WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

[D-train]

Biden calls for regime change and WH tripping over themselves to walk it back. One thing I question though is why would it cause WWIII? Do people think China and N. Korea would jump in and back Putin???

Thanks.

I believe it refers to the possibility of nuclear war as opposed to who's in it. That was the way it was growing up. A nuclear war between then the Soviet union and the USA

Got it. Makes sense. Thanks.

[D-train]

Or I guess just war period between Russia and NATO. What would be the likelihood of containing it to conventional

From an article, is WW3 about to break out?

. But while Western officials have so far ruled out the idea of imposing a no-fly zone, senior government officials, diplomats and military analysts say there is a “grave danger” that the US and other Nato allies could be drawn into a war at “virtually any moment”.

One such scenario might be a “mistake” on the part of the Russians, an unnamed Washington-based analyst told the political news site. “They lob a missile into Poland. That is not impossible and then it very quickly escalates. But we have to respond. We can’t not respond.”

Air strikes 12 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine prompted warnings from the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that “any fire, even accidental, on a neighbouring Nato country would trigger a full-force Nato response”.

Other, more “mundane”, scenarios could also lead to war. Russian planes have already violated Swedish air space multiple times “An Estonian cargo ship sunk off the coast of Odesa, apparently after hitting a mine,” said the news site. “Any such incident could easily escalate

Its funny because we went to War with Iraq because they THOUGHT they supposedly had WMDs but we are not wanting to go to War with Russia because we KNOW that have WMDs.......

[Donn Beach]

Yeah, thought it was interesting, it being pointed out how badly intelligence can be off. On one hand, vastly overestimating the afghans will to fight, and on the other hand, significantly underestimating the Ukrainians.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Yeah, thought it was interesting, it being pointed out how badly intelligence can be off. On one hand, vastly overestimating the afghans will to fight, and on the other hand, significantly underestimating the Ukrainians.

You're talking about the U.S.? Was there an assessment of Ukraine made public, because i don't recall them talking about it. It does seem fairly clear that Russia underestimated them, or at least Putin did. Regarding Afghanistan, i wouldn't be surprised if the intel given to Biden was that their military needed more time to get ready, but Biden and/or his advisers were focused on the symbolic value of exiting by the 20th anniversary of 9-11. I recall it being reported that the top generals in that theatre were opposed to it.

[Donn Beach]

Doubt Biden was told Afghanistan would collapse even before they managed to exit. Terms of Ukraine, think there was general consensus, though I'm not sure about fixing anything as opposed to assessing the will to fight being an extremely difficult thing to do

. , it appears that U.S. intelligence agencies - like Putin himself - expected a far quicker, easier fight than has ensued over the past month. If so, that constitutes a significant intelligence failure that may have compromised our response options. It also would reflect poor tradecraft in military analysis that the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and other parts of the American intelligence community must fix before they do worse harm in a future crisis.

Consider what the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. David Berger, said at a public conference in mid-March, according to Breaking Defense: "The computer models would have said Russia wins in 72 to 96 hours. [They] cannot explain why Ukraine is still hanging on."

If U.S. military or intelligence organizations confidently predicted a rapid Russian win, they committed a cardinal mistake in military analysis.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Their mistake was in not understanding that Ukrainians are more patriotic and freedom-loving than Americans.

[Mel Bradford]

Perhaps.

The demands for a peace are pretty straight forward.
Crimea belongs to Russia.
No NATO for Ukraine
We're already in the chess match with sanctions. If Biden wants first table, which I think is a political bluff,
he will have to leverage the western world. Who's writing his speeches ? The collective neo-conservative wing-nuts of D.C. ?
Zelensky will have to swallow his pride to save his people. He doesn't have an Amex card from the US Military. He's on his own island.

[seattlefan-daBronx]

Perhaps.

The demands for a peace are pretty straight forward.
Crimea belongs to Russia.
No NATO for Ukraine
We're already in the chess match with sanctions. If Biden wants first table, which I think is a political bluff,
he will have to leverage the western world. Who's writing his speeches ? The collective neo-conservative wing-nuts of D.C. ?
Zelensky will have to swallow his pride to save his people. He doesn't have an Amex card from the US Military. He's on his own island.

40,000 troops now on the Ukraine border. If it's not for war that's one hell of a bluff.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Perhaps.

The demands for a peace are pretty straight forward.
Crimea belongs to Russia.
No NATO for Ukraine
We're already in the chess match with sanctions. If Biden wants first table, which I think is a political bluff,
he will have to leverage the western world. Who's writing his speeches ? The collective neo-conservative wing-nuts of D.C. ?
Zelensky will have to swallow his pride to save his people. He doesn't have an Amex card from the US Military. He's on his own island.

The unfortunate reality is that a murderous psycho has the ability to end the world and pushing him into a corner is extremely dangerous. They need to give him a way out that will save face or terrible things are likely to happen.

[Mel Bradford]

Bidens bluffing in his speech. Putins not. John Kerry didn't make it to the mens room as an envoy....his head is in the clouds.

Putin knows that if the US lifts a finger and drags in Nato...its global BBQ time. He can handle the bluster...sitting on crude oil.

Like Buchanan said: Putin invaded, but we set the table.

Its an offer Zelensky can't refuse. A horrible situation. Its death count V. real estate.

Not what the former actor probably had in mind. But, hey, Reagan was an actor too.