[fireman15]

A little further down is this tidbit... Which demonstrates just what a terrible boondoggle Biden's and NOTO's efforts have been in Ukraine. And this is not to mention the hundreds of $Billions that have been wasted and the hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed and maimed on both sides.

"The Russian economy is now slated by the IMF’s latest economic outlook to outperform Britain and Germany this year. Russia posted a record current account surplus of $227 billion in 2022, up 86% from 2021. Russia replaced revenues lost from its oil and gas exports to Europe with a pivot to China, India, UAE, Turkey and other countries not participating in the Western-led sanctions (i.e. the rest of the world outside the “collective West”). Its oil export levels have not seen any significant reduction. Last week, Reuters reported that oil loadings from Russia's western ports in April rose to the highest since 2019. Though sold at discounted prices, Russian oil and gas exports to markets in the “Global South” have enjoyed relatively high international commodity prices even if below the peaks immediately after the Ukraine invasion."

[Jonty30]

Not only that, but one has to wonder just how much influence the oil barons and weapon merchants had over US policy towards the Middle East.

[griswold3]

The Afghanistan withdrawal disaster cost us

[scrabblehack]

“Blood In The Streets” put the end of Pax Americana in 1973 (first oil embargo)