Trump dangerously wrong on Ukraine
I have repeatedly written that I supported President Trump in the past three General Elections (not primaries) because of the issues as opposed to his pugnacious personality. I also understand that one does not always get everything one might want in any specific politician. That applies Trump.
The issue that has distressed me most with Trump is Ukraine. Since Putin first surrounded Ukraine with troops, I have been consistent in my opinion that the Madman of Moscow must be defeated – and that means he stops his aggression, removes all troops from Ukrainian soil, issues an official declaration recognizing the independence and sovereignty or Ukraine, pays reparations for the loss of life and physical damage he caused, and Ukraine be admitted into NATO immediately. Putin abdicating would be the cherry on the cake, but that would seem unachievable – but he still could stand trial as a war criminal.
I have been consistently critical of President Biden’s overly cautious too little/too late policy in terms of military support and sanctions. I firmly believe that had Biden stared down Putin instead of yielding to the bully, Putin would have been defeated early on. A tough stance may have even prevented the invasion.
Unfortunately, even Biden’s too little/too late policies seem like serious commitment compared to Trump’s apparent position with regard to Ukraine. He has made no secret that he believes the war can be ended by withholding military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
That is ironic since it was Trump who broke with President Obama’s disastrous policy of withholding military aid – sending only humanitarian aid. Trump was the first President to send weapons to Ukraine.
Now that Trump is President, it appears that he will curtail aid to Ukraine in order to force a ceasefire. When Trump recently froze all foreign aid except in critical situations, he proved specific exemptions for Israel and Egypt — but not to Ukraine. I saw that as a grave mistake in both messaging and the actual execution of the war.
It has been reported that Trump has three conditions for ending the war.
Ukraine must relinquish any ambition to join NATO. This is both wrong and an enormous concession to Putin. Putin is not likely to ever surrender his ambition to reclaim Ukraine for Mother Russia. It is both foolish and dangerous to accede to Putin’s opposition to NATO membership for his western neighbor. That should minimally be the price Putin pays for invading a sovereign nation.
The second condition is that there be a withdrawal of troops from certain areas – although who withdraws from what is not clear. Ukraine from the regions inside Russia they currently occupy. Or Russia from some or all of the Ukrainian territory it currently occupies?
Though the details have not been revealed, I fear that Ukraine would be required to withdraw from Russian soil and that Putin would withdraw from some Ukrainian territory, but not all – or maybe no withdrawal at all. If Russia is allowed to occupy – or even worse, annex – it is another victory for Putin.
Trump’s third condition would be the eventual removal of sanctions imposed on Russia over a three year period – with the initial release of all currently seized money, yachts, overseas real estate and other personal and Russian government property. This smacks of the deal Biden made allow Iran access to billions of dollars previously frozen by Trump.
If this is Trump’s outline for a peace agreement it is an unmitigated disaster for the United States and the world democracies. It is a victory for Putin. He will get virtually everything he wanted short of the complete subjugation of Ukraine. His wars crimes and his occupation of Ukrainian territory will be rewarded.
Again, the United States will look like a loser in eyes of allies and enemies. I will embolden Putin to aggress again – and embolden other adversaries, such as China, to more aggressively pursue their anti-American agendas. It will provide Russia with strategic land and enormous natural resources.
In the alleged deal I see nothing that holds Putin accountable for the invasion, the loss of life and damage to persona property and critical infrastructure and for his war crimes. It will make Biden’s weak policies seem courageous and forceful – and make Trump look like Neville Chamberlain at Munich. Not the kind of imagery Trump usually likes to project.
Trump often leads in one direction only to make a last minute course adjustment. We should all hope and pray that this is one of those times. Otherwise, it will not end well.
So, there ‘tis.
You worried about Ukraine?
Inflation up, employment down, my eggs doubled in price this week and we don’t even have bird flu in the area. He’s firing FAA, planes are dropping from the sky, burning on the tarmac. We got tons of aid that sits on the dock as he fires all the aid workers and stops the funding for food and medicines for needy children. He releases CA water to the wrong areas, and now they will not have water come the dry season for the areas intended. He wants to take GAZA, Greenland, and The Panama Canal, and he’s not ruling out the military which he has staged on the border. He launch a trade war, capitulated in 24 hours, made a deal to stop the war for the same things he had before the war, Captain Bonespur rides again!!! Chaos and confusion will be your legacy, and you worry about Ukraine?
