Posted on 02/18/2023 3:30:19 PM PST by zeestephen
While the risk of escalation can't be ruled out, it must be balanced against the risks of allowing this conflict to drag on as Ukrainians and Russians are killed daily. Putin will negotiate seriously when he sees no military path forward — and that may happen if his hold on Crimea becomes untenable.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
We damn sure should.
I don’t care if he and his wife walk off from this with a $1 billion dollars.
We started this proxy war through Ukraine and we should pay for it.
> Crimea is as much a part of Russia as is Moscow. <
You are correct. Russia has no moral claim to Ukraine. But it does have a valid claim to Crimea. Khrushchev transferred Crimea from Russia to Ukraine on a whim back in 1954. Crimea was Russian for centuries. To think Crimea would ever become Ukrainian again is just as silly as thinking New York City would become British again.
Ain’t gonna happen. Well, it could happen. But millions would have to die first.
Khruchev was born near Ukrainian border.
There are about 25 million Russian ethics living in areas once in the Soviet Union that are now outside of the Russian Federation.
Putin doesn’t want these Russians to lose their jobs and their homes and be forced to flee to crowded apartments in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Ordinary Russians generally hate the war and the deaths of their countrymen, but they know they’ll personally hate massive unemployment and housing shortages if Putin should lose in Ukraine.
Born in 1894 in Kalinovka, Russian Empire, 6.6 miles from the present Ukrainian border.
Wikipedia says “His ethnicity is disputed”, and gives references to support either Ukrainian or Russian origins.
Khruschev lost power after being humiliated by President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis.
Putin isn’t going to let the demented Delaware Democrat humiliate him.
Nicholas Kristof, pick up a rifle and head on over.
If you want us all turned into radioactive ash, he (and other NeoCon psychopaths) has a point.
Smart man. America doesn’t have those in power or influence anymore.
Goofy ass Kristof again. A real piece of meat with two eyes.
Yeah, they are working on that thanks to Slojoe.
I think we are getting closer to a hot war. It will not be where the elites think it will occur. If 10-20 get sniped in the USA then they will load their planes full of security and flee to New Zealand. The might try to bumper down in some USA spot with a private army with the real military running a larger “No little people” zone.
Maybe some national entities could smuggle in heavy weapons into the USA. Just put them next to the drugs, children … that get smuggled in. They never find that.
AKs / DShK / PK /RPG / grenades / MON-50/ MON-90 / Kornet / Strela / PMN AP mines / TM-46 vehicle mines. Give 2-4 “Disadvantaged” groups in the US some Ammo, equipment training, minimal insurgent/ambush training, money, and drugs. Basically heavily equip some gangs. Make for some interesting 3 day weekend news reporting.
My still biggest worry are the Ukrainian produced nukes(I’m sure both the USA via CIA and Russia kept a few off the books) combined with black market plutonium from Pakistan, Iran, NK, South Africa… and you have nuke with no manufacturing fingerprint. Each weapon produced has a “fingerprint” that tells us who made it and when based on reactors. Intentionally corrupt the fingerprint.
I believe that Russia could launch against the continental US *before* going tactical in Ukraine, just to get max benefit from a surprise attack. Actually, it could be almost simultaneous.
Among those millions would be Americans despite the fact that we have no treaty obligation to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine.
Was Gerald Ford still GOP Minority Leader then?
Anyway, eight months later, Nixon withdrew our remaining troops and signed a peace treaty that allowed 200,000 Communist soldiers to remain in the South.
I should've amended my thought to say the "only chance" is with NATO boots on the ground, and even then, it will be a bloody affair with victory far from guaranteed.
Other than the 72 hour route of Saddam's army in 1991, where they couldn't surrender fast enough, the U.S. has not fought a modern, mechanized force since the Korean War. Since then, our adversaries have almost exclusively been brave men in sandals with AK-47s.
If you listen to some of the reports from American mercenaries fighting on behalf of Ukraine, the lamentations are almost always the same. "This is nothing like Afghanistan. The Russians have artillery."
I just read the Wiki article on Kristof.
Did you know he resigned from the New York Times in 2021 to run for Governor of Oregon?
Kristof spent his youth in Oregon, but the Secretary of State decided that he did not meet the residency requirements for Oregon (like not paying Oregon state income tax, perhaps?) and the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the residency decision.
Kristof rejoined the New York Times a month after the 2022 election.
“Biden Should Give Ukraine What It Needs to Win”
This is the NY Times. Nikki Haley agrees, only it’s worse. She told an interviewer last week that Biden should’ve given Ukraine EVERYTHING it needed at the very BEGINNING.
Other than the 72 hour route of Saddam’s army in 1991,
————
Be reminded it took the US 6 months to prepare and move equipment to the theatre, and they had much prepositioned equipment in the Saudi underground tunnels ( I saw them). The US pulled out of the EU years ago, it will take months to move just one full armored division into theatre….and should hostilities begin I doubt much equipment would even reach the EU ( sea lanes would be attacked) and our airlift capability is weak , very weak after the Afghanistan Iraq debacle.
Switching over to Vlad, Russian MOD sources state they are planning and equipping for a “ 30 month” war with NATO, which explains much with Russia’s movements. Do keep in mind Vlad has been on a war manufacturing blitz since at least 2015- 24/7 arms ammo production. This can be confirmed by Russian missile dated fragments found- they are far, far from depletion.
In short, should hostilities begin ( non nuclear),much of the EU cities, airfields and manufacturing ( very little) would be hit by super sonic missiles in minutes, possibly seconds.
Vlad holds all the cards and the West knows it.
Vlad wins, quite possibly in a day or two if played correctly.
Yes, yes, and the Turks owned it before them. I know all that. Who cares? Ukraine had it and Russia took it away by force. I call that stealing. The point was that Ukraine did nothing to defend it and nothing to take it back.
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