Tag: Ukraine

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I admit I haven’t been paying much attention to the news lately but U.S. troops took over a Venezuelan oil tanker today. I am so confused.

So Putin can invade the Ukraine and act like an all around asshole, killing Ukrainian civilians this way and that, and this isn’t worth one American life while the Venezuela government, who, at worst, may be complicit in the illegal drug trade, is getting direct American military intervention.

There simply is no sense of proportion here. Putin, a nuclear armed, political opponent murdering, kleptocrat supreme, war mongering dictator has to be given at least a small bit of the country he invaded unsuccessfully to whet his appetite while Venezuela can’t even ship a legal product, oil, because it is propping up a Latin American dictatorship who, as far as I know, has made no threats against the United States or any other country for the matter.

And people in the news are talking about a shooting war with Venezuela. A fucking war with Venezuela. Over illegal drug shipments? The world’s foremost military power is going to go toe-to-toe with a military lightweight over little more than a nuisance.

I am pretty certain the reason Trump is taking action against Venezuelan oil tankers is he thinks he can win. Taking on a much weaker nation doesn’t make you look like a tough guy (see Putin and the Ukraine for further information about this). It does make you look like a bully. And it runs the risk, particularly if things don’t go according to plan, of making the U.S.A. military look bad or ineffective (see Putin and the Ukraine).

The thing is you don’t risk your reputation on something that doesn’t really matter and I’m pretty sure the Venezuelan drug trade is secondary, at best, to U.S.A.’s larger interests. But, yeah, ok, let’s invade Venezuela. Go get them boys. I certainly feel a lot safer.

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Steve Witkoff, the man President Trump charged with negotiating the end to the Russian/Ukrainian war, says there are two sides to the story and we should be open to hearing Putin’s side. WTF. I mean WTF. Putin does indeed have a story. He has been telling this story for some time now. The problem is his story fails to make the case for an armed invasion of a sovereign country. Nobody is buying what Putin is selling.

Well, that is until Trump and Witkoff come along to tell us that we haven’t given poor Vlad a fair shake. Witkoff tries to remind us that traditionally the Ukraine was a part of Russia. The border areas between the Ukraine and Russia have a lot of native Russians. People in these border regions voted recently to join Russia instead of staying in the Ukraine.

So what? The Ukraine was a part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union against the will of the Ukrainians. To say that should factor in to Russia’s claim on the Ukraine seems absurdly unfair to the Ukrainians. They didn’t like it then and they don’t like it now.

The border regions between any two nations have people on both sides of the borders. There are Ukrainians on the Russian side of the border as well. Do the Ukrainians on the Russian side of the border give the Ukraine a rightful claim to parts of Russia. Borders are messy businesses. There is no way to put up a border that makes everyone happy. Somebody is going to be on the wrong side. Always.

But, then, when Putin invaded the Ukraine, he was after more than the border regions. He wanted the whole kit and kaboodle. So after invading the Ukraine, bombing Ukrainian cities, and failing to achieve his real objective — the whole of the Ukraine, he will settle for the border regions. Why should he get anything?

Trump say says the Ukrainians are unable to win this war. He might be right about that but neither can the Russians. Neither side can win the war so why is Trump asking the Ukrainians to eat the shit sandwich while Putin steals Ukrainian land and hobbles their ability to join in a larger European security network? And what does the Ukraine get in return — empty promises that they won’t invade again.

Trump will say they will get peace. Putin has already invaded the Ukraine twice, so really, this is nothing. Peace, you say. Well, not likely to be a very lasting one.

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Donald Trump is trying to position himself as the realist in the ongoing dispute between Putin and Zelenskyy. He wants Zelenskyy to come to terms with his inability to win the war. OK. Fair enough. But Putin is in exactly the same position. Putin can not win it either. So why is he only applying pressure on Zelenskyy? And why is only one side making concessions in this great deal that Trump is working on.

Furthermore, why is Zelenskyy getting the blame for trying to start World War III? Putin invaded the Ukraine. Doesn’t Putin deserve just a little bit of the blame then. If nothing else, for being impatient. What kind of shit sandwich is Trump expecting Zelenskyy to eat?Surrendering more land to Putin is all I am hearing, so and, wait I forgot, wait there is some promise from Putin that he will never never invade again.

