The infinite war
Today marks the third anniversary of the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified a total of 41,783 civilian casualties during the Ukraine War. The Wall Street Journal estimates from September place the total number of military dead and wounded at approximately one million. The loss of life is hard to determine because both Russia and Ukraine tightly control information on their military losses, often releasing figures that differ widely from independent assessments. Many Ukrainian cities have been destroyed.
The reasons this war has gone on for so long are many. The main two are Russia's dependence on inferior weapons and soldiers vs western crucial (primarily US) support for Ukraine has kept the war at a stalemate. Up until recently, there had been no real effort to end this war. President Trump made a promise to end it, but it seems that the Ukrainian leader is really ready to sit down yet. Maybe this is one promise that Trump can't fulfill.
In the news:
The Supreme Court punted on whether or not President Donald Trump is allowed to dismiss Hampton Dellinger, the head of a federal whistleblower protection office, marking the latest development in one of the various legal battles surrounding the new administration’s government reform efforts. Its decision on Friday comes after the administration filed an emergency appeal requesting that members of the Supreme Court overrule a lower court’s decision to reinstall Dellinger, according to The Hill . Dellinger, a Biden appointee, leads the Office of Special Counsel.
SCOTUS Folds on First Appeal of New Term, Doesn't Support Trump's Effort to Clean House
Germany yesterday became the latest country where voters rejected a left-leaning government largely because of their unhappiness over immigration and the economy. Germany’s next chancellor is likely to be Friedrich Merz, a former corporate lawyer who has promised to crack down on migration, cut taxes and regulation and adopt a hawkish policy toward Russia.
Pope Francis, 88, remains in critical condition in a Rome hospital.
Trump announced on Sunday that Dan Bongino will be the next Deputy Director of the FBI.
President Trump blasted MSNBC, saying the leftist network should pay “vast sums of money” for the “unpardonable sin” it has done to the country - while celebrating the axing of its star host Joy Reid, whom he called a “mentally obnoxious racist.”
Isreal has deployed tanks to the west bank.
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Good morning to all our readers and friends in the NT echo chamber.
Volodymyr Zelensky refused to deal on the Trump administration's arrangement for Ukrainian natural resources.
The war will go on.
He's going to have to repay what was given to his country eventually. Either through resources or money. Or, a loss to Russia and the country truns back into a state.
He seems to think he can shame the west into either granting him NATO membership or placing troops (either US or British) in Ukraine. On the other hand, Putin knows that NATO does not want to go to nuclear war over Ukraine and Zelensky might just become his own worst enemy.
So, as I say, the war continues.
You keep mentioning nuclear war if Ukraine is not sacrificed to Russia. What the hell is your problem?
I keep mentioning it BECAUSE THAT IS WHY UKRAINE IS NOT IN NATO!
Everyone knows it.
NATO cannot be used as a bargaining chip.
So your thinking is if that Ukraine is in NATO Putin would launch a nuclear attack on Europe ?
My thinking (and I believe that of many others) is the first thing Ukraine would do as a member of NATO is to invoke Article 5. I doubt that NATO members are prepared for that. It would be the first thing on their minds in approving Ukraine for membership.
Does that sound logical to you.
Nope.
That is sad.
Putin's looking across the table calling us for bluffing.
I dont think Art 5 has all the "teeth " that people are thinking it has . If one reads it , it simply says that member countries "Can " , not necessarily that they will come to other members aide .
It is left to the individual countries the extent they will go to .
It looks like to me , the bluff , Putin is trying to expose is what actions are member countries willing to take . but that could be the point he had all along .
Joy Reid’s show has been cancelled at MSNBC.
Once again, Trump said it out loud, the inconvenient truth: she really was a mentally obnoxious racist!
I guess he got the last laugh as Joy heads out the door.
Bye Felicia!!
As Shakespeare once put it: "Parting is such sweet sorrow."
She is almost ugly enough of a human to get Maxine Waters seat when that miserable old crow dies.
The dems have cornered the market on that, haven't they.
Would that mean Maxine's seat is a DEI seat?
Another victim of the war against blatant racism. What took them so long? Is racist Sharpton next?
Despite losing most of their audience, they kept getting funding from somewhere. Elon Musk may have solved that.
Is racist Sharpton next?
I think the cats in the bag and the bag is in the river.
