Its not about Russian security, no one is invading nuclear Russia. Its whether Ukraine, and its 44 million people have the right to be a free nation or must they be enslaved by Putin
Posted on 12/20/2022 1:59:12 AM PST by Cathi
Douglas Macgregor
Dec 20, 2022 12:03 AM
During a speech given on November 29, Polish Vice-Minister of National Defense (MON) Marcin Ociepa said: "The probability of a war in which we will be involved is very high. Too high for us to treat this scenario only hypothetically." The Polish MON is allegedly planning to call up 200,000 reservists in 2023 for a few weeks’ training, but observers in Warsaw suspect this action could easily lead to a national mobilization.
Meanwhile, inside the Biden administration, there is growing concern that the Ukrainian war effort will collapse under the weight of a Russian offensive. And as the ground in Southern Ukraine finally freezes, the administration’s fears are justified. In an interview published in the Economist, head of Ukraine’s armed forces General Valery Zaluzhny admitted that Russian mobilization and tactics are working. He even hinted that Ukrainian forces might be unable to withstand the coming Russian onslaught.
Yet, Zaluzhny rejected any notion of a negotiated settlement and instead pleaded for more equipment and support. He went on to insist that with 300 new tanks, 600 to 700 new infantry fighting vehicles, and 500 new Howitzers, he could still win the war with Russia. Truthfully, General Zaluzhny is not asking for assistance, he’s asking for a new army. Therein lies the greatest danger for Washington and its NATO allies.
When things go badly for Washington’s foreign policy, the true believers in the great cause always draw deeply from the well of ideological self-delusion to steel themselves for the final battle. Blinken, Klain, Austin, and the rest of the war party continue to pledge eternal support for Kiev regardless of the cost. Like the “best and the brightest” of the 1960s they are eager to sacrifice realism to wishful thinking, to wallow in the splash of publicity and self-promotion in one public visit to Ukraine after another.
This spectacle is frighteningly reminiscent of events more than 50 years ago, when Washington’s proxy war in Vietnam was failing. Doubters within the Johnson administration about the wisdom of intervening on the ground to rescue Saigon from certain destruction went into hiding. In 1963, Washington already had 16,000 military advisors in Vietnam. The idea that Washington was supporting a government in South Vietnam that might not win against North Vietnam was dismissed out of hand. Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, “We will not pull out until the war is won.”
By the spring of 1965, American military advisors were already dying. General Westmoreland, then commander of Military Assistance Command Vietnam, reported to LBJ: “It is increasingly apparent that the existing levels of United States aid cannot prevent the collapse of South Vietnam... North Vietnam is moving in for the kill... Acting on the request of the South Vietnamese government, the decision must be made to commit as soon as possible 125,000 United States troops to prevent the Communist takeover.”
The Biden administration’s unconditional support for the Zelensky regime in Kiev is reaching a strategic inflection point not unlike the one LBJ reached in 1965. Just as LBJ suddenly determined in 1964 that peace and security in Southeast Asia was a vital U.S. strategic interest, the Biden administration is making a similar argument now for Ukraine. Like South Vietnam in the 1960s, Ukraine is losing its war with Russia.
Ukraine’s hospitals and morgues are filled to capacity with wounded and dying Ukrainian soldiers. Washington’s proxy in Kiev has squandered its human capital and considerable Western aid in a series of self-defeating counter-offensives. Ukrainian soldiers manning the defensive lines facing Russian soldiers in Southern Ukraine are brave men, but they are not fools. The Spartans at Thermopylae were brave, and they still died.
The real danger now is that Biden will soon appear on television to repeat LBJ’s performance in 1965, substituting the word "Ukraine" for "South Vietnam":
Tonight, my fellow Americans I want to speak to you about freedom, democracy, and the struggle of the Ukrainian people for victory. No other question so preoccupies our people. No other dream so absorbs the millions who live in Ukraine and Eastern Europe… However, I am not talking about a NATO attack on Russia. Rather, I propose to send a U.S. led coalition of the willing, consisting of American, Polish, and Romanian armed forces into Ukraine, to establish the ground equivalent of a “no-fly zone.” The mission I propose is a peaceful one, to create a safe zone in the Western most portion of Ukraine for Ukrainian Forces and refugees struggling to survive Russia’s devastating attacks…
Disaster wrapped in rhetoric is not the way to save the people of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is not a Call of Duty fantasy. It is an enlargement of the human tragedy that NATO’s eastward expansion created. The victims do not live in North America. They live in a region that most Americans can't find on a map. Washington urged the Ukrainians to fight. Now Washington must urge them to stop.
NATO’s governments are divided in their thinking about the war in Ukraine. Except for Poland and, possibly, Romania, none of NATO’s members are in a rush to mobilize their forces for a long, grueling war of attrition with Russia in Ukraine. No one in London, Paris, or, Berlin wants to run the risk of a nuclear war with Moscow. Americans do not support going to war with Russia, and those few who do are ideologues, shallow political opportunists, or greedy defense contractors.
