In Related News...

 ... about 404. 

In a June 16 interview with the news channel of Ukraine’s army, Armiya TV, an Azov commander admitted to his unit being used to prevent other Ukrainian units from retreating.  Dmitry Kukharchuk, the commander of the Second Battalion of Ukraine’s Third Assault Brigade, the current iteration of the neo-Nazi-linked unit, recounts a moment in 2022 when his unit was positioned behind a unit of Ukraine’s territorial defense forces (TRO) to prevent its retreat:

We [Azov] were motivational troops then. We then helped the 110th brigade of the TRO. I can't say anything bad about them, because for a TRO they fought quite well, but, again, as a TRO they had to be motivated. And then my detachment—I was then the commander of a detachment of 500 men—was evenly distributed along a 25-kilometer line….

“Motivational troops” appears to be a euphemism for a “blocking detachment” (also known as “barrier troops”), a unit positioned behind the frontline to prevent retreat. It appears that Azov’s “motivation” existed as an implicit threat, preventing the TRO soldiers from falling back.

In related news--the water is wet, the fire is hot and concrete is painful when you fall on it from 20 feet height. They have been shooting VSU cannon fodder in the backs since day one. And, in fact, it was also part of the training provided by the NATO "instructors" who due to them sucking at real war are very good at shooting at the backs of retreating troops. Public executions in a front of the units have been also a normal affair in VSU since day one. But give The American Conservative a credit, after 30 months of SMO they finally noticed. Does Estonian own this publication, if you know what I mean? Since we are at TAC. 

Reaganism is the same type of mental illness as is exceptionalism, so Doug Bandow continues to live in the illusionary world that if you somehow define "victory" you may get some sort of favorable result: 

The allies should lay the groundwork for negotiations today, when Ukraine’s position is strongest. It is still possible to preserve that nation’s independence and sovereignty, while accepting military restrictions and territorial losses. How much would depend on talks. Washington and Brussels should discuss possible economic and security arrangements with Moscow. For example, Ukraine could be nonaligned militarily—with Russia assured that it would not face a hostile state allied with America on its border—but still free to form economic and political ties with Europe. If Russia makes peace, it could be free to reengage economically and politically with the West. The allies could offer the return of frozen funds and property to Moscow and individual Russians. 

What Bandow doesn't understand is that Putin's "offer" was peremptory and that the West far from having a strategy--it is an unknown thing in Washington--missed completely, as is ALWAYS the case in the US--in fact, I think they teach that in USMA at West Point and in War Colleges--the nature of the conflict. Few people who do grasp this nature, they usually do not go far in Washington. So, wishful thinking is not a strategy and for Bandow, if he still didn't understand the issue--Russia is at war with combined West and she will not stop now until Western hegemony is over.