Congress’s aid package encourages the president to seize frozen Russian reserves to support Ukraine. But the legality and desirability are both questionable.
REPO Act Lets Biden Boost Ukraine
The Wall Street Journal writer, Robert B. Zoellick, says REPO Act Lets Biden Boost Ukraine
Now that Congress has approved assistance for Ukraine, the Biden administration should forge a long-term economic and military plan that will sustain that country in its war of attrition.
If the U.S. continues to dribble out support, it would be making a huge mistake. American public support is likely to wane, and the Europeans are absorbed with internal debates. The nature of the war has changed—militarily, technologically and economically—over more than two years. President Biden’s reactive approach reflects his senatorial style: He waits for events, issues statements and fails to seize the initiative. Congress is giving him one last chance to be a wartime leader.
The aid package’s hidden gem is the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, or REPO. It encourages Mr. Biden to transfer frozen Russian reserves to a trust fund for Ukraine. Members of Congress from both parties recognize that taxpayers want Mr. Biden to use an estimated $300 billion of Russian money to sustain Ukraine economically before asking Americans to pay more. The administration has hesitated to take this step but must do so now.
Last year Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen justified inaction by raising concerns about how such transfers might affect the value of the dollar and the euro. But two years after freezing the Russian reserves, the dollar is stronger and the euro is fine—in part because the alternatives are poor. China’s yuan isn’t a trustworthy reserve asset. The world would be safer if countries realized that their foreign reserves would be imperiled if they invade the neighbors.
U.S. leadership would be welcomed by Central and Eastern Europeans, the Baltics, Nordics and some in Brussels. In every European security crisis for more than 70 years—Berlin in the 1960s, Euromissiles in the ’70s and ’80s, the unification of Germany and Europe in 1989-90, the Balkan wars—the U.S. had to push for allied action. During Mr. Biden’s decades in the Senate, he yearned to lead, not just talk about foreign policy. Now is his moment.
Zoellick Flat Out Wrong
The world would be much safer if the US minded its own business. It was US meddling in Ukraine, encouraging it to join NATO that led to the destruction that followed.
This does not excuse Putin, but it fully explains what happened. The US was meddling on the internal affairs of Ukraine and Russia and it backfired as is the usual case.
Second, the US the needs to be concerned of blowback for weaponizing he dollar.
Questionable Legality and Policy
Lost in Zoellick’s editorial BS is the simple fact that the legal grounds for the US or EU to confiscate Russian assets are questionable at best.
Second, even if one stretches the legal grounds, is it a smart thing to do?
Some Tips for Congress on How to Seize Russian Assets
Lawfare discusses both points in Some Tips for Congress on How to Seize Russian Assets
As I’ve written previously for Lawfare, the prospect of seizing Russia’s frozen assets raises serious legal and policy questions. In the United States, there are few historical precedents for such action and no established case law. At the international level, it would almost certainly require some progressive development in how states traditionally approach certain fundamental legal doctrines, like countermeasures. And many economic policy experts worry that weakening the extensive legal protections that the United States usually provides to foreign sovereign (and especially central bank) assets could discourage other foreign governments from continuing to tie themselves so closely to the U.S. economy, contributing to a broader trend of “de-dollarization” that threatens to weaken the U.S. economy and undermine the future effectiveness of U.S. sanctions. None of these factors is necessarily prohibitive, but they warrant careful consideration as policymakers make the difficult decision about whether and how to proceed.
Following its 2014 invasion of Crimea, Russia restructured its economy to insulate itself from the possible effects of Western economic sanctions and related measures. Unsurprisingly, a major part of this effort was to move most relevant assets beyond the reach of the United States. As a result, only a small portion of Russia’s frozen assets—as little as $5 billion—is reportedly within the reach of the United States. Most of the frozen funds are instead in the custody of foreign banks, predominantly in Europe, with the lion’s share held by Euroclear, a Belgium-based financial services company. This makes coordinated action with these governments essential if a meaningful portion of the $300 billion total in frozen Russian assets is going to be made available to Ukraine.
In theory, the United States might be able to compel foreign branches of U.S.-connected banks to deliver foreign-held Russian assets to the United States for seizure, a step that could increase the volume of assets within the United States’ reach (though it’s not clear by how much). The House version of the REPO for Ukrainians Act may hint at this possibility by expressly including foreign branches of U.S. banks within the scope of its seizure authority. That said, when the Justice Department explored this possibility in relation to Iranian assets during the Iran hostage crisis, it concluded that such a step may be more costly than it seems: Under the Supreme Court’s 1952 decision in Cities Service Co. v. McGrath, any banks that complied and were found liable for damages in foreign courts could in turn bring Takings Clause claims against the U.S. government, putting much of the final bill on the U.S. taxpayer. In short, there is no easy end-run around multilateral cooperation where the relevant assets lie overseas.
At a minimum, proceeding unilaterally in a way that reticent European allies may well see as unlawful seems like a poor way to persuade them to follow suit. But a multilateral approach would also help protect the United States’ own broader economic and policy interests. The greatest risk that comes with seizing Russian assets is that foreign governments will no longer see the United States as a safe jurisdiction in which to hold their own (particularly central bank) assets.
The most significant legal question raised by proposals to seize Russia’s assets is to what extent Congress has the legal authority to authorize the executive branch to seize foreign government assets. While not entirely unprecedented, seizing a foreign government’s assets is a step that Congress has rarely taken and that federal courts have not squarely addressed. In entering this unfamiliar legal terrain, Congress should be careful to rely on as narrow a claim of legal authority as possible. Not only will this contribute to a stronger legal case, but it will avoid the perception that Congress is ready and able to seize foreign state assets in other circumstances as well, which could unnecessarily contribute to the de-dollarization trend.
While there is ample case law supporting the proposition that Congress can authorize the president to seize foreign government assets, it applies only to a very particular set of circumstances: wartime. Chief Justice John Marshall first recognized this ability in his 1814 opinion in Brown v. United States, wherein he rooted it in both international law—which also allows for certain property seizures in wartime—and Congress’s constitutional authority to “make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water[.]”
The key takeaway from this history is that seizing Russian assets is not well-trodden legal territory. Peacetime seizures of foreign government assets have been pursued only a few times, each for the very different purpose of compensating U.S. nationals for their expropriated property.
