• PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    Again threatening us with a good time, but unfortunately this is probably worth as much as the pile of manure western think tanks were feeding the world in Ukraine topic before.

    So i read it and yup, the exact same manure and it’s still sprinkled with copium

    It would give China the green light to flex its power over a weakened US and cost US taxpayers an “astronomical” sum to pay for beefed-up defense spending.

    “Such an outcome would bring a battered but triumphant Russian army right up to NATO’s border from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean,”

    That would mean that the US would be forced to deploy a “sizable portion” of its ground forces to Eastern Europe

    Literally every paragraph is crybullying and saberratling. They really get paid heavy money for that regurgitated nonsense?

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      7 months ago

      What I love the most about these articles is how they just treat the idea that US needs to dominate the world militarily as being axiomatic. It’s never explained why this is in the interest of American people, it’s just a given that US will have to keep expanding the military at the cost of the standard of living of its people because reasons.

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        I’ve experienced some violence in my life, and I consider the fact that I need to be ready to protect myself to be axiomatic too. I honestly can’t remember why I didn’t think that way before, but I know that ever since being terrified as someone tried to kill me, nothing is okay unless I’m safe. The fact that I need to maintain the capacity for violence and the capacity to win that violence is just built into me now. Like needing to breathe.

      • Princess Sankara@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 months ago

        Just like when they cried that the USSR put nukes in Cuba after the US already put nukes in Turkey, and a shit load of other countries right next to the USSR. But it’s the Russians that are aggressive and militaristic.

    • redtea@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      “Such an outcome would bring a battered but triumphant Russian army right up to NATO’s border from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean,”

      Wasn’t that exactly what they promised Ukraine lol?

    • “Such an outcome would bring a battered but triumphant Russian army right up to NATO’s border from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean,”

      I wonder if not expanding the de facto NATO-Russia border might have prevented the expansion of the NATO-Russia border 🤔

  • o_d [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    This article feels extremely dogmatic to me. I fail to see how a renewed investment in the war effort in Ukraine doesn’t pose the same problem, stretching defence resources thin, that this think tank is fear mongering over. Hell, sending more weapons to Ukraine would likely be worse since many of them will likely go “missing” anyway and Ukraine doesn’t have enough men to arm with them.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      7 months ago

      Right, it’s not really clear what the argument here is even. To actually win in Ukraine would also require a phenomenal investment, and frankly it’s pretty clear that US doesn’t have a path to win in Ukraine regardless how much money it dumps into this war at this point. So, if US can’t win in Ukraine then the article is really just setting up the narrative that US now has to spend untold billions on its military going forward because US wants to have a war with China next.

      • If the US can’t win in Ukraine how will it ever win in Taiwan? China will mop the floor with it, specially if it continues to be distracted by God and oil in the Middle East. Evangelicals will drop everyone and keep propping up Israel until the US goes broke.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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          7 months ago

          I don’t understand what they’re hoping for there either to be honest. Any adult with a functioning brain can see that starting shit with China would be an utter disaster for US.

          • CountryBreakfast@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 months ago

            If they turn the country into a war machine they give themselves a chance to reset the board like they did in the 40s. It is deeply ingrained in the US zeitgeist to think this way. It is both profitable for the MIC and synergizes with settler nightmares and our expectations of the US being the preiminent, sovereign, and morally legitimate civilization in the world. The benifit is as much spiritual as it is anything else but the material gains may be more than we think because the only way to bring back a golden age is to, as usual, make someone else pay for it. I hear it from people that don’t agree with the US government about much of anything that they are willing to participate in nationalism if it means the US keeps its place on top. We will likely have to find out just how anti imperialist US citizens really are and I assume there will be some disappointment.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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              7 months ago

              Thing is that doing that would require massive government intervention, and that’s just not possible in the current political climate. Just look at how the whole CHIPS act is going, rebuilding domestic industry to support a MIC that could take on China would require an effort that’s orders of magnitude bigger than that. On top of that, there are demographic limitations here as well. You need an education system that can produce skilled workers, you need people who can operate factories, engineers, scientists, etc. It will literally take decades to create the workforce able to build the infrastructure necessary.

