When the Russians launched their illegal invasion of neighboring Ukraine, most Western observers (I included) feared that the attack was part of a more significant movement to reclaim many more former Soviet states than just Ukraine. Invading Ukraine with a paltry force of around 170,000 troops, the Russians attempted to strike hard and fast deep into Ukraine, straight for Kyiv, the capital.
Vladimir Putin and his siloviki in Moscow assumed that the mere presence of Russian forces deep inside Ukraine would break Ukraine’s resistance and allow for Russian forces to topple the Western-backed government of Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian leaders assumed annexing more—if not all—of Ukraine would be as easy for them as it was to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
They were wrong.
Seven years of armaments and training from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had fundamentally changed Ukraine’s forces from a shambolic holdover from the Cold War to a serious fighting force. The Ukrainians successfully repelled the initial Russian invasion. They preserved their state. But the Russians were not totally defeated. Putin had not committed all Russian society to his “Special Military Operation” in 2022.
Ukraine is Putin’s Iraq
Like George W. Bush in Iraq, Putin believed this would be an easy and quick war of regime change, so he under-resourced his invasion. That, and Ukraine’s increased fighting capabilities, stopped Russia from annexing Ukraine—and likely dissuaded Moscow’s leaders from seeking greater levels of territorial aggrandizement elsewhere in the former Soviet bloc of Eastern Europe.
The Ukrainians were encouraged by their NATO partners to do something foolish, though. They wanted Ukraine’s forces to shift from defense to offense. The Russians were reorganizing after their defeat in the first phase of the Russo-Ukraine War. Many assumed the Russians could be pushed out of the country entirely—that Ukraine could regain its lost Crimean territory and the “breakaway republics” in Eastern Ukraine that were populated by mostly ethnic Russians. Westerners believed that if Ukraine could not be given the resources to not just hold onto their national independence by defending Kiev and Western Ukraine from Russia, but push Russia back entirely from Ukraine, then Moscow would move beyond Ukraine…just Adolf Hitler did in the Second World War.
This is a miscalculation. Putin was rebuffed last year. He looked terrible to his people. That would have been the time to negotiate a settlement. According to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, he attempted to broach a ceasefire between the two sides, but NATO squelched his effort.
With no off-ramp, the Russian strongman has gone all-in, defeating Ukraine and has rallied Russian society to that cause. For Putin, everything now rests on Ukraine. Only Ukraine. Because even if he manages to achieve victory in Ukraine (sadly, I believe he will), Russian forces will need considerable time to rearm and regroup from what is clearly a slog in Ukraine.
A Much Smaller Russian “Civilization-State”
All that will matter to Putin, though, will be that he can claim to his people he achieved victory in Ukraine; that it was worth the costs. Moscow may convince neighboring Belarus to join some new pan-Slavic, Russian-led “civilization state” along with conquered Ukraine, but that is Putin’s best-case scenario should he achieve victory. No other former Soviet state will be interested in doing this and Putin won’t have the strategic muscle to risk an invasion of an actual NATO member.
Despite Vladimir Putin being an authoritarian dictator, he is not Adolf Hitler. Thankfully, he’s not even Stalin. Putin is acting in accordance with over one-thousand years of tradition of Russian grand strategy. It’s not acceptable behavior and is indeed disgusting, but it is entirely predictable. The Russian leader seeks to create “buffer zones” between the Russian civilizational core and its Western rivals.
Ukraine is one such geostrategic buffer zone. Yes, there are cultural differences that have made the war truly awful. There have been egregious human rights violations by Russian forces. Had Putin easily conquered Ukraine last year, many other former Soviet states would have to be concerned about further Russian irredentism in the near-term. The initial resistance to Putin’s invasion, though, has changed Putin’s calculus. He may still desire other parts of Europe, but he cannot achieve such ambitious objectives under current conditions.
Therefore, Putin’s primary mission today is less ideological and more geographical.
