A Tweet from NATO appears to back a negotiated peace in Ukraine. That was followed hours later by an official denial. What gives?
Please consider this Tweet followed much later by an official denial.
“Ukraine has taken back more than half of its territory seized by Russia’s forces since February 2022. In this tough and dynamic battle, Ukraine’s soldiers are fighting bravely every single day, and they continue to inspire the world with their bravery and courage. We will continue to support them to be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table when the time comes. We continue to stand #UnitedWithUkraine while they defend their freedom.”
The Official Denial
“Let’s be clear: we reaffirm our enduring commitment to Ukraine and its people. A just and durable peace means not caving to Russia’s brazen attempts to redraw borders by force. This battle is not over, it is winnable. We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Key Words
The key words are “redraw borders by force”.
What about redrawing the borders by negotiation?
What Does Biden Want?
That’s unclear, but I am sure of what he doesn’t want, a messy war heading into the 2024 Presidential election.
Biden now has two wars on his hands, one in Israel and the other in Ukraine.
What’s Guaranteed to Happen?
I have written about this many times before. There is going to be a negotiated settlement that is not going to fully please anyone.
When? It will happen after both sides have had enough of destruction and lives lost, likely accelerated by political events in the US.
On What Basis?
Much of Eastern Ukraine, and certainly Crimea viewed themselves more as a part of Russia than a part of Ukraine. Even before the war, most spoke Russian.
Had there been a legitimate vote, it seems highly likely that Crimea, at a minimum, would have gone to Russia.
Questions Abound
What’s the battle even about now? The Eastern Ukrainian cities have been reduced to rubble. The war has morphed into protracted stalemate that could conceivably last for another decade.
US debt is appreciating $34 trillion. Interest on the debt is on a pace to hit a trillion dollars annually. We have already spent $100 billion or so. How much more are we willing to spend?
What happens if Trump is elected? That we can reasonably answer. The flow of US weapons to Ukraine will end.
Don’t Reward Putin
The above questions are sure to bring howls of “We cannot reward Putin.”
But “What the hell are we even doing there?” is a legitimate question. Why is it the US is doing nearly everything from 6,000 miles away while the EU, right on the border does almost nothing?
Do we still want to be the world’s policeman? I don’t and never did. We would not have been in Iraq, Libya, Syria, or Vietnam on my watch.
Maybe if we stopped trying to be the world’s policeman, the EU would be forced to spend more on defense. If not, why is Ukraine our problem, not theirs?
I am tired of endless US wars that cost trillions of dollars and accomplish nothing. What did we get for trillions spent in Afghanistan and Iraq? How many lives did we waste in Vietnam?
How the hell are we going to pay for all of this? What if we could magically tax only those support these endless wars?
Can we make Lindsey Graham and those who support these wars the first volunteers?
If the US Has a Goal in Ukraine or Israel, What the Hell Is It?
On November 7, I asked If the US Has a Goal in Ukraine or Israel, What the Hell Is It?
The US has already given Ukraine $75 billion. Biden wants another $100 billion for Ukraine and Israel. What exactly is the mission?
How long are we willing to keep funding Ukraine and Israel to get it?
Biden says he supports a two-state solution. O.K.If that’s the idea, then why are we handing out hundreds of billions of dollars with no strings attached?
Over the years, the US has given Israel about $130 billion. What, if anything, do we have to show for it?
What Price Do We Pay?
The US has no readily discernable mission statement other than Biden’s comments to make terrorists and Putin pay a price.
What price are we willing to pay to make Putin pay a price? $200 billion? $500 billion? A trillion? Unlimited? For what precise goals? When?
I would appreciate some answers because the questions keep piling up.
Meanwhile, here’s one last bonus question.
How much better would US infrastructure be if we spent $2 trillion here instead of wasting it overseas and making more enemies in the process?
In response to this post’s title:
Do pipelines spontaneously explode in the Baltic Sea?
This is your best column yet. It mystifies me that my clueless baby boom generation has had the same chicanery pulled on us 3+ times (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan now Ukraine) and we haven’t caught on. General Smedley Butler: “war is a racket”.
