Ukraine

I do wonder how long this can go on, 2yrs now and nothing regarding movement is happening on either side.

 

You're all a lot better off supporting Ukraine than you would be if Putin was allowed to sweep through Europe. If the USA withdraws it's support for Ukraine, it doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next.

The most obvious immediate impact is that NATO falls apart. I mean, how could other NATO members ever trust the USA? Russia, China and Iran would quite correctly reach the conclusion that the USA has no teeth. They already saw the USA surrender in Afghanistan, and then to give up on Europe it would be clear for the world to see what sort of nation the USA is. That gives Russia, China and your other potential adversaries a massive green light to do whatever they want.

It is easy for people in a country that has never been attacked on its own turf for about 80 years to think everything else is someone else's problem, but the truth is you'd all be spending a lot more on taxes if you had to focus on defending an isolated USA from multiple adversaries that suddenly feel empowered to move. Your allies might want to help, but they wouldn't be able to, being fully committed in Europe.

 

I see that Denmark are stepping up, giving ALL of their artillery to Ukraine. The Danes understand that Putin must be stopped in Ukraine.

 

Just a quick point about US funding. The money is paid to US arms manufacturers to make new weapons for the US. Ukraine get the old weapons, many of which would have been decomissioned anyway. In the UK we would have had to pay to decommission our old Storm Shadows, instead we are sending them to Ukraine.

 

Which is why its not getting anywhere and never likely to.
The west is sending just enough stuff for Ukraine to defend itself and not enough to be on the offensive, because we all know where that could lead.

Its stalemate, and a very expensive one, as for waiting for Russia to run out of money, dream on.

 

Found out yesterday that Denmark and The Netherlands are also sending (or have sent) ALL of their F16 fighter jets to Ukraine. They are being replaced by more modern fighter aircraft - made in the US.

 

Mark summed it up nicely:

Rutte noted that Russia's economic potential should not be overestimated: "Russia's economy is not more than the Netherlands and Belgium combined. Nothing compared to Germany, nothing compared to France, nothing compared to the collective EU economy."

 

@Clueless 1 v2 Biden makes USA a laughing stock of the world. But I fear it will only get worse.

 

I'm not sure that's true. I'm not laughing at him. I don't know anyone that is. Our media doesn't seem to have a theme of mocking him. Perhaps your perception is influenced more domestically?

 

Quite the opposite IMHO. Don't know much about US politics - only that which is reported in the media. It's look to me that Joe Biden is doing what's right and I'm told that the US economy is flourishing.

I'm in danger of going off topic - slava ukraini.

 

Yeah, The economy is not flourishing, just the opposite. But the Media is in control of what the world hears.

 

Well, the S&P500 which is the index representing the biggest US based companies has been going crazy limited. Last time I looked it was up about 20% on last year. If the stock market is a good barometer of the economy then the USA is doing pretty well.

It will keep doing well as long as people keep rushing to buy US weapons and military equipment, and as long as the USA continues to be seen as stable enough to invest in.

You are correct that the media controls what the world sees. Which might be why the world sees something different to what you seem to be seeing. Outside of the USA we're not limited to a small handful of commercial news outlets. We do also get US media. I still have a little chuckle to myself when I think about the time Fox reported that Birmingham, England was run by islamic extremists and white people and the police were effectively banished from the entire city.

 

Not that I personally see it that way, but those on the other side see the western countries as power mongers who want to rule the world.