Posted on 09/09/2022 3:48:50 PM PDT by USA-FRANCE
It is actually a proxy war with US troops running the fancy equipment. It is a proven strategy the US plays every time, this time using the Ukraine as a media shield.
Regarding energy, apart from the UK and Ireland (who have mainly shot themselves in the foots since North Sea oil and gas are still there for the drilling), the worst affected is Germany, where gas intensive industries like aluminum and glass will have to cut back enormously or get big subsidies (which it looks like they will get).
Then get the hell out.
Welcome to Free Republic, n00bie.
I see a little glow around you.
Exactly.
MORE than directly involved, actually.
From what I gather, he was a Chief Instigator and Bottle Washer for many of these events in Donetsk Oblast back around 2014.
Sure, yes men but bloggers?
Even Putin ain’t that desperate.
Guess I’m a cold war holdover but seems like we were told a steaming pile of crap about the Soviet Union’s capabilities during that period. Only Reagen saw through it to kick down the Potemkin village of the Russkies true war making abilities.
Billions if not trillions wasted tearing the red horde.
There’s plenty of us who also believe we’re becoming the next “Soviet Union”. Just read the news.
However we’re like cornered rats. No place to go so we will fight to the bitter end.
Reagan didn’t ignore anything, he spent billions to overcome the Russian military threat, intermediate missiles in Europe, SDI, Neutron bombs, massive Reforgers, and much more.
We took the Russians very, very seriously in NATO.
Russia may have scrapped communism, but its expansionist tendencies continue.
That's interesting. Can you name them or is it a secret?
Please reread my comments. I gave Reagen credit for seeing through the charade of the Soviet might.
I thought you were saying they were weak and that Reagan saw through that.
In other words, that Reagan thought they were weak militarily, I was disagreeing with that, the USSR was immensely powerful against Western Europe.
Current trends in gas price futures suggest that Europe will get through next winter with alternate suppliers, nuke plants kept online (and France cranking out every kilowatt they can), coal plants refired, etc. There will most certainly be an economic hit, but not an economic disaster.* At least not for the EU. For some poor countries that don’t have the $$ to pay for still high gas prices (half of Russian gas exports offline due to insufficient transport capacity is still a global shortage) and high food and fertilizer prices, the hit will likely be much worse.
*A harsh winter and overly high number of power plant problems (as in “sabotage”) could blow this up, of course.
But it is for the most part true. Just just read German scientific papers about global warming: there's the preamble that genuflects at the current pieties, but the gist of the papers present real science, even if it runs against the narrative, such as the one I read that showed the likelihood of Greenland melting was very low.
Now, like other such despots who over reach, Putin and Russia face military failure, economic and industrial decline, and a weakening grip on power. It is unlikely to end cleanly or well for Putin and Russia. Putin will be ousted in some manner and his regime of gangsters and crooks ended in favor of a new democratic order.
Ukraine is unlikely to relent in that US and NATO support continues and a full victory is increasingly possible, with Russia ejected from all occupied territories, including Crimea. Western diplomats and planners are no doubt figuring out how to accomplish that, force Russia into reducing her nuclear arsenal, and impose reparations on Russia in order to finance Ukraine's rebuilding.
The truth hurts doesn’t it? Maybe I will get out. Enjoy your communism.
The USSR’s capabilities were quite substantial, given that they also had the entire Eastern Bloc (manpower, weapons mfg., etc.) at hand, too. Ukraine alone was a major weapons, manpower, and parts source. Unquestionably, even with many inefficiencies, the USSR and its allies matched NATO in Europe in a conventional war.
Reagan did not “see through it to kick down the Potemkin village of the Russkies true war making abilities.” He bloody outspent them, part of that going to support new strategies, and a lot to support better weapons. The USSR could not keep up, and eventually cracked.
Note that the sensible goal for conventional defense is not to match an opponent’s capabilities, leading to the likelihood of a long, drawn out, horrific struggle. A “fair fight” is to be avoided at almost any cost. If you have the capacity to do it, you make yourself so strong no opponent dares attack / engage you. Trump understands this. See “Lil Kim”.
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