Ukraine could never "win". But we wanted to play. So, we vetoed peace deals, killed hundreds of thousands, wasted untold billions, and risked — and continue to risk — a world-ending nuclear war.
Great article and it would be nice if we had a functioning media establishment in the United States that would have explained this situation to the public long ago. The only exception I have is that the gorilla metaphor would have been more aptly illustrated with a story describing the sheer lunacy of giving a dementia patient a big red button that could launch a nuclear first strike. Or is that too fantastic a tale?
What is so maddening with all of this is how it could have been avoided and the tremendous losses avoided - especially on the Ukrainian side. For some stupid reason we in the States have learned precious little from past mistakes. This concept of controlling the world is a fools errand. The best way to control the world is via being an economic powerhouse. This ability too has been squandered by those we have chosen to elect. It is time to re-group, remove ourselves from these regional conflicts and focus on our own country. With years of neo-con influence our state of affairs has left the country in a mess. At this point we are beholden to outside parties who hate us (think China) and others who want to knock us down a tad (think BRICS). Time to bring production back home, secure our borders, and make the dollar strong. I can go on and on so I'll get off my soapbox now. Thoughts? Pax
"we are beholden to outside parties who hate us (think China) and others who want to knock us down a tad (think BRICS)."
I don't think that China hates the USA. They owe much of their current prosperity to the USA. That ought to bring about good will. But the USA has no interest in good will and is instead doing the best it can to foster for-short-term-profit-long-term-loss hate. I don't think BRICS wants to knock us down either. It's self defense. The USA stole from Afghanistan and Venezuela then 300 billion dollars from Russia. Everybody else knows it could happen to them. They have to build an alternative system. The USA foolishly inflicted this upon themselves. The USA's fatal flaw is its fixation on quarterly profits. This isn't going to change any time soon.
Not only that, all their attempts to contain China and Russia will fail short of self-destructive nuclear war. The whole thing is a foolish doomed scam.
That can only happen with a big decrease in the value of dollar to make US industry competitive again -- 50%? -- followed by years of austerity while industry rebuilds, plus a change of focus from short to long term thinking. I don't hear anyone at all calling for these things. Instead they will keep The System going as long as they can and blame the adverse results on overseas "enemies."
Having nothing better to do I made an exception and read some issues of the New York Times. The subtle but persistent background theme was that we had to make a lot of expensive weapons to counter Chinese aggression, so we can go to war with them.
The ultimate capitalist war is to sit safely behind two oceans while a sucker chump nation endlessly lobs our expensive missiles at our competitors while being slowly defeated. Taiwan would be perfect. It's an island difficult to invade, so the war could go on forever. Or Taiwan could be turned into the next Gaza so that the prize is rendered a liability. However I think the Taiwanese are much too smart to fall for it. Though perhaps their "leaders" could be bribed into the scam.
I think the true goal is for the USA to acquire trillions more dollars of debt, pleasing the big banks, the money going to arms manufacturers, pleasing them. The public pays via the highly regressive tax of tariffs. The public will be dismayed by the rapid decline in their standard of living. What happens then?
Yes, US is setting the stage for a war over Taiwan. The logistics make little sense. China does not need to invade Taiwan: all traffic to Taiwan can be stopped by missiles from the mainland. Houthis demonstrate this in the Red Sea-- US Navy has moved its carrier battlegroups out of the region, and China has more advanced technology than the Houthis. Who thinks that the US Navy or any coalition group can move past a China-imposed blockade and supply Taiwan with food let alone military technology?
Have you ever read about the Vikings?? Defense spending is the cost of being a superpower. We have to spent at least 3% of GDP on defense spending and right now we aren’t spending much more than 3%. 4% is too much and that is what we were spending under Bush/Cheney. Clinton slashed defense spending in the 1990s and Republicans freaked out…so it’s not worth going below 3%.
Thanks, Doc. We as a country need to get this word out to whatever group of individuals in Washington, DC is making and approving these decisions to escalate the destruction of Ukraine and inflame the fog of war in Europe and the US. I fear it is too late, and this administration of Democrats plan to burn it all down for all out war.
Zelensky is making the decisions…and remember how America came into being?? Americans were willing to die for their beliefs and so as Americans we should respect when other countries believe in causes worth dying for. Contrast that with Bush/Cheney who believed they knew what was best for other countries…Biden isn’t doing that he’s allowing Ukraine to make their life and death decisions.
