Kudos To James Clander For Pointing to Pepe's Excellent ...

 ... piece today at SCF. This is for those two-bit commenters who have the attention span of Joe Biden (or DJT). US was BEGGING Iran for negotiations since March 16th at least--three weeks! So, Pepe puts the record straight. 

The Epstein Syndicate begs for a break

We had arrived to a point where the death cult in West Asia was being crushed simultaneously by Iran and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; no matter the avalanche of spin, their cries begging for help played a significant part into Trump’s pivoting to a ceasefire. The Epstein Syndicate as a whole begged for it. Nothing to do with geopolitics, but with operational hell: the Empire of Chaos has run out of military resources. The ultimate give away was when the USS Tripoli retreated – under fire – to the depths of the southern Indian Ocean, complete with its 2,500 Marines on board. That meant the US Navy out of the war theater – except for subs with Tomahawks, roughly half of which go off-target with staggering (non)precision.

And the problems are far from over. Financial hell looms, whatever is decided in Islamabad and beyond, with $10 trillion in Treasuries to rollover in 2026. And the petrodollar is fast on the way to the dustbin of History. Enter, once again, the demented death cult. No one should ever forget. The Epstein Syndicate is non-agreement capable. And the death cult doesn’t do ceasefires: it does at best loopholes that allow it to keep killing everyone in sight. The writing is already on the wall. If the death cult blows up the ceasefire – which is already the case – Iran and Hezbollah will counterpunch, massively, without attacking American assets. Still, it’s way too early to affirm that the Baboon of Barbaria lost his war under every possible metric: moral; legal; political; economic; strategic.

This is for those who still cannot wrap their brains around what strategic initiative is. Iran has it, not the US, nor this peep-squeak Israel. I have to disagree with Pepe on the last point though. US degeneration into the at best second-rate power has been happening since at least 2008. It accelerated in 2014 and now, as Pepe himself notes:

So Civilization survives – for now. A few facts too. Fact One: the US is not a superpower anymore. Fact Two: Iran is back as one of the world’s top powers. Fact Three: Most of the gutless Gulf petro-monarchies will end up kicking out US military bases for good. Fact Four: Qatar and Oman will work out a security arrangement with Iran.

Per role of China--China IS vulnerable and she will remain vulnerable--it is a hard cold fact of Chinese geography and economy. In this case it needs to be stated that Iranian 10 Points are indeed peremptory and Iran was not going to allow for any type of a ceasefire unless all conditions are met. Teheran can count military resources extremely well and they know pretty well how many stand-off weapons are remaining in the US arsenal, especially against the background of the US (lack of) air defense. And here is an analogy which is not only inescapable but warranted--SMO. Witkoff can go to Moscow "to negotiate" whatever he and his orange clown want, but SMO continues uninterrupted. 

Related. We should not forget also that Vladimir Putin stated this on June 19, 2025: 

"You know, we once offered our Iranian friends to work in the field of air defense systems. The partners did not show much interest then, and that's all. As for the agreement you mentioned, on the strategic partnership [between the Russian Federation and Iran], there are no articles related to the defense sector. This is the second point. And thirdly, our Iranian friends are not asking for this. Because there is practically nothing to discuss," Putin said.

Guess from three times whose AD systems Iran has chosen, from July 2025. 

Iran will soon receive from China a batch of HQ-9 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) and Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles under an oil barter agreement concluded between the countries. As reported on July 8 by the Middle East Eye (MEE) portal, citing several diplomatic sources, Tehran needed urgent purchases of these weapons to accelerate the restoration of its air defense forces, which were seriously damaged as a result of the June Israeli raids. U.S. Arab allies are aware of Tehran's measures to "support and strengthen" its air defenses, and the White House has been briefed on Iran's progress on the issue, the MEE said. The HQ-9 is considered an upgraded analogue of the Russian S-300PMU1 air defense system, but using Chinese radars and electronics. The system uses a two-stage solid-propellant missile with a declared maximum range of 260 km and an altitude ceiling of 27 km. The estimated cost of one air defense regiment (27 launchers) is $1.5 billion.

