Germany has become one of Ukraine’s leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia’s invasion, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz also has gained a reputation for hesitating to take each new step — generating impatience among allies.
Maybe the Germans will get there. Maybe they'll eventually agree to provide tanks to the Ukrainians. But every bit of foot-dragging along the way gives a little comfort to the Russians, that they can split the Western alliance apart and then prevail in their war of conquest. And it it clear that, every step of the way so far, that Germany has been lagging the problem of countering Russian aggression.
The Russians are trying to rebuild and reorganize their army to regain the offensive. It's up to the West, including Germany, to ensure that the Ukrainians have the support they need in order to break any Russian offensive into pieces.
9 comments:
While I believe most of the country is sympathetic to Ukraine’s attempt to defend their country from Russia’s aggression, I would encourage you & your readers to do a bit of research into the past 20+ years of US foreign policy regarding the breakup of the Soviet Union and its interference in Ukraine. It’s a despicable history of lies, failures and corruption. The US govt has used Ukraine as a patsy & screen for all forms of interference with Russia, plus money laundering and related schemes that make the mafia & the narcos totally jealous.
Only the arrogant idiots running this country could believe that this will end well for the US, Ukraine or Europe. What I do know is most folks here including myself absolutely do not want to see any of our kids dying in a stupid war in Ukraine. Anyone who knows anything about modern warfare knows that Russia’s now patiently fighting a war of attrition that Ukraine has no chance of winning. It’s unbelievable with as screwed up as our economy & debt are, that the idiots in charge are just fine with 40+ billion dollars wasted in Ukraine. Imagine if that money was put to good use here, solving some of our problems?
It breaks my heart to see the people of Ukraine dying & suffering as their country & infrastructure is destroyed as they are led by the corrupt dictator Zelensky & his minions, all puppets of the US govt, who has banned political opponents & religions he doesn’t like. A real democratic example? Cheered by all the idiots in the Uni-party US congress - the corruption & incompetence of that body boggles the mind.
I truly hope that some of the minions in the Ukrainian govt wake up, take charge & put an end to this war and tell NATO to go to hell. They may save what is left of their country?
What the citizen-serfs of the US, Ukraine & Russia should burn into the brains is that the idiots in govt do not give damn about you or your families. You are just cattle they use to play their globalist games, while they live & dine on streak & wine in their govt estates.
Wow, that is some blatant recasting of Russian talking points, there.
What you are advocating is that the Ukrainians surrender to Putin. Ukraine would cease to exist. I don't see how that "saves their country."
Zelenskyy won his election. He's not a dictator.
As I tried to make clear in my previous post, I am no fan of Putin or for that matter Russia - especially in terms of their invasion of Ukraine. But having a good understanding of what has been done previously by the arrogant US govt to Russia and Russian history, one can understand from a Russian perspective why this course of action was taken.
Horrific as the war has been, it is sadly the reaction that the US govt wanted - bleed Russia dry, collapse their economy & govt was clearly the US goal. As far as the death and destruction of Ukraine, well the US govt response will be sorry, not sorry. At some point in the near future, the criminals in the US govt will decide that the Ukrainian cow has been fully milked and wind down / withdrawal plans will be executed. Hopefully better than the Afghan withdrawal debacle? Whether Zelensky survives is questionable, since the US govt will need to tie up ( ie silence ) loose ends.
As for the poor Ukrainian serfs, the US govt may throw some more billions at them and publicize all the “rebuilding help” the US provided, see what a great bunch of guys we are?
As far as Zelensky being elected, there are a$$hole dictators all over the planet that get elected & re-elected.
The fact is that in 2014 Yanukovic - the duly elected president of Ukraine decided to align closely with Russia, not the US. Well the arrogant US govt wasn’t going to tolerate that, so as usual some 3 letter corrupt US govt agencies were deployed to “make things right”?
The Maiden Revolution took place, Yanukovic was ousted and a proper Ukrainian ruler was put in place. The first of a couple that would bow before the corrupt US govt, and so the party times began, culminating now with Zelensky, war with Russia, plane loads of cash wired & sent here and there, etc.
To be clear I do not like the Russian or Chinese governments. I am under no illusion that they are evil corrupt governments and their people do suffer. That said, at this point so is the US govt., there are no “good guys” on either side of this conflict and the real losers are the Ukrainian people.
How this resolves for Ukraine is hard to predict. What is known is that there was a deal on the table and the US govt sent that UK idiot Boris Johnson over to explain to Zelensky that his masters in the US did not want this. And so here we are.
I am just frustrated, angry and tired. It’s easy to get behind waving the blue&yellow - Ukraine was invaded, I get that. But easy doesn’t expose the reality of the situation which is very nuanced and opaque by design. Who wins, the idiots in the US govt and the military industrial complex. Who loses, all us serfs in Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the US.
You’re usually pretty good at pointing out all the US govt idiots ( ie TOFF - lol - a low bar I will admit ). And I get the Ukrainian support, but you have to see that the US govt is simply using the Ukrainian people as a proxy army to fight Russia?
