Ever since it became apparent that Putin’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine was only ‘special’ in the sarcastic sense, there have been articles assessing whether Putin might reach for the nuclear button. Very broadly, these have come from two distinct camps: the military analysts, who’ve focused more on the practical limitations of tactical or low-yield nukes and who tend to think that Putin would have to be mad to use them, and political science types (what we used to call “Kremlinologists”) who’ve wondered whether he is that mad, and have tended to the view that he isn’t.
What’s slightly unusual about retired Brigadier General Kevin Ryan’s recent article in UnHerd – in which he argues that Putin will use “a tactical nuclear weapon” – is that he’s a former high-ranking military man who, instead of addressing any of the practical military issues of battlefield nukes, looks for signs and portents about their possible use in Putin’s public statements and the like. However, his interesting and varied military biography might suggest why – I think it’s fair to say he’s more of a politics/intelligence and Kremlinology guy. I had to go to his biography because I was rather startled by his assumptions about tactical nukes:
Today, a single nuclear strike in Ukraine could thwart a Ukrainian counterattack with little loss of Russian lives. […] Tens of thousands of Ukrainians will be dead, suffering or dealing with the effects of the explosion.
I find this startling, because he does seem to be saying that Putin will use, and will only need to use, just one tactical nuclear weapon – grossly overstating the effectiveness of a tactical nuclear weapon (which would have to be dropped on a population centre to kill so many people, for one thing). This is an important error, because the false assumption of the supreme effectiveness of tactical nukes undermines the entire argument. To illustrate my point, Freeman Dyson and the Pentagon’s ‘wise men’ undertook a study during the Vietnam War in which it was estimated that to be effective in conducting a bombing campaign like Operation Rolling Thunder, but using nukes, would require dropping 3,000 per year, and would only be effective in “stopping the enemy from moving large masses of men in concentrated formations”. With these and other political considerations, the analysts succeeded in discouraging anyone in the military from bringing it up again.
Of course, the Vietnam War is not directly comparable to the war in Ukraine, and this also ignores the other important reasons as to why tactical nukes are a very silly idea (which I addressed previously). But the point remains – with greater force, given Ukraine’s improved air defences – that tactical nukes are no wonder-weapon for Putin.
Why does the myth persist? I think it can partly be explained by psychology: we’ve been trained to fear not just nuclear war but also radioactivity itself for decades, and we thus exaggerate the effects of the weapons. Exploiting highly questionable or outright false ideas, themes and stories like ‘nuclear winter’ and the dystopic Lord of the Flies, the post-apocalyptic genre (whether it’s a nuclear or biological apocalypse) has been an ever-present facet of our shared cultural life for decades, and the Cold War is still very resonant for those of us who lived through it, or even a part of it.
Don’t get me wrong – a full-scale nuclear exchange would be so bad that it might be better to be killed in one of the blasts rather than survive. But we’ve become so, well, frit in recent years. Based mainly on the widely-debunked ‘linear no-threshold model’ of radiation exposure risk, the accident at Fukushima, instead of demonstrating how safe nuclear power is even when the power station is hit by an effing tsunami, had precisely the opposite effect, with people panicking just like during Covid. And, of course, Germany has now closed its nuclear power stations – presumably fearing some kind of wild scenario of the sort so falsely portrayed in the historical drama Chernobyl. It’s ’elf ‘n’ safety, innit – and part of the new millenarianism expressed through such public acts of penance and mortification as Net Zero and mask-wearing.
But it turns out that Russians are quite susceptible to nuclear fearmongering, too. There was apparently a comical example of this recently in Ukraine. Following the U.K.’s agreement to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium (DU) anti-tank rounds, Putin came up with some nonsense about DU being a “nuclear component”, which was followed by reports of Russian soldiers surrendering in larger-than-usual numbers (maybe only a couple of hundred at most, but still significant) rather than face these terrifying “nuclear” weapons – presumably forcing commanders to explain that Putin was once again talking rot. Unfortunately, I can’t verify these reports, so take them with a pinch of salt, but they seem somewhat credible. Of course, DU is not fissile and not a radiological hazard – the uranium having been depleted of its fissile isotope U-235 – but even by-products of anything ‘nuclear’ are scary to some people, so of course there had to be articles in the Western media explaining to us why DU isn’t dangerous.