What a deal. I am sure that it sounds pretty empty to Zelenskyy whose county has been invaded twice in the last 10 years. I keep thinking I am missing something. If not, it seems like an incredibly bad deal with Zelenskyy conceding land for nothing. And, I can’t believe this one, Trump wants Zelenskyy to thank him for his help.

My mind is blown. What a nakedly apparent betrayal and humiliation of Zelenskyy. And Trump is loving every minute of it. He is taking revenge on the world with no concern for tomorrow. He has absolutely nothing to lose now.

Since he is a lost cause it would be helpful for the wise men in the Republican Party to step up. There comes a point when getting reelected seems secondary to the world and to the future. But I guess not. Silence. Mostly just silence. And some of these guys have nothing to lose. Senator Grassley is 91 years old. What is the risk? What a bunch of cowards. Lots and lots of cowards.

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I was worried that I was becoming too numb to the daily Trump outrages. I would see them but reacting to them seemed difficult. There is only so much nonsense you can take before tuning it all out. He is going to take over Greenland, then the Panama Canal, then Canada. I repeat CANADA. Then he renames the Gulf of Mexico. I just am unable to be outraged every day.

Then last week occurred. I am glad to report Trump has jolted me back into outrage.

Correct me if I am wrong but is he is making the case for Putin being the injured party for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine? Are we talking about the same Russian invasion? I know it was a couple years ago but my memory is very different than Trump’s. It was all on television for about a month. Now Trump wants me to change my mind without offering any compelling evidence to do so.

Even more shocking, and let me tell you I am pretty damn shocked at this point, is that the whole Republican Party, even formally strong Ukraine supporters, are mad at Zelenskyy for not being sufficiently servile to Donald Trump. They aren’t saying that Zelenskyy is wrong but that he didn’t have the good sense to grovel while his host was spewing nonsense. Bad manners and all that.

Despite the fact that J.D. Vance and Trump started this little slugfest and expected Zelenskyy to sit quietly and take the punches. They made the choice to publicly dress down Zelenskyy in public. Zelenskyy isn’t the type of guy to back down from a fight. Ask Vladimir Putin.

But Trump picked a public fight and he got one. His guest behaved badly. Well, yes, after his host called him ungrateful in front of the television cameras. There is also a certain etiquette on how you treat your guest. Not embarrassing your guest is near the top of that list.

Trump is being calculated and shockingly transparent here. He wants to distance the US from the Ukraine. He has begun the process. So, in a few months, I guess, we will abandon the Ukraine, despite Russian aggression, despite Putin being a dictator who kills his opponents, because Zelenskyy hurt Trump’s feelings.

If you are looking for Hitler comparisons, and I know you are, try this one. Trump is in the Neville Chamberlain role. Putin fills in for Hitler and Zelenskyy is Eduard Benes, the Czechoslovak leader in 1938. Trump will encourage the partition Ukraine to bring peace to Europe while doing nothing of the sort. At least, Chamberlain thought he was bringing peace to Europe. Trump doesn’t give a rat’s ass about peace in Europe.

Well, at least, I got out of my numbness and am back to outrage. That is something.

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Sen. Vance, Republican Ohio, made a speech about the difference between funding Israel’s wars and funding the Ukraine’s wars. The key take away here is he said ”  I do not think that it is in America’s interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine.” I think the never-ending war in Israel has been going on a bit longer than the never-ending war in the Ukraine. If you are going to talk about never-ending wars then it is best not to compare the shortest never-ending war to the longest never-ending war in the world.

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I am afraid the US is about to abandon the Ukraine. I would love for the Ukrainians to win but I don’t have much confidence in that happening. What they need costs too much money for the US to provide. So, people here in the United States, are rightfully asking why are we paying money on a losing cause. The bloom is off this particular flower.

Trump feels shit like this in his bones, Biden and his crew have to talk about our moral responsibility to Europe which highlights the big difference between the two positions. Biden has to explain his position and Trump is stating the obvious. Why spend billions of dollars for the Russians to win any way or, at least, grab big chunks of the Ukraine. If bad things are going to happen, you might as well get it over with. It isn’t nice but it is understandable while Biden’s position sounds like a waste of money. Billions of dollars to not exactly win but to not exactly loose either. So, the taxpayer reasonably asks, what am I paying for?