Among the latter is the Takings Clause, which generally requires that the United States provide compensation where it takes private property for public use. While Brown and its fellow wartime precedents are a recognized exception to this requirement, the Supreme Court has firmly held that it applies to foreign individuals and corporations during peacetime. When analyzing a possible peacetime seizure of Iranian assets in 1980, the Justice Department posited that the Takings Clause would not apply because foreign government property was not private property within the scope of its meaning. The Supreme Court has never considered the question, though it has not interpreted the Takings Clause quite so narrowly in subsequent cases.
Given this legal uncertainty, Congress’s best strategy is to limit its actions to those that can be justified under either legal theory. Here that most likely means tying Congress’s actions as closely as possible to wartime precedents while limiting their focus to the property of foreign states (namely Russia). The former is not an easy task, as there are very good policy reasons why neither Congress nor the Biden administration want to suggest that the United States is at war with Russia (which it is not). But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has undoubtedly triggered a major foreign policy crisis of the sort often associated with armed conflicts in the past. Given this, asserting the authority to seize foreign government assets in response—particularly where they will be used to address the crisis in a manner consistent with international law, as is the case with wartime seizures—would arguably be a limited expansion of Brown and related case law. At the same time, only seizing foreign state property—something not strictly required under Brown—will also allow Congress to argue in the alternative that the Takings Clause isn’t applicable.
The goal should be to provide the necessary authorization to accomplish the objective of seizing Russia’s frozen assets while being minimally disruptive to the legal status quo as it applies to foreign states more generally. By contrast, providing a broader authorization than is necessary may in turn implicate the interests of more foreign states in ways they find concerning, increasing the incentive to disengage with the U.S. economy.
Unfortunately, the current House version of the REPO for Ukrainians Act falls prey to this temptation, as it authorizes the seizure of not just Russian assets, but those of any “affiliated aggressor state” determined by the president to have “provid[ed] significant material assistance to” Russia or Belarus. What this will mean in practice is anyone’s guess. Will it apply to China, a backer of Russia’s that is also a major investor in the United States? Or to India, Israel, or Turkey, allies of the United States that keep ties with Russia and haven’t joined multilateral sanctions efforts? Or to any country that still pursues any trade with Russia, which includes most of Europe (as well as the United States itself)? If such a provision were enacted, all of these foreign governments would have substantially greater reason to fear that their assets might become subject to seizure and thus would have a strong incentive to move those assets out of the reach of the United States. Nor would acting on this authority be easy to square with international law. For these reasons alone, such an open-ended provision should not be included in any authorizing legislation
Finally, both current versions of the REPO for Ukrainians Act take the unusual step of asserting that “[t]he confiscation of Russian sovereign assets … shall not be subject to judicial review[,]” except by “any private individual or entity … asserting due process claims[.]” The goal appears to be to avoid litigation challenges, particularly from Russia, its central bank, and other affected state-owned entities. No doubt this is intended to expedite seizure efforts by avoiding the delay and expense that litigation can entail. But it’s far from clear that such a provision is likely to be effective. Instead of avoiding possible legal issues, Congress should aim to resolve them and clarify the applicable legal regime as quickly as possible—a goal it can better achieve by expediting judicial review instead of trying to avoid it altogether.
Dangerous Precedent
Reuters reports Russia Says Seizing its Frozen Assets Would Set Dangerous Precedent
Any move by the United States to seize frozen Russian assets would be illegal, set a dangerous precedent and be challenged in court, the Kremlin said on Monday, promising that it would retaliate.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that included a measure for the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
A top Russian lawmaker on Monday said Russia now has grounds to confiscate Western assets after the U.S. legislation was passed. Moscow has already placed some Western assets under temporary management and forced scores of asset transfers from foreign to domestic buyers at discounts of at least 50%.
I agree with Russia for reasons eloquently stated by Lawfare.
Russia Seizes $440M JPMorgan Funds
In retaliation for the REPO act, Russia Seizes $440M JPMorgan Funds
A Russian court ordered the seizure of $439.5 million in funds from JPMorgan Chase’s bank accounts in Russia that the largest American lender froze after the Ukraine invasion, according to a court filing.
The Russian court ordered the seizure of all funds in JPMorgan’s Russian accounts as well as “movable and immovable property,” including the bank’s stake in a Russian subsidiary, according to a court order published by the Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, JPMorgan described VTB’s attempt to recover the money in Russia as a “blatant breach” of its agreement to have disputes addressed in New York.
Well la de da.
The move by Russia is a warning shot to the EU. Russia will confiscating (as oppose to freeze) any EU assets tied up in the EU.
What Does China Do With a Dollar That’s No Longer Risk Free? Buy Gold?
On Match 18, 2022, I asked What Does China Do With a Dollar That’s No Longer Risk Free? Buy Gold?
The reason for this topic has to do with the Fed’s unprecedented decision co confiscate Russia’s foreign currency reserves.
Not only was the action unprecedented, it was illegal.
The Federal Reserve Act mandates that the Federal Reserve conduct monetary policy “so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.”
Nowhere does the act give the Fed the right or power to confiscate the reserves of sovereign nations.
But that is exactly what the Fed did. If the Fed can do this to Russia, who else?
My conclusion now is the same as then. I pinged Michael Pettis at China Financial Markets who replied:
“I expect that this will continue as far as the official reserves go but, as you know, the hard part of reducing the US dollar component of your reserves is figuring out what the alternative should be, and with such high and growing reserves (once you include the indirect reserves at the state-owned banks) that is a very difficult question to resolve.”
De-dollarization is still difficult. But the US forced de-dollarization on Russia. So it can be done. Some Chinese and Indian merchants have reasons to do de-dollarize as well.
Note that I said “merchants”.
This is different from expecting entire countries from adopting the BRIC currency which does not even exist yet.
The Yuan Will Not Replace the US Dollar, Nor Will It Be Backed by Commodities
Don’t confuse a diminishing role for the US dollar with it’s demise as the global reserve currency.
I discussed this on August 25, 2023 in What Would it Take for a BRIC-Based Currency to Succeed?
Let’s call the BRIC-based currency a “Brick”. One measure of “success” would be use as a reserve currency in a significant percentage of global trade.
A second measure of “success” involves sanction avoidance. The second measure is far more likely to succeed for many reasons. …
Increasingly, the US is giving every nation on the planet a need for sanction avoidance.
The result is easy to see: The US Threatens to Sanction Companies That Don’t Give a Damn
Weaponization of the dollar may help Ukraine if the EU is foolish enough to go along. But it will not help the US or the EU.
