All part of the plan. Pootie pie is 8 moves ahead of us as his special military operation is going swimmingly; truly one of the most brilliant military campaigns in recorded history.
Might be a fire sale on mega yachts and premium international villas and London addressese if the oligarchs have to start funding the country? I'm sure Xi will give him some good deals on loans... Russia's economy dealt a crushing blow as its current-account surplus collapses by 93% (msn.com) Russia's economic woes are worsening, with the latest blow coming from a collapse in its current account. The nation posted a current-account surplus of $5.4 billion for the April-June quarter, which marks a 93% plunge from a record $76.7 billion in the same period last year, Bank of Russia data shows. That's also the smallest excess since the third quarter of 2020. It shows the heavy blow that Western economic sanctions — imposed on the Kremlin in response to its war on Ukraine — have dealt to the country's economy by squeezing its energy exports.
Interesting read and sample takeaway: Biden >>> Lindsey Graham ? https://www.theamericanconservative.com/in-2024-pro-life-means-anti-war/
maybe sacking the general who complained about lack of support might not be such a good idea. crush Bakhmut and maybe the russian army goes full rebellion to end this war and dispose of Putin War criminal Girkin warns of new army mutiny in Russia after General Popov’s dismissal (msn.com) “The appeal of the retired commander to the public is ... a most dangerous precedent,” Girkin said. “Almost mutiny. Especially since this time it was not organized by some criminal who by the will of fortune made his way ‘from rags to riches,’ but a natural staff general. And not one of the worst. Later, as many commentators rightly point out, only mutinies and the uncontrolled disintegration of the army will take place. And in fact, it’s just a step away.” A “new major defeat” of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, which is probably just around the corner, may lead to a new “march on Moscow,” this time by the regular army, Girkin said.
It was idiocy, because the Shia and Sunni areas would constantly be fighting over land and influence, while having to split a third of the map with the Kurds. All with a decentralized government in Baghdad, weakening the Sunni majority and making them more vulnerable, which is what ended up happening anyway. It just would have happened a lot quicker under Biden's proposal. The real roadmap in the early stages to keeping Iranian influence from spreading into Iraq was to try to work out a mutually beneficial deal with Saddam to keep him in power, but to check his imperialist ambition. That option was off the table once it was learned Saddam tried to have Bush Sr killed while he was visiting Kuwait. Then it became personal, when it should have been strictly business. Saddam was brutal, but he kept shit in order. In fairness to Biden, by the time he announced that plan in 2006, it was too late, but we could have attempted a heart-to-heart with Saddam shortly after the 2nd war began or even before invading a 2nd time and tried to find a diplomatic solution.
You just gotta hope he's not replacing them with the right people. Hard to go anywhere but up from here.
^ I think the Japs are actually the last folks we actually beat. Grenada, maybe. But even that could have gone either way.
Hope #4 is correct but looks like a lot dysfunction in Russian command structures. Of course, the Japanese were beset with horrible inter-service rivalry in WWII. It hurt them but did a lot of damage before then
I suspect if you try really hard, you can think of at least one key difference between the Ukraine situation and Vietnam.
My primary sources are Americans, Brits, Swedes, Finns and Austrians not shot through with prior hatred for Russia. The feel at present … Ukr offensive going in reverse, including Bakhmut. Of interest: Avdeevka is being encircled. That’s the exceeding well fortified district from which Ukies have been spitefully shelling civilians for years. The Russian public will likely want them skinned alive. Likelier, they’ll get a stern talking-to from Putin.
Oh I think he's definitely smart enough to understand the difference between U.S. military occupation so extensive as to require a draft, vs. deploying no troops but giving a sovereign country our outdated munitions so that they can defend themselves from an attacking foreign power. IMO, the Ukraine support is much more akin to our support to the mujahideen in the Soviet-Afghan war, except that we're providing the aid more openly and with multilateral support/alignment. I just hope that, if Ukraine prevails, we're smarter and more forward-thinking this time around and provide support for Ukraine to rebuild in the aftermath (again, hopefully with multilateral support and alignment).
^ I got a thumbs down from a lurker who appears to favor sources shot-through with prior hatred of Russia.
