spinalcracker
Ground Beetle
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you make me sick
MIC
war is for profit
MIC
war is for profit
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Marine Le Pen: ‘If Russia wins the war, it will be catastrophic... if Ukraine wins, it will mean WWIII has been unleashed’
Story by Marc Bassets • 3h ago
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, during the interview in Paris on Tuesday.© Samuel Aranda (EL PAÍS)
“If I were president...” Marine Le Pen begins. Then she immediately corrects herself: “When I am president...” Unrest in France over the government’s pension reform has reinforced the chances of an election victory for the leader of the National Rally (RN), heir to the far-right party founded half a century ago by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. If Marine Le Pen were to face the incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a presidential runoff vote today, she would win with 55% of the ballots compared to 45% for the current president, according to a poll by the Elabe institute. At the last presidential election, in 2022, Macron prevailed with 58% support compared to 42% for Le Pen. Since last June, the RN has been the leading opposition group in the National Assembly, with 89 lawmakers who always wear ties ― the men, at least ― and who make a point of trying to avoid stridency, if not always successfully.
“We are reaping what we have sown,” said Le Pen, 54, in an interview held on Tuesday with several European correspondents from the LENA media alliance, including EL PAÍS. The gathering took place at a café near the National Assembly. “During the presidential campaign we planted an extremely serious, detailed project in which we anticipated problems that a year later turned out to be true. Based on this credit, and at the same time thanks to our respect for the functioning of the institutions, we have increasingly managed to earn the trust of the French people.”
Although the elections are four years away, Le Pen feels closer than ever to power. She believes that since she took over the reins of the party from her father in 2011, she has managed to un-demonize it. That is to say, to take it out of the corner reserved for ideological pariahs and make it acceptable to a good portion of the French population.
“In just a few years, we have gone from being the most-hated party in France to the most-beloved party in France,” says the leader of Europe’s largest far-right party, a description that she rejects. “We have never been on the far right,” she argues, because she is radically opposed to several principles that she considers characteristic of the extreme right, such as a rejection of the parliamentary system and of pluralism, and the use of violence. Le Pen goes even further: “We are not right-wing.” What is the RN, then? “I would say that we are national,” she replies. “We consider the nation to be the political heart of our project.”
And yet, the fundamentals of Le Pen and the RN have not changed. One is nationalism, and this is the reason why she she applauds Macron for distancing himself from the United States with respect to China, yet criticizes him for doing so in the name of European sovereignty: “For there to be sovereignty, a people is necessary, and there is no such thing as a European people.” Le Pen will not follow the path of another leader from her ideological sphere, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who assumed power on a pro-NATO and pro-EU message. “I am still a euroskeptic and every day that passes I am more so. Not skeptical about Europe, but about the political organization of Europe.”
When reminded of her former affinity with Russian President Vladimir Putin, she denies it with a smile: “You have the right to say it, but...” A few minutes later, upon hearing that she is “more of a Russophile,” she reacts: “I can’t let that be said about me.”
Le Pen has for years been the French politician most-closely aligned to Putin’s Russia. Her party received a €9 million loan from a Russian bank in 2014 and she declared that she shared Putin’s global vision. After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she has distanced herself and now declares: “I believe in the sovereignty of nations: if Ukraine wants to join NATO, if it is their will, I don’t see who can oppose it.”
“When a nation like Russia attacks another nation and threatens its sovereignty, there is no possible equidistance, you have to take a stand,” she adds, declaring herself in favor of sending defensive weapons to Ukraine, yet opposing offensive ones. Does she support sanctions? Yes, but not to the energy sector. So what is her proposed solution to the conflict? Negotiating peace. Now.
“If Russia wins the war, it will be catastrophic because all countries with a territorial conflict will think that they can solve it with weapons,” she says. “If Ukraine wins, it will mean that NATO has entered the war, because I am convinced that Ukraine, without the power of NATO, cannot militarily defeat Russia. And this means that World War III has been unleashed.” Third option: “If we continue to slowly deliver weapons to Ukraine, as we are doing now, then we are facing a new Hundred Years’ War [a long-running medieval conflict between England and France], which, considering the human losses, is a terrible drama.” Pressed to specify how she would resolve the conflict, Le Pen retorts: “I’m not going to give you a peace plan right here, on a coffee table.”
I suppose freezing over the winter and higher energy prices wasn't payment enough...?France, Germany not Doing Enough to Support Ukraine, Says Poland’s PM
Probably war crimes by the Ukrainian military that they'll blame Russia for.Germany has evidence of hundreds of war crimes in Ukraine
Story by Deutsche Welle • 58m ago
AGerman newspaper says investigators have received 337 leads relating to alleged war crimes by Russia's military over the past 14 months.Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has received 337 tipoffs about possible war crimes in Ukraine, Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported Sunday.
There are other vids of Russians showing captured books from Ukie elementary schools that teach children to hate Russians at an early age. Whole histories are rewritten to support this narrative.Exactly my thoughts
This came up on the Simplicus substack-
State of the War: Video Roundup
I thought maybe I’d start a new series where, to fill in the gaps between longer articles and SITREPS, we can parse out a few of the top daily/weekly videos with commentary, perhaps discuss the absurdity of them, etc. It would be a way for us to share more content and connect over it more often...simplicius76.substack.com
A shocking short video capturing the attitude of some Ukrainians ........
The power of the media eh ?
One of the most prolific pro-Russia propaganda channels is run by a US Navy veteran living in Washington
Story by hgetahun@insider.com (Hannah Getahun) • Yesterday 10:50 PM
A social-media account that spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine and pro-Russian war talking points was created by former US Navy non-commissioned officer, The Wall Street Journal confirmed in an exclusive interview.
- A popular pro-Russia social-media account is run by a Navy veteran, per reports.
- Donbass Devushka, whose real name is Sarah Bils, previously claimed to be from Eastern Europe.
- The account helped to spread the leaked Pentagon documents that were posted on Discord.
More:
Silly Russians, they oughta know Hilary and crew is the only accepatable source for US Nuclear secrets!the plot thickens like a spy novel...
the plot thickens like a spy novel...
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