patrick.net

Chances are such a low number are trainers for small groups of UA. It's too few to be advisors.

One thing I do wonder is how many Western Contractors are there.

AmericanKulak says

One thing I do wonder is how many Western Contractors are there.

Many. Who cares? Let them fucking destroy themselves. It's hysterical it's even a debate among Americans. If you want to go die, go for it if you're doing it voluntarily. Again, who cares?

RayAmerica said, “ Don't count on NATO, it's a paper tiger! And, if Russia gets backed into a corner, they WILL use their nuclear arsenal to defend their country.”

True. Last month the EU voted to send 2 billion in arms to Ukraine. These were to come from member nations who would be reimbursed for the munitions. They swiftly realized that there simply weren’t that many munitions in the EU to buy and send to Ukraine!
Paper tiger indeed.
And their citizens are mostly disarmed.

AmericanKulak says

Chances are such a low number are trainers for small groups of UA. It's too few to be advisors.

One thing I do wonder is how many Western Contractors are there.

Yeah, Malcolm Nance is there and likely advising and training on intel.

I suspect Dyncorp and Blackwater (or whatever new names they go by) are there with their "contractors" just like they were in Afghanistan such as "providing security" for U.S. State Department officials, etc.

Look up the slang term "sheep dipping" as that could come into play there.

.

How on Earth does a 21-year old in the AIR National Guard have access to all these documents?

Given his age, nevermind not active army, what rank could he possibly be? Why would an AANG unit have these kids of documents? Why would he have access to them?

Regardless of how you feel about Russia-Ukraine, there's simply no reason one can fathom that a person of such junior rank, in a Guard unit, could come in contact with this material, which is clearly big picture stuff. If this level of info is so widely distributed, it's a foolish Security Risk.

AmericanKulak says

How on Earth does a 21-year old in the AIR National Guard have access to all these documents?

Exactly, as I wonder how the classified info is distributed based on "need to know".

How the hell does an air national guard unit in Massachusetts get maps of ground troop positions in Ukraine ?

I wonder if he worked with someone else to get this classified info.

.

ad says

Yeah, Malcolm Nance is there and likely advising and training on intel.

Oh, no doubt Malcolm Nance is a intelligence asset fag. He's supposedly in Ukraine to "fight the good fight" - you know how I know this is false?

He's alive. If he was really on the front lines, he's be fertilizer by now. Anybody in "corporate news", that's a spook or an asset.

AmericanKulak says

How on Earth does a 21-year old in the AIR National Guard have access to all these documents?

You know what a patsy is.

Don't just assume the "leaks" are authentic, because - supposedly - somebody is being prosecuted.

Maybe he was a gay hooker hump for a Pentagon general. Very chic these days, just used his cell phone to take pictures of the files while the general was in the shower. I saw that on a spy show once.

AmericanKulak says

"How on Earth does a 21-year old in the AIR National Guard have access to all these documents?"

Irrelevant. And IMO the decision to release the documents was not made by a "21-year old in the AIR National Guard" - this decision came from higher up...

What is important is "what did we learn from this release?"

Answer: We learned that "This is not Ukraine's war, it is our war. The United States is a direct combatant in a war against Russia. As we speak, American soldiers are fighting Russian soldiers" See Tucker Carlson in "
NOW Exposing The LIE of Ukraine War."


original link

War Without End: White House Approves Fresh $320M+ Military Aid Package for Ukraine



https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/04/20/war-without-end-white-house-approves-fresh-320m-military-aid-package-for-ukraine/

How's that WWIII going on? Anybody got conscripted and sent to fight overseas yet? Keep me posted.

RayAmerica says

War Without End: White House Approves Fresh $320M+ Military Aid Package for Ukraine

Yep, should be sending much bigger packages to end that war. We have $350B of Pukin's money to play with, c'mon man!

Push the Commie War Criminal fuckers into their recognized borders, admit Ukraine into NATO the very next day, done. Peace in our lifetime achieved. Bidet must be controlled by the CCP after all. No other explanation for this kids glove approach to their unlimited partner.

So you think giving government more money solves problems? You further think giving corrupt governments more money with no oversight solves problems? You think proxy wars solve problems? You think imperialist intervention solves problems?

I'm just wondering where you've been the last 30 years while all those things have been done repeatedly in multiple Middle East and North African countries, and have solved ZERO PROBLEMS!?