Looks like people supporting the existance of Ukraine need to get the word out to those like you to stop getting brainwashed with russian propaganda that contributes to the genocide while pretending that you want to stop the war
So Russians are a gorilla, huh? How stupid. And Ukraine is a poor neighbourhood kid. Right. You forgot to dress the "kid" in his proper nazi outfit though.
I see what you're saying... I guess you like kids better than gorillas. Some people like gorillas better than kids. But actually, I think it was intended to be more a parable of quantity than quality.
Stopping Putin and RF is critical objective for USA.
Ukraine is Poland 1939
Putin has threatened many countries.
Stopping RF also sends a message to our allies and enemies.
Most of all imploding RF denies China a viable ally. Same with destroying Iran Govt and military capability.
Imploding Russia is very doable as Russia has no way to win a long war when it has $1.7T GDP vs $50T allied against it. Texas alone has more GDP.
Even after adjusting for PPP, RF has no chance. TXIconoclast said Jan 2023 when the allies coalesced around Tank Deals.
Almost two years later the economy is crumbling Russians are fleeing.
Unfortunately, RF best chance is Orange Nero who is always eager to do a stupid deal for self aggrandizement (Like Afghanistan 2020) no matter how bad or stupid it is.
But of course TXI knew how the USSR would lose the cold War 6 years before it imploded. Thanks to Howard Raifa.
How much does Putin pay you for this shit? Your entire piece is based on wife-beater logic; Putin just HAD to invade because Ukraine refused to be the doormat he demanded. Perhaps if Russia is so afraid of invasion from NATO, Russia could try to undo its entire history of INVADING AND CONQUERING ITS NEIGHBORS AND THEN DESTROYING THEIR CULTURES. Russia has 500 years of history as one of the most brutal empires ever to exist. Its neighbors had very good reasons to fear and hate that country. (And in case anyone wants to mention it, yes, so does Mexico. Call me when we invade. And also, Cuba still exists and Trump reinstated the US embargo. Biden should have lifted that and sent an ambassador to Havana on the day after his inauguration.)
NATO is a defensive alliance and its members have very good reasons to ask for American protection against Russia. Read a fucking book some time.
Great analysis of the situation without partisan bias. One thing I really remember is how President Biden personified the conflict with Putin, calling him a thug and saying how he could stand up to him. Putin's bluffing you refer to seemed to be a reaction to the Afghanistan withdrawal. He expected that Biden would back down, not expecting him to use the moment for political posturing to make himself appear more presidential to make up for the blunder.
Uh, Trump made the correct call surrendering to the Taliban! Cry more, neocon! The notion Putin believed he could do something stupid because Trump did something smart in surrendering to the Taliban is laughable…but then you probably masturbate to videos of Lizard Cheney. 😂
And Democrats are still "stunned" that they lost the election, badly. Many are so far gone and fixated on Trump that they can't see this latest highly dangerous outrage, or even the lunacy of a demented old crook still in the WH.
1001 day's war, of course, which that insane, inhumane, weird, mentally deranged Irish Catholic Biden the brute created for his own reasons, with the intention of making world war three, especially to deny a legitimately won federal election for Trump. This cocaine-pulling, paranoid schizophrenic Irish Catholic made this planet unlivable with many wars since he was VP to that sadistic Obama the brute - completely destroying peace in Syria, Libya (mercilessly and gruesome killing of Gaddafi, sending trained, lethally armed terrorist outfits), and also made the highest number of terrorist outfits the world has never witnessed before - such as IS, ISIS, ISIL and Syrian rebel groups. This duo, namely Obama and Biden, not only wanted to kill and displace (that infamous two-term alone 65 million refugees created), but every grisly, gory, gruesome killing they wanted to watch to rejoice with their high octane rapture with wows (Gaddafi killing and Bin Laden killing are cases in point). Tulsi Gabbard, a former Dem, left the party and joined Republicans due to Dems gruesome policies and unrelenting frothing hatred, ill-will and animosity toward Trump and every human being they practice - as their major policies and way of doing politics. Of course, Biden is a born mass murderer cum child mass murderer and his policies are based upon and in that sense and living with an eternal burning inside with his brutal Catholic belief.
