An Offer He Can't Refuse

https://www.kunstler.com/ ^ | Aug 18, 2025 | James Howard Kunstler

[little jeremiah]

Excellent as usual.

[little jeremiah]

Kuntsler nails it perfectly.

[adorno]

If it’s not our war, why are we even involved in it? Trying to bring the war to an end, with ceasefires or negotiated settlements, means that we are indeed involved.

If it’s not our war, get the ‘f’ out and leave the warring parties go at each other, with the EU helping Ukraine and China and N.Korea assisting Putin.

We don’t even need to send funding to Ukraine. Leave entirely and forget trying for the Nobel Peace Prize. Europe and Ukraine can deal with Russia without our help.

[little jeremiah]

The US got involved under Auto-Pen, not under Trump. Of course Trump will not be sending any $ or materiel to Ukraine. The Euroglobohomopedos are corrupt warmongers, they’ve lost support of the citizenry, things in Europe will be changing. Ukraine already lost the war. It’s only twitching because of the axe embedded in its nervous system. Russia was entirely justified in its Special Military Operation.

[GenXPolymath]

Russia has shown remarkable restraint. It was not if they could have wiped Ukraine off the map and taken over the rubble. That much they have the strategic weaponry for. They have to live next door to these people so they have held back a fully genocidal beat down. They could have used tactical nukes and neither NATO nor the USA would’ve done sh1t but made a lot of noise about it. There is exactly zero change the UK, France or the USA would have used or allowed Ukes access to tactical nukes. The war would have ended if they hit Kiev with a single 10kt hypersonic before the ash cloud started to settle out the ukes would have surrendered. They didn’t but still could and no one could stop them. It’s a hollow threat that the USA would commit to using trident or ICBMs 100% not happening even if Kiev goes up in a mushroom cloud flat out zero percent of a NATO or USA nuclear response.

Ukraine lost and was always going to lose, they only survived this long by milking us for billions and emptying our weapons reserves. They were always going to be giving up Crimea and the Dombas and Donetsk they shouldn’t have had then after 1991 in the first place. This is reality territories are taken by force this is how the world works, has worked for all of human history and will work for all of the future. Militaries kill people and take land that’s what they do, and then your military holds that land by force. Little dancing twink Z needs to accept really take a deal and quickly get to the UAE or some EU safe zone before he ends up at the end of a rope or in front of a firing squad that is reality for him.

Boomers who still have cold war boners will cope and seethe because meh Putin won. Sorry boomers he was always going to win and since you are too old and out of shape to.fight the fingers flat out said no we are not fighting Russia because of imaginary things 40 years ago. USSR is gone bro let it go. Russia is doing more for white Western civilization than any other country as a Christian nation who doesn’t do woke or globalhomo face the reality they are a nation which should be our ally against the Muslims, woke socialists and globalhomo eurotrash.

[adorno]

The US got involved under Auto-Pen, not under Trump. Of course Trump will not be sending any $ or materiel to Ukraine. The Euroglobohomopedos are corrupt warmongers, they’ve lost support of the citizenry, things in Europe will be changing. Ukraine already lost the war. It’s only twitching because of the axe embedded in its nervous system. Russia was entirely justified in its Special Military Operation.

I wish FR had serious people opining on serious matters, and that the stupidity of idiotic labels would not enter into the discussions.

Who the heck would take anybody serious who starts out with insulting labels, like "Euroglobohomopedos" are "corrupt" and "warmongers".

[Brian Griffin]

“Ukraine will substantially disarm.”

Given the strong opposition of the Russians to having foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine, Ukraine will need unlimited defensive means of its own:
troops, tanks, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, tactical drones & missiles, mortars, Claymore mines, patrol boats, and artillery.

Ukraine will need weapons Ukraine can’t make itself and financial help from the EU to fund its defense. This funding might be based on Russian military funding, Russian conscription, placement of troop concentrations within 100km of the front lines, etc.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

good article
Z should take the deal.
Merz needed to be slapped down harder for yapping about ceasefire(Kudos to Trump for shutting this wimp down quickly!)

