juillet 2023 july news

 July 17, 2023-From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov suggested that President Putin expelled the Wagner Group to Belarus to allegedly prepare for an attack against Poland during a recent appearance on Russian state television.

In other words the coup was a ploy. Like the Kyiv feint. Or Kharkiv retreat.

Last month, Putin exiled Wagner Group forces to Belarus following a failed mutiny against Russian military leadership that followed months of tensions which has seen Russian forces struggle to achieve their goals despite the vast size of its military. The attempted rebellion saw a breakdown of relations between the Kremlin and Wagner Group founder and leader Yevgeny Prigozhin , a longtime Putin ally. Meanwhile, much about the paramilitary organization's plans in Belarus remain unknown.

However, Kartapolov said during a recent appearance on Russia-1's Evening with Vladimir Solovyov that Wagner forces may be preparing for a new attack against Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Kartapolov's claims could not be independently confirmed and neither Putin nor Wagner leadership have signaled that there are imminent plans to invade Poland.

The rumor is preposterous. Russia cannot even defeat Ukraine much less Poland and NATO.

Kartapolov said Wagner troops were sent to "train" Belarusian soldiers in preparation for a potential attack against Poland to potentially seize control of the Suwałki Gap, a small but strategically important strip of Polish territory between Russia and the exclave of Kaliningrad that has long been a sticking point for Russia.

If Russia made such attempt, Kaliningrad would be lost. Possibly forever.

"It is clear that Wagner PMC went to Belarus to train the Belarusian Armed Forces," Kartapolov said. "Not only and not so much. There is such a thing as the Suwałki Corridor. You know very well what it is. Should anything happen, we need this Suwałki Corridor very much."

He added that the Wagner Group will be prepared to take control of the land in a matter of hours.

As the war goes on, the Russian propaganda becomes more and more preposterous.
The polls indicate the older Russians are still far more supportive of Putin’s war than the young. The old were brought up in a system where you did not question what the government said.

In a September 2022 poll, Russians – especially older Russians – largely believe that their country had to “fight back” against those that would seek to destroy it. In February 2022 – just before Russia’s latest invasion – 60% of survey respondents reported that the United States and NATO were to blame for the conflict in Donbas, where war has been raging since 2014. That figure was up ten percentage points from the previous November.

But this in no true for the young. They are more questioning and will be the ones sent to fight. They are the ones protesting and demanding an end to Putin’s war. Many are being conscripted and immediately sent to the front to die as punishment for their protests.
Former US President Donald Trump lambasted POTUS Joe Biden and called him “stupid” for revealing crucial secrets of the country.

The business-mogul-turned politician noted that the 80-year-old President was “stupid” to reveal that the United States is running out of ammunition.
Trump might going to jail, for storing state secrets in a ballroom. Uhh, the irony :-)
TRUMP
If Trump becomes president while any federal charges are pending, he will pardon himself and the proceedings will end. This would apply also to any convictions already obtained in federal court. The conviction would stand, but the pardon would wipe out any sentence.

The charges in Georgia (if any) and New York are a different matter, since his pardon power doesn’t extend to offenses under state laws.

If he is convicted, I should think the relevant courts, acting in the national interest, would postpone sentencing until his term is over.

Prosecutors would probably offer him an Agnew deal — plead guilty and resign to avoid a trial (or prison term).

I imagine he will appeal to the courts to set aside any state-level charges on the grounds that the president cannot be prosecuted during his term in office. If he loses, he will appeal it to the Suorene Court and try his luck there.
I would think that all this maneuvering would consume at least half his term, especially as other Democratic states seek to file charges against him.

In other words, it would be one hell of a mess.

KERCH BRIDGE
https://russiaandukraineconflict.quora.com/Why-dont-the-Ukrainians-take-out-the-Kerch-Bridge-properly-rather-than-just-causing-some-repairable-damage
I think that is all they have the capacity to do right now.

They won’t be able to drive another truck with explosives on it as they did last year.

It is too far for HIMARS. For the range and accuracy they need, drones may be all they have.

And the drones they have cannot carry the explosives needed.