No one talks about Ukraine anymore

[gcode]

Instapundit

The only bright spot in all of this is that Russia's offensive capabilities have been destroyed for a generation.
There will be no Russian tank armies pouring through the Fulda Gap any time soon.

Ukraine's anguishing self-defense is not a novel. But we're quietly losing interest in this conflict — I include myself — because it's not satisfying our fictional appetites. Recall that about a year ago I worried here that our narrative expectations of this war may be taking us into the realm of fantasy. I observed glumly that the war's probable resolution is an ugly moral compromise that sacrifices a goodly chunk of a sovereign nation to a monomaniacal bully — who will doubtless spin Ukrainian concessions as a dazzling military success, one that redeems for the Russian people his unprovoked aggression and the many deaths of their sons, brothers and fathers.

This endgame is more likely than ever. I'm not happy about that. In fact, it makes me sick. But the average age of the Ukrainian army is now forty-three, a statistic that makes me even sicker. They're running out of young men, not because the young men won't serve but because they're dead. Ukrainian women are being sent to the front lines. Russia had nearly four times the population of Ukraine before the war; given the reduced population in Kyiv-controlled areas, the countries are now mismatched in manpower by a factor of five. With his legacy and political future on the line, Putin is clearly all-in for the long haul. The easily manipulated Russian public have not rebelled. Putin's inner sanctum hasn't staged a coup. Russian GDP has increased since last year. The rouble started rising against the dollar. Western sanctions have failed.

I don't share the view of many Republicans that Ukraine should be thrown under a bus because the country is none of our business and America should spend taxpayers' money on solutions to its own problems. But just because the conflict's resolution has major geopolitical ramifications doesn't mean we can write our own happy ending. No matter how much ordnance the US and NATO ship to Zelensky, we're not providing the soldiers obliged to wield it. I say this with a heavy heart: if the writing is on the wall — if a negotiated settlement that cedes captured territory to Putin looks inevitable — maybe it's time to urge the Zelensky government to enter talks to bring this depressing war to its depressing conclusion. Dragging out an entrenched stalemate merely racks up a higher body count and destroys more Ukrainian homes and infrastructure to no purpose. Sitting back and giving Ukrainians just enough weaponry to keep fighting to the last man and woman, only for the country to finally end up where we always knew it would, is not just immoral. It's murder.

[JParis]

Putin being in for the long haul was always the biggest issue that Ukraine was not likely to overcome.

The US and NATO, even for all the billions in equipment that has been given over, screwed the Ukrainian people.

They gave up their nukes for the promise of security and are left in the lurch....

[gcode]

and are left in the lurch

that's how we roll
the last time we kept our word was the Korean War
you'd have to be a damned fool to believe anything the US government says today

[Incogneeto]

Meh!! it's just a skirmish.

Biden sold all our Oil reserves and now he keeps selling our Arms.

Israel is cleaning house.

And our commander in Chef has us bombing Syria Iraq and Yemen.

All told as the swearing in of our new Prez , we are involved in 5 conflicts.

and the Border is Wide Open.

He's just asking for an attack within our own Country.


Ukraine Who???

[RobertELee]

He's just asking for an attack within our own Country.

That's the plan. AOC says it's all children passing over the border. But from every video I've seen it's about 99% military aged men. If your home country is so terrible why are you leaving your women and children there?


#Libtrds

[Incogneeto]

That's the plan. AOC says it's all children passing over the border.


#Libtrds

If that were true the media would be flooding us with Chillun's bein Saved.

I have seen a sparse few videos with Women or Children.

To Put it Bluntly.

I have yet to see the future Mrs. Incog cross.

[CNCAppsJames]

The OTHER thing nobody is talking about is all the munitions (135mm etc...) we're out. Ukraine has burned through YEARS of production.

We've put ourselves in a BAD situation munitions-wise. I know it. Our DOD knows it. Our enemies KNOW it. And our politicians DGAF. We don't even have the facilities to expand production even if they wanted to. :O

[Elmer Fudd]

Rumor has it that a lot of govt agencies have been stockpiling weapons and ammo.