I’m willing to send biden to hague for war crimes he committed by STARTING THIS WAR
ie his failure to sign MINSK II agreement
it’s like china putting missiles in Mexico – how do you think that would work
= same
sad RINO/NEOCNS/WAR MONGERS of US have wasted BILLIONS on worthless war
NOW WE HAVE
empty SPR, unfettered ILLEGALS on open southern borders and rampant racism in our federal govt
Isreal disarmed it civilians. They forgot to put in a second amendment.
BTW I do not see second post as “official denial” of any sort, but more like clarification.
It is kind of obvious to any resident of countries bordering Russia, that “just, durable and sustainable peace” is impossible as long as Russia has military capability to conduct offensive wars.
Russian “military analysts” made completely clear that they want not only conquer all Ukraine, eradicate Ukrainian culture and identity, but also invade Baltic countries, Poland and Finland.
Russians made effort to explain all that in their own words. You need only listen to them. Video compilation:
https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1710367651485106345
Nonsense. The Russian bogeyman being used to justify a stupid war.
I agree that Russia’s war on Ukraine may take a very long time to resolve without a deal. I hate seeing a generation of Ukrainian men and women suffer and die while the country becomes even more devastated every day. Let’s hope Zelenski sees the sense in giving up part of Ukraine to bring peace.
And as for Israel I support the Jewish people. But Netanyahu has shocked the world with his carnage and I would like to see him and his war council thrown out and tried for war crimes. You can’t treat Palestinians this way and ever hope to have peace.
Mish asks: If the US Has a Goal in Ukraine or Israel, What the Hell Is It?
The goal is to signal U.S. virtue, control the 24 hour news cycle, and kick the can past the next election.
The U.S. election timeline means Ukraine has 3- 6 months to figure out what to do. If Zelensky sits on his hands, he will be gone soon after Trump is inaugurated, maybe much sooner.
The stalemate in Congress over Ukraine aid funding is probably theatre to give Blinken time to force Zelensky — or his successor — to the negotiating table. At least I hope so. Time is of the essence, obviously.
BTW, Blinken also has to do something similar about Israel in the same 3-6 month time frame. Maybe he can convince Zelensky and Netanyahu to switch places?
Written after the Crimean War:
The Charge of the Light Brigade
BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Russia lost that war.
They lost that battle. Proclaiming victory, the French and British sailed away. Then Russia regained Crimea.
Will Ukraine join Iraq in long list of US misadventures.
At least a year ago, if not more, many championed peace deal with EU membership for Ukraine, pledge by Ukraine and NATO that Ukraine would not become a member of NATO, UN administration of disputed territories and free and fair elections in disputed areas after sufficient time for passions to ebb.
Hubris of west resulted in lost lives of how many young me on both sides to support cocktail chats in Georgetown.
There is nothing new to say about the war in Ukraine because nothing new has happened. Russia is still fighting without gaining and Ukraine is sill fighting without losing. Nato countries are still committed to Ukraine’s wining and providing the means to do so and Russia is still using massed attacks very expensive in manpower and equipment. Nothing is new.
Sorry, but you sound like a State Department ingenue or NY Times reporter.
In a war of attrition, the side that lasts the longest wins. Ukraine now exists only by the thread of U.S. aid, which is dwindling. Meanwhile, Russia just gets stronger economically, and is slowly advancing militarily on a broad front. Don’t mistake slowness for stasis. That’s a typical impatient Westerner’s mistake.
Given current trends, ask yourself: if you had to choose your side to fight on, which side would it be, assuming you wanted to survive and win?
If you are honest with yourself, I believe you will reconsider your facile statement.
The Squad attacks.
….nothing new to say indeed ! ….Except that Whorekraine is losing big time ! ….not only on the battlefield but also as far as financial support is concerned, ! Your fat black pentagon $ss is in Kiev together with our disaster of a belgian politician Charles Michel who became European ‘president’ because he s fckn worthless ! Austin ‘promised’ another 100 million (not billion)) for desintegrating fc kn whorekraine, probably in the context of the celebration of the CIA coup 10 years ago and the subsequent Maidan revolution against a democratically elected leader! You can be proud of yourself Doug, yer defending the right side of history ! ,
To be an enemy of America is dangerous, to be a friend is fatal. If Zelensky would only have accepted the peace offer back in 2022, Ukraine wouldn’t have lost territory and sacrificed 500,000 men. The neocons have given the US another black eye. How long will it take flr the rubes sitting in front of their boobtubes to wake up? Instead they are rushing to another war in the Midddle East. The sheeple bleat, “Israel good! Hamas bad!, Killing Palestinian kids good! Oct 7 bad!