Ukraine is a Typical European Territorial Dispute
So, when Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential nominee, told audiences that the Russo-Ukraine War was little more than a European “territorial dispute.” He was correct. Many internationalists on both the Left and Right decried what they viewed as historically illiterate remarks by DeSantis.
The merry band of neoconservatives on the Right who misled the West into its own idiotic conflict in Iraq in 2003, had viewed DeSantis as a fellow traveler who would vanquish their Great Orange Boogeyman, Donald J. Trump, in the coming 2024 GOP primary are now left shocked and awed by their would-be savior, Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is not a neocon. He never has been.
DeSantis’ remarks, though, indicate a seriousness of thought and analytical judgment that is otherwise lacking in most presidential candidates. DeSantis is correct: Putin is not Hitler, and this does not need to become World War II all over again. Putin is clearly a bad guy. As were many of his Russian predecessors—not just Stalin, but even tsars, like Ivan the Terrible.
This is a predictable European territorial dispute. Robert Kagan correctly described the post-9/11 era as the “Return of History”. He was correct. History has returned to Europe.
So, it’s time for Western leaders to apply the entirety of European history to the current conflict rather than just the last 80 years. European history was forged by endless territorial disputes. Russia was involved in many of them. These disputes rarely ended in either side winning decisively. European territorial disputes historically resulted in negotiated settlements or frosty armistices—and much give-and-take over the tiniest strips of territory between the warring parties.
In the nuclear age, though, these petty conflicts could become nuclear world wars fast. In that case, nobody wins, and everything is ruined. We would all be wise to avoid such calamities.
Welcome to the New Multipolar World Order
DeSantis’ comments recognize these realities and that’s reassuring. He is not saying that we should not have supported Ukraine. As a United States congressman, DeSantis did support Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself from blatant Russian aggression. I worked alongside him as a member of the Florida delegation in the House of Representatives. I remember his support for the besieged nation. What DeSantis is saying is that the West needs to understand the limits of its power in today’s multipolar world. When squaring off against a nuclear-armed great power, like Russia, that’s a rational take. Indeed, it’s the best policy for the United States.
Of course, European territorial disputes can (and have) started wider wars. Still, all those “thinkers” insisting that this is World War II all over again should study their histories better (and listen more closely to DeSantis). Given the presence of nuclear arms and the increasing fanaticism of both sides under the current leadership in Washington and Moscow, this territorial dispute is likely to become a great state conflict more akin to the First World War unless a new agreement can be hatched between NATO and Russia, regardless of the outcome in Ukraine.
And if there is to be a WWI-type conflict soon in Europe, just as in that war, there will be no decisive winner. All sides will have been responsible for starting such a horrific and unnecessary conflict. Whatever remains in the aftermath of the conflict, the old world order will have been destroyed, and something less palatable will arise.
When DeSantis calls Ukraine a peripheral matter and merely a territorial dispute, he’s not wrong. If more Western leaders viewed it that way, we’d have a more rational strategy that stopped Russia from taking all Ukraine and yet did not overextend NATO. Should DeSantis win the presidential election in 2024, he will have his work cut out for him. The longer that neither side in the Ukraine War refuses to step back and negotiate in good faith, the sooner this territorial dispute will become a world war.
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Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who serves as a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower(Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Dan Tanner
March 17, 2023 at 11:56 am
Amen.
Russia did not try to frame my president for treason, lie about COVID, encourage rioting against the people or threaten me into getting a vaccine that harmed my health. With a government like that, who needs enemies?
By the way what would America do if Russia had missiles in Canada that could shoot down our nukes, an air base in Cuba and mutual defense treaties with both? We would destroy them.
A Friend
March 17, 2023 at 12:18 pm
It’s fun watching all those russians die from grenades and shells ripping off their heads off, because at the same time that’s watching members of the republican party die.