In terms of what an actual nuclear bomb might do psychologically, I previously outlined the likely reaction of Russian troops to witnessing a low-yield blast, which I think would probably not be good at all – especially with their already very weak leadership, training, morale and unit cohesion, all of which are known to be important factors in these scenarios. And there is some evidence to suggest ‘[neuropsychiatric] casualty rates will be very high’ in a tactical nuclear war, although it’s important to note that such studies have focused on both sides possessing and using them. Nevertheless, while highly unpredictable, Russian use of tactical nukes would undoubtedly degrade their own combat effectiveness – perhaps very significantly. Because we’re all scared of nukes, and of radiation.
The reaction of the Russian population would likely be quite bad, too, because “[i]f there’s one thing Russians fear more than Putin, it’s nuclear war – and now he’s the one bringing it closer”. Putin has been playing the nuclear card in the hopes of bringing about Western capitulation, but Russians hear him too, and even the use of a single nuclear weapon could be the catalyst for his removal from office – one way or another.
With this in mind, it’s also worth noting that Russian nuclear doctrine would not allow Putin to use tactical nukes against Ukraine (even if they think parts of Ukraine are actually parts of Russia), since however you slice it, the ‘very existence’ of Russia is not at stake. The nuclear doctrine in its current form was written in 2010, having been made stricter than before – raising the bar to nuclear use – with Putin’s key ally and possible successor Nikolai Patrushev arguing for that change. The relevant wording was left unchanged in 2014, and because having a published doctrine that’s stricter than a country’s actual intentions would make no sense from a deterrence perspective, it’s therefore quite unlikely that the reality differs from the stated doctrine. Furthermore, the nuclear threats coming from Russia have focused not on Ukraine, but rather the West – and aimed, it seems, at stopping weapons deliveries.
Additionally, other steps would almost certainly be taken by Putin before the use of nuclear weapons could ever be contemplated: changing the law to allow conscripts to fight in Ukraine, ordering a full mobilisation, deploying many more military aviation assets to the war, ending the grain deal, and perhaps other things like attempting to breach the Montreux Convention to bring in more naval assets to the Black Sea, and probably also a demonstrative nuclear test in the Black Sea or Novaya Zemlya. General Ryan’s notion that Putin’s supposed deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus demonstrates an intent to use them – rather than an opportunistic ploy to bring Belarus into Russia’s orbit for good, and to threaten the West – makes little sense from an operational standpoint, but perfect sense from a political standpoint.
To be fair to General Ryan, he’s not arguing that we in the West should succumb to nuclear blackmail, but rather that we should plan a response. I take a very different view about the likelihood of ever needing such a plan, but of course it’s much better to have one and not need it than vice versa – and such planning will, presumably, already have taken place. Nevertheless, despite General Ryan’s stoic attitude, I can’t help but feel that raising fears of the nuclear genie being out of the bottle, as he puts it, tends to provoke a kind of anxiety that’s useful to Putin.
In much the same way that climate alarmists seem to care about people who might die in 100 years time from a slight change in climate, but who don’t give a damn about the people who die every year in the U.K. from fuel poverty because of their crazy policies, many people who talk about their fear of nuclear war (although not General Ryan) aren’t considering the people dying right now due to a collective fear of ‘escalation’, which has meant we didn’t supply Ukraine with the kinds of weapons they needed in a timely fashion. So Putin’s nukes have already been deployed, in a sense, because nuclear weapons are very good at deterring action – but never good to use.
Stop Press: The Sunday Times says the West should give Zelenskyy the weapons he needs to defeat Putin.
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I agree.
It seems unlikely because it just doesn’t look like a good option in any set of circumstances.