Eric Holder says

How's that WWIII going on? Anybody got conscripted and sent to fight overseas yet? Keep me posted.

Give it time. The Neo-Con psychopaths have a plan and it's not according to your time table.

US Sending Nuclear Submarines To South Korea For 1st Time In 40 Years

In a move which is certainly to explode tensions on the peninsula further at a moment things are already on edge, the US is sending nuclear-armed submarines to dock in South Korea for the first time in four decades.

Senior Biden administration officials say the move is part of a broader and "more visible" plan to make clear to Kim Jong Un that Washington is ready to defend Seoul against the increasing nuclear threats from Pyongyang.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-sending-nuclear-submarines-south-korea-1st-time-40-years

RayAmerica says

US Sending Nuclear Submarines To South Korea For 1st Time In 40 Years

WTF? It does not matter where a nuclear armed sub is located - it can land a warhead on Pyongyang from anywhere. In fact, it is best if the location of a nuke sub is secret. A better message would be sent if they put a few Pershing type missiles in South Korea.

Mike Cernovich: Rupert Murdoch Fired Tucker Carlson Because He Stood in the Way of WWIII Agenda

https://rumble.com/v2kkdws-mike-cernovich-rupert-murdoch-fired-tucker-carlson-because-he-stood-in-the-.html

Very interesting interview, detailing the lies of mainstream media regarding the Ukraine 'war.'

Scott Ritter: Ukraine's In MAJOR TROUBLE Right Now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWLvqPyC0yk

4 Ways That Joe Biden Could Get America Into A Nuclear War
http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/4-ways-that-joe-biden-could-get-america-into-a-nuclear-war


Have you ever looked at Joe Biden and wondered if this guy is going to get us all killed? If so, you are definitely not alone. Biden is an ill-tempered lunatic that is not all there mentally, and his foreign policy team includes well-known warmongers such as Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken and Victoria Nuland. Over the past two years they have been provoking our enemies every chance they get, and that has pushed us to the brink of war with several of them. They keep telling us that they know exactly what they are doing, but if they get this wrong we are not going to get a “do over”. Once the missiles start flying, there will be no going back. The following are 4 ways that Joe Biden and his minions could get America into a nuclear war…

#1 Russia

The war in Ukraine has evolved into a full-blown proxy conflict between the United States and Russia, and both sides just continue to escalate matters.

So where does this end?

At this point, the Biden administration has already announced 36 different military aid packages for Ukraine since the war started…

US President Joe Biden’s administration announced $325 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday to help its military in its war against Russia, including additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), advanced missiles and anti-tank mines.

It is the 36th security package for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, and brings total US military assistance for the Kyiv government to more than $35.4 billion in that time.

On the other side, the Russians keep framing this crisis as an existential conflict between east and west, and western leaders have certainly bolstered that perception by publishing maps of Russia broken up into dozens of little countries.

At this point, the Russians believe that they are fighting for all the marbles, and Dmitry Medvedev is openly warning that they will use nuclear weapons when push comes to shove…

He spelt out that Russian doctrine “makes it clear that nuclear weapons may be used if Russia faces an act of aggression involving other types of weapons, which threaten the very existence of the state”.

He added: “In fact, it is about using nuclear weapons in response to such actions.

“Our potential adversaries should not underestimate this.

“All these speculations about how the Russians will never do this are worthless.

“The Western analysts and Western commanders – both military and political leaders – should simply assess our rules and our intentions.”

Why won’t our leaders take such threats seriously?

I am entirely convinced that the Russians are not bluffing.

And it should greatly alarm all of us that Russian submarines are becoming increasingly active in the Atlantic Ocean…

“The Russians have been more active than we’ve seen them in years,” Army Gen. Chris Cavoli, the top commander for NATO and U.S. military operations in Europe, told Congress on Wednesday of Moscow’s undersea capabilities.

“Their patrols into the Atlantic and throughout the Atlantic are at a high level most of the time, at a higher level than we’ve seen in years,” Cavoli testified before the House Armed Services Committee. “And this, despite all the efforts they’re undertaking in Ukraine.”

Eventually, the Russians could use subs to launch a surprise first strike on the U.S., and if that happens it will be the end of our nation as we know it today.

#2 China

As I have detailed in previous articles, the Chinese have been feverishly expanding and modernizing their strategic nuclear arsenal.

At one time, their capabilities paled in comparison to our own, but now they have substantially closed that gap.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is still choosing to treat them like a vastly inferior power.

