March 8: Russia expands control zone around Ukraine capital UPDATED 9:50 PM ET

Update:

The SouthFront site is down.  

****

"The intensification of Russian operations in the directions of Mykolaiv, Kyiv and partly Kharkiv indicate that the operational pause taken by Moscow in these areas to hold negotiations with the Ukrainian government and try to establish humanitarian corridors (sabotaged by Zelensky & Co) is nearing its end." 

-- Quote from Russian Forces Expand Their Presence Northeast Of Kyiv, Continue Operation To Block Ukrainian Capital (Videos) South Front March 8

********

The Train UPDATED 6:20 AM Eastern Time

UPDATE 9:55 PM ET: The SouthFront site is down.

In Video: First Russian Armored Train Spotted In Southern UkraineSouth Front March 7

South Front has video of the train moving through the Ukranian countryside.  What does the arrival of the train mean?  SF explains:

"The launch of armored trains means that the southern Ukrainian region from Crimea to Mariupol has been completely secured by the Russian Armed Forces."

UPDATE 6:20 AM

RT has a more detailed and benign explanation for the train's presence:

A Russian armored train has been spotted operating in Ukraine’s south amid the ongoing large-scale military operation launched by Moscow in the neighboring country. The old-school hardware was used to provide cover for foreign nationals, seeking to evacuate from Ukraine, Zvezda TV reported Tuesday.

The train escorted some 248 foreign nationals from Ukraine’s Kherson region into the town of Armyansk, located in the northernmost part of Russia’s Crimean Peninsula. Footage circulated by Zvezda shows the train includes a soft locomotive, an armored car, an open armored platform, as well as an anti-aircraft carriage with multiple AA-guns and other cars.

[...] 

 Russian armored train spotted in Ukraine (VIDEOS) — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union March 8

Okay, but the train couldn't have been used for a humanitarian purpose if the region it passed through hadn't first been completely secured by the Russians.

See also:

Russian, DPR Forces Begin Mopping-Up In Mariupol South Front March 8 

War In Ukraine Day 12: New Stage Of Russian Operations Begins (Videos 18+)South Front March 8 

War In Ukraine Day 13: Mariupol Trap Closing. Eastern Front Next To Come South Front March 9 

Reports include videos, maps, photos. 

********

No wonder Russian troops headed straight for Chernobyl when they got to Ukraine

 Ukraine Reportedly Was Close To Obtaining Nuclear Weapons When Russia Decided To ActSouth Front, published March 6

[Report includes Russian Defense Ministry update on RU military operations as of March 6]

Ukraine was secretly developing nuclear weapons and it was close to obtaining them, Russian media reported on March 6 citing a source with knowledge of the situation in Russian security structures.

[...]

The source noted that Ukraine could also covertly acquire technology from the West for centrifuge enrichment of uranium and laser isotope separation.

Plutonium of the required quality was reportedly obtained from foreign states.

“According to available information, the United States has already transferred this material to its partners. There is reason to believe that in the “Ukrainian case” it was not without the participation of Washington,” the source said.

According to the source, the key role in the creation of a nuclear explosive device was assigned to the National Scientific Center “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology”. Assistance to scientists in the development of methods for the separation of isotopes of nuclear materials was provided by specialized structures of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in particular, the Institute for Nuclear Research and the Institute of Organic Chemistry located in Kyiv.

The Institute for Nuclear Safety Problems in Chernobyl, the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Kyiv and the Institute for Condensed System Physics in Lviv also participated in the work.

As a site for the development of nuclear weapons, Kyiv used the zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

“It was there, judging by the available information, that work was underway both on the manufacture of a “dirty” bomb and on the separation of plutonium,” RIA Novosti quotes the source.

The increased radiation background natural for the Chernobyl zone was used to cover this work.

On top of these in recent years, Kyiv has been actively interested in the topic of uranium enrichment and development of means to deliver nuclear weapons (i.e. missiles).

According to the source, Kyiv “covers” most of these developments by implementing joint projects with other countries. For example, in December 2013, Ukraine reached an agreement on cooperation in the rocket sphere with Turkey.

