8 Comments

This essay might be the most incoherent, poorly argued, irresponsible one Persuasion has ever run. Total trash.

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Bailing out Europe for its penchant for war while those we save denigrate us and plot their WEF globalist destruction against us... no thanks.

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There's another possibility here you haven't considered, likely because you seem to be relying solely on Ukrainian military spokespersons for your assessment of Russia's military capabilities. Can you guess what it is?

Nevertheless, I'm very curious as to how you think "we" can ensure Ukraine prevails over Russia? Since Russia removed its troops from Kherson, Ukraine has failed to gain any territory, despite a massive push and grievous losses of soldiers and equipment. What more can "we" do, apart from putting together some kind of 'coalition of the willing' with American and Polish 'boots on the ground' or some such foolishness?

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Frozen conflicts are not a phenomenon of the nuclear age. As long as there are two cultures/religions/systems butting up against each other, competing with each other, there are going to be conflicts. Conflicts become frozen when one or both parties to the conflict become weary of fighting. Conflicts become hot when one or both parties become impatient with the status quo and look for an advantage.

Things do change. I am not concerned about flare ups between Egypt and the Hittite Empire or Tudor England and Catholic Spain. All kidding aside, we should be thankful for frozen conflicts where almost everyone can go about their lives with only a modest level of anxiety about being shot or bombed.

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Putin will never give up Crimea.

So it looks like an endless hot war

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Putin won't live forever

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Let’s hope he’s not replaced by another war monger

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It's a challenging question. Frozen conflicts have benefits over hot conflicts... up to a point until the accumulated complexities and instabilities in the system cause a a bigger problem. Similar metaphor might be land management in the western USA. Do you try to put out every forest fire or limit logging? If you do, accumulated seasons of dry dead timber make future fires more deadly.

I think in this case you are correct baswd on what is feasible and what Putins actions have demonstrated to date - we should support Ukraine to the point where they can at least keep Russia to the position of February 2022. But it is a tough question!

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