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U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

wsj.com

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Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#171

Post by TrackerFF »

rdm_blackhole wrote: post #144
xenospn wrote: post #70

[flagged]

I have trouble following the logic here. Putin has not been able to conquer the whole of Ukraine after 3 years, but somehow, suddenly, he will be able to conquer all of the Baltic states without breaking a sweat? So which is it? Is the Russian army fighting with shovels or are they a ferocious horde that is unstoppable? Those two things cannot be true at the same time. I am getting tired of people parroting this narr…

Baltics could very well be on the menu, but it will not be this year. Not next year. Not the year after that.

Right now, Russia needs to rebuild their military as much as they can, and get their real economy back in shape.

My prediction is that IF Ukraine is being forced into a shitty peace agreement, Russia will spend the next 3-4 years rebuilding everything they can, and then when Trump has 6 months left, they'll go all-inn on Ukraine. Trump is effectively in his lame duck period, no republicans want to campaign on entering a huge war, and while democrats might campaign on defending Ukraine - it will not be a popular issue among regular voters.

Then, if Russia manages to do that, other countries will be on the chopping block years later.

I simply do not believe Russia has the manpower, or political backing to do a mobilization required to invade the Baltics. Even if this would be the right moment to do it, with a completely neutered USA.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#172

Post by chimpontherun »

csomar wrote: post #102
klipt wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it makes sense for the US to ally with Russia against China Economically and population wise Russia is tiny compared to the West (Canada, EU, etc) It makes no sense to trade our alliance with the West for alliance with much weaker and poorer Russia. I think Russia has compromising info on Trump. That's the simplest explanation.

Russia advantage is its large border with China. The US is not allying because of their (non) existent economy. But they'll be a formidable ally in case of a war against China.

That border is either mountain ranges (Altai), or empty steppes (Zabaikalsk), or boreal forests (Amur and Vladivostok). Either way -- the area lacks infrastructure and even roads, for the most part. It doesn't provide any military advantage, especially given that the Chinese side of the border is much better developed.

If anything, the area is not defensible against even a half-ass incursion effort from the south (either economical or military-driven), which they're actually in the middle of (the economical one for now) without realizing that.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#173

Post by throwaway290 »

jesterson wrote: post #134
AlecSchueler wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling it "the endless war" makes this a loaded question. You might get a more productive response without that.

Not sure why you are trying to veer the convo in another direction, but to address it - it's been 3 years, hundreds of thousands died, and absolutely nothing achieved. Please correct me if I am wrong.

"Nothing achieved" is exactly right. Russia did not achieve in 3 years what it thought it could achieve in 1-2 weeks. Tons of people died on both sides (though no civilians in Russia). The only reason russia is continuing is because west while is perfectly equipped militarily desperately lacks balls and succumbs to putin's propaganda.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#174

Post by lawn »

jesterson wrote: post #123
DidYaWipe wrote: post #88

The USA stands in miserable disgrace.

[flagged]

> Mind to elaborate why fueling the endless war is a "miserable disgrace"?

Helping Russia by giving them what they want (time to rebuild their military and economy while lifting sanctions) is what will actually fuel an "endless war" as Russia will simply continue the war at a later stage.

Don't confuse a temporary peace on paper with actual peace.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#175

Post by ponector »

amarcheschi wrote: post #86

I know very well it's a drop in the ocean, you can donate to ukraine here https://u24.gov.ua/ You can decide how to allocate your donation, defense, demining, humanitarian aid (...)

Also you can donate directly for the kamikaze drones here: https://www.sternenkofund.org/donate

They are extremely effective in countering russian troops. One drone costs as little as 500$

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#176

Post by lukashoff »

inglor_cz wrote: post #159
lukashoff wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also been a population growth, albeit small, but it's happening. Thanks to migration and to the economies actually being HEALTHY people start to have more babies. The IT and innovation that comes from there as well. It's not much but it's extremely effective.

Yep, I agree that the Baltics punch above their weight. They are also more laissez-faire in the good sense, not overburdening their economies with endless paper pushing (a French and German disease so to say), while keeping the environment reasonably protected. The rest of Europe could do worse than emulate their approach.

I am shocked by this myself, but facts are facts.

There's also a great social net, free education + student allowances, and plenty of work. I have got no clue what the original poster of the main comment meant by broken economy.

Absolute lies and disinformation coming from the ex-allies of ours.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#179

Post by bwb »

ty6853 wrote: post #160
stuffoverflow wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ukraine has retained its independence. That's a big achievement on its own.

If they are independent then they won't need to rely on being propped up by American taxpayers to survive. Because if they did, they'd be dependent not independent.

With that logic, any country too small to fight its neighbors should be taken over, their citizens killed, their women defiled. What planet are you from?

Would you like to live in a world where the strong can do anything they want? Or do you want to live in a world of laws, where alliances protect groups of countries who want to provide their citizens with safety, economic prosperity, etc.

Re: U.S. pauses all military aid to Ukraine

#180

Post by stefantalpalaru »

jltsiren wrote: post #44
arunabha wrote: post #19

It would be one thing if there was a clear policy and adherence to it. In that case, you could discuss and reason in good faith. However there is no such indication that this decision is based on a considered policy. Trump's supporters would say that this is a result of not wanting the US being involved in foreign conflicts. That is a laudable goal, however that is not what is happening here. From the article > On Fr…

It's one thing to stop all aid to Ukraine. That makes you an asshole in a world full of assholes. But it's another thing to do that while simultaneously working to restore relations with Russia. There is only one word for that: evil. Back in the late 90s to late 2000s, people in Western Europe generally had pretty negative views of the US. It was the country that refused to fight against climate change, launched an i…

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