July 20, 2024

"I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war...

"... that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity."

Wrote Donald Trump last evening (on Truth Social).

Zelenskyy, we're told, called Trump to congratulate him for his nomination, to "condemn[] the heinous assassination attempt," and to "remark[] about the American people coming together in the spirit of Unity."

The NYT report about the phone call says that it came "amid mounting concern in Kyiv that a second Trump administration would spell the end of American support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia." And:
It was the first call between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump since the former American president left office in 2020. Although the Ukrainian authorities have tried to remain neutral in the U.S. presidential campaign, officials have started building bridges with Mr. Trump’s camp, hoping to shape his views on Ukraine....

I don't understand the "although." How is reconnecting with Trump inconsistent with remaining neutral? The next sentence is: 

The Republican Party’s platform does not include the word Ukraine, referring only to a broad goal of restoring “peace in Europe.”

I would take that to mean  Zelensky/Zelenskyy/Zelenskiy prefers having Biden as President, so wouldn't talking to Trump enhance the appearance of neutrality?

74 comments:

Dave Begley said...

I saw what you did there Ann/Anne. Wicked.

exhelodrvr1 said...

I expect Trump would work to limit the length of time that we provide aid, but would also push the Europeans much harder, and would lift the restrictions that the Biden admin has placed on US weapons that are given to Ukraine.

MadTownGuy said...

"Zelenskyy, we're told, called Trump to congratulate him for his nomination, to "condemn[] the heinous assassination attempt," and to "remark[] about the American people coming together in the spirit of Unity."

Zelenskyy sounds rather obsequious. I also doubt he's exercising cruel neutrality.

Temujin said...

"amid mounting concern in Kyiv that a second Trump administration would spell the end of American support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia."

True. It would end support for the war, and massively increase the push for peace, something the Biden team threw out 2 years ago and hundreds of thousands of people ago.

Zelensky/Zelenskyy/Zelenskiy is doing what I'm even seeing a few members of the press doing. Not being nice, but stopping being nasty to Donald Trump in their reports. After all, you don't really know who's going to be President in a few months.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity."

Props for the parallelism.

rhhardin said...

Trump might figure out a deal that works.

imTay said...

You know what would have made Europe a hell of a lot more peaceful right now, it's something that Joe Biden did that Trump would never have done, Joe Biden, in 2021, sent Ukraine a letter promising them quick entry into NATO, the single action which did the most to provoke this war.

"would lift the restrictions that the Biden admin has placed on US weapons that are given to Ukraine."

WW3, bring it on! What would we do if Russia gave weapons to the cartels and gave them permission to attack the US with them, maybe gave drug runners the firepower to take on the Coast Guard? This is a border dispute that is none of our business. If you want to fight for Ukraine, they are accepting volunteers, and they don't have too many age restrictions, either.

I think that Putin might very well have told Biden's handlers, "go ahead, see what weapons we give the Houtis in response."

Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of the story, the CIA began to assist mujahedeen in the year 1980, that is, after the invasion of the Soviet army against Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the truth that remained secret until today is quite different: it was on July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed his first order on the secret assistance to Kabul’s pro-Soviet regime opponents. That day I wrote a memorandum to the President in which I told him that that assistance would cause the Soviet intervention (…) we did not force the Russian intervention, we just, conscientiously, increased the intervention possibilities.

NO: When the Soviets justified their intervention by affirming they were fighting against a secret American interference nobody believed them, though they were telling the truth. Don’t you regret it?

B: Regret what?


But this war was "unprovoked."

Kate said...

"I expect Trump would work to limit the length of time that we provide aid, but would also push the Europeans much harder, and would lift the restrictions that the Biden admin has placed on US weapons that are given to Ukraine."

This in no way describes what "end the war" means. It certainly isn't a plan for ending the war within 24 hrs.

Earnest Prole said...

Sounds like a Deep State Logan Act sting.

Leland said...

In related news, Germany is cutting aid to Ukraine by half. Recall all the claims that Trump was trying to end NATO simply because he demanded the other countries pay their agreed share?

Bob Boyd said...

Why would Zelensky prefer Biden? Look what the Biden Administration has done to his country and his people. They have provoked this war. They openly say it's a cheap way to bleed Russia because only Ukrainians are dying. They have deliberately stymied all efforts at peace talks, yet they won't commit to a decisive course. They have made Zelensky and his country into their puppet. Why would he want all that to continue? He never wanted a war with Russia in the first place. Look at what he ran for election on in the first place.

