[tomder55]

so progressive members of Congress had a moment of showing spine ..... before they went all wet noodle .

They all signed a letter to Clueless Joe urging he push for a negotiated settlement . See the signees ;all the ususal suspects of the Squad and other radical leftie .

B7B3674EFB12D933EA4A2B97C7405DD4.10-24-22-cpc-letter-for-diplomacy-on-russia-ukraine-conflict.pdf (house.gov)

Problem is their timing sucks coming after Russia annexing parts of Ukraine and dropping Iranian drones on Ukraine's energy infrastructure before a very cold winter .

Progressive Democrats shot themselves in the foot with letter urging talks with Russia, claiming it was outdated and blaming staff for its release (msn.com)

Someone told them their timing sucks . So today they recanted the letter ;and blamed the release of the letter on lowly staffers .

Now I for one believe there is only a negotiated solution to the war. However ;there is no doubt that such settlement will not happen until the belligerents are ready to negotiate . I hope they are ready for it before nuke weapons fly ;or the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Powerplant ....the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world melts down

The water supply is damaged going to the plant ;and of course nuclear plants rely on external water to cool the reactors . As Ukrainian troops advance on Kherson they threaten the Russian occupation of Crimea

There is a dam that supplies cooling water to the plant . The Russians have it wired to blow it .
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is ‘inextricably connected’ to the Kakhovka dam Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s chief of defense intelligence, explains what may happen in the battle for Kherson — Meduza

We are looking at the possibility of a Chernobyl event .

[jlisenbe]

One thing the first Bush was good at was putting together an international coalition to reign in pirates. Sadly, we have Biden now.

[Wondergirl]

One thing the first Bush was good at was putting together an international coalition to reign in pirates. Sadly, we have Biden now.

Why were pirates reigning?

[jlisenbe]

Why do you ask?

[Wondergirl]

You said so. Or Bush just wanted them to.

[jlisenbe]

That's doubtful.

[Wondergirl]

Then whom did he want to reign?

[jlisenbe]

There was only one target of a multinational coalition during the first Bush's presidency and that was Hussein and his Iraqi military.

[Wondergirl]

There was only one target of a multinational coalition during the first Bush's presidency and that was Hussein and his Iraqi military.

So no pirates.

[jlisenbe]

OK, Miss Literal!!

[Wondergirl]

OK, Miss Literal!!

Nothing to do with literal.

[tomder55]

Use the word 'rein ' and the meaning becomes clearer .

A coalition of NATO members have joined to give material support to Ukraine so the war can effectively be fought to the last Ukrainian.

Unfortunately the time for diplomacy was before the war began. War is a failure of diplomacy. And I'm not taking about the events that led immediately prior to the February invasion. The roots of this war go at least as far back as the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the possibility of Russia joining the west .

[tomder55]

btw ;with everything at stake ;why hasn't Clueless Joe had a major address to the nation explaining to America why it is important for us to expend resources in the defense of Ukraine ? Given that we are one miscalculation away from being dragged into a nuclear war ,I would think that is the prudent and responsible thing for our President to do.

And where is the 5th column...... ooops I mean 4th estate demanding an answer ?

[jlisenbe]

Use the word 'rein ' and the meaning becomes clearer .

Very true. My mistake.

A coalition of NATO members have joined to give material support to Ukraine so the war can effectively be fought to the last Ukrainian.

"We believe in freedom so strongly that we're willing for you to die in defense of it."

[tomder55]

ask Iraqi Kurds about it . Ask Afghanis about it . When the going gets tough...... the tough get going .

[jlisenbe]

ask Iraqi Kurds about it . Ask Afghanis about it

Two instances of monumental shame for us, and in particular the latter one. It just illustrates the importance of really thinking through the potential consequences before we commit our military to conflict. Having a withdrawal plan is important.

[tomder55]

and it starts where we commit only when our national interests are involved . As far as I can tell our involvement in Ukraine serves the Biden crime family interests . I reflect on Hunter's involvemenet in the Ukraine energy sector ;and how quickly the deep state was ready to remove Trump from office over his asking Ukraine to investigate it .

[tomder55]

So who in the administration is having a dialogue with their counterparts in Russia ? Remember ;the use of nukes has been threatened on more than one occasion .

During the Cuban missile crisis dialogue was open although mostly secret . It may very well be that back channel dialogue between the US and Russia is ongoing . But officially there have been no conversations between Clueless and Putin. . There have been 2 conversations between Defense Sec Lloyd Austin and his counterpart in the last week . There has been a total of 1 conversation between Sec State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since Russia launched the war. That is ONE conversation between the 2 top diplomats of US and Russia. By appearances ,diplomacy is not top on the agenda,

As much as I disagree with the progressive caucus , proposing dialogue to end the war should not be a matter of public embarrassment for them. Nor should they be accused of appeasement .It is very disturbing that the nation has adopted a group think approach to this being 'total victory ' as if we are in the middle of WWII .

[tomder55]

Despite recent gains by Ukrainian forces and Russian retreats ,General winter and Colonel Frost are on the way .... advantage Russia. Putin's mobilized troops have time to train. Russia has time to restock. Clueless Joe's generals know this .

Top U.S. general urges Ukraine-Russia talks, Biden advisers resist (yahoo.com)

Clueless Joe has his war that can carry him through 2024 .

The price tag so far this year. ..........$52 billion of which $28 billion is direct military aid .
For perspective ;the US spent less during the most expensive 5 years of the Afghanistan war. We are depleting our stock pile of weapons . The military industrial complex is very happy.

Of the following Capitols ;which one has the most vested interest in Ukraine Brussels or Washington. Clearly the EU has the most interest in a war on it's border .

What has been the EU financial commitment ? $16 billion to date .

We are sending feet on the ground in the form of 'advisors' .

U.S. military inspectors in Ukraine to keep further track of weapons and equipment (nbcnews.com)

Remember how well that worked out in the early 1960s .

The 101 Airborne is deployed into Europe for the 1st time since WWII

US military forces 'fully prepared' to cross into Ukraine (washingtonexaminer.com)

war gaming on the Ukraine border

The U.S. Army's 101st Airborne is practicing for war with Russia just miles from Ukraine's border - CBS News

Despite sanctions and pressure ,the Russian economy is in fair shape. Russia is still exporting high priced oil ......just not to the west .

Russia's oil exports to Asia hit the highest so far this year as time is running out before new sanctions kick in (msn.com)

The Russian ruble has increased in value against the US dollar . They are getting a steady supply of weapons from Iran and the NORKS . India and China are buying its oil and gas.

Russia prepared the battle field for the winter by knocking out much of Ukraine's infrastructure. It will be a cold winter in Kieve without electricity . Food, water, and medicine are scarce.

Ukraine cannot win this war. It has however put itself in an excellent position for a negotiated settlement . Zelenskyy needs to stop his demands of no Russians in Ukraine . Russia will never give up it's Black Sea fleet HQ in Crimea. Without a deal Russia will bleed Ukraine with a thousand cuts. The US under Clueless Joe will fight to the last Ukrainian and Zelenskyy will fight to the last US dollar.

[tomder55]

War is business and the business of war is booming . The principles do not even try to hide it anymore. The Ukraine embassy held a celebration of it's war machine sponsored not so subtly by their US corporate sponsors . The logos of military contractors Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, and
Lockheed Martin were emblazoned on the invitation as the event’s sponsors.
$ billions in monopoly bucks and all I got was a corporate sponsorship for a party .