And when you try to bring up things like moral responsibility, Biden and his fellow Ukraine supporters are heading into choppy waters because well, it isn’t really a moral problem if all you are doing is giving money. The truth is we would like for the Ukrainians to win because they were invaded and their position better fits our understanding of how the world should operate. Big powerful countries shouldn’t invade smaller less powerful countries. But it isn’t so important that we should send troops. Once you put it like that, the moral calculation looses a little of its oomph. This ceases to be a moral calculation and becomes simply a preference. This a money moral problem not a troops morale problem. A big difference which the American tax payer can see without looking terribly hard. No explanation is needed.

Which means the best case scenario is the Ukraine will be cut up a little to satisfy Putin’s blood thirst and people will pat Zelenskyy on the back and say nice try and better luck next time. So, really, nothing moral about it. The Ukraine/Russian war became too expensive and there is no solution that allows both parties to come out with their dignity in tact. So Putin retains his, at least publicly, while Zelenskyy gets to eat the shit sandwich.

It is all sad but predictable. The Ukrainians will have to be satisfied with a stalemate. They proved their mettle which is a good thing for the world and for the Ukraine, they will come out of this with something tangible if not everything they deserved. The Russians couldn’t win either which is far more embarrassing. Hopefully there is some Russian intrigue going on behind Putin’s back. He wasted a lot of Russian troops, money and the world’s public standing while gaining little in return. He gets pretty much what he came into the war with, so his Russian pals might have their swords out looking for him. I suppose that is something to look forward to. Yeah, well, right?

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A Russian legislator has fallen from his window. Or maybe he had a heart attack. The Russians aren’t sure yet. Which, in and of itself, is a pretty remarkable admission. Falling from a window and a heart attack are two fates that don’t much look like the other. Unless we are to believe that the poor man was sitting on his window seal in Siberia in December and had a heart attack that propelled him from the window seal to the ground below. Siberia. December. Open window. Trying to wrap my head around that one.

It is all so confusing. I would think, and I know I am not a maniacal dictator who wants to dominate the world or at least the Ukraine, you would have your story straight before announcing the death and not leave it open to a multiple choice explanation. Using two very different possibilities here makes this report, from the get go, look a little suspicious, like you haven’t made up your mind about what you want to say so you throw out a bunch of possibilities and see which one is getting the most buy in as opposed to facts which you just state because they are true.

And really, falling out of windows, yet again. It happens too often to prominent Russians to be believable any more. Once or twice I might buy but when it happens on a fairly regular basis it only draws attention to its frequent use as a means of eliminating critics. Go to a window. Now imagine yourself accidentally falling out of it. It is pretty difficult. Not that Putin cares much what anyone thinks.

Herein lies the problem for Putin. When you are reduced to killing off your critics, you are in big trouble any way. Fear may work for awhile but everyone knows that you are afraid that people are scheming against you because you are going to the trouble of killing people. This also means you are so vulnerable that you think they might win. If the only thing keeping Putin in power is his ability to push Russians out of windows, he soon might find himself learning the dangers of open windows. In December. In Siberia.

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The Ukrainians, for now, have stopped the Russians. They have done a much better job than I, or, for that matter, a bunch of better-connected experts, believed possible.

Putin, however, is still president of Russia. He is angry and hurt that a less powerful nation knocked the socks off his nuclear power, one of the largest armies in the world nation. He needs a face saving way out of the mess he has made. Barring the remote, but still possible Russian coup, there are few possible face saving events that would stop the bloodshed in the Ukraine and leave Putin looking like a hero to his people. According to the experts, while keeping in mind that the experts have been mostly wrong about the war so far, is that Putin is about to turn his canons onto Eastern Ukraine and try to bomb it into submission. So more war, more bloodshed for the Ukrainians because Putin needs to look like a winner even though he is a loser.