“.When Russia is in control of Ukraine, it will dissolve all titles and debts as odious claims,”
Man, wouldn’t it be nice if Putin rolled in here as well!
“increasing the private loss of wealth even more.”
Fat chance. No real, actual wealth is neither created nor destroyed by mere BK. The only result being a transfer.
As of current, the far and away biggest gainers from idiotic debt levels, are governments; along with their leeching hangers-on in the Fed Welfare classes. Heck, things have gone so far now, that even a full bore nationalization would hardly steal any net real wealth from far and away most people, that what The Fed and Junta has not already stolen.
“Can the US Legally Seize Russian Assets?”
Of course.
Childish, made up nonsense branded “Law” being entirely, 100%, full stop arbitrary is, after all, a defining feature of all totalitarian dystopias such as “ours.”
USA confiscated German assets during WWII. One such was the Bayer Aspirin US business. Bayer did not repurchase the business until ~1987. In those days war was defined by a Congressional Declaration of War. Today USA is at war with Russia without the declaration. Please note neither Russia nor Ukraine have declared war either. Legal niceties are superfluous when it comes to nut cutting and killing. Cut Russia’s nuts off and we can discuss the matter at leisure.
Germany later lost the war. The outcome for Bayer would have been very different if Germany had “won”. The winner gets to decide what was or wasn’t legal.
In the case of Jake Sullivan/Vicky Nuland’s war in Ukraine, it is looking like NATO is going to lose. The winner gets to decide what was or wasn’t legal. Given Russia’s home field advantage, and the US track record in Afghanistan / Iraq … are we supposed to think the Russians will accept this theft?
Whomever wins the war will decide what actions were or were not legal, and Biden is unlikely to still be of this world by then. He’s a bit of a zombie president already. Even if NATO turns their Ukraine war around (see Afghanistan surge, Iraq surge, etc) – it will be Biden’s successor that will decide what was legal or not.
Russia does not have enough equipment to continue the war more than 18 months at the current attrition. Russia does not have enough men to continue the war for another ten years at the current attrition. Who is winning the war depends upon who is looking.
NATO was “winning” in Afghanistan for 20years. NATO was winning in Iraq for 10 years. NATO defeated Libya in mere minutes, but the conflict is ongoing. NATO defeated Syria over and over, and yet it is still undecided.
According to NATO generals, things are not going well for NATO in Ukraine. No one believes this is about Ukraine, its NATO versus Russia, and Ukraine is supplying dead bodies. I don’t know what is happening, but NATO generals are saying it isn’t good for NATO.
France’s Macron is floating the idea of NATO troops officially entering the fight, instead of being “advisors”. When NATO officially stopped advising Vietnam and relabeled advisors into soldiers, it changed nothing but the body count.
Few believe Macron’s idea was anything beyond hot air and rhetoric. There is no public support in France, in Germany, and most important no support in the USA. People who don’t get Bursima bribes have no horse in this race.
Russia is officially (by NATO counts) outproducing NATO in 155mm artillery shells by 5 to 1. Plus whatever they can get from China. Iran and Turkey officially are supplying Russia with drones, and its not really a secret that China is as well. NATO does not have the industrial capacity to supply its troops (or Ukraine) with sufficient weapons.
Ukraine is conscripting women and old men, at gunpoint, into its military. That is not the behavior of a nation that is near victory. It is an act of desperation… they are losing.
I’ve seen the same armchair quarterbacking bullsh!t from media outlets, claiming that Russia is 6 months away from defeat (6 months starting 2 years ago). Same people who said the surge in Afghanistan was working.
NATO made a huge, unforced error by allowing Jake Sullivan and Vicky Nuland to start a war in Ukraine… and 99.9999% of the world is still not getting Bursima bribes. We don’t care, and based on ratings most of us are no longer watching western media – the credibility is not there. Sure, they say Russia is months away from defeat, they have been saying that for two years.
Russia is going to win in Ukraine. Don’t know if they would win elsewhere, but in Ukraine they have overwhelming home court advantage (just as the USA had in the Cuban missile crisis). Putin is alive and functional, Biden is a drooling zombie. This is not a close call.
Good synopsis except for final statement but that depends on what you mean by “Russia will win”.
I think Ukraine will be split with Russia holding Crimea and parts of Donbas.
What remains of Ukraine will at some point join NATO.
Nobody wins completely in the negotiated settlement.
NATO has lost credibility, and many of Ukraine’s neighbors think parts of Ukraine actually belong to them.
Poland and Romania will take a good chunk of what is currently western Ukraine.
Russia will take everything to the east of Dniper River (they sort of did this already). Russia will also take Odessa and the entire Black sea coast line.
NATO may continue on paper, but as a group it doesn’t matter anymore. And with the UK and USA’s financial problems, even the US military isn’t what it once was. The Soviet Union is gone, and with it NATO’s reason d’etre.
Europe will probably resume buying Russian natural gas, at market prices (not the historical prices they were used to). If not, Europe’s forced de-industrialization will accelerate, and the EU will collapse without German export engine.
The USA has too much debt and too much inflation. Like the mighty British army of a century ago, the US military has been defeated by accountants and lawyers.
Afghanistan, Iraq,Syria,and Vietnam did not use Russian suicide assault tactics against modern weapons. Russian attrition is high because Russia attacks without regard to human losses. To date 450,000 dead Russians. Current attrition is 350,000 men per year equal to the annual number of male Russian high school graduates. The West can play this fun game for as many years as Putin chooses. Yes, indeed France, Poland, Finland, Sweden, and UK could and would send their own armies to Ukraine. They know what is at stake,and they know they have the same colossal advantage that Ukraine has so long as weapons are supplied.
Your scenario is false because it is based on bogus Western media reports, and your numbers are nonsense; the only people who have a good grasp of the losses on either side are the respective MoD, and they aren’t coming clean – so you don’t get to pull the number you like out of your (or Ben Hodges’) ass and use it as fact.
According to a French Intelligence document leak, the losses are FAR higher for Ukraine, and Russia is not using “human waves” to advance.
I know you want things to be the way you want them to be, but no amount of bullshit and temper tantrums will make it so. The USA has stepped in it (again), and Ukraine is paying the price.
Western media outlets have claimed Russia is months away from collapse for the last two years.
Macron and NATO generals say that NATO is losing. Macron even floated sending western troops into the battle – a proposal that went nowhere. He doesn’t even have support in France. Biden has no support for sending US troops. Its not going to happen.