Nailed it…
Putin embarked upon an existential war of attrition between Russia and the civilized world. So long as Putin and Russians believe they are winning they will attrit their scarce manpower and resources. To date Putin exhausted 30% of his military assets and all available manpower outside of Moscow and St.Petersburg. Existential wars can only end two ways. Russia is five years from the end. Do not bet against the civilized world.
The civilized world? Good one! Have you been to any big city in the US and stepped in a pile of poop?
It’s the Ukrainian men and US weapons that attributing. The Russian army is growing and their weapons output is growing. Anyone who pays attention knows this. It’s obvious you aren’t paying attention and are stuck in some fantasy world.
You say “Russia is five years from the end.”
The problem is, Ukraine is probably 3-6 months from the end.
In this war you just need to be is the last man standing.
NATO will give Ukraine a standing ovation for bravery as it twists in the wind.
There will be great celebration and chants of thanks to Ukraine– thanks for fighting the good fight; thanks for the glory! You weakened Russia a little! Now we (NATO) can and will go home vindicated. Nice country you had. What a shame!
We gave similar ovations to the Iraqi’s and Afghans. We will give another to the Kurds in Syria.
Eventually– this may take decades– we will give extra long whooping ovations for the Israeli’s and the Taiwanese.
LOL ….’the civilized world’ ….the other day I saw some footage about Moscow on a saturday night ….and then London and even Philadelphia with its zombie drug addicts ….omg … ‘western civilization’ indeed…
Would you have let the millions of Jews die in concentration camps during WW2 as well. Why get involved with any of it? If it’s outside the US it’s all irrevent…
1. This is not WWII
2. The US is not under threat now
3. Israel has the means to defend itself
4. The US exacerbated the problem by siding with Israel no matter what Israel does
5. The whole world would be better off if the US minded its own business
6. WWII is a direct result of the US meddling in WWI, actually prolonging the war
7. War reparations the US agreed with led to the rise of Hitler
8. By the logic of your question the US should be involved in every damn war right now in Africa, stopped Pol Pot, ete etc etc etc etc 1,000 times
9. How the flying F would we pay for all the things we would be involved in, implied by the logic of your question?
10. Since you seem so adamant, I suggest you volunteer for the Israeli army
Does that answer your question?
“6. WWII is a direct result of the US meddling in WWI, actually prolonging the war”
Really? This is arguably most absurd statement about WW1 that I ever heard.
In real world history US government had very idealistic plans (League of Nations, etc.) but French government insisted on retaking disputed territories (Alsace and Lorraine) and on installing crippling reparations on Germany. Oh and on temporary occupation of Ruhr Valley that accomplished mostly nothing but incensed German public massively.
I am more and more amazed how Americans create fantasies about their own involvement in everything that happens on planet, good and bad.
WWI was a huge mistake by Wilson (intellectual yet idiot). He went to war over the Lusitannia (sp) being sunk by the Germans (freedom of the seas). The Germans claimed it was carrying arms for England (proven true by divers in the last 20 years). Wilson extended the war for two years and cost many lives of our fine, young, handsome men.
Do you know that United States did NOT went to war after sinking of RMS Lusitania? The United States declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917, nearly three years after World War I started and almost exactly two years after sinking RMS Lusitania in May 1915.
Do you know that United States had no significant battlefield presence until April 1918 and US Army fought significant battles only in last few months of WW1?
Quote:
I have written about this many times before. There is going to be a negotiated settlement that is not going to fully please anyone.
A:
Now you need to explain how any new “negotiated settlement” would be more solid than multiple International Treaties signed by Russia that promise invulnerability of Ukrainian borders? If any “negotiated settlement” will only bind Ukraine but Russia will be ready to break it at any point, then what is reason for Ukraine to sign any such “negotiated settlement”?