‘Defeating the Ukrainian army on the battlefield would require dozens of tactical nuclear weapons to achieve a decisive military effect – not just a single strike. In fact, the US Army planned to use 136 nuclear strikes to achieve a decisive result over a 60-mile-long front – and the front lines between Ukraine and Russia now stretch for almost 400 miles. The risks of radiation from this many strikes would be considerable, reducing their combat effectiveness and their already-low ability to exploit gaps in Ukrainian defensive lines. The radiation effects are not to be ignored, with immediate effects on all soldiers in the open regardless of their loyalty, as well as the spread of fallout into occupied Ukraine, and into Belarus and Russia, which would cause panic among populations already made wary by Ukraine’s strikes in Russia and occupied Crimea.’
‘…a counter-value strike against a population centre to seek a political termination of the war, or possibly to decapitate Ukraine’s government……..would obviously increase Ukraine’s will to fight and it would also increase global support for Ukraine’s struggle and make Russia and Putin himself a target for defeat for a massive coalition of countries including states that are currently neutral or even supportive of the war effort……..Moscow might well be on the receiving end of political, economic, and possibly even military retaliation.’
William Alberque 10 Oct 2022
Yes, I’d agree with that, with some caveats. I like Alberque. As regards Putin himself, I think part (or most) of his calculation would concern his own personal safety. He’d immediately become public enemy number one, not just in the West but also in Russia. I alluded to this, but perhaps I could have made it clearer that I don’t care what precautions are in place with respect to the presidential security service, or what they learned from the attempted coup on Gorbachev – he would be facing the possibility of serious assassination attempts from all sorts of groups around the world. And General Ryan is wrong to think that 7 billion people would be largely unaffected – they’d be very affected by the prospect of nuclear war. “Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?” doesn’t do it justice.
Putin can go to various places to escape but none look attractive. Beijing, North Korea or Venezuela all look bad news to me. Where else?
He could rock-up at Tony Blair’s place or MI6. Maybe get a job at BP.
Of course, probably the biggest caveat of all is that no-one believed he would go ‘the full tonto’ and invade either……
With that in mind, and in a spirit of comradely helpfulness to the readership here:
http://www.atomica.co.uk/shelters/main.htm
Sorry this gives me no joy..but the Ukrainian army is no more…..you are an utter numpty..the ‘rest of the world’ hates what you and your masters are doing… you lot pretend there is some ‘winning’ in this….when there clearly is not…..only death and destruction for the people you pretend you care about….
you are no different to people who say masks and vaccine work….
The mask slips….and not for the first time…..
Probably best to confine your comments to before ‘the cocktail hour’.
You condone death and destruction to people you don’t give a crap about..while pretending it’s something else..you will forgive me if I don’t give a crap what you think…
The vapours…..
..the moron….
The Gumby…..
..still don’t give a crap ‘murderer’…
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl4216817153/weekend/
..outlasted the pro-lockdowners, pro-maskers and pro-vaxxers , and I’ll outlast you…pro murderer…
Well done, Gumby. You’re a cartoon character with putty for brains…..
Putin won’t Go Nuclear because he isn’t stupid.
Let’s all recall which country is the only country to have actually used nuclear weapons.
Same country that for decades has had the most nuclear weapons hosted in other countries.
It currently looks like Russia has superior conventional weapons so I’d be more concerned a country with a greater enthusiasm for conflict is considering a nuclear option.
I think I know the point you’re making, but I will still ask: Which country has the greatest “enthusiasm for conflict”, DHJ?
Country is a bit broad so it should really be government as governments tend to represent interests other than that of the population of their country.
In terms of conflict, UK government would be high on the list if not the top. In terms of getting someone to go nuclear on their behalf, Zelensky gives the impression he could be the man for the job.