What truly eludes me is what is the end game the US govt wants to achieve? Russia is not a global threat to the US, what does bringing Russia to its knees achieve? Yeah they have the bomb, so why can’t we have/maintain “you be cool and we’ll be cool”? At this point it appears to me to be the usual arrogance of the US govt and their evilness in using the Ukrainian people as the pawns in their scheme.
Comrade ,thanks for leaving this fantasy version of the events in Ukraine leading up to blatant Russian meddling in 2013-2014. I’d feel sorry for poor deluded souls like SucessionIsTheAnswer, but since the amount was created in 2015, it’s likely just a Russian bot account.
Secession is a red flag for Russian. Most of the secession/state break up things are of Russian origin. Been that way for years. And that's the answer to its stupid, stupid question about leaving each other to their own devices: Russia is definitely not being "cool" anywhere. Their efforts to degrade and destabilize democracies everywhere are ongoing and well documented.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
Wow, even more Russian talking points.
If Russia is such a peaceful country, then why has most European nations bordering Russia (and it vassal sate, Belarus) been beating on the doors of NATO and the EU for admission? That's an easy question to answer. They see that EU countries, even the poorer ones, are more prosperous than Russian-aligned nations. They hear the bleatings of Russian politicians about the need to protect Russian language and culture in the border regions of those countries. And they well remember the last European dictator who kept raising similar concerns.
The peace that the Russians have offered to the Ukrainians is slow dismemberment. They took Crimea and part of two provinces in 2014. Now they'll "settle" for taking four provinces, including the largest nuclear plant in Europe. Nobody, other than Putinites (and neo-Confederates) such as Mr. Succession, believes that the Russians would stop there.
Nobody would give a fuck about Russia if the Russians didn't have territorial designs on their neighbors. The Russians are not quiet about wanting to restore the territory of the USSR, if not the Russian Empire.
The Ukrainians don't want to be a part of Russia. Those who are advocating casting them adrift are, in essence, Russian allies.
If not outright Russian trolls.
I have not said that Russia is a peaceful country. But I don’t think a black&white - Ukraine good/Russia bad or Russia good/Ukraine bad is a valid thought out position. So I have tried to discuss issues that show that the causes of the war there are incredibly nuanced with bad actors on both sides. But your blog, your opinion.
To paraphrase you; I don’t give a fuck about Russia or Ukraine. I care about my extended family, especially our youngsters, growing up in a country with a failing economy, a failed education system, a loss of individual rights and a failed, corrupt political system. All that coin being thrown away on the Ukraine war that should be invested here in the US. And should the US govt become transparent in deploying military personnel to Ukraine, I will do everything in my power to prevent my family’s blood from being spent in that war.
I don’t have a crystal ball, maybe you are right and Ukraine will prevail, I don’t see that happening, but again ultimately I don’t care. I do care about the blowback and unintended consequences of the US govt involvement in this war on our economy and our currency.
The Alleged Ruskie Troll
Let’s see…
“causes of the war” - Problem is the argument is built upon a foundation of falsehoods.
“failing economy” - Well, if the R’s continue to demand spending cuts to raise the debt limit, yea, it’ll be a failing economy.
“failed education system” - Which explains why so many people come to the U.S. for education…while the R’s try to hamstring public education with vouchers.
“loss of individual rights” - Ask a woman about that, and who did it.
“failed, corrupt political system” - This is the best yet from the right. Santos, anyone? Bobbert…Green…Goser…Gaetz…
“become transparent…” - I won’t support the was if we admit it’s a war…hummmm, kinda ruins all the other arguments. The AI is faulty.
“maybe Ukraine will prevail” - failed to add “despite my efforts and those of the Freedom Caucus.
The consequences of this little tiff look to be increased U.S. arms sales, at the cost of the German and Russian arms industry…that’ll surely cause the economy to fail, eh?
What I hear from ou are the same things that Republicans said nearly ninety years ago. It's not our problem. Let's fix our own economy. Europe can fix its own problems. It's not our fight.
But then it became our fight. And it became our fight by the stage where it was much larger.
For nearly eighty years, it has been a general principle, especially in Europe, that borders are inviolate. That principle promoted stability. But now the Russians seek to rip that up, to go back to the Law of Conquest. The last war between industrial near-peer countries ended so long ago that the surviving foot soldiers are nearly all dead.
Do you seriously think that we'll be left alone? Do you seriously think that in a world where Might Makes Right will lead to prosperity and stability? Do you believe that there will no no impact to the US if Russia restores the boundaries of its empire, encouraging China to do the same? You think there will be no economic impact from, say, the Chinese attacking Taiwan? You don't think there will be issues from Germany and Japan rearming and re-entering the world stage as military powers?
In a world of peace and stability, everyone can work to better their families. In a world of war, people work to pay taxes to build more and better armaments.
We can stop this, now. Not by burying our heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't affect us, but by doing what we can to stop Russian aggression and see that their economy pays a heavy price for it.
Finally, you say that I lack nuance. War is not a time for nuance. We can either back the Ukrainians in their fight to stay a reasonably free nation, or, by our actions or inaction, back Russia's aggression. We are not some small nation on the coast of South America. We are a world power. Our choices have consequences.
I choose to back Ukraine. You're backing Russia.
It truly is as simple as that.
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