“The Ukrainian rocket and space enterprises Yuzhmashzavod and Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, which previously participated in the creation of the Soviet nuclear missile arsenal, had to play the main role in it,” the source said.

According to the source, the main goal of this cooperation was the creation of a mobile complex equipped with a solid-propellant ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,500 km.

Yuzhmashzavod is also involved in the development of the Grom-2 mobile ground-based missile system at the expense of Saudi Arabia. In the export version, Grom-2, according to Kyiv claims, will have a range of up to 280 km.

The report said that, according to experts, it is possible to modernize the aforementioned missile system in order to increase its firing range over 500 km (according to some estimates up to 1000 km). Since 2017, the Alibey missile range in the Odessa region was used to conduct flight tests of this missile technology.

“…Ukraine has been consistently moving towards the formation of all the necessary conditions for creating its own nuclear weapons,” the source said.

“According to the conclusion of Western experts, the Kyiv regime was closest to the creation of a nuclear explosive device based on plutonium due to its covert production from spent nuclear fuel stored in the country,” the source said.

The source emphasized that “Ukrainian specialists could produce such a device within a few months

“The implementation by Kiev of its extremely dangerous nuclear Ukraine project could become a reality in the very near future,” the source stressed, adding that the negative consequences of this development can hardly be overestimated."

 Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry released an update on the military operation in Ukraine:

• Forces of the Lugansk People’s Republic took control of the settlements of RUBTSY, KARPOVKA, MAKEEVKA, NOVOLOBOVKA, LIPOVOE, MIDDLE, GREEN DOLINA, ZAKABLUKHOVKA.
• Units of the Donetsk People’s Republic established control over the settlements of PEREDOVOE, KARIERNOE and RAVNOPOL.
• Forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic are conducting successful offensive operations on the western and northwestern outskirts of the city of MARIUPOL. The residential area ‘Stariy Krym’ was taken under control.
• Units of the Russian Armed Forces took control of the settlements of PRIYUTNOE, ZAVITNE-BAZHANNE, STAROMLYNOVKA, OCTOBER and NOVOMAYSKOE.
• On the evening of March 5, a massive strike was delivered targeting 61 objects of the military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This included 22 units of weapons and military equipment in an underground shelter, a brigade command post, 9 ammunition depots and 3 radar posts.
• On the morning of March 6, a long-range high-precision strike hit the airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in STAROKONSTANTYNOV. It was put out of action.
• Over the past day, fighter aircraft and air defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down four Su-27 and one MiG-29 aircraft in Zhitomir area, Su-27 and Su-25 in Radomyshlya area, one Su-25 in NEZHIN area, two Mi-8 helicopters in Kyiv as well as six unmanned aerial vehicles, including Bayraktar TB-2.
• Bomber and assault aircraft hit 3 Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile systems and 3 radar stations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• A missile strike also destroyed a S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.
• As of now, a total of 2,203 military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine were targeted. Among them: 76 command posts and communication centers, 111 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 71 radar stations.
• Russian forces destroyed: 69 aircraft on the ground and 24 aircraft in the air, 778 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 77 multiple launch rocket systems, 279 field artillery pieces and mortars, 553 units of special military vehicles, as well as 62 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Additionally, the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol city was resumed on March 6. A day ago, on March 5, Kiev forces already sabotaged the withdrawal of civilians from the area. Therefore, a new round of provocations is expected. Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and nationalist battalions blocked in Mariupol are not interested in evacuation of civilians because they use them as human shields.

[VIDEOS and PHOTOS]

[END REPORT]

********

WaPo: US piled lethal aid into Ukraine starting last year

As war loomed, U.S. armed Ukraine to hit Russian aircraft, tanks and prep for urban combat, declassified shipment list shows - The Washington Post

Declassified papers reveal extent of US military aid to Ukraine – media — RT World News

5 Mar, 2022 11:19

RT report: 

Declassified papers reveal extent of US military aid to Ukraine – media

Washington has gone to great lengths to prepare Kiev “to wage a hybrid war against Russia,” a major US news outlet has said

The US has drastically increased its shipments of lethal aid to Ukraine since late last year, including weapons and gear for urban combat, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, after viewing declassified accounting for transfers and sales.