Rusty said...

I hope he can pull it off.

Sally327 said...

Ukraine has its own national interests and will pursue those as it sees fit. If it suited those interests to appear not neutral then Ukraine would do that. Ukraine couldn't care less about the American election except to the extent that it has to care because the result may or may not serve Ukraine's own interests. I'm sure it's staying neutral in Uruguay's upcoming general election, too. Not because the result there matters to Ukraine but because it doesn't.

n.n said...

Here's to peace after noble piece and [ethnic] Spring with emoluments.

traditionalguy said...

Pow, Bam, Thwok… the man whom the Deep State thought would be dead by today has survived and gone on the attack.

Oops, there goes the 240 billion dollars stream that was used in part for kick backs to fund George Soros’ slush fund meant to pay for destroying Nationstates.

And meanwhile the entire Dem brain trust is otherwise occupied dealing with the nasty Joe Biden’s refusal to give back the Presidency they stole for him.

OK. This proves Devine miracles still happen.

Jersey Fled said...

Let’s not forget Ukraine has the goods on Biden due to Hunter’s Burisma episode. You think they don’t have the receipts?

No such hooks on Trump.

Beaver7216 said...

After the bizarre impeachment attempt over a phone call, perhaps Trump should not talk with Zelenskyy.
It would be good to get back to the Obama Doctrine in regard to Ukraine. I don't understand how Democrats so quickly transitioned from no aid to UKR to all these UKR flags and wholehearted support. Could graft be part of the reason?
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-obama-doctrine-and-ukraine/
Aid to Ukraine:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1303432/total-bilateral-aid-to-ukraine/

Heartless Aztec said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heartless Aztec said...

Once again - with the election of DJT - proof that karma is both circular and linear at the same time.
Circular in that Trump's impeachment over a phone call eventually brought to light kickbacks, money laundering and out right theft of American dollars by a wide range of nefarious elected and appointed American officials and their Ukrainian counterparts. And now on a linear down the road of time Trump can make that karma call to Ukraine again. Schaden-frisson.

dbp said...

Maybe the guy who wrote a book on deal making, can work-out a deal between Ukraine and Russia? It would help both of those countries and us.

Steve said...

I wonder if Trump will have an endgame...a strategy for, if not victory, closure. He has said he wants people to stop dying. Biden's strategy seems to be open the money pipeline and maybe the Ukrainians can win it one day.

In the absence of total victory and abject capitulation by either Russia or Ukraine there is going to be a negotiated settlement. Biden seems disinterested in ending the war. His only familiarity with ending wars is capitulation and shameful withdrawal.

TreeJoe said...

Is there not a single word in that article about Trump's impeachment over a conversation with Zelensky where he tied together military aid to Ukraine (pre-war) to investigation of Hunter Biden/Joe Biden's dealings in Ukraine?

Personally I've never seen an issue with what Trump said on that call. I get the optics were terrible, but the original bad optics were a former Vice President and long-term chair of foreign relations committee having his son sit on the board of Burisma at the center of corruption, among other terrible choices Hunter and Joe took together. Was Trump supposed to ignore that when dealing with newly elected Zelensky? He could've handled it better OPTICALLY, but the act itself was not bad.

Anyway, shocking that it hasn't come up more.

tolkein said...

Very sensible of Zelensky.
He could have taken the ride out of Kiev (I'm too old to keep changing the names of cities I know. It'll always be Bombay and Calcutta to me)but asked Biden for ammunition instead. A real hero to me.
I hate the Russian invasion, but can't see them being driven out (as I wish) without boots on the ground, and NATO won't do that. Ukraine has a better chance of a better deal with Trump than Biden.

RCOCEAN II said...

First, you misspelt Zelenskyy. The correct spelling is Zelenskyyyyyy.

Second, its nice that our puppet in Kiev, that we've given hundreds of billions of dollars to, incuding money to pay UKrainian pensions and Government salaries, is happy Trump is safe and approves of his nomination.

Third, I keep wondering what the hell any of this has to do with the defense of the USA or even our national interest, but then realize its all just to give warhawks a foreign war they can obsess over, and a foreign enemy (its Hitler all over again!) they can hate.

Giddy minds and foreign quarrels.

Achilles said...