Everyone has admitted that Russia is outproducing NATO in 155mm shells by 5 to 1, even before factoring in China’s assistance. Russia is getting far more drones (Iran, Turkey and China) than Ukraine (also Turkey, plus “US” drones made in China). Russia has plenty of soldiers in reserve.
Ukraine is conscripting women and elderly into mandatory military service, which is an act of desperation.
The supply of 155mm rounds becomes moot in 18 months after Ukraine destroys the last Russian 155mm howitzer. Attrition is 30 per day. Most motorized Russian howitzers are gone. Russia is using towed howitzers that take so long to move that they are toast after the first round. As you may know counter battery radar calculate the origin of incoming and a counter battery round can be in the air before incoming arrives. Expensive American howitzer rounds have circular error probable of one meter and ten meters. And it’s gone. Ukraine hasn’t been resupplied with those accurate rounds for a while. Instead they send a first person drone that costs less and does an excellent job.
Fortunately the only 155mm howitzers Russia has are the Western imports that have been captured. Probably with some 155mm ammunition.
Yes, Russians use 152mm and 120mm howitzers. Not so much anymore. LMAO
Nonsense. Their factories are producing record amounts of war material and their economy is growing. The US DoD estimates Russian KIAs at less than 80,000. It is the height of US arrogance and ignorance to keep treating Russia like it is inferior. All that does is add to the body count of dead Ukrainian soldiers.
Keep thinking that.
Keep storing your cranium in the distal terminus of your alimentary canal. You haven’t posted one true thing on this entire thread – literally 0 for whatever you’ve said.
Lol ! You must ve made this up while w ankin’
There we go again! A recycling of the same old “Russia is running out of…. <thingamajigs>” This crap has been going on since Apr 2022.
That crap has been going on since late 1945.
Actually there are legal niceties. Russia conducted plebiscites in Donbas that were likely correct where they declared overwhelming desire to join Russia.
This allowed Russia to legally authorize the Special Military Operation within the legal framework of the UN
Learn
BP and Exxon both have billions of assets in Russia, subject to seizure. Both are trying to sell, but they need Russia’s permission to do so. Russia is not required to recognize the new owners.
Many other natural resource companies are in the same boat. Billions are on the line, Russia could seize them at any time.
Airlines need to fly the “siberian highway” to fly between western Europe and China/Japan. Any airline that travels around Russia (instead of over it) is at a severe cost disadvantage. British Airways, Luftansa, AirFrance etc might as well surrender their Asian routes.
Most of the natural gas Europe used last winter was Russian gas, merely diverted through Turkey. LNG from the middle east has to pass by Yemen and the Houthi. US LNG supplies are insufficient to power Europe. Europe enjoyed a very mild winter, if temps revert to “normal” Europe will freeze to death.
Lots of loud mouths shouting threats, but when Europe and the US face serious choices (like having their children freeze to death) – it is highly unlikely they will support Jake Sullivan / Vicky Nuland’s war in Ukraine.
Remember, 99.9999% of the world is not receiving a penny in Bursima bribes
“I agree with Russia for reasons eloquently stated by Lawfare.”
For each action there is an equal and opposite reaction. JPM being an example. Workarounds to sanctions, another.
Action/reaction. “When goods don’t cross borders, armies do.” Recipe for World War 3. What is the economic reaction to the unsustainable parabolic growth in debt? Biden proposes 44.6% top capital gains tax. The equal and opposite reaction to wealth creation is wealth destruction.
“Russia Seizes $440M JPMorgan Funds”
ZH: JPMorgan said it faced “certain and irreparable harm…”
Does JPM get a government bailout from the tax payers?
That $440mm is just one loan with one Russian bank. JPM is on the hook for a LOT more. That $440mm is just a warning shot, which is why JPM is sounding the alarm.
Many other big US banks have syndicated loans. Many corporations depend, directly or indirectly, on Russian natural resources.
Once the rule of law breaks down, in big democrat cities in the US, or internationally with Biden’s theft … once the rule of law breaks down there is inevitable blowback.
Last year, the mayor of NYC was declaring “his” city (but not his own residence) a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. This year, he is panicking as NYC is overrun with exactly what the mayor wanted. Now he sees he made a huge mistake
Most folks that have a job and collect a paycheck really don’t understand how much a lot of businesses successfully operate on trust.
Now we know why China has been buying gold.
What’s this ‘legal’ thing you speak of? Just make sh-t up!
“Can the US Legally Seize Russian Assets?”
When, in human history, has the legality of anything stopped those at the top of the hierarchy from breaking the law?
The are merely digital credits, yes? It’s not like they are seizing pallets of rubles.
You say US meddling in Ukraine backfired but I believe it is getting everything it wanted. Not only the bread and circuses distraction for the US citizens but the attrition of the Russian economy. Attrition, by definition, means time. A quick end will not achieve desired results. The US wants the total destruction of the Russian system and is on track. Damn the casualties.
You idiots have made Russia more powerful today than at any point in my lifetime. They will only grow stronger from here. 1985 was a long time ago, they had their catastrophic reset and it’s only up from there. We’re headed for ours now.
The US needs to hurry before the US collapses instead of Russia.
Its theft.
And its having consequences, and the Russians understand this a lot better than the politicians of the west
The west is losing militarily, the west is losing economically, and the west is losing morally.
And the longer they continue in this vein, the worse its going to be for them.
sorry…..
The rule of the land today: if we don’t like you, you have no rights.
Mish for Secretary of State!
This is war. Laws don’t matter.
Is it a good idea to seize Russian assets? No. But the US does stupid stuff all the time like getting into this war in the first place.
NATO is losing this war, after losing if Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria and Libya.
The Taliban did not ask Biden how he wanted to govern Afghanistan after the US lost, and Russia isn’t going to ask either.
Putin can’t back down in Ukraine anymore then JFK could back down in the Cuban missile crisis. NATO is going to lose, and none of the “mental giants” in western governments have thought through how they will manage when (not if) the US loses again.
Russia would have a hard time fighting in North America, and would probably lose. But the US obviously cannot project power into Asia for the same reasons. The US is struggling (at best) to project power into Yemen and the suez canal, and shipping companies clearly don’t think the US is able to prevail (they are incurring massive costs to sail around Africa instead).
But, Russia is really, really bad, and we are really, really good. QED, Whatever we do is fine: start wars, support genocides, seize assets. It’s the neocon ethos, born of old Testament tribalism and Choseness.
