https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-o...HfXIaAhQAEALw_wcB#idiq=422533&edition=4680448 this is one of of my favorite books. Its a great account of the Iraq war
Within 24 hours after not explaining his points...basso has gone back to posting memes and being a RW troll. Its like dealing with kids. @rocketsjudoka
How can Russia end this tomorrow? By nuking Ukraine? That’s hardly going to be the type of victory that Russia wants and most likely will lead to even greater destruction. Russia threw a lot at Ukraine during the first month of the war. All it got them was a humiliating retreat and war crimes. They’ve shown again and again they have some big problems sustaining an offensive outside of the Donbas where they already had support t before the war. Honestly saying the war is over and that Ukraine is full of corrupt politicians is pretty much repeating russian propaganda. They were saying the same thing back in March and they control less territory now than they did then.
Yes of course removing those WMD. What a great strategic goal. It’s as solid of a strategic goal as de-Nazifying Ukraine.
Remember that 9/11 which Saddam had nothing to do with and WMDs which weren't there were the reasons for the invasion. Great analogy with the de-Nazification of Ukraine. Well played.
We had this discussion several pages back and many thought I was silly for thinking it… Trump at a speech today says while he was president he told nato countries that he would not come to their defense if they were invaded by Russia. And he was cheered
Yes I remember when he said that. There is a very deep strain of Isolationism that often goes hand in hand with Populism in this country.
Wouldn't march of 2020 be the best time to invade considering Putin doesnt care about Covid or his own citizens? Vs waiting for a pro war president like Biden? I guess I'm confused. Or maybe Putin waited until Europe decided to shut down all forms of energy that wasn't pure green?
you can agree with it or not, but it existed. can't say the same about our Ukraine adventure. the point of having clearly articulated goals is to keep from repeating out mistakes in Iraq. "help Ukraine win?" if that's it, we've been pretty meh. Bush's problem was he had a vision of what he wanted to accomplish, but for the most part he didn't have the country in support. If You Build It We Will Come was always going to flail, and fail. The half-assert on display now will end in the same place: so much men/material wasted, and little to nothing to show for it.
From yellow cake into dusty old powder UN inspectors sealed up many years ago...no wonder dub**** awkwardly laughed at his own invasion and indescriminate killing of another people
If you keep on wanting to believe that go ahead. Not even most of the current Republican party believes that. Both of us were posting here doing the midst of that and I don't recall you having that same opinion then. Well Ukraine hasn't fallen and it sounds like there is an offensive in the works by the Ukrainians that could change the lines. NATO is stronger and more united than it has been in years and is likely set to grow. On top of that no active US troops have died in combat in Ukraine. That seems like a fair amount to show for it.
Yes most people forget that Russia has been actively engaged in attacking Ukraine for years. From many of these post it also sounds like there are many who would be fine with Russia taking all of Ukraine.
Some people are tired of the constant proxy wars that do nothing more than destroy the countries they are fought in. Its been well cited the west expects this conflict to go on for years and has no plans to get directly involved.
So should we then just allow the Russians to take over Ukraine? If the Russians take over Ukraine do you think that will make the Western Countries more at ease and less willing to engage in military buildups? Yes it could go on for years. It could be possible one party does make substantial change that leads to victory for one side. It's also possible that both sides decide they can't sustain fighting and come to some sort of negotiated settlement. Right now the only one's who can determine that are the one's fighting. So far no US troops have been actively involved in this fighting. I think we're getting the best out of this situation if we want Ukraine to be able to hold out.
I'm not committing the US to a war that extends beyond the next few years. I will buy defense stocks regardless and people who wholeheartedly back Ukraine without understanding the heavy grease behind US policy are being very naive and willing to be led by their noses. As for the bolded, there are ethnic Russians living in Ukraine and I think a humane solution would be partitioning territory with high concentrations of them back into Russia. Geopolitically, it's a lot more complicated because of reserves and industrialization, but given our past experiences with sectarian violence dating way back (Iraq, former Yugoslavia, etc..) ethnic cleansing/relocation is a strong possibility after a cease-fire and peace treaty. People can blame the USSR for all of this, but the past is the past and it's not like we want to give back cali or texas back to mexico.
and I think this is US strategy in a nutshell. we want Ukraine to hold out; we don't want them to win.