Earnest Prole said...

Sounds like a Deep State Logan Act sting.

Exactly.

I wonder what the ramifications for officially becoming the nominee are with respect to "Diplomacy on behalf of the United States."

This preempts the hot war with Russia.

If there is any pretense I would expect the Regime to arrest Trump for even mentioning or thinking about talking to Russia.

It is "safe" to talk to Zelensky because he is a Regime "ally."

I wonder if Modi is still considered an Ally.

Rosalyn C. said...

I agree. It’s common sense for Zelensky to call Trump. We know Trump likes common sense.
Failing to congratulate Trump on his nomination, not to mention surviving an assassination attempt, would be the opposite of neutrality.

Rosalyn C. said...

Zelenskyy. Or Зеленський in Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet according to perplexity ai

minnesota farm guy said...

I have to assume that Zelensky is not stupid and he knows that the longer this war goes on the more likely the Ukraine is to cease existing as an independent entity. Sieges tend to be numbers games and the numbers are in the Russians favor. I had anticipated that the Russians would achieve a breakout this summer. Since they have not as yet, I have to assume that the Russians are in worse shape than I imagined thus may be at the stage where they will be open to negotiations. I doubt that the Russians will be willing to give up their gains, but from the Ukraine's point of view it's is a hell of a lot better to take what remains, stop the destruction and get some solid guarantees from the West than keep the killing going to secure the mostly Russian speaking areas that are now occupied.

Reddington said...

Zelenskyy spells it with two y’s. Why is the NYT misnaming someone?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“and would lift the restrictions that the Biden admin has placed on US weapons that are given to Ukraine.”

The only intelligent thing Biden’s handlers have done and you expect Trump to reverse it? Not happening. Trump thinks war is stupid and understands that this one only rolls on to provide graft for the Democrats and their Ukrainian counterparts.

Dave Begley said...

What is Vindeman doing these days? Why isn't he over in Ukraine fighting the Russians?

Narayanan said...

Trump might figure out a deal that works.
==============
Trump knows deal is not won by rubbing Party B faces in feces

which is not how D and neocon look at world

Narayanan said...

asking Blogger Beaver7216 == any idea what does 'bilateral' mean ?

Aid to Ukraine:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1303432/total-bilateral-aid-to-ukraine/

Narayanan said...

do we know motive for

wanting ceasefire in Gaza
not wanting ceasefire in Ukraine

minnesota farm guy said...

@Narayan My quick response to your question is that Biden/Obama are stooges for Iran and not for Russia. I don't understand why, because Iran is an irrational, dangerous enemy.( The extreme Muslim faith makes it doubly dangerous.) Generally speaking we can figure out how to deal with Putin partly because we don't have to deal with warped Muslim beliefs and partly because he reacts like many Russians have in the past.

minnesota farm guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
minnesota farm guy said...

@Narayan I guess I did not answer about a Ukraine ceasefire. My guess is, that like so many military operations pushed by the DC politicos, the US is sure that it can manage the unmanageable of war - until it turns around and bites them on the ass. There is no doubt that Trump will try to bring both parties to the table with both threats and promises. Until then the idiots in DC will continue to be happy to kill Ukrainians to prove how brave and manly those idiots are.

minnesota farm guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
imTay said...

Here are some interesting photos of Afghanistan before the US decided to use the country as a pawn and armed the Taliban and trained them in how to take over a country. Which we did *before* the Soviet invasion, then look at Afghanistan now that the Taliban we empowered has taken over the country for good. Those beautiful women smiling in dresses for the cameras? Victims now of US foreign policy, same as those grieving for sons and husband and uncles and cousins in Ukraine.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/11/incredible-scenes-of-womens-liberation-in-1970s-afghanistan/

Candide said...

Let the deal-makings begin!

Trump used the phrase "President Zelenskyy" two times. This may be important because Kiev canceled Presidential elections earlier this year and Moscow made a very big deal about subsequent Zelenskyy's illegitimacy as President. Moscow doesn't recognize Zelenskyy as legitimate President of Ukraine since May of this year. That was repeatedly stated by Putin and other Russian government officials, so it can't be easily dismissed.

Therefore, the first step in any negotiations will be to make Moscow recognize Zelenskyy as the President of Ukraine. Perhaps Trump already started working on that by pointedly repeating the phrase "President Zelenskyy", thus sending a clear signal to Putin.