Well, at least the lawyers are busy again. And here’s a fun fact; now when he gets sued, the taxpayer foots the bill. Yeah, we be spending less money and heading for a balanced budget for sure. Wanna buy that bridge? Or maybe some Trump bitcoin?
Frank Danger …. What does your response have to do with the commentary? You sure love to divert and divert … repeat and repeat. You have your boilerplate litany of grievances rendered with sophomoric sarcasm But they are getting more than a little shop worn. You should try to get yourself a job at MSNBC. LOL
Actually, Frank “Danger” should turn off MSNBC and take some classes on critical thinking and logic. At the very least he should stop loving the pablum he’s been fed.
BobM: or maybe YOU are just living the lie and loving it.
Frank is another stupid liberal asshole
Simple ultimatum: either Russia ends the fight and withdraws completely, or Ukraine joins NATO now, and invokes Article 5. Game over. The Russians are demonstrably not competent to defeat Ukraine when it’s been given limited assistance; with the full backing of NATO, Russia would be driven out and lose most of their soldiers.
And now, Larry, you:
You also miss the point. Do you think in any possible way Putin would even come to the table with such a position as yours? I wouldn’t. No.
Why is Ukraine a US problem? It isn’t. Nor is it a NATO problem. This is a war of territorial aggression. As was Crimea. As is Georgia. As is Gaza.
Do you know of any organization formed to stop wars of territorial aggression? (Hint: U.N.)
Trump is playing 3-dimensional chess. Your commentary isn’t even checkers. It’s Old Maid.
In but 3 weeks, Trump has rooted out fraud, commenced to returning the military to the world’s most lethal fighting force (best fight in the world is the one you win without ever having to throw a punch), commenced securing not only our borders but also our hemisphere.
Russia is a paper tiger. Ukraine was and is only a distraction (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”)
So is Iran and it’s proxies.
There’s a lot of stuff in play and to focus on one (with ultimatums) enables the others.
BobM … Apparently you do not see Russia as an adversary. And you see no problem if the paper tiger takes over Ukraine. How much of the world are you going to give to Putin? You okay with China invading Taiwan? You okay with Iran rebuilding and going nuclear? Putin would have to come to the table if we kept destroying his military in Ukraine. It is called winning. After all, you call them a paper tiger I agree. We could have had the war over in less than a year.. with Russia booted out.
“In but 3 weeks, Trump has rooted out fraud, commenced to returning the military to the world’s most lethal fighting force.”
That’s just fucking funny.
Living and loving the lie.
Give Trump 4 weeks and world hunger will be solved too.
BobM, touche’ I find that good writers and journalists such as Larry can not be correct on everything. I am a world traveler by my business. I have to deal with most countries except China and few others. Russia , like a lot of countries have their rich and famous characters and of course their hard core leaders. If you really read the stories of how they have arrived at the present situation with Ukraine and others around the world, it becomes clear that we really need to know both sides of a story before we pass judgement on anyone or anything. Even then, who are we to pass judgement. I will tell you that only half this story has been told and whether you want to label Russia as the bad guys, is up for comment. They just may be, but did they get forced into that situation by other nations? Good for you Bob. A man with a clear open mind. Nice to read! Frank
Frank …. What every you may think of Russia, the are an aggressor in world affairs. That operate as an adversary to American interests, They invade a legitimate sovereign nation (again) and have committed war crimes. You prefer Chamberlain … I prefer Truman … Eisenhower …. Johnson …Nixon .. Ford … Carter … Reagan … Bush … Bush .. Clinton … and Obama with regard to Russia.
The author spends a lot of time on Warm Springs. Suffice it to say what happened there is wrong there as well as it happening across the entire South. Freakin Horist acts like it was all FDR diverting from the real issues.
