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Ukraine IV

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It's accelerating:

Joe Biden pledges to defend Taiwan militarily if China invades

US president’s comments during visit to Tokyo prompt criticism from Beijing

https://www.ft.com/content/f4435be6-61bf-4565-8f19-60b69ebc41de

Joe Biden has pledged to use military force to defend Taiwan if China invades, in remarks made during his first visit to Japan as US president.

“Yes. That is the commitment we made,” Biden said at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday when asked whether he was willing to use force to defend Taiwan.

Biden’s remark appeared to overturn the decades-old US policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would defend Taiwan, but the White House insisted its policy on the democratic island had not changed.

The president’s comments have reignited speculation about his stance on Taiwan. Some defence experts had urged Biden to make it clear that the US would defend Taiwan as a way to deter an increasingly powerful China.


Speaking alongside Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida on Monday, Biden also reaffirmed Washington’s “one China” policy, which recognises Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China and acknowledges its position that Taiwan is part of China. “We signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there,” Biden said.

“But the idea that [Taiwan] could be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not . . . appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine,” he added.
 
Henry Kissinger trolling at World Economic Forum in Davos....

Video:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022...itical-challenges-facing-the-world-right-now/

Ukraine must give Russia territory

Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

Dr Kissinger said the war must not be allowed to drag on for much longer, and came close to calling on the West to bully Ukraine into accepting negotiations on terms that fall very far short of its current war aims.

“I hope the Ukrainians will match the heroism they have shown with wisdom,” he said, adding with his famous sense of realpolitik that the proper role for the country is to be a neutral buffer state rather than the frontier of Europe.

The comments came amid growing signs that the Western coalition against Vladimir Putin is fraying badly as the food and energy crisis deepens, and that sanctions may have reached their limits.

Text:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/henry-kissinger-warns-against-defeat-174812366.html
 
This guy elegantly nails it in a few lines. I can see why he is a diplomat and not eulogising on PFM :)

Bondarev wrote: “Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes.”
 
NeilR said:
i get where you are coming from, but if he is allowed to have something that he can sell as a victory, what’s to stop him taking another bite out of a neighbouring country when he sees fit?
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Two things:

1) That *he* knows it isn't really any kind of 'victory', but he can sell it as one to the propaganised home public.

2) That the experience shows he'd get his head returned on a plate if he tried again. i.e. next time he won't even be able to pass it off as a 'victory' to the dumbest members of his public.

His get-out therefore is that he has "taught the Ukranians a lesson and they have changed their ways". After all it was just a "Police Action" wasn't it, not a 'war'.

Given the almost certainty that this will aid weaning others off relying on Russia for energy, etc, will enhance that in his mind. It loses him one current 'big threat' he has to make against anyone in Europe who opposes him.
 
I agree to the above with one exception - I think he will take Moldova in three or four years time to show the world that his army is ok and to assuage his ego a bit.
 
tonerei said:
This guy elegantly nails it in a few lines. I can see why he is a diplomat and not eulogising on PFM :)

Bondarev wrote: “Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes.”
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As you called me at Munich thread and we mentioned our mutual friend, I'm quite amazed that Romy nailed it. I wouldn't have expected that, being a Russian Jewish immigrant in the States, he hates Russia at least as much as our US Dimitry here. So, Romy:

"Do not believe news.

I do not feel that it is Putin war at all and I feel very unfortunately that it is how is being sold in West. It is just a plan vanilla US war against Russia via Ukrainian proxy. Unfortunately Ukraine does not exist since 2014 as a country but exist exclusively as United States military forpost, and USA will fight Russians up to the last Ukrainian. Ukrainians were very unfortunate that they have the government they haven't since 2014. Whatever they do is not an interest of Ukrainian people but it is just a collection of few dozen ethically very questionable oligarhs being played by USA State department. I wish Russians have more creativity and brain how to liberate Ukrainians from current Ukrainian regime without engaging into wide war across the whole nation. Fortunately a truth about in nature of Ukrainian racist regime is beginning to drip to the West and expose in their full colors. Unfortunately it does not comply with the general narrative that West is willing to publicize. Nowadays news from Al Jazeera, India or China are significantly more balanced. I hardly recommend do not listen any Ukrainian or Russian news, or Western news, that happens to have well understood agenda."

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=1&postID=26739#26739
 
O, yes, Russia taking bits of neighbor's lands all around and incorporate them is not because Russia imperialism wishes, it is only good Russia response to evil America.
 