What to do? The whole world, including Putin’s nominal allies in Belarus and China, now know him to be a liar and a loser and just all around asshole. The world knows the Ukrainians won the war. Well, not everyone. The Russians who have not been exposed to western media probably don’t know the Ukrainians have won the war. If the war continues, there is no guarantee that the Russians will perform any better than they have to date. Perhaps Putin could be persuaded that to save his nation any further humiliation, the world will let him claim victory as long as he stays within his borders. Since, at this point, the Russians are the only people who need to be convinced Putin is the winner, can’t we all agree to just tell the Russians they have won the war.

Now, before you get all grumpy about this, give me a hearing.

Even though the Ukrainians have beaten the Russians soundly, they have been bloodied by the war. It would be better if the war was over. The world outside of Russia knows the truth, only the Russians would be kept in the dark. Let’s face it, the Russians are used to being lied to by their government. It is nothing new. The wise ones would figure it out, and the rest would think Putin is a winner and that’s all that matters. Putin can even say he has decided to be magnanimous with the Ukrainians by allowing them to keep their government. Putin saves face. The Ukrainians can start rebuilding their war torn country. The refugees could return. The war would be over.

It would take some co-ordination but I think the citizens of the world could agree to this little white lie to save the Ukrainians any further suffering.

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President Zelensky says Putin is bluffing about using nuclear weapons. This means we can give the Ukraine more weapons without worrying about it. Except I do worry about it.

The 24/7 news coverage of the war seems to be leading us to intervention on behalf of the Ukrainians. As far as I am concerned, the Western World has one overarching goal — to avoid World War III. Everything else is secondary. Calling Putin’s bluff in this case could be suicidal.

This was my opinion when the war started. Now I seem less sure of what I think. The Russians have inflicted terrible suffering upon the Ukrainians. I feel guilty for just standing by and watching them get massacred. It’s like watching a little old lady getting beat up by a street gang. Other than cheering her on from the sidelines, I am doing absolutely nothing as I see the gang destroying her house. I should be doing something, right? The nightly news is giving me all the evidence I need to jump in and help the little old lady.

Perhaps if the nightly news showed the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I would have a different perspective about what to do. The news is very now. This is going on now. Watch these horrible events. And I do. These Ukraine stories are wringing me out. Every night I end up in tears because I feel so terrible for the Ukrainians. But is it leading me to make a rational decision what to do about the war.

Here is my problem. Rationally, I know I shouldn’t decide something so important as going to war based on sad or moving stories. There are a lot of sad stories in this world, billions I am sure of it. Why is this war so important to risk World War III? After all, there are other wars going on right now with similar stories. There are other disasters with their own victims and their own sad stories. Those people need help too. Why is every news outlet focused on the sad stories emanating from this war and not the other stories?

There is no question in my mind Putin was wrong to invade the Ukraine. He is a menace the the world. He has repeatedly lied about his intentions. When he invaded, he gave a crazy ass reason for invading. And, most importantly, seems willing to kill innocent women and children to win this war. He deserves to lose this war. The problem with Putin is he has nuclear weapons which he could launch leading to a disaster consequences to the entire world.

The Ukrainians, on the other hand, deserve to win this war. They were invaded because they have the misfortune of bordering Russia. Their president has galvanized the Ukrainian people to fight this war and the world community to provide limited support for their cause. The Ukrainians bravery under these terrible circumstances is inspiring. I want the Ukrainians crush their Russian invaders. But is it worth worldwide destruction to do so?

A nuclear war is the worst possible outcome for everyone including the Ukrainians themselves. The whole world loses if there is a nuclear war. No one knows what is going to set off Putin. He is dangerous, angry at the world and perhaps unstable. Since avoiding nuclear war is our number one mission, why I am so confused? The right thing to do is there, coldly staring me in the face. Stay out of this war.

Except. Except the Ukrainians are doing surprising well and could possibly fight the Russians to a stalemate. Which could mean a much better resolution for the Ukrainians and destroy Putin’s power in Russia in the process. He has wrecked the Russian economy for an avoidable war. I am betting that the average Russian doesn’t give two shits about the Ukraine and certainly don’t appreciate becoming a world pariah so Putin can bring back the Ukraine into the Russian fold. The Russian movers and shakers might view an endless war with the Ukraine as a good reason to change Russian leadership and then perhaps a better resolution to the war could be found for the Ukrainians. It looks possible. If the Ukrainians are willing to fight, I will cheer them on but I am afraid that is the extent of the support I would be willing to give.

