I look around and all I see is a context-free understanding of what many would regard as a years-long proxy war between the US and Russia.
Russia invaded Ukraine. Which you said would not happen. Did not have to be a war, or a "proxy war" as you call it. And, Russia is not fighting Ukraine through a "proxy"; Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ironic use of the term “empire.” US is presently going ballistic about the China - Solomon Islands accord thousands of miles from our shores.
Given how badly you misjudged the situation, do you really think that you are the best source of context on Russia? But I am happy to talk to you about Russia's role in financing international illegal markets and the nature of the blurring of lines between legal business, illegal business, and government in Russia and how this has led them into conflict with the small-l liberal world, who generally values the notion of separating each of those entities to some degree.
LOL. I’m not saying we will intervene there ever. In fact, I will go ahead and predict the opposite. But if we did, our Army could lay idle defending Eastern Europe while our combined service airpower swept Russia’s pathetic air force from the skies, its navy from the Black Sea, and supported Ukrainian forces marching back to their original borders … with contemptuous ease. Your military is a joke. We just didn’t know it until they took the field. You can pass that message to Putin. And you further advise him that I hope the rumors that he has inoperable thyroid cancer are true, I hope he suffers terribly from it, and I hope he lives long enough to witness the complete destruction of his vaunted army.
I honestly don’t remember insisting that Russia wouldn’t invade. But so what if I did ? How does that change in any way my supposition that the US has antagonized Russia and ignored its security concerns for years ?
I keep up with the MOEX Russia Index. It close fri at its lowest point yet. MOEX Russia Index (IMOEX.ME) Charts, Data & News - Yahoo Finance
Wishful thinking on my part that Biden will listen to them instead since they're the ones going in person? Emphasis on wishful.
Not in the sense that you mean. He meant his threats. He was just bluffing in the sense that he thought he playing with a straight-flush when he was holding a pair of 4s. I guess he should have checked his cards himself rather than relying on the word of a bunch of sycophants who told him how strong his hand was. What is the low-side (Russian) estimation for their own casualties again? Was it 14K dead and another 7K missing or something like that? For context, since you think our armed forces should quake when thinking about bad-ass Russia, how many killed in action do we have in the 20+ years since 9/11? And the answer might be “way too many,” but it’s a fraction of 14K. How many missing do we have? Is it even one?