Posted on 06/07/2022 9:06:25 AM PDT by SpeedyInTexas
Russia has failed to achieve its strategic goals in the first hundred days of the war and Ukraine need not cede substantial territory to end it, William Courtney, adjunct senior fellow at Rand Corporation, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Monday.
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, calling it a “special military operation.” The war entered its 100th day on Friday.
“Over 100 days, the Russians have pulled back their aims at least tactically, perhaps not strategically, quite a lot. The original goal was to seize three major cities: Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa. Russian troops had to withdraw from Kyiv and Kharkiv. And [they] have not been able to get close to Odessa,” said Courtney, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
“Hey, you know how much the 40 billion is going to benefit the American people, or, for that matter the Ukrainian people?”
What the trillion dollars of covid handouts to the American people by Trump-—which has caused this inflation, wasnt enough?
I don't live in EuroStupid, and neither do you.
Their particular problem is one of their own making, and shall be very entertaining come October.
“adjunct senior fellow at Rand Corporation”
That’s how you know he’s a deep state neocon liar with an agenda.
Get possessed much by Baghdad Bob much, CourtneyIdiot? Just asking....
You have to figure half of their inventory is being used for parts.
First have to get through summer and fall.
Doesn’t matter. They’ll figure it out, Russia has still made itself a laughingstock. You can buy stuff from people and still laugh at them behind their back.
That lowlife scum Biden and his goons aren't even half way through the first term yet. Biden's got over two years left to damage the country more...
Not as embarrassing as the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Russia claims to have taken control of 97% of one of the two provinces that make up Ukraine's Donbas, bringing the Kremlin closer to its goal of fully capturing the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories
June 07, 2022, 12:33 PM
**Biden and Democrats could open the producing areas tomorrow to lower prices if they really wanted, but they don’t, because they hate oil**
They PRETEND to hate oil. But only long enough to wipe out the Christians, the middle class, gun owners, and conservatives.
I'm eyeing my woodpile.
India, China and the other countries buying Russia energy aren't going to give the Eurostupids "cuts" back in line.
You're laboring under the misapprehension that Russia will want to sell energy to KarenEurope after all this.
They need Russia.
Russia doesn't need them. Going overboard on the sanctions drove that point home with Russia.
Half in November, the rest in 2024...
Brother, I planted a ton of potatoes this year!
Now where did I put that copper pot and coiled pipe?
1. They can be autocratic or tyrannical
2. They can be generally democratic
The autocratic countries can establish a specific ethos and defend their culture, traditions, and way of life. However, because they are autocratic they are more susceptible to corruption and stagnation. They have values they believe are worth protecting, but over time they lose the ability to protect them.
Meanwhile the generally democratic countries are open and thus less susceptible to corruption and stagnation. But because they are open economically and technologically they are also open socially and culturally. They have the ability to protect their borders, but they cease to have a definable culture worth protecting and are more likely to have open borders because they are welcoming to new people with new ideas.
It seems like either way we are hosed. Either we have a nation with a definable and decent culture worth protecting that can only maintain it by a corrupt and stagnant autocracy, or we have a nebulous and even decadent culture with the best weaponry and military training with no real purpose.
There are those under the delusion that there is some worthwhile middle ground. These folks are normally referred to as "civic nationalists". Rather than trying to support a specific culture, they hope to protect a particular interpretation of a set of documents (e.g. Constitution, English Common Law, etc.) that they believe will lead to a pluralist society where the best ideas will percolate to the top. They believe we can have an open society with the best technology and a military with the best training and morale because they choose to be in the military rather than being compelled to do so. They believe that a certain amount of decadence and deviation from the norm can be tolerated, because eventually those living poor lifestyles will see the light and conform to a more profitable way of life.
Under this delusion they believe two contradictory ideas: that there will be a true democracy (whether direct or representative, whether federal or republic) while also being a type of oligarchy that they label a meritocracy. Somehow a non-representative group of people will rise to the top and hold the reins of power because they are smarter than the Average Joe. This group of people will cease to behave as humans and not become corrupt or allow the country to become stagnant or overly decadent.
We see that this is not happening. We see that "merit" has been defined not as being the best suited for governing, but because one has the right credentials, e.g. Ivy League Graduate, son/daughter of so-and-so, etc. And even those among our leaders who happen to have real merit are still subject to the faults of humanity and are capable of being corrupted and/or resting on their laurels.
We also see that the documents so respected by the civic nationalists can be so reinterpreted as to mean the exact opposite of what was originally intended. The best the civic nationalists can do is work within the law and work through the courts and polling booths to try to get back to original intent. We see what a failure that has been.
What is happening in Ukraine is not a clear battle between autocracy and democracy. Russia's culture has been corrupted by the west and may very well not have much left worthy of preservation that can justify its current autocracy. Ukraine/NATO is not entirely democratic and our leaders appear to be taking ideas from the autocratic playbook in order to keep dissidents in line.
There really appear to be no winners in this situation regardless of the outcome. The long term trend is for the current set of empires to collapse from decadence and the inflationary devaluation of currency. Which countries will emerge from the ruins is anyone's guess.
Well, Russia is or has succeeded on Free Republic by creating a pro Russia/anti Ukraine cult of Freepers who prefer to Support Valdimer Putin because of perceived damage to sacrosanct conservative values by Ukranians
Well said...reminds me of the retired American General who during a live broadcast analyzed what turned out to be video game footage of a plane getting shot down as an example of how Ukraine was winning.
Russia’s failure to achieve major goals in Ukraine is ‘quite embarrassing,’ ex-U.S. official says,If it's embarrassing for "US officials" imagine how embarrassing it is for the Russians
“We were in Afghanistan for how many years, fighting goat herders with AK-47s...”
Yes, we were fighting “goat herders with AK-47s” because we succeeded in crippling the Afghan army and forcing their surrender in under 2 weeks. Something the Russians have not been able to do in Ukraine, and it seems unlikely they will ever be able to achieve it.
If they do achieve it, THEN they will have to worry about the subsequent guerrilla war like we had to worry about in Afghanistan.
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