Zoellick as deep state as it gets. Good old Bob was on the board at Twitter in 2018, probably prepping for the pandemic, censorship, propaganda and the transformation thing. Into the sea with him and the other imperial mandarins.
Leave Russian assets.Grab Iranian and Chinese assets.They are a bigger threat.
The world would be much safer if the US minded its own business.
—
The US tried this a few times and dictators literally ran over a continent. The one thing the US did wrong was propping up dictatorships of its choice rather than encouraging free and fair elections and human rights first.
Mish – I realize your perspective but history shows doing nothing until problems come to your shores is wrong. Current example is rampant illegal immigration over decades. This is what picking dictators in central America wrought. But some of these places have no form if government. It would have been cheaper to just try and foster better democracies everywhere.
“free and fair elections and human rights” are a fantasy, they only exist where their money to pay to enforce such things, and by implication that means financial and economic viability: the west is broke, and rights break with that.
History shows no such thing. Rather it shows Democracies alway concoct excuses for starting wars and behave badly. After all, you need to get the rubes on board with your nefarious project. As Herman Georing explains, its easy to stampede the sheeple.
link to goodreads.com
“The US tried this a few times and dictators literally ran over a continent.”
The U.S. ran over the North American continent from sea to shining sea, dictating to the original inhabitants, along the way. Germany was dictated to in the wake of WW1, which lead to a dictator leading Germany. Dictatorship ruled over the world during Covid. The WHO wants a One Health global dictatorship. I don’t see Biden fighting that.
When I “de-dollarise”, I usually buy Swiss Francs, which have done far better than most currencies for several years. Switzerland is a well-run, sensibly-regulated country, with sophisticated (if a bit old-fashioned) and private banking, plenty of gold, low interest rates, low unemployment; high costs, but high quality infrastructure, and maintains relative neutrality. It competes well with Singapore & NZ.
Plus most Swiss are tri-lingual.
In addition a lot of them also speak English.
Meanwhile … Tesla is dying … link to drive.com.au
hahahahaha
USSA has always determined that if what they want is out of bounds
MOVE THE GOAL POSTS
No, it’s not legal…
…and No, they shouldn’t.
1) demand for a BRICS currency and/or gold will skyrocket the moment frozen RU assets are liquidated.
2) demand for the $USD will plummet the moment frozen RU assets are liquidated.
the entire world will minimize/eliminate their exposure to $USD. Why? because holding an asset that can be seized w/o reason/due process is foolish, period.
seizing/liquidating RU assets would exponentially accelerate the erosion of the $USD.
a very, very, very dumb & short-sighted idea. so of course the dimwits in charge will do it.
There is no BRICS currency, and which of those BRICS nations would you trust with your wealth? Even their own people don’t trust them! They are busy trying to get their wealth out!
There’s no 100% guarantee, but CHF is a good one, one day the GBP might make a comeback once it’s been through it’s next destructive Labour Party period, and Reform replaces the Tories.
tiresome, childish pedantry.
everyone knows that a BRICS currency is just around the corner… and if The West steal RU assets, the plans/launch of the BRICS currency+settlement system will accelerate to warp speed.
the threat/option of a BRICS currency is more than enough to functionally isolate The West/$USD.
If you can’t see the obvious lines being drawn (US/UK/EU vs. the entire world), then you can’t be helped.
I do not think it will be that simple. The details coming in August but yet to be seen.
While the world now is quite ill-disposed to the US and its hangers on in Europe, the system has a great deal of inertia
Whether China and the rest can make a payments system and a currency to use for it remains to be seen
Also, there is a possibility that someone returns reason here and in Europe
Not much of a chance, but a chance
i hear you.
and if western sanctions vs. RU had shown any quantifiable “success”, then i’d share your caution.
but RU (and BRICS, generally) are unquestionably stronger now than they were pre-sanctions. western sanctions are a perfect backfire, and china’s recent struggles have served to better balance BRICS relationships & efforts, imo.
the west can’t wage/win a war militarily vs. the world, and they are now LOSING the cultural+economic war… in a rout.
the writing is on the wall.
a currency+settlement system is hardly a ‘moon landing’-level challenge. BRICS are now home to the balance of the world’s brainpower, and collective motivation/will among the group is only strengthening.
Russia has already confiscated assets from Western companies who left Russia after it started its war, it stole all its formerly leased airplanes, it steals grain and natural resources from Ukraine on a continuous basis. What do you do with a criminal, confiscate his assets if you cannot imprison him?
So not unlike America and the EU then?
The US government seizes property from US citizens also. They make the laws and break the laws. This is business as usual.
the rest of the world is not beholden to $USD as US citizens are.
the rest of the world can & will walk away from $USD the moment RU assets are liquidated, period.
…but walk away to what? It’s not going to be the CNY, JPY, or even the GBP at the moment. It’s not going to be the CAD, AUD, SGD, NZD, or SEK… there aren’t loads of options.
Cold War Version II
The Biden crime family has never asked whether stealing other people’s assets is legal, and they sure as heck don’t worry about whether its a good idea.
Congress does what the “defense” company lobbyists tell it to do. They don’t represent broader America
Here’s another one. Some nations may want to use the Arctic passage, kept clear by Russia (saves time and money, avoids mid-east attacks)….but you better be nice. They got the nuclear powered icebreakers. Maybe we confiscate your ship, tovarich.
So you casually advocate global nuclear war then?!
Please explain how you extrapolate this to advocating nuclear war.
No, no, comrade. Your cargo is stuck in ice or has breakdown. We will help for reasonable fee and return of our assets. This is Arctic, bad things can happen.
How does China react? I think if they do nothing, they risk looking like utter fools because They’re Next. Congress is setting up a trillion dollar claim against China for ancient railroad bonds. Also, who buys Treasury debt after this? I guess only the obsequious vassals – who else could have any confidence in the US?
The best reaction would be to sell goods to the US only for yuan.
Can Russia do piracy? Grab ships or aircraft? If interest rate shoot up, does the value of existing reserves crash? Finally, this is an utter trap for the EU in destroying the Euro as they hold most of the assets. How far will EU suicide – ordered by the US – go? I think All The Way, as they aren’t really sovereign nations.
The U.S. is getting to sanction China’s banks because China trades with Evil Putin, the New Hitler Ⓡ. Since China produces vastly more tangible items than the U.S., China will find a way around US sanctions. America shoots itself in the foot yet again.