What force will prevent Russia from inventing another fake pretext to invade Ukraine next month after “negotiated settlement” is signed? Next year? 5 years later?
This is key problem of this war.
There are only 2 realistic solutions:
Option A: NATO membership for Ukraine.
Option B: Neutral Ukraine armed with nuclear weapons.
Anything else would be equivalent to elaborate suicide from Ukrainian side.
(Oh yes, there is 3rd possibility: Russia unable to conduct any further aggression if Ukraine would inflict sufficiently profound defeat to Russia or Russian explosion in some sort of internal crisis. This is not completely impossible but would not count on that).
Here is side-by-side video compilation of promises made by two “trustworthy” politicians 🙂
https://twitter.com/BadBalticTakes/status/1697540493263978636
Some people do not like comparisons between Hitler and Putin, but sometimes similarities run so deep you wonder if Putin was inspired by other guy…
See: Godwin’s Law
Wrong! This will be settled on Putin’s terms. Good thing for us and the Ukrainians that he is more generous and thoughtful than dumba$$ US leadership. But, after Merkel’s admission that Germany only signed the Minsk Agreement to buy time so Ukraine could build up its army, don’t expect too much.
Neither Russia or NATO would agree to option B otherwise NATO would long ago have given Ukraine nukes when the war started.
Option A would have to make every NATO country extremely nervous. It’s abundantly clear from the fact NATO never engaged Russia directly that they absolutely have no intention to. Not one Western politician could sell the idea of eating Russian nukes in order to defend Ukraine. If they could, NATO would have sent ground forces LONG AGO instead of just weapons. The west rightly fears nuclear exchange and having Ukraine in NATO would just be a powerkeg because what if Russia still attacked at some point in the future. My guess is NATO would fracture over it.
The agreement is entirely to allow NATO to stop throwing away money in Ukraine. By now it’s also clear Russia doesn’t want to occupy a foreign land for any length of time (the borders are drawn right where Russian people live in Ukraine). It breed rebellion (see what happened to the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, what’s happening in Israel in their occupied territories). No sane country wants to occupy foreign land anymore.
“By now it’s also clear Russia doesn’t want to occupy a foreign land for any length of time (the borders are drawn right where Russian people live in Ukraine).”
Is this joke? Russia literally demands to recognize occupation of “foreign land” in Ukraine. Only 37% of Donbass residents identify themselves as Russians according to census. Current frontline is line where Ukrainian army stopped Russians by force and Russian army are trying to attack as much as they can. Russian military bloggers routinely complain about guerilla activities in occupied regions.
If Russia is good at one thing, it is good at occupying foreign lands. Has been doing this for centuries. 95% of Russia still consists of foreign lands today – this is where Russian Army gets its canon fodder.
“Do we still want to be the world’s policeman?”
It’s about being in control of the whole enchelada (sic).
In 1861, The U.S. could have let the southern states go on their way, just as the founding fathers wanted to in 1776. The U.S. could have left New Mexico, Arizona and California to Mexico, as well. Plus “Fifty Forty or Fight.” Washington D.C. wanted it all, from sea to shining sea. By force, if necessary. History Channel had a couple shows about the American Indians last week. One of the things mentioned was Andrew Jackson’s “Trail of Tears,” in which Indian land in the Southeast was appropriated by force, with the Indians being marched on foot, some 1,200 miles to Oklahoma. It reminded me of the Bataan Death March of WW2, considering what the show said happened to those who couldn’t keep up.
Quote:
The key words are “redraw borders by force”.
What about redrawing the borders by negotiation?
A:
You cant pretend that borders are not “redrawn bu force” if imperialist power (Russia in this case) invades other country, occupies part of territory, and forces “redrawing the borders by negotiation”. This is actually very dangerous precedent because now we establish precedent in international law that aggressor can conquer foreign territory and can legitimize conquest. Not many countries will be happy about that.
The aggressor and Imperialist were the US which rolled NATO right up to Russia’s border. You live in a dystopia novel but are unaware of it.
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/02/27/us-nato-expansion-ukraine-russia-intervene/
Mexico likes your statements and firm principles. Act on them now!
Does the M.I.C want PEACE?
