Russia

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It is Time We Saved Ukraine From Putin


We have a war that actually started in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and declared that is was their territory anyway. The war that started then continues today. Russian is now bombing civilian areas indiscretely. At some point the United States must say, enough is enough.

What we must do is go to Ukraine’s assistance by using specialized troops on the ground. Not a single troop needs to be infantry, rather they should be artillery and air defense artillery along we a wing of U.S. Air Force fighters.

Early in this conflict, Putin sabre rattled that he would use battlefield nukes and maybe more. He has a problem there and it is call MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). That means we have just as much as he does, and this is not including the European countries. And if a single nuke gets used on the battlefield, it will be like 1943 where the U.S. was still building up its strength while winning battles everywhere.

To put a period on this type of action, we would have to declare India, Brasil, China, North Korea, and Russia as enemy combatants. Once we have unilaterally gone into battle, it would not take much for the rest of the NATO countries to join in, and for Russia, that is very bad. At that point Russia would have nothing to gain and everything to lose and just by the troop movements, there might be an immediate end of hostilities. NATO must stand strong and demand that Russia pull all its troops at least 200km from any non-Russian border. Not a single bullet shot by any NATO country but by putting up is enough to get Russian to shup up.

With the exception of Belarus, Russia has no friendly countries in the rest of Europe. When nearly the entirety of Europe lines up against you in a show of strength, you do nothing but admit defeat as the victor’s demands.

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PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR TRUMP!!!


It has been a while since I have written here but this is to inform you that I believe Trump to be a real and present danger to this country. You must listen to what he says and believe it. You must also read about what he has said and believe it. Your life depends upon this.

If Trump is elected he will take an isolationist position for America. His “buy American” will backfire quickly. Trump plans on putting 100% tariffs on many incoming good that we use everyday and is not in competition with the U.S. For example, have you ever wondered where all your fruits and vegetables come during the winter months, October to May? We import from South America and in large part from Chile. You cell phones are all made in Korea or China. The price for them will be doubled. There are many other examples when you think about it.

This is my plea for peace. Trump has promised he will take us out of NATO. He is then going to call Putin, who he is in league with, that he can have Ukraine because we will not longer support them. That will signal to Putin that the use of battlefield nuclear weapons is all right. (from “War” by Bob Woodward) Once Russia takes control of Ukraine his next move will be to take over Moldova, a NATO country. That will spur an all out war because the NATO motto is “what you do to one of us, you do to all of us.” Now we are in a world war, again. Is Putin crazy enough to use ICBMs in such a war? No one knows but why take the chance. He is just crazy enough to do it in my opinion.

Finally, Trump has said Hitler did some good things!! He likes both Putin and Hungary’s Victor Orban who is like a dictator in Hungary. He visit Kim in North Korea and for what reason? Know that there is now an agreement between North Korea and Russia. China is lying low while all this is going on but if a large conflict were to break out can we be certain that China will maintain its neutrality? I would not rely upon that.

Those of you who are Voting for Harris, thank you, but please talk to your neighbors and extended family members that a vote for Trump is a vote to end Democracy as we have know it. Trump has already said so.

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President Biden, PLEASE Step Aside


I voted for Pres. Biden in the 20202 elections, although in the primaries he was not my choice. We needed relief from the Trump disasters and he delivered us from that.

Pres. Biden continually points to his infrastructure bill when asked what he has done for the American people. For the America voter that gone and forgotten for the most part. Most people look at a President and ask, “what have you done for me lately?” And it is here that Pres. Biden fails.

Since he got his infrastructure bill passed he has been in a reactive mode. Most recently he sided with Isreal in the war that they are waging. He should have gotten a clue very early on when Israel opted to use missles to attack Hammas when it was even then well-known that Hammas was hiden underground in bunkers impervious to what was happening above. Pres. Biden’s move was to send out Sec. of Defense to Israel to implore them to use a ground war rather than the air war. But he did not and now we have close to 30,000 Palestians dead as a result of Israel’s actions.

