romad1

This is a day old but still essentially accurate. I do believe that only Ukrainian battlefield success defined as survival as a force in being for as long as possible with a viable supply corridor to the West for more ammo, medical support etc. is what will eventually bring Putin down. As in end his regime.

This is a complete no duh. China Must Back Russia Over Ukraine for Support With Taiwan: Editor (businessinsider.com) China and Russia are not 100% allied but they are moving closer and closer to each other.

No kidding

I'm totally for Ukraine being in NATO if they are committed to the Rule of Law, a semblance of democracy, and will contribute to the common defense of the alliance.

Recall the Georgia invasion resulted in a collective WTF? from the W Bush admin. Nobody was ready or had bandwidth to deal with Russia adequately because we were in the first decade of the two decade GWOT.

There are indeed some American pro-gun/professional military contractors (mercs) in Kiev who are touting this very position.

Speculation: He's got the long haul covid cognitive issues. He had the heart trouble a year or so ago. Here are some more informed speculations on this https://lansinginstitute.org/2021/09/29/putins-worsening-health-set-to-be-a-determining-factor-in-russias-policy-over-the-next-four-years/

I've thought this a bit based on his actions and behavior.

Biden appears to understand bullies as only the grownup man who as a kid suffered from bullying could. Biden also appears like the kid on his bike who is rallying the other kids in the neighborhood to fight the monsters from the upside down. Meanwhile Donald Trump is the kid who got his first Russian whore at 14 when he was home from bullying the other kids at military school. His historical ties to the Soviet Union are well documented.

FTR, It does appear Europe is unified.

Do they give expressed written permission or is that implied oral consent?

There is absolutely one way to correct Russia's behavior. Its to bleed him. Ukraine will do that. If we were ever going to have Russia join the civilized world. It has to change leadership.

Supporting Ukraine = going to war. Ok I see you continue to call it "the Ukraine" as well.

We certainly learned the lesson from 1945-1989 in Europe and 1953-now in Korea. Collective security works. It works really well when you have something to lose.

Thank you Donald

I would think that Ukraine would field a large army. Air power is the issue. Give them lendlease F-22 support.

I don't doubt there are a lot of moral cowards who would jump at this market friendly way of approaching things. It would have been "smart" to let dictators run things because they always have such a clear perspective on what should be done to get the railroads to run on time. People be damned.

What we will get is escalation of NATO forces in Europe. We will support Ukraine like Russia and China supported North Vietnam.

Declare war?

Lets get a couple TFWs and divisions to Eastern Europe soonest. Heavy divisions not these airborne things.

Biden moving up his prepared remarks an hour is interesting.

I think any rural areas will have that problem. I'm willing to tough out a lot of that so long as movies with subtitles are possible within half an hour (Ann Arbor or Royal Oak).

So cool that Trump allowed these Russian operatives to be all over his White House.