Colors of Blue and Gold

[Richard Smith]

Technically, yes we are at war with Russia but not directly. But I agree, Russia isn't a threat to us. It's not at all clear to me why we are waging perpetual war against them. And it's creating a new generation of Russians that resent the West. Putin won't live forever but we will be living with the consequences of this war for decades.

Yes, the old US war hawks never got their Cold War opportunity to fight Russia.  Somehow Russia is supposed to be our enemy.  The former general on Fox News and numerous establishment politicians keep saying it is a good return on our investment to fund a war in Ukraine in which thousands on both sides are dying.  That is as callous a statement as I've ever heard.  How is the death of all those people in our national interest?  And how is it going?  The Ukranian defense minister was just fired.  That is like firing your head coach in midseason.  Not a sign that things are going well.  And the reason had something to do with "corruption."  Imagine the money being stolen by the corrupt Ukranian oligarchs.  There is no oversight.  But we will never know where all the money is going because the US Government refuses to provide any information.  Ukraine is so corrupt that even Dirty Hunter made millions there.  Where is the effort to find a resolution?  There is none.  Old Joe is napping at the beach again.

[Jon Banks]

Ukraine's summer offensive has been a disaster

[Jon Banks]

The honeymoon period is over for President Zelensky:

Poll: Most Ukrainians consider president directly responsible for corruption in government

According to a recent poll published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, 78% of surveyed Ukrainians believe that the president bears direct responsibility for corruption in the government and regional administrations. Only 18% of respondents disagreed with this statement.

Older Ukrainians seem more demanding of the head of state than the young people, reads the report. The share of respondents who think the president is responsible for corruption ranges from 70% to 81% among people aged 18-29 and those over 60, respectively.

There are no other significant differences in answers depending on the participants’ financial situation or region of residence, the Foundation wrote.

https://kyivindependent.com/poll-most-ukrainians-consider-president-directly-responsible-for-corruption-in-government/

[Richard Smith]

"Europe" is checking out while Old Joe advocates for endless war with no solutions.

"Poland's prime minister said his country is no longer sending arms to Ukraine, a comment that appeared aimed at pressuring Kyiv and put Poland's status as a major source of military equipment in doubt as a trade dispute between the neighboring states escalates."

[Richard Smith]

The only good news in a long time is that General Milley is retiring.  He likely sees the writing on the wall with the upcoming election.  The rats are leaving the sinking ship.  At a minimum he committed treason by contacting China without proper authorization following Jan. 6.  At worst he is a war criminal.  He also pitched the idea of invading or attacking Iran to Trump.  Fortunately, Trump was the one modern American president who stood up to the military warmongers.  Good riddance to him.  As the war mongers leave, perhaps there will be more emphasis on bringing the endless war in Ukraine to an end rather than just funding it without any specified plan or objective. 

[Jon Banks]

The only good news in a long time is that General Milley is retiring.  He likely sees the writing on the wall with the upcoming election.  The rats are leaving the sinking ship.  At a minimum he committed treason by contacting China without proper authorization following Jan. 6.  At worst he is a war criminal.  He also pitched the idea of invading or attacking Iran to Trump.  Fortunately, Trump was the one modern American president who stood up to the military warmongers.  Good riddance to him.  As the war mongers leave, perhaps there will be more emphasis on bringing the endless war in Ukraine to an end rather than just funding it without any specified plan or objective.

Slovakia just elected a leader who opposes more aid to Ukraine. Poland is talking about slowing or stopping aid to Ukraine due to their domestic political opposition. Ukraine aid was stripped from the recent US budget passed in Congress.

Time isn't on Ukraine's side. They can't count on financial support from Western countries long-term. They will have to find some way to make peace or freeze the conflict.

[Joe Elliott]

Slovakia just elected a leader who opposes more aid to Ukraine. Poland is talking about slowing or stopping aid to Ukraine due to their domestic political opposition. Ukraine aid was stripped from the recent US budget passed in Congress.

Time isn't on Ukraine's side. They can't count on financial support from Western countries long-term. They will have to find some way to make peace or freeze the conflict.

Find some way to end the conflict. Like Poland should have found some way to end the conflict when Germany and Russia invaded in 1939. Not really practicable advice when an enemy just wants to wipe you our and occupy you.

What is practicable is more spending that matches and more than matches Russia's spending in this war. This is easily achievable. Russia's economy strength is a joke. And this prevents Russia from resuming its western drive, this time through the Baltic States. And discourages China from attacking Taiwan. And every dollar spent on Ukraine is much more efficiently used than the money we spend on our military.

Need to cut government expenses? Fine. Cut our spending on the U. S. Military. And keep up the spending on Ukraine. Those dollars are much more effectively spent.

Should Ukraine continue to suffer? That decision should be left to the Ukrainians, and not any poster on this forum who pretends to care about them but don't. If they want to quit, if they want to try their luck living under the Russians, i won't want to force them to do otherwise. But as long as they want to fight, we should support them.

But that decision needs to be made by the Ukrainians. Not by us because some people claim it would be more humane for them to give up.