  • SUPAVILLAIN@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    So in essence, this “Institute for the Study of War” is cudgeling the Democrats to give the Republicans exactly what they want, and totally shut down the southern border so that materiel can resume and continue flowing into ukronazi hands; otherwise “muh China”. Am I missing anything here? Seriously, I feel like I’m watching the mask slip off the uniparty’s face as the two hands bicker amongst each other.

  • relay@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    Don’t they understand that the US already gave China everything that it needs to thrive? All of their current political objectives can be accomplished without invading a dying empire. They don’t need to be the perfect trading partner, just better than the US/EU. They have developed their productive forces to be a high quality goods manufacturer.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      7 months ago

      I think that’s precisely where the panic comes from. Neocons are starting to realize that China is pulling ahead of the US economically, and it’s now a more important trading partner than US for majority of the world. US is frantically trying to find a way to derail China’s progress in any way possible.

  • lil_tank@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    “China could invade another country

    Either they’re clueless about the fact that a PRC ROC war would be a civil war according to international law, or they’re trying to act like China is going to invade… idk, India? Vietnam? Singapore? Makes zero sense

  • NikkiB@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    “If we stop funding Ukraine, Putin will take over the whole country!”

    Yeah, that’s why the Russians are digging in and consolidating their gains instead of pushing forward. I guess they’re planning on walking through those fields they just mined to hell and back… also “muh Taiwan!”

    Reading articles from the western liberal press is like stepping into an alternate dimension.

  • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    This is a real nothingburger article. It’s literally just “The US was hoping it would win this war it started, because losing will cost them more.”

    And of course they throw in China there, which gets barely a mention in the article (they even accidentally admit that the only reason Taiwan hasn’t reunified is because of US meddling.) It’s just bog standard “think tank” stuff of “You’d better give the MIC more money, we’re experts, so give them more money, they need more money. More.”

    EDIT: I guess it does detail the US’s overall plans once they lose. They will probably make Europe pay huge amounts for “advanced” and very expensive weapons, seems like they’ll be pushing all the losses onto Europe. Sounds like Europe’s going to have to make some “austerity measures” of their own so the ghouls in Washington can continue to exploit someone.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      7 months ago

      I expect Europe is very much getting fucked here. I also get the impression that once project Ukraine collapses, then US is planning to refocus on trying to start shit with China. And this is really what these types of articles are laying the ground for. I bet the narrative is going to be that US can’t lose Taiwan like Ukraine, so there has to be unlimited military support for it.

      • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 months ago

        Most likely. The difference is that China’s government isn’t reactionary like Russia’s government, so they won’t fall for the US’s obvious traps. The only way the US can really escalate things in the region is if they cross China’s red line, which even their most hardcore allies will find hard to justify (not to mention, it would need to be done without the approval of the people of Taiwan, who wouldn’t want to be pulled into a major war with with the mainland)

        I guess it’ll come down to them either assuming they can handle Taiwan exactly like Ukraine (and fail) or act like China is exactly the same as it was 30 years ago (and fail) I can’t see them pressing this issue any other way, because if they did, they wouldn’t be pressing it at all.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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          7 months ago

          I’m not really seeing a good strategy for US here as well. China realizes that time is ultimately on their side. In the long run, it’s almost certain that reunification will happen peacefully. As you point out, the only scenario where China would react militarily is US crossing China’s red lines which will be politically difficult to do. I think the other aspect people tend to forget is all the ways China can retaliate economically against the US.

          • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 months ago

            Would be awkward for the US to start a war with China only for China to cut off the vast majority of US supply chains. Only reason they haven’t attacked China so far, they can’t actually decouple their economy, despite their best efforts. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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              7 months ago

              Exactly, if there was an actual war between US and China then US economy would collapse overnight. They’ve been yammering about decoupling for years now, but the reality is that there’s no path towards it. What’s worse from US perspective is that countries they might realistically move production to are becoming increasingly hostile towards the US as well.

              • cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml
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                7 months ago

                What countries that the U.S. wants to turn to but are becoming hostile to it are? I know that Amerikkkan politicians for decades have talked of moving production out of China into places like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, but what countries specifically and what recent developments? I’d love to do some reading.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
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                  7 months ago

                  India and Mexico are the two big ones. US has been trying to position India as a counterbalance to China for a while, but now the relations between US and India are quickly starting to deteriorate. One big driver of that has been US trying to pressure India to stop trade with Russia which infuriated India. Recently US and Canada were trying to put political pressure on India by making public accusations of India carrying out assassinations on Canadian and US soil. India has reacted to this as negatively as you’d expect.

                  Meanwhile, AMLO has been very critical of US while further strengthening relations with China. US politicians have now even started making noises about US having to go to Mexico to “fight cartels”.

        • cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml
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          7 months ago

          As excited as I want to be, I advise extreme caution. The Amerikkkan Empire is great at playing the long game, even if not to the same extent as China and Russia. The U.S. is like a fucking cockroach (and that’s an insult to cockroaches) that just won’t fucking die up until you set your house on fire. A seemingly wounded gazelle is still extremely dangerous.

          • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 months ago

            Dying empires do have a very nasty habit of getting embroiled in huge, long devastating wars, you’re absolutely right.

    • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      I think this is the worst one yet. Constantly contradicting themselves and fellating the boot of three letter agencies. Spineless pathetic coward of a person. I’ve never been a full on “America needs to be wiped from the face of the earth” kind of person, I always thought the people could be rehabilitated, but this POS has honestly pushed me over the line on that front. So smug, so condescending, so braindead, so proud of their government slaughtering their way around the world and starting proxy wars.

      • Absolute@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 months ago

        I’m choosing to believe this dude is trolling just for the sake of my own sanity. There’s no way any real person is this reddit core (please)

        • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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          7 months ago

          They are sharing sources (that they clearly haven’t read themselves and don’t have anything to do with their argument) I think this is just pure redditor.

          • Absolute@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 months ago

            That plus the snide holier than thou replies related to programming or mindfulness or whatever are simply too much for me rn, haven’t experienced such a high dose of reddit in years

            • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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              7 months ago

              Yeah, not sure if it’s because we haven’t had one like this in a while, or if it is them actively defending the US and NATO in a place called “death to NATO” but the level of smug “Don’t worry champ, you’ll see things my way one day, promise” from this guy is just off the charts.

              I try to figure out what their goal with something like this is. Dissect them a little. This person comes here and starts talking about how if you only look at the US’s official position on the books and ignore all their actions, they’re actually really great. And they think this is a convincing argument somehow. It’s bizarre. I have no idea if they just aren’t used to people who disagree with them or what, but it blows my mind that this is an actual human being commenting here, this is a person, with a brain, with the ability to reason, to think, to feel things, and they just don’t do any of that.

              • redtea@lemmygrad.ml
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                7 months ago

                actively defending the US and NATO in a place called “death to NATO”

                😂 They missed the brief lmao

  • ex10n@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Russia has lost 87% of its deployed troops by recent estimates, so fortunately it’s increasingly looking like the only way Russia can “win” is by saving face and removing their troops from occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.

    • Absolute@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      If you seriously believe that 87% of russian troops have been lost you need to take a long hard look at why you think that’s true. Like think about it, if theyve lost that many troops then why haven’t the battle lines shifted in any meaningful way basically all year ? Why is there no outrage and overflowing graveyards, or increased mobilization in Russia if thats the case ?

      Seriously like whatever side of the conflict you’re on aside, if you want any intellectual credibility you gotta think about that one

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        7 months ago

        Deployed troops, not troop reserves. The estimates are fairly accurate and have been fact checked by multiple intelligence groups. There’s burn pits for the bodies of dead Russians, don’t exactly need a graveyard when they go up in smoke.

    • RedFortress@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      Who needs to save face? Ukraine has become the world’s street ***** begging everyone for money wherever it goes.

      • ex10n@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        And they’ll keep receiving said money because the majority of the United Nations believes Russia is the aggressor. Allowing an aggressor to overtake soverign land is a big no-no to the UN.