Pres. Biden has been slow over the years since Russia attacked Ukraine to provide them with more than adequet support but he did not. At the first instance, when an air war was felt in Ukraine, his move was to bring Ukrainian Pilots to America to train them on the F-16 even before the Congress approved giving F-16s to Ukraine. They still do not have them. They are running out of ammunition, and knowing they have the upper hand, house Republicans are stalling his late actions at getting additional funding.

Biden does not resonate with the young people of the United States who voted for him in 2020. This means he cannot count on their support this time. They might just put a simple X in the empty box below the candidates. What he needs to do is to ask Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to take the lead in this election cycle and support him as our next President.

Our generation, baby boomers, are done. We are getting too old for public office. We need to allow the generations that followed us to take the reins of power. It is their world from here on out and not ours! If you do not want former Pres. Trump to win, then do what is best for the country and turn over the reins!

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It Is Time to End the Ukraine War!


Twenty months ago, Ukraine was invaded by a power purportedly much stronger than it. But as time has gone by, Ukrainians have risen to the cause and for the most part, held the Russians at bay.

Right now, the United States is the big dog on the block where the free world is concerned. But the United States seems to have abdicated its responsibilities when Ukraine is concerned going back to 2014. At the time of the Obama Administration, the Russian invasion of Crimea was a clear and present danger to the free people of Ukraine and, even more, to the rest of the world. Obama chose to do nothing.

During the Trump Administration, President Trump cozied up to Pres. Putin of Russia and put Ukraine in harm’s way by his ridiculous accusations towards that country. He said nothing when he knew the Russian propaganda machine was spouting its lies of Ukraine being run by neo-Nazis. Of course, with a Jewish president of the country, it was obvious to any thinking person that such was not the case.

And now we have to overly cautious Pres. Biden doing well with sending aid to Ukraine but failing by not having taken NATO to task and said that a large-scale land war was needed to resolve the conflict in a quick manner.

If the United States is to be the guardian of the free world, then it must act accordingly. And right now, there is not peace for the free world country of Ukraine. The problem of sending effective weapons systems to Ukraine was that Ukraine relied largely on Soviet built systems, rifles, aircraft, etc. The U.S. sent system to Ukraine and then had to see that Ukrainian soldiers were trained on these systems. That takes month in almost every case. And now it wants to send F-16 aircraft there, but it will take a full year to train pilots and their support crews. That is a year Ukraine does not have, even if it will be very effective in its future.

Ukraine has proven Russia to be little more than a paper tiger which unfortunately has a large cache of nuclear weapons. Sabre rattle as much as Putin enjoys, he knows full well that he is still in a position of Mutually Assured Self Destruction (MADD) with the United States. And even if he gave the order for his generals to unleash some of his battlefield nukes, it is unlikely the order would be followed as all military people are extremely aware of the consequences of such actions.

Right now, the United States has an entire division, the 101st Airborne, headquartered in Romania. Why? This was simply a defensive action against the possible expansion of Putin’s war. But it is the first time since the end of WW2 that the United States has had an entire division stationed anywhere in Europe. This means our government is extremely aware of the threat that Russia maintains.

As someone who served many years in the U.S. Army, I can tell you war is never as good as peace. But there is a war, and it has implications which extend far beyond Ukraine. There is Belarus which is entirely aligned with Russia, and which has allowed the Russian military to use its territory for its war against Ukraine.

It is time for the U.S. to announce to NATO and the world that it will now actively support Ukraine with its great air power. It will also send its fleet into the Black Sea as Russia has blockaded commerce, which is also a threat to the world, especially Africa. This type of military action does not invite battlefield nukes, but it will show Russia, China and North Korea, that we as a country grow weary of the evil they try to spread.

Russia does not have a large navy and can ill afford to lose any of its ships of war. And in an air war, the United States is clearly superior, and any large air conflict could very significantly reduce Russia’s ability to wage war in that manner.