…could it be this one?
https://www.salon.com/2022/01/11/the-us-drops-an-average-of-46-bombs-a-day-why-should-the-world-see-us-as-a-force-for-peace/
The U.S. drops an average of 46 bombs a day: Why should the world see us as a force for peace?The U.S. has dropped at least 337,000 bombs and missiles in 20 years — and now clutches its pearls over Russia
Ultimately, the Kremlin is as well aware as anyone about the stretching of this particular ‘elastic limit’. If the Kremlin drops one nuke on Ukrainian territory, it becomes acceptable for other countries to do the same. Would the Kremlin benefit in the long term in a world where it becomes possible for China to drop one nuke on Taipei and N Korea to take out Seoul and Busan or Delhi take out Islamabad? Single nuke strikes would start happening everywhere, including Ukrainians sneaking a bomb into Russia.
It would have a huge psychological impact on the population of the planet far beyond 9/11, which has already massively increased the mass surveillance of innocent people by their own countries. It would turn the planet into even more of a paranoid prison camp overnight and likely be the end of the Russian state.
Almost no one thought Russia would full-on invade the Ukraine until it happened – Russian sabre-rattling and occasional raids on neighbours has been the norm for years and Crimea had a complex history – but I just can’t imagine a nuke, which would presage World War III, being used.
I made a point in my previous article that, actually, North Korea would be as unhappy about this as anyone – their advantage (like anyone’s) in having nukes is in deterrance, but if people start dropping them all of a sudden, the U.S. might have to take out Pyongyang. All sorts of pennies would start to drop.
Would one of those pennies be that America can’t ‘take out’ (in your Hollywood film version)…NorthKorea, Russia, China and Persia..all at the same time?
That was not a full on invasion!
I really hope Putin doesn’t decide to go nuclear. In particular, I hope he doesn’t drop them on Washington, Westminster, Ottawa, Canberra, Wellington, Brussels, Paris and Berlin. That would be terrible.
Cue the leaflets telling people to climb into large brown paper bags. To save granny, or something.
No doubt you also have traditional family values.
How would Putin cope if the EU was operating out of Strasbourg that day!!
No seriously, tell me about your traditional family values.
As nukes have been around for so long I had assumed that someone somewhere had analysed all these options from a single tactical nuke set off by misjudgement or accident through to limited attack and then major attack. I had assumed the west and each nuclear power had their own trip wires.
Now we know that prior thiunking, analysis and preparation are no guide to what the state might actually do (eg Covid!) who can guess on either side. Maybe if a nuke damaged UK interests we would have the spectacle of the likes of Sunak and Hunt chatting about how to react, ab initio. Please save us from these light weights.
If you listen to what the Russians have said, rather than what the West says they say, you will see that they have not ramped up anything other than increasing the number of serving men to a level that is sensible for a real operation, rather than the feint attacks planned (wrongly as it turns out) to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table. It almost worked but for the intervention of the West (UK/USA).
The side that has been ramping up the rhetoric, from goading Russia into an offensive operation to protect the Donbas from a clearly developing major offensive push by Ukraine against Donetsk and Luhansk, from “we will only supply defensive weapons”, to artillery, to missiles of increasing range and tanks, and now to F15s, is NATO.
Putin has on numerous occasions dismissed any thought of nuclear weaponry except when the very existence of Russia is threatened. It is Biden and his chums who have repeatedly and wrongly accused Russia of the threat, while in the meantime moving nuclear weapons, or at least vehicles with a nuclear capability ever closer to Russia’s border.
Ukraine is losing the war hands down except according to the propaganda from Ukraine and their sponsors. The sponsors are losing the war hands down too, as they have been substantially demilitarized and have suffered an equally substantial drop in their economies. China must be laughing at the way the USA has weakened itself and yet it is still talking up a conflict over Taiwan.
In the meantime Russia and the rest of the world is building an economic system that is an alternative to the American rules based dollar system, because the rules that it was based on are American rules and the rest of the world doesn’t see any advantage to them of working to those rules. America is not seen as even handed in any venture and under the new system of global finance, their influence will continue to decline.
