World War Three?

[NorrinRadd]

Not alll that sure how that's any different than our sending them anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry, weapons, ammunition, etc..

I think I heard we're finally sending a few Patriot batteries in addition to the Stingers and Javelins.

[NorrinRadd]

The slow escalation creep.

Pootie has already remarked that even just the sanctions could be regard as acts of war.

[rogue06]

Follow-up to the Poland story:

Earlier this afternoon, Poland called Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s bluff, over the U.S. claims that Poland was going to send fighter jets into Ukraine. This followed Sunday’s announcement where Poland said the U.S. State Dept was lying.

Earlier today, Poland said they would give the U.S. the planes if Blinken and Biden wanted to start World War III, but Poland wasn’t going to help the U.S. create a war with Russia. This put the U.S. in a ‘put up or shut up’ position. Well, Blinken and Biden just folded, per the Pentagon:

Pentagon – We are now in contact with the Polish government following the statement issued today. As we have said, the decision about whether to transfer Polish-owned planes to Ukraine is ultimately one for the Polish government. We will continue consulting with our Allies and partners about our ongoing security assistance to Ukraine, because, in fact, Poland’s proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents.

The prospect of fighter jets “at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America” departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance. It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one. (read more)

Well played Team Poland, well played!

https://theconservativetreehouse.com...world-war-iii/

Given what the Pentagon says in the second paragraph, the obvious question is why the hell were they trying to get Poland to commit to sending the planes in the first place!

Last night Fox news was reporting that Poland wanted to send their aircraft to another European country (Germany?) where the U.S. could then send them to Ukraine, which the U.S. refused to do.

[Ronson]

Pootie has already remarked that even just the sanctions could be regard as acts of war.

I can't help but feel that all of this is just prolonging the situation (not the sanctions but funneling arms).

Ukraine will ultimately lose this war without major outside assistance, which is not forthcoming. So instead of this ending soon with fewer deaths, it will drag out for months or years with massive casualties. Instead of Zelensky's government meeting with the Russians, perhaps NATO should be.

[rogue06]

Russia seems to be intent on taking the southern portion of Ukraine, cutting off their access to the Black Sea. I wonder if when they accomplish that will they declare "Mission Accomplished" and be willing to begin the peace process.

[Ronson]

Russia seems to be intent on taking the southern portion of Ukraine, cutting off their access to the Black Sea. I wonder if when they accomplish that will they declare "Mission Accomplished" and be willing to begin the peace process.

My initial thought on this war was that Putin hoped he would take the entire country, and then trade back the portions he didn't want - on the assurance that it would not gain membership to NATO. Putin already has Crimea, but he only has a 12-mile bridge between Russia and the peninsula for ground access to it. So he wanted south-eastern Ukraine as a land corridor. That area is sympathetic to Russia anyway so the population wouldn't give him grief.

I hope this will satisfy him. I think this is a plausible outcome.

[Mountain Man]

Last night Fox news was reporting that Poland wanted to send their aircraft to another European country (Germany?) where the U.S. could then send them to Ukraine, which the U.S. refused to do.

Yes, Blinken was trying to get Poland to commit to sending the planes to Ukraine directly, but Poland said, in effect, "Sorry, we're not going to be responsible for starting World War 3, so we'll send our planes to Germany, and then you can figure out how get then to Ukraine, without creating a mess," at which point Blinken knew his bluff had been called, so the Pentagon sent out that puff piece trying to make it sound like Poland was somehow being unreasonable.

[seer]

Love this guy...

[rogue06]

My initial thought on this war was that Putin hoped he would take the entire country, and then trade back the portions he didn't want - on the assurance that it would not gain membership to NATO. Putin already has Crimea, but he only has a 12-mile bridge between Russia and the peninsula for ground access to it. So he wanted south-eastern Ukraine as a land corridor. That area is sympathetic to Russia anyway so the population wouldn't give him grief.

I hope this will satisfy him. I think this is a plausible outcome.

It doesn't appear that his emphasis is on taking eastern Ukraine as much as the southern Ukraine

[Ronson]

It doesn't appear that his emphasis is on taking eastern Ukraine as much as the southern Ukraine

I don't get that. The southern area west of Crimea doesn't really have much strategic value that I can see, and the population would be hostile toward Russia taking over. Why would he want that?

When you say "southern" I understand you're talking about the orange area. I can understand why he'd want the blue area, but not the orange area.

ukraine.jpg

[rogue06]

The Black Sea Lowlands

[Sparko]

274990530_4924630857631844_5307424607044002981_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=uqgbfzfIqM0AX9voZM6&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AT9afKYEEh3EQ1nnYp1b1AtmaF2fyZ3pN6SUs0Hh7v9g6g&oe=622E67DC.j

[Gondwanaland]

Whilst Putin's Kremlin is taking to warn Russian citizens that they may be put in prison for 15 years for calling the war in Ukraine a 'war' or an 'invasion', under the new law they passed:https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-cr...040014673.html

....his troops are now turning to bombing hospitals:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/childrens...163911017.html

[Sparko]

Guys, we got it all wrong. Putin didn't invade Ukraine. He invaded Russia!

[CivilDiscourse]

274990530_4924630857631844_5307424607044002981_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=uqgbfzfIqM0AX9voZM6&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AT9afKYEEh3EQ1nnYp1b1AtmaF2fyZ3pN6SUs0Hh7v9g6g&oe=622E67DC.j

Well, you know, this whole thing is Trump's fault, not Biden's. The buck doesn't stop at Joe.