NO.
Peace does not equal PROSPERITY for the M.I.C.
Wars make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
They have a new war and besides this one is going really bad. Time to cut and run.
Is anyone inspired by Ukrainian soldiers giving up their lives to advance the cause of Joe Biden and NATO? Does anyone find peace more inspiring?
I would love it if we made US infrastructure our priority but you know we will have an “obligation” to rebuilt their infrastructure instead of ours.
We should send MORE billions to Whorekraine ! Our ‘freedom and democratic values’ are at stake ,didn t you know ?!
….well, that s what our democratically UNelected president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Lying, says ,anyway, so it must be true !
“What price are we willing to pay to make Putin pay a price? $200 billion? $500 billion? A trillion? Unlimited? For what precise goals? When?”
The goal is simply to spend money on the military industrial complex because some of that money is used to support the Democrat and Republican parties and their puppet politicians. Someone needs to research how that money is being funneled back to the politicians, and who the major recipients are.
You said it for me. The point is not to “win” a war or HELP a region (Outside of the USA)…the point is the SPENDING. Mish, you should know this intrinsically by now, simply by changing your approach to the question. The question should be framed with “motive” mindset.
Get your mind right and these questions are easily answered with ONE WORD: MONEY.
“The point is not to “win” a war or HELP a region (Outside of the USA)”
The point is certainly not to “help” the US neither. Noone is suffering more under the Biden-Graham terror state, than Americans.
The point of all and every government, is simply to rob and subjugate as many as they can. That’s it. All and any claim otherwise, is either a sales pitch by someone in very close cahoots with them; or simply the well indoctrinated, childish babble of some nothing-but-a-100%-naive dunce. No more sentient than Pippi Thunberg’s latest “five years post five years ago, the world will be gone” classic.
This is not only about the MIC. It is much more nefarious and evil.
So far, it s 13:20 european time, I like all the comments, ….but then Doug78 ain t here yet 😉
I am here now Hrolfr or is it Helghe? I forgot the Viking name you gave yourself when you roleplay.
…those were the times we still got along +-…. I don t remember how why and when, but was it Alfra by any chance ?
”Ukraine has taken back more that half the territory seized by Russia since februari” L O L ! Are those lying, cheating, warmonging, NATO mob sore losers deluded or what ?! Whorekraine has taken back sht, their canon fodder, or what s left of it, is getting crushed at this very moment near Advivka as part of Russia’s OFFENSIVE! So unless the LGBTQ Nato army wants to get involved directly and officially on the fc kn battlefield, any negotiation will be on Putin’s terms!
Mish it seems to me that your readers have a way better grasp of the actual situation in UKR than you – that UKR’s military is suffering crushing losses, (way disproportionate to Russia’s), which will lead to ultimate collapse within a couple years, at the most, and that any truce will only come with agreement to Russia terms that will seem outrageous at first,
Well let’s just say some of Mish’s readers. Many seem to buy the party line.
“…which will lead to ultimate collapse [of Ukraine] within a couple years, at the most.”
I can’t imagine Ukraine staving off “collapse” for more than six months.
The question (for me) is what will “collapse” look like? At a minimum, Zelensky is gone and the Ukrainians seek an armistice. Then what after a peace treaty is negotiated?
Kiev and Western Ukraine will do OK, but it will be a rump state. It will renounce all interest in joining NATO or joint undertakings with NATO. Ukraine will probably retain Odessa and a Black Sea port if Ukraine seeks peace reasonably soon.
Poland and Hungary may want to carve out territories in Western Ukraine, to protect ethnic enclaves and give their refugees a place to settle.
Oh, and Putin will insist on de-Nazification. By Bye Azov battalion and Banderites.
6 months/2 years – I like to have a bit of leeway on predictions. Yes, 6 mo is a better bet.
Assuming UKR sues for peace, I’m guessing Putin might ask for Russia’s reserves to be restored, and for Russia/Russian companies to be made whole for the Nordstream destruction.
Not getting a satisfactory answer, he takes Odessa and continues making ‘facts on the ground’.
Then adds some more demands.
We’ll see. Predictions are hard…
Avdiivka is beginning to crumble. When it falls it is likely that the Ukrainian army will collapse. It remains to be seen how far the Russians will stop.