[Old West Conservative]

“I wish FR had serious people opining on serious matters, and that the stupidity of idiotic labels would not enter into the discussions.”

You failed to answer your own wishes...

[Macoozie]

“face the reality they are a nation which should be our ally against the Muslims”

Agreed-

WWII was a longtime ago-
Mooselimbs are the enemy.
Russia is our ally, Ukraine has stuff the world needs.

Stop the Killing.
Stop the waste.
Stop the destruction.

[ANKE69]

Thanks for posting this.
It’s spot-on !!!!

[Degaston]

I think that Ukraine would be best to get security guarantees for the next approx 50 years and for the disputed territories to face final settlement in about 50 years from now & peace in the meantime. What really needs to change, and this will only come through consistent transparency on the world stage & us in the West all setting the example with freedom of speech/press & not doing the Iran/China/Arabia way, is to let the facts/truth get out there. Why Russia is able to get away with this barbarian war of theirs is because their people/leaders are unaware of what people around the world really think about the Soviet Union and the recent actions of the Russian Federation & its allies. Throughout the school systems in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Czech Republic, and other countries its been the people of those countries & their leaders who have established the curriculum for their schoolchildren over the past 35 years & how they have taught history about 1939-1989 has changed considerably since they have been free of CCCP dominion. Unless the Russian Federation addresses the concerns of these people they are going to continue to be feared and considered a pariah state. The more they threaten try to bully these other people the more they will be feared & mistrusted.

Hopefully everyone can look forward beyond the terrible crimes/tragedies of the past, including 2025 so far, and try to make the world a better place. It’s not easy. But it’ll be better for all if the incidents of violence worldwide can be greatly curtailed towards lasting peace/harmony.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Nobody gets it right more than Howard Kunstler.

[dragnet2]

Wait a minute...Since you were a baby the neocons have been peddling wars and conflicts for profit, costing the U.S. taxpayers trillions where we win nothing but debt and death. And now people like you are complaining when an American president tries to help negotiate an end to a war that’s killed hundreds of thousands, which could possibly drag the U.S. and others in if it continued unabated?

Amazing...

[little jeremiah]

Why does Ukraine need a huge military? Russia just wants the peastern provinces as described. Putin has no desire to conquer Ukraine or bother tham. Ukraine just needs to claw itself together, not preprare for a war they’ve lost, and deservedly so.

[little jeremiah]

And his way with words is awesome and funny, while he nails to truth to the door.

[little jeremiah]

Well said! Putin has stateed that he wants Zelensky to stand trial for war crimes, or which he has committed many. Torturing and killing Russian POWs, for one. Russia treated Uke POWs with kindness and generosity.

[little jeremiah]

I think “Euroglobohomopedos” is a very apt description. Do you have a mod position of acceptable word usage on FR now?

[little jeremiah]

Exactly. Islam is the enemy, and the Europedoglobohomos are Muzzie lovers and enablers. Big problem.

[adorno]

Russia has shown remarkable restraint.

What war have you been watching or reading about? Restraint? That's a laugh.

It was not if they could have wiped Ukraine off the map and taken over the rubble.

If they could have, they would have. Putin bit off a lot more than he could chew. Ukraine was/is the mighty big bee which bit Putin on his nose and has tried to save face since.

That much they have the strategic weaponry for.

Russia was strong on paper, and they turned out to be a paper tiger.

They have to live next door to these people so they have held back a fully genocidal beat down.

Yeah, Russia has a lot of history with genocide. It's the only way they can rule those they've conquered. Kill them before they have a chance to revolt.

They could have used tactical nukes and neither NATO nor the USA would’ve done sh1t but made a lot of noise about it.

If they could have, they would have, But Putin knew and knows that the use of nukes would/will bring the corresponding response of nukes from Europe and the U.S. Putin was dumb to invade Ukraine, but not so dumb to bring total destruction to Russia.

You need to have your head examined.

There is exactly zero change the UK, France or the USA would have used or allowed Ukes access to tactical nukes.