Could be but if they got rid of all the racists, then that would leave 2 or 3 people on that station
I believe that if you have a cable or satellite subscription, a portion of your fees goes to these channels, no matter if you watch them or not.
Also, Musk outed US Aid paying Politico for positive coverage. Would not surprise me if they also paid MSDNC for the same services.
That was big. That is partly why democrats are fighting back against cutting waste; in case anyone is wondering why they would take on such an unpopular cause.
Another part is many of these "aid" organizations take money from US Aid, then turn around and "donate" much of it to the democrats, their campaigns and their causes.
If you think they are melting down now, wait until there are names thrown out there.
We used to ask where all this dark money is coming from. They always had more money.
How much did Harris have?
Apparently 1.2 billion.
And is still in debt.
Isn't that incredible. They didn't win a single battleground state.
Could it have possibly been cancelled so NBC could pay the $30 Defamation Lawsuit they settled?
You know the likes of Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace and Chris Hayes aren't remotely honest or truthful.
It was getting costly.
Then there is this:
Maddow, just like Reid's racist ass is pathetically trying to make her and other terminations about race. And of course the rest of the liberal racists are crying about it as well.
Maddow will still take her check from racist msnbc though
I still say the Maddow classic was when she read Trump's stolen tax returns, without knowing what was in them live on the air.
Talk about being convinced the shit she believed had to be real!
And it took her over half of the show to get to the point. Something she always does with her story telling. Most boring show in cable news.
Exactly. Not a surprise though. Sowing racism and division is right in their wheelhouse. Maddow should quit so her show can be taken over by a person of color.
And spout off with the same nonsense as she always does.
What was funny about that is that so many on the left STILL don't see that she proved the opposite of what she claimed.
US arms shipments to Ukraine had been recently briefly suspended and then resumed as the Donald Trump administration discussed policy towards Kyiv.
Trump administration briefly halted arms shipments to Ukraine before resuming them over weekend, Reuters says
This could get serious.
Leading officials from European nations were in Kiev on Monday to observe the third anniversary of the war at the side of their ally.
Missing was Trump, who may have been at the side of his ally in Moscow.
Putin invaded Crimea under Obama
Putin invaded Ukraine under Biden
He did not invade when Trump was President.
Trump inherited this war because Obama and Biden appeased Russia. It was Obama who had the hot mic telling the Russians that if Putin gives him the space to get through the next election, he'd be flexible on missile defense for Ukraine. So, Putin delayed an invasion, Obama got reelected and Ukraine didn't get missile defense. That could have been critical right bout 3 years ago don't you think?
Did you want to talk FACTS, or do you just want to smear Trump?
[deleted][✘]
You and everybody else already know the answer to that.
A significant portion of the $4.4 billion allocated from the U.S. did not reach the intended recipients, with claims of mismanagement by USAID and associated entities, including the Clinton Foundation. Calls for greater transparency and investigation into how international aid is managed.
The Clinton Foundation raked in Millions from USAID. In 2010, USAID managed $4.4 billion for Haiti under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clinton Foundation was a significant player in those Haiti “efforts”.
USAID and partners funneled billions through multiple “administrative fees,” with DC firms pocketing 56% of contracts while Haitian companies got just 2%.
USAID Haiti Scam exposing “$4.4 Billion spent SPENT, Six Homes Built”, Clinton Foundation Raked In Millions - Geller Report
I don't think that many Americans are aware of the existence of US Aid, and that is the way the beaucracy wanted it. No one would look into their probable illegal operations, ie, money laundering.
Now, that the Clintons are involved, this is something I think no one would be surprised by.
Leftists are pissed that their schemes have been outed, not that the waste has been found.
Exposing where money went will really cut them off at the knees.
It is one of the reasons they want Trump to fail. The other being so they can win the next midterm election (another impeachment if they get the House) and a possible win in 2028.
Trump is looney tunes.
You don't think activist reporters who have misled the public haven't done damage to this country?
How dare you talk about Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN like that.
That's your comeback?
You can't admit that the left has manipulated the news?
You are having a bad day again.
So far it has been a lot of fun.
Yea, those nerf bombs you keep lofting sure are hitting home. S/
That's funny coming from the guy crying "but Trruuummmmppppp!!!!".
That's one opinion.
Did you finish high school? Another childish response, but that seems to be your style.
Zelensky: how dare trump propose something that the next ten generations of Ukrainians will have to pay for
also zelensky: trump should keep giving me money that the next ten generations of Americans will have to pay for.