When U.S. forces finally withdrew from Southeast Asia, Americans thought that Washington would exercise greater restraint, recognize the limits of American power, and pursue a less militant, and more realistic foreign policy. Americans were mistaken then, but Americans and Europeans know now that Washington’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s legitimate security interests in Ukraine and negotiate an end to this war is the path to protracted conflict and more human suffering.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Douglas Macgregor Douglas Macgregor, Col. (ret.) is a senior fellow with The American Conservative, the former advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration, a decorated combat veteran, and the author of five books.
Washington doesn’t want peace.
Mcgregor is the clown who was boasting that the russians would start a massive 540k troop counter offensive no later than yesterday....yeah...
Perhaps Putin could die or something?!
Its not about Russian security, no one is invading nuclear Russia. Its whether Ukraine, and its 44 million people have the right to be a free nation or must they be enslaved by Putin
Macgregor is a nobody, and his 15 minutes of fame will be up when the war ends.
Or like in Afghanistan when the last Soviet soldiers left in February 1989.
Kremlin: “US & Russia On The Brink Of A Direct Clash” In Ukraine
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/kremlin-us-russia-brink-direct-clash-ukraine
I’m sure there will be a fair amount of FReepers who will be cheering this on. When it turns into a nuclear WW3 I’m sure they’ll be partying like its 2029!
The end of the American Empire is near. It’s time to return to a limited Constitutional republic.
I believe that the war hawks will get what they want and we shall see US/Poles/UK troops facing off against Russian/Belarus/Iranians in the harsh heartland of Ukraine. We will discover that Russians are a bit harder to defeat than Saddam was in Iraq. We haven’t lost a big set battle in a while and it will be a hard pill to sallow. After a few such set backs will come the draft. I don’t think it will go nuke—but a lot of very nasty weapons are out there that might be used. You don’t like Biden Now, wait till you see him with War Powers? This time we shall see lots of terrorism on the home front I fear and all the repression that will come with it. How long will the war last? YEARS! In the end—only China will win.
“I believe that the war hawks will get what they want and we shall see US/Poles/UK troops facing off against Russian/Belarus/Iranians in the harsh heartland of Ukraine. We will discover that Russians are a bit harder to defeat than Saddam was in Iraq. We haven’t lost a big set battle in a while and it will be a hard pill to sallow. After a few such set backs will come the draft.”
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I think the neocons are in for a big surprise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkiIdXZ1eoI
Alexander: The big news over the last couple of days is that we have had an extraordinarily important sequence of meetings. Now the first one was on Thursday when Putin met with the Security Counsel, which is Russia’s top policy making body. We don’t know what happened then. That is a regular meeting. On Friday he went to the joint staff headquarters of the Russian military that is engaged in fighting in Ukraine and he was briefed by Surovikin and all his staff. Shoigu, the Defense Minister was there; Gerasimov was there. The meeting went on for a whole day . That was a huge set of meetings and we have to assume that the military leaders were all briefing Putin as to what exactly was going on and what they were going to do...what their battle plans were and apparently he met with them individually afterwards. He met with all the key military commanders individually after the general meeting and then there was a summary meeting afterwards.
And now, after that meeting we learn that he has come to Minsk. He’s going to meet Lukashenko. Shoigu, the Defense Minister is with him. Lavrov arrived just before Putin came. So this is a big meeting, bringing together the entire Russian and military leadership...it’s key leaders; Putin, Shoigu and Lavrov with Lukashenko and his top staff. And then after that meeting when Putin comes back to Moscow there is said to be another big meeting in the works. This at the Military Collegium of the Defense Ministry. That brings together not just the military leaders who are involved in the war in Ukraine. It brings together all, the entire military establishment as well.
So it’s a whole series of important meetings that Putin is now having with all of the key people involved in the conflict, not just in the conflict with Ukraine; but in the conflict, if you like, with the West. The military people in Russia and now, also, the military and political leaders in Belarus. So everything now points to something very big indeed. Some kind of big offensive being on the way; being planned. Clearly all the pieces are now being put into place and all the plans are being perfected.
It is clear that Zaluzhny is terrified of a move towards Kiev. His biggest fear; he has got to protect Kiev. Zelensky said something absolutely astonishing today, by the way. He said, “No, we’re not going to evacuate people from Kiev.” Even though they’re there without heat or water...they’re going through the most terrible privation because if we take away the civilian population from Kiev that makes it easier for the Russians to occupy Kiev. So on the one hand he is admitting that he is using the civilian population of Kiev as a kind of shield which is a rather disturbing thought in itself, but it also shows that he is worried about Kiev, too.
Something big is on the way.
LOL, because at this point, there is no reason to evacuate Kyiv.
Kyiv Mayor Says Heat Fully Restored to Ukrainian Capital After Russian Missile Barrage
The Kyiv Independent
⚡️ Some parts of Kyiv Oblast may remain without electricity for 2-3 more days.
Several districts in Kyiv Oblast may take days to restore electricity following a Russian drone attack on December 19, according to Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksii Kuleba.
Using this logic we should invade Mexico.
💥💥💥In Kiev, the lack of electricity is more than 50% of the needs and a significant shortage is also observed in all central regions
A transformer in Kiev is on fire right now.
Good summary.
Extraordinary times.
💥💥💥Fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the DPR shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft and a Mi-8 helicopter💥💥💥
Washington wants to launder money. That's all this is.
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