CCP China isn’t doing so well these days…
When your government is run by Satan, as it now appears ours is, this type of irrational nonsense is to be expected.
No other administration has ever done more damage to the US position in the world as the current one.
“When your government is run by Satan, as it now appears ours is, this type of irrational nonsense is to be expected.
No other administration has ever done more damage to the US position in the world as the current one.”
I pray for you Russians, since the fall of the wall decades ago you’ve never had a taste of true Democracy.
The damage he’s done has been to Russia though, not the U.S. America has benefitted, especially in Nat Gas exports.
Blue blooded American. My family has been here for hundreds of years and I LOVE America, and especially the IDEA of America. Which no longer exists since the parallel unelected government known as the National Security State took full control.
I think you may be late for a meeting at Langley.
Tell that to the average German… they are not enjoying the economic impact of turning their backs on Russia only to be betrayed by America.
Putin was literally our guy. He was Yeltsin’s protoge. Good job Russia House.
Russia says freezing their assets is a dangerous precedent? What about invading a neighboring country and killing political opponents, Vladimir?
Yes, absolutely. If you declare someone to be evil, you’re allowed to steal from him. Makes perfect sense……………..
“Yes, absolutely. If you declare someone to be evil, you’re allowed to steal from him. Makes perfect sense……………..”
You’re evil.
Ah.. you must be from the government!
He may have had some political opponents killed, especially early in his reign as he was trying to consolidate power in a very dangerous country.
But not Navalny. He was a CIA asset and was likely killed BY the CIA to cast aspersions on Putin prior to the Russian election. Putin had nothing to gain at all and much to lose by his death.
As for invading Ukraine, you do realize the ENTIRE ^#*$(HFFE*&#$@ reason he did so was because the US refuses to grant that Russia has legitimate security interests in the countries that border it, especially ones like Ukraine the Eastern half of which is traditionally closely bound by and populated by people with close affinity for Russia?
Imagine China forced Canada into some alliance it had and was planning on moving offensive weapons and nuclear missiles into Ontario. What do you imagine the response of the US Government might be?
And this barely scratches the surface of the CIA and State Department and NSA led efforts to unravel Russia starting more than 15 years ago
And that Ukraine and its White Supremacist fascist elements (Azov, Kraken, Right Sector) were in the process of killing a lot of Russians that live in the Donbas? And setting up to kill more in early 2022?
Perhaps gaining some knowledge would be helpful
Hint, you will not learn ANYTHING useful by consuming any corporate news source in the US or Europe, all of which is controlled by CIA, State and MI6
Bingo Tom B!
And good post Mish; Golly, I hope they hold back and not do the Russian asset seizure (for the reasons thoroughly expressed in that Lawfare post), but Asset Seizure may play out as good Electoral Politics for President Brandon; he is also running out of money to bribe voters.
Navalny was not very left-wing, not unlike the Azov Brigade, but the wokefascists never let a minor detail get in the way of a media hitpiece smear campaign, do they?
So move to Moscow like Snowden ?
Snowden didn’t choose to live in Russia, Obama and Ben Rhodes made that choice for him. I honestly can’t tell if you’re just badly uninformed or a blatant bad-faith liar.
Be careful about making accusations based on media reports. The USA (really the unelected political bureaucrats Jake Sullivan and Vicky Nuland) started the Ukraine war in 2015.
If the US gets held accountable for the actions of unelected bureaucrats on the US payroll, we are in deep deep deep BS.
If you think JFK or the USA was right to stop Russian missiles in Cuba, you have to expect the same response when NATO puts weapons in Russia’s back yard.
If not, then you are saying JFK was a war criminal and US assets should be seized because of JFK’s “crimes”.
Or you could stop parroting media talking points.
2015 ? Ukraine had fixed elections thanks to Putin as far back as 2004. That’s when the backlash truly started. 2015 was yesterday. Gotta go back a few more weeks.
Russia shares a border with Russian and most Ukrainains in the east see themselves as Russian. At least they had a national interest in Ukrainian elections – what business is Ukraine to the US?
Iraq? Afghanistan? Vietnam? take your time…
Hey gang, we want you to use our dollar as the world’s reserve currency…Oh, but if you don’t do what we say we’ll club you with it like a baby seal! Sincerely, Team Freedom. /sarc
– Congress’s aid package encourages the president to seize frozen Russian reserves to support Ukraine. But the legality and desirability are both questionable. > Congress’s aid package is garbage. Garbage In/Garbage Out.
– Wall Street Journal writer, Robert B. Zoellick, says… > Who cares what Mr. Z. says or thinks?
– Last year Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen justified…> Who cares what Ms. Y. justifies?
– The world would be much safer if the US minded its own business. > Absolutely!
– This does not excuse Putin, but it fully explains what happened. > This does not excuse Biden or Zelensky either.
– Questionable Legality and Policy > The US (EU Via the US) doesn’t care about legal grounds. If Biden Inc. wishes to do so, then they will. Ramifications be damned!
– is it a smart thing to do? > Idiotic at best
– In theory, the United States might be able to… > In Theory?
– Dangerous Precedent > To say it quite mildly. Running out of other peoples money, is starting to look like a reality…
– The move by Russia is a warning shot to the EU. Russia will confiscating (as oppose to freeze) any EU assets tied up in the EU. > And Russia Means what it Says!
– “I expect that this will continue as far as the official reserves go but, as you know, the hard part of reducing the US dollar component of your reserves is figuring out what the alternative should be, and with such high and growing reserves (once you include the indirect reserves at the state-owned banks) that is a very difficult question to resolve. > Always the Wise One!
– Don’t confuse a diminishing role for the US dollar with its demise as the global reserve currency. > Most excellent point.
– Weaponization of the dollar may help Ukraine if the EU is foolish enough to go along. But it will not help the US or the EU. > The EU has been acting fairly foolishly of late, so this is probably a given…
These topics generate a lot of web traffic, FSB intel trolls, mainly…out of the blue, names comment that you’ve never seen here before.
Like you, for instance? Anyone can type any name in here, comrade.
I don’t recall you commenting on any of Mish’s topics on housing, CPI.PPI, GDP/GDI or economics.
I’ve only seen your name on Russia, Putin & Ukraine Topics, promoting Putin ideology & agitating the America political party least likely to yield to Putin’s influence.
What are your thoughts the the U.S. housing & labor shortage, do you prefer a Garrison, Colonial or Victorian….do you think Townhouses or Garden style is a better starter?
