Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Kaliningrad.
The third option, and clearly the preferable one for Beebe, is that the West changes course and “picks up the phone”, ending its refusal to negotiate.
“The West has got to recognize that it is important for us to find a negotiated settlement,” Beebe says.
“We can’t simply say to the Russians, let’s freeze the conflict in Ukraine, and someday we’ll get down to talking about broader European security – ‘trust us’. That’s not going to work. We’re going to have to indicate that we understand that these issues are important and that it is in our self-interest to address them in a way that accommodates Russia’s core security interests. The Russians are not going to get everything they want out of this. Neither will we. Both sides are going to have to get their most vital interests protected in all of this. That’s a truism in diplomatic agreements.”
And that is how grown-ups talk.
Maybe you can suck my dick. The UNRWA is a humanitarian organization and the most humanitarian thing to do would be to support Hamas and the liberation of Palestine but unfortunately it seems they were just feeding kids.
Releasing names of 900 alleged Nazi war criminals who fled to Canada could embarrass federal government, bureaucrats told
Large numbers of soldiers from a Ukrainian Waffen SS division fled to Canada after the Second World War.
A list of 900 alleged Nazi war criminals who fled to Canada could remain secret as federal officials come under increasing pressure to censor the records because they could prove embarrassing to this country.
Those consulted included members of Canada’s Ukrainian community, records show, but Library and Archives Canada, also known as LAC, did not include Holocaust survivors nor Holocaust scholars who had advocated for a full release of the list of alleged Nazi war criminals, Jewish and Holocaust academics say.
Some of the individuals and organizations consulted by LAC argued against releasing any of the information, warning it could be embarrassing or lead to prosecutions of the alleged war criminals.
“A few stakeholders were concerned that the release of the report would result in new legal action (criminal prosecution, citizen revocation, or otherwise) being brought against the individuals named in the report,” a summary of the library’s discussions noted.
Other stakeholders who advised LAC worried the list would embarrass Canada’s Ukrainian community or be used by Russians for propaganda purposes, the records show.
Large numbers of soldiers from a Ukrainian Waffen SS division fled to Canada after the war.
Jaime Kirzner-Roberts of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Toronto questioned why survivors of the Nazis’ genocide campaign were not invited by LAC to give their views on whether the list of Nazis and their collaborators should be made public.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies was also shut out from attending the advisory meetings and was not aware they had been conducted.
In September 2023, Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledged “Canada has a really dark history with Nazis in Canada.”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-kamala-harris-polls-national-1947838
Kamala Harris' Lead Over Trump Being 'Steadily Cut'—Poll
According to a new ActiVote poll, conducted between August 25 and September 2, Harris leads Trump by 1.6 points, on 50.8 percent to his 49.2 percent, a lead within the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percent.
Her lead is down from the 5-point lead she had over Trump in ActiVote's last poll, conducted among 1,000 likely voters between August 15 and 23.
"Harris' poll numbers improved steadily for about three-four weeks after Biden dropped out, followed by a period of two weeks where it hovered around a 5-point lead. In the past five days that 5-point lead has been steadily cut to just under 2 percent," ActiVote pollster Victor Allis wrote.
Nancy Pelosi killed brat and now they don’t have any messaging strategy
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-soldiers-attacked-turkey-port-izmir
US soldiers attacked in Turkish port of Izmir
Turkey has arrested 15 members of a radical nationalist youth movement after they were accused of assaulting two US military personnel in the western city of Izmir, authorities said on Monday.
On Monday, a video circulated on social media showing alleged members of the anti-American Turkish Youth Union (TGB) attacking American service members.
One US serviceman tries to free himself from the gang but is unable to break their grip.
"Yankee go home! Yankee go home!” The men scream in English.
Several people are seen forcing a bag over the head of a person dressed in civilian clothes. One man unfurls a flag with TGB initials and a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey.
"American soldiers who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands cannot defile our country," the TGB said in an X post sharing the video.
The bag over the head referred to an incident from the 2003 Iraq war when US forces in northern Iraq arrested a group of Turkish soldiers, forced hoods over their heads, and held them for three days. The incident outraged many in Turkey and across the Muslim world.
“We can confirm reports that US service members embarked aboard the USS Wasp were the victims of an assault in İzmir today, and are now safe,” the US embassy to Turkey said on X. “We thank Turkish authorities for their rapid response and ongoing investigation.”
'Hamas defends Anatolia'
Erdogan says Turkey 'might enter Israel' as it did Karabakh and Libya
The attack came after the USS Wasp carried out joint training exercises with Turkish military vessels in the Mediterranean.
The drills drew criticism from some in Turkish media close to the opposition, which saw the American ship's deployment as part of the United States' support for Israel.
Since suffering significant losses in Turkey's local elections in March, the Turkish government has intensified its criticism of Israel and taken a series of steps against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed Hamas is defending Turkish lands against Israel, and that Israel - a close US ally - could attack Turkey if its not stopped in Gaza.
“Israel is not only attacking Palestinians in Gaza; [it is] attacking us. Hamas is the forward line defense of Anatolia in Gaza," he said.
The statement came as bilateral relations hit a new low after Ankara completely halted trade with Israel earlier this month, demanding an unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza Strip and a ceasefire.
"Israel will answer for the 35,000 Palestinians they murdered and the 85,000 people they injured. We will be on their backs," Erdogan said.
Israeli union leader says 'country is on its way to political ruin'
Histadrut labor federation chairman Arnon Bar-David announced at a mass protest in Tel Aviv, “This afternoon, I decided to halt the Israeli economy starting tomorrow morning. Some are upset that I didn’t call for a general strike sooner, but I’m here to ensure no one is left behind. Jews don’t abandon Jews—what’s unclear about that? It’s unacceptable for our children to die in tunnels due to political considerations!”
He added: "We refuse to remain indifferent to the fact that our country has become one of abandonment! The economy has also been abandoned. As head of the Histadrut, the country is on its way to political ruin. We must stop this …coalition money is still going to unneeded ministries. Tomorrow morning, all of Israel will not go to work…including ports, factories, and offices."
The strike will start at 06:00 local time on Monday with Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport closing also.
It’s very rare and a sign that the carrier force is overstretched with too many missions.
Earlier this year the US made a “show of force” sending 5 carriers to the pacific to “reassure allies”, to combat the “perception” that they were overstretched, but now with half the force undergoing maintenance and the other half engaged with Israel / Houthis / Iran / other more important business, it’s a very strong signal that the US is at the very limit of its capacity to project force.
US corps get more than 3x the subsidies than Chinese companies. The problem is they use this cash for stock buybacks rather than investment.
And that’s direct subsidies only, not counting rebates and tax concessions which are an order of magnitude greater. US companies are extremely coddled and subsidized.
North Korean troops so 'poorly trained' that Putin army yet to throw them into battle, say western officials
Schrodinger's army