War in Ukraine

I'll admit, that is most likely political bluster, which is the norm these days. However, Trump also said he would start work on that as soon as he's elected. So there is a two and a half month window between Election Day and inauguration where he can still be meeting with NATO leaders, etc and gain those commitments. And I think once Russia sees that, they'll march right up to the negotiating table. So they could conceivably have a verbal agreement ready as Trump takes the Oath of Office.

Stranger things like this have happened. For instance, Iran releasing the hostages the day Reagan was inaugurated.

 

Trump is going to hit Iran with sanctions? You do know that the U.S. has had sanctions on Iran for over 40 years. We are pretty well maxed out on the sanctions we can put on Iran, unless Trump wants to build a wall around Iran. Do you think that's the plan?

Additional tariffs on China will not do much good. We (and Europe) already have high tariffs on China. In fact, if Trump repeats his previous arrogance with Europe, they may stop their tariffs against China. Trump is an offensive person, with little skill in diplomacy.

Russia has all the war it can handle right now. They do not want any more opponents. Their only defense against other nations joining in is threatening to use nukes.

And if you think Trump will have Europe wrapped around his little finger doing whatever he wants, you've got another thing coming. Europe hates Trump more than the democrats do. The only positive is that they hate Putin more than they hate Trump, but Trump might be able to change that with one of his arrogant speeches. Besides, all of Europe's weapons production combined cannot match American weapons production, so that idea might be pissing in the wind, okey-dokie.

 

It seems if the goal here is peace and Russian withdrawal, President Trump's people skills might come in handy. For example, as I've attempted to explain here before, with a guy like Vladimir Putin, you're essentially dealing with a mafia boss. Trump understands this. And Trump being from New York and rubbing shoulders with some mafia bosses in the past, Trump understands that despite whatever beef you may have going with another mafia boss, you never raise your hand towards or disrespect a mafia boss. It's a quick way to get yourself killed by the mafia.

That is why you see Trump kiss Xi's ass publicly, but then 5 minutes later, he's talking about all the abuse from China we get. On a personal level, Trump doesn't want to disrespect Putin, Xi or Un. He knows that doesn't get you far with mafia boss types. Same reason Antony Blinken shook his head in despair at Biden's press conference when Biden called Xi "a dictator." It's not like Trump is the only one who knows disrespecting a boss type figure is a surefire way to lose that person.

 

Looks like I'm arguing with Biden here.

Biden's Sanctions Waiver Can Award Billions To Iran

 

Ukraine Invasion Day 858: air defense takes all kinds

I didn’t realize Ukraine was using old slower aircraft to counter drones. That’s interesting. https://theaviationist.com/2024/06/26/ukrainian-yak-52-kill-marks/

very creative.

 

It's coming right after health care and infrastructure. It will be the most fantastic plan in the history of plans, you can count on that.

 

You can drive-by c'mon man all you want, but if Biden was to somehow win another 4 years, just know that peace with Russia and China are going to be impossible. Calling Putin a "killer" and Xi a "dictator" in a public forum is really stupid from the POTUS. Everybody already knew that information, so repeating it on the world stage wasn't going to help anything. The relations are so icy and non-existent.

 

Be nice to the warmongering dictators. Of course. Why hadn’t anyone else thought of that…

 

China and Russia putting their countries too close to US bases.

 

All projection.

All the time.

 

Edit to add: not off-topic.

Putin wants none of this …

 

Do you understand nothing? In no way is the Ukraine War similar to the Iran Hostage Crisis. Iran was upset at Jimmy Carter's policies and actions, and had no beef with Reagan. There was no benefit to keeping the 52 hostages any longer. They were already a pariah nation based on taking diplomats hostage, and they needed to release them to have any chance of resuming any kind of normal relations with the rest of the world (they still had oil customers outside of Iran). The hostage taking already achieved its objective of keeping the U.S. out of Iran's internal affairs for the foreseeable future. The Shah wound up living out his last few months in Egypt.

Russia's goal in invading Ukraine is not to get any concessions from the U.S. or anyone else. It is to capture their neighboring country and its resources. That will not change regardless of who takes office next January. Any negotiation that Russia enters into will be a temporary cease-fire, with any excuse used to re-start the hostilities. As long as Ukraine goes into slavery quietly and gives up its resources without complaint, there will be peace for a while. Negotiations will also be used to find out what the idiot Americans (represented by the Donald) are willing to give up in exchange for "peace" in Ukraine. If we're lucky, Trump will not commit too many U.S. resources towards rebuilding Russia after the war.

Understanding that strange things happen is a lot less important than understanding WHY they happen. That's where the big payoff is.

 

The diplomatic relations are poor because China and Russia's rhetoric and actions are not only poor, but dangerous to world peace. Stating facts bluntly is not causing their behavior and belligerence. If either one wants good relations with the U.S. (and presumably Europe), they should improve their behavior and rhetoric. Either or both of these countries could improve relations with the U.S., but they choose not to.

There is too much to gain from a successful invasion of their neighbors, and too little fear of consequences. Part of that lack of fear comes from the cowardice and fecklessness of the previous president, Donald Trump. Note that the beginning of the serious military buildup and preparations for war for Russia and China started during the Trump administration. Coincidence? I think not. Most likely, leaders of both countries believed that Trump's presidency signaled a new paradigm for how America approached foreign policy and support for freedom and independence worldwide.

Peace with Russia and China will only be possible after Ukraine defeats Russia, which ignorant republicans are working hard to prevent.

 

I owe some of you an apology, for deriding you as hysterics, when I quipped that Russia was going to sweep through Ukraine on the way to taking New York.

Breaking: Russia about to take New York …

 

Based on various Western sources, using the lower estimate of 45,000 Ukrainian losses per month, Zelensky says Russia is losing 270,000 troops per month …

 

People snicker when Putin says Russia’s fighting for its existence …

 

Estonian president and an army of three soldiers advance on St. Petersburg.

 

As long as we agree that by "various Western sources" we are talking about a liar in a basement with a Twitter account and no hint of credibility whatsoever.

Ukraine would have run out of soldiers months ago if they were losing 45,000 troops a month. They would have lost the war in the first year, easily, if that were the case. Your sources are liars. It does absolutely no good to quote "the lower estimate" of two liars, Lee Harvey.

 

There is no excuse for posting such a visual assault on the retina. That should be a banable offense. [Dry herve_ bile in the throat...]