The Steep Cost of American Retreat

American Thinker.com ^ | January 19, 2022 | Paul Miller

[Kaslin]

As fears mount over the possibility of another Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration stands at risk of being painfully reminded of the steep cost of American retreat.

After last year brought the catastrophic combination of the U.S. pullout and Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the start of 2022 has added insult to injury. On January 11, the U.S. announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan -- meaning that Washington is still paying dearly for its miscalculations in Kabul.

In its quest to avert the next crisis overseas, the Biden administration should look no further than another embattled Central Asian nation. While energy prices fueled the protests in Kazakhstan from January 2-11, there is a far deeper geopolitical takeaway for the U.S. -- and it involves the usual suspect in an influence war that continues to confront America.

The unrest in Kazakhstan prompted the deployment of troops from member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet alliance comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia. The CSTO was formed in 2002, shortly after an American-led coalition intervened in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. Today, the CSTO functions as what former senior French defense official Pascal Ausseur recently described as a “mini-NATO... with Russia in place of the U.S. on the other side.”

[MattMusson]

It is messy but it is irreversible. America is disengaging. We are getting out of the Global Management Business. The US will quit policing the World’s Oceans and quit paying everyone to play nice with American treasure, blood and jobs.

The US is re-industrializing at an incredible clip. We have 11 steel mills currently under construction and 2 20 Billion dollar Chip foundries.

World wide supply chains are over. The future is the North American Supply Chain with the majority being US/Mexico colocation.

[ozarker]

War is good business , invest your son! But wait you say, your precious children will not serve in the military. We have an all volunteer army. When they get their tits in a wringer, that all-volunteer thing goes out the window. Better get your son and daughter doctors’ letters stating they have asthma, just like president * did during vietnam.

[Wuli]

Germany’s representative speaking at NATO the other day said that when it comes to Russia invading the Ukraine a NATO military response is off the table.

Why did Germany say that? It’s “green” policies domestically have left it getting too large a percentage of energy supplies from imports and Russia is Germany’s largest foreign energy source. Germany in the middle of this winter cannot afford to risk its energy supplies from Russia.

Reagan warned Europe and Germany that Russian energy exports to Europe would be Russia’s hook for pressuring Europe to concede to geopolitical demands from Russia. Putin, while at the KGB, had written that scenario before he was ever the leader of Russia.