Lest anyone doubt it, our military already has solid plans for just that sort of conflict, but it can do nothing without the President’s stamp of approval. We cannot go back and be like we were in 1940, isolationist. That is how we are acting right now because the President knows the American people do not have the stomach for another ground war. But an air and sea war are a different animal and a way for the United States to expel all Russian forces from all of Ukraine to include Crimea and the black sea.

That done, Ukraine’s entrance into NATO would be very easy.

And so, when it comes to world peace, who is the enemy of peace? To quote a very old comic, “we have met the enemy, and it is us.”

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World War III? Do Not Count It Out!


Right now the world is in a very precarious state. The war in Ukraine is front and center but it is far from the only issue of world safety. China is an ally of Russia and is already on a war footing. Will the Chinese send weapons to Russia? I think it likely. And worse, our ability to detect such movements of weapons can be made difficult simply by sending them by rail.

In the 21st century, China has had expansionist plans ever since it took over Tibet and the world did nothing. It regained Hong Cong and the world was forced to stand by as the iron fist of Chinese Communist rule struck down any inkling of democracy in Hong Kong. Now it has its eyes on Taiwan.

And while China built up its industrial complex to be a world supplier of electronics needed in our everyday life. Right now China is a world economic power and fast gaining influence in 3rd world countries, particularly in Africa.

The unstable variable in all this is President Putin of Russia. We have heard that it is doubtful that battlefield nuclear arms will be moved into Belarus. But I would not bet against that either.

We do not know 90% of the information our intelligence community has gathered. It has always been that way. And the hope is that they are getting good intel.

All the above items will figure into what happens next. And I expect the next thing to happen is Russia’s all-out assault on Ukraine which will include all portions of Russia’s armed forces. I expect the reason Ukrainian soldiers are being trained on the Patriot Air Defense system is our country is expecting Russia to launch a much increased missle attack but also a much higher use of jet aircraft to included bombers, something it has not done to date. Bombers can fly at 50,000 feeet over Ukraine and effectively hit any target it desires.

On the other side of the world China is making warlike moves on Taiwan. It would not take much for a war to break out there which we would ultimately be drawn into because of our commitment to help defend Taiwan. It is not unreasonable to expect Russia to be embolden after getting Chinese support to draw in NATO.

Then what? WWIII.

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NATO and Ukraine


When last I wrote of this war, I was of the opinion that NATO would be forced to support Ukraine or watch it fall to Russia. I was wrong. And for the small bit, I am grateful. But I am not in the least satisfied with NATO’s response, and, as its leading member, the response of the United States.

What I have seen of Russia’s army is that it is not well trained and lacking in good command and control on the battlefield. Some have suggested that Ukraine could win this war. It cannot. At least not on its own. Russia has been through this before in Chechnya and Afghanistan. They won the former while losing the latter. But in both cases, Russian was willing to take on the battle for years. This we must remember.

I have found President Biden’s response has been slow and lacking. I voted for Biden and considering the state of the world today, it was a good choice. Still, he lacks decisiveness. He has bungled the request of Ukraine to get MIG-29 jets from Poland. Everyone in power was in fear of Putin, and it showed! The simple answer to transferring those jets was to allow Ukrainian pilots to fly them home. There are only a handful and flying below radar should be easy for experienced pilots which Ukraine does have!

In the past, the United States has had no problem with getting military advisors secreted into combat areas. The claim that Ukrainian military lack training in anti-ship weapons is true but getting them trained would have been easily accomplished in the opening days of the war.

That the United States, and President Biden, continues the refrain of not wanting to escalate the war by making Putin angry is beyond the pale. Putin has been increasingly escalating this war without incurring similar response from Ukraine. That he has Sabre rattled about nuclear weapons is something our military is ready with a response, and Putin knows this! He has called our bluff and we have succumbed.

NATO and the United States needs to act boldly. They need to come to terms with adding Ukraine to NATO. Putin knows this is on the agenda but has called the West’s bluff by stating he would consider such an action as an escalation! Really? And most recently he has said that if Ukraine agrees to never join NATO, he might be willing to end the war. Of course, he has also said that Ukraine must cede more territory to Russia.

