bkmk
This is what they wanted from the beginning. It’s never been about Ukraine, of course.
They will manage this the same way they managed the Afghanistan withdrawal, with incompetence and impulsiveness writ large.
‘Only in a Mad Sick World ft, former CIA Analyst Larry Johnson’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRgiKHfoSPw
From "we'll take Kyiv in three days" to "there will be bitter and hard defeats". pic.twitter.com/vkMVQoMobE— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 26, 2022
The War Powers act isn’t applicable until US military gets directly involved.
And Congress approved the Military Aid to Ukraine in a vote that had full Democrat approval and 2/3’s Republican approval.
🇺🇦🇺🇸CIA Director Bill Burns secretly visited Ukraine in early October - CNN
The publication writes that he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials.
At this meeting, Burns assured Zelensky that Washington would continue to support Ukraine in the confrontation with Russia, writes CNN. Particular attention was paid to the exchange of intelligence.
The trip took place at a time when the US authorities began to express concern about the possible use of nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine.
-Ostashko!
The US has decided to accelerate the delivery of atomic bombs to Europe - the first delivery expected in the spring of 2023 is now scheduled for December
The United States is accelerating the deployment of B61-12 tactical atomic bombs in Europe. Already in December of this year, the first batch should be delivered to NATO bases on the European continent. The United States explained such a pace of deliveries of tactical nuclear weapons once again as “Russian aggression”.
“Given the rise of Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, some of the allies have asked for continued consultations with NATO to ensure continued readiness and consistent messaging,” the Pentagon diplomatic document says.
Despite the recognition by the White House that Russia has no plans to use nuclear weapons during a special operation in Ukraine, the United States deliberately continues to stir up the situation around this type of weapon. At the same time, a Pentagon spokesman said that the modernization of European weapons is planned, and of course it “has nothing to do with current events in Ukraine and has not been accelerated.”
-Readovka
Neither the disgraced Petraeus nor the manic McGregor have anything of value to add to the conversation about Ukraine. Their opinions are more about their personal ambitions than anything else.
Patraeus lost to savages in sandals and now is going to redeem yourself by trying to win against Russia? Napoleon’s hat is too big for him:)
Russia is our competitor on the global stage, and today areas historically allied with them such as Syria, Libya... are contested. Even Venezuela (also a major oil producer), allied with them, we would love to do regime change in (of course for democracy, freedom, human rights and sovereignty).
At this point, forget Ukraine, that’s not what this war is about.
By fueling a bitter war like Ukraine, we are depleting a competitor. Russia is diverting resources from their frontier areas to Ukraine.
Example: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-russia-exclusive-idUSKCN1PJ22M (from a few years past).
Their military forces are under enormous stress with their FSB being laregly engaged in Ukraine, as are their airborne forces, special forces, mercenary group (comparable to what we called Blackwater years ago)... Even Russia’s allies who are not entirely internally stable such as Chechnya are sending troops in large numbers to Ukraine. There is substantial material depletion.
We put Russia in an aweful position where war with Ukraine was very likely in October 2021. NATO membership by Ukraine would have been a security disaster for them and that is exactly what we did: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-president-zelenskiy-holding-talks-with-biden-adviser-says-2021-12-09/. Not sure why people were shocked or surprised when Russia invaded.
Ukraine is not going to take back what was lost. They lost this war already by both political and military measures. Politically Ukraine is not going to be a NATO member, what this war is about. And even EU membership which was in scope is today no longer feasible. Likewise, it was always known that Russia would seize the ethnic Russian areas if they invade, and that they did. They took most of what they wanted and that includes a major port city and industrial area.
Keeping this war going today is our call, just like offering NATO membership to Ukraine and causing it in the first place was. So what would be the point of keeping this going even though Russia already attained their military and political objectives, if there is no reasonable hope of Ukraine taking back the lost land? Attrition and pressure.
At this point it’s about keeping the pressure on. Stretching the Russians thin, putting their armed forces under operational stress, depleting their material, redirecting their forces, security forces and Intel from their frontier (Syria, Libya, Venezuela...). The Russians are simply not that big as a conventional force: ~55% our Army 43% our USN, and 47% or our USAF. Going in with ~190,000, and now maintaining about 150,000 troops in Ukraine + Intel, police, etc is putting a HUGE stress on their armed forces.
Ukraine has put Russia in a very weak position on the world stage, something we benefit from. In a global context, for us, Ukraine is a battle, not a war. The Russians may have won that battle, but they are going to lose the war.
Ukraine was a win-win for us. We win if Russia acquiesce and let’s Ukraine in NATO, we still win even if Russia invades - we just win elsewhere.