Western military experts have been consistently wrong-footed by Russia’s actions, and they have particularly underestimated Russia’s ability to move their production to a war footing and to find alternative sources for components. Their production capability for both weapons and ammunition outstrips the combined resources of the West by a considerable margin. How many times have we been told that Russia has run out of drones and missiles only for another wave to occur. And how long has it taken for Russia to counter all the “game changing wonder weapons”?
As always, Rons provides a shallow, biased and ill thought through analysis based on one side’s warped view of the conflict
Don’t be annoyed, mate.
It is pity, not annoyance.
Not sure your native English really came across there, Ivan.
It is shame, Englisher.
It is strange, that phrase was commonly used by enemies of Britain who wore black uniforms in the last WW.
That is such a lazy trope these days, but then I wouldn’t expect anything different form you. 77 years a Briton, worked on a whole range of defence projects in the 60s and early 70s, both airfield defence missile and defence radar systems.
LOL! This is what utter desperation sounds like I suppose..it’ll be Orcs and Vatnicks next….maybe the DS was always ‘anti-vaxxer’ I’m beginning to wonder…..
…ratioed
Mate.
Yeah, “mate”. But could I ask you to raise this with your supervisor? I really think I deserve getting sanctioned by Putin, and it upsets me that I’m not. Deeply.
In fact, I often cry about it.
Have you had a few this afternoon – I know it is hot and sunny here (unlike Moscow where it is 10C and drizzling).]. You are not making a lot of sense
Glad we can be honest, you work for Moscow.
How about we might blow up Kaliningrad? Or kill Putin? Do you think we can’t?
An odd silence.
Who is this we, or are you confirming that you really work for the Western security services.
PS Doing either of those would be a real admission that the West is powerless to create a victory in Ukraine.
A good point, finally…..
The Russian prepared defensive fortifications look so strong that they very much put one in mind of the Maginot Line….
You seem to be in a minority.
Of course, the Maginot line was an entirely different concept with fixed gun emplacements and heavy fortifications, a bit like Ukraine’s defensive line across Donbas (how did that go?). The Russian defences are pretty much continuous and multi-layered.
Oh dear!
You missed the point…….again…….
You really are losing it this afternoon, Ian. I am kidding you about Moscow and boy, how you fell for it. I don’t know whether you know, but if you go on the internet you can get the weather for anywhere.
Currently I am sitting somewhere in the N Midlands looking out on my rather lovely garden having had toad in the hole made with pork and black pudding sausages from Morrisons. The sun is shining from a cloudless sky, temperature is still in the mid 20s and earlier I spotted what I think was a Bede BD4 heading north – my first ever sighting of a Bede.
An odd silence!
You do realise you started this “mate” business, which I find pretty irritating, as you seem to do, so why use it?
Have you raised it with your supervisor yet, Barney?
Ratioed
Gumbied…….
Rons is, in my humble opinion, a fully funded Zelensky suppporting WEF lick-spittle, pay it no heed.
You must be a British Leyland Maestro….
Don’t be so childish
No doubt your first name is Barney…….
Completely meaningless, like most of your comments.
Why not put on the fluffy bunny slippers and have a nice cup of horlicks?
..still, must be a tiny bit annoying you are well ratioed Every. Single. Time…..
‘Gumby’s legs and feet were made wide to pragmatically ensure that the figure would stand up…..’
Hours of fun…..
I don’t pay any heed, but I love winding it up, and I seem to have succeeding in spades today.
I am convinced he is the day’s click-bait special.
…ratioed….
100% correct. It’s a great pity the anti Putin Brigade don’t listen to what President Putin actually does say, it would save columns of newsprint.
In my view China is calling the shots on this, they are playing the peacemaker and they have time on their side. The USA/NATO are anxious to bring this to a conclusion and are acting ever more belligerent.
It is trade with China and the other BRICS nations that has meant that Russia has not gone under financially. China has done a deal with Russia for the Chinese use of the port of Vladivostok. China does not do deals like that without ensuring it has a finger in the pie. The BRICS group and its associated bank look to be expanding and ensuring that more Countries move away from dependence on the USA dollar. The longer the Ukraine mess drags on and the more USA/NATO pour money into that black hole, the more the yuan and the BRICS group go from strength to strength.
