Irv Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 2 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said: Just like the 70's all over again! Jimmy Biden! When do the US hostages get taken and gas rationing instituted. What a mess! 1
The Frankish Reich Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 16 minutes ago, B-Man said: This talking point - "they sense weakness" - is absolutely insane. Biden: firm support for Ukraine against Russia's attack. MAGA Republicans: "we don't have a dog in this fight; no more aid." Biden: firm support for Israel against Hamas' coordinated terrorist attacks. MAGA Republicans: you tell me where they stand. Other than criticizing Biden ("a bad thing happened while you were President") I don't even know where they stand. With the Palestinians? With Israel? Honestly, what do they think the United States should do? Stand aside? Isn't that projecting "weakness" - we don't have a dog in this fight? We need to recognize what's happened here. Traditional roles are reversed. The MAGA Republicans have become Lindbergh in the 1930s, isolationists who want to avoid all foreign involvements. The Democrats are - as Biden just repeated - still holding to the idea that America is the strongest nation in the world and that things that happen in the rest of the world are our business, in that we will stand alongside our allies against threats to their security. Edited October 18, 2023 by The Frankish Reich 1 1
B-Man Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) Please stop talking Joe ! JFK: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Reagan: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Biden: "It's not we lead, it's not just... well, I won't go into it." . Edited October 18, 2023 by B-Man 2
Orlando Buffalo Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said: This talking point - "they sense weakness" - is absolutely insane. Biden: firm support for Ukraine against Russia's attack. MAGA Republicans: "we don't have a dog in this fight; no more aid." Biden: firm support for Israel against Hamas' coordinated terrorist attacks. MAGA Republicans: you tell me where they stand. Other than criticizing Biden ("a bad thing happened while you were President") I don't even know where they stand. With the Palestinians? With Israel? Honestly, what do they think the United States should do? Stand aside? Isn't that projecting "weakness" - we don't have a dog in this fight? We need to recognize what's happened here. Traditional roles are reversed. The MAGA Republicans have become Lindbergh in the 1930s, isolationists who want to avoid all foreign involvements. The Democrats are - as Biden just repeated - still holding to the idea that America is the strongest nation in the world and that things that happen in the rest of the world are our business, in that we will stand alongside our allies against threats to their security. Frank, what is the end game in Ukraine? We don't have any plan for peace and are spending hundred of billions of our children's dollars. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in history and while better than Russia are not the white knights. I was for supporting them until they were stable and Russia stopped advancing which has happened. Now we force them to come to a peace accord. I won't argue about Israel yet because it might be a month before a reasonable long term plan can be solidified, but I would have preferred the world where Israel was not at war.
The Frankish Reich Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 Just now, Orlando Tim said: Frank, what is the end game in Ukraine? We don't have any plan for peace and are spending hundred of billions of our children's dollars. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in history and while better than Russia are not the white knights. I was for supporting them until they were stable and Russia stopped advancing which has happened. Now we force them to come to a peace accord. I won't argue about Israel yet because it might be a month before a reasonable long term plan can be solidified, but I would have preferred the world where Israel was not at war. So your point is Biden - projecting strength in his unwavering support of Ukraine - is making a mistake. In other words, he should be saying "we don't have a dog in this fight." Some might say that is projecting America's weakness and emboldening further aggression against our allies. Which is my point. (Your point is something different)
Irv Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 12 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said: So your point is Biden - projecting strength in his unwavering support of Ukraine - is making a mistake. In other words, he should be saying "we don't have a dog in this fight." Some might say that is projecting America's weakness and emboldening further aggression against our allies. Which is my point. (Your point is something different) What a mess. We had world peace with Trump. Now the world has two major wars and is on the brink of a half dozen more due to perceived US weakness. Thanks, Demented Biden.
