Posted on 05/01/2022 9:57:56 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
OPINION
What we do know for certain:
For the past couple of years, Vladimir Putin has said to Ukraine, “stay neutral, do not join NATO, and we will get along fine.” Yes, I am paraphrasing, but that was the gist of the warnings. Ukraine, for whatever reason, kept pressuring NATO for admittance. Putin kept saying, “don’t do it; we need a buffer between the Motherland and all of the NATO rockets and fighter jets.” President Trump knew the reasoning behind Putin’s decision, and he knew what would happen. Knowing this, Trump told Ukraine to stop with their request to join. Ukraine stood down, and whether Putin thought Trump was a loose cannon or because Ukraine stood down, all was quiet for Trump’s tenure in office.
Joe Biden enters the office, and once again, Ukraine is at the table requesting to join NATO. However, Ukraine holds a sledgehammer over Joe Biden and his son Hunter this time. Biden does nothing to stop Ukraine, even in the face of Russia warnings.
Forget all the mainstream newscast; forget the hyperbole on the United States, Ukraine, and Russia propaganda. This is, in a nutshell, what happened. When you boil away all of the bull-fertilizer, Ukraine was repeatedly warned, Putin was serious, and the United States became a weak-kneed vessel under Joe Biden. And Vlad knew it!
Tucker: We should be very concerned about this
By the United States not pressuring Ukraine, and by the United States telling the world we would not get involved to any significant degree, we by our weakness allowed the invasion of this nation by a super-power. To make matters worse, Joe Biden, for all intents and purposes, supplied the cash or at least assisted in providing the funds necessary for his war through oil revenues derived from America. And the worst part? Joe Biden and the United States were complicit in what is now a mass slaughter of Ukraine Citizens.
As Ukraine garners more and more sympathy from nations across the globe, more and more aid will flow into the Baltic country from around the world. Today, it was published in “The National Post” that Canada and the UK have sent an approximate Batallion of troops to Ukraine. Poland is now involved to a great degree as they have already taken in some 1.5M refugees from Ukraine. Along with taking in the refugees, Poland, as well as several other NATO nations, have begun ramping up their defenses in anticipation of Russian aggression toward these once “behind the iron curtain nations.”
Without the hardware and planes to defend the ground troops, it is doubtful that the UK and Canadian presence will make much difference. But what happens when they decide to ship planes, tanks, and other field artillery to Ukraine?
The Problem as I See It
Vladimir Putin is much like Donald Trump in that he despises losing and further despises being humiliated. He is a very proud man with an enormous ego. Typically, these types of personalities will do or say whatever is necessary to win, and they will do it at all costs.
At this point in this military chess game, Putin is boxed into a corner, and Biden and company have not left him a way out to save face and ego. They have cut off his international banking ability by shutting down the SWIFT codes. This has, without question, severely crippled Russia economically. Their currency has all but been wiped out, and their oil revenue has been shut down. And yesterday, Biden announced that we were cutting off their ability to transact gold.
Medal of Honor recipient: This should scare the hell out of Putin
While yes, we and most of Europe have economically crippled Russia, what we have also successfully accomplished is to mortally anger this tyrant. This is something akin to shooting a grizzly bear with a 22 rifle. You won’t kill him, but you will anger the crap out of him, and he will hunt you down and eat you. This is effectively what we have done with Russia.
Remember Admiral Yamamoto’s famous quote after Pearl Harbor? I am afraid all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant in reference to the United States after we were attacked. This is about the size of it with Russia.
What we are witnessing in Ukraine is but a fraction of what Russia can actually do. Putin only sent about 10% of his troop strength to the front lines. He only sent about 10% of tank capacity and the same for battlefield artillery. Where Russia has over 22,000 tanks in its arsenal, the United States possesses 8,900, of which many are already stationed in Germany. The United States has around 400,000 ground troops in the Army and Marine Corps. Russia has over 1M on active duty before they call up reserves.
However, when you add NATO to the equation, we are much more balanced. This is a recipe for a bloodbath on both sides. Now one has to ask why Biden is boxing Putin in and forcing his hand? The fact is this; for us to go to an actual war with Russia would be suicide for the United States and Russia. It is a no-win, and what if Putin uses limited tactical nuclear warfare. Then we have to escalate the situation and use it also, and then nobody knows where this ends.
What needs to happen now is we find somebody, anybody who is very level-headed. Send them to Russia to meet with Putin and strike a deal to get us both out of this very tense situation, leading to disaster on both sides. The agreement needs to be where Russia and America both save face, and the bloodshed stops in Ukraine.
Does anyone have the phone number for Mar-A-Lago?
It’s not the USA starting WW3...it’s the democRATS.
And you totally ignore the CIA color revolution of 2014 that deposed the democratically elected President of Ukraine and replaced him with a CIA/Soros stooge.
If that is what he wanted then he is the dumbest person on earth. There were many things he could have done to ensure Ukraine either stayed neutral or was an ally. Seizing parts of Ukraine in 2014 was not a decision that any sane person would think would lead Ukraine to become neutral or more of an ally.
Tell that to Ukrainians, they will think you lost your marbles. The Cold War was WW3. The Russians are just continuing it, with Biden’s help.
Hitler said "rule or ruin", but the Democrats slogan could be "rule AND ruin".
They seek absolute power over a smouldering ruin. Step one is create the ruin.
Not at all. You characterize the events of the time like a typical Russian propagandist. The people of Ukraine rose up against a Russian stooge president in a country where election fraud by the government was rampant. Yanukovych lost the repeat of the run off election, so in reality he was "deposed" by the voters.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled that a second election was necessary. That seems like a legal process most people would support, and I doubt there are many people on Free Republic who would be upset if our Supreme Court ruled that an election needed to be re-run due to fraud. Would you have had a problem with the Supreme Court ruling that our last presidential election needed to be re-run if the alleged fraud had been proven?
Why does Russia, which is still socialist with a small twist of capitalism, have this automatic power to demand Ukraine not join NATO?
Why does the world just default have to accept they just have this level of control over a separate country?
Why is invasion and war against them regarded as their right to do?
Just pointing out that our country is invaded at the southern border precisely because of Russia’s perpetual support of communist regimes and narco terror groups in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Nazi Pelousy and Liddle Adam Schitt, too, apparently.
That’s exactly why it’s being done to us.
Finish us off.
Utterly ridiculous.
And Ukraine in response: "MYOB!"
If Russia won't listen to Ukraine, and not, e.g., invade Georgia or other neighboring countries, then Ukraine is under no obligation to listen to Russia.
Ukraine is a sovereign state and has the generally established right to conclude treaties with whomever it wishes - including NATO - without consulting Russia.
Regards,
No kidding?! The author of this peace wrote this?!
FAIL!
Regards,
Not to mention the Crimea!
Regards,
"There, there, Mr. Putin! You have a point! Nobody's denying that! No run along like a good little boy! You have no further say in this!"
Regards,
“the Crimea”
Like “The Ohio State University”, I guess. Complete with royal article.
You got a problem with that? Why so passive-aggressive? There is a long literary tradition of referring to it as "the Crimea." And I'm slowly weaning myself off of the definite article in reference to "Ukraine," itself.
Regards,
If you are at a crosswalk with a "stop for pedestrians" sign, and a truck is bearing down at 50 mph in a 25 mph zone, you have every right to step off the curb.
If you are in lower NY bay in your sailboat on the starboard tack, and your course takes you in front of the Queen Mary II, you have every right not to yield.
Great cartoon.
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