So at this point Moscow holds an initial advantage because in order to make Putin eat his statements about "Zelenskyy's illegitimacy" Trump would have to make a significant concession from the get-go.

Dr Weevil said...

The idea that Zelenskyy is a less legitimate president than Putin is idiotic.

Zelenskyy did not cancel elections, he postponed them, as he was required to do by the Ukrainian constitution. Similarly, the British government was required to have an election by 1940, but it was postponed until 1945 because there was a war on. Unlike Ukraine, Britain was not 15-20% occupied by the Germans, as Ukraine is: the Channel Islands, which were occupied, are something like 1/3 of 1% of Britain in population. And absolutely no one thinks Churchill was a dictator.

Putin, on the other hand, was term-limited out in 2008 after two 4-year terms plus the 3 months he had previously served after Yeltsin resigned. He then had the presidential term increased to 6 years, vastly increased the powers of the prime minister, and his buddy Medvedev served as puppet president for one term, with Putin as prime minister making all the decisions - just as Lurleen Wallace was 'governor' of Alabama when her husband George was term-limited out.

I have been unable to find any evidence that the two-term constitutional limit said anything about consecutive terms. Nevertheless, Putin ran again in 2012 and 2018 and served two more terms, ending a few months ago, and then had the constitution changed by referendum to say that there was still a two-term limit, but previous terms (all four of them!) didn't count, so now he's in his fifth term, and can serve (=rule) until 2036, assuming he lives that long.

Just as Yasser Arafat was elected to one 5-year term and served (=ruled) 18 before he died, Putin is now in the fifth of his two legally-permitted terms.

Dr Weevil said...

The Taliban was founded in 1994, and armed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, not the US. imTay inway ermontVay thinks (if you can call it 'thinking') not only that the US armed them, but did so before the Soviet invasion in 1979. The US in fact armed the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban.

Apparently he doesn't know the difference between the Mujahideen and the Taliban, and has already forgotten what I told him a couple of days ago, that Afghanistan's problems did not start with the Soviet invasion in 1979, but with the pro-Soviet Communist coup d'etat the previous year, which aroused huge resistance from the population, or perhaps with the 1973 coup by Mohammed Daoud, who overthrew the last king, his first cousin, and was a liberalizing anti-communist autocrat. The communists murdered him in their 1978 coup.

As usual, dim-bulb 'imTay' blames the US for everything bad in the world and carefully ignores all complicating factors.

Beaver7216 said...

Narayanan, Not sure if you are implying what I think you are implying. But I missed that "bilateral" aid implication. Must be baksheesh going out and returning. Good catch.

YoungHegelian said...

Trump probably will end the Russo-Ukrainian war, but not in a week and not by negotiation.

He will end it by signaling to the petroleum markets that the US is once again gearing up to produce oil and natural gas like it did under his administration, and that will send the price of oil and natural gas spiraling down.

The fact that Biden's policies sent the price of oil up to $100 a barrel is what allowed both Russia and Iran to afford to start causing mischief. When oil is down to $45-50 a barrel, they simply cannot afford to wage war, and will have to negotiate peace.

RCOCEAN II said...

Zelensky is an ENGLISH Translation of his name. We don't use the Russian alphabet. We also anglicize names and places. There is no "YY" in English. Its meaningless. Y= the ee sound.

And in English Kiev has been Kiev for 500 years. If we doing this crap, why don't we start calling Germany "Deutchland"? And start printing chinese names using their Chinese characters?

Rusty said...

Dave Begley said...
"What is Vindeman doing these days? Why isn't he over in Ukraine fighting the Russians?"
He and his brother have an ad on YouTube shilling for Biden.

The Godfather said...

I have been and am a supporter of US/NATO aid to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression.

US/NATO was created to oppose a Soviet attack on free Europe. Do you remember the "Fulda Gap"? The place in Germany where Soviet armored columns might break through and conquer western Europe? The Soviet Union is no more. A US businessman I know visited Fulda a few years before the Ukraine attack, and his German client opened his desk and pulled out his Colt .45, saying This is now the defense of the Fulda Gap. It was a joke.

Even without Ukraine being a member of NATO, NATO has succeeded in blocking a Russian invasion of the outskirts of western Europe. Kiev is a LONG WAY from Fulda. That's great!

