The usual suspects.
Posted on 01/30/2023 4:44:08 PM PST by Vlad0
American and NATO efforts to assist Ukraine in its conflict with Russia have escalated alarmingly since Putin launched his invasion almost one year ago. We began by doing virtually nothing to help Ukraine, except rhetorically and by way of offering Ukrainian leaders a one-way flight into exile. Since then we have imposed history-making economic and financial sanctions against Russia, and we have progressively taken on the responsibilities of funding, supplying, training, and providing intelligence for the Ukrainian security forces. It is an open question whether the average Ukrainian soldier now serves under Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Joe Biden.
...[snip]...
What effect, then, will it have on Putin’s resolve and Russian public opinion when the German Foreign Minister casually declares war against Russia, and when Germany dispatches its most modern tanks to fight on Ukrainian battlefields? The question answers itself. These intemperate actions are a fulfillment of the worst Russian nightmare: of an aggressive Western campaign to invade and destroy Russia herself (of which Ukraine is a part, in most Russian minds). It is a repeat, in fact, of the German tactics of World War II, which sought to use Ukrainian “nationalists” as cannon fodder against Soviet Russian forces. All this is confirmation, from the Russian point of view, of the extremely high stakes for which they are fighting, and of the fact that they, not Ukraine, are the nation that is targeted for destruction.
...[snip]...
In the medium term, it is much more likely that Russia will mobilize more of its reserves and militarize as much of its industrial sector as possible so as to facilitate an all-out effort to defeat the present government and security forces of Ukraine in a spring or summer offensive. And that, of course, will pose to the West even more agonizing questions about the lengths to which we are willing to go to “win” a war in Ukraine that we, by our naïveté and arrogance, helped to provoke, and which we seem to have no earthly idea how to end on favorable terms.
First the dissident right, then some of MAGA, then Trump, now the center-right.
The usual suspects.
The real conflict is not Russia vs Ukraine.
The real conflict is between BRICs and the US backed central banking.
Twilight Zone stuff.
Had Russia or China loudly denounced the Iraq or Afgan invasions [neither of whom invaded their invaders], sent billions upon billions of $ to Saddam or the Taliban, and their most advanced weapons to kill as many American soldiers as possible, how’d you react?
Answer that and then maybe you’ll earn a seat at the table.
Big amounts of lithium in Afghanistan?
Great material Vlad0, thank you.
“Answer that and then maybe you’ll earn a seat at the table.”
Realpolitik says none of that matters, it’s a moral dimension for amateurs.
We, the US is faced with a clearly divergent set of essential interests compared to Ukraine.
Our first existential interest is to avoid war with Russia. No other interest anywhere supersedes that one. Our second interest is that the Ukrainian war stay in Ukraine.
We share NO interest with Ukraine. None. In fact their interests lie in the opposite of the above two principal interests the US has.
Release them to their fate. End all military and intelligence and economic support.
FTA: “What effect, then, will it have on Putin’s resolve and Russian public opinion when the German Foreign Minister casually declares war against Russia...”
When did Germany declare war on Russia? And I’m not talking about June, 1941.
Is there a link to support that claim? I’m asking you because you posted this thread, though you didn’t write the article. So, you may not have a link.
“...and when Germany dispatches its most modern tanks to fight on Ukrainian battlefields?”
Tanks, not German crews to operate them. It’s not even close to what the USSR did for the NVA, as it armed the NVA with pretty much ALL its weapons and military assets, including Soviet “advisors” and “contractors” who flew missions against the US and manned some of the AA batteries.
Yet, strangely enough, we did not go to war with the Soviet Union over that. Why not?
“The question answers itself. These intemperate actions...”
No bias there, huh?
“...are a fulfillment of the worst Russian nightmare: of an aggressive Western campaign to invade and destroy Russia herself (of which Ukraine is a part, in most Russian minds).”
What nonsense! If the West had wanted to invade Russia what better time to do it then in early 1992 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union? Think about it: The USSR had just collapsed, and the West — especially the US — was at its strongest militarily in years; light years stronger than Russia conventionally (remember, we had just come off a great military victory — along with many Western allies — over Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The West was armed, trained, experienced, combat-tested...but it didn’t attack Russia, or even threaten it. Why is that?).
