(09-21-2022 04:18 PM)natibeast2.0 Wrote:  

(09-21-2022 03:55 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(09-21-2022 02:52 PM)natibeast2.0 Wrote:  In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization has been decreed, making Russian citizens currently in reserve subject to conscription. The announcement comes after the self-declared Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republics (LPR), and eastern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia announced plans to hold votes on joining Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the referendum an "escalation in Putin's war." Keep it here for the latest on-the-ground updates.

Seems to me this is not a war the U.S. should be involved in anyway. Just sayin what I've said since day 1. If I turn against my original opinion and end up disagreeing with it I'll be more than happy to admit.

Honestly, I dont care about it any further than there is simply too much of a chance Putin goes after NATO nations (most likely the Baltic states) after he digests Ukraine---which would draw US servicemen directly into a war. Maybe he means the stuff about NATO---maybe he doesnt. But he's stated before that he believed certain areas should be Russian satellite states and then he used his military to try and get what he wanted (both in Georgia and Ukraine). I mean---its not like that kind of expansionist talk by your neighbor president should be taken lightly. You dont see NATO presidents regularly talking about invading Russia or its puppet states do you? In fact---pretty much everywhere you have a leader mouthing off like Putin you either have a war or at the minimum---a huge arms build up (N-S Korea, China-Taiwan, India-Pakistan, Israel-Arab nations, etc).

That said---if we were not part of NATO, Id be fine with staying out of it---though Id also have zero issues with selling Ukraine weapons to defend itself with. Thats just good old fashioned capitalism.

When I saw that the some of these arms deals would be paid back and are basically similar to some of our deals with GB in WWII that they finally paid back in full from WWII in 2020 I relaxed my stance a bit. I must say I have been lazy to look into the details to see how much $ is said deals and so called bs assistance.

It also becomes a conundrum for me as it’s not pure capitalism otherwise the deal would be supplier to buyer free of any regulation. More importantly, when all I see is it killing both more uks and rooskies (both mostly innocent lives) I will relax my stance on pure capitalism in a strict scenario.

When it gets so flipping complicated I often rely on my gut which is telling me over and over stay the F out of it.

Frankly, I'll be pleased if we are repaid---but Im fine if we are not. I view the cost more like I would view an insurance policy or preventative maintenance on my car. I dont think my home is going to burn down or flood this year---but I still paid for the fire and flood policies on my home. I have no reason to think my transmission will fail early---but I still had the "lifetime" fluid changed at 60K miles simply because I know keeping fresh fluid in the transmission gives me a better chance of getting more life from the vehicle. Thats the way I view the Ukrainian aid--as an insurance policy against a possible NATO conflict with Russia (and I think a Russian attack on the NATO Baltic states was waaay more likely than my home burning down). If the Ukrainians stop Putin, he can never move on to attacking NATO. Heck---even if the Ukrainians eventually have to give into Russia----they have already degraded Russian conventional capabilities so much that the Russia probably cant realistically attack NATO anymore. Thus, I can honestly say our investment in the Ukrainian "insurance policy" has already paid off to a significant extent.