Ukraine Op Ed, letters offer heat but no light

 Neither Daniel R. DePetris nor the 2 letters criticizing his Chicago Tribune op ed “The West is learning the cost that comes from sanctioning Russia,” offer any value in finding a workable solution to the Russo Ukraine war.

DePetris’ offering is particularly disappointing as he’s a fellow at Defense Priorities and foreign affairs columnist. He makes 2 points, one obvious and one invalid. The obvious one is that the sanctions are hurting the US, NATO countries and many uninvolved nations. That surprises no one.

The invalid one is his charge that these were unintended consequences because the US forgot that “there is no such thing as a Goldilocks option.” Of course they expected consequences, but barged ahead with both weapons for Ukraine and sanctions for Russia. That’s because they ruled out the 2 options they would never consider: nuclear Armageddon from direct war with Russia, or end to hostilities through direct negotiations.

By completely ignoring that reality, DePetris used hundreds of words for nothing.

The response letters from Howard Cohen and Bruce Cantor are more understandable in that they reflect no comprehension of the facts on the ground in Ukraine. Both argue that the costs of sanctions are worth it because they will somehow miraculously turn the tide against Russian aggression. Both are oblivious that almost the entire world outside the US, Canada and Western Europe are either siding with Russia against NATO expansion in Ukraine, or are remaining neutral. This means that the Russian workaround with those countries will likely more than offset the pain of US sanctions.

It may only take one small misstep or misdeed in Ukraine for the war there to go nuclear. None of the sanctions on Russia and US weaponry fueling a now endless war will ever work.

Time for the US and NATO to acknowledge they over provoked Russia for the last 14 years by proposing NATO membership for Ukraine. Time for end to all sanctions hurting the world to accomplish nothing. Time to end all weapons getting more people killed for nothing. Time to sit down at the table of peace.

Alas, time is running out.

Nancy, red means stop...not go

Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wake up one morning and say to herself, "How can I provoke war with China? Bingo, I'll schedule a trip to Taiwan crossing a red line for China that will provoke a strong response."

How did that work out, Nancy?  Let's see. Firing missiles near their Taiwan's border including greatly ramped up military exercises.  Sanctions against Taiwanese trade. Stop cooperating with US on climate change. Cancellation of  future phone calls and meetings between Chinese and US defense leaders, for which future dates had not been announced. Cancellation of annual naval meetings under the China-US military maritime consultation mechanism. Suspended cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants. Suspension of legal assistance on criminal matters. Suspension of efforts to combat of transnational crimes. Suspension of its anti-drug cooperation with the US which will speed the flow of fentanyl here to kill our youth.

Insane US foreign policy has already provoked one war with major nuclear power Russia in Ukraine. Possibly provoking a second war at the other end of the world with the other major nuclear power is beyond insane.

Forget about red light cameras on Chicago's streets. We need them set up in Congress so our 535 congresspersons will respect the red lines of international diplomacy, keeping the world from blowing itself up. And the first one should be aimed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

US weaponry insures more lost Ukraine territory

Today is day 159 in the Russo Ukraine war. It’s also day 159 that the US has funneled tens of billion s of weaponry into the war zone instead of pushing negotiations to end the war quickly.

Having provoked the war for 14 years since proposing NATO membership for Ukraine in 2008, the US has learned nothing from its perfidy, doubling down on its long mission to weaken and isolate Russia after breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The result? Thousands of needless Ukrainian deaths simply to prolong the US proxy war that should never have been fought and could have quickly been ended.

But not satisfied with the human carnage, the US is now sending longer range artillery and rocket systems which can reach Russian territory. While Ukraine President Zelensky said he won’t use the new hardware to strike Russia, he also said he’d consider using them on Crimea which has been Russian for the past 8 years.

Just the thought of such strikes prompted Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to announce “The longer the range of weapons you supply, the farther away the line from where Ukraine could threaten the Russian Federation will be pushed.”

Ukraine foolishly lost the Crimea to Russia in 2014 when they instigated civil war on the Russian speaking people in the Donbas, threatening Russia’s Sebastopol Naval Base in Crimea. They’ve essentially lost the Donbas in the current war when they reneged on their promise to grant it regional autonomy under the 2015 Minsk II Accords.

But accepting long range US weapons instead of negotiations will cost Ukraine more than the thousands needlessly dying in an unwinnable conflict. It will cost them thousands of additional square miles of territory for no other reason than to maintain their fantasy of victory and the US fantasy of winning the proxy war against Russia.

Even worse? Long range US weapons increase the prospect of US Russian nuclear confrontation.