But now or soon ought to be the time to make peace. Biden's strategy is to fight to the death of the last Ukrainian. I don't see that as a winning strategy. I don't expect Trump to announce in advance the terms on which he would settle the war. He may not even know now what acceptable terms might be. I hope he isn't prepared to give away too much to the Russians. Based on his record, I wouldn't expect that.

Dr Weevil said...

Zelensky is NOT a "translation" of the man's name, and it's not even a transliteration, which is in fact Zelenskyy. Wikipedia tells me that the translation of his name is "Green". Is he a distant cousin of Mean Joe Green and Giuseppe Verdi? No, but he has (in effect) the same last name.

And I've asked before: if you're going to insist on spelling it 'Kiev', would you also go to Izmir and tell the local Turks "The correct name of the city is 'Smyrna'"? It was called Smyrna a lot longer than Kyiv was Kiev, but the Turks won't be very hospitable if you insist on calling it Smyrna now. They would think you were trying hard to be an asshole, and they would be correct.

Achilles said...

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“and would lift the restrictions that the Biden admin has placed on US weapons that are given to Ukraine.”

The only intelligent thing Biden’s handlers have done and you expect Trump to reverse it? Not happening. Trump thinks war is stupid and understands that this one only rolls on to provide graft for the Democrats and their Ukrainian counterparts.

It also gives Biden's handlers the opportunity to call their domestic political opponents traitors.

This is a key feature.

Achilles said...

Dr Weevil said...

The idea that Zelenskyy is a less legitimate president than Putin is idiotic.

I agree. Their legitimacy is pretty much equal.

Zelenskyy did not cancel elections, he postponed them, as he was required to do by the Ukrainian constitution.

Yeah. Required. Postponed. Cope.

Dr Weevil said...

The only effect of the restrictions Biden has put on US weapons in Ukraine is to increase the number of Ukrainian civilians slaughtered by Russian bombs, missiles, and drones. The Russians can park their 4-engine bombers right out in the open at the Engels airfield in easy range of Ukrainian missiles, but the Ukrainians aren't allowed to strike them. This is both evil and stupid. Hundreds of civilians are dying because of Biden's (or more likely Jake Sullivan's) evil, stupid policy. Mike Johnson has already said at least twice that it's a stupid policy, so I wouldn't assume that Trump is going to keep it.

Dr Weevil said...

Achilles is too stupid to even address my Churchill parallel, or to check whether the Ukrainian constitution in fact forbids elections in wartime. Why is that? Is he some kind of trollish propagandist who refuses to argue in good faith? All signs point to yes.

M Jordan said...

I sometimes wonder if Zelenskyy hates Biden and the neocons and everything he did in concert with them was survival only. Maybe he knows Trump is the only way out of this hellhole.

Drago said...

Weevil: "And I've asked before: if you're going to insist on spelling it 'Kiev', would you also go to Izmir and tell the local Turks "The correct name of the city is 'Smyrna'"? It was called Smyrna a lot longer than Kyiv was Kiev, but the Turks won't be very hospitable if you insist on calling it Smyrna now. They would think you were trying hard to be an asshole, and they would be correct."

Maybe it should be a war crime. Perhaps a strongly worded letter to the ICC is in order.

Kirk Parker said...

Many of us have seen Master and Commander and heard the jokes about weevil infested bread; at least among Americans far fewer of us have actually experienced the nauseatingly awful taste that the weevils and their leavings impart to such bread.

In that light I would like to commend Dr. Weevil for his very apt choice of a screen name.


Dr Weevil said...

M. Jordan:
I've been wondering for years why people seem to assume that evil corrupt Ukrainians tempted poor innocent Hunter Biden into taking bribes. It's always seemed much likelier that Ukrainians desperate for weapons to protect themselves were lured into paying bribes by the utterly corrupt Biden family, with the promise it would help convince the Vice Presdient to convince the President to provide weapons. Of course, bribery takes two, but usually one of the two is the more culpable - the one who first proposed giving or taking the bribe. I suspect that was not Burisma.

Drago:
Why don't you answer the question? Would you insist on calling Izmir 'Smyrna'? Or Taiwan 'Formosa'? Or Sri Lanka 'Ceylon'?

Kirk Parker:
I could commend you for having the same first name as the biggest asshole I've ever known in real life, someone I would be far better off (financially and in every other way) if I'd never met. But that would sinking to your level. I can't help noticing you have no answer to any of the arguments I've provided, just stupid abuse.