It is now established that China is unwilling to come to the rescue of Russia with military aid. It does, however, supply humanitarian aid. While in Ukraine, Russia has not allowed for humanitarian aid anywhere in Ukraine.

With things as they are now, President Biden and NATO have allowed things to progress to a point where giving Ukraine proper aid is greatly reduced. But there is a way around this that was employed a long time ago, the United Nations. During the Korean War, the troops fighting North Korea were declared UN troops, though the uniforms were those of the nations involved. Why have we not tried, at least, to use this to combat Putin and put an end to the hostilities?

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A Ukrainian / U.S. Involvement


At this writing, the Russian aggression along the Ukrainian border and its occupation of the Crimea poses a serious threat to world peace. What we have heard the most is about the United Nations and its responsibility to this situation. As we know, at present, the Ukraine is not a part of NATO. What does that mean? It means that the U.N. is relatively powerless to take action in the event of a Russian invasion, which, is probably imminent. But that does not mean countries cannot send troops in to help.

In the case of the United States, we need only to look at our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria to see that. Each country involved in those efforts did so on an individual basis rather than part of a coalition such as NATO. Putin has put NATO front and center as being a “threat” to his national security. That is pure hogwash and the world knows that. Why does he do that then? Because he does not want the Ukraine to become a part of it and enjoy the benefit of a united security effort.

The U.S., contrary to anything Pres. Biden has said, can act unilaterally, as it did in Iraq, and send in ground troops. And there are two reasons we would do that. First, it is unlikely that Putin wants to war against U.S. troops. Despot that he is, he probably understands that long-term negative effects on Russia. And second, the U.S. can provide the personnel support of having troops trained in various defense systems that the Ukrainians presently lack.

The 8500 troops Biden has already alerted fall far short of the number needs for a strong show of force. Of the continental U.S. Army divisions are at least 6 which could supply men and arms to the Ukraine. The 8500 coming from the 82nd Air Borne can be bolsters by the 1st, 4th, 5th, 101st among others. Each division has a size of about 15,000 personnel. And additional support troops for many places in the U.S. could also be deployed, such as Army Engineers, ordinance specialists, air attack helicopter groups, etc.

But an even more importantly, the U.S. could then use airpower against the Russian invasion without ever sending a single Air Force unit into the Ukraine. We likely enjoy air superiority to Russia in this area as well. But the most important part of that superiority is the ability of our Air Force units to make strategic decisions at a much lower level than Russia. Russian military beaurocracy has always pushed decision making upwards where the U.S. has pushed in downward.

I do hope that the joint chiefs and their advisors have advised the President of their various scenarios, not doubt long formulated, for entering the Ukraine. And these would doubtless be many and varied responses to Russian aggression. We cannot at this juncture show any weakness when dealing with them and a strong show of force to Russia may well pre-empt an invasion idea they have, hopefully.

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The New American Xenophobia


Xenophobe n. One who fears or hates strangers or foreigners or anything that is foreign. (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, 1988, p. 1332)

At the beginning of the 20th Century American immigration laws were few. An immigrant had to have on his person $50, a named sponsor to take him in, be free of disease or mental defect, and have no criminal record. Americans today view all immigrants of that time coming through Ellis Island New York. But in truth, the ports of Boston and Baltimore were also quite alive with immigrants.

Europe during the period 1900 to 1915 was fraught with civil wars, unrest, and an Ottoman Empire which was at war with Great Britain. As can be seen by the map below, the Ottoman Empire covered most of the Baltic countries and large portions of the middle east. It is also worthy of mention that this was a Moslem Empire which Christian Europe feared. In Eastern Europe, Russia was flexing its influence as it held onto much of the territory it controlled when it became the USSR. In particular, it controlled most of Poland as we know it today. In 1905 the Czar ordered that all Polish men of a certain age be drafted into the Russian Army. Those who refused realized harsh consequences.

