This one came over the transom from the mil-email chain.
Pretty good synopsis…
The Ukraine & Russia crisis In simple terms for those that have no idea what is going on.
-Ukraine used to be in an abusive relationship with Russia, feeding him, letting him use her car & giving him whatever he asked for until she built up the confidence to call it quits back in 1991
-Since then Ukraine has been working on herself, becoming a strong independent woman with help from friends like France, America, Poland etc. offering her support, loaning her money, & helping her find her way.
-Ukraine has been enjoying being single for 30 years & looking forward to continuing to grow & create new friendships.
-Now Russia being the toxic Ex that it is wants her back, and doesn’t want her meeting new people or creating any new relationships.
-A couple of weeks ago Russia started sitting in the front of Ukraine’s house & when her friends ask him what was he doing there, he said “Oh nothing, just getting a little bit of exercise in, that’s all.”
-After her friends told her that Russia was potentially getting ready to do something bad to her, he said “They’re lying, they just want you to be scared of me & that’s not what it is”
Plus Ukraine retained custody rights and has all the material possessions from the relationship (pipeline that goes through Ukraine) and now the ex (Russia) wants it back.
-Yesterday Russia broke into Ukraine’s house, beating her up & “taking advantage” of her while on Livestream & double dog daring any of her friends to do something about it & if they do want the smoke, Russia got that thang on him.
This was written by someone else. I can’t take credit, but agree that Putin did threaten tac nukes yesterday.
Hope this clears things up…
And one more point. Russia provides around 7% of our oil every month, about 18-20,000,000 barrels/mo. Xiden gave another word salad statement yesterday, basically saying it would take a month for the ‘new’ sanctions to take effect… By then it will be too late.
It’s really quite simple. Russia has invaded its neighbors only after they requested NATO membership. And even with tiny Georgia, Russia only took half.
Imagine your neighbor turning his place into a crack house and inviting violent gang members to hang around. You know, the guys who keep smashing your car’s windshield and burned down your cousin’s house. Wouldn’t you want to do something about it?
As for the gas pipeline, Russia pays Ukraine for the right to transship gas, and Ukraine buys gas for local consumption, but hasn’t been paying their bills reliably. And the Germans were holding up the North Sea pipeline for purely political reasons. (cough Biden cough)
Well, I take a rather different view of it from McCluck, I think. Russia figured out — it didn’t take much figuring — that the combination of the US cutting its own throat on energy production and Europe becoming totally dependent on Russia for basic energy made it the ideal time to take Ukraine back, since the US can’t even come up with a coherent bark never mind a bite, and Europe can’t afford to do anything. They’ve wanted to do this for years — not rocket science — and we gave them the opportunity. Go for it.
The wonder is that no one in the west seems to have seen it coming (except the intelligence community).
And the question is, what is the timing for China’s annexation of Taiwan?
Next month (On Taiwan).
There were at least two oil tankers carrying Russian crude oil into Bayonne NJ yesterday for distribution into the US pipeline network.
We don’t need to send young men to die for Ukraine. But we could maybe stop quietly supporting Russia fiscally while chanting bullshit on TV. But that would make us different from the rest of Europe, who are sucking on that teat like a hoover while delivering Oscar-quality crocodile tears.
The only way to stop support Russia financially would be to return our oil production to the levels of the Trump years.
No Democrat in this country wants that or will allow it.
You see, it doesn’t matter WHERE we buy the oil from, the price is fungible. Russian NEEDS high oil prices because their oil is expensive to recover. Low oil prices hurt Russia and Biden and the Democrats KNOW THAT. Hence why they are keeping oil prices high – they are bought and paid for.
Thanks John. I’d never thought of it that way, and it explains a lot.
November of 2021 we imported 254,162,000 barrels of oil. Who knows at what cost. As long as jo is buying Russian oil why should anyone believe him that he’s ‘going to make sanctions hurt’. Net exported of oil in 2020. Importer of oil after 1/20/21. FJB
Ukraine in NATO means no buffer states or zone between the great powers in the west (discounting that tiny border neck with Norway). No room for any friction – not a good thing. Mongolia, Afghanistan, and some of the low-populated areas in Siberia allow space there. Russia does have a point that NATO has originally promised no eastern expansion, only to begin “redlining” eastward, like Obummer’s Section 8 mandates in “regional areas”.
Kiev also holds special meanings. It’s literally the ethnic and spiritual font of the Rus, later Russia, and the Russian Orthodox Church. Not handing it to outsiders. I’d be like NYC claiming The Alamo as theirs and running it under their rules, beginning with wear hats and no guns around it.
Obama’s third term is even worse than his first two.
The Ruskis have Biden’s number…and it’s ZERO.
All- Interesting points raised. And I tend to think Ian is right. The incoherence from the administration means it is open season on the US and its allies/protectorates… sigh
he forgot about the pimp, u.s, letting the johns screw her out of billions with 10% for the big guy. the pimp took her money and ran when corn pop showed up.
River- True…
So in McChuck’s analogy, wanting to join a mutual defense treaty organization is like opening a crack house? And it’s OK because Russia will only take half your country if you ask to join NATO?
Not seeing the parallels.
Would we have allowed Mexico to join the Warsaw Pact?
Same difference.
Nato membership is Putin’s excuse. Energy is the real reason.
And the incompetence of Pedo Joe and his handlers was the incentive
for Putin to act NOW.
There’s also the fact that the Ukraine is a bread basket and shares a border with mother Russia.
There are multiple reasons here, but I kind of think that when it’s all boiled down to gravy, Putin invaded because owning the Ukraine gives him/Russia a better economy – but more importantly, most importantly, Putin invaded because he wanted to, and since the last U.S. election there’s no one to stop him.
While I’m sympathetic the the Ukrainians’ plight, this is in now way our problem, and I’m fucking pissed the administration even sent them weapons.
When will we get half assed interventionism out of our system as a country? The frigging Russians are going to remember what our manpads and javelins did to their guys. Wait til you see their hardware on the Mexican border. And we’ll fucking deserve it.
Our foreign policy for the last century is garbage, and Smedley Butler was right. Imagine no intervention in WW1 and the world is a much different and better place.