The Global Times is hardly the epitome of balanced unbiased journalism but I find it is useful to read and consider some of these events from a totally different perspective;
https://www.globaltimes.cn/
Utter tosh..including the article..not a whit of which stands up to any scrutiny. If you believe what Ryan is saying..then you might believe the conclusion.….but as I think the article is no more than the usual propaganda..(Russia upset, Russia losing, Russian mad)….then I take it with the usual pinch of salt…
Really? Russia is super-worried about the drone attacks….give me strength!!
Putin has no need to use any nuclear weapons..he isn’t being ‘beaten’ by Ukraine or the West..
This is what desperation sounds like..and everybody with a brain cell sees it for what it is……
Yet again, no call for peace, or cessation of the fighting..just more Western cheering -on of death and destruction in Ukraine, nicely tied up in the ‘we care’ hypocrisy and lies….I’m heartily sick of you all….
The fact of the matter is that, perhaps on the eve of a Ukrainian ‘schwerpunkt’ counter-stroke, Putin’s henchmen, Peskov, is on record as saying:
“All these (Ukrainian) territories are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation and they are all protected. Their security is provided for at the same level as [it is for] the rest of Russia’s territory.”
For those comrades who haven’t been paying attention:
https://www.subterraneanspaces.co.uk/nuclear-bunker-fallout-shelter
If it’s ‘on the eve’ does that mean it will happen tomorrow…? FFS put us all out of our misery and give us a date……
Study ‘Yom Kippur’
Is that the
winterspringsummer offensive that the West is expecting toretake Crimeacut the land bridge.The West, Barney?
Oops……
Yes, the West. You don’t really think Ukraine is acting under its own volition after all this time and billions of the West’s money.
Since the edit function doesn’t work for me, the West had expectations of for Ukraine’s “offensive”.
It didn’t start very well yesterday with 5 tanks lost in just one small thrust.
Maybe you should ask for help with the editing…….and much else….
If the edit button is blocked I start to wonder about the influence of the moderators/tech guys.
After commenting here for four years, and having been a subscriber for over a year, I think I know which button to press. You sarcasm falls on stony ground, and most of the people viewing this seem to think I don’t need any help, least of all from a disruptor and Ian Rons sycophant like yourself.
But you do need help……..
If you are as popular in real life as you are here you must lead a very lonely life. Still, I am glad you admit that I am English because I do not think they stock Horlicks or fluffy slippers in GUM.
Being popular on this kind of thread is to have been captured by ‘identity protective cognition’ at best.
That’s why you, Barney, and Gumby and all the rest of the hopeless numpties on here all say the same mindless nonsense, with zero evidence to back any of it up.
Get yourself a backbone and shoot for an independent thought for once…….
Ukraine is owned primarily by the USA ….to whom they are in so much debt..that their ‘sovereignty’ is a myth….they owe the IMF (USA again….) $360 million in surcharge fees..not loans…fees..just for 2023….and that’s only one thing…
Land is being ‘sold’ and not to ordinary Ukrainians…
https://off-guardian.org/2023/05/13/sowing-seeds-of-plunder-a-lose-lose-situation-in-ukraine/
..and we all know Blackrock are a cuddly investment group who’s only aim is love and peace..and giving to others….it’s definitely not to make money….
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/blackrock-plots-to-buy-ukraine/
Most of the ‘weapons and financial bundles’ that now come from the USA are loans..not gifts..more loans that Ukraine has to pay back….….this is besides the US backed Ukrainian Diia phone app..which basically makes everyone who uses it a digital slave to the Government… (and by extension..to the US)…something we are all against both in this country, and what in the USA would be seen as a massive infringement of human rights….but it’s Ukraine so they have to pretend it’s all OK….