According to the Pentagon's paperwork, from as early as December Washington had been actively equipping the Kiev government with shotguns, special suits for explosive ordnance disposal and other items useful for combat in urban areas – that's more than two months before the Russian invasion occurred.

And over the past week the deliveries of American arms to Ukraine intensified further, with Kiev getting Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems for the first time and boosting its arsenal of anti-tank Javelin missiles, among other things.

The list has illustrated the great extent to which the Biden administration “sought to prepare the Ukrainian military to wage a hybrid war against Russia,” the Washington Post added.

The delivery of weapons to Kiev is “a continuous process. We are always, always looking at what Ukraine needs, and we've been doing this for years now,” according to an unnamed high-ranking US defense official cited by the paper.

After the Russian incursion, “we have just accelerated our process of identifying requirements and accelerated our consultations as well with the Ukrainians, talking to them daily, as opposed to periodic meetings that we did before this crisis,” he explained.

Some $240 million out of the $350 million in lethal aid that had been approved in late February has already been supplied to Ukraine, according to a senior defense official.

This adds to around $200 million in military assistance that Washington greenlighted for Ukraine in late December, sending M141 single-shot shoulder-launched rocket launchers, M500 shotguns, Mk-19 grenade launchers, M134 miniguns and other gear to the country.

[...]

********

Ukrainian military destroys Azov battalion dug in at Mariupol

Ukrainian Armed Forces Destroyed Headquarters Of Azov Nationalist Battalion In Mariupol - ReportSouth Front published today.

The Ukranian military that is not nazified has been asking for a miracle. They are now seeing that Russia is giving them their miracle: the attack on the Azov Battalion is proof of this. 

I think Russia's patience and knowledge of the true situation in Ukraine is starting to pay off. 

Russia will not leave those non-Nazi Ukrainian troops in the lurch; the question is whether accomplishing this will take a war with NATO. 

Fingers crossed and prayers that NATO will wake up and back off and drag American warmongers back over the line with them.

******** 

When things get tough the tough get going. Next, ban on dog breeds owned by Putin

 

Ban on Russian Cats – Consortium News

Renaming Chicken Kiev, banning Russian sunflower seeds:

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is renaming its ‘Chicken Kiev’ products ‘Chicken Kyiv,’ to reflect Ukrainian spelling, and is also removing ‘Russian Standard’ vodka and Russian sunflower seeds from its shelves. [...]

‘Chicken Kiev’ to be renamed — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

Babylon Bee advises on how to protest Russia.

I can't wait until BB gets hold of the Russian cat banning news.

10 Ways YOU Can Protest The Russian Invasion | The Babylon Bee

As Putin's wicked forces of darkness bear down on the peaceful utopia of Ukraine, you may be asking yourself: "What can I do to help?" Fortunately, there are things we ALL can do to express our extreme displeasure with Putin that will surely have a powerful effect somehow! Do your part, citizen! 

Here are ten things you can do to protest Russia:

1) Return your Russian mail order bride: You may have said your vows, but she'll definitely understand when you tell her it's important to the war effort!

2) Pass over the Russian mob when hiring hitmen: You have plenty of other options, like the notorious Mexican cartel MS13 or Hillary Clinton. 

3) Disavow Communism: Really, you should have done this long ago.

4) Throw away all your Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Helper: Replace it with all-American Cheeseburger Macaroni flavor. Take that, Ruskies! 

5) Watch a bunch of 80's movies, but fast-forward every time a Russian is on the screen: Do not give them the honor of screentime.

6) Stop doing that one Russian dance where your squat and kick your legs out and shout "hey": We forget what this dance is called. But stop doing it. Now. 

7) Use the term "hurryin'" instead of "rushin'": These small sacrifices really add up. 

8) Buy ten million Adidas tracksuits so there won't be any leftover for Russians to buy: Actually, this might hurt the Ukrainians too, so never mind. 

9) Sell your vacation home in Moscow: (Bernie Sanders only)

10) Throw your big red fake reset button in the trash: (Hillary Clinton only)

Whatever you do, it's important to remember to always join in whenever everyone's caught up in a mass shared hatred of an entire people group. It's your patriotic duty! 

