cubsfan

Right - unfortunately, Ukraine is going to run out of manpower. Already hearing about forced conscription of any able bodied males on the streets. With the media controlled by the government, and martial law in place , getting the real story is tough. Nobody wants to see Ukraine fail, but recovering the Crimea & Donbas is a pipe dream.

Yeah, made this point before- Ukraine running out of men- everyone says “no way”. Unfortunately, it’s tough to believe a corrupt, what’s effectively a dictatorship that doesn’t allow free speech. You never really know where you’re at after that supposed steamroller spring offensive.

^^ Fair enough. But they are still deadly & effective weapons I presume?

Your view is well taken. We have however supplied > $100B in arms to Ukraine. An enormous show of support. I do think the line for the USA can be drawn at sending troops. And if we withhold funds due to internal politics of the southern border, that’s ok too. Europe can step up, as it maybe in THEIR strategic interest. . It is in OUR strategic interest if you consider the ripple effect to China/Taiwan. But your point can be debated. Personally, if Ukraine wasn’t so corrupt, it would make the aid argument easier. But they have also fought bravely and appear willing to die for their country. That should count for something. personally, they think victory is stopping Russia, letting them have Crimea & The Donbas, not the total victory Ukraine demands.

Agree. It’s put up or shut up time.

^^^ Not bad @Parsad - the US is indeed a shitshow!

@Luca - nah - you just painted Islam with the broad brush of not feeling Chinese. Hence, the justification for forced abortions and concentration camps for Uyghurs. Brilliant China - so much for religious freedom and individual tolerance- problem solved. You keep up the cheerleading!

Especially those women they force to have abortions. Eliminate the race like good Nazis. @Luca I’ll put you down as a hardcore Commie!

Show me one of the several million Muslims, who are Chinese citizens- who love China. How does one love his country from the inside of a labor/concentration camp??

Accepting of abuse and elitism??? Seriously? China is ALL about conformity and suppression of individual rights to the State. BUT - I will grant you, with China Joe is charge - the US is headed that way!

You really love China @Luca ! There are 330 million citizens in the USA. There are far more Chinese citizens than 330M that live in POVERTY. And of course, China is one of the most racist countries in the world. Try being a Muslim or black in China. Talk about discrimination! other than that the place is great

Could not have been better said!

+ 1 , We ended up being a bunch of suckers while we destroyed economies & livelihoods, and handed dishonest politicians unlimited power to overreach. Never again

My hero. A great, great human being.

I think this closer to reality. The capabilities is there to remove Russia, but I doubt the political will on the part of the West. And someone made an excellent point about who wins the US election. If the West starts bombing the Russian homeland and sinking the Black Sea fleet to cripple Russia, that will be a huge step and we may see a different side of Putin, like nukes. Good discussions gentlemen.

I think you make a tremendous amount of sense. As an American, I’d like to see a massive commitment from Europe in parallel. But I have my doubts that military aid without significant outside manpower will do the trick. And of course, the American politics of this is crucial: you can’t easily get any of this without shutting down the southern border. Many Americans have realized that protecting Ukraine’s border is insane when we won’t or our own. That’s the present reality.

So are you saying that the Ukrainians are capable of removing Russia from The Donbas and Crimea??? You think they will push back the Russians to the pre-2014 borders??

John - regardless of words on paper - I just think you’re looking at a stalemate, whereby ejecting Russia from The Donbas & Crimea is close to impossible. I wish it were not so, but what happens when Ukraine depletes their manpower and the Europeans need to step in?? I don’t think it will happen. We will see.

A lot of this depends on how you define “territory “. If it means Ukraine reclaiming Crimea & Donbas - odds are slim Ukraine can ever pull that off . They just don’t have the manpower. When it comes to ejecting Russia from their own territory- how often has that happened? Those areas are effectively Russia now. The spring and summer offensive look like failures to me. Just being honest here. This looks like Stalingrad - and Russia can absorb way more punishment than Ukraine can, unfortunately. In a war of attrition, Russia has the advantage- I hate to say it. I don’t see that Europe wants to be involved - so if Ukraine can push Russia to the pre-2020 borders - that may be the victory Ukraine gets.

I won’t disagree at all. It’s looking more & more like a stalemate war of attrition. I hear lots of talk from Europe, but not too much action. But it’s been a hellavu high price for Russia- and I think they’re done taking European territory.

It may be a redline for Putin, but he sure is paying dearly now. He probably got the message that anymore shenanigans with other European nations will be even more costly. It’s unfortunate that events had to go this far for Russia’s neighbors to wake up. Better late than never, but much more costly.

Exactly - the semi-neutral Muslims are going to side with the strongest(winner). The reason they’ve lost confidence in the West, is they think we will cut & run - so you certainly can’t blame them. It’s up to Israel now.

I’m sure The Hague is all in favor of harboring terrorists and storing/firing missiles from those refugee camps. Sure they are.

Maybe I read your original post incorrectly: I assume you said the Israel is committing war crimes. Perhaps I’m wrong. Regardless - Israel is in the fight of their lives. Egypt, Jordan and the Saudis want no part of this.(nor do they want Palestinians) In the fight for your life, proportionally has no place. Israel MUST win and they will. The Palestinians can EASILY end this. Simple: release hostages, dump Hamas. War is over. If not - Israel will do it for them. It makes ZERO sense to hold back any pressure. ZERO. Your enemy is cooked. Only an idiot would stop now. Hamas is not capable of defeating Israel. The sooner the better, because Israel will need to turn its attention to Hezbollah very quickly.

And it should be very clear of the objective here: eliminate Hamas and deter Hezbollah. The USA dropped a bomb on Japan. A horrible act of violence. The war in the Pacific is over. What happened to that guerrilla war in Japan?? Nothing.. What about the uprising in Germany? Never happened. The facist military dictatorship were replaced once and for all - with 70 years of peace. Palestinians get to make their own choice. Peace or more war??? Up to them.