We do not want a war with China, and under previous administrations such a war was not even a possibility.

But now the status of Taiwan has become a major international issue, and the Chinese just keep sending more military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone…

Taiwan’s defence ministry, in an early Friday update of Chinese military activities over the previous 24 hours, said 19 military aircraft had entered the island’s air defence identification zone.

One of those was a TB-001 drone, which flew around Taiwan, first crossing the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, then up the east of Taiwan before crossing back toward the Chinese coast, according to a map provided by the ministry.

In addition, sovereignty over certain areas in the South China Sea is another matter that has caused tensions between the U.S. and China to rise…

The US has warned the Chinese Coast Guard to stop harassing Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, it was reported.

On Saturday, the US state department said in a statement: “We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct.”

Last week, the Philippines accused China’s coast guard of “aggressive tactics” and “dangerous manoeuvres” in the South China Sea, amid simmering geopolitical tensions between the two nations.

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and our relations with China will take a turn in the right direction.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

#3 Iran

As I have warned over and over again, a major war in the Middle East could erupt at any time.

And just to make sure that tensions go a little bit higher, the U.S. has deployed aircraft equipped with “bunker-busting bombs” to the region…

In a show of force to Iran, the United States military has equipped aircraft sent to the Middle East with advanced bunker-busting bombs, American officials told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

According to the report, around a dozen A-10 Warthogs were refitted to allow the attack aircraft to carry up to 16 of the precision-guided GBU-39/B bombs.

Of course the Iranians are also choosing to make things even worse.

In fact, the Iranian military just illegally seized a tanker that was headed for the United States…

Footage has been released by the Iranian navy that shows the seizure of a foreign vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet was taken Thursday by Iranian forces after leaving Kuwait en route to Houston, the U.S. Navy announced.

“Advantage Sweet was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman,” NAVCENT said.

Unlike Russia and China, Iran does not have intercontinental ballistic missiles.

But the Iranians are getting very close to being able to produce their own nuclear weapons, and some analysts believe that they already possess older nukes that have been provided to them by others.

If a major war does erupt in the Middle East, Iran will throw whatever it has against Israel, and Israel will do the same to Iran.

Let us hope that such a conflict can be put off for as long as possible.

#4 North Korea

You would think that the potential for 3 cataclysmic wars would be enough.

But no, the Biden administration has also decided to greatly provoke North Korea by sending “nuclear-armed submarines” to South Korea…

The United States will deploy nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea for the first time in decades — part of a new agreement that will signal Washington’s commitment to defend Seoul against rising nuclear threats from North Korea, U.S. officials said.

The plan to dock the ballistic missile submarines in South Korea, which hasn’t happened since the 1980s, headlines an effort to make U.S. deterrence against Kim Jong Un’s regime “more visible,” according to senior administration officials. It will also see the U.S. vow to give its ally a greater role in any response to a potential nuclear attack.

One rule that I try to live by is that you should never provoke crazy people.

And in this case, the Biden administration is provoking crazy people that are armed with nuclear weapons.

The North Koreans are not happy with the Biden administration’s latest move, and they just issued a very angry statement that contains the words “nuclear war”…

North Korea will step up its “military deterrence” against South Korea and the United States, state media said Sunday, blasting this week’s summit agreement between the two sides on strengthening the U.S. extended deterrence as a “product of heinous hostile policy” against Pyongyang.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) ran a commentary criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the U.S. this week as “the most hostile, aggressive and provocative trip and a dangerous one for a nuclear war.”

In April, North Korea tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that is capable of hitting the United States.

If Kim Jong Un gets angry enough, he could order his military leaders to nuke several west coast cities.

Of course we could nuke North Korea in return, but nothing would ever bring those cities back.

Most Americans don’t realize this, but at this moment we are closer to nuclear war than we have ever been before.

Biden administration officials seem to believe that none of our enemies are crazy enough to actually use nuclear weapons, and so they are not afraid to be extremely aggressive with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

But what happens if Biden administration officials make a mistake and push one of them too far?

This is not a game.

One really bad mistake could result in hundreds of millions of deaths.

So let us hope that someone can talk some sense into Joe Biden and the warmongers around him, because right now they really do have us on the brink of the unthinkable.

The escalation continues ...

Former CIA Officer Says Decision To Drone Attack Kremlin Was Made By The United States

The Wednesday attack, which was likely to have been targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, was stopped by electronic warfare systems which disabled the drones before they could reach their target.

