Guest Post by David Sacks
With each passing day, it’s becoming clear that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is failing to achieve any of its originally stated objectives. Recall: the Biden administration’s bet was that the counteroffensive would roll back Russian territorial gains, cut the land bridge to Crimea, and force Russia to the negotiating table. That is almost certainly not going to happen. On the contrary, a stalemate is more likely, or even that Russia will take more territory and win the war, as Mearsheimer has predicted.
What are Biden’s options now? Either escalate or admit defeat. In preparation for NATO’s Vilnius Summit, Blinken has been floating a proposal to give “Israel status” to Ukraine. This means multi-year security guarantees including weapons, ammunition and money that would continue even if Biden loses the next election.
This is not what the American people signed up for. Many Americans supported the $100+ billion in appropriations for Ukraine believing it was a one-time deal to reverse Russian territorial gains. If they had been told that it was the basis for an annual appropriation in a new Forever War, they would have preferred an alternative, especially if they had known that one was available.
THE PEACE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN
New evidence is emerging that a peace deal was achievable at the beginning of the war. At a recent meeting with the African delegation, Putin showed the draft of an outline or preliminary agreement signed by the Ukrainian delegation at Istanbul in April 2022. It provided that Russia would pull back to pre-war lines if Ukraine would agree not to join NATO (but Ukraine could receive security guarantees from the West).
This document has not been publicly released yet, but no one seriously contests that it exists. The only dispute is over what happened subsequently; Ukraine (via reporting in Reuters) contends the deal fell apart. However, the availability of a deal based on Ukrainian Neutrality is consistent with previous comments from Naftali Bennett, who said a deal was attainable but rejected by the West.
Why would the West do this? Ukrainska Pravda (UP), a pro-Ukraine publication, reported in May 2022:
“As soon as the Ukrainian negotiators and Abramovich/Medinsky [the Russian negotiators], following the outcome of Istanbul, had agreed on the structure of a future possible agreement in general terms, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared in Kyiv almost without warning. “Johnson brought two simple messages to Kyiv. The first is that Putin is a war criminal; he should be pressured, not negotiated with. And the second is that even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not. We can sign (an agreement) with you (Ukraine), but not with him. Anyway, he will screw everyone over”, is how one of Zelenskyy’s close associates summed up the essence of Johnson’s visit.”
https://pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2022/05/5/7344096/
Johnson (who must have been speaking not just for himself but for the Western alliance) wanted to pressure Putin, not make peace, and promised new weapons systems if Ukraine would keep fighting.
At the time of UP’s article, Ukraine appeared to be doing well, so UP portrayed Zelensky’s decision to accept Johnson’s offer as a smart gamble. Now, in hindsight, it looks like a disaster.
AFGHANISTAN REDUX?
I know some of you may find it hard to believe that the realities on the ground are so at odds with the mainstream media’s coverage. But it’s worth recalling that the American public was assured for two decades that we were winning in Afghanistan. All of that reporting was revealed as a pack of lies when the Afghan army that we were supposedly “standing up” collapsed within a matter of weeks. At that point, the media stopped reporting on Afghanistan, just like it had stopped reporting on Iraq, instead of holding anyone accountable.
Unfortunately, it looks like we’re headed for a similar kind of outcome in Ukraine. The only question is when, and how long Biden will be able to perpetuate a proxy war of choice that could have easily been avoided.
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Why don’t we look at the outcomes and try to determine the intent from that? This endless gee whiz what happened schitck is getting old.
What on earth makes people think that this is yet another failure? What if this was the plan? To empty out, impoverish, and occupy an entire country while making massive profits, simultaneously decimating the native population in order to replace it with a new one sounds like a win for somebody, doesn’t it? And has any series of administrations ever placed more of it’s top operators in positions within that new country- that also happens to be not only the breadbasket of Europe, but the cross-roads of the world island- in order to have them seemlessly transition the former economic backwater into their own private, extra-legal money laundering operation?
We all know where this is going, we just don’t know how it ends.
Stay tuned…
It’s pretty obvious that no one is telling us what the the real objective is but HSF is most likely closer to the truth than most commentators. That is- not a failure. Working out just as planned. Part of the reset.
Hell they don’t care if millions of people are maimed or die from the jabs why should they care if millions of Ukrainians are killed or displaced.
War was a half assed thing from the start- who starts a war with large country with only as limited amount of troops? It’s obvious that Russia wasn’t serious from the start. As much as I dislike the American empire if you are going to war then go all in like they do with Shock and Awe and get it over with.
What would have this peace agreement gotten Russia anyway- same place they were with the Minsk agreement? An agreement with the same guys that screwed them before. I call bullshit on all of it. All fake and gay like all wars.
HSF is spot on, no question. Any other view runs into too many contradictions.
I don’t agree. The people running this country aren’t the brightest and are owned. They seriously thought Russia would fall apart and would be open to have their resources raped, just like in the 90’s until Putin put a stop to it.
Jeffery either hits the nail on the head or completely misses. “This is not what the American people signed up for. Many Americans supported the $100+ billion in appropriations…” I call BS. I don’t know anyone that supported that, and the one’s that did are the sheep that believes everything the MSM shoves down their throats.
You are not mentioning if that plan is working.
As I highly doubt the Russians will let any of those purported end goals happen [in Ukraine], plus the Mackinder bs is getting tiresome…
Is it working?