Joseph Borrel stated last month….”“If we don’t support Ukraine, Ukraine will fall in a matter of days,”
D’ya think Joe!!
Just facts and common sense things anyone can read…
….but the death ghouls can’t believe or admit they have backed this monstrosity … and so double down and still want their ‘bread and circuses’ as long as it’s not them or their children dying….
THIS
“The extent to which the pro-Ukrainian camp simply lives in a hermetically-sealed alternative reality is astonishing to me.
The Internet simply made it easier to feed our confirmation biases.”
Raise concerns with your MP and see if they do anything more than take it under-advisement. There’s the democratic mandate.
While waiting for a response, see what they had to say about UK involvement in Yemen and if they were as proud of UK weapons used to create the “worlds worst humanitarian crisis” as Parliament was of its military support for Ukraine. Did they object to the UK arming Saudi, or were they strangely silent across the years?
For good measure, throw in a graph of BAE Systems share price for the last couple of years and ask about war profiteering.
Ian Rons is on the administration team of Daily Sceptic I believe, which in itself is worrying given his active participation in this post and the disgraceful language he has used.
He is remarkably reticent about his background, appearing as a blank entry of the “About Us” section of the FSU web site and he appears to have deleted his instagram activity.
As far as I can work out from snippets he has published over the months his background is in web site design and graphics.
His name also pops up inexplicably on the web site of of the Society for Psychical Research – I will leave you to draw any conclusions from that as I am not psychically endowed.
Yes, I noticed that the web has virtually no info on this character. That only happens when someone proficient has carefully scrubbed any trail (why?) or is using a false name (why?). Spooky.
From ‘About the Daily Sceptic:’
“So the Daily Sceptic includes sceptical articles by disaffected journalists and academics – including citizen journalists and independent scholars – about a range of public policies that are supposedly based on science or data or evidence, where ‘the Science’ is being invoked as a source of unassailable authority, but which often appear to be rooted in a covert political agenda. The idea is to challenge the new powerful class of government scientists and public health officials – as well as their colleagues in universities, grant-giving trusts, large international charities, Silicon Valley and the pharmaceutical industry – that emerged as a kind of secular priesthood during the pandemic, providing not just ‘scientific’ advice but moral guidance, too. And to challenge them on their own terms, much like the group of citizen journalists who successfully rehabilitated the ‘lab leak’ hypothesis after it had been designated a ‘conspiracy theory’ in the pages of the Lancet. (Scientific and medical journals will also be in our crosshairs.)”
These opinion pieces about Ukraine do not fit with the stated ethos of the site, so well expressed above. Undoubtedly there are major disagreements about the war, but I do not see what The Daily Sceptic has to add to the debate, and would respectfully ask that the Editor reviews future content against the aims set out above and acts accordingly. Otherwise, it will no longer be the site I joined.
Agreed. My heart always sinks whenever yet another ‘Rons’ piece parroting the MSM line is published … and in this one his responses to some of the comments reveal a boorish attitude. The only silver lining is that we get some sensible comments below the article.
Well said..maybe Rons and Monro could just DM each other, and save the rest of us having to read another regurgitation of a MSM article?
Maybe you could make a comment that is researched, interesting and informative…….or not really…..
Maybe you could make a comment that isn’t abusive.
Barney….I know you struggle with English, it not being your first language and all that, but over here asking for comments that are interesting, informative and researched is considered what we call normal, even if it does represent the triumph of hope over expectation….
https://youtu.be/wFhj5ECXE1w
a perspective from inside Russia, & the Russian people now, by Scott Ritter, ex-marine, who has been visiting Russia this past month.
It requires some adjustment from msm narrative!
I’m late to the party here and you beat me to mentioning Scott Ritter. Well worth watching. I’m sure the West’s leaders are very well aware of the reality of the situation which would seem to be close to the assesment of Mr. Ritter
The psychology of us sceptics continues to fascinate. If one can see through the deceit. lies and criminality of bigpharma/covid/mRNA, one can also see the climate/net zero scam for what it is (a necessity engineered by The RPTB to maintain their hold on their wealth/power in view of the imminent collapse of the capitalist/USA model).
