Thank you for this. Your commitment to research and providing your analysis, and a philosophy of responsibility and morality is greatly appreciated, as is your always stated and unwavering love for this nation. People really do depend on your writing for renewing their will to carry on as this country is turned into a chaotic playground by a passel of fools who play with global consequences.
Trump doesn't care about NATO or the US commitments to NATO. Putin knows this. I suspect that the clandestine meetings between the CIA, Kushner and who knows who else and Russian intelligence has reiterated the fact the we would not honor our NATO commitments. The economic embargo just voted on in the Congress is a distraction. As long as Putin has the support of his military, he remains a threat.
Mike, surely you don’t still believe that America will respond to a Section 5 request from NATO upon hostile Russian incursion or aerial attacks. The USA under Trump is a Putin proxy. Trump has done nothing but promote Russia and constrain Ukraine. Kushner wants a win-win compromise solution to end the war. Unprovoked, Russia’s invaded Ukraine after years earlier invading and claiming Crimea. What settlement could possibly result in any kind of a win for Ukraine and a win for Russia? Your government is a corrupt fascist regime and may be well beyond the tipping point for recovery. Let’s hope not.
Regarding Europe and NATO, rearmament is fully underway avoiding, wherever possible, arms purchases from the US. Major purchases by all NATO countries amply demonstrate this. The democracies of the world are organizing economically, creating alternative trade agreements, and coordinating defences. The world has moved on from America in terms of trust. It is completely gone. Lip service only, now. Study Canada’s responses to US threats and project its actions across the globe to understand.
I think the war in Eastern Europe is roughly the same war for the northeastern plains that has been going on for at least the last thousand years, and that the Kremlin is acting about like the Kremlin has acted since they started collecting taxes for the Mongols. While Russia's oil refineries are located in Russia, Ukraine's oil refineries are located in US NATO allies. That means speculation is warranted about whether Russian retaliation for attacks on their oil refineries risks invoking Article 5's mutual defense clause. But I would not put much stock in the speculation of US intelligence agencies or neocon think tanks, as they are notoriously unreliable and prone to using speculation as propaganda.
I suspect a canyon of cynicism separates our takes on the troop withdrawals. I think the lesson from the Iran war is we have not even a snowball's chance in hell of protecting anything in Europe from Russian missile attacks. And so getting the troops out of harm's way sooner rather than later is a priority. The legitimate case for speculation about imminent Article 5 issues should only hasten this priority. If this is not the policy, then we should have already begun digging very deep holes to fill with a boat load of high quality concrete so we can actually protect our military over there.
We agree that European countries should be able to defend themselves, and we probably agree European countries cannot defend themselves. We probably disagree about whether that means the United States needs to leave troops in harms way as some layer of deterrence. My position is that they are such sitting ducks as of now that their only deterrent value is as a kind of tripwire for a potential thermonuclear war. While I cannot dispute the real deterrent value of that situation, I object on the grounds that it is an unconscionable act vis a vis our soldiers and the nation's non-irradiated future.
I don’t think the conditions are there anymore for putin to test nato. First of all he would only do it once a democrat is in office. If he knows anything he knows for sure a democrat president likely elected on the back free palestine and iran war bad would never fight for any reason. And that election is too far away, his forces will be degraded even further. Nah he missed his window. The real next test will be a taiwan blockade. China is deteriorating and likely sees a turn to a war time economy as a way to save itself and many other positives from making that move.
America is now a venal traitor nation until it proves otherwise to us the discarded and disgusted.
Also, a losing Trump is a dangerous Trump.
Thank you for this. Your commitment to research and providing your analysis, and a philosophy of responsibility and morality is greatly appreciated, as is your always stated and unwavering love for this nation. People really do depend on your writing for renewing their will to carry on as this country is turned into a chaotic playground by a passel of fools who play with global consequences.
Trump doesn't care about NATO or the US commitments to NATO. Putin knows this. I suspect that the clandestine meetings between the CIA, Kushner and who knows who else and Russian intelligence has reiterated the fact the we would not honor our NATO commitments. The economic embargo just voted on in the Congress is a distraction. As long as Putin has the support of his military, he remains a threat.
Mike, surely you don’t still believe that America will respond to a Section 5 request from NATO upon hostile Russian incursion or aerial attacks. The USA under Trump is a Putin proxy. Trump has done nothing but promote Russia and constrain Ukraine. Kushner wants a win-win compromise solution to end the war. Unprovoked, Russia’s invaded Ukraine after years earlier invading and claiming Crimea. What settlement could possibly result in any kind of a win for Ukraine and a win for Russia? Your government is a corrupt fascist regime and may be well beyond the tipping point for recovery. Let’s hope not.
Regarding Europe and NATO, rearmament is fully underway avoiding, wherever possible, arms purchases from the US. Major purchases by all NATO countries amply demonstrate this. The democracies of the world are organizing economically, creating alternative trade agreements, and coordinating defences. The world has moved on from America in terms of trust. It is completely gone. Lip service only, now. Study Canada’s responses to US threats and project its actions across the globe to understand.
I think the war in Eastern Europe is roughly the same war for the northeastern plains that has been going on for at least the last thousand years, and that the Kremlin is acting about like the Kremlin has acted since they started collecting taxes for the Mongols. While Russia's oil refineries are located in Russia, Ukraine's oil refineries are located in US NATO allies. That means speculation is warranted about whether Russian retaliation for attacks on their oil refineries risks invoking Article 5's mutual defense clause. But I would not put much stock in the speculation of US intelligence agencies or neocon think tanks, as they are notoriously unreliable and prone to using speculation as propaganda.
I suspect a canyon of cynicism separates our takes on the troop withdrawals. I think the lesson from the Iran war is we have not even a snowball's chance in hell of protecting anything in Europe from Russian missile attacks. And so getting the troops out of harm's way sooner rather than later is a priority. The legitimate case for speculation about imminent Article 5 issues should only hasten this priority. If this is not the policy, then we should have already begun digging very deep holes to fill with a boat load of high quality concrete so we can actually protect our military over there.
We agree that European countries should be able to defend themselves, and we probably agree European countries cannot defend themselves. We probably disagree about whether that means the United States needs to leave troops in harms way as some layer of deterrence. My position is that they are such sitting ducks as of now that their only deterrent value is as a kind of tripwire for a potential thermonuclear war. While I cannot dispute the real deterrent value of that situation, I object on the grounds that it is an unconscionable act vis a vis our soldiers and the nation's non-irradiated future.
"An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes." —Sun Tzu
I don’t think the conditions are there anymore for putin to test nato. First of all he would only do it once a democrat is in office. If he knows anything he knows for sure a democrat president likely elected on the back free palestine and iran war bad would never fight for any reason. And that election is too far away, his forces will be degraded even further. Nah he missed his window. The real next test will be a taiwan blockade. China is deteriorating and likely sees a turn to a war time economy as a way to save itself and many other positives from making that move.