According to Johnson, the attack must have been spearheaded by the Biden administration and the US military-industrial complex because “decisions on such attacks are made not in Kiev, but in Washington.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/former-cia-officer-says-decision-drone-attack-kremlin-was-made-united-states

The World At War In 2023



May 8, 2023 marks 78 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe - VE Day. While the conflict which claimed millions of lives on European soil is firmly committed to the annals of history, war in the East of the continent is still a harsh reality in the present day.

As data collection by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) shows, a substantial portion of the globe is still engulfed in some form of conflict. This infographic shows countries in which there have been reports of armed clashes involving state forces and/or rebel groups in 2023. Even as early as April 28, and using this simplified definition, the presence of war across the world is extensive.

More here: https://www.statista.com/chart/21652/countries-with-armed-clashes-reported/

WWIII: The West Has Decided To Give Ukraine Long-Range Cruise Missiles
(What could possibly go wrong?)

We are getting dangerously close to the “hot phase” of World War III, but most people in the western world don’t even realize what is going on.

They simply trust our leaders when they tell us that we will never have to be directly involved in a conflict with Russia, but meanwhile those same leaders continue to push us ever closer to such a scenario.

https://conservativeplaybook.com/2023/05/12/wwiii-the-west-has-decided-to-give-ukraine-long-range-cruise-missiles/

AmericanKulak says

How on Earth does a 21-year old in the AIR National Guard have access to all these documents?

Have you not worked for the government before? Think of something as simple as the post office delivery dude. They can take your mail and you'd have no clue. "Oh, light mail day today apparently."

Chain of command. The weakest link is the top. If they neglect their duties it's a snowball effect. Next thing you know your mailman is stealing your new credit card and you wouldn't even know until you got the next statement.... that he didn't deliver.

RayAmerica says

US Sending Nuclear Submarines To South Korea For 1st Time In 40 Years

In a move which is certainly to explode tensions on the peninsula further at a moment things are already on edge, the US is sending nuclear-armed submarines to dock in South Korea for the first time in four decades.

Senior Biden administration officials say the move is part of a broader and "more visible" plan to make clear to Kim Jong Un that Washington is ready to defend Seoul against the increasing nuclear threats from Pyongyang.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-sending-nuclear-submarines-south-korea-1st-time-40-years

That's not it.

It's that we're constantly told how all these documents are sensitive, secret, etc. but some schmoe at the lowest level has access to them.

RayAmerica says

The World At War In 2023

When you allow the “leader” of a country that is part of an “armed conflict” to speak in front of a joint session of Congress just before Christmas you have declared war against the other side. The US is at war with Russia through he Ukraine Proxy. This is Biden’s war.

PeopleUnited says

This is Biden’s war.

I'm gonna disagree. I hate Biden as POTUS outside of a few things, but those likely would have happened anyway after covid and shortages. CHIPS Act for example.

Fact is this is Putin's war. NATO is of no threat to Russia. He put his own population at risk for a small swath of land that he thought would take a week. He's now getting more NATO countries at his border. Turkey is the hurdle but at some point Ukraine will be in the NATO alliance. Putin has cemented that regardless of how much territory they control after this.

Both countries are liars. I think the death toll on either side is massive after a year plus. I'd bet both side have lost 500k plus in combat deaths and results of supply chain and goods to keep people alive on the civilian side. Ukraine is losing female population forever. They're not coming back. Especially young Ukrainians. Russian women are sitting at home with a 70/30 ratio of women to men, most likely old as shit.

War isn't just shooting bullets and bombs. In modern society, even in Russia, I don't see women going to work in factories to support the war. There are different times and I don't think Putin thought out modern society and could just be a dictator. Biden's handlers know this and aren't going to see legit US troop over there. Meanwhile in Russia they're going to lose a young demographic. Many to the US probably.

Putin is destroying his country over what would only need to be a 12-20km corridor to Crimea so they don't have to rely on one way in and out with the bridge. This was totally solvable in the beginning. Something as simple as Ukraine charging a toll for each Russian vehicle would have been exponentially cheaper. Just standard ammo for rifles has probably hit $100m USD and that's probably low.

I don't know. As dumb as Biden is I'd give him a C+ or B-. And I don't like him. Russia would have never attacked if Ukraine could nuke them. This was a mistake of the 90's. Fact is Putin is a dictator. They're resource rich and NO ONE is threatening to attack them. This is Putin war. I think he's old, maybe dying and wants a legacy.