In the meantime, Ukrainian cities are getting bombed and bloodied. Millions of Ukrainians are fleeing their country to avoid the war. Is it really right to encourage the Ukrainians to continue fighting such a destructive war if we really have no intention of giving military assistance they need to win. And, let’s face it, the Western public, if not their governments, is encouraging the Ukrainians to fight. The Ukraine is crawling with media who are bringing their story to the Western public. The Ukrainians know their stories are reaching the West because they hear the support coming back to them every night from journalist telling them how inspiring their struggle is for the West. They know that the British Parliament gave President Zelensky a standing ovation for his rousing speech.

But what we see as great television, the Ukrainians might see as hope. Hope that we will change our minds and give more substantial military aid. When I see some Ukrainians on television, I get this sense that there is an exhaustion with explaining their situation day after day and nothing really happening in regards to military help. They are thinking what is wrong with you people. You say that we inspire you, yet you sit idly by as our world is blasted apart. When are you going to stop asking question and give us the help we need to turn back the Russians.

This passive encouragement is wrong. The Western press and the Western public are misleading the Ukrainian people with their reactions to the Ukrainians plight. We need to let them know that no matter how inspiring their stories are, no one is coming to rescue them. I wish I knew how to stop it. How do you stop encouraging people to fight a just war?

So far Western governments have behaved well and with restraint. They have done the absolute maximum they can do without sending Putin over the edge to nuclear war. That the Ukrainians want us to do more might make sense to them. They are in a desperate struggle. I am afraid we will have to live with seeing the terrible things happening in the Ukraine. We will have to get used to doing nothing as good people are killed and their homes destroyed. But let’s not be guilted into fighting a nuclear war. Nuclear war isn’t going to help anyone.

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This damn war is so depressing. The Ukrainians desperately need the world to witness what is happening so they are sharing their experiences in the various different ways that modern technology has to offer. It is heart rendering. I can’t think of another way of saying it. There is a particularly moving one where a Ukrainian girl is evacuating Kyiv with her mother and saying goodbye to her father who must remain. The little girl is inconsolable. The father is inconsolable. I, of course, am moved to tears myself.

Usually, I avoid watching scenes like this because they depress me. There is nothing I can do to make the father or his little girl feel better. I am watching a family’s intimate moment, perhaps last moment together. Is this something I should be watching? Who is filming this and why? I don’t think the family is filming it so that 20 years from now the family will sit down and watch the day that they all broke down because they were being separated by war. It’s being posted by someone for all the right reasons — to show the trauma of the war on people experiencing this violence. OK. I have seen it. It made me cry. What now?

It worries me that the Ukrainians might have a different idea about what these videos are doing. I think many of them are trying to move us to action. Action that will genuinely help them in their struggle. Military action. You can hear it in their voices. The Russians are terrible. Help us. We, on the other hand, are just watching the news. Genuine help is not coming. We all know this. We are dealing with an unstable man who has been embarrassed on the world stage. He also has nuclear weapons. The biggest responsibility for the rest of the world right now is to see that Putin doesn’t start recklessly sending nukes this way and that. This means that the Ukrainians are on their own and all the heroic and heart rendering videos showing their struggle isn’t going to change that.

I sincerely hope that the Ukrainians throw the Russians out. They absolutely deserve a victory. But, I am having really mixed feelings about giving them any hope that the West will change their minds and help them out militarily. All these brave people saying look what is happening to us, you can’t just stand there and watch, can you? I am afraid we can and, sadly, we must.

In the meantime, all the war coverage feels wrong to me. Nightly, I see desperate people asking for help. After I have a good cathartic cry about their situation, I change the channel to my regular television viewing of murder mysteries and situation comedies. Aside from giving them my best wishes, there is nothing much I can do. The war, however, is great reality television. The hero rallying his people to fight back, brave civilians taking up arms to defend their country, a menacing villain everybody loves to hate and emotional conflict for days. What I don’t want, and what I am afraid I am seeing, is for a whole country to commit suicide because they think that help is on the way when all we really plan to do is watch it on our televisions. Has the war just become a snuff film which we can all safely watch under the guise of responsible journalism?