Tea at Trianon: Yet Another Escalation

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, November 22, 2024

Yet Another Escalation

From Leo's Newsletter:

First the Biden regime lifts the restrictions on Ukraine using U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia, making America a direct party to the nasty border war between Ukraine and Russia, and now Sky News reports that the U.S. is sending anti-personnel landmines to blow up Russian soldiers.
These landmines are banned in 150 countries, including the UK.
The U.S. and Russia have not signed on to this ban, but Ukraine has.
Susan Duclos of All News Pipeline writes, “this is yet another escalation by the U.S. in directly interfering in a war that holds no national security benefits to America. Interestingly, Ukraine is a signatory of the ban on the use of these anti-personnel lands, but is considering withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty, also known as the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.”
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, "Anti-personnel mines continue to maim and kill even after conflicts end, and it is mainly civilians who suffer the horrific consequences.”
Duclos correctly notes that the lifting of the bans on these two measures, U.S./U.K. missiles being used to strike within Russia, and the land mines, is guaranteed to make peace talks between Ukraine and Russia after Donald Trump takes office nearly impossible.
Even after Trump rescinds these latest permissions by whoever is controlling the decision-making at the White House (I believe it is most likely National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken who are running the show) Trump’s job of negotiating a peace deal becomes much more complex. (Read more.)

Also from Leo:

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a 7-minute speech Thursday and explained that Russia used a new medium-range missile with a hypersonic payload in its strike on Ukraine. It was essentially a test that worked perfectly.
As part of what Putin called a “combat test,” the hypersonic missile, dubbed Hazel, successfully struck a military-industrial facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the Russian president added.
The strike was a response to Ukrainian attacks on military facilities located on internationally recognized Russian territory, the president stated. Kiev’s forces launched the strikes on Tuesday and Thursday, using US-made ATACMS and HIMARS systems as well as British-made Storm Shadow missiles, he said.
The Storm Shadow attacks led to at least one Russian death and multiple injuries, Putin said. He said it is becoming a global war. (Read more.)

Meanwhile, Rand Paul tries to stop WW3.