Well, he thinks it's not only "America", but also UK:

"Those people are pure hostages of a bigger games that US and UK play with half of the world. Putin is not more guilty in the situation then Zelensky, and the last one is kind of irrelevant to the story at all. The only fault of Putin (not the characters that I defend typically) that he runs in shitty country that is so weak that was not able to behave as great nations do: with wisdom, dignity and might. People in West do not understand that there is Ukraine and there is the current Ukrainian government that nothing to do with Ukraine or with ideas of healthy nationalism. The Ukrainian regime from 2013 is very ugly aberration of Nazism and Russian do a great service to humanity trying to eradiate it. Do I feel that this very noble goal justified by destroying the whole country, Nope, I feel that it should not be done.

Here is an interesting question I ask myself. Could regular Ukrainians be responsible for that idiotic regime that screw them up for 8 years? I do not think so. Today millions of Russians got ruined as group responsibility for what Russian regime does not in Ukraine. If it fair, then why the same logic could not applyed to Ukrainians? The Russians faked us everything in 2013-14 when they shamefully did not defend Ukraine during the 2011-2004 color governmental overthrows by USA. I do not think that Russians today are the position to be ethical and physical authority to fix anything. They are just too destroyed ideologically and too feeble economically or military. The bigger problems however derived from the history Russians were absolutely impotent to make case of own interest for the world after 1990s and while they were humiliated by West they did not have a leader who would be truly a stateman with an ability to sell Russian interest to the world."
 
stevec67 said:
Russia has previous when it comes to sacrificing troops. Look at Stalingrad. We have a million troops. Have you got a million bullets? If so, good for you, because I have another million troops being loaded on trains right now.
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They do seem to sacrifice their own. Maybe one of the Russian experts here can explain.
 
anubisgrau said:
Well, he thinks it's not only "America", but also UK:

"Those people are pure hostages of a bigger games that US and UK play with half of the world. Putin is not more guilty in the situation then Zelensky, and the last one is kind of irrelevant to the story at all. The only fault of Putin (not the characters that I defend typically) that he runs in shitty country that is so weak that was not able to behave as great nations do: with wisdom, dignity and might. People in West do not understand that there is Ukraine and there is the current Ukrainian government that nothing to do with Ukraine or with ideas of healthy nationalism. The Ukrainian regime from 2013 is very ugly aberration of Nazism and Russian do a great service to humanity trying to eradiate it. Do I feel that this very noble goal justified by destroying the whole country, Nope, I feel that it should not be done.

Here is an interesting question I ask myself. Could regular Ukrainians be responsible for that idiotic regime that screw them up for 8 years? I do not think so. Today millions of Russians got ruined as group responsibility for what Russian regime does not in Ukraine. If it fair, then why the same logic could not applyed to Ukrainians? The Russians faked us everything in 2013-14 when they shamefully did not defend Ukraine during the 2011-2004 color governmental overthrows by USA. I do not think that Russians today are the position to be ethical and physical authority to fix anything. They are just too destroyed ideologically and too feeble economically or military. The bigger problems however derived from the history Russians were absolutely impotent to make case of own interest for the world after 1990s and while they were humiliated by West they did not have a leader who would be truly a stateman with an ability to sell Russian interest to the world."
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Well, that's remarkable. But if Putin runs a shitty country that is so weak, it is his own doing. He is the architect of what Russia has become.

The rest just sounds like regurgitated Russian propaganda.
 
Bottom line is that Putin decided to attack/invade Ukraine. Trying to pretend he was just trying to 'protect the nearer bits' from 'Nazis' doesn't wash because he sent his troops to take over the entire southern strip of Ukraine to cut them off from the sea. He was too greedy to now sell the 'just helping my mates' argument.
 
Kirk said:
They do seem to sacrifice their own. Maybe one of the Russian experts here can explain.
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I'm no expert, but it works if you are callous enough about your people. A massive country with a massive population and a geography of wide open spaces will always win a war of attrition. Don't forget the Russian tactic in the Napoleonic war of destroying the villages as they retreated so as to deny the advancing troops any shelter or food supply. So thousands of civilians are made homeless by their own troops and rendered refugees, many to die? Oh well, that's war d for you. Similarly in WW2 look at how many Russians simply starved to death. That's before we look at Stalingrad where a man was quite literally worth less than a rifle.
 
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