Have you noticed the disparity between the stock market and real economy?…Have you ever been to the U.S.?
.
Even more brazen is the confiscation of assets of Russian citizens. It apparently is okay to seize assets of “oligarchs”, who are private citizens and nothing to do with Ukraine, but okay since they are a disfavored class. Sort of like the German government starting seizing the assets of certain unfavored citizens, oh, about 90 years ago.
I didnt know there were any Russian citizens these days. Just people stuck living in Russia.
Trannies don’t like Russia because their army doesn’t pay for gender reassignment surgery. The only reason to join the U.S. military is to get your reassignment surgery paid for.
And dont forget PX pricing!
Idiot! Russians can freely travel and in some Egyptian Red Sea resorts they frequently are the most common overseas visitors. Also many people have chosen to move from Europe to Russia and taken out Russian citizenship in part due to the crushingly high taxes in places like France.
People in the UK are 6 times more likely to be arrested for online comments or public statements than Russians. More people are political prisoners in the US than Russia such as those in the January 6 show trials or trying to avoid a show trial like Julian Assange or Eric Snowden ( who fled to safety in Russia for daring to expose the deep state).
Then there is the show trial of Trump and whether you admire him or not ( I don’t) is just a high profile example of Lawfare to keep the peons under the states heel.
I didnt know there were any American citizens these days. Just people stuck living in America.
It is called ‘theft’ and it undermines the $. What country would want to hold $ if the USA can steal it? This undermines the world reserve currency. The USA is shooting itself in the foot.
Perhaps history will be the judge, very similar to when we could have done the right thing and let all those persecuted Jews come to America, or when we did the wrong thing, bootlicking dictators and tolerating the neo-Nazi groups (LosA had a big one) that roamed our country prior to WW2. The dictator Putin has attacked another country, raised multiple cities, and we’re worried about whether we should allow him to stay in our country club or not? Jim Rickards thinks we should bow to dictators because it will keep the peace. That used to be called something else.
You confuse bowing to dictators to minding our own business.
And had we minded our own business we might not be in this mess.
Had Zelenskyy not vowed to be in NATO, we also might not be in the same place.
Since you do not suggest how we pay for it, perhaps you should go to Ukraine.
My country, love it or leave it, Mike? 🙂 The Internet means lots of available history, and all the short-term decisions that ended up being bad. Have you heard? .. India is staring to stifle all other voices too .. we’re surrounded anyway.
If India stifles voices then who will Comcast have on their Customer Service Line?
Best damn reply I have heard all year! I had to google some Indian curse words just to put these unsolicited callers in their place…”CLICK”
You have such a great imagination, you should be a journalist.
“You confuse bowing to dictators to minding our own business.”
For a brief period in the late 30’s, Roosevelt agreed to start deporting German Jews at Hitler’s request to keep the peace.
Thankfully, he was convinced otherwise.
I don’t think we should have minded our business then, either.
.
As if you’re going to fight on the front lines.
Those who shout for war the loudest are usually the furthest away from the front line.
I’m curious as to why your name only pops into the comments when the topic of Russia comes up….
To answer your question, when Russia invades America, yes I will, and I hope to meet you there.
I have served my country before and would again if necessary, I assume you’re currently serving yours, at a computer.
.
So are you a pro-palestine leftist or a pro-israel leftist?
reminds me that famous joke in Northern Ireland about a jewish kid stopped by paramilitaries and upon protesting that he was a jew, they asked him “but are you a protestant jew or a catholic jew?”
Which side is the left on today? Did you download your opinion update yet?
“So are you a pro-palestine leftist or a pro-israel leftist?”
I’m an anti foreign government propagandist moderate Libertarian who see’s a red flag when certain names only pop up in this forum when “Russia” or “Putin” is the topic.
If millions of Ukrainian men don’t care enough about their country to fight for it then why the Hell should we?
There are undoubtedly millions of American men that wouldn’t want to fight if China or Russia were directly invading, that doesn’t mean we should allow an invasion.
Well, don t agree exactly with your ‘conclusion’ when watching the outrageous genocide by jews in Gaza ….The world would ve been better off with Jews dispersed all over the place , instead of allowing them to form a cruel, criminal mafia gang in Israel, among ‘primitive’ Arabs on top of that ….a text book example of plain stupidity ! ….
I have never, ever once agreed with you in this forum.
But, this one time I begrudgingly do, Netanyahu completely mishandled Gaza, he became as bad a Putin once he started targeting innocents.
Many of my fellow Americans feel it was justified, I don’t.
While I agree Hamas is pure evil, bombing hospitals, schools or residences with a population that’s 45% children is a line you can’t cross.
That puts Netanyahu at par with Putin.
.
LeBoo please perform the moral and mental gymnastics necessary to chastise “dictator” Putin for:
“attacked another country, raised multiple cities, and…”
And tell me what should be done to Bush and Obama and America for invading 7 nations and completely destroying them to the point of creating the largest human refugee crisis in history?
Who TF is America to talk about taking anything from russia/putin or any other country?
Cant stop trying to make the world a better place just cause maybe something failed the first time, Hank.
America is doomed
You can see the collective IQ collapse in comments from 2008 until today.
IQ’s are plunging. This has never happened before.
US is infested with working and retired federal employees and working and retired military zog bots who live off of the productive class. They contribute near zero to anything. Argentina flushed a bunch of their parasites and the economy responded almost immediately.
Mish! This idiot is one of those welfare recipients who lives off of the system. He’s not paying, he’s getting paid obviously!!
But I would not expect the parasitical – “order taking dolt” to understand any of this.
The fools who volunteer for the military are generally / not exclusively, the worst among us.
Sorry other opinions upset you so. Dad worked in a big oil company office like mine, and maybe Im wrong, but he seemed to accomplish even less in his PRIVATE employment than I did in the guv’mint.
I don’t get upset. I do feel sorry for people subjected to a system that produces ignorant, defeated and delusional people.
I’m a serial entrepreneur. I have never had a job that I did not create. I don’t want to pay for kids to die on foreign soil because their country was subverted by evil greedy fucks.
I don’t want to pay veterans $3,900 a month who claim full disability but who are in no worse shape than when they went in – homeless vets are homeless because that’s what they were capable of. I have ex military friends to whom this applies 209%. The number of Vets claiming disability is vast.
It’s a giant scam whereby the productive class
Is robbed for an evil system that gives marginal people immoral jobs.