The Ukrainians would not need to use nukes. NATO would be the one to use nukes, and they would use them without hesitation against Russia, if Russia used them first. Duh!

And, btw, there is no such thing as 'tactical nukes'. A nuke is a nuke, no matter how small or where or when used. Duh!

The war would have ended if they hit Kiev with a single 10kt hypersonic

Hypersonic missiles are very overrated, and if they were used with nukes, WWIII would break out, and Russia would be wiped off the face of the earth, in no time.

And, brw, the U.S. and NATO know exactly where all the Russian nukes are stationed, and immediately after Russia launched its first nuke, all the others would be eliminated before they even got a chance to be launched.

before the ash cloud started to settle out the ukes would have surrendered.

You have a good imagination, but totally wrong and clueless.

Right after Russia sent its first nuke, Russian cities would all be turned into glass soil, and Russia would have become only a footnote in history. No more Russia to worry about anymore.

They didn’t but still could and no one could stop them.

Ukraine, one of the weakest military in the world before they were invaded, is now one of the strongest in the world and stronger than any other military in Europe, and now a mighty rival to Russia.

Russia was and is a paper tiger, and now a very weak military with an even weaker economy, and without an economy to back up its military, Russia can't win any wars. Only the nukes made Russia relevant as a military, but those nukes can't be used without expecting that they would be wiped off the face of the earth. Heck, even N.Korea has a stronger military now than Russia. N.Korea has nukes too, you know.

It’s a hollow threat that the USA would commit to using trident or ICBMs

It's not a threat, and the MAD doctrine has ruled over the world of nukes, ever since more than one country attained them. Russia is prevented from using nukes, by the expectation that they would cease to exist immediately after launching their first nuke.

And don't forget that, it's not just the U.S. that possesses nukes. Various countries in Europe also have nukes. And Israel has them too. Imagine 10,000 or more nukes going in the direction of Russia. That's a doomsday scenario, and something that Putin does not want to invite.

So, stop imagining that which will never happen, not if Russia wants to continue to exist.

100% not happening even if Kiev goes up in a mushroom cloud

The Kiev mushroom cloud would be joined by thousands of mushroom clouds all over Russia.

flat out zero percent of a NATO or USA nuclear response.

Not very smart, are you?

Why do you think that Putin can only go as far as only issuing threats, which even he does not believe would happen? Putin knows that Russia would come to an end immediately after the first nuke, Use YOUR head!

Ukraine lost and was always going to lose,

Once a nation at war loses, they stop fighting. Has Ukraine stopped fighting? In what imaginary world does a nation that lose a war continued fighting? In fact, it's Russia that has lost a lot more than Ukraine in the war. Russia is now a basket case with a military which can't even field any weapons that can make a difference in the outcome.

Russia still has the numbers when it comes to soldiers, but Ukraine has the better conventional weapons now.

they only survived this long by milking us for billions and emptying our weapons reserves.

Putin should have anticipated that NATO and the U.S. would assist Ukraine in stopping the Russian invasion. Dumb as heck, that Putin.

When it comes to weapons, the U.S and NATO combined have as many times the weaponry as Russia. Dumb Putin. Anybody that believes in Russian power, is just as dumb.

" Ukraine now has the best and most capable drone building capacity than any other country. Much better than Russia and even better than the U.S./NATO. Putin is suffering very heavy losses because the Ukraine military is now just as good or better than the Russian side. Numbers-wise, Russia still has more soldiers, but they can't do much against the Ukrainian weaponry, which has kept Russia from gaining more than the 20% they've had since the beginning of the war.

They were always going to be giving up Crimea and the Dombas and Donetsk they shouldn’t have had then after 1991 in the first place.

Russia had no right to any Ukrainian territory. And they still don't. And nothing has been agreed on yet, so, Crimea and other Ukraine territories are still part of Ukraine, even if illegally occupied by Russians.

This is reality territories are taken by force this is how the world works, has worked for all of human history and will work for all of the future.