WookieMan says

"Fact is this is Putin's war."

No, you are ignoring the facts. This is Obama's war because...

• It was Obama who overthrew the democratically elected government of the Ukraine in 2014 and installed the current Nazi regime.

• And it was these Nazis who started killing Ukraine's Russian speakers for speaking Russian! <==== Read this again.

• Look: If you start shooting people you cannot blame them for shooting back. It is called self defence.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-war-already-with-up-354000-casualties-likely-drag-us-documents-2023-04-12/

Estimated total deaths including total deaths on both sides, which are likely overestimates of Russian deaths. Are still well under 100,000 one year into the “war”.

Putin built up military on the border of Ukraine for months. Telegraphing the exercise, daring anyone to intervene. When there was no intervention he likely assumed (wrongly) that military occupation could lead to a negotiated settlement. But when Ukraine signaled willingness to negotiate, Biden said no. That is why it is Biden’s war, he didn’t stop the military occupation, and then worse than that he refused to allow peace negotiations. Putin doesn’t deserve more land, but Biden is killing Ukrainians every day by preventing peace talks. Putin may want more land, and was willing to sacrifice to get it. But what does Ukraine have to gain by refusing to negotiate?

$ that’s what Ukraine’s corrupt government gets. War is good for their pockets. They are willing to continue the war because Biden keeps paying them to continue it. That makes this Biden’s war. Russia is not even at war, they are conducting a poorly executed special military operation. If Russia was at war with Ukraine, Kiev would look like Dresden after the Allied bombing, and Zelensky, puppet Ukraine government would have been dead or forced underground on day one.

The_Deplorable says

WookieMan says

"Fact is this is Putin's war."

No, you are ignoring the facts. This is Obama's war because...

• It was Obama who overthrew the democratically elected government of the Ukraine in 2014 and installed the current Nazi regime.

• And it was these Nazis who started killing Ukraine's Russian speakers for speaking Russian! <==== Read this again.

• Look: If you start shooting people you cannot blame them for shooting back. It is called self defence.

Agreed. Also blowing up NS2 pipeline was an act of terror/war by xiden, completely unprovoked. It's his war as well, 100%

If this were a real war, Russia would have ended it within the first two weeks. Kiev would have disappeared from the map and all of Ukraines infrastructure would have been destroyed.

Putin conducted a limited military operation in response to NATO's (i.e., the USA) ongoing expansion in the region in an attempt to strategically encircle Russia. The 'war' was inevitable after the USA/CIA coup of the Ukraine Government in 2014, whose leaders just so happened to be pro-Russian.

Keep this in mind; Zelensky attempted to enter into peace negotiations with Russia early on in the conflict. Biden and the warmongering NeoCons stepped in and ordered Zelensky to end all attempts to end the conflict.

IMO, Russia stands in the way of the psychopaths that are attempting to enslave the world under a despotic, totalitarian, communist government, often referred to as the Great Reset.

RayAmerica says

Russia stands in the way of the psychopaths that are attempting to enslave the world under a despotic, totalitarian, communist government, often referred to as the Great Reset.

The reset can't happen without destroying Russia?

GNL says

The reset can't happen without destroying Russia?

The Great Reset is all about creating a one world government and economic system. It is, by their own definition, global. If Russia, a fiercely independent nation, which has the largest and most advanced nuclear weapons arsenal, refuses to take part in this global government, I'd say they do stand in the way of the Great Reset.

RayAmerica says

GNL says

The reset can't happen without destroying Russia?

The Great Reset is all about creating a one world government and economic system. It is, by their own definition, global. If Russia, a fiercely independent nation, which has the largest and most advanced nuclear weapons arsenal, refuses to take part in this global government, I'd say they do stand in the way of the Great Reset.

That’s a good point. I’m just not sure that Russia is or would refuse. I think there is a better than 50% chance that Putin is friendly with the great reset globalists. There is infighting between different factions of the globalists. Just because they all agree to move toward a new world order doesn’t mean they aren’t jockeying for certain things, territories etc.. I’m not convinced that the UkRaine BS isn’t just a deliberate distraction, a psyop with real casualties to advance the new world order and Putin is simply playing his part as the “villain”, whereas to the Russians Biden is the villain.