Great article and it would be nice if we had a functioning media establishment in the United States that would have explained this situation to the public long ago. The only exception I have is that the gorilla metaphor would have been more aptly illustrated with a story describing the sheer lunacy of giving a dementia patient a big red button that could launch a nuclear first strike. Or is that too fantastic a tale?
Like Dr Strangelove, isn't it? But not so funny.
What is so maddening with all of this is how it could have been avoided and the tremendous losses avoided - especially on the Ukrainian side. For some stupid reason we in the States have learned precious little from past mistakes. This concept of controlling the world is a fools errand. The best way to control the world is via being an economic powerhouse. This ability too has been squandered by those we have chosen to elect. It is time to re-group, remove ourselves from these regional conflicts and focus on our own country. With years of neo-con influence our state of affairs has left the country in a mess. At this point we are beholden to outside parties who hate us (think China) and others who want to knock us down a tad (think BRICS). Time to bring production back home, secure our borders, and make the dollar strong. I can go on and on so I'll get off my soapbox now. Thoughts? Pax
"we are beholden to outside parties who hate us (think China) and others who want to knock us down a tad (think BRICS)."
I don't think that China hates the USA. They owe much of their current prosperity to the USA. That ought to bring about good will. But the USA has no interest in good will and is instead doing the best it can to foster for-short-term-profit-long-term-loss hate. I don't think BRICS wants to knock us down either. It's self defense. The USA stole from Afghanistan and Venezuela then 300 billion dollars from Russia. Everybody else knows it could happen to them. They have to build an alternative system. The USA foolishly inflicted this upon themselves. The USA's fatal flaw is its fixation on quarterly profits. This isn't going to change any time soon.
Not only that, all their attempts to contain China and Russia will fail short of self-destructive nuclear war. The whole thing is a foolish doomed scam.
Ahhh I beg to differ on some of your points…nonetheless we in the states have to return to our roots and that which made us successful.
That can only happen with a big decrease in the value of dollar to make US industry competitive again -- 50%? -- followed by years of austerity while industry rebuilds, plus a change of focus from short to long term thinking. I don't hear anyone at all calling for these things. Instead they will keep The System going as long as they can and blame the adverse results on overseas "enemies."
We had a cheap dollar in 2008…and the economy collapsed! 😝
Having nothing better to do I made an exception and read some issues of the New York Times. The subtle but persistent background theme was that we had to make a lot of expensive weapons to counter Chinese aggression, so we can go to war with them.
The ultimate capitalist war is to sit safely behind two oceans while a sucker chump nation endlessly lobs our expensive missiles at our competitors while being slowly defeated. Taiwan would be perfect. It's an island difficult to invade, so the war could go on forever. Or Taiwan could be turned into the next Gaza so that the prize is rendered a liability. However I think the Taiwanese are much too smart to fall for it. Though perhaps their "leaders" could be bribed into the scam.
I think the true goal is for the USA to acquire trillions more dollars of debt, pleasing the big banks, the money going to arms manufacturers, pleasing them. The public pays via the highly regressive tax of tariffs. The public will be dismayed by the rapid decline in their standard of living. What happens then?
Yes, US is setting the stage for a war over Taiwan. The logistics make little sense. China does not need to invade Taiwan: all traffic to Taiwan can be stopped by missiles from the mainland. Houthis demonstrate this in the Red Sea-- US Navy has moved its carrier battlegroups out of the region, and China has more advanced technology than the Houthis. Who thinks that the US Navy or any coalition group can move past a China-imposed blockade and supply Taiwan with food let alone military technology?
Have you ever read about the Vikings?? Defense spending is the cost of being a superpower. We have to spent at least 3% of GDP on defense spending and right now we aren’t spending much more than 3%. 4% is too much and that is what we were spending under Bush/Cheney. Clinton slashed defense spending in the 1990s and Republicans freaked out…so it’s not worth going below 3%.
Thanks, Doc. We as a country need to get this word out to whatever group of individuals in Washington, DC is making and approving these decisions to escalate the destruction of Ukraine and inflame the fog of war in Europe and the US. I fear it is too late, and this administration of Democrats plan to burn it all down for all out war.
Zelensky is making the decisions…and remember how America came into being?? Americans were willing to die for their beliefs and so as Americans we should respect when other countries believe in causes worth dying for. Contrast that with Bush/Cheney who believed they knew what was best for other countries…Biden isn’t doing that he’s allowing Ukraine to make their life and death decisions.
