Oh yeah….Ukraine.
You remember that right?
The conflict story that ate up news reporting until the Gaza mash-up.
This is not a post about who is right or wrong in this conflict but rather the paradox that has invaded Zelensky’s time as the leader of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky was willing to end the war. On multiple occasions in the early days of the war, long before the escalation and long before the horrifying loss of life, limb and land, the Ukrainian president was willing to preserve his people’s land and protect his people lives in exchange for abandoning the dream of membership in NATO, a dream that, even as late as three months after Russia invaded, was shared by only 59% of Ukrainians.
But the US and the UK restrained him. They insisted that Zelensky refrain from a policy of negotiating with Putin in favour of pursuing US policy by engaging in war. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelensky that Russian President Vladimir Putin “should be pressured, not negotiated with” and that, even if Ukraine was ready to sign some agreements with Russia, “the West was not.” Zelensky was persuaded to offer the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to continue the fight in the pursuit of US goals. Zelensky gave up peace for Ukraine for a promise – formal or informal – that the US and its NATO allies would provide it with all the weapons it needs for as long as it takes.
But when Zelensky calls in that promise and asks for what Ukraine needs for as long as it takes, he is accused of being ungrateful and is told that the time has come to negotiate.
And that is the first paradox. Zelensky was told not to negotiate and that he would get the weapons he needs to go on fighting; then he is told to no longer expect weapons because he should be negotiating.
The Zelensky Paradox
Now my question is…..is the monetary support from the West waning?
Is Israel putting a dent in the support for Ukraine?
How will this work itself out?
On a side note….the US will pay huge mark-up on some equipment to be sent to Ukraine….
Jordan is set to make a massive profit by selling Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft system to the US. The White House plans to send the weapons to arms to Ukraine. In 2013, Amman purchased the weapons 2013 for $22 million, and now the US will pay Jordan nearly $120 million to buy the anti-aircraft system for Ukraine.
According to De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, “The Netherlands sold the sixty [Gepards] to the Jordanians in 2013 for about 350,000 euros each. At the time, it indeed involved a total amount of 21 million euros. While the Americans would now pay 1.8 million euros each for it.”
Han Bouwmeester, a Dutch brigadier general and military professor, said the increase in price was due to the steep demand for weapons caused by the multiple conflicts being fought around the globe. “The situation in the world then was fundamentally different than it is now. The geopolitical situation has now changed ,and that may affect the price of these [Gepard],” he explained.
https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/us-to-buy-anti-aircraft-weapon-for-ukraine-at-huge-markup/
War is good business and damn business is great!
Apparently the US has a bottomless pocketbook…..I do not believe that our support for Ukraine or for that matter any other conflict should be open-ended….there has to be a point of cessation of our involvement.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Zelensky will suffer the same fate that Hungary suffered when we made all those promises of support for them in their fight against Russia and then when the Russians finally sent in the tanks, we were nowhere to be found. That seems to be the American way.
Zelensky is already using some of the tactics that Orban would appreciate…..let Europe take over for they have more to fear than the US. chuq
When Poon Tang takes Ukraine he will move on NATO.
I hear that a lot….I do not think his army is capable of taking on NATO…..I mean they are having a helluva time with the mud hole. chuq
Russia might turn out to be a big surprise for a lot of people who have no faith in them — He might be having a helluva time but he is still there, isn’t he?
Yes he is still there and his troops still cannot win over Ukraine….it would be folly to try anything new. chuq
The whole thing is a mess, isn’t it?
Is US support for Ukraine dwindling? I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. It certainly is in Congress. At first it was just the more extreme republicans, but it’s been spreading to even the moderates now and even a few dems are now pushing back against continuing support to Ukraine. Out here in the real world probably about 50% or more of the people I talk to feel we shouldn’t be involved in either conflict.
Is support for Israel coming at the expense of our support for Ukraine? I think that’s at least partly true. But popular support for Ukraine was already waning even before the Israel situation came up.
One thing that very few people have commented on is what this is doing to the US military capability. Most those weapons we’re shipping to Ukraine (and now to Israel) are coming out of existing US military stockpiles. We don’t have an unlimited supply of ammunition, missiles, small arms, armored vehicles, etc. We have only enough stockpiled to permit the military to engage in combat for a limited amount of time. This means we are reducing our ability to defend ourselves until those stockpiles can be replenished. And that is going to take months, if not longer, and it’s going to cost a hell of a lot of money, far more than what those weapons cost originally.
Personally, well I don’t want to come off as some kind of isolationist but frankly it was the EU that should have been in there supporting Ukraine, not us. Ukraine is, after all, their next door neighbor and Putin is a direct threat to them, not us. This whole ridiculous notion that the US is the police force of the world needs to come to an end. Whenever we get involved in the affairs of other countries it almost never goes well. Our involvement almost never makes much of a difference and in a lot of cases makes the situation a hell of a lot worse than it was originally.
Israel is spending tons of cash to swing the Congress in their favor….I see more Americans are calling Israel to stop indiscriminate bombings…like killing 30 to get 1 HAMAS guy. Ukraine is waning…..and will soon slide off the charts especially it China and US come to a mash-up. chuq
Zelensky appeared to be convinced that NATO would eventually physically threaten Russia if they did not leave Ukraine. He was made various promises by western countries, most of which were not kept. Countries like the USA, UK, and Germany just see the war in Ukraine as a good market for selling weapons, but what happens to those economies when Ukraine cannot pay the bill for all those arms?
The situation in Israel was bad timing for Mr Z too. Just before winter hits hard in Ukraine and the war stalemates even further.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yeah he thought NATO would do the heavy lift…..the Israel lobby will be sure they get the big share of the stuff…..winter will be interesting. chuq