I admit I was wrong on Ukraine. If anyone desires to return to the arcives of this site and look at my view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I was clearly on the side of Ukraine. Why? When someone invades your territory, yes, even your home with your family present, you are more willing to fight to the last breath than to give up and watch your country 9family) raped and killed. I also thought the timeline would be short because the Russians, on the ground had no taste for this intervention. I still believe this to be true.

Hundreds of thousands have died or been wounded in this war to date and what’s interesting about it less than two years in, is that the largest armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War, receives almost no coverage in the mostly unaffected western(NATO) countries. Sure, this past week, Ukraine was the number one discussion among those European ‘“allies”, but those same talks received minimal news coverage. That the U.S. President promised support, basically forever, raised hardly an objection from either side of the houses of government and the fact of supplying Ukraine with munitions have seriously degraded our own military forces didn’t raise an eyebrow.

As I write this, the “Spring Offensive” rages on as Ukraine slowly, but definitely, takes back it’s territory from Russian occupation. Even Russians are becoming disconsolate as there was the recent abdication of Wagner Group troops and their possible complete withdrawal from their Russian paymasters. Some units may have even defected to Ukraine. None of this really explains either Russia’s hard-headed determination to conquer Ukraine, or the western countries (mainly the U.S.) interest in Russian failure. What does the west gain? Is this simply a warning to our Chinese adversary concerning Taiwan? Possibly, but our leaders in Washington don’t really appear that smart.

It seems clear that those same allies in Europe aren’t on the same page as the U.S. is the supplier of armaments and only a trickle arrives from our NATO fellows. But wait until a missile accidentally falls in one of their countries. See how fast they call for American intervention. Right now, well, from the beginning, this conflict should’ve been more concerning for Ukraine’s neighbors than the U.S. The problem Ukraine has right now is holding on to American sympathy. As the politicians on both sides become more hawkish over time. That may change after the 2024 election. There’s a growing anti-war militancy and people here are tired of hearing about Ukraine’s borders when ours is wide open. It will be mentioned, a lot. If Biden looks like hr’s losing, look for an escalation if there is more than we can do without using direct air and ground forces.

We should force some sort of diplomatic end that both sides are able to live with. That will probably require a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, but with the current state of the Russian army, that may be the best outcome Russia could get.