Al Parks
March 17, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Yawn, guess Dan’s another Great Orange Pumpkin slave who is both historically and geopolitically illiterate…
But let’s get back to Weichert’s fallacies in his essay, chief of which is his treatment of Putin as a secure, very much in control leader. I rather doubt that. And I see nothing in Weichert’s background that would give him any insight into this matter which is of paramount importance in determining how NATO should approach Ukraine.
Gary Jacobs
March 17, 2023 at 12:56 pm
Israeli PM Bennett has since clarified in more precise detail precisely because authors like this twist what he said to suit his faux notion of smarts.
Business Insider, among others, have the latest:
“Former Israeli prime minister rebuts claim, boosted by Russia, that the US blocked a Ukraine peace agreement: ‘It’s unsure there was any deal to be made'”
Perhaps if you are going to quote someone like the former PM of Israel to back up your point, you shouldnt cherry pick his statements… you should follow the full story. This clarification from Bennett is more than a month old.
Furthermore, the tossing around of ‘neocon’ as a pejorative has become the standard go to move for people who cant actually make a fact based argument.
Ukraine is in fact in the US security interests for a multitude of reason, and its conflict and the weakening of Russia affects several regions from Central Asia to the mideast and Europe for things as wide ranging as politics and the shift to democracy away from Russia’s influence to the flow of NatGas and precious metals and food around the world.
As well, the galvanizing of western opposition to Russian aggression serves as a warning to China vis a vi Taiwan.
Lastly, the feeble attempt to make some correlation with the invasion of Iraq utterly fails the smell test as there are Zero US troops in Ukraine. There is no ‘neocon’ level invasion. And there is no pollyanna-ish notion of being greeted as liberators for our invasion force.
Ukraine has been trying to break free from Russian imperialism for centuries…and all they ask is for the means to defend themselves.
The real problem is the excessive fear of rapid escalation with Russia leading to delays in giving Ukraine the weapons they need to end the war faster.
I could go on for days like this, but for now I digress.
WillLongfield
March 17, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Brandon Weichert is wrong – Russia’s territorial goals are to annex Southern and Eastern Ukraine and link up with isolated Transnistria, thus completing the Novorossiya project. Much as they did in Georgia, they only took the parts that wanted to be with Russia (Abkhazia and Ossetia) – they withdrew from the rest of Georgia and left it alone. They only invaded after an ill-thought-out attack by Georgia.
Their goal is to form a civilizational east-Slavic state (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine). Ideas of conquering the non-slavic Baltic states, Finland, Romania, etc. are of no help to this. They have no interest in Poland either – Poland and Russia have been enemies for centuries and are alien to each other.
Ukraine’s nationalism has been driven to the far-right recently in an attempt to solidify and unify the fractured country. This was ill-advised and antagonized all the national minorities – Hungarians, Romanians and Poles as well as Russians.
I agree with Brandon Weichert that Russia will win this war – both Ukraine and Russia share the legacy of and pride in the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany and see this conflict in that light. Despite the skill and bravery of the Ukranian troops and support from Western contractors, in the end Russia will overpower the current Kiev regime.
Mike W
March 17, 2023 at 1:26 pm
It is very difficult to root for either side in this fight. Ukraine, like Russia, is largely controlled by Oligarchs and criminals (redundant) who are only interested in self-enrichment. The war has generated hundreds of billions for Russia through higher energy revenues thanks to Europe sucking off Russia’s energy teat and to Team Biden’s attack on our domestic energy sector – both a result of the same idiotic green energy folly. And on the other side, Ukraine’s criminal organizations are generating billions from the war thanks to US taxpayers, feckless leadership, and zero oversight by Congress. Merry Freaking Christmas.
While the $115+ billion sent in cash and military hardware has enriched Ukraine’s criminals, the brave soldiers fighting the fight are facing WWI conditions including rampant Tuberculosis, lack of equipment, ammo & artillery shortages, and poor command and control at the most basic level. It is truly remarkable that Ukraine has inflected so much damage on the Russian military.
