Ukraine Always Get What You Want

How will Putin respond the first time an American plane shoots down a Russian plane?

How would you expect the US to respond if a Russian plane shoots down a USAF plane?

 

I'm no fan of going to war, but if the alternative is watching day by day as the Russians bomb and shell the Ukrainians into submission while the West sits on it's hands and does nothing to stop it, well, get the planes up over Ukraine.

 

Per Kasparov, who knows better than anyone, Putin has already started WW III.

What's NATO for if not to defend Eastern Europe?

Alternative 1: fast track Ukraine into the EU and NATO and enforce a No Fly Zone with the various NATO air commands.

Alternative 2: put every NATO member on a war footing, spin up every missile command in Europe - then invite Putin to discuss a ceasefire and negotiate getting NATO out of his backyard.

Alternative 3: Cede Ukraine to Russia.

Putin won't stop until someone stops him.

 

Also, and I know this won't win military tactical points with Scout, but shouldn't the U.S. send some big ships and park them in the waters close to Odessa?

 

NATO is for defending NATO nations. I'm sorry for Ukraine.

 

If the USN were committed to the conflict (it won't be), it wouldn't really need to be near Odessa to have an impact. ... and in fact it wouldn't be parked near Odessa - a tomahawk's range is at least 900 miles.

The question would be if Turkey would let the USN pass through the Bosphorus.


It's all moot, though, because we're not committing the navy to save Ukraine.

 

Not "to save" but ...

 

Russian air defenses engage at ranges which mean they can be inside Russian borders and still shoot at NATO aircraft flying well inside Ukraine air space. Enforcing a no fly zone would require neutralizing those defenses. A no-fly zone would net effective mean strikes against Russian territory.

Also: A NATO plane straying over Russian territory?
Also: A NATO pilot ejecting on the wrong side of the border, necessitating SOAR missions to recover the pilot into Russian territory.

Yeah there's next to zero chance we're going to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, even though I think (based on the Russian air performance so far) such a NATO effort would wrap this whole thing up in about 72 hours.

 

Yeah, maybe he's playing 7th dimension chess when everybody else is playing checkers.
Or maybe he's an idiot. Or maybe he's lost it.

The first two weeks of this war, that you claim he's been plotting for 15 years, he has stumbled out of the gate. If Russia were carpenters, they'd be accused of shotty workmanship. If Russia were doctors, they'd be accused of malpractice.

15 years of planning, and his convoy is stuck in no-man's land because of poor planning and poor execution. Not impressed.

 

The EU has been making noise for years about getting more involved in the defense game, as a complement to NATO. You're not going to see a unified EU command in the next two weeks, but now's the time to start seriously talking about it. And the U.S., Canada and the U.K. get to keep their hands clean on some stuff.

 

You might be 100% right. But ...