"Considered" IS NOT actual combat performance. Pakistan's HQ-9s preformed dismally against Indian AF and its missiles, unlike S-400 with India buying five more batteries of S-400 based on combat performance and record. This is for those who want to look at actual combat data. Just saying. 

Does Iran feel lucky? 

Strategic Culture Foundation...

 ... editorial board wrote a magnificent piece for Victory Day. I suggest you read it all, but here is a very important paragraph:

The contribution to defeat Nazi Germany by American, British and other volunteer soldiers from Western nations was not insignificant. But the “second front” that opened with the Normandy Landings in June 1944 is ridiculously overblown by Hollywood and self-serving Western narcissistic propaganda. The long-delayed D-Day landings were a relatively supplemental part to the massive damage that the Soviet people had already inflicted on the Eastern Front beginning in June 1941. Between 80 and 90 percent of German military casualties were incurred from numerous phenomenal battles, from Stalingrad to Kursk, Odessa to Kiev, and many more. The defeat of Nazi Germany was not just an incredible military triumph, it was a victory over death, and not just for Russians, but for humanity as a whole. World War Two was the greatest, most heinous event in recent centuries, if not the last two millennia. The industrialized genocide of millions of civilians, the carpet bombing of cities, and the dropping of atomic bombs on innocents, all produced up to 70 to 100 million deaths. The destruction of life was unprecedented. Arguably, World War Two can be said to be the most catastrophic, evil event in human history. 

The reason I post this is because Colonel Macgregor yet again, at Judge Napolitano's podcast, referred to one of the most rabid falsifiers of Russian history such as Solzhenitsyn and, especially so, of the Great Patriotic War. This is one of the major reasons why Solzhenitsyn's mediocre writing has become a part of CIA's ops and his pseudo-philosophical drudgery was given wide circulation in the West. Why does Colonel constantly refer to all kinds of second-rate if not a-historical sources such as Anthony Beevor, clownish propagandist Norman Davis or completely ignores what Glantz and House had to say after 2010, is understandable. The editorial from SCF nails it, because it exposes West's propaganda which served only one purpose--to self-aggrandize and scare the shit out of own population with the myth of those Russkie barbarians who kill "tens of millions" of people in GULAG, who execute "one million" of own soldiers because of the retreats at the center of which is Nazi propaganda, which was used by... Solzhenitsyn himself, through concoctions of "professor" Kurganov (Koshkin)--a Nazi sympathizer and propagandist who found a safe haven in the US. How... expected. 

So, Macgregor, obviously, doesn't serve his reputation well, when he begins to discuss the subject which requires at a minimum a great knowledge of Russian language, literature, culture, idiosyncrasies and... real statistics which can easily be obtained in the Central Archive of Armed Forces of Russian Federation in Podolsk. I know, it is difficult to face realities of our times, but you see--I survived, and I lost way more than Macgregor can even imagine. So, vilifying, if not utterly dehumanizing Russian history and Russian people by repeating caricatures and Nazi propaganda is not going to remove the meeting with the reality and a historic mirror which the United States is afraid to look into.      

The defeat of Nazi Germany was not just an incredible military triumph, it was a victory over death, and not just for Russians, but for humanity as a whole. World War Two was the greatest, most heinous event in recent centuries, if not the last two millennia. The industrialized genocide of millions of civilians, the carpet bombing of cities, and the dropping of atomic bombs on innocents, all produced up to 70 to 100 million deaths. The destruction of life was unprecedented. Arguably, World War Two can be said to be the most catastrophic, evil event in human history. Thus, by the same token, the victory over the perpetrators should also be elevated to the honor of the most important liberating event. And never should it be forgotten that the Soviet people hold the honor of largely securing that victory for humanity.

But yes, it is, of course, Stalin who killed most Russians... in accordance to Solzhenitsyn. And no, Putin is not his follower, Putin was Director of FSB and he knows all too well who Russian "intelligentsia" and "dissidents" have been and are. He used Solzhenitsyn as a prop when political expedience dictated it--not to scare the shit out of Russian oligarchs, many of who loved Solzhenitsyn's scribbles--no, by far not all of them have been of Jewish ancestry--before Russian state recuperated and started getting back what rightfully belongs to Russian people. Most importantly--their historic memory in which Solzhenitsyn rightly occupies the place of traitor and vlasovite.