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Ottoman Empire 1905

 

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Russian Czarist Empire

 

In the case of Italy, the country’s industrial north did not offer enough employment for Italy’s labor force. The Italian tendency towards large families made for an excess labor force. The excess labor force could find work neither on the farm nor in Italy’s factories, hence they looked towards America where, they heard, there existed a need for more labor. They also heard, falsely of course, that such labor, even though unskilled, was well-paid.

The social, economic and political unrest of much of Europe lead to its radicalization. Some were of the new socialism as outlined by Karl Marx and practiced by Trotsky and Lenin prior to the revolution. Conversely, Fascism arose out of Europe’s aristocracy against the growing socialist ideals. The common man found himself caught between the two groups in Europe with no place to run, except America.

The overwhelming majority of immigrants to America in the early 20th century were people coming from extreme poverty. They were indeed a cross-section of Europe embracing every type of religious, political and social belief. And as with any cross-section, among them were the anarchists and others who would prove troublesome to the established American public.

The epicenter of American radicalism in those days was in the small boarding house rooms of Greenwich Village. They were a small but vocal group who advocated the overthrow of the wealthy, the industrialists, and the powerful politicians by any means possible. Names like Emma Goldman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Sanger, and John Reed seemed to most Americans to be the ones originating most of America’s radical troubles, but as with many things, the truth was something quite different.

When Leon Czolgosz assassinated President William McKinley, William “Big Bill” Haywood, Emma Goldman was extremely vocal in her opposition to violence as a tool of the anarchists. Margaret Sanger attended many anarchists meetings in Greenwich Village, but her purpose was to gain support for her settlement house in the lower east side and in getting aid for single mothers. John Reed was a journalist who was more interested in reporting on the anarchists, though he did agree with their views, the partaking in their political actions. Big Bill Haywood was an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, a socialist union whose prime member was the unskilled laborer. But in 1907 Haywood had been tried for murder in Idaho. Haywood was innocent of the charge, a charge that had been trumped up simply because local politicians hated him, and found innocent after his trial. But he could not shake being labeled as a murder and his presence always brought trepidation to any community he visited.

People like Haywood and Sanger took on the cause of the immigrant and were closely associated with the various new immigrant groups. When a strike broke out in Lawrence Massachusetts in 1912, Big Bill visited the city and both city and state leadership felt certain that riots and all sorts of violence were sure to follow. Again, the truth is far different. Haywood spent very little time in Lawrence and focused his energies on raising funds for the strikers in other parts of New England. He actually had no interest in being a part of the strike save the role of fund-raiser. But then dynamite was found at a house in North Lawrence and everyone was certain that the IWW and Big Bill were somehow behind it. A few days later it was discovered that William Wood, a mill owner, had planted the dynamite in an effort to discredit the efforts of the IWW to win the strike.

What in common between the events of the early 20th Century and those of this presidential campaign, is Donald Trump’s use of fear and xenophobia to activate an American public. Fear is common to all human beings and has been used to exploit people throughout the ages. Because we are in the middle of Trump’s plotting it can be hard to gain perspective, but it is perspective that will save us from foolish beliefs and even more foolish moves.

The immigrant is the life blood of America and their introduction into our country makes us stronger. And while it is true that there are elements in those immigrants who would do America harm, we are more than strong enough to survive their worst. Unlike much of the world, our country thrives upon its diversity. Our Constitution guarantees that diversity cannot be used against us.   And the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty bear remembering, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Amen!

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Putin Escalates the Crisis in the Ukraine


Vladimir Putin said he would respect the vote taken in the Eastern Ukraine.  Well, of course he will!  It suits his purposes!  NATO, the United Nations have once again taken an entirely impotent stance.  Let’s work this out diplomatically, they say.  Are you kidding me?  Have you seen those masked cowards who have taken over the cities in Eastern Ukraine?  Do you really believe they care a wit about negotiations and diplomacy?  They care about one thing and one thing only, being annexed by Russia.