Putting up the Tuskegee center for black polio at 30% of the planned capacity and overwhelmed by patients on day one as they practiced segregated medicine right next to the overtly racist syphilis study, was just whitewash to the fact that Warm Springs practiced the same racist practices as the entire State of Georgia, the entire South. That explains it, does not make it right, and still makes FDR a pussy not to fight it. Profit though seems a stretch: the place went bust upon his death…
But let’s get some perspective on perhaps some reasons for FDR to wimp out when, by merely talking to his wife, he knew the right things to do. In the beginning, the founders were more racist than FDR and caved on a national level to slavery in the South. Horist does not mention that in his distraction to FDR. They enshrined racism in our first Constitution. The 3/5ths law and explicit exclusion of native Americans does the job. The original Constitution did not offer equal rights to Blacks, did not give citizen ship to Blacks even if “free.” As States made law denying rights to Blacks, the original Constitution did not even offer a means of redress for civil rights. Women did not fare to well either.
The civil war set Blacks free, but not give them equal rights, was the best that Republicans could do and let’s face it, that’s a pretty nasty way to serve up half a loaf of rights for Black. I mean it was the Republicans watch, they did the civil war, freed the blacks, and left the Dixiecrats in place. That was NOT FDR, that was the REPUBLICANS. Like Larry. Just like Larry today.
Then the Republicans mismanaged the reconstruction setting the stage for a century-long era of racial hierarchy, lynching, white supremacy, and bigotry. They put the South back together, left the Dixiecrats rule the roost, and basically allowed all the bad shit to continue. Same type of failure as Trump’s covid response. He won the vaccine war, well actually he came in behind China, Russia and the EU, but he got the vaccine and then dropped the ball on delivery. People, especially Trumper’s in the Red States, heard his message, did not take the vaccine and began dying at much higher levels than Blue States that listened to Fauci instead and blunted covid’s toll. Republicans messed up reconstruction, Republicans messed up the covid response, and now Horist wants to talk about FDR as his current distraction.
Back on point: before we had FDR, remember Hoover set the stage heralding The Great Depression. Was The Great Depression racist? You betcha. But if you examine Hoover and racism, you will find a similar nuanced form of racism. Just like FDR but without huge successful social programs. Hoover did nothing to weaken the power of the Dixiecrats and his racism assured that the poor black suffered more in his Great Depression than poor whites even. On a Republicans watch.
When FDR took the stage, Dixiecrats ruled the South and had significant control in Congress. FDR could either deal with them or with the opposing party. I say he chose poorly but, like the Founders, he threw the South a bone and is a racist, like the Founders, but less so. The 3/5th rule ended in 1868. And so he caved in the areas the author notes, but frankly, when it comes to detractors, racism was the least of the issues given the list. Remember – social programs —- forever branded a fascist socialist was just the tip of the iceberg. With great decisions advanced through great laws comes great decries of demonic behaviors. Ask Biden — infrastructure, climate, and more and look what they call him. But owning GAZA — mighty white decision that is…….
So that’s my opinion. FDR racist, yes, to get things done, and great things were done that are still doing for us today. He is the father of the modern Democratic.
I spell my name: danger. Does that distract you?
Frank Danger … You seem to have slipped into the wrong pew. LOL And the usual rant without any substance or specifics. At least we agree that FDR was a racists. You say it is “nuance” Al Capone was a murderer, but he gave to the poor and the Church. Is that what you mean by nuance? Hitler gave the world the Volks Wagon. Is he nuanced in your mind? AND … you do not know your history.
FYI; President Musk rehires rabid racist to see your private information. Vice Presidents JD Trump agree; bring on the racists!!! Now, let’s get relevant and talk FDR the slaver.
No. I said what I meant, not how you twisted.
Ah, Hitler, didn’t take long for the Felon King’s serf to dredge up the NAZI King. . Are you saying FDR is Hitler? Murdered 2m Jews? I do not and did not. You did. Noelw I will say your Felon King killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, mostly innRed States, with his broken covid response. But like you, I digress.
Where did I get my history wrong? Or are you just making that up too? Because I was reading whike typing. Got anything specific or just generalizations of slime again?
Let us know when you have something relevant.