An odd mix of impertinence and audacity.
Its interesting to think about. How many other countries in the history of the world have borrowed billions of dollars and given it to another one? And Zelensky acts like he's entitled to it endless gifts of money. We even made England, our closest ally, pay for our aid before joining WWII.
I'll say this Zelensky thinks big picture and doesn't want to saddle future generations with debt if he can help it. He keeps his eye on the ball in that regard. Most American progressives are just like drunks with a credit card on a weekend bender. They have zero cares about how the tab is actually going to be paid. "100 billion more for Ukraine, barkeep!"
That day has ended.
Zelensky thinks he knew how to play the west. It won't work now. I advise him to sign the minerals deal so he can get to the negotiating table while he still has most of his country left.
The liberals here will never answer, why are we responsible for Ukraine's security? other than the to use it to attack trump? why should we spend our treasure on this?
As I recall Trump.1 sold weapons to Ukraine after Obama wouldn't. He told the Germans not to approve Nordstom II. He bullied NATO into rearming. He was the one that got out of the ridiculous missile deal with Russia. He was the one who killed the Wagner Group. He killed over 300 Russian in Syria.
And here we have a member calling him a Putin ally.
Somebody should tell them the 80's called and they want their foreign policy back.
Trump doesn't need to negotiate anything in, over, or about Ukraine. Just get the hell out. Why do all these rich dunderbutts think they deserve a turn screwing the pooch?
The United States will get nothing of value from Ukraine and the American taxpayer will be stuck with just another parasite.
I say if Zelensky won't deal on precious minerals, Trump should walk away.
Sometimes you can't get an agreement.
I have been changing my mind about Zelensky as of late. What started out as a patriotic leader has slowly morphed into a whiner that has no realistic view of where things stand now. I admit The US did not help by slow walking support when the war started (maybe in hopes it would end quickly) and should bear some of the responsibility of of this 3 year drain.
But now that we are in a "war" of our own he will not deal with a negotiation over minerals that would help us with our china issues. So the question is if an ally will not help us even when we are willing to pay for it will he be willing to help us after the war is over or just give his countries resources to the highest bidder?
I no longer think of Ukraine as an ally for the US, just a bloodsucker until they can cut the best deal. Unfortunately the countries people will remain the ones that suffer.
I think you just made a key point. Allies work together. It is a two-way street.
This alliance seems to be devoid of that.
I don't even want to mention this, but there was that individual who was promised a job as Ukraine's Defense Minister who listened in and leaked a phone conversation between an American President and Zelensky. The same guy who tried to pretend he only heard about it from someone else.
How much was our "ally" involved in that? A bad thought I sometimes have.
There is an obvious need for the United States to establish some sort of diplomatic relations with Russia. Russia will play all manner of butt hurt bullshit cards like it has over the last 100 years. Zelensky whines like a Russian. Zelensky's maskirovka isn't any different than Putin's.
Ukraine's lithium is unimportant. What we should want is the titanium ore. If the United States is that hard up for minerals then we better learn how to trade with Russia to keep the stuff out of China's hands. We're supposed to believe Russia is unimportant even though it spans half a continent? Why should the United States give a shit about Ukraine? Let Russia have it and then make a deal with Russia so we have access to more resources than Ukraine can offer. And we keep Russia's mineral reserves out of China's hands.
Somehow we need to stop the lie that the war in Ukraine began in 2022. The war actually started in 2014. And there has been active fighting in Ukraine since 2014. The casualty lists should encompass the 10 years of fighting. Russia's 2022 invasion was just another phase of the war; not a new war. Russia has interests in Ukraine and has clearly stated those interests since the Minsk agreements were initially negotiated in 2014. There haven't been any surprises over Russia's interests, goals, and objects for 10 years. Obama is the one that screwed the pooch and got us into this mess. Biden turned a brush war into a quagmire and led us in till we're hip-deep. We just need to walk away and let the thing resolve itself. We have no need to fight Russia unless Putin is actually stupid enough to attack NATO.
You mean back when they could have used those Javelin missiles?
Obama is the one that screwed the pooch and got us into this mess. Biden turned a brush war into a quagmire and led us in till we're hip-deep.
I think historians will agree with you on that.
We just need to walk away and let the thing resolve itself.
I'm afraid no one but us wants to end it. Then so be it.