So some fair points...

Posted on: October 10, 2022 at 17:19:32 CT

Let me address...

1. I understand the world police theory and I agree to an extent. However, Putin has been severely checked by the unity that has been shown by America, Europe and many other countries. Putin was not expecting this, and frankly he probably shouldn't have.

2. We haven't "invaded" anyone. Like every other country, America is acting in its own best interests but those interests are aligned not only with its allies but with Ukraine. So we support Ukraine.

3. What countries have we invaded and "made part of our empire"? We always pay out of pocket for all of our world policing. Last I checked, we didn't take Iraqi oil or Afghani raw materials for removing Saddam Hussein / trying to rid them of ISIS and Taliban.

4. I don't hear any a lot of hawks talking about engaging Russia directly. That would be extremely reckless, given their nuclear arsenal. Even if we wanted to, we just wasted 20 years in the M.E. and again learned that nation building is hard to do. In this case, we're responding to aggression by Russia against a democratic country by supporting that country with weapons. I think we're obligated to do that given our military technology and given the fact that Ukraine is a free country.

5. Do not think Putin ever intended to stop at Ukraine with his invasion. He has used the NATO at his doorstep excuse a lot, but it's just a pretext to try and bring Russia back to what he views as it's glory days when he was a KGB man. That would mean invading other former satellite, now free countries like Moldova, maybe Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Putin has all but said that jettisoning these areas as part of the collapse was a mistake. So Ukraine was intended to be the first domino, make not mistake about that. Just because he has been cosmically ill informed about the strength and potency of his military (which is his fault by the way) doesn't mean he didn't and doesn't intend to do much more.

6. I do not support American boots on the ground in Ukraine whatsoever and under any condition. My support ends with goodwill and military and humanitarian aid. From a purely dollar to dollar standpoint though, this is a drop in the bucket compared to what doing nothing might later cost our economy when the instability that Putin would bring to the global economy hits.

7. A side benefit to this entire Ukraine mess has been that it has been a great example for China and what it could face in Taiwan. China has a lot of long delayed economic realities about ready to come home to roost (another topic entirely but basically an overleveraged banking system / real estate market and a huge huge huge demographic tsunami which is unsolvable thanks to their disastrous one child policy). If there's a silver lining with Ukraine it's that it may give China much needed pause with respect to invading Taiwan.

And as a quick aside, if you don't think America will defend Taiwan if China invades, you don't understand that Taiwan is THE capital of the semiconductor market in the world. That's really why China wants it and why America will really have to defend it.

Edited by Gyro at 17:21:29 on 10/10/22