The only bright spot in the saga, is Putin has successfully destroyed his military without a single drop of American blood. He sacrificed his best and brightest and is now cleaning out his prisons who are fighting with 40 year old hardware. When/If he takes over Ukraine, it will be his Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and Iraq for decades to come. There will never be peace and Russians and Ukrainians will continue to die. At least Russia won’t be a military threat to the West any time soon. Now we can simply focus on China – assuming we ever have competent leadership return to Washington.
Jack Hughes
March 17, 2023 at 1:39 pm
In what world is Russia winning this war? They’ve taken approximately 200,000 casualties (with 60,000 approx of those being KIAs), most of whom are what passes in Russia for professionals and are burning through men like a flame through a candle.
I agree with RDS on a lot of things but on this one he’s wrong, and whilst we may be entering a more dangerous multipolar world, the conclusion should be to seek more friends and allies abroad to counter geopolitical threats. Moreover the idea that the Russians or Chinese, both of whom are suffering from terrible demographics are going to be peer adversaries is laughable.
The best way to bring the war to a conclusion is to arm the Ukrainians to the teeth with main battle tanks, modern fighter and integrate them into NATO As soon as the war ends.
aldol11
March 17, 2023 at 2:41 pm
4 more years of Biden not as bad as 50 more years of Russia.
I guess i will be voting Democrat for the first time in my life
DeSantis committed political suicide
Trevor Satterfield
March 17, 2023 at 4:04 pm
I think Brandon needs to go back to school. In a broader sense all wars have been fought because of recourses or because of retaliation. As Brandon refers to WW2, Hitler had an empirical vision for Germany. It was fueled by severe economic hardships because of WW1. Hence why a dictator became in power. The start of the war was invading another country’s sovereign territory. PERIOD!!! That is what Russia did in 2014 with Crimea. The country’s of the world chose to let it slide fearing a global conflict. Thankfully that did not happen again.
On the flip side of the USA was invaded, I would hope to hell Brandon wouldn’t say it is a territorial dispute. This is why there are sovereign territorial boundaries.
Stop furthering Russia propaganda!!!
Tamerlane
March 17, 2023 at 4:14 pm
Gary’s been digressing for the past year with his flailing defense of failed and anti-American neoconservative interventionism.
coomer
March 17, 2023 at 4:16 pm
people say that Ron DeSantis is intelligent. I see zero evidence of this. His policies running Florida are a disaster unless being in the bottom ten in education among US States counts as a success. Furthermore there isn’t a single policy issue that he doesn’t blame on wokeness. If he is elected President it is because the moron wing of the American electorate has finally achieved the unthinkable…turning the US into a failed state like Venezuela.
Gary Jacobs
March 17, 2023 at 6:29 pm
Tamerlane,
LoL, and here you are trolling in to prove my point tossing around the word ‘neocon’ when you cant make a fact based argument.
As much as I dislike just about everything else Biden has done in his presidency, he has actually taken a realist approach to Ukraine. It has been a hallmark of his career.
He’s the guy who wanted to split Iraq into 3 along Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish lines. He was also against counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, and he instead advocated strictly counter terrorism ops. Once again, His approach to Ukraine fits right into the realist school. Precisely nothing ‘neocon’ about it. He gets a B- from me. Faster delivery of better weapons and training would end this war sooner. The Russians are on the ropes, time for a TKO. GLSDB, JDAM-ER, long range drones, tanks, IFVs, and combined arms+breach training for the next counter offensives. They are already starting to soften up the Russians in Mariupol, and the entire Russian front from the Kakhovka reservoir to Vuhledar is ripe for breaching and potentially a complete collapse. It’s all about getting the new equipment there, and the training done by the time the summer dries the mud…and killing as many Russians as possible between now and then.
Btw, I find it quite typical of your replies that you had zero notion of rebutting any of the facts I presented, including me destroying a central pillar of this author’s thesis with his cherry picked presentation of what Israeli PM Bennett said. You never were good at facing facts.
