US Still Trying to Prolong the Ukraine War...

[The Barbarian]

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has stalled, and Vladimir Putin is once again blustering as if Russia were a first-rate power. The problem, paradoxically, is that it is not. The damage his country has sustained throughout the course of the Ukraine war has been substantial. Russia has lost 2,200 of its 3,500 tanks in Ukraine, and 315,000 out of 360,000 troops, forcing them to launch recruitment campaigns and raid the prison system. And even if, on full war-footing, it currently looks like it could force Ukraine into accepting that large swaths of its territory will remain under occupation for the foreseeable future, Russia itself has been substantially weakened.

Over time, a weakened Russia will likely be a harbinger of chaos across its periphery. Empires since antiquity have provided a solution to chaos. But empires, as they collapse, leave chaos in their wake. History has provided no solution to this conundrum.

The pattern is usually the same. An imperial hegemon cobbles together a domain of many ethnic groups, forcing them to lay down their arms against each other. An empire may last hundreds of years and yet build nothing except a tenuous inter-ethnic truce. This has been the story of the Russian Empire and its shadow zones in the Caucasus, the Balkans, stretches of Central and Eastern Europe, not to mention stretches of Siberia and the Far East. But as the hegemon weakens, fights for control of territory between one group and another commence.

The cost of Russia's collapsing empire

Chaos is spreading across Eurasia

unherd.com

 

[The Barbarian]

The Poles and Czechs know the Russians better than you or I. The Swedes and Finns know them pretty well, too. They all think Russia would invade them.

In fact, the Russians have invaded all of them.

 

[The Barbarian]

Why Putin's killing off tens of thousands of young Russian men is an especially bad thing for Russia:

https://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers/IP162.html

 

[John G.]

Why don't you tell us why Western mass media's brainwashing of millions is especially bad?

 

[The Barbarian]

Why don't you tell us why Western mass media's brainwashing of millions is especially bad?

You mean Fox News, MSNBC, Newsweek, Wall Steet Journal, etc? Seems to me that they could do a better job of brainwashing if they all agreed with one another. It's not like your favorite country were Putin decides what news will be. Here, there's a lot of difference, depending on which MSM outlet you prefer, This is one sign of a healthy society, where "the media" doesn't have to march in lockstep.

 

[lifepsyop]

I notice that Ukraine hasn't had to empty its prisons to put enough troops on the ground.

Yea, Ukrainian authorities just have to drag people out of their homes, beat them, and throw them in vans to get them to fight.

A small price to pay so American liberals can feel good about themselves.

 

[lifepsyop]

Perhaps they don't teach people in Russia what "religious" means.

If it's an ideology that you believe is worth the death and spilled blood of millions, then it is effectively your religion. "Sacred Liberal Democracy" ... God knows I'm thankful it's not mine.

Ronald Reagan's take on it. Keep in mind, Putin wouldn't be in the mess he's in, if he just didn't invade independent nations,

"President Zelenskyy has consolidated all TV platforms in Ukraine into one state broadcast and restricted political rivals."

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/08/1110577439/zelenskyy-has-consolidated-ukraines-tv-outlets-and-dissolved-rival-political-par

Sounds like the Ukrainian people are under occupation to me. Ironically, the "Sacred Democracy" people such as yourself do not care.

 

[The Barbarian]

If it's an ideology that you believe is worth the death and spilled blood of millions

That's Putin's religion. . Keep in mind, Putin wouldn't be in the mess he's in, if he just didn't invade independent nations,

President Zelenskyy has consolidated all TV platforms in Ukraine into one state broadcast and restricted political rivals.

So you think Putin is merely jealous? Why would he throw away most of his tanks and 60,000 Russian lives for that?

Sounds like the Ukrainian people are under occupation to me.

Some of them. But the Ukrainians are working on that problem.

Ironically, the "Sacred Democracy" people such as yourself do not care.

I don't think calling names is going to help you much at this point. I realize you've got a tough assignment here, but you're making it harder for yourself.