Amazing that someone in the American mainstream actually points out the true drivers behind US foreign policy and the deeply pernicious role played by Washingon in resuscitating the cold war - and why not? WW3
Great folk adage to bring the concept home, rooted in history and people with ties to the conflict. Chuck Prophet starts off with a variation on the title cut of one of the best albums of this century:
¡LET FREEDOM RING! (LYRICS)
Let there be darkness, let there be light
as the hawk cripples the dove
Over and over, watch the dove die
as they rip out the floorboards above
Let there be gossip, let it be cruel
I’ll still be home before dark
I’ve been through the wringer
and I know you have too
but their bite was much worse than their bark
Oh, let freedom ring . . .
###
Back to Ukraine, we don't want to lose sight of how the war started and may have been prevented. Once it started, it would have been long since over if Ukraine didn't want to defend itself. The government could have melted like the Afghan government that fell to the Taliban in a few weeks.
Now that Ukraine is a full-out conventional war within Ukraine, it's looking like a victory by the side with better morale and munitions could be the quickest route to peace. Peace allows refugees to return; killing to stop; grains to be planted, harvested, and exported; and energy to reach populations looking at a cold winter.
The shorter the war, the less the military industrials profit. Worst-case scenario today would be a prolonged war of attrition like Iran Iraq or WWI. If peace and stability is the goal, I'm all for giving Ukraine what it needs, within reason (guarding against escalating), to achieve a battlefield victory reclaiming most or all of the territory lost since the invasion (possibly some give and take around the margins) and ending the hostilities.
Putin's days are numbered. The borders that emerge from this conflict won't be set in stone.
I've now heard the theory a few times that China is biding its time to invade Siberia and seize valuable minerals. The two countries have had land wars in the area as recently as 1979. Does this seem at all possible? Seems more likely that a bitter Russia would rather be quietly and bloodlessly put under China's economic conservatorship than admit defeat to the west and turn focus on resisting China in either economic or hot war.
Amazing that someone in the American mainstream actually points out the true drivers behind US foreign policy and the deeply pernicious role played by Washingon in resuscitating the cold war - and why not? WW3
From Gott mit uns to Geld bei uns - From Goebbels to Gekko - You nailed it, Dr. Bivens.
Great folk adage to bring the concept home, rooted in history and people with ties to the conflict. Chuck Prophet starts off with a variation on the title cut of one of the best albums of this century:
¡LET FREEDOM RING! (LYRICS)
Let there be darkness, let there be light
as the hawk cripples the dove
Over and over, watch the dove die
as they rip out the floorboards above
Let there be gossip, let it be cruel
I’ll still be home before dark
I’ve been through the wringer
and I know you have too
but their bite was much worse than their bark
Oh, let freedom ring . . .
###
Back to Ukraine, we don't want to lose sight of how the war started and may have been prevented. Once it started, it would have been long since over if Ukraine didn't want to defend itself. The government could have melted like the Afghan government that fell to the Taliban in a few weeks.
Now that Ukraine is a full-out conventional war within Ukraine, it's looking like a victory by the side with better morale and munitions could be the quickest route to peace. Peace allows refugees to return; killing to stop; grains to be planted, harvested, and exported; and energy to reach populations looking at a cold winter.
The shorter the war, the less the military industrials profit. Worst-case scenario today would be a prolonged war of attrition like Iran Iraq or WWI. If peace and stability is the goal, I'm all for giving Ukraine what it needs, within reason (guarding against escalating), to achieve a battlefield victory reclaiming most or all of the territory lost since the invasion (possibly some give and take around the margins) and ending the hostilities.
Putin's days are numbered. The borders that emerge from this conflict won't be set in stone.
THANKS ---- Worth careful reading:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/09/15/russias-underperforming-military-and-our-own/
Russia’s Underperforming Military (and Our Own) – Andrew Bacevich (9-15-22)
I've now heard the theory a few times that China is biding its time to invade Siberia and seize valuable minerals. The two countries have had land wars in the area as recently as 1979. Does this seem at all possible? Seems more likely that a bitter Russia would rather be quietly and bloodlessly put under China's economic conservatorship than admit defeat to the west and turn focus on resisting China in either economic or hot war.