Ban on Russian cats: Do you get the feeling things have gone too far?

 No. this news is not from the The Babylon Bee | Fake News You Can Trust , although BB will probably get around to lampooning this all-to-true development in the quest to ban Russia from existence:

Ban on Russian Cats – Consortium News

********

Fog of War lifts, more or less, around Ukranian nuke plant fire

From RT, published today:

Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘shelling’ nuclear power plant — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

4 Mar, 2022 00:59

A firefight has been reported near Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant in Energodar

A fire broke out on Friday morning in a training building adjacent to the six-reactor Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which local Ukrainian authorities have blamed on shelling by Russian troops. Moscow had informed the international nuclear authorities on Tuesday that Russian forces had secured the territory around the plant and it was operating normally.

The plant is “on fire,” Energodar Mayor Dmitry Orlov claimed on his Telegram channel, blaming “continuous enemy shelling of buildings and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.” He did not give details as to which buildings might be on fire or whether there was any danger to the reactors.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service later issued an update stating that the blaze had actually erupted in a “training building” adjacent to the nuclear site, not the facility’s reactor buildings. While it noted firefighters were initially unable to respond due to the fighting, they were ultimately able to contain the blaze.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meanwhile, said no “essential equipment” had been damaged at the plant, adding that there has been “no change reported in radiation levels,” citing Ukrainian officials.

The six-reactor nuclear power plant is Ukraine’s largest. The territory around it came under the control of Russian troops on Monday, Moscow informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adding that the plant staff continued their “work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation.” All of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants remained under control of the national operator, Moscow noted.

Security camera footage from the plant indicated there was indeed a blaze on the premises, after apparent flares and tracer rounds had been fired towards one of the buildings. Ukrainian media reports earlier on Thursday claimed that negotiations with the local authorities had broken down and that a firefight broke out between Ukrainian and Russian forces controlling the surrounding area.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Friday that if the plant blows up, it will be “10 times larger than Chernobyl,” referring to the 1986 nuclear disaster. Russian troops secured Chernobyl last week and were jointly patrolling the area with Ukrainian security, Moscow has said.

[...]

[END REPORT]

SouthFront sitrep Russian operations in Ukraine, Day 8

War In Ukraine Day 8: Russian Forces Make More Gains In Southeast Amid Stalemate Near Kharkiv (Videos)South Front - March 4

See also:

Russian Forces Secure Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Expand Control Zone Near Kyiv (Video)South Front - March 4

And from Sputnik:

LIVE UPDATES: Fire Near Europe's Largest Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine Extinguished - 03.03.2022, Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)

History of CIA promoting Nazism in Ukraine

From MOA comment section:

A commentator at Escobar's VK page provided this outstanding nugget from the past [2016] that many never read or learned about, "CIA: Undermining and Nazifying Ukraine Since 1953":

"The recent declassification of over 3800 documents by the Central Intelligence Agency provides detailed proof that since 1953 the CIA operated two major programs intent on not only destabilizing Ukraine but Nazifying it with followers of the World War II Ukrainian Nazi leader Stepan Bandera.

"The CIA programs spanned some four decades. Starting as a paramilitary operation that provided funding and equipment for such anti-Soviet Ukrainian resistance groups as the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR); its affiliates, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), all Nazi Banderists. The CIA also provided support to a relatively anti-Bandera faction of the UHVR, the ZP-UHVR, a foreign-based virtual branch of the CIA and British MI-6 intelligence services. The early CIA operation to destabilize Ukraine, using exile Ukrainian agents in the West who were infiltrated into Soviet Ukraine, was codenamed Project AERODYNAMIC.

"A formerly TOP SECRET CIA document dated July 13, 1953, provides a description of AERODYNAMIC: «The purpose of Project AERODYNAMIC is to provide for the exploitation and expansion of the anti-Soviet Ukrainian resistance for cold war and hot war purposes. Such groups as the Ukrainian Supreme Council of Liberation (UHVR) and its Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN), the Foreign Representation of the Ukrainian Supreme Council of Liberation (ZPUHVR) in Western Europe and the United States, and other organizations such as the OUN/B will be utilized». The CIA admitted in a 1970 formerly SECRET document that it had been in contact with the ZPUHVR since 1950."

