Posted on 07/25/2022 3:25:40 PM PDT by delta7
The war in Ukraine is in its sixth month, and there’s no end in sight. Here’s what we know…
Almost everything you heard about the war in Ukraine from U.S. media over the course of March, April and May was a lie.
You heard that Putin was losing the war. You heard that Russians had poor training and low morale and were deserting in droves. You heard that Ukrainians were destroying Russian armor in large numbers to blunt the Russian advance.
None of this was true. In fact, Russian troops have achieved major victories in Mariupol, Kherson, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and other key targets that control rivers, ports and junctions in Ukraine.
U.S. Willing to Fight Russia to the Last Ukrainian
This article isn’t about strategy and I don’t want to get too deeply into the weeds, but Russia’s next targets are Slovyansk and Bakhmut, which will consolidate Russia’s control over the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Russia has also deployed anti-drone laser systems that have neutralized Ukraine’s ability to target Russian positions with drones. The endgame is the takeover of Odessa, which would give Russia control of 100% of Ukraine’s coastlines along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
A negotiated settlement that cedes Russian control over Crimea and the Russian-speaking parts of eastern Ukraine is probably the most realistic solution available to end the war. But the U.S. doesn’t want the war to end. Its plan is to wear Russia down through a protracted conflict, no matter how much the Ukrainian people suffer.
The battlefield situation aside, the story is even worse from the U.S. perspective…
Blowback!
Russia is not just winning the war on the ground. It’s winning the global financial and economic war launched by Biden and our European allies.
Russia’s revenues from oil and natural gas exports are at all-time highs. The Russian ruble is much stronger today than it was when the war began. China and India are buying all the Russian oil that Europe is refusing to buy.
Meanwhile, the economies of the U.S. and the EU are in or very near to recession. Inflation is out of control in the West. Commodity shortages will lead quickly to food shortages and more empty shelves in supermarkets.
Across the board, Biden’s economic sanctions have backfired and are hurting the U.S. and Europe far more than they are hurting Russia.
Not Pro-Russian, But Pro-Truth
I’ve been reporting honestly on the war since the beginning. My readers have not been misled by false reporting because I’ve been candid about the real impact of sanctions and Russia’s brutal but effective battlefield tactics.
It’s not that I’m pro-Russian — I’m not. I’m pro-truth. And I don’t defend the Russian invasion in any way (although I do understand it).
Even Bloomberg and The New York Times are now starting to admit that the war is a lost cause for Ukraine and the U.S. economy is suffering from sanctions aimed at Russia. But it’s a little late for legacy media to get their story straight.
What we know right now is the economic damage to the U.S. economy will get much worse before the economy gets better. Biden won’t stop the sanctions soon. That means the trashing of the U.S. economy will continue.
Meanwhile, Russia is “temporarily” shutting down the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to Germany for repairs. Of course, the temporary shutdown may become permanent. It’s just more proof that U.S.-led sanctions only hurt the U.S. and Europe, not Russia.
Failed Sanctions Against Russia May Actually Lead to Other Wars
Here’s another potentially dangerous side effect of the failed sanctions campaign against Russia:
Economic sanctions may now facilitate war instead of preventing or stopping it. Why? Because U.S. sanctions on Russia are a complete failure. Nations considering invasions that might have been deterred because of sanctions threats may now feel emboldened and that they can proceed with confidence.
How this new dynamic plays out in hotspots like the Taiwan Strait remains to be seen. But it would be deeply ironic if sanctions actually encouraged China to move against Taiwan.
These are the sorts of issues that should be thoroughly thought through before action is taken. But our political leaders are incapable of thinking even one move ahead.
The U.S. has already committed about $56 billion to assist Ukraine, which will likely turn out to be a very poor investment. But American taxpayers might be fleeced even more…
Give Us More Money!
The prime minister of Ukraine has calmly asked an international conference for $750 billion of assistance to rebuild Ukraine after the war. Nice try. There are a few problems with this. First of all, there will be no Ukraine to rebuild, at least not in its current form.
Russia will take somewhere between a third and half the country and keep it. The parts that Russia is taking control of include the industrial nexus, the largest natural resource deposits and the most fertile land. Russia will be able to finance the reconstruction of their conquests using the very industrial capacity, mining and agricultural output they have captured.
