Russia-Ukraine War

[C0|dB|00ded]

I absolutely LOVE IT!

[shock]

Good. Looks like they don’t need any more help. Send them a bill for the tax payer money we sent them.

[Atxshoxfan]

Good. Looks like they don’t need any more help. Send them a bill for the tax payer money we sent them.

No, we'll be sending taxpayer cash to cover damages of war. Probably to both Russia and Ukraine.

[ShockerPrez]

Time to start talks on ending this nonsense.

[SB Shock]

Time to start talks on ending this nonsense.

And the mechanism for this is what?

Putin not going to talk.

[ShockerPrez]

And the mechanism for this is what?

Putin not going to talk.

At minimum, maybe the UN?

[Kung Wu]

Time to start talks on ending this nonsense.

We are! Cold posted just 16 hours ago!

[C0|dB|00ded]

And the mechanism for this is what?

Putin not going to talk.

Putin made it clear what will stop HIS war - that he gets all the land he decided to take one day, killing tens of thousands of men, women, and children.

America profits greatly on a mostly peaceful world to trade with. Our military and economic interests are VERY closely aligned.

Morally I have a VERY big problem with Mr. Putin. The USA has a VERY big problem with dictators in nuclear countries deciding to invade their neighbors on a whim. Particularly neighbors who are/were close to becoming NATO members.

Those of you beating the Trumper drum, screeching about "NoT MuH WaR", need to read a history book, then a macroeconomics book. After that you need to work diligently to undo the indoctrination that urges you to support immoral, un-American policies.

[N Crestway]

I would say that Putin's playbook is Russia/Putin getting what it needs by way of a negotiated settlement but continues hybrid warfare against the West, then consolidates control over Belarus, and then uses a manufactured crisis to continue the conflict in Ukraine when the time is right. His likely successor will probably be in the same mold. The more powerful and determined Russia is perceived the more some NATO countries like Hungary and Slovakia are likely to create discord within NATO. It is naive to believe that a peace deal with Putin will last.

Putin has believed all along that time is on Russia's side.

[SB Shock]

At minimum, maybe the UN?

The only one with any power is the UN Security Council; Russia has a standing veto...

Economic sanctions are imposed on Russia. Estimates were that Russia's economy would be in ruins 4-6 months after they were applied, but that didn't happen.

Europe could quit importing its energy needs, which would hurt Russia, but the people of Europe do not want to freeze so that probably won't happen...

Any other ideas? Ukraine could surrender.

[SB Shock]

Putin has believed all along that time is on Russia's side.

Putin has time and 3 to 1 manpower advantage

[pogo]

[QUOTE=shock;n1453749]Good. Looks like they don’t need any more help. Send them a bill for the tax payer money we sent them. [/Q
And while we are at it lets send a bill to Israel , Kuwait the Saudi Peninsula Japan Taiwan and South Korea. This is the kind of forward thinking that we need.

[C0|dB|00ded]

[QUOTE=pogo;n1453800]

Good. Looks like they don’t need any more help. Send them a bill for the tax payer money we sent them. [/Q
And while we are at it lets send a bill to Israel , Kuwait the Saudi Peninsula Japan Taiwan and South Korea. This is the kind of forward thinking that we need.

Not really.

It's a geopolitical privilege for us to be able to park our weaponry in other people's countries. We fight our battles on foreign lands because of it.

Can anybody in here complete a little imagination exercise on what Europe and the Middle-East would look like if we had never opened a single overseas base?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321/

"the United States still maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad—from giant “Little Americas” to small radar facilities. Britain, France and Russia, by contrast, have about 30 foreign bases combined."

Think about this number for a moment. Now imagine if we never had had any of them. What does the world look like? Does America even exist?

We are the richest nation in the world - by far. We have profited greatly by maintaining some semblance of world order so that we can build our widgets and sell them.

Trump complaining about countries paying their "fair share" is so simplistic it isn't even amusing. But it resonates with the average voter, because they are thinking in 1 dimensional grocery store economics. Let's go to the customer service counter and get a refund on our overripe tomatoes.

When people say "voters are stupid", it isn't that wrong. Can any of us in here even begin to imagine the geopolitical strategies our county has been engaged in for the last 80 years? Clearly it's been to accumulate base positions around the globe.

So now this NYC "RE developer"/reality show host comes into the White House, barely reads his briefings, and he's going to go collect on all the "debt" these foreign countries owe us.

Simpleton.

Maybe they'll call our bluff and ask us to kindly leave their borders. Then watch what happens next...

[N Crestway]

Putin has time and 3 to 1 manpower advantage

Not if NATO is directly involved. Of course that will not happen. In fact I'm not sure if NATO will adequately defend the Baltic states...Germany will have one brigade in Lithuania by 2027 which is sort of laughable.Technical superiority can offset Russia's manpower advantage to some degree, however.

We may also see a slow, measured escalation on the part of an "alliance of the willing" which would initially include support troops as Macron proposed this year, of course his coalition is on the way out. If the Christian Democrats take power in Germany next year, Germany may be more willing to lend this kind of support.