Drago said...

Weevil: "Drago:
Why don't you answer the question? Would you insist on calling Izmir 'Smyrna'? Or Taiwan 'Formosa'? Or Sri Lanka 'Ceylon'?"

Lighten up Francis.

I just might, depending on my mood and what I was hearing from the parties opposite...as I have spent time in uniform in 2 of those 3 locations and was not always impressed by the "diplomacy" offered up by the other team.

Drago said...

But hey, thats just my point of view from my military experience.

Tell us about your military experience Weevil. Or perhaps close family members that have served. I have 6, with 2 still active.

Dr Weevil said...

Anonymous online guy wants to compare his and his relatives' supposed military experience with mine and my relatives' - hahahaha! And if I have 7 family members, with 3 still active, will you suddenly remember that your forgot two, so your total is 8 and 4? You're an anonymous guy on the internet, whose honesty in arguing leaves something to be desired. There is no reason in the world why I should believe anything you say about your supposed military service, or why you should believe anything I say about mine.

You want to convince me of anything, use arguments. Too bad you're not very good at that.

Drago said...

Dr Weevil: "Anonymous online guy wants to compare his and his relatives' supposed military experience with mine and my relatives' - hahahaha!"

I'm only anonymous to you. I'm completely un-anonymous to the blog meisters and multiple other blog contributors.

But I answered your question directly in any event. That's just the kind of guy I am.

But its clear from your response that you have nothing to offer in the personal experience realm...which is not uncommon with you Max Boot types. We seen it a thousand times before.

Dr Weevil said...

I'm a Max Boot type? Only a moron could possibly think that. I have never had any use whatsoever for Max Boot - or his traitor wife. I don't believe I've ever read anything he's written, unless someone like Ann quoted it, and I certainly never went looking for it. Why do you lie?

The fact is that you didn't answer my question "directly", you waffled, like a goddamned weasel.

Drago said...

Weevil: "The fact is that you didn't answer my question "directly", you waffled, like a goddamned weasel."

LOL

Your QsubMB Quotient is rising by the post!

I will give as good as I and my nation get from other nations reps. Period. If the possibility that I might have offered up an undiplomatic response a time or two to these Sacred Other Nations reps causes you to soil yourself and send you into a sputtering rage....well. So much the better.

You wont be satisfied until there is full blown combat ops between US (and small select NATO contingents) against the russkis and you're just flailing about.

Its boring really.

Kirk Parker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirk Parker said...

Weevil:

Most of us make do, in real life, with the names our parents bestowed on us, for better or worse.


But choosing a non de plume is an entirely different matter, and given your sentiments expressed here I thought I should pay attention to the fact that you chose a name that -- regardless of what things are like from the weevil's point of view -- from ours denotes a creature who is destructive of that which sustains human life.

Dr Weevil said...

If I knew what a 'QsubMB Quotient' was, I might be insulted. DuckDuckGo doesn't know either. And anyone who sees "sputtering rage" in anything I've written is a moron. Why does Drago lie so shamelessly?

It is the fact that I very much would like to avoid combat between US and Russian forces that convinces me that we should arm Ukraine so they can defend themselves without foreign troops. They've never asked for troops, only weapons and ammunition, and Biden has made a point of not supplying those, or putting stupid restrictions on their use, to make it as difficult as possible for them to defend themselves. Russian TV commentators think they're already in World War III, and are salivating over the possibility of crushing Ukraine, drafting all the Ukrainians who submit (after killing a few million), then invading Poland, the Baltics, Finland, Georgia, Moldova, and Germany. I don't think they can defeat Ukraine even if we continue to starve them of arms and ammunition, but it would be a lot easier to avoid if we armed them for victory, not just stalemate. It would also save the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, and soldiers on both sides, since a quick victory will cost less than a long grind.

Dr Weevil said...

Kirk Parker:
I shouldn't have to explain this, but my nom de plume is not 'Weevil', it's 'Dr. Weevil' and it's (duh!) a pun on Dr. Evil. (I'm bald.) And you're still an asshole.

Drago said...

Weevil: "If I knew what a 'QsubMB Quotient' was, I might be insulted"

True.

Weevil: "Russian TV commentators think they're already in World War III, and are salivating over the possibility of crushing Ukraine, drafting all the Ukrainians who submit (after killing a few million), then invading Poland, the Baltics, Finland, Georgia, Moldova, and Germany."