Russia will also control the ports and major rivers and will be able to tax the remainder of Ukraine for access. The gradual result will be a prosperous part of Ukraine controlled by Russia and a desperately poor part of Ukraine left to the corrupt oligarchs under Zelenskyy.
You’re on the Hook to Rebuild Ukraine
When asked how Ukraine will finance the $750 billion demanded, the prime minister said they could use assets seized from Russian oligarchs. But that’s ridiculous. There may be $5 billion or $10 billion in yachts and townhouses, but nothing close to $750 billion.
The truth is that this money will be expected to come from the U.S. and the EU, either directly or indirectly through the World Bank and the IMF. In other words, you are going to pay for it one way or the other. Of course, most of the money would end up in the hands of corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs.
It’s unlikely much reconstruction will get done anyway because Ukraine has long been a money-laundering operation for the benefit of U.S. politicians including the Clintons, Bidens and Obamas.
That’s something to bear in mind when your taxes start going up to “help” Ukraine.
Regards,
Jim Rickards for The Daily Reckoning
For a different perspective, check out https://archive.ph/9yYTy , which claims, with seemingly well-reasoned arguments, that the Russian economy is collapsing.
I really don’t know if both articles are just one-sided propaganda or if one is closer to the truth. Only time will tell.
They are working on a new reserve currency based of a basket of their own currency.
Globalists want people of European heritage to die.
Good post. Don’t let the crazies here BS you. Our standard of living is getting ready to nose dive over the Western world infatuation over complete narrative control. Mark down now which of your neighbors are pro destruction of the US. This is Biden’s war yet over half on FR cheer it on as some BS cult good vs evil. It’s not. I absolutely hate these people that want to destroy the west over Ukraine and climate change. Kill all of them. They are on the same side of the coin paying for a ride on the river Styx.
You are obviously not a military expert or historian. Check your history, Vietnam, Korea, WW2, “the war on terror”, French Indo China, Algeria, etc….then realize the sheer size of Ukraine, …
Yes it is a large country, but unlike most of the conflicts you noted, it’s rather open country for the most part. Iraq which according to the map you pointed me to is 3/4ths the size of Ukraine and we took the whole thing in a month.
Russia has been for my lifetime considered to be a formidable military power. Yes, of course it has nukes, but during the Cold War it was thought that the USSR would roll into Western Europe with overwhelming force. I have to think that those who back the Russian invasion of Ukraine (not say that you do) have to be disappointed with Russian results so far.
Ahh, the first village idiot wakes up... 😎
Uh, did you just learn that Putin is a murderous sociopath? He is soon to be the richest one in the world with several trillion dollars he just too from Ukraine because he knew Biden is a sissy pervert with no morals himself.
Another one woke up... 😎
And the third... 😎
“How many rubles are you earning for pushing this crap on FR, vatnik?”
Turning on the messenger is not the way to accomplish anything toward the truth. Truth can be applied in the way it is presented. I’ve taken a lot of heat from people on the board for basically saying the same things with the actuality being later accomplished. I got bad mouthed too.
“Russia’s war on Ukraine is a naked grab for territory and resources, a violation of another country’s sovereignty.”
What did you think it was for? If you read up on it you’ll find that the USSR was governing areas to include the Ukraine as late as the early 1990’s. And all the resources were theirs. So when the Ukraine took the step to separate from the USSR when the soviet states toppled, and the Ukrainians bailed to become that sovereign nation you mentioned, is that any difference from the south succeeding the north with US history in 1861?
This war didn’t start in 2022. It actually started about 15 years before the Ukraine bailed. And relations between Russia and the Ukraine had been on thin ice even longer before that.
As for taking control of the Ukraine for resources, there was a lot of weaponry to deal with in the Ukraine...and still is. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine gained its independence and inherited the third largest nuclear stockpile in the world, along with significant means of its design and production. The country had 130 UR-100N intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) with six warheads each, 46 RT-23 Molodets ICBMs with ten warheads apiece, as well as 33 heavy bombers, totaling approximately 1,700 warheads remaining on Ukrainian territory. While Ukraine had physical control of the weapons, it did not have operational control, as they were dependent on Russian-controlled electronic Permissive Action Links and the Russian command and control system. In 1992, Ukraine agreed to voluntarily remove over 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons. And the word tactical is loosely used here.