But let us be very clear about one thing.  Soldiers, even in a civil or revolutionary army do not cover their faces.  The fight openly and proudly for their cause.  You can take two things by these masked cowards:  they are cowards, or, they are actually Russian military sent in to disrupt proper Ukrainian law and order.  I am betting on the latter.  But I also believe there are some cowardly Ukrainian citizens who want to be a part of Russia who are masking their face.  Still, if Russia had any respect for another country’s sovereignty, it would categorically declare itself neutral and stay out of the fight.  I suspect that quite the opposite is happening.  I suspect Russia is supplying arms and other assistance to the rebel cause.

What’s in this for Russia.  In truth, I do not think they are all that interested in the eastern portion of the Ukraine but rather that part of the country which borders the Black Sea.  Their taking of Crimea was only the first step in realizing that goal.  The Russian regime is little more than a bunch of thugs and bullies with Vladimir Putin leading the charge.

As much as the U.S. and its allies do not need another war right now, we have an ally in the Ukraine and they are almost in desperate straits.  How long before we, NATO, UN, ask Ukraine exactly what and how much help they need, and then send it to them in force.

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Is History Repeating Itself in the Ukraine?


It is said that those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.  In 1938 Adolph Hitler annexed a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland.  His claim was that it was mostly inhabited by ethnic Germans which was true.  The Czech government lacked the military authority to resist the takeover.  England and France railed at this action, which Hitler called Anschluss, but did nothing of consequence.  Of course that was only the first step in Hitler’s desire to control all of Eastern Europe which history tells us he eventually did by late 1939.  In 1940 he turned on his “ally,” Stalin, and invaded the Soviet Union.  Prior to Hitler’s invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland he amassed his troops along the borders of those countries.  He invaded Poland on the premise that the Poles had actually attacked first, a total fabrication of course.

It is scary to watch the events taking place along the Russian and Ukraine border and not find the parallels with 1938 and 1939.  Putin has send at least 40,000 troops to that border region.  What are his intentions?  The Ukrainians have shown absolutely not hostile intent towards Russia.  To wit, thus far, they have acquiesced to Russia’s takeover of the Crimea.  To be sure, Crimea is mostly ethnic Russians but the land itself belongs to the Ukraine.  Russia has with malice taken territory sovereign to the Ukrainian republic.

Respect of a countries borders though a time-honored tradition is replete with skirmishes and wars over those borders.  Russia’s history tells us they have been particularly pugnacious is that respect.  The Czars of Russia felt it their right to occupy Poland and other lands they claimed some ancient, albeit specious, right to.  The old Soviet Union occupied much of Eastern Europe after 1945 by simply refusing to remove its troops following the defeat of Germany.  While countries like Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania continued to exist as entities, the did so only as puppets of the Soviet regime.  And even when Soviet troops were removed, those troops of any particular country were always subservient to the Russian army and the desires of the Kremlin.  The Hungarian uprising of 1956 showed the desire of the general population to remove itself from Soviet control only to be put down.

It is my fear the Putin and his Russian government is seeking a return to the days of the old Soviet.  We must remember that Putin is a product of that old regime.  He rose to prominence within the KGB.  The despotism and authoritarianism of the old Soviet seems to still exist within the likes of Putin.  It would not be surprising to find that Putin’s true desire is to return Russia to the old Soviet style government.  Wise men caution us that the best way to judge what a person is going to do is by what he has done in the past.

As much as I despise the idea of war, I think the United States and its allies need to ask the Ukrainian government if it would like a NATO presence in its country to protect against any Russian ideas of invasion.  If there is one thing NATO learn well, hopefully, during the cold-war years, is that a strong military presence facing its foes is an excellent deterrent.  The United States, in particular, needs to state that it is willing to at least offer, and follow through, such support.

The people of the Ukraine have the right to self-determination and the Russian government has absolutely no right to any land sovereign to the Ukrainian people.