Speaking of which, One last parting shot… thankfully most Republicans disagree with you, DeSantis, and this author:
62% of Republicans say Russia-Ukraine conflict is a critical threat to U.S. vital interests
29% say important but not critical
9% say not important threat at all
Walker
March 17, 2023 at 6:51 pm
So here is another feckless Republican turned MAGA due to FOMO.
He starts out in a traditional intelligent Reaganite manner but switches to full Trumpian idiocy halfway through the article. I guess it is because while he starts with a rational fear of Russia attacking Europe to seeing Russia get bogged down in Ukraine such that he no longer sees Russia as a real threat any more.
The only purpose of this article is support DeSantis after making a blunder of a statement. So he puts out pure crap.
DeSantis is one of the worst possible candidates possible after Trump himself. Much of the Republican establishment had to appear to go all in on Trump because the Republican Party has already gone full moron for Trump. I believe people like this author are trying to use DeSantis as an intelligent replacement for moron Trump. Sure DeSantis isn’t as stupid as Trump but in many ways he is worse.
Republican media has really pushed the butthurt amongst its viewers and that is why they have become what can really only be called a bunch of enraged snowflakes. As a final point on this. While I can see people believing “woke” is going too far, anti-woke is definitely worse. And what is happening in the Republican Party is pure gross. Take a look at the law they are looking at that bans gay pride flags but allows for racist confederate flags. And look at how they have their school book burnings or make it illegal to teach the truth about slavery. I have come to the conclusion that they believe that the only way to get rid of racism is to make racism acceptable.
Now back to some other real problems with this article. Now that the author seems to find the fear of an aggressive Russia as past, he changes his entire story and takes up a pure Russian propaganda point. Since he is no longer afraid of Russia, it is fine for him to go full dishonest. While originally he worried about Russia attacking its neighbors, now it’s just Russia needing its buffer and it is totally appropriate for Russia to do that. Instead he moves to a full American Isolationist attitude all to pull water for DeSantis. One thing we can say for Republicans, they don’t mind speaking their dishonesty clearly.
Dave Nelson
March 17, 2023 at 7:32 pm
Yes, this is a play from Russia’s VERY old playbook: Worry about the borders being indefensible so invade the neighbor… the start worrying about the new borders being indefensible so invade the new neighbor, etc., etc. Been going on for centuries.
That fact does not mean it is acceptable and so DeSantis is dead wrong: If it were the 19th century or before it would be par for the course, but it is not. American foreign policy red lines since 1917 has been largely about contesting Imperialist cross-border invasions, or put another way Anti-Imperialism. That all firmed up into clarity in WWII.
No cross border invasion in Europe is acceptable because Europe, old that it is, is still a National Security issue for us. On the other side of the world it is at present Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Essentially what you can call The West. Democracies all, important Trade Partners all, all worried about Russia and China.
DeSantis has shown he understands **nothing** of the last 120 years; this is a BIG disappointment.
3L120
March 17, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Another disagreement here, possibly from another viewpoint. I was a Marine Lt in the Nam, acting as a FO for my entire tour, by choice. None of this line/staff stuff for me. Caught in the RIF in 1971, I later joined the Cal ground Guard in 1979. There I served as an Infantry officer. Most of our training was being ready to fight in Europe when the Soviets came thru the Fulda Pass. They may be Russians now, but their goals are still the same, a restoration of the Soviet empire, with Putin, if he lives that long, as a proto-Stalin. If the attack in the Ukraine had gone according to plan, Georgia and the other smaller former states would have been, culminating with an attack on Lithuania, testing the NATO resolve. What we have done in the Ukraine has been to seriously the Russian, and Wagner forces. Putin will not be able to attack anyone else for a long time, especially if we continue to support Ukraine. This is not regional, especially when NATO is involved, of which we are a part. One thing it has taught the US, hopefully, is that stocks are used up much quicker than expected. All that we have sent Ukraine would have been used up a lot faster if we were in a shooting war with Russia. There seems to be limited back up equipment and ammunition available in our stores. Maybe we need to begin stockpiling items, and increasing production, based on a potential war with China. We are learning that the world is still a dangerous place to be complacent in. I thoroughly hate this administration, but in this instance they are right.