That’s why I say both idiots are villains. And we are stuck with those two idiots sitting on the two largest nuclear arsenals. God help us.

The escalation continues. As Ukraine continues to suffer serious defeats, the infusion of NATO/US troops on the ground increases. Also, Biden at one time stated that he would not send Ukraine F-16s, now he's back tracked on that. Also, Biden spokesman recently declared that Crimea belongs to Ukraine, not Russia. Russia will NEVER give up Crimea, so the chances for serious negotiations are very slim. Where will it all end?

Terrible damage - The Russians are now extremely angry with US | Col. Douglas Macgregor (video interview)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brXkfD7e8DU

US Neocons Are Warmongering Around The World To Dominate The Globe | Jeffrey Sachs Speech in Vienna

In this video, watch Professor Jeffrey Sachs speak with Dr. Heinz Gärtner at the International Conference for Peace in Vienna (June 2023). Dr. Sachs' lays out clearly and succinctly how belligerent the foreign policy of the United States is and how a small group of elites keeps dragging the country's diplomacy to the brink of nuclear war—time and again.



Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVMnfNCSGtQ

Biden Says Threat of Putin Using Tactical Nukes Is ‘Real’

The president previously recognized the danger of nuclear war but has done nothing to ease tensions

President Biden warned Monday that the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is “real.”

The president made the comments to donors during a trip to California. “When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” he said, according to Reuters.

“They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real,” Biden added.

Biden has previously recognized that the policy of the US and NATO backing Ukraine against Russia risks nuclear war. In October 2022, he said the chances of “nuclear armageddon” were higher than at any point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

But since warning of nuclear armageddon, Biden has done nothing to ease tensions with Russia and has escalated US involvement in the war, including by giving the green light for European countries to send US-made F-16s to Kyiv.

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/06/20/biden-says-threat-of-putin-using-tactical-nukes-is-real/

June 29, 2023 The American Thinker

Is Nuclear War Inevitable?
By Alexander G. Markovsky

During Napoleon's War of 1812, the Russian officers’ sabers were adorned an inscription, “Do not draw out without need. Do not put it back without glory!”

Whether Putin has drawn out his saber without the need may be debatable, but the geopolitical reality is that he will not put it back without glory, whatever the cost. Putin, who revived Russia, and rebuilt its economy from the ruins of the collapsed Soviet Union, cannot permit his odyssey to end in the country's dissolution.

On the other side of this Ukrainian confrontation is President Biden, who cannot afford the humiliation of another defeat after the disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. He also needs a victory at any cost.

If history is any guide, weak Russia, with its huge territory and abundant natural resources, will become prey for invaders. In the West, Europeans, driven by compulsion, are eager to retaliate for defeats and loss of territories, some centuries-old, others more recent. Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Finland have never accepted borders of the post-Second World War period.

Nor is the West the only threat facing Russia. In the East, Japan dreams of the return of the Sakhalin and Kuril islands. And Russia’s “sworn friend,” China, envisages living space for 1.5 billion Chinese and the acquisition of vast natural resources in the Russian Far East.

The imperative of winning puts no limitation on the modus operandi of the war. After 16 months of hostilities, though the war escalates in scope and intensity, NATO and its European allies maintain martial enthusiasm. Driven by the urge for expansion, NATO sees little risk in continuing fighting. Indeed, this time NATO engineered a perfect arrangement. It contracted the Ukrainian army as a mercenary. NATO directs and finances the war, provides strategic and tactical planning, intelligence, and supplies weapons and materiel while the Ukrainians do the fighting. Hence unlike the previous NATO misadventures, thousands of American and other NATO warriors are not coming home in zinc coffins.

America skillfully exploited Ukrainian leaders’ frantic ambition to make Ukraine a member of NATO, ostensibly to protect Ukraine from Russia. The supplicant exhibited a complete lack of judgment, failing to realize that membership in NATO and protection from Russia were mutually exclusive objectives. Consequently Ukraine finds itself in a peculiar situation; membership in NATO is not forthcoming, the country is getting destroyed, and as long as the Ukrainians are dying, the American and European publics are not overly concerned about the war.

At ease with the arrangement, at the recent gathering at G7, the leaders of the so-called advanced democracies committed to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes. Indeed, prolonging the conflict appears to be a new NATO strategy.