Aggression works? Germany and Japan learned a much different lesson from what YOU believe. Heck, Russia is not even what the USSR was, so, you are wrong there too. And Russia has not won the war yet, so, put YOUR dreams on hold.

Militaries kill people and take land that’s what they do, and then your military holds that land by force.

So, if the U.S. turned aggressive and decided to take Canada and Mexico by force, they would have the right to do so.

If Saddam Hussein had taken Qatar by force, would he have been in the right to do so? If Israel decides to take all of Iran, would they have been right to do so?

Your mind works in a crazy world, but then, crazy people have done what you espouse. But those crazy people have been disposed of, even if it took a long time to do so.

Little dancing twink Z needs to accept really take a deal and quickly get to the UAE or some EU safe zone before he ends up at the end of a rope or in front of a firing squad that is reality for him.

How 'bout the other little human in this war, Putin. Notice how tiny he looked next to Trump? Talk about his size, which he is trying to make up for by starting wars. the only thing that make tiny Putin relevant, is the wars and aggression which he has started. All backed up by the threats to use nukes.

Boomers who still have cold war boners will cope and seethe because meh Putin won.

You have a piss-poor imagination, and a recall of history to match.
>br> The cold war was won by the U.S. and NATO, and the USSR was broken up as a result. Putin imagines that he can reconstitute the old Soviet Union, which is why he wants to ake Ukraine. Ukraine was a critical component of the Soviet Union, but, that's ancient history.

Sorry boomers he was always going to win

Once you wake up from your dream, you'll notice how Putin hasn't won anything yet, and if he was to gain anything out of the invasion, it's not going to be what he wanted or what YOU imagine.

and since you are too old and out of shape to.fight the fingers flat out said no we are not fighting Russia because of imaginary things 40 years ago.

Sounds like you are still smarting from the loss of the cold war. Once you die, you can go and complain to Ronald Reagan for causing so much damage to YOUR mother Russia.

USSR is gone bro let it go.

Only the Soviet name is gone. The Russian part is still there and the Russian Federation is the new name for the Soviet Union. Even the old guard, the KGB is still around, though under a different name.

Russia is doing more for white Western civilization than any other country

So, conquering and murdering other countries, is how western civilization is saved. You need to be committed. Not only are you RACIST, but you are insane too.

Putin only tolerates religions, including Christianity. But he's just as religious as a dog. Talks to any dog and ask it how he feels about religions. Same as Putin. He tolerates religions because he doesn't want to be seen as uncaring. But, anyone that sends millions to their deaths, is not religious at all.

as a Christian nation

Tolerating Christians does not make it a Christian nation, with Putin believing in God the same way as the devil.

And you have a history going back to Lenin and Stalin and the Tsars, all of them warmongers who didn't care at all about their people. Russia is a very poor country because their leaders didn't care about making it an economic power; it was just wars for nationalistic reasons, or national pride. Here's war; be prideful for our goal to conquer the world. Dumb as sh-t!

who doesn’t do woke

Woke can be overcome, dummy.

or globalhomo

Have you ever wondered if homosexuals or people with different sexual preferences, also exist in Russia or in China. Or, has Russia purified their citizenry and have only straight people in their population.

Your comments point to you as being insane and totally uninformed.

face the reality they are a nation which should be our ally

The devil and it's supporters, cannot be allies to us or anybody else. A warmongering, invasion-prone, aggressive nation, cannot be trusted. Only if you can trust the devil, will you also trust the devil You believe in the devil, and that part about 'Christianity' is a phony claim by you.

Reagan once said, 'trust but verify', and he said it about Russia. You are a fool for trusting Russia. One cannot verify that which is hidden from you. That is Russia and Putin is their leader, who should rightfully be named "Satan".

against the Muslims, woke socialists and globalhomo eurotrash.

That's all your evils people?

But, I have some that are even worse, such as you; the insane and racist and who have no tolerance for those who are different. God created us all, but some decided to go in the direction of Satan; and you appear to be a disciple of Satan. Anybody that sides with Putin/Russia is just as evil as the devil.