I would say contact was made well before 1950 by OSS sometime after 1943's incursion into Italy since Alan Dulles was involved in that region. Yet more evidence of Outlaw US Empire fomented terrorism aimed at Russia that also proves the existence of a longstanding policy of utilizing terrorists and the formal formation of a Terrorist Foreign Legion that was sent to operate in Eastern Europe and Central America--do recall the events in Guatemala that culminated in the 1949 coup and US-sponsored genocide there.

It's important to recall that Putin as a KGB member would have learned much of that background, which is why he's gone through great lengths to be patient with the great mass of Ukrainians who've been manipulated and exploited as expendable pawns that's part of the unpublished yet very important aspect of the underlying context in the operation to free Ukraine. 

[...]

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 3 2022 17:25 utc | 152

MoA - Ukraine Open Thread 2022-20 (moonofalabama.org)

For more on Nazism in Ukraine, see Larry Johnson's Yes, The AZOV Battalion is a Nazi Sympathizer - TurcopolierTurcopolier [Pat Lang's site] published March 2.

See also this explainer, published March 1:

Profile: Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment? | Military News | Al Jazeera

*******

Russian attacks focus on Ukraine airfields to stop incoming arms aid"

 

 Mar 1, 2022 @ 12:06

Russian attacks focus on Ukraine airfields to stop incoming arms aid - DEBKAfile
Russian forces were on Tuesday focusing their attacks on Ukraine’s airfields a) to sustain air superiority after disabling most of the Ukrainian air force and b) to block incoming  European weapons deliveries, especially anti-tank arms. Ukraine still has some aircraft capable of low-flying missions.

[...]

Israel's DEBKAfile sitrep Russian operations in Ukraine as of March 2

The nuclear threat looms large in Ukraine war rhetoric - DEBKAfile

[...]

The war situation on the Ukraine warfront on Wednesday is summed up as follows:

1.  Russian forces have completed their encirclement of Kyiv and armored troops are moving into its eastern outskirts. It is not clear whether they have enough strength to hold the entire capital of up to 3 million inhabitants to siege.
2. The Russians continue to pummel Khrakiv after capturing sections of Ukraine’s second largest city.
3. Reinforcements continue to pour in for the Russian forces holding the southern regions. Full control of the Crimea highway would open the way for Russian forces from Rostov-on-Don to cross over and capture Odesa.
4. The Russians are close to seizing control of another southern city, Kherson and its 300,000 inhabitants, the key to overwhelming Odesa and Mykolayiv.
5. Despite denials from Minsk, the Belarusian army is fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

[End Report]

H/T Moon of Alabama comment section 

MoA - Disarming Ukraine - Day 7 (moonofalabama.org)

"Russia’s grain shipments drop by half"

 And Ukraine has stopped shipping grain according to the following RT report, published today.

The decline in exports is due to disruption to both sea and river routes

Grain shipments from Russia have more than halved due to traffic restrictions in sea and river ports, the country’s grain union announced on Wednesday.

“Before the current situation [the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia], daily shipments of grain from Russia amounted to 100,000 tons. Now the volume is less than 40,000 tons,” the union’s president, Arkady Zlochevsky, said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Not only has navigation via the Sea of Azov, which hosts several large Russian ports, been halted, but also shipments on river-sea routes in the Azov Basin, Zlochevsky explained, adding that only long-term contracts were currently permitted to be fulfilled.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat, accounting for over 18% of international exports. Together with Ukraine, which has also stopped shipping grain, the two countries account for about 30% of global wheat supplies. The crisis threatens to push food prices across the world to an all-time high.

{END REPORT]

READ MORE: China lifts all restrictions on wheat imports from Russia

Russia is now exclusively a ruble country

 "Neither citizens nor companies will be able to pay in foreign currency"

Russia is now exclusively a ruble country — RT Business News

Scott Ritter: "Russia is overrunning Ukraine as we speak."

Scott Ritter knows what he's talking about. Latest interview approx. 4 AM Eastern Time today.

