I am ashamed at this administration for not going all out in support of Ukraine. Truly sad. Oh and Germany too.
You can see it in posts in the inflation thread. Freedom isn’t cheap. The bullet wound In my grandfather’s chest from when he was shot in the Argonne Forest was a lesson for me at an early age.
I agree except that I can’t blame the Administration alone. It’s our country as a whole that should feel shamed.
Not just our country but we should lead. Plans should have been in motion as soon as we had confirmed intel that an invasion was imminent. My hope is Putin dies soon and oligarchs favor intl acceptance over Ukrainian territory.
I’m a little more forgiving on what we “should have done” because I understand the will to disbelieve that Russia would actually do it. From a Western perspective, what they’ve done makes no sense in the 21st Century. What I’m less forgiving on are the actions we still have not taken months into this war, such as building up forces in Eastern Europe to force Russia to hold back a reserve out of Ukraine, mobilizing our economy to replace the lost food and fuel for our partners, forcing the issue of freedom of the seas with Russia’s blockade, and replacing some of the more ridiculous members of the President’s national security team with serious players.
Another reason this adminastration has failed. The handeling of our Afghanistan pullout and now our too late and too little responce to this war is sickening------ No, I won't be voting "democrat" this time around, may just set this one out if there is no third party candidate.
This is the danger of fighting against an opponent who wants it more. Ukraine wants it more than Russia, and Russia learned it the hard way. Russia wants it more than the West, and we're learning it the hard way. I don't know what kind of balance between capabilities and desires the 3 participants will strike or how long it's gonna take. Momentum in Ukraine Is Shifting in Russia’s Favor "Elsewhere, however, in Africa and Asia, support for the West — and for Ukraine — is more nuanced. Many countries see little difference between Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003; they seem unlikely to be persuaded otherwise. More generally, there is resentment in much of the developing world of what is seen as American domination, viewed as a hangover from the 20th century. In this context, the strong partnership between China and Russia is viewed not with the hostility and anxiety it provokes in the West, but rather as a salutary challenge to a Western-dominated global system." ... "Speaking at a security summit in Singapore, Mr. Austin said that Russia’s invasion was “what happens when oppressors trample the rules that protect us all.” He spoke after Mr. Zelensky had expressed concern in his nightly address that the world’s attention may drift away from Ukraine. With inflation hitting levels not seen for four decades in the United States and Britain, financial markets tumbling, interest rates rising and food shortages looming, such a drift in focus away from a long war toward more pressing domestic concerns may be inevitable. The war is not to blame for all of these developments, but it does exacerbate most of them — and there is no end in sight."
Sounds like the blame games have begun already. DC shifts to damage control as Ukraine defense fades "Speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Los Angeles, Biden blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for allegedly not heeding American warnings about a Russian invasion: And, folks, nothing like this has happened since World War Two. I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating, but I knew — and we had data to sustain — he was going to go in, off the border. There was no doubt. And Zelenskyy didn’t want to hear it, nor did a lot of people. Understanding why they didn’t want to hear it. But he went in." ... “Everything is about Russia’s goals and Russia’s prospects for meeting their goals,” Sanner added. “We do not talk about whether Ukraine might be able to defeat them. And to me, I feel that we are setting ourselves up for another intel failure by not talking about that publicly.” Translated from spook-speak, Sanner’s warning about an “intel failure” means that the failure had already occurred and that the intelligence services hoped to blame the Ukrainians for it – just as Biden did in Los Angeles two days later." Ukraine – The Situation (June 9) "The situation on a smaller scale strongly resembles the final phase of the Mariupol siege, with hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and troops holed up in the Azot fertilizer plant. The Ukrainian tactic of “fighting for every inch” may be dictated by Kiev for political reasons; militarily it makes little to no sense. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the US government has better information on Russian troops in Ukraine than on Ukrainian forces and that Kiev is keeping the US in the dark and possibly even misleading it to protect the rich flow of American military aid into the country." ... And as an American source not hugely impressed with British intelligence notes: “In a clear indicator that President Putin is in robust health and will continue his stay in office at least another five years, Christopher Steele, former British intelligence officer and avant garde fabulist, said that President Putin will be out of power in three to six months.”
Russia has killed hundreds of civilians in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv using indiscriminate shelling and widely-banned cluster munitions, according to new research by Amnesty International. Amnesty said it had found evidence of Russian forces repeatedly using 9N210/9N235 cluster bombs, as well as "scatterable" munitions - rockets that eject smaller mines that explode later at timed intervals. Ukraine war: Evidence shows widespread use of cluster munitions in Kharkiv
Both Ukraine and Russia are using cluster bombs. More importantly the US as well as other nations have not signed on to the ban. Treaty Banning Cluster Munitions Turns 10, but Without the US Political leaders and the United Nations Security Council, Human Rights Council, and General Assembly have all condemned these instances of new use of a banned weapon. The U.S. and other countries that have not signed the treaty supported many of these condemnations of cluster munition use. ...... But in November 2017, the Defense Department issued new policy permitting the U.S. military to use all of the millions of cluster munitions in existing stocks, even the most unreliable types, “until sufficient quantities” of “enhanced and more reliable” versions are developed and fielded. The policy also facilitates U.S. acquisition of cluster munitions from foreign sources to replenish stocks. After rolling back civilian protections on cluster munitions, the Trump administration did the same for internationally banned antipersonnel landmines with its January 31, 2020 policy that has been condemned for allowing the U.S. to use landmines anywhere in the world in perpetuity.
It’s unfortunate but absent all out commitment of forces from the west the outcome was inevitable. Said from day 1 you could not justify one single American serviceman/woman’s death for Ukraine. After 20+ years of war I am sick of Americans dying for others.
Not to be snarky, but do you want WW3? Do you really think this ends at Ukraine? China has not even made its move yet, but they are taking notes about the weak limits we are willing to put on pressuring Russia to end this thing and go home.
Some would posit that WWIII has already started, minus the extinction level nuke exchange if it were to escalate.
Once again, this kind of thinking flows from assumptions that Russia’s hunger will be satiated by Ukraine and that China will do nothing. And, therefore, if we sit back and do very little (which we are), then life will return to normal shortly after Russia has finished its meal. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that. I don’t think any of us on GC woke up New Year’s Day with the resolution of igniting potential global conflict in 2022. I don’t want any of this to be happening, but it is. From my perspective, the best of a lot of bad outcomes involves ensuring Russia is militarily defeated in Ukraine by increasing pressure to whatever level is necessary. Yes, that involves risk. But I see the risk in allowing Russia to win and lick its wounds while China makes the next move as even greater risk to global conflict.
Note he said he was disappointed we didn't go "all out". That would mean troops on the ground. Planes in the sky. Firing missiles into Russia. etc. I am very pleased with the approach this administration has taken. Russia has paid a high price for their gains.... and knows it came with the US and the west for the most part holding their fire. Russia now knows they better be happy with taking Ukraine and is very unlikely to push further. I'm not sure what to think about Taiwan. Really don't know the history there.
There is a lot of hope in your position, but hope is not a strategy. I don’t know what that poster meant by “all out,” because that limit has different meanings to different people. The President might truly believe that our current state of support is “all out.” I don’t, of course. I do know there are a lot of steps — I’ve mentioned a few on here several times — that we have failed to take that would be short of war but would serve to increase pressure on Russia. Why we are not doing some of them is indeed shameful and unworthy of our great country.