“...It is a repeat, in fact, of the German tactics of World War II, which sought to use Ukrainian ‘nationalists’ as cannon fodder against Soviet Russian forces.”
Don’t you mean the tactic of Russia using Ukrainian (including many ethnic Russians, but Ukrainian citizens nonetheless) nationalists as cannon fodder against Ukraine in 2014 and beyond?
“All this is confirmation, from the Russian point of view, of the extremely high stakes for which they are fighting, and of the fact that they, not Ukraine, are the nation that is targeted for destruction.”
More nonsense! Russia invaded Ukraine because 80% of Ukraine’s natural resources are in eastern Ukraine, not all that far from the Russian border, and Russia wants those resources, because Russia does not want a rival to what Russia considers its economic hegemony; and Russia thought it would be easy pickings. It thought wrong.
Just as German defeat after WWI led Germany to try to expand, so did Russian defeat in the Cold War lead to Russia attempting to expand. It’s not about Western actions. It’s about Russian insecurities about losing the Cold War. Like Hitler, the nationalist Putin wants to avenge defeat by showing strength. That is the best way to understand their invasion of Ukraine.
Waddy’s piece is driven by delusions.
Wonderful... /s
Now we know that American (Not)Greatness has been compromised. Now that they too are rolling out Putinist doggerel, normal people will know to stay clear.
You David are Low IQ
And what's the best way to understand the USA's meddling and constant intervention in Ukraine, right on Russia's border, 5000 miles from Washington DC?
The West Is Prosecuting Its Crusade Against Russia with Stunning Naïveté which will end up in a nuclear WW3 that will leave many feeling toasted.
Ha Ha. You are kidding I hope. LOL
Are you playing games, or have you completely stopped following the news?
I find it hard to believe this is a sincere question and not a rhetorical one, but I've always considered you to be a sincere person (assuming you are the 0-6 who posts at WRSA) so here is the sincere answer: January 21, 2023 is the day that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made her remarks.
WW3 Watch: German Foreign Minister Declares ‘We Are Fighting a War Against Russia’
“I’ve said already in the last days – yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine. Yes, we have to do more also on tanks,” Baerbock said. “But the most important and the crucial part is that we do it together and that we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”
There was a lot of commotion caused by her intemperate statement. But still, it's out there and was made on the same day that Germany reversed itself and said they would send tanks to Ukraine.
Other coverage:
Germany Says Quiet Part Out Loud About Ukraine War
German Foreign Minister Declares War on Russia
German Foreign Minister: We Are Fighting A War With Russia
Baerbock has publicly declared ‘a war against Russia’
German foreign minister rebuked for saying country is fighting ‘a war with Russia’
And many more...
What BS! No one has the intention of invading and destroying Russia itself. They just want Russia to leave Ukraine and go home. If the do that the conflict would end, plain and simple
(of which Ukraine is a part, in most Russian minds).
And here we have the truth, and the real reason for the invasion: Putin and other Russians will not accept the fact that Ukraine is a separate and independent nation. This has nothing to do with all of the reasons that Putin has given for the invasion. He wants to get Ukraine back and thought this was his opportunity. Given that opportunity, he would have eventually invaded no matter what NATO and the West did.
USA is more broke than my brother-in-law who is in his 3rd bankruptcy. We need to fix our own fiscal house, our own border, before we borrow more money to fix Ukraine’s borders
We obviously did not learn from fiasco in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. This involvement in Ukraine borders on insanity and worse than stupidity.
Oh, for God’s sake. She is the Foreign Minister. She does not have the authority to declare war.
She made a stupid statement that directly contradicts not only the German Executive (Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the executive ministries) but the German federal parliament (Bundestag and Bundesrat; roughly similar to our Congress, with the Bundestag similar to our House of Representatives and the Bundesrat similar to our Senate). The German Parliament has the authority to declare war. And it didn’t.
But, you go right ahead and announce to all and sundry that Germany declared war on Russia, and you’ll be seen as the Chicken Little alarmist you come off as.
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