NATO Too Weak to Face Russia Scott Ritter on Russian Offensive - YouTube

********

 

More on Russian operations today, plus all Indians evacuated from Kiev

DPR Troops Prepare For Storm Of Mariupol. Russian Attack Helicopters Buzz Nikolayev Area (Video)South Front

See also SF's earlier detailed report:

War In Ukraine Day 6: Russia Changed Tactics And Succeeded. Huge Casualties And Humanitarian Disaster (Video 18+)South Front

From Sputnik:

approx. 3 AM Eastern Time

Indian Embassy in Kiev Closed, Diplomats Relocating to Western Ukraine, Report Says

The Indian Embassy in Kiev has been closed, with diplomats and staff members relocating to the western Ukrainian city of Lvov, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV's sources.

On Tuesday, all Indian nationals, including students, were advised to leave Kiev urgently by train or by any other available means. Within hours, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla announced that all Indian nationals had left Kiev.  [...]

LIVE UPDATES: European Gas Futures Price Breaks Historic Maximum at $2,226 Per 1,000 Cubic Metres - 02.03.2022, Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)

:********

Russian military makes its move

SouthFront has done a great job of reporting on Russia's complex military actions in Ukraine but has been very vocal for days about what the staff perceived as repeated Russian military screw-ups. Whether Russian tactics up until March 1 were indeed filled with mistakes or just careful to a fault given Russian objectives, South Front is now reporting in detail that the military did a sudden about-face and is acting with unerring efficiency.  

Here is the link to the lengthy report, which includes several videos that are generally 20 seconds or less in length: 

War In Ukraine Day 6: Russia Changed Tactics And Succeeded. Huge Casualties And Humanitarian Disaster (Video 18+)South Front published today. 

The "humanitarian disaster" is mostly directly due to the Ukrainian government's actions, which SouthFront details but which have been obvious for days.  As to the number of casualties -- "huge" is relative. 

********   

Ukraine Crisis simply explained

 Putin is fed up.

The U.S. Forest Service's Gordian Knot isn't limited to forestry

The John Batchelor Show / Fix America’s Forests: Reforms to Restore National Forests and Tackle the Wildfire Crisis (Audioboom podcast featuring Holly Fretwell, pictured above.)

From Holly's discussion with John Batchelor for CBS Eye on the World:

 "...there so many layered regulations that overlap each other that make it really difficult to get anything done on the ground.  We have the NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act], the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Forest Act, the National Wilderness Act -- the [Forest Service] has to abide by all these different laws. By the time you get done trying to work your way through that, you're kind of tied into a Gordian Knot ..."

So that's how the Forest Service came to use the term Gordian Knot, which is closely related to Analysis Paralysis, which Holly and her co-author Jonathan Wood explain in their report for PERC (Property and Environment Research Center), Fix America's Forests: Reforms to Restore National Forests and Tackle the Wildfire Crisis (perc.org). See the report for details, but this passage from it will get you in the ballpark fast:

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for instance, requires federal agencies to document and analyze the expected environmental impacts of their actions. The extent of analysis required can vary based on the degree of anticipated impacts. But for any project, NEPA compliance adds costs and can be a source of significant delay. For the most complicated category of projects, which includes large-scale forest restoration projects, NEPA paperwork takes an average of nearly three years to prepare.

Then what survives Analysis Paralysis is woven into the Gordian Knot, which is to say it's a wonder anything gets done to fix America's forests.

Now everyone is recognizing that a great deal must be done and quickly because the wildfires in America are at a crisis level. The federal government is overwhelmed by the task of curing what are very sick forests.

Holly and her co-author detail practical recommendations for restoring forest health that are summarized in John's discussion with her.  They cut through the Gordian Knot and get around the worst of Analysis Paralysis. Holly's can-do attitude gives hope that bureaucracy and special interests will implement the recommendations.

Of course, the Forest Service's Gordian Knot is not limited to forest management. Lawmaking in America's giant society has proliferated to the point where many laws overturn or block others from implementation, even when a new law is meant to fix an outdated one.

So, we are now less a republic built on laws as one that generates Gordian Knots.

********