War in Ukraine

#3,276
#3,276
LouderVol said:
Might want to go check when the withdrawl actually happened. Because it wasnt May 1st. It was actually even later than that, so yeah it falls on Biden.
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My post is correct. Trump scheduled the withdrawal for May 1st. It got pushed off a couple months. All Biden's fault... for everything... that ever happened... that was bad at least.
 
#3,277
#3,277
MontyPython said:
So I'm thinking if Putin doesn't attack within the next week or so, his plan all along is one of bluffing to gain concessions from Ukraine / NATO.

Running with this theory, as I'd guess the economic consequences in Putin's calculus outweigh the gains in territory... at least for now. I say this if, and only if, Putin thinks Biden would go full-on sanctions and pull out all the stops. This would include blacklisting the major Russian banks, disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT payment system, halting all exports of electronic components and oil-related supplies to Russia, and blacklisting Putin, his oligarch pals, and various companies within Russia.

Would Biden actually go DEFCON5 if Russia invades? Well, if yes, it will not only economically harm alot of our allies, but also us. Oil would go through the roof, the financial markets would be hit hard, and other problems for the West.

On the other hand, Russia would likely be crushed economically by such measures. The Ruble would plummet, their stock market would crash, and their banking and trading systems would be in a pickle. Then the question becomes, would China be willing to rile the US and the West by lending a hand to Russia.

Is Putin willing to gamble that Biden is bluffing? Hmm. Whole lot of poker going on.
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Lol. You have way too much faith in Biden. Hes still trying to finish his eggs from breakfast this morning.
 
#3,279
#3,279
landscapingvol said:
Help me understand why you are looking for signs of war around every turn? I don't understand this way of thinking. Wars are always exponentially more difficult on the poor and the soldiers fighting them than the individuals who ignite them, and let's don't pretend that they are generally fought for noble reasons. They aren't. I hope and pray that no one dies especially no US soldiers in another ill conceived war.
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When it comes to Russian diplomacy/military actions, Burhead brings the best information here. I don't think he's looking for anything. He's just in tune with a lot of what's going on over there and posts a lot of information/updates.
 
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#3,280
#3,280
landscapingvol said:
Help me understand why you are looking for signs of war around every turn? I don't understand this way of thinking. Wars are always exponentially more difficult on the poor and the soldiers fighting them than the individuals who ignite them, and let's don't pretend that they are generally fought for noble reasons. They aren't. I hope and pray that no one dies especially no US soldiers in another ill conceived war.
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Is he looking for war or just commenting and reporting on the obvious indicators?

Serious question, I don't Twitter.
 
#3,283
#3,283
Sandman 423 said:
Why not just say, "Yeah, he done a piss pore job on that one.". Does everything have to be a deflection?
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I would agree he did a piss poor job, but IMO it would have been piss poor no matter who was in the seat. Another may have done some things better and some things worse, but the overall end result would have been messy regardless.

It would have been interesting to see if Trump would have gone through with it.
 
#3,285
#3,285
volinbham said:
It's not "calling out" Putin. It's continually taking a position that war is about to happen when all other countries are being more measured in their commentary. Unless it's an organized game of good cop, bad cop it appears we are the outlier.

There's a difference between being stern, frank that "if this happens the consequences will be severe" and being provocative in continually stating war is imminent.
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I guess I'm not so naïve as to think what Biden says to the media is influencing Putin's decision to post up on Ukraine's doorstep or if he'll ultimately invade. Putin isn't Trump, he's not going to be swayed by the "MSM" or what people say about him on twitter. I find it fascinating to see the Biden detractors looking for silly reasons to grouse.

I'm quite certain if Biden weren't out there calling a spade a spade, he'd be getting grilled for hiding like a little bitch and not getting out in front of this.

As far as I can see - no one has gone on record to say how they'd handle this situation. I'm sure no matter how this shakes out, many of Monday morning quarterbacks will be offering plenty of opinion on how he F*&ed it up.
 