So, why can’t the author and one or two others on here see through the “Putin/Russia bad/USA a force for Good, lol, lies perpetuated since the end of WW2? Nothing like a war though to save the USA from the dog’s breakfast of the western world which they largely created.
Yes and don’t get me wrong here I am forever grateful to Tobes and all at TDS (formerly Lockdown Sceptics) for keeping me sane over the last few years, seriously I don’t know what I would have done without them. But I can’t understand why Toby and Ian suddenly believe what they’re being told by the same government and MSM that has been telling them lie after lie over the last three plus years or more. Why do you suddenly start believing a serial lier? Very strange to me.
Agreed….I don’t know how they can ‘stopper their ears’ to the masses of information around them..it’s a stunning feat in wilful ignorance…
https://quincyinst.org/report/defense-contractor-funded-think-tanks-dominate-ukraine-debate/
I get the Russian perspective from a relative who is in Moscow at this very moment. Life in the capital is nothing like the picture the Western MSM paint. other than the fact that certain brands have disappeared (Macdonalds and the coffee chains being perhaps the highest profiles).
It is not grey and, as is the Russian way, if a regulation doesn’t suit the people simply ignore it.
The streets are not full of police – civil or secret.
The taxi drivers complain, but at the moment their grouse is about their GPS navigation not working because of drone electronic countermeasures (which is one of the reasons for attacking drones crashing in fields).
“given Ukraine’s improved air defences” (THEY HAVE NON LEFT TO SPEAK OFF)
Yet more total brain dead B.S from the brain cell of Ian Rons
Whst is the point of the stop press press?
tl;dr
Listen to Putin’s people:
‘Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the outskirts of Novodonetsk near Ugledar
As we reported earlier, the news from the front line Velikaya Novoselovka – Ugledar is getting more and more alarming every hour.
Unfortunately, @wargonzo’s sources also confirm the words of Alexander Khodakovsky that during the morning attack the enemy has some success.
According to our information, the neo-Nazis managed to enter the outskirts of Novodonetsk, now fierce battles are going on for control of the settlement, our units are doing everything possible to knock the enemy out of the village.
The situation is heating up. The attack is much more serious than yesterday.
@wargonzo‘
And then enjoy the silence……..
They had some success in losing 15 tanks, 250 troops, numerous APCs just in that region. There is a long way to go to the Sea of Azov.
It’s a long way to run…….
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, “The words on the prophets are written on the subway walls
In tenement halls”
And whispered in the sound of silence
The latest update is Ukrainians back on their starting blocks, between 25 and 30 tanks lost, some 60 armoured vehicles and around 2000 men all in Donetsk region. Attack north of Soledar repulsed with losses. I hope you have ordered a big supply of copium.
‘I think that Baron Munchausen (nom de plume ‘Barney’) can take a seat. And judging by what it says, we will soon get to the aliens with losses like that. To destroy 1500 people in a day, there needs to be a huge massacre along the 150km front line. Therefore I think this is just from the realm of wild, sloppy, fantasy. In fact, someone should add up all the numbers that Konashenkov provides. I think we have just destroyed the entire planet earth five times’ Prighozin 05 June 2023
Well done Barney Munchausen!
“This is possible [sic] the dumbest kill video of this whole war and I really mean it. This Russian Ka-52 attack chopper crew thought that they have targeted and destroyed Leopard 2 tanks (you read this correctly). Even a semi-professional can clearly see that these are agricultural harvester and sprayer machines. And as if this is not dumb enough, Russian regime bloggers like Kotsnews plus Ria Novosti issued this footage claiming exactly that,”
“Now part of the settlement of Berkhivka (settlement north of Bakhmut) has already been lost, the troops are quietly running away. Disgrace,” Prighozin
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Didn’t Bakhmut use to be Ukrainian?
Barney, you old silly billy…they were invaded…do try and keep up……