Following the signing of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances among the U.S., the U.K., and Russia, as well as similar agreements with France and China, Ukraine agreed to destroy the rest of its nuclear weapons, and to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). By 1996, Ukraine transferred all Soviet-era strategic warheads to Russia. Or so they both say.
After all these years, with Russia regaining a lot of the power they had, they want their resources back. This civil war has been in existence for many years, whether on paper or open combat, and we shouldn’t be in it in any way. The same as countries based out of Europe should have stayed out of our civil war. What delta7 is displaying is very true. And the US was aware of it’s coming well in advance of 2022...like around 1981. People with your ideas on it may not like it, but nothing he said has not happened yet but can happen and probably will. I was there and involved with the NBC side of the problem as early as the mid 1980’s.
It ain’t over yet and there are a lot of people to include US citizens that will pay the price for walking into a clothesline either bodily or financially. And as resources for us continue to dwindle, and get more demanding financially, how many people have to be hurt or killed for their civil war? And all we had to do was nothing and let them settle their own destiny. But like Korean, Vietnam, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Serbia, North Africa, and a number of conflicts just like them the public doesn’t know about, we couldn’t let it alone and each time we’ve paid the price. We need to shut up and stand down when one of these comes into view.
wy69
Biden is the most successful screw up and bungler in American History! Which is why we cannot afford one more minute of this idiot’s misrule. He must be removed from office, as self defense for the American people. Either 25AM or impeachment, and impeachment of Camel face also. After the election and impeachment, Pelousy will be history, and the new Speaker will become POTUS. Its either that, or an absurdly destructive and pointless European war, even a nuclear war. Great, can’t wait.
What you said ‘Bama Boy... 👍
Common sense like yours is in shitty supply... Don’t weaken.
Every time I hear the word “Ukraine” I think of Joe Biden and his “sonofabitch” comment......
I have to think that those who back the Russian invasion of Ukraine (not say that you do) have to be disappointed with Russian results so far.
———-
No level headed person can back Vlads invasion. However, his actions are understood, NATO ( ever expanding NATO- bad Vlad) has become irrelevant, crippled. NATO has no relevance without a bad Russia. That said, the Ukies are losing hugely, economically, militarily, “ defiance” does not win wars, territorial gains do, and destruction of economy does.
No war in modern history of this scale was ever “ won” in months- three years is the norm.
That said, my rub is the corrupted western media’s spin, I have traveled the world ( not as a tourist), and can easily see the spin by them. It is a shame when we have to go to Greek, Turkish, Bulgarian, Serbian, Indian ( non western)news for the facts.
America is being duped. Lead by emotions, fed by a corrupted western media, did not anyone learn from Trump’s warning about a corrupted US media?
That said, my rub is the corrupted western media’s spin... It is a shame when we have to go to Greek, Turkish, Bulgarian, Serbian, Indian ( non western)news for the facts.
You my FRiend are 100% correct!! We have become the Soviet Union.
Great piece! I don’t disagree with anything he said. But will forward it to Mike Waltz, my neocon warmonger “representative.”
I supported Waltz, campaigned for him, had his signs in my yard. What a mistake. He’s bought and paid for by defense contractors, and is wetting himself getting to chair the Armed Services Committee. Where he’ll be set for life.
He has a competitor in the primary, who will lose badly, butI’m donating anyway and sending Waltz the receipt. I will actively campaign against Waltz until he is gone.
*spit*
“I absolutely hate these people that want to destroy the west over Ukraine and climate change. Kill all of them”
Agree 100%.
“This civil war has been in existence for many years, whether on paper or open combat, and we shouldn’t be in it in any way. “
Agree completely. But the idiots in charge here and their whispering Rasputins have enough hubris and stupidity to get us all killed.
This is such a giant steaming pile of crap they’re getting us into... I can’t believe any Patriot supports it.
“Two things are infinite: universe and human stupidity. But I’m not sure for the universe.”
—Einstein
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