There is no ” protracted stalemate” in Ukraine. Any negotiated resolution will be dictated solely by Russia and such will be finalized or imposed in 2024 at the latest and if bumbling Alzheimer Biden refuses to accept such we may find ourselves in WWIII in which case we can bend over and kiss our sweet fannies goodbye..
I hate to see my country lose but it appears such is needed to make the electorate wake the F up. How much gaslighting and stupidity can they endure?
“How the hell are we going to pay for all of this?”
We can’t pay for it so we’ll do what most Americans do when they have a want….they take out debt to pay for it. “Buy now pay later” is the new American way. We’ve done a pretty good job exporting that silly mentality across the globe to boot.
Expect inflation to run rampant over the next decade to pay for all the sins committed by our political class.
The Biden regime does not need puppet Zelensky’s approval to stop the Biden regime’s proxy war. NATO officials have already scuttled two efforts (peace agreements in Minsk and Turkey) at a negotiated peace.
The strategy of fighting to the last Ukranian, to weaken Russia, has failed disastrously.
The problem is the Biden regime can’t uniltarily pull out of their unforced error, and keep NATO intact or keep any credibilty in future conflicts.
The new “strategy” is to find any way plausible to exit this disaster before next years US elections.
PS – Mish, this wordpress comment filter is awful.
what changes do you want?
An editing capability would be nice for us prone to typos.
There is an editing feature enabled. Bottom right corner of your post shows the icon for it. It says Manage Post.
You are mistaken. There are NOT GOALS of War-making. NO. The goal IS the spending, feeding the MIC TROUGH and being funneled back to the Pelosi’s, McConnells, Bidens and so on. IT IS A SCHEME TO ENRICHEN themselves and the second job is to dumb down the populace with “REASONS” to Help those Poor Urkaine People or to STOMP OUT PUTIN. All of that is utter B.S.
You are correct. Ask Nikki Haley from broke to multimillionaire through defense contracting. And it only a couple years. She sure is smart!!
Israel is providing nice cover to slink off. Out of sight, out of mind.
Sir John Glubb : the fate of empires. After two hundred and fifty years, on average,
most empires expire. It’s an ugly process. They cont to disintegrate from within. No
place to hide.
“Please consider this Tweet followed much later by an official denial.”
Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied. – Otto von Bismarck
That seems clear enough.
‘When it becomes serious, you have to lie'(courtesy of Jean-Claude Juncker)
Does Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine care about the border crisis in TX? No. They do not care. Nobody cares except for me because I live in TX therefore I do not care about any of these places. I don’t care who wins, who looses, who lives or dies. In fact I have zero empathy for any of them. I have my own issues right here and I want my tax dollars going to my own issues. I will continue to vote to start caring about my area of operations and not those of theocracies or any other BS that is doomed to fail which it will. Ukraine totally got their ass kicked by the way. So will Israel in time. Enough of this nonsense of trying to hold back the waters. It is not possible.
And then there is the cost of these wars and our stupid border policy.
https://sonar21.com/dhs-mayorkass-mass-illegal-migration-will-cost-america-trillions-of-dollars/
The longer a peace takes the worse it will be for Ukraine, the U.S., The E.U. and NATO …. Putin has all the time in the World because the WEST has been lullied into believing its own propaganda … this has never been a War about territory with the exception of the Russians speaking regions … it’s about destroying the Ukrainian army …..
First of all Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid. I wonder why that is. Second of all Crimea has been part of Russia since Catherine the Great. It belongs to Russia. Third we caused that war in Ukraine. The CIA instigated the maidan revolution and also try to encourage their membership in NATO which was a red line for the Russians. A well-known red line by the US. The ukrainians have a neo Nazi Battalion called the azov battalion that uses the swastika as their logo. They were performing ethnic cleansing of Russian citizens inEastern Ukraine. Is there any wonder why the Russians attacked. None of this crap is ever mentioned in the US Media or the US propaganda politburo .
Hear! Hear!
And before that Georgia tried invading South Ossetia on the advice of US spooks and Russia kicked in the Georgians. Which was also around the time that the same spooks were advising Saddam regarding Kuwait. You don’t need a scorecard to identify the players.