Sofronie the Monk
March 17, 2023 at 8:20 pm
“Westerners believed that if Ukraine could not be given the resources to not just hold onto their national independence by defending Kiev and Western Ukraine from Russia, but push Russia back entirely from Ukraine, then Moscow would move beyond Ukraine…”
Sorry, Brandon, but this is not a miscalculation. Russia all but clearly stated that its goals include Moldavia as well and the rollback of NATO borders to pre-1997 (aka Cold War + the former East Germany – indeed, Putin’s so generous, he’s willing to accept Germany’s unification…). What would happen once the Eastern European countries would no longer be protected by NATO? Simple – “people’s republics”.
IF Russia would have accepted an armistice last year (and that’s a big IF), it wouldn’t have meant that Putin understood he was making a mistake and back off in order to have a long term peaceful settlement. No, he would have only use it to weaken Ukraine even more and go in again, better prepared, preferably after the West would switch its attention on something way more important; like Fentanyl or which gender goes to which bathroom. When your enemy makes a mistake, you don’t allow them to catch their breath, so the Ukrainians did the correct thing from a military point of view.
“Ukraine is a typical European territorial dispute”.
Again, no. This is not one of the “classic” European territorial disputes. WW1 was one of those, the peak of centuries of traditional European warfare, where you had similar countries fighting it out for a province. UK, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, pretty much the same.
But in WW2, it was all about ideology. Partially on the Western front, completely on the Eastern one. “The great crusade against Judaeo-Bolshevism” and cr*p like that. Putin is bringing back the exact same rhetoric. His own great crusade against Western degeneracy and liberal values, “protecting” the women, children and traditional values. This is why he is so dangerous, because he is not alone. Just like Fascism in the interwar period, this ideology is everywhere: Erdogan in Turkey, Orban in Hungary, LePen in France, Trump in the US, Winnie the Pooh in China, al-Assad in Syria, even Kaczynski in Poland (the only thing preventing him from jumping in the same boat as Putin is the long history between the two countries, but ideologically he’s on the same side). All of them united only by a mutual hatred towards Weestern style democracies. A victory for Putin in Ukraine would be used as an example that this is the way to go. Screw globalism, screw commerce, screw peaceful settlements and burying old conflicts. Long live strong leaders, “sovereignty” and a return to the old bickering between countries that has worked out so well for so many centuries. And once those democracies who managed to find a way to mostly coexist peacefully between them are gone, replaced by “strong” states, how long till a new world war?
So yeah, it’s not the Ukrainian resistance that threatens to cause a global war, it’s actually the one thing preventing it.
404NotFound
March 17, 2023 at 9:08 pm
Today, people worried about ‘russia and china’ are basically on the page as those who greatly worried about ‘jews and bolsheviks’ during the thirties.
History has a fond liking for repeating itself.
That’s the reason for the current breathless expansion of wide-ranging military blocs (NATO, AUKUS, QUAD, etc,), endless rounds of war drills & war rehearsals and military exercises, massive upticks in arms exports, provocative ‘bring-it-on’ flybys & sailbys and 24/7 agitprop ratcheting.
Plus proxy wars, broad sanctions and bald threats of this and that.
Preparing for ww2, oops, ww3.
Nobody bothers to take a look in the dressroom mirror or the rearview mirror.
Jai
March 17, 2023 at 9:10 pm
Nice try but everyone knows de Santis made a huge misstep here, and it is probably going to cost him any chance at the gop nomination.
