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Articles Posted by hardspunned

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  • US Navy too slow, too outdated to match China’s surging fleet

    05/09/2024 4:02:38 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 39 replies
    Asia Times ^ | 5/9/24 | Gabriel
    Plagued by delays in ship repairs and outdated design practices, the US Navy faces mounting challenges in maintaining readiness and keeping pace with China’s rapid shipbuilding advancements. This month, USNI News reported that the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that fewer than 40% of US Navy ships had completed repairs on time, despite the availability of shipyard space. The GAO ranked shipyard conditions second only to F-35 Lightning II air fighter sustainment costs as the most problematic readiness issue facing the US armed services.
  • New McConnell-Johnson letter seeks info from Biden on the delayed weapons shipment to Israel

    05/09/2024 6:59:56 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 14 replies
    X ^ | AIPAC
    Delaying this arms transfer to Israel is a dangerous and counterproductive message. It emboldens Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, and undermines America’s commitments to all our allies.
  • The day after I vote against @SpeakerJohnson, AIPAC announces a $300,000 ad buy against me. I hope Americans see what’s happening here.

    05/09/2024 6:21:55 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 28 replies
    X ^ | 5/9/24 | Thomas Massie
    AIPAC super PAC set to run TV ads blasting Thomas Massie
  • Putin says there is 'nothing unusual' about tactical nuclear weapons drill

    05/09/2024 4:44:34 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 17 replies
    Reuters ^ | 5/9/24 | Guy Faulkenbridge
    MOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that there was nothing unusual in a planned exercise involving the practice deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in southern Russia along with ally Belarus. Russia said on Monday it would practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what the Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States. "There is nothing unusual here, this is planned work," Putin said, state news agency TASS reported. "It is training." Russia's defence ministry, in its announcement on Monday, explicitly linked the nuclear...
  • Volodymyr Zelensky has officially dismissed former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Valery Zaluzhny from military service due to health reasons.

    05/09/2024 4:27:16 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 9 replies
    Sputnik ^ | 5/8/24 | Sputnik
    Volodymyr Zelensky has officially dismissed former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Valery Zaluzhny from military service due to health reasons.
  • Russian Armed Forces deliver massive strike on strategic targets across Ukraine

    05/08/2024 6:51:07 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 33 replies
    Sputnik ^ | 5/8/24 | Sputnik
    Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones targeting energy and military-industrial facilities across Ukraine in the early hours of May 8. The strikes reportedly targeted five Ukrainian regions – Poltava, Kirovograd, Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, and Vinnitsa – as well as part of the Zaporozhye region currently under the Kiev regime’s control. Air defense systems were also operating in Kiev and the capital’s environs.
  • Russia Calls West Bluff; Threatens Strikes UK; Warns France Nukes; Massive West Climbdown: No West Troops Ukraine.

    05/07/2024 6:27:40 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 10 replies
    YouTube ^ | 5/7/24 | Alexander Mercouris
    Rus Calls West Bluff; Threatens Strikes UK; Warns France Nukes; Massive West Climbdown:
  • Today it was reported that an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Zelensky was thwarted.

    05/07/2024 2:00:18 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 47 replies
    X ^ | 5/7/24 | Military summary
    Today it was reported that an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Zelensky was thwarted. Two officers had planned a missile attack on him and other high-ranking military officials. Additionally, Russian forces have advanced 2 km westward from Ocherytne towards "Prohress". In Chasiv Yar, Russian troops continue their bombardments using FPV drones, artillery, FAB bombs, and the TOS1A system. In the areas around Kupiansk and Kherson, increased activity has been noted from both sides in recent days, particularly with Russian ground offensives towards Kupiansk. Furthermore, Russia and now Belarus have begun testing the combat readiness of their nuclear missiles, which can...
  • Key statements by Vladimir Putin at his inauguration speech:

    05/07/2024 4:44:37 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 91 replies
    Sputnik ^ | 5/7/24 | Putin
    🔺Russia itself and only itself will determine its own fate; 🔺Russia will pass through the difficult, milestone period with dignity and become even stronger, it must be self-sufficient and competitive; 🔺The key priority for Russia is the people's safeguarding, preservation of age-old values and traditions; 🔺Russia is ready to strengthen good relations with all countries, with the world majority; 🔺Russia will continue to work with partners on the formation of a multipolar world order;
  • Hamas claims to accept ceasefire, hostage deal; Israel: This isn’t what we agreed to

    05/06/2024 2:24:53 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 47 replies
    Times of Israel ^ | Lazal Berman
    Hamas on Monday evening claimed to accept what it said was an Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire and hostage release proposal, but Israeli officials said the Hamas terms did not meet Israel’s essential demands. “After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire, the ball is now in the court of Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it,” a senior Hamas official told AFP, soon after the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had announced its acceptance. But soon after receiving the Hamas response, Israeli officials said the terms Hamas claimed to have accepted...
  • IDF says it is operating against Hamas ‘in a targeted manner’ in eastern Rafah