“Had there been a legitimate vote, it seems highly likely that Crimea, at a minimum, would have gone to Russia.” I believe it was a legitimate vote (97% in favor) even so there was never any doubt that Russia would not let their Naval Base in Sevastapol fall to the US/Nato puppet regime installed following the 2014 CIA financed coup. As John Mearsheimer noted at the time ” The US is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and as a result Ukraine will be wrecked” He was spot on.
“Russia would not let their Naval Base in Sevastapol fall to the US/Nato puppet regime”
Even so, it could have been easy or difficult to justify the seizure of Crimea.
As it happened, it came easy.
After the bloody NGO orchestrated uprising, the EU delegation negotiated early elections, just six months later. Putin’s nightmare as he feared an elected pro-West government.
However, the neocons wouldn’t be bothered waiting six months for democracy to work, they went ahead with the coup.
Putin’s lifeline as he saw it as justification for the seizure of Crimea.
These people are not only evil, they are also stupid.
“These people are not only evil, they are also stupid.”
Yess! Touche!
Central Banking exists specifically in order to ensure “These people”, meaning all those with wealth, power and influence are, indeed, all stupid. You’ll see the same thing repeated across increasingly every boardroom and C-Suite in The West as well. It’s a very central reason why honest-to-goodness commies are now walking all over “us.”
(*)If you want to dig a bit deeper into the underlying mechanisms: It effectively comes down to central banking existing specifically to bail out, provide backstops for and prevent the liquidation of; the FAILED ventures of those too incompetent to survive on their own. Hence preventing the wealth and resources tied up in these FAILED ventures, from being picked up by more competent, less stupid people.
Not sure they are stupid. More like arrogant and drunk on their own importance.
Non-stupid people; all of them; want stupid people currently in charge of resources, to lose control over them. That way, more/cheaper resources become available for non-stupids. Noone but the stupids themselves, want a country’s resources to continue being controlled by proven failure stupids.
Central banks exists specifically, and only, to prevent failed stupids from losing that control. Centralbanks were never even intended to have any other purpose: Preventing malinvestments made by connected, failed stupids from failing; hence preventing more competent people from picking up the pieces as per Mellon; was the sole and only reason they were enacted in the first place.
Today; 50 years post the last tiny sliver of restraint on central banks being lifted by Nixon: This incessant, never ending and undifferentiated focus on forcing non-stupid, competent productives to consistently bail out, enrich and empower connected stupids, has ensured that, Yes: If you see an American in any position of influence, wealth and power, you are looking at a stupid American. The exceptions are few enough to count as roundoff.
There will be a negotiated peace in Ukraine, but the terms will be very unfavorable to Ukraine and NATO.
Yes there will be a negotiated peace and it will be on Russias terms whether NATO likes it or not. Russia just keeps turning the expensive weapons that nato sends into scrap metal. Russia produces better weapons in a greater volume and at a fraction of the cost per unit and with faster delivery times than all of NATO combined.
Russia has no choice but to exhaust Ukraine demographically. Minsk and Istanbul attempts were done in bad faith. They force out women and kids while young men become extinct. Ukr. authorities admit birthrates are awful (typical for a war). They will be left with wrecked infrastructure, amputees, pensioners. The EU and US will dump Ukraine after they lose – as they did with Libya (still ruined). The Ukraine government is the worst on earth because no other government has extinction as an explicit goal (‘to the last man/Ukrainian/drop of blood’).
Neocon oligarchs will probably order some destitute Ukrainian women and boys from the human trafficking connections.
With full apologies to all those that actually fought in Korea and Vietnam, the US government has not seriously tried to win a war since 1945.
Politicians like Lindsey Graham, seem to have no trouble sending other people’s children to die for their cause, perhaps because they have no children of their own, perhaps because they are sexual deviants. Let’s see him put his boots on and grab a gun, and high tail it to the front to show us all how much he really cares about Ukraine.
Just demands these neocon SOBs be put through he!!.
Just ->Justice. Dooh!
Disney may have replaced L Graham with an AI anamatronic a few years ago, but I’m not sure. All the recording sound pretty much the same.