In his famed book, The Art of War, Sun Tzu concluded that “no country benefited from a prolonged war.” This wisdom may not apply to the current conflict. In previous world wars, the winner out-produced the loser. During the Second World War, Americans were losing, on average, six Sherman tanks for every German Tiger tank lost. But at the same time, American industry was manufacturing six Sherman tanks faster than Germans could produce one Tiger. Americans were producing more bombers than Germans were shooting down, which was true for almost every other type of military equipment.

Given that the combined GDP of NATO’s countries exceeds the Russians’ by twenty-fold, Russia cannot win a war of attrition against Europe and the United States in the long run. The folly of this strategy, nevertheless, is that if the economic assumptions prove correct, it will render nuclear confrontation almost inevitable. The recent rhetoric seems to suggest that NATO military planners accept this possibility, believing that Europe is safe under the American nuclear umbrella. Any attack on Europe would invite American nuclear retaliation. Therefore, even if Russians resolve to use a nuclear weapon, they will deploy it on Ukraine.

There is a lot of wishful thinking in this scenario. First, geography prevents Russians from using nuclear weapons in Ukraine because it is too close to Russia and Belarus to evade radioactive peril.

Second, Western leaders may rely too much on the credibility of the so-called massive retaliation doctrine designed to prevent the invasion of Europe by conventional Soviet forces during the Cold War era. The current scenario is entirely different. The danger is not from the Russian conventional forces but the Russian first-strike nuclear capabilities. The modern weapon is so colossally destructive that given the high density of the European population, one nuclear strike could easily wipe out a hundred million people and turn the continent into a desert. The issue is whether America put itself at risk of monumental destruction on behalf of already devastated Europe. At the heart of the problem is the inherent uncertainty of the nuclear guarantee.

The issue was first raised in January 1967 during a meeting between Henry Kissinger and Konrad Adenauer. Adenauer, then the first Chancellor of the Republic of Germany and a highly regarded politician, asked Kissinger, “Do you think that I still believe you will protect us unconditionally?”

Those who are old enough but do not suffer historical amnesia must remember that in the past, America, despite the rhetoric, abandoned Hungary when the Red Army ravaged Budapest in 1956, abandoned Germany when the Soviets built the Berlin Wall in 1961, and abandoned Czechoslovakia when the Red Army invaded the country in 1968. In all those instances, America stood by helplessly, watching the carnage, all full of bluster and no action.

Although it may sound cynical, America acted in its national interests when it decided that those countries were not worth the risk of nuclear destruction. So, what has changed now? The countries are the same, but the risk is even greater. What makes the Europeans think that the outcome would be different?

This leads us to another relevant issue raised by Adenauer “Are any leaders still able to conduct a genuine long-range policy? Is true leadership still possible today?”

Although the question was raised about 60 years ago, it has acute relevance today. The current crop of Western leaders is not made of the same stuff as Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, or Donald Trump. They are not visionary; they are not even managerial types. Some of them are simply illiterate when it comes to history and geography. They cannot extrapolate from lessons of the past. Their obsession swept aside the previous safeguards, allowing for a constantly elevating level of conflict without regard for respective national interests and survival. They pushed Europe into the war that was neither necessary nor wise.

No one knows the limits of Russian endurance, but when Moscow starts losing the war, it will be forced to employ nuclear weapons. On the other hand, if Ukraine starts losing the war, some hardheads in Washington are already considering providing Ukraine with nukes as a deterrent. Either way, incompetent leaders are pushing the world toward unparalleled catastrophe.

Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank that examines national security, energy, risk analysis, and other public policy issues. He is the author of Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It. Mr. Markovsky is the owner and CEO of Litwin Management Services, LLC. He can be reached at alex.g.markovsky@gmail.com

RayAmerica says

America acted in its national interests when it decided that those countries were not worth the risk of nuclear destruction.

France and Britain have nukes as well.

This just keeps escalating with no end in sight and Ukraine has virtually no chance whatsoever to win.

Report: Joe Biden to Supply Ukraine with Controversial Cluster Bombs

President Joe Biden is expected to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs, which much of the world has vowed not to use due to their long-term effects on civilians.

A senior Biden administration official told the New York Times that the United States will provide Ukraine with cluster munitions after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky pushed for America to provide the country with the controversial and widely-banned weapon.

Cluster munitions are a category of rockets, bombs, missiles, and artillery projectiles that break apart in the air and blanket a large area. The munitions often fail and can devastate civilians.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/07/06/report-joe-biden-to-supply-ukraine-with-controversial-cluster-bombs/