Armchair Generals and Diplomatic Gasbags Seek War

American Thinker ^ | 5 Oct, 2025 | J.B. Shurk

[MtnClimber]

Among the arguments of those who seem to be pushing for expanded war with the Russian Federation, one of the strangest is that Russia is a weak, third-world country and a “paper tiger.” Those who make this argument point to the protracted three-year conflict in Ukraine and scoff at the Russians’ inability to subjugate a much weaker adversary. These same voices usually ignore America’s ten-year war in Iraq and twenty-year war in Afghanistan, even though both wars cost Americans much and accomplished far fewer strategic objectives than Americans were promised.

Russia has chosen to execute a war of attrition that wears down Ukrainians’ will to fight. At the same time, it has refrained from unleashing destruction on the scale of Dresden or Hiroshima that might trigger a wider U.S.-NATO response. Three and a half years into the war, the Ukrainian people are desperate for the conflict to end. So far, the war has been primarily limited to the territories of Russia and Ukraine. From Russia’s point of view, Putin is threading the needle.

What is particularly discordant about calling Russia a “paper tiger” is that so many of the people who make this assertion simultaneously warn that Russia is preparing to conquer all of Europe. In one breath, Senator Lindsey Graham, special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, or former secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes Russia as a backward country whose nuclear capabilities pose little threat to the United States. In the next breath, these same voices argue that Russia intends to reconstruct the Soviet Union and envassal the nations of Europe. Online commenters mock the Russian bear as having no real teeth but then insist that France and Germany will soon see Russian tanks in the streets.

[IDFbunny]

Russia is a paper tiger, the Russian juggernaut will steamroll Europe; both can’t be true.

[ansel12]

Strategic thinking and planning involves long period of time, it isn’t a snapshot of this current unplanned quagmire that Russia and North Korea are caught up in, this has delayed Russia’s long term plans and goals, but not ended them.

Russia thought that they would take Ukraine quickly and relatively painlessly and with little cost, they would then absorb that important geography and coastlines, the population, and the military and resources, and then be ready for the next step as a larger, more powerful, more populated, wealthier Russia.

President Trump helped ruin those plans when he had American troops in Ukraine training the Ukrainians while also getting important weapons to Ukraine, which helped destroy the armor and convoys at the beginning of the invasion.

[Retain Mike]

"These same voices usually ignore America’s ten-year war in Iraq and twenty-year war in Afghanistan."

For how many of those years were, Clinton, Obama, and Biden in charge? Why would you ever expect those administrations to make useful decisions?

[ansel12]

We also weren’t losing men by the many 100s of thousands and unable to take control of the air all while fighting literally next door, Russia and North Korea are bogged down in a hellish major war that has seen their side take losses of more than every war and action we have fought since WWII including major wars like Vietnam and Korea.