*sigh*
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/no-chance-extending-grain-deal-set-expire-july-kremlin
Much like in the Space race and the Cold War, the Russians are a part of this theater, not opponents.
This time your so wrong, this is the Cuban missile crisis on steroids. Russia is, after Finland joined the USA run NATO, surrounded. With its 3 major cities with 5 minutes of destruction, this is existential.
So as JFK would not countenance the Russian Cuban missile crisis….. Nor will Russia (and it is closer and the missiles faster). It does appear Russia is on its own, sanctioned to the Max but that will make them produce, instead of laze around thinking they will get comfortable just selling raw material and energy.
Now you have a Huge Nation with everything it needs, getting kicked awake, waking up as a Giant amongst Nation as some Japanese Navy General once said after attacking Pearl harbor
This is a Very VERY bad mistake by America and lap dogs. A Very Very bad mistake.
When Russia runs out of hope, You run out of life
It is a real threat, clearly spoken by them.
And, as the joke goes “In Russia, President assassinates YOU!”
I consider it a mistake to extend the “I’m the only one sane [in the West]” mostly correct observation,
to the whole world simply by projection.
I’m not trying to sell you on anything I’m just thinking out loud.
After a while you start to recognize patterns because they’re patterns.
If it quacks like a duck and all that jazz.
Possible, but it doesn’t feel right to me.
I don’t think the Russians are in on this. I think they are more or less straight shooters. Putin calling out US media and trans lunacy, etc. tells me that he is at least on some level trying to preach sanity to the asylum.
Not that people calling the shots are lunatics, just evil. They can never let people know what they are and what they have been doing in the Ukraine. Biolabs, child trafficking, organ harvesting, massive scale money laundering, who knows what else has been running through Ukraine for at least a decade probably many decades. Doesn’t necessarily mean desperation on their part, but they are pot committed. People would hang them on the streets if enough of them knew who and what there are.
This is an existential game for the Satanic Pedos in Charge (SPICs, there is an acronym for you)…they are going to play it to the bone.
In other words, if you believed American officials you were taken for assholes.
Every time on every issue.
What if the goal is to permanently destabilize the region?
Instead of one organized force you have an area of different factions, flooded with modern heavy weapons, fighting a guerilla war amongst themselves AND Russia.
Would that not be an even worse problem for Russia to deal with? Long and short term?
USA can’t win wars but it is good at starting shit and leaving a gigantic mess.
If that’s the aim, then it has failed miserably already. Sure, Ukraine will be a European version of the Congo for years to come. However, Russia has come out of this vastly stronger economically, socially and militarily, and the neocons have managed to do what 70 years of US diplomacy avoided: bring Russia and China together. 70% of the world is now unified – against us.
Long Live New Khazaria!!
we all know war is the epitimay of the propaganda state! no words, no metaphorical magic can change the lies of the state… All advertising BS commentary on the up and down ladder of delusive content is the status quo of the MSM media and their love of money, I’m talking about the banker cabal that uses war as a medium to capitalize on higher earnings… Has not changes for years… The “Term” follow the money should be enough to see who controls what!
Oh, and the Deep State wants to give “Israel status” to Ukraine, i.e.
a bunch of money-grubbing jews that just happen to have been put
in place by jew Vicky Nuland, Vindman, et al. Got it.
cohens to the left of me, shapiros to the right, stuck in the middle with jews…
sorry, I was looking at sacks twitter
you left out “here I am”
HERE I AM!
wait what were talking about?
At some point the Russians are going to come to the conclusion that the only long term solution is to punch the bully in the face. Likely the Brits of US or both.
“At some point.”
The Russians are definitely a little slow on the uptake.
If you thought Russia was pissed about leaky bio-labs on its border , just wait until Ukraine is given tactical nukes with the F-16’s.
Will they also paint “please nuke us” on those F-16s?
The dems have got the mail-in fraud thing down. What makes the repubs think they will every win a national-level election again.
Ukies, in desperation will bomb Zaparosia Nuclear plant. NATO/USSA will go boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Russia will go gloves off.
The USSA has turned away from God, Russia has not.
FAFO.
Given the reality, one might be led to think the EU/NATO is being run by hypocrites and moral relativists who don’t seem to understand – or care – about the image they project to the rest of the world.
In their quest to avoid one form of statism, the Germans have decided to embrace another.
That irony is quite obvious to many, and the Russians seem to be quite aware.
Ouch. Annalena Baerbock, that must’ve hurt.
Mr Wiggin, the architect of Uke military philosophy:
Mr. Wiggin: This is a 12-story block combining classical neo-Georgian features with the advantages of modern design. The tenants arrive here and are carried along the corridor on a conveyor belt in extreme comfort, past murals depicting Mediterranean scenes, towards the rotating knives. The last twenty feet of the corridor are heavily soundproofed. The blood pours down these chutes and the mangled flesh slurps into these…
I wish there was something that good on TV these days.
Johnson is a globalist PoS. It’s wonderful seeing his political career being destroyed right now.
The MIC of many countries is milking Ukraine for everything they can.
If Russia makes any agreement with the West, it would prove that the Russian leadership are morons.
How many agreements has the West broken, or signed disingenuously to be used to buy time to further fuck Russia? 5? 10?
MORE THAN ONCE, is all Russia needs to know that signing any agreement with the West is a waste of time.