All_Pro_Bills Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 32 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said: So your point is Biden - projecting strength in his unwavering support of Ukraine - is making a mistake. In other words, he should be saying "we don't have a dog in this fight." Some might say that is projecting America's weakness and emboldening further aggression against our allies. Which is my point. (Your point is something different) And that unwavering support has gotten the US involved in exactly what? Another dumpster fire. Its amazing how nobody in charge takes the time to evaluate and understand the consequences before they go off on these adventures. Or maybe they do and just don't give a damn about those consequences. The latter is more likely. The Russians have achieved their objectives and no amount of wishful thinking is going to get the occupied territory back, Europe's economy is a mess, the western alliance is fragmenting, we're about $150 billion in the hole, all told about a half million soldiers and citizens between the adversaries are dead and plus or minus 1/2 of Ukraine's population has left the country. If that's the results we get with a policy of unwavering support, then no thank you. Being completely objective viewing things from the position of an impartial observer, it all could have been avoided with some extensive diplomacy and negotiation which included understanding and acknowledging everyone's interests. Once the Russians concluded negotiating with the US/Europe was senseless the path to war was the only option (they said so too). They also said expanding NATO to Ukraine was a red line. This was dismissed also. What's mind blowing is all this was obvious to me, and others here, viewing the situation 6,000 miles away but all the experts we employ in Washington and the foreign service around the world couldn't see this outcome as the most likely! Edited October 18, 2023 by All_Pro_Bills 1
sherpa Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 3 hours ago, John from Riverside said: So I’m going to say that military are not civilians they are not innocent Hard for me to say, because I am a veteran myself, but the fact of the matter is, we were in a combat situation and lives that were lost, were lost in combat. My heart goes out to their families, and they are heroes. Innocent lives were lost because we abandoned those who supported us in a disgraceful and completely stupid manner. The lives I am talking about were not combat casualties. They were lost because the US fleeing Afghanistan, a decision made by this administration, put them at grave risk, and it didn't need to be that way. 3
The Frankish Reich Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said: The Russians have achieved their objectives So a full-on attack heading toward Kiev was in support of an occupation/annexation of the Donbas? Obviously Russia's objective - it's stated "de-Nazification" objective - was to overthrow the Ukrainian leadership and to install a puppet regime, just like in Belarus. If it had simply wanted to invade/annex the Donbas, well, that would have been easy. Ukraine, with the support of the US and Europe, thwarted that objective. That is not a minor accomplishment ...
Tommy Callahan Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said: So a full-on attack heading toward Kiev was in support of an occupation/annexation of the Donbas? Obviously Russia's objective - it's stated "de-Nazification" objective - was to overthrow the Ukrainian leadership and to install a puppet regime, just like in Belarus. If it had simply wanted to invade/annex the Donbas, well, that would have been easy. Ukraine, with the support of the US and Europe, thwarted that objective. That is not a minor accomplishment ... Or the oil field/pipeline in Donbas and strategic Crimea. at least judging by the actions of the military actions prior to the drone attack on the kremlin. Edited October 18, 2023 by Tommy Callahan
The Frankish Reich Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, Tommy Callahan said: Or the oil field/pipeline in Donbas and strategic Crimea. at least judging by the actions of the military actions prior to the drone attack on the kremlin. "De-nazification" of an oil field and Crimea? I don't think so. Full-on, old school conquest was the goal. 1 1
Tommy Callahan Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 38 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said: "De-nazification" of an oil field and Crimea? I don't think so. Full-on, old school conquest was the goal. Russia's vast geography is an important determinant of its economic activity, with the country holding a large share of the world's natural resources.[31] It has been widely described as an energy superpower;[32] as it has the world's largest natural gas reserves,[33] 2nd-largest coal reserves,[34] 8th-largest oil reserves,[35] and the largest oil shale reserves in Europe.[36] It is the world's leading natural gas exporter,[37] the 2nd-largest natural gas producer,[38] and the 2nd-largest oil exporter,[39] and producer.[40] Russia's foreign exchange reserves are the world's 4th-largest.[41] It has a labour force of roughly 70 million people, which is the world's 7th-largest.[42] Russia is the world's 3rd-largest exporter of arms.[43] The oil and gas sector accounted up to roughly 40% of Russia's federal budget revenues, and up to 60% of its exports in 2019.[44] Russia has the world's 5th-largest number of billionaires. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia# the fact people think this isn't about energy is strange. Ukraine has immense potential for investment with its vast oil and gas resources, ranking second across Europe for gas reserves. Shown in Figure 3 below, these resources are divided into three major regions: the Dnipro-Donetsk basin, the Carpathian region in western Ukraine, and the Black Sea and Crimea region. The Dnipro-Donetsk basin holds the majority of these resources. In terms of production, natural gas takes up 89%, oil 7.9%, and gas condensate takes up 3.1% in terms of hydrocarbon production (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2021; Renkin, 2019; The Energy Consulting Group, 2015). Consequently, the Ukrainian government considers the oil and gas industry as a strategic sector; with the majority of production belonging to state-owned companies accounting for approximately 74%, domestic private firms accounting for 18% and other private firms accounting for 3% of production. Additionally, Ukraine has numerous pipelines enabling Russian oil and gas to be pumped into Europe via Ukraine as shown in Figure 4. Ukraine receives an approximate US$1.5 billion in transit fees from Russian gas being pumped through these transmission lines (Renkin, 2019; Intelligence Fusion, 2021; Schuler, 2014; Yermolenko and Panchenko, 2021). https://www.intelligencefusion.co.uk/insights/resources/intelligence-reports/russia-ukraine-donbass-conflict-threats-to-oil-and-gas/ This is that part where the strawmen or goal post moves come. Edited October 18, 2023 by Tommy Callahan 1