Oooops, wrong pew, wrong spew, but u getvit and I’m still good with op and followup.
I spell my name: corrigan.
Larry, While I disagree with virtually everything that you say here (are you surprised?), I feel compelled to point out that when you elect an idiot to be president of the US, this is all you can expect. I repeatedly told you when Biden was in charge “you should be glad that trump is not calling the shots”. Did you pay attention-the answer is a resounding “no”. Everything that trump has done this far has been a total shit show-make Greenland part of the US, Canada 51st state (great way to piss off our closest ally), take back the Panama Canal, build an iron dome (good way to spend trillions to protect us from our former Allie’s who he is pissing off), dump billions of gallons of precious California water in the middle of winter when the farmers need it in the summer, nominate the most unqualified cabinet ever to lead the country? When will you wake up and realize that Liz Chaney was right, and even the Democratic nominee was better than this ignorant POS?
Larry, don’t you think Trump has a grudge against Ukraine and thinks revenge because he thinks it caused his first Impeachment. We all know revenge and a severe mad on trends to skew one’s judgement and Trump’s focus clearly is all about rage induced revenges.
All three approaches you listed were non starters when first made and more so at this late date. True, Biden should have intervened earlier but held back from public pressure from your lot.
Anything Trump does concerning Putin, Ukraine, NATO, China, Greenland, Panama, GAZA, tariffs, government employees, FAA regulations, USAID cuts, and a literal swamp in his cast of oligarchs and Project 2025 authors will end badly if not in disaster.
This whole catastrophe is on your party’s head your watch, and it’s your bill to pay. Trump is running up a bill that rivals the national debt. He saw to it that Musk could make inroads in to the American economy and put its entire financial solvency at risk.
You’re a macro economy expert pundit, history scholar, conservative political strategist, experienced consultant to presidents, and that’s the short list, right. And, still your influence during the Republican run up to victory had not your stamp or left damning commentaries.
When the country was most in need of objective critical thinking, your claim to fame, not a peep in mass media with your name attached
You think I’am an old man leftie with no sense or any educated knowledge of subjects raised by you, much less a working understanding of current issues. What your opinion of me happens to be is unintelligible rubbish and incredibly like the intolerant know-it-all would be elite. I cut my political teeth living surrounded by the political stuffed shirts who personified what a sanctimonious pompous ass looks like, speaks like, and walks around like. In my long life I’ve met quite a number who match that description and
with the rise of Trump, the right seems to encourage that particular personality.
Sadly, millions of otherwise fine Americans fell into Trump’s wicked web strung through with falsifications, lies, and unfounded statements that promise what logically is impossible.
You, Larry, profess dislike for Trump as a pugnacious character, but none the less fully fall in line behind Trump for his so called policies What, exactly, are those policies you throw your support upon and what is your reasoning.
Why would Americans want to rally behind Trump and his revenge driven, nondescript, unformed, and poorly executed “policy” enactment? All have willingly submitted their ideology to Trump’s long running manipulative conn.
There’s an obvious payoff to Trump’s machinations in the political world as it had been in the real estate business before. Money, prestige, power, public adoration, and winning are his motivating forces. “All for one ….” and none for others is Trump’s all-in-all.
He is a material guy, possessed of material obsession centered on a base of loyalists. These poor people are the only humans Trump may need. Loyalty is Trump’s primary criteria and almost equal to it is his need for beautiful blonde younger women. He surrounds himself with female aids and spokes persons. Ya gotta wonder what’s the attraction that trumps the yuck factor.
For once Larry and I are on the same page. Putin is the MOST dangerous person on the planet, anything not done to suppress his desires is bad for everyone. Biden was a total wimp, he was constantly worrying about what would happen if he stood up to the bully. Thus nothing much was done to support Ukraine. Hopefully Ukraine is smart enough to see that they may need to go it alone, from everything I’m reading about the war that appears to be the case. Some very novel technological developments are taking place, including lasers to shoot down aircraft and missiles. This is really a war of attrition, how long can Russia keep losing population and it’s economy vs how long can Ukraine keep up the pressure? Taking out oil depots and refineries is a very wise move on Ukraine’s part.