Posted on 07/03/2023 2:30:41 PM PDT by AndyJackson
You just made two posts that made no sense,
We aren’t fighting in Ukraine, Russia is, so make your war comparisons about them, we aren’t in a war.
The goofball colonel tries to give the impression we are trying to “destroy Russia” by assisting Ukraine, how could Russia having to give up on the invasion of Ukraine “destroy Russia”?
And I have taken economic strategy courses. And in energy market courses. And I have read Clausewitz, Mahan, and Herman Kahn, etc. ad infinitum.
You people are impressed by MacGregor because you are otherwise unused to this sort of discussion.
So you say. But Russia sees it differently. So do the oflks runnign the show. It was supposed to lead to the downfall of Russia.
They can leave Ukraine and go back to the status quo as of 2014, Albeit with a large haircut
First what about those of Russian ethnicity who the Ukronazis begn trying to shell into oblivion in 2014. Second suppose the Russians would rather nuke a couple of carriers than take your haircut.
Maybe the west is in a war it shouldn't have gotten into and can't figure out how to get out of. Ever think about it that way.
Speculation on the consequences of the fall of Putin.
I doubt very much that that alone will break up Russia. Among other things a breakup will cause vast problems in logistics. No part of Russia can stand alone economically.
I didn't say I was impressed by him. I just said this is a good concise to the point analysis of the global situation of the US and the situation in Ukraine. Obviously you are unused to this sort of discussion since your response is ad hominums. And I don't care about your reading list. I car about what you argue. Moreover energy strategy and economic strategy is interesting, but it is not the same as political and military strategy.
It is the west that hypothesized the breakup of Russia. We saw it quite recently with the idiotic bombast coming out of some of our leader’s mouths during the Prigozhin “revolution” or whatever that was supposed to be.
I think your homeland, the Philippines, is it gonna have to give up on American protection and arm up by themselves. No more free rides because we’re being drain dry in the Ukraine war.
“First what about those of Russian ethnicity who the Ukronazis begn trying to shell into oblivion in 2014.”
A lie. Propaganda lines. You have peacekeeper records of all firing across the truce line up to 2022. If the Russians/Donets militias had held their fire there would have been no shooting. And interestingly Prigozhin, in his denunciation of the war, noted it specially, also publicly calling it a lie.
As for escalating re foreign assets, well, that is a good way to lose everything outright, and moreover a total blockade on shipping its petroleum exports. That’s how Russia makes @90% if its money.
“Our government is suicidal, taking on enemies we don’t need while not protecting our own interests. “
Amen.
Interestingly the US just got a vast bases agreement with the Philippines.
And the US Marines are reorganising to stress long range tactical missile systems operating in overseas bases (of course, Marines). Dropping the amphibious assault role. Hmm.
Economics and specifics like energy are inextricably connected to military strategy. As Mahan, etc. pointed out.
You ARE crediting MacGregor with HIS reading list. That’s what scholarship is.
Read (yes, I know you don’t like it, but try), Yervin, “The Prize”.
We are done here. You are simply propogandizing. Remember the recent admission that the west signed the Minsk agreement to buy time to arm Ukraine?
That kind of puts the lie to your whole line of reasoning. If we had decdied this whole thing wasn't our circus it would have been one of those little troublespots that we needn't bother about but we didn't. We supplied the circus clowns to run the main act.
Actually, the author of the Prize was Daniel Yergin and I even worked with him over the course of a year. And I did read it. Nyanyanya.
Return to the status quo ante bellum is no longer possible. The US/EU engineered coup of the duly elected government of Ukraine in 2014 led by Victoria Nuland and the Obama/Biden Administration spawned the separatist movement in the Donbas and resulted in the first Russian unopposed invasion that annexed Crimea.
Russia will never relinquish Crimea. Zelensky says that no negotiations with Russia are possible until the borders of Ukraine return to their 1991 status. We are at an impasse and Russia holds all the leverage. Russia shares a 1,500 mile border with Ukraine. It is going nowhere.
We are being led by fools and knaves. Support for this proxy war is rapidly declining in Europe and the US. The sanctions have backfired with most of the world ignoring them, including NATO members Turkey and Hungary.
Our stated goals, per Biden and Austin, have been regime change in Russia and weakening the Russian military. We will fight to the last Ukrainian. We have no treaty commitments to defend Ukraine, which is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe and among its poorest. We have borrowed close to $200 billion to fund this war, including paying for the entire Ukrainian government’s salaries and pensions. We are also paying for some ot the costs of 7 million Ukrainian refugees in Europe and elsewhere. We have drawn down our war reserves that will take in some cases years to replenish. Our open-ended commitment to Ukraine, another endless war, could total well over a trillion dollars.
We are the world’s biggest debtor nation. In addition to the $32 trillion national debt, much of it due to foreign wars, we have over a $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities in the form of Medicare and Social Security. The Medicare Trust Fund is exhausted in 2028 and the SSTF in 2034. By law benefits will be reduced to revenue received. We will have to raise taxes and/or reduce benefits to save these programs.
We have an open Southern border with 6 million illegal aliens entering the country in the past two years. There are anywhere from 20 to 30 million illegal aliens in the country. Over 50% of immigrant-headed households use at least one major welfare program. They are straining our social welfare net and hurting local communities, which must pay for their education, medical services, and incarceration. Mass immigration has depressed American wagfes and resulted in the loss of jobs for Americans. There are over 50 million foreign born in this country, and the highest percentage ever in our history.
Being the world’s policeman has cost us blood and treasure. And now we are back in a Cold War with Russia, with China looming. We are a country in decline. Our voluntary military is having a hard time in recruitment and retention of personnel as a “woke” military talks about white rage and diversity. The incoming Chairman of the JCS wants fewer white pilots.
We have serious problems at home. We don’t need to get involved in more foreign wars that do not benefit our people or affect our strategic national interests. Ukraine is another example of Biden’s stupidity or that he is compromised or both.
I guess your country will be the next front line of the American Empire. Enjoy.
It already is in the frontline. The Chinese have been taking its territory for a decade, and its an hour from South China by fighter bomber. Chinese claims, btw, include the main shipping lanes to Manila and Batangas, its principal ports,
And it is ONE of my countries. I am Spanish, and my kids are American, and I lived in the US almost 40 years. I am an international man of mystery.
Well, should you run into him, tell him he has a fan.
The point still stands. All of this ties together. Part of MacGregors argument, moreover, is economic.
Yergin’s section on the machinations of Mr. 5% Gulbenkian was one of the most fascination things I have ever read. He was an Armeian who was at the juncture of forming Royal Dutch Shell as well as the Turkish Oil Corporation and the effort to start the oil industry in Iraq. He was one of the world’s wealthiest men and the Gulbenkian foundation in Lisbon Portugal is a world class art museaum started with his fortune and his art collection.
They also fail to accept the real threat of this conflict becoming a much larger conflict that could result in another world war.
It was always more romantic to buy into the propaganda of huge successes & rumors of Russa's defeat, as well as, the imminent demise of Putin either by military means or health issues, than it was to accept the facts.
However, Macgregor is wrong abut China not being a communist nation. Xi may be a softer gentler Stalin, but he is a strong ruthless leader who vacillates between good & evil personas as he sees fit. It's also the sole political party of China. The party regulates what the people of China see, hear, and even say. They can & do make people disappear.
MacGregor knows Eastern Europe, because that was his geographical point of focus. He should stay away from China other than to say that trying to start a war with China is not advisable. He is right about decoupling in many ways with China, and it is long overdue for us to do so.
Isn’t he the one who said Trump would be back in office after the steal, and how people were going to go down?
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