    05/06/2024 12:44:43 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 9 replies
    Times of Israel ^ | 5/6/24 | Emanuel Fabian
    The Israeli military announces that troops are currently striking and operating against Hamas sites “in a targeted manner” in eastern Rafah. The IDF says it will provide further information on the operation soon. The announcement comes after Palestinian media reported a series of strikes in the area, where the IDF earlier called for civilians to evacuate.
  • U.S. put a hold on an ammunition shipment to Israel

    05/06/2024 12:17:36 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 21 replies
    Axios ^ | 5/5/24 | Barak Ravid
    The Biden administration last week put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-made ammunition to Israel, two Israeli officials told Axios. Why it matters: It is the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that the U.S. has stopped a weapons shipment intended for the Israeli military. The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said.
  • Medvedev gives warning amid talk of deploying Western troops to Ukraine

    05/06/2024 10:37:59 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 14 replies
    Tass ^ | 5/6/24 | Medvedev
    MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The deployment of Western troops to Ukraine would be akin to these countries declaring war on Russia, and lead to a catastrophe on a global scale, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. "Sending their troops to the territory of former Ukraine will mean their direct involvement in the war. We will have to respond to this. And, alas, not on the territory of former Ukraine," he wrote on his Telegram channel. He added that in this case, Western leaders "won’t be able to hide on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or on...
  • NATO starts deploying troops as Russia races to win

    05/06/2024 10:09:00 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 155 replies
    Asia Times ^ | 4/26/24 | Steven Bryen
    NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine. Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers. Although Russia says there are over 3,100 mercenaries in Ukraine, these newly arriving troops are not mercenaries. They are in uniform, home country proclaimed via insignia. They mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.
  • “You Have Been Warned”: Republican Senators Threaten the ICC Prosecutor over Possible Israel Arrest Warrants

    05/06/2024 9:20:02 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 26 replies
    Zeteo ^ | 5/6/24 | Zeteo
    A group of influential Republican senators has sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him not to issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, and threatening him with “severe sanctions” if he does so. In a terse, one-page letter obtained exclusively by Zeteo, and signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, Khan is informed that any attempt by the ICC to hold Netanyahu and his colleagues to account for their actions in Gaza will be interpreted...
  • Delivering a ‘True Promise’: an insider account of Iran’s strikes on Israel

    05/06/2024 5:37:44 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 17 replies
    The Cradle ^ | 5/3/24 | The Cradle
    Following the strategic success of Iran’s ‘True Promise’ retaliatory drone and missile operation in response to last month’s Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, The Cradle presents an exclusive insider‘s narrative provided by Iranian Member of Parliament Mahmoud Nabavian, a principalist who won the most votes in Tehran during the country’s March elections. His account of the retaliatory strikes against the occupation state offers unparalleled insights into the 13–14 April events. With access to military sources, Nabavian’s testimony serves as the most detailed view to date by an Iranian government official on Iran’s response, one that has sorely...
  • U.S. could allow for American troop deployment to Ukraine - Democratic House leader Jeffries

    05/06/2024 4:14:18 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 77 replies
    New Voice of Ukraine ^ | 5/6/24 | New Voice of Ukraine
    Should Russia succeed in its war on Ukraine, the United States will likely have to intervene with more than just money - but also with troops, said U.S. Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries. "We cannot allow Ukraine to fall, because if it does, there is a significant possibility that America will have to intervene in the conflict — not just with our money, but with our troops," he told CBS News.
  • Protesters gather in Tel Aviv to call for new elections and release of hostages

    05/04/2024 10:08:25 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 11 replies
    Times of Israel ^ | 5/4/24 | Iddo Shcecter
    Demonstrators are congregating at Democracy Square in Tel Aviv to protest against the government and call for early elections and the release of hostages held by Hamas, as reports suggest a truce deal may be looming. The protest is being organized by Change Generation, a movement founded after the October 7 attack, to demand the release of hostages and a change in Israel’s leadership.
  • Europe Is Playing with Fire, We Are on the Frontier between Peace and War, Warns Viktor Orbán

    05/03/2024 4:28:14 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 15 replies
    Hungary Today ^ | 5/3/24 | Victor Orban
    “The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs says that a large-scale European war is not a fantasy, and the Poles are already saying that there is no diplomatic solution to the war,” the Prime Minister noted on the program, adding that “Europe is playing with fire, we are on the frontier between peace and war.” As Hirado.hu reports, the Prime Minister recalled that once in 1999, our country managed to stay out of war, when an attempt was made to involve us in the southern Slavic conflict against the Serbs, which would have ruined Serbian-Hungarian relations and the...
  • Russian troops enter airbase in Niger where US soldiers are stationed

    05/03/2024 4:17:18 AM PDT · by hardspunned · 19 replies
    The Guardian ^ | 5/2/24 | Reuters
    Russian military personnel have entered an airbase in Niger that is hosting American troops, after a decision by Niger’s junta to expel US forces from the country. The military officers ruling the west African country have told the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington’s fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. A senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Russian forces were not mingling with US troops but were using a separate hangar at...