Dan Tanner
March 17, 2023 at 10:47 pm
Oh, look all the fedbots are here.
monkfelonious
March 18, 2023 at 12:57 am
I give the author some credit. He gave a sort of an AI generated pat couple of paragraphs until he took over and quickly revealed he should have stuck with the plan. This site is worthless. I have no idea why it exists. Hell, even the katsap gerbils that overran the comments are gone.
GhostTomahawk
March 18, 2023 at 2:25 am
Want to know why there are so many failing countries or there???
“Illegal invasion”
Stupid
Weak countries NEED TO BE WIPED OUT. These failed states are a magnet for corruption and are a drag on the global economy. Consolidation has been needed for decades. Ukraine is such a state. So are many eurotrash countries and most of Central and South American ones.
David Chang
March 18, 2023 at 11:09 am
God bless people in the world.
Ron DeSantis said one thing wrong, the Ukraine socialism warfare is not only a territorial dispute, the territorial dispute is Putin’s political propaganda to make the Soviet Union back.
But we could guess what Ron DeSantis think about. If he wants to lead people in American out of the swamp made by Communist Party and Democratic-Republican Party, he should follow Moses and Jesus to lead people. If he trusts God and wanna America under God, we will understand that Ron DeSantis wanna people live without inflation and the U.S. military revive strength for the 2nd Half of World War II.
God bless America.
navy
March 18, 2023 at 12:53 pm
All these dumb Republicans who think Russians and Putins are their potential allies…. stupid formulas like Russians never did anything to me…. that’s a lie…. they’ve been actively trying to destroy everything American since they ever came to power as Soviets.
1945 should stay out of politics if they are just going to push 1/6er opinions about NATO and world events.
Corvus
March 18, 2023 at 12:55 pm
@WillLongfield – You are wrong, for there is no way Russia could possibly win this war, not even in a hundred years. Sooner or later Putin will be gone, and ince thisd happens, the war stops – he is its main engine. Without him, Russia will seek some way to surrender to the Western allies.
Also, the government in Kiev is not a “regime” – it’s a democratically elected government, which got to power after fair and legitimate elections. It is absurd and unthinkable to even suggest Zelensky’s government could possibly be a “regime”.
navy
March 18, 2023 at 1:04 pm
All these dumb Republicans who think Russians and Putins are their potential allies…. stupid formulas like Russians never did anything to me…. that’s a lie…. they’ve been actively trying to destroy everything American since they ever came to power as Soviets.
1945 should stay out of politics if they are just going to push 1/6er opinions about NATO and world events.
Ron wants to negotiate and breathing room to an ICC criminal Putin so they can regroup and truely cause global chaos when they are stronger.
TheDon
March 18, 2023 at 5:19 pm
How to beat nato
1 fake a war
2 disarm by volunteer sending weapons and jets
3 improve sams
4 ukraine switches.
Google earth bakhmut.
Its a small town.
Any real observers?
Harmen Breedeveld
March 18, 2023 at 6:27 pm
So for a mere few 10s of billions of dollars and zero (!) US lives lost, America has done grievous damage to Russia’s military abilities. America has also a rules-based world order from which America benefits greatly. And America has strengthened its relations with its European allies, especially those in Eastern Europe.
And Dan Weichert wants to throw all of that away by rewarding Russia with chunks of Ukraine in an ill-guided overhasty peace effort.
A peace effort that could well be merely a short pause, until Russia tries again a few years from now. Just as Russia’s earlier annexation of Crimea and stirring up unrest in the Donbass region also proved a prelude to today’s war in Ukraine.
And why does Dan Weichert propose to give up all that America has achieved? Because of an non-existing nuclear threat! Putin is not going to use nuclear weapons against the West. He is many things, but not suicidal: he does not wish to perish in a nuclear fireball. And even if he were suicidal, those around him – with all their wealth – surely are not. They will surely stop him.
Dan Weichert’s proposal is madness. It is WAY more advantageous for America to keep propping up Ukraine. Weird how so many people do not see how good America’s position right now is, and how disastrous Russia’s position is.