        • Krause [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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          7 months ago

          Allowing an aggressor to overtake soverign land is a big no-no to the UN

          Which is why Israel was stopped from annexing East Jerusalem and the West Bank right? It also explains why the US was not allowed to invade and occupy Syria.

          • ex10n@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            While this may be a desired goal of Netanyahus government, his support by Israelis is dwindling. Let’s not forget Hamas’s desired goals too. In the future, hopefully a more progressive Israeli government echos the United States policy more closely for a 2 state solution.

    • Krause [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      Russia has lost 87% of its deployed troops by recent estimates

      This is dangerous Russian propaganda because according to the Ukrainian ministry of defense they actually lost over 100%

      They also destroyed over 100% of tanks and artillery, the videos of Russian tanks advancing is actually Kremlin dezinformatsiya AI generated fakes

      • ex10n@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Thank you for recognizing dangerous Russian propaganda and the fact that Ukaine does not have full access to their soverign land to make fully accurate assessments. If the aggressor wee to leave occupied territory, then I believe these numbers would come down a bit, however it’s clear Russia has lost considerably fighting this “special operation” in another countries soverign territory.

    • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      Russia clearly won, but even if your interjection is plausible. Not if we (Arabs) succeed in dragging the US into another losing war in the Middle East. They are already abandoning Ukraine for Israel. Just imagine if we managed to get troops in Yemen. The US is exercising restraint with Yemen for a reason, already spread too thin and just came out of two losing wars, and we will keep triggering it until it bites.

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        7 months ago

        Not really, the US has been pumping the breaks on Israeli aid because of the indiscriminate bombings in Gaza. The US believes the civilians in Gaza have a right to their territory as a 2 state solution is desired.

        • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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          7 months ago

          The US is bankrolling the genocide and vetoed the ceasefire. Who are you lying to? The US and its interests are a fair and legitimate targets because of its involvement and complicity in the genocide.

          Joe Biden Moves to Lift Nearly Every Restriction on Israel’s Access to U.S. Weapons Stockpile https://theintercept.com/2023/11/25/biden-israel-weapons-stockpile-arms-gaza/

          Don’t be fooled. Biden is fully signed up to ethnic cleansing in Gaza https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-gaza-biden-fully-signed-up-genocide

          • ex10n@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            As a defensive partner it makes sense to continue to provide aid and arms to Israel for defensive purposes, which includes the removal of a condemned terrorist organization as the acting government of the Gaza strip. This does not reduce or remove the US effort to provide aid and humanitarian support to the citizens of Gaza. A 2 state solution remains the policy of the United States, even if this is a foil with both Hamas and the Netantahu government.

            • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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              7 months ago

              defensive purposes

              You wouldn’t say this if it was Russia bombing Ukrainians. I’m gonna blame this on racism against Arabs. No other reason to describe the murder of 18,000 civilians and the bombing of schools and hospitals as defensive.

              condemned terrorist organization

              Citation needed.

              According to Wikipedia the countries that consider it as terrorist are only than 13% of the world’s population. That doesn’t seem like much condemnation when 87% of the world aren’t on board.

              • ex10n@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                Russia has been and is currently bombing Ukrainians on sovereign land. Pretty easy to learn this tidbit of information.

                • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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                  7 months ago

                  And the Palestinians are bombed where? in the skies? they are being bombed on their own land that was stolen from them, and in the refugee camps they are forced to live in. Internally displaced on their own land.

            • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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              7 months ago

              I want you to consider this comment and compare it to your previous comment above. You said that the US is reducing spending on Israel because of Israel’s brutal actions. Then when it was pointed out to you that they in fact were doing the opposite, your response was not to then say “wow, that’s really shitty of them” but instead to try and justify their actions to yourself.

              Have you no brain? No heart? No soul? No spine? Is this really the person you want to be? Someone licking the boot of the dickhead politicians in Washington so much that you’ll abandon any and all morals to do so? It’s ok to be mad at your government when they do shitty things, even if they are “your team.”