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#3,290
#3,290
Septic said:
I guess I'm not so naïve as to think what Biden says to the media is influencing Putin's decision to post up on Ukraine's doorstep or if he'll ultimately invade. Putin isn't Trump, he's not going to be swayed by the "MSM" or what people say about him on twitter. I find it fascinating to see the Biden detractors looking for silly reasons to grouse.

I'm quite certain if Biden weren't out there calling a spade a spade, he'd be getting grilled for hiding like a little bitch and not getting out in front of this.

As far as I can see - no one has gone on record to say how they'd handle this situation. I'm sure no matter how this shakes out, many of Monday morning quarterbacks will be offering plenty of opinion on how he F*&ed it up.
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If what he says publicly has no impact then why is he making so many public statements about it? What is the purpose of being the one nation that is the most fatalistic on the situation if such commentary does not influence the actors involved?

It appears you think no critique is valid and everyone should just accept that Biden is doing the exact right thing.

As for alternatives for handling I can offer a few (and I'll even start with things since Putin made he's early troop moves rather than point out policy issues that were at least partial catalysts): 1) he could have had a clear policy position from the beginning - if you recall his early comments suggested that a "minor incursion" by Russia wouldn't be that big of a deal. Ukraine immediately responded with a WTF and the WH had to walk back his statements. Certainly calls into question whether it's hard position now or listening to the polls. 2) he could talk about serious consequences for Russian action without also continually saying the invasion is imminent. 3) he could have gotten on the same page with Germany prior to their joint press conf where it was clear there was considerable daylight between our and their position - instead he pretended we were on the same page. 4) he could signal guarantees to W Europe to reduce their dependency on Russian gas and oil but that goes against his policy views.

So I'll ask you - is he handling this as good as anyone could and specifically how did you come to that conclusion?
 
#3,295
#3,295
This is the weirdest situation I've ever seen regarding potential war. I'm not sure what it really means if Russia doesn't invade given our government's insistence that they will.
 
#3,296
#3,296
MontyPython said:
This is the weirdest situation I've ever seen regarding potential war. I'm not sure what it really means if Russia doesn't invade given our government's insistence that they will.
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The obvious answer is that the White House has been pumping propaganda.

How many more times will they have to cry wolf before people start to not believe them?
 
#3,297
#3,297
Septic said:
I guess I'm not so naïve as to think what Biden says to the media is influencing Putin's decision to post up on Ukraine's doorstep or if he'll ultimately invade. Putin isn't Trump, he's not going to be swayed by the "MSM" or what people say about him on twitter. I find it fascinating to see the Biden detractors looking for silly reasons to grouse.

I'm quite certain if Biden weren't out there calling a spade a spade, he'd be getting grilled for hiding like a little bitch and not getting out in front of this.

As far as I can see - no one has gone on record to say how they'd handle this situation. I'm sure no matter how this shakes out, many of Monday morning quarterbacks will be offering plenty of opinion on how he F*&ed it up.
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Biden and his Administration are doing a good job of engaging Putin's dangerously threatening behavior. Secretary of State Blinken's citing the Russian "play book" and sharing real time intel gets my approval. I do have a few concerns about NATO troop levels. They need to be increased to defeat a possible Russian invasion of the East European countries in NATO. Putin is demanding that NATO abandon several member states, and Putin has mustered adequate forces to seize ground in all of them. Now is the time to increase force levels needed to defeat a Russian invasion. Of course, NATO does not want to provide Putin with a pretext for starting a war. So NATO might be increasing its defensive posture more than we know. I am also concerned that NATO nations will whiff on the threat to remove Russia from the SWIFT financial system if it invades Ukraine. Stating that option and then failing to follow through would be weak.
 
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#3,298
#3,298
MontyPython said:
This is the weirdest situation I've ever seen regarding potential war. I'm not sure what it really means if Russia doesn't invade given our government's insistence that they will.
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Russia has been acting like they will invade. I’m not worried about how it makes us look if they don’t.
 
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