No. of Recommendations: 2
I think it might help if you would understand that the argument you are disagreeing with does not depend on Ukraine "pushing" Russia out. So it doesn't really matter for that argument whether they can or not.
I understand the European strategy. It's been recounted 500 times on this board and in this thread. It's impossible not to understand this strategy. It's...not a good strategy.
To me, this is akin to a boxer thinking Maybe if I just let the other guy punch me in the fact for 10 rounds he'll knock himself out, a battle plan literally adopted by no boxer ever. The Ukrainians have no choice - they're fighting as they can with the level of dudes, guns and money that they have.
Frustrating? There are many frustrating things in this debate. The butchery of history, for one. No, insurgencies did not make us leave Iraq and Afghanistan. Those were political decisions made by Obama and Biden for purely political reasons (for those who want to argue otherwise, ask yourselves why we have troops in Iraq right now if they threw us out). Biden left Afghanistan when he did in the manner that he did because he wanted the symbology of pulling out by 9/11/21. No other reason.
The American revolution? We had enough dudes, guns and money plus French naval vessels plus French soldiers plus Hessian mercenaries to throw the limeys out once and for all. There was no thought of "Hey, let's let the Brits hang out in Boston and New York while we eat grass and tree bark in the hills. That'll show 'em!" No.
The discounting of the strategic nature of the conflict and the downplaying of the role of China is frustrating. In Beijing they're laughing their asses off. If people here don't understand that the real global threat is China - and not Russia - then I don't know what to say to you.
I also find the Ukraine support on this board to be mainly performative in nature. Not mentioned once by anybody else but me has been the toll this taking on Ukraine as a country. It's beyond easy to sit here and Poke Russia in the eye right down to the last Ukrainian. After all, it's been how Europe has chosen to defend itself for decades: rely on the United States to provide the bulk of the manpower and money to deter the Soviets/Russians. I'm not saying that you're doing this, but for a majority of your teammates their "dislike" for Putin has more to do with his now-since-debunked puppeteering of Trump and they view being loud and supportive of the Ukraine as a way to say Orangemanbad for the 10,000th time. It's...useless. Except this time, the performative politics has a real price in the form of apartment complexes in flames in Kyiv.
Again. The Ukrainians are fighting the war the best way they can with the tools they have. What else are they supposed to do? But if the West is serious about restoring order, about helping them regain their territory and make Russia pay for its naked aggression, then it's time to sh1t or get off the pot: the 3 year hold-on-by-the-fingernails strategy has been going on for...3 years. Do something else. Make the Russians react to a different scenario. Make them feel economic pain such that they decide it's not worth it and quit. Or, if that's not an option, then negotiate a cease-fire and give the Ukrainians a break.
The Soviets were in Afghanistan for 10 years. Is Europe ready to sentence them to 7 more years of this?
