I suppose some might call it 'Cold War #2' though of course for Ukraine it fought with live rounds daily and increasingly takes on a new dimension in the Sea of Azov.
We have had alot of these threads before... I remember arguing in this forum (and elsewhere) that old Cold War, although it was a great victory, was not the end of the war - though at there were times when perhaps it could have been ended. All the Georgian War threads - the strategic control of the oil and gas pipelines (in Europe and the Middle East), the global discussion Muscovite motives, the nature of the regime, the Ukrainian war, the strategic importance of Belarus and the Suwałki corridor Moscow's moves into Syria after Obama flunked his 'red line', the Mueller Investigation into the Muscovite help for Trumpkin in the last US election - and the Brexit vote as well financing other authoritarian European Governments and parties from the Paks2 deal in Hungary to funding the Front National in France. Most recently the Skripals case of course which the GRU seriously bungled.
Well today the UK came out and called it and blamed the GRU for a host of cyber attacks. The Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:
I am glad that the UK and some others in Europe (the Dutch; https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...y-intelligence) finally have the balls to call a pig a pig.
Long overdue in my view but in general there were three waves (or perhaps four) 'waves' of people who warned before the threat took on the dimensions which it threatens today. The first were the old Soviet dissidents themselves - people like Bukovsky but they were followed by a new wave of dissidents - the Berezovsky's, Litvinenko's... Khodorkovsky got the gulag for a while but was released as part of the group, then after 2008 and the Georgian War (at which time I became convinced following as it did the 2007 Estonian mass cyber attack) those countries which were liberated by the first Cold War started warning that a new Muscovite Checkist Mafia threat was arising. Still nobody really listened. Finally there are the majority who have recognised the threat since the start of the war in Ukraine and all that has happened since.
Now at long last HMG says it openly and identifies the whole campaign that is being waged against the western democracies openly.
Again I sent this today:
The report he mentions you can find here in pdf: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/64419...c0b30c5873.pdf
I have always agreed with Bukovsky's argument myself: Suppose in 1945 the allies defeated Germany but left the Gestapo in place? That is what was done when the Cold War was 'won'; the Secret Police network was left in place - nobody got prosecuted or jailed for the millions they murdered, and within 9yrs of them was President again. Now they want a new USSR maybe.
None of this means a 'great war' is inevitable - only death and taxes are inevitable they say. They are not half so strong as the old USSR thanks to the victory of the 1990s upto 2014. Nor honestly can they hope to win any sustained conventional war which why they flout their nuclear weapons so often. Nor honestly is the regime as strong as it seems - despite all the murders and jailings of it's own citizens. Hell four years they said they were going to be in Kyiv in "two weeks" - reminiscent of Hitler speech that 'In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.' Ukraine can now take the offensive apart from in the naval sphere - and here kudo's to the UK again for sending a Naval Attache to Ukraine recently.
Most importantly the democracies have not yet even tried launching a combined 'truth counteroffensive' into Muscovy. Sure maybe it is not all about radio stations anymore as it used to be - it is all media and much of it that which we call 'social media'. But when attacked in this way - and in cyber etc - is it not time that the West not only defend itself - maybe such in things like 'Stopfake' (https://www.stopfake.org/en/news/) but also hitting back? This UK Government statement is perhaps a start but it will take a lot more.
We have had alot of these threads before... I remember arguing in this forum (and elsewhere) that old Cold War, although it was a great victory, was not the end of the war - though at there were times when perhaps it could have been ended. All the Georgian War threads - the strategic control of the oil and gas pipelines (in Europe and the Middle East), the global discussion Muscovite motives, the nature of the regime, the Ukrainian war, the strategic importance of Belarus and the Suwałki corridor Moscow's moves into Syria after Obama flunked his 'red line', the Mueller Investigation into the Muscovite help for Trumpkin in the last US election - and the Brexit vote as well financing other authoritarian European Governments and parties from the Paks2 deal in Hungary to funding the Front National in France. Most recently the Skripals case of course which the GRU seriously bungled.
Well today the UK came out and called it and blamed the GRU for a host of cyber attacks. The Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:
“These cyber attacks serve no legitimate national security interest, instead impacting the ability of people around the world to go about their daily lives free from interference, and even their ability to enjoy sport.
“The GRU’s actions are reckless and indiscriminate: they try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens. This pattern of behaviour demonstrates their desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences.
“Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international stability.”
“The GRU’s actions are reckless and indiscriminate: they try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens. This pattern of behaviour demonstrates their desire to operate without regard to international law or established norms and to do so with a feeling of impunity and without consequences.
“Our message is clear: together with our allies, we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international stability.”
Long overdue in my view but in general there were three waves (or perhaps four) 'waves' of people who warned before the threat took on the dimensions which it threatens today. The first were the old Soviet dissidents themselves - people like Bukovsky but they were followed by a new wave of dissidents - the Berezovsky's, Litvinenko's... Khodorkovsky got the gulag for a while but was released as part of the group, then after 2008 and the Georgian War (at which time I became convinced following as it did the 2007 Estonian mass cyber attack) those countries which were liberated by the first Cold War started warning that a new Muscovite Checkist Mafia threat was arising. Still nobody really listened. Finally there are the majority who have recognised the threat since the start of the war in Ukraine and all that has happened since.
Now at long last HMG says it openly and identifies the whole campaign that is being waged against the western democracies openly.
Again I sent this today:
The report he mentions you can find here in pdf: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/64419...c0b30c5873.pdf
I have always agreed with Bukovsky's argument myself: Suppose in 1945 the allies defeated Germany but left the Gestapo in place? That is what was done when the Cold War was 'won'; the Secret Police network was left in place - nobody got prosecuted or jailed for the millions they murdered, and within 9yrs of them was President again. Now they want a new USSR maybe.
None of this means a 'great war' is inevitable - only death and taxes are inevitable they say. They are not half so strong as the old USSR thanks to the victory of the 1990s upto 2014. Nor honestly can they hope to win any sustained conventional war which why they flout their nuclear weapons so often. Nor honestly is the regime as strong as it seems - despite all the murders and jailings of it's own citizens. Hell four years they said they were going to be in Kyiv in "two weeks" - reminiscent of Hitler speech that 'In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.' Ukraine can now take the offensive apart from in the naval sphere - and here kudo's to the UK again for sending a Naval Attache to Ukraine recently.
Most importantly the democracies have not yet even tried launching a combined 'truth counteroffensive' into Muscovy. Sure maybe it is not all about radio stations anymore as it used to be - it is all media and much of it that which we call 'social media'. But when attacked in this way - and in cyber etc - is it not time that the West not only defend itself - maybe such in things like 'Stopfake' (https://www.stopfake.org/en/news/) but also hitting back? This UK Government statement is perhaps a start but it will take a lot more.
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