Looks like people supporting the existance of Ukraine need to get the word out to those like you to stop getting brainwashed with russian propaganda that contributes to the genocide while pretending that you want to stop the war
So Russians are a gorilla, huh? How stupid. And Ukraine is a poor neighbourhood kid. Right. You forgot to dress the "kid" in his proper nazi outfit though.
I see what you're saying... I guess you like kids better than gorillas. Some people like gorillas better than kids. But actually, I think it was intended to be more a parable of quantity than quality.
Way off here.
Stopping Putin and RF is critical objective for USA.
Ukraine is Poland 1939
Putin has threatened many countries.
Stopping RF also sends a message to our allies and enemies.
Most of all imploding RF denies China a viable ally. Same with destroying Iran Govt and military capability.
Imploding Russia is very doable as Russia has no way to win a long war when it has $1.7T GDP vs $50T allied against it. Texas alone has more GDP.
Even after adjusting for PPP, RF has no chance. TXIconoclast said Jan 2023 when the allies coalesced around Tank Deals.
Almost two years later the economy is crumbling Russians are fleeing.
Unfortunately, RF best chance is Orange Nero who is always eager to do a stupid deal for self aggrandizement (Like Afghanistan 2020) no matter how bad or stupid it is.
But of course TXI knew how the USSR would lose the cold War 6 years before it imploded. Thanks to Howard Raifa.
How much does Putin pay you for this shit? Your entire piece is based on wife-beater logic; Putin just HAD to invade because Ukraine refused to be the doormat he demanded. Perhaps if Russia is so afraid of invasion from NATO, Russia could try to undo its entire history of INVADING AND CONQUERING ITS NEIGHBORS AND THEN DESTROYING THEIR CULTURES. Russia has 500 years of history as one of the most brutal empires ever to exist. Its neighbors had very good reasons to fear and hate that country. (And in case anyone wants to mention it, yes, so does Mexico. Call me when we invade. And also, Cuba still exists and Trump reinstated the US embargo. Biden should have lifted that and sent an ambassador to Havana on the day after his inauguration.)
NATO is a defensive alliance and its members have very good reasons to ask for American protection against Russia. Read a fucking book some time.
Another piece of propaganda
All good. But remember also, we poked the gorilla too before we gave the kid the bat.
Great analysis of the situation without partisan bias. One thing I really remember is how President Biden personified the conflict with Putin, calling him a thug and saying how he could stand up to him. Putin's bluffing you refer to seemed to be a reaction to the Afghanistan withdrawal. He expected that Biden would back down, not expecting him to use the moment for political posturing to make himself appear more presidential to make up for the blunder.
Uh, Trump made the correct call surrendering to the Taliban! Cry more, neocon! The notion Putin believed he could do something stupid because Trump did something smart in surrendering to the Taliban is laughable…but then you probably masturbate to videos of Lizard Cheney. 😂
And Democrats are still "stunned" that they lost the election, badly. Many are so far gone and fixated on Trump that they can't see this latest highly dangerous outrage, or even the lunacy of a demented old crook still in the WH.
1001 day's war, of course, which that insane, inhumane, weird, mentally deranged Irish Catholic Biden the brute created for his own reasons, with the intention of making world war three, especially to deny a legitimately won federal election for Trump. This cocaine-pulling, paranoid schizophrenic Irish Catholic made this planet unlivable with many wars since he was VP to that sadistic Obama the brute - completely destroying peace in Syria, Libya (mercilessly and gruesome killing of Gaddafi, sending trained, lethally armed terrorist outfits), and also made the highest number of terrorist outfits the world has never witnessed before - such as IS, ISIS, ISIL and Syrian rebel groups. This duo, namely Obama and Biden, not only wanted to kill and displace (that infamous two-term alone 65 million refugees created), but every grisly, gory, gruesome killing they wanted to watch to rejoice with their high octane rapture with wows (Gaddafi killing and Bin Laden killing are cases in point). Tulsi Gabbard, a former Dem, left the party and joined Republicans due to Dems gruesome policies and unrelenting frothing hatred, ill-will and animosity toward Trump and every human being they practice - as their major policies and way of doing politics. Of course, Biden is a born mass murderer cum child mass murderer and his policies are based upon and in that sense and living with an eternal burning inside with his brutal Catholic belief.