Why is it that every one who claims to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, who came to this country with only $5 in their pocket, and say they never took one penny from anyone never goes into much detail about what they did that generated this risk-free mountain of income? Humanity is sustained by oil and farmland … and a whole lot of storytelling.
You state that your father accomplished less in the private sector than you did in the government sector is a physical impossibility.
You swallowed that “spreading freedom and democracy” propaganda bullshit huh?
Wow… and how about the tens of thousands of children vapourised in Nagasaki and Hiroshima? What’s your stunning and brave take on that one?
Bush & Cheney were dead wrong, divisive, deceptive and bloodthirsty, that doesn’t mean we accept the next Hitler.
WTF does that have anything to do with Putin. He is not a threat. The USA is the threat. Seriously what do you think we did to Iraq, and Afghanistan. Millions dead and 14 trillion USD down the shitter. Bush is who woke me up to the truth about how evil corrupt, and incompetent our govt is. WMD my ass. Ask any Iraqi if their country is better off after coke head Bush FUBB the country.
“WTF does that have anything to do with Putin. He is not a threat. “
It has become the number one reply from Russian trolls justifying Putin’s atrocities.
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What atrocities? Bucha? That was the Ukros. Putin proposed a totally reasonable settlement in Dec ‘21 and he was ignored by the Biden Administration because they were itching to “weaken. Russia”. In March of 2022 they had an armistice all but negotiated until the US nixed it.
The whole thing is basically a civil war and Russia stepped in to aid the Russians in the Ukraine. Plus, Biden refused to promise not to base offensive missiles in the Ukraine.
…. the next Hitler 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Bush Cheney invaded and destroyed 2 nations. Obama invaded and destroyed 5. You forget that or was it intentional?
I know marxist leftist don’t like to hear the truth about Obama bigger warmonger than bush cheney because that fuck “won” the unNobel Peace Prize
😂🤣😂🤣
Be honest…do you live in a van down by the river?
That’s an even lamer comeback than this one.
Saddam Hussein was “the next Hitler” and you bought into that one. You’re easily fooled, easily led.
Hitlerflation seems to be going through the roof these days… it’s like a Godwin’s Law derivative ETF… what happens when everyone is Hitler?! Seems to be where you’re heading.
The dictator Putin has attacked another country, raised multiple cities, and we’re worried about whether we should allow him to stay in our country club or not? Jim Rickards thinks we should bow to dictators because it will keep the peace. That used to be called something else.”
As an actual American, I agree, but commenting on these threads has become a PITA, loads of quasi American’s come out of nowhere to defend Putin, names completely new to this forum….
Oh knock it off with the Russian Bot insinuation. Or maybe you should comment under a real name.
F-ck no, in America we speak freely without fear of imprisonment or death, it’s in our Constitution, too bad if you don’t like it.
Well that hypothesis certainly seems to be being tested very frequently under the Biden administration: lawfare to the point of election interference, it looks like wokefascist neo-McCarthyism directed at phantom enemies both at home and abroad, with little sign of self-analysis and introspection, or self-awareness: like a mental illness.
Delusional or suffering from dementia? Look at what we have done, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya to name just a few recently. Not to mention how the US orchestrated a civil war in Ukraine to install a pro US govt, encourage the mass murder of ethnic Russian Ukrainian citizens, and provoking Russia by encouraging them to join NATO. What benefit would them joining Nato have been? Other than provoking war and mass murder of both Russians and Ukrainians. Seriously get a grip.
“ Look at what we have done, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya “
..Agree, America’s done bad things, and I remember when Bush “The Decider” refused to back down on Iraq, Dems warned we were going to hear about this as foreign despots used it as an excuse.
The funny part, when you point out that most of these incursions were Republican, they say “No, that was the Neocons”
..
Just my opinion, but I think Bush Jr. had a beef with Iraq due to the fact that Saddam was still in power after Bush Sr. oversaw defeating the Iraqis, yet Bush Sr. was ousted in the next election, losing to Bill Clinton. I think the Iraq war was false-flagged to get Saddam out of power. Just my opinion…
But Hussein was “the next Hitler” then, just like Putin is now.
We’re all Hitler now… if you dissent from the wokefascist opinion guide, you are every incarnation of evil in human history, apparently. It’s not a cult though…
Neocons in both parties, bought and paid for by their money masters the MIC. We have the best governemtn money can buy.
I mostly agree, but that when you mention to a Republican that Republicans bear the majority of fault in U.S. foreign policy blunders and war since WWII, they say it wasn’t them, it was “The Neocons”….and attempt to dilute “Neocons” with Democrats.
Just because people see things differently doesn’t mean you are automatically entitled to negate them – college students protesting Israel can see with their own eyes what is happening blaming protests on being funded by goblins, vapors and ghosts is bs
Same with Putin.
Russia did not subvert Mexico to place their weapons on our borders.
If you can’t see this your fake or a moron or deluded.
There is no other possible explanation.
“Just because people see things differently doesn’t mean you are automatically entitled to negate them”
Actually, yes it does, it’s a 1rst amendment thing, here in America.
Not since Biden.
Not everyone here is American, and not everyone here sees things the way you do. From the outside of your bubble world of Democrat-Neocon Pax Americana, you look like the aggressor, and Putin looks like the intervener stopping ethnic cleansing just like what happened in the former Yugoslavia. Why is Bosnia any different from this?
Not only does the US not have any business involving itself in a Slav versus Slav turf war (The Ukraine was just another region of Russia when my dearly departed grandfather was born in 1916) but even more than that, no one should blame Putin for doing the right thing by his people. Just as Americans would not tolerate Russian bases in Canada, Mexico or Cuba, Russians should be allowed to protect themselves from having NATO bases on all four sides. They have tolerated plenty NATO expansion as it is. Who are we to hold up this global double standard? In case you haven’t realize it yet, (you clearly haven’t) the US purposefully instigated this war by installing a puppet and thereby crossing the line that Putin said would trigger a defensive response. It all worked exactly out as planned and Zelenskyy is laughing all the way to the bank with your tax dollars. People like you fell right into the narrative trap.
It’s all about the money, everyone sees that… congresspersons just voting for more wine and honey for themselves via industrial-military-complex company’s who lobby relentlessly for more war, and then the constant and blatant insider trading, and they do not fear any repercussions, because of fear sticks and bribe carrots deployed liberally by liberals to indulge their depravities.