Pabstblueribbon Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 1 hour ago, sherpa said: Innocent lives were lost because we abandoned those who supported us in a disgraceful and completely stupid manner. The lives I am talking about were not combat casualties. They were lost because the US fleeing Afghanistan, a decision made by this administration, put them at grave risk, and it didn't need to be that way. Leave no doubt: "Almost a year later, the U.S government is still working to rectify its last act in Afghanistan – an erroneous airstrike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children. A U.S. airstrike in the final days of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan intended for an ISIS-K terrorist instead killed the aid worker Zemari Ahmadi and members of his family. After initially calling it a "righteous strike" and claiming no civilians were killed, the Pentagon admitted its mistake and promised to resettle members of Ahmadi's family and employees of the aid organization he worked for. " 2
Tommy Callahan Posted October 18, 2023 Posted October 18, 2023 Guy Ritchie's The Covenant is a good movie that touches on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PPMPArNEQ 1
B-Man Posted October 19, 2023 Posted October 19, 2023 We Are Witnessing The Horrors of Weak American Leadership BY Eric Early The horror in Israel is a byproduct of a foreign policy that shuns the foundation of Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy: Peace through Strength. The world watched the Joe Biden disaster that unfolded in Afghanistan after he cut and run, leaving our citizens and allies to be slaughtered by the Taliban, Bagram Air Base to be taken over by China, and $80 billion in highly sophisticated military equipment to be gobbled up by all takers including no less than Hamas itself. Biden is the weakest American president since Jimmy Carter and the worst president in my lifetime. A low-intelligence U.S. President who acts tough but is actually weak is a deadly combination. That, in a nutshell, is Joe Biden. He is likely a felon as well. But no worries – he can conjure up a Cheshire Cat grin at a moment’s notice. The Iranian Mullahs control Hamas and Hezbollah. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or ignorant or both. They and their brethren in Al Qaeda and Taliban are experiencing a renaissance under Biden, thanks to his and his cabal’s ignorance and horrendous weakness – a cabal that includes Biden himself, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, John Kerry, Susan Rice and Robert Malley (the last of whom has been quoted as saying Hamas is simply misunderstood, who along with former CIA Director John Brennan appear to be the ones that told Obama ISIS was “a JV Team” and who is now under government investigation for possibly sharing classified information with Iranian mullah informants). They are an embarrassment and a disgrace to our nation. https://redstate.com/redstate-guest-editorial/2023/10/19/we-are-witnessing-the-horrors-of-weak-american-leadership-n2165255 . 2
B-Man Posted October 19, 2023 Posted October 19, 2023 How the World Is Treating Us Now: Saudi Arabia Snubs Blinken Big Time By Nick Arama https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/10/19/saudi-arabia-snubs-blinken-big-time-n2165274 . 1
B-Man Posted October 23, 2023 Posted October 23, 2023 Biden Middle East Policy: Don't, Or We'll Be Forced To Say Don't Again .https://hotair.com/generalissimo/2023/10/23/biden-middle-east-policy-dont-or-well-be-forced-to-say-dont-again-n586836 3
B-Man Posted October 23, 2023 Posted October 23, 2023 Joe Biden's speech to the nation on Thursday was striking because of its focus on providing aid for others besides Israel, particularly making a priority of aid to Gaza and Ukraine. What seemed to get short shrift in the speech was the focus on the Americans who had been killed and kidnapped by Hamas. Two were fortunately released, but there are still approximately ten being held. What also was completely ignored in the speech was the hundreds of Americans who are now trapped in Gaza and the multiple attacks on American forces that have been taking place, some attacks believed to be perpetrated by Iran's proxies, the Houthis. Biden made clear that aid to Gaza was a priority, and now the aid is flowing in. So what is the Biden team doing about responding to the attacks or getting the Americans who are trapped or kidnapped out? Biden spent the weekend at the beach. But here's what the Biden team said. Quote Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday that the U.S. expects Iranian proxies to seek opportunities to escalate the Israel-Hamas war and asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond accordingly if American civilians or armed forces become targets. "This is not what we want, not what we're looking for. We don't want escalation," Blinken said. "We don't want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we're ready for it." Austin said, "We won't hesitate to take the appropriate action." Yet, they're not. They haven't responded to the attacks, which would normally call for a targeted response. They aren't even talking about the attacks. Blinken seems to be pretending that they didn't even happen in this comment. As we noted, Americans were wounded in one of the strikes. https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/10/23/biden-teams-latest-response-to-americans-being-killed-kidnapped-and-trapped-is-infuriating-n2165445 2
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