Putin now appears to be holding war counsels with his military folks, with a big meeting in Minsk, after which he has plans to travel to Belarus with an entourage to inform the government there what was decided at the Minsk meeting. The CEO of Raytheon has said that Ukraine has used 10 years worth of Javelin production in just 7 months and there is no ways they can keep up with the demand. Zelenskyy has decided to keep the civilians locked down in Kyiv as human shields against Russian attacks, which validates claims by the Russians the he has been doing just that. The Russians are moving 160,000 fresh troops to the front this week, and the Ukrainians are beginning to draft all males 60 years of age and younger. Some on this forum would be eligible for conscription were they in Ukraine. It appears that Ukraine as a nation is being destroyed and depopulated to support a Western political policy. It just goes to show what they would be willing to do to us should they feel the need.
Did anyone watch Zelensky's address to the joint session of Congress tonight? Even most of the Republicans gave him standing ovations.
Establishment Republicans are generally down for war, pretty much any war. Democrats like to pretend they are antiwar, but they start most of them.
Yeah, both parties support war. You can see that by the votes in Congress whenever a President puts a war proposal before them. You have the John Kerrys who support the wars before being against them, but the military-industrial complex pays off both sides. Trump is the first president not to go to war since Eisenhower I think, because Ike had seen a bit of that , even though he never commanded a combat unit.
You are, of course, aware that that was pure propaganda? Meant to stir up sympathy from the American public? I will have to say, it was an expert piece of propaganda. We have to save democracy, etc.
It is still the Nazis vs. the Communists. In WWII, we sided with the Communists against the Nazis thinking it was the better choice; today, we are siding with the Nazis against the Communists for the same reason. Ukraine is run by Purported Nazis and Russia is run by purported Communists. I think we lose either way. Democracy is not present on either side.
Who knows if they will win this time. They are not German Nazis, but Communism began in Germany too, as well as Progressivism. Zelenskyy is trying his best to get the U.S. into a war with Russia, and China is waiting for the trigger to be pulled before they move into the Western Pacific against Japan and Australia while the U.S. is ties down against Russia and Iran. 2023 is going to be an interesting year for all of us.
The BBC has sunk to being the total propaganda arm of the UK government. It's a shame. We may well characterize mainstream media in the EU, UK and USA from here on out as simply government media. Here's a recent headline from the BBC online: Ukraine war: Defying Russian onslaught in city 'at the end of the world' The article describes how the evil Russians are shelling civilians in Bakhmut without restraint. Those civilians are portrayed as looking to Ukraine to protect them from the advancing demons. There is testimony from an elderly resident that he stays because he has no place else to go. A little research reveals that the Ukrainian military, backed up by foreign mercenaries, have embedded themselves among the few remaining civilians in Bakhmut, effectively using them as shields against the Russians. Evidently the Ukrainian forces are seeking a public relations advantage when the Russians attack Ukrainian military positions, as, of course, this endangers the captive civilians. Those civilians can be thought of as hostages. That propaganda ploy may work with western audiences but it will be the only victory the Ukrainian military wins in Bakhmut, as their military is suffering dreadful casualties - this according to mercenaries fighting for Ukraine. It occurs to me that, if there are civilians who wish to leave, it would be simple for the Ukrainian military to evacuate them away from the battle zone. That this has not happened reveals that they are 'kept' for the low purpose I have described.
I don’t know how much longer countries will keep pumping money and supplies into this conflict but Russia owns many advantages in just numbers and still holds the important areas it designated to be “liberated.” In a war of attrition, it seems to me Russia has the advantage. It also seems to me that is what Russia has settled into, grinding down Ukraine with repeated missile attacks on national infrastructure while holding the territory in the east. https://www.aei.org/articles/the-demography-of-war-ukraine-vs-russia/