Ukraine Always Get What You Want

I'm more concerned with how much of the world should we be willing to burn?

 

Great point.

We should quit, and never stand up to Russian aggression. That will solve the problem.

 

Totally. None of it.

We should surrender every non-NATO, non-nuclear state to Russia, just to be safe.

 

Russia attacked Ukraine.

Let me say that again. Russia attacked Ukraine.

I don’t care about what was being disputed prior to the attack. Anything in dispute could have been negotiated through diplomacy. And Russia chose to move away from that, and attack Ukraine.

Russia is at fault for this war here. Nobody else. They chose to attack.

Sure, let’s talk about how to wind this down. This winds down when Russia leaves Ukraine, and starts paying enough reparations to Ukraine’s satisfaction.

Until then, fuck Russia.

 

Not at all what I'm saying.
I'm just not in favor of the endless blank check approach without some clear — and realistically achievable — goals in mind.
Even with our help, does Ukraine possess the ability to push Russia out of its territory? Does it have the ability to take the fight to Russia without inciting a nuclear response or an all-out war in Europe? Ukraine obviously has the will to fight for years on end, but does it have the manpower and infrastructure to do so and come out with something resembling victory?
If the answer to those questions is yes, then by all means continue to support Ukraine.
If the answer is no, then let's figure out where this thing is headed and come up with some new ideas on what the next best move is.

Ukraine has done a good job answering "yes" to all three of those questions so far. But looking two or three years down the road can that still be the case? Or will we still be stuck in this hellish World War I redux?

 

The checks we're writing Ukraine directly support the National Security Strategy by degrading the acute threat. Despite what you may hear in the media, these presidential drawdowns, while they do come at a cost, are helping us modernize at a discount. That discount is, in effect, draining the Russian economy and significantly reducing its military capabilities.

Is it expensive? Yes. Should we be doing it? Also, yes.

 

What it's going to take to wind this thing down is either Russia surrendering or Putin catching a bullet with his face. Either outcome is acceptable.

 

Ukraine has definitely been the world's largest military surplus garage sale for a lot of nations, not just us.

 

If you haven't read it:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-conte...ations-National-Security-Strategy-10.2022.pdf

 

Here's some additional light reading:

https://media.defense.gov/2022/Oct/27/2003103845/-1/-1/1/2022-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY-NPR-MDR.PDF

which feeds ....

https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/USEUCOM-TS-OCT-2015-v5_web.pdf

 

So you’re acknowledging we didn’t actually “give them” $57 billion in the past two and a half years then?

 

I mean, if you're talking flying pallets of cash over there then I suppose not. But it's considered "aid" so I'm not sure what else you'd call it. It wasn't spare change we found in the couch cushions. The money was spent, or reallocated, or moved from Column A to Column B somewhere and somehow.