LOL

What would you say your current altitude is?

Because its long past time for you to come back to Earth.

Dr Weevil said...

It's very easy to find out what Russian TV commentators are saying. Just follow @JuliaDavisNews on Twitter: she provides the actual broadcasts, with English subtitles, and gets lots of replies from Russian-speakers who will argue with her if they think she's misrepresenting what they say.

The fact that Drago doesn't know what they're saying shows he would be utterly unqualified to write about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even if he weren't damned lying son of a bitch.

Drago said...

Weevil: "The fact that Drago doesn't know what they're saying shows he would be utterly unqualified to write about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even if he weren't damned lying son of a bitch."

You are an angry little elf. Yes, I know what they are saying. I know what you are saying.

I just live in the real world.

The world where the Israeli's had to strike the Houthis directly without any coordination or collaboration with the biden admin.

Your sad little insults, lobbed hither and yon in willy nilly fashion at anyone not genuflecting in the neocons direction and clearly designed to compensate for something fundamental missing in your background, just makes me laugh.

QsubMB increasing at a geometric rate. I shudder to think what an exponential increase would yield.

Drago said...

Its good to see some allies focused on real threats and acting upon those threats and not the make believe "existential threat" of Putin is Hitler and will streak across Europe if we dont keep Ukraine at the top of the prioritized threat matrix!

Drago said...

BTW, if one is interested, one can listen to a more emotionally controlled and sober and honest to reality and interesting version of Weevil's position that is offered by Ivo Daalder in an an interview with GZERO Media just a few weeks back:

https://www.gzeromedia.com/gzero-world-podcast/is-ukraine-running-out-of-time-former-us-ambassador-ivo-daalder-sizes-up-the-russia-ukraine-war

Dr Weevil said...

Drago tells bald-faced lies about me (Max Boot?! neocons?!) and Ukraine (Putin is certainly an "existential threat" to them), I call him a damned liar, and I'm the one with emotional problems? When you tell stupid lies, you're the one with the problems, not the people who call you on them.

I would have thought that if knowing what (if anything) a "QsubMB quotient" is would leave me feeling insulted, he would tell me. But he's too fucking lazy or stupid to do that. Or he just made it up as pseudo-scientific jargon and it means absolutely nothing. Whatever.

Drago said...

Weevil: "Ukraine (Putin is certainly an "existential threat" to them),.."

Not an existential threat to us. And not even to all of Ukraine. The russkis would need a million more boots on the ground to effectively occupy all of Ukraine, and that ain't happening.

A point you emotional Max Boot-rhetorically aligned buffoons attempt to obliterate so as to portray Putin as capable of executing his modern version of the Von Schieffen Plan!

He'll take all of Ukraine! Then the baltics! Then Poland...and Germany! Then France, Britain and we'll be fighting for our lives on the Jersey Shore!!!

At least Ivo Daalder, and others who are on Team Weevil in terms of general outlook and policy, are more honest about what they want in Ukraine: US boots on the ground. If you watch the video I link to in my above comment, you'll see and hear Daalder dance right up to that line and leave it hanging. Because that very much is the neocon plan as well.

After all, whose going to man, maintain and properly execute with all those modern weapons systems? Do you think you just slap together an Air Wing or 2 of tactical aircraft with novice/green horn pilots and ground crews? Patriot system experts?

No. Every successful tech application that has led to targeted Ukrainian tactical success has been fully executed by US and British resources. And for Ukraine to "win" (whatever that means at this point), that's the ONLY possible answer.

I'll leave it there and with the interview link.

Dr Weevil said...

And Drago keeps lying. I don't even read Max Boot, and any agreement I may have with him is purely coincidental.

Nor do I think Russia is capable of conquering Ukraine, duh! I do know that they think they can, and that they're doing massive damage, particularly to civilian targets, and that Ukraine would have won by now if we'd just provided them with the promised F-16s, no two years overdue, more Patriots, and a few hundred M-1s instead of the 31 actually sent.

There is no need whatsoever for "US boots on the ground" and you are lying when you say that I support that but am too dishonest to admit it.

And you're a liar or a fool when you say that the Ukrainians are technical incompetents who have to have US and UK technicians hold their hands for them. Many of their successes have been with entirely home-grown equipment: Neptunes, Sea Babies, dozens of different kinds of drones.