Ivan
March 18, 2023 at 11:34 pm
I’m just wondering would you call American War of Independence “a tax issue” or “fiscal dispute”? Because if you limit Kremlin attempt to destroy everything Ukrainian to a bare “territorial dispute”, maybe we should redefine American Revolutionary War as well.
Lee
March 18, 2023 at 11:58 pm
Putin is certainly not Hitler, even though he is using similar lies as a pretext to invade a sovereign country. I would also remind those who seem to have forgotten the history lessons of the past, that it was the timidity of the European powers that emboldened Hitler and initiated World War II. I would remind you that this is not Putin’s first experience in in invading a sovereign nation, using a pretext close akin to his predecessor Hitler. I would agree that Russia/The Soviet Union has a long history of aggression, and passiveness has never dissuaded dictators like Hitler or Putin. In our delusional naivety before December 7th, we believed distance and pacifism would keep us out of of war. Unfortunately at that time the aggressors like Putin today, were not under the same delusional fantasy. Make no mistake NATO exist for ONE reason, the continued aggression of Putin’s Russia. Perhaps we should take a strong dose of reality from nations which have been subjugated by Russia, or are now seeking protection in NATO, perhaps that might inject a does of reality into this delusional fantasy.
Walker
March 19, 2023 at 3:51 am
@GhostTomahawk, well, let’s wipe Russia out then since we have your blessing.
David Chang
March 19, 2023 at 11:33 am
God bless people in the world.
HONEST IS THE BEST POLICY.
“A Ukrainian commander has been demoted following an interview with the Washington Post in which he complained about the Ukrainian army’s alleged lack of weapons and the poor training of mobilized troops who have replaced experienced soldiers.
Anatoliy Kozel, call-sign Kupol and battalion commander of the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade, has quit his post after being transferred from the position of combat battalion commander to the rank of deputy battalion commander of the training center.
Kupol confirmed that he had been demoted on Thursday. In a comment to the Hromadske media, he said that the Commander of the Air Assault Forces, Major General Maksym Myrhorodsky, explained his demotion by saying that if he was talking with journalists about the poor training of the military, “I will let you train them yourself.”
It is the history of Ukraine 3 days ago, because of sin, it is the same as thousands years history. Now we have to think about the will of General MacArthur and General Patton, how much will we pay to win the second half of World War II? People should vote to declare war on socialism Russia.
HONEST IS THE BEST POLICY.
This famous quote explain the war in Vietnam, in Afghan, in Iraq, and in Ukraine.
God bless America.
Whodunnit
March 19, 2023 at 12:05 pm
So wrong in so many ways. Are you good buddies with comrade Davies ? I’m
beginning to notice that the authors with the least insightful conclusions garner the most comments. Maybe that’s the plan ?
Dave Nelson
March 19, 2023 at 3:17 pm
Hitler: Grew up in an Empire.
Putin: Grew up in an Empire.
Hitler: Empire dissolved, chaos follows.
Putin: Empire dissolved, chaos follows.
Hitler: Becomes dictator.
Putin: Becomes dictator.
Hitler: We need to have our empire back.
Putin: We need to have our empire back.
Hitler: Takes back part of homeland.
Putin: Takes back part of homeland.
Hitler: Invades neighbor (Czechoslovakia)
Putin: Invades neighbor (Georgia)
Hitler: Absorbs neighbor (Austria)
Putin: Absorbs neighbor (Crimea)
Hitler: Major invasion (Poland)
Putin: Major invasion (Ukraine)
===============
Obvious conclusion: While Putin is NOT Hitler reborn he is playing the **same hand of cards**. Nothing good will come of ignoring Putin, just as nothing good came from ignoring Hitler.
What we are seeing today is the 4th chapter* of the the Long War (1914-Present) — the self-immolation of European Imperialism. It has started but we don’t know what they end will look like.
* 1914-1918
* 1935-1945
* 1946-1989
* 2008-Present