Yes we could start a war with Russia and maybe win. China, NK, Iran, etc would all welcome playing spoiler roles. Stratego! This is a bit different than unseating that unpopular Chair and more of taking on a biker gang with multiple chapters.
I think the only way we could have headed this off is if several nations inserted a few battalions each into Ukraine near the border regions. I don’t think Putin would have risked attacking then but it didn’t appear that Ukraine’s President wanted soldiers from other countries in his borders. I guess this way he limited it to a single foreign country’s soldiers…
So all the pictures of dead civilians don’t bother you one bit? Do you also believe Russia will stop at Ukraine?
I suppose the social media platforms can be seen as favoring Putin as none of the have suspended their accounts: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram allowing Kremlin officials to promote war efforts on social media not only are they not suspending their accounts, they are allowing them to promote the invasion. Where is the outrage now?
Honestly I haven't even been paying attention. Just started reading this thread. And no, dead Ukrainians on the other side of the world that I don't know doesn't bother me one bit.
In other words - this is where we find out if the US has any sense of commitment within NATO and our allies. Will other nation states follow through? Specifically those within NATO or will they be subservient to self interest. We are not the only nation that depends on imported oil. We are not the only nation suffering from inflation. We are not the only nation that has indebted ourselves to the nth degree. How much suffering is the populace of NATO and allied nations willing to take. My guess. We protect our own and our allied nations as well. NATO will do the same if we are to believe President Biden's words. In other words Ukraine is a foregone conclusion and no one will do anything about it. Ukraine is the sacrificial lamb.
Jump right on in…maybe you’ll be lucky enough not to have just a piece of dna soaked uniform sent home to your family because you were vaporized. Thanks for the knee jerk propaganda angle.
Harris seems to be the one out of step or it was a poor choice of words, the administration overall was quite clear they thought an invasion was imminent, but they hoped Putin would choose sanity and diplomacy. In fact, a bunch of people have egg on their faces because they were mocking the intel, comparing to W’s WMD lie, etc. The intel was pretty spot on, not that it took a genius analysis to see Putin was planing something by amassing 150,000 troops. They could surely see it all on satellite imagery. Clearly they realized at least a week ago Putin was never acting in good faith. What is interesting is they even seemed to have the timing and the false pretenses that would be employed.
Enter the cyber war that has been rearing it's ugly head time and again. NATO and our allies will not become involved in it nor will their governments participate in such actions. Why? Once unleashed you better be the first with the most consequential damage because the retribution will be horrendous especially when you don't know how deep the opponents tentacles reach into your neck of the woods.
No. We need better pipelines to move oil from North Dakota and Texas to refineries on the east and west coasts
I believe his point is that if Putin gets to take Ukraine, the Baltics are next. They are NATO countries and Putin wants them back. They represent three countries that are all in NATO and Putin sees them as part of Russia. There is a theory of thinking that Putin is testing NATO now to see how far NATO is willing to go to defend the Baltics. Do want to fight in Ukraine when you have no requirement to do so and you can strength the NATO countries to NATO? Or do you want a NATO country to invoke Article 5 and force NATO countries to make a decision on whether they will honor their treaty requirements?
Yep all their proxy wars with their Mid East buddies didn’t go to well and draw in Korea and a victory in Vietnam. Cuba and the Sandinistas were a bust. I expect an insurgency that will be Afghanistan Pt Duex.
I would also add that they probably didn't have enough of the old Soviet SAMs to effectively counter the Russian aircraft and given that Russia also has them the Russians are very familiar with their vulnerabilities. Also since air defense suppression is the initial step in any air war the Russian air force probably took out all the Ukrainian SAM sites within a few hours of the beginning of the invasion probably using Russian Kh-48 anti-radiation missiles.
Not necessary. uftaipan is in the military, an officer I believe. He is entitled to his opinion. I thank him for his service. I do not want to see him die either over a border war. America has lost entirely too many good men and women over the last 20 yrs.
I don’t want a fight in the Ukraine period. Not our business. I’ve participated in enough in the popular wars and hot areas through the 80s to 05. Send No US troops to Ukraine. If they go after a NATO member than the bets are off.
