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I would argue that supplying the ukrainian military with arms and money used to kill Russians is an act of aggression. Not so much as putting troops on the ground, but aggressive nonetheless.
Of course it is aggression. It's a proxy war, but we're supporting the defensive side. That's a "clean" move and its not the first time we've been involved in one, on either side.
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I'd also say this is the only benefit I could come up with to justify spending the money. But it wasn't the goal, it was a side benefit. And it worked to a point, but those benefits are no longer paying off. Ukraine is out of soldiers to inflict that kind of pain, so the continued funding to justify this result is not on the table anymore. They want more money, they need to provide a new reason to give it to them
I disagree. I think that once it became clear that Russia wasn't going to topple Kiev in a few days, the US saw a golden opportunity to attrit Russia. That's why we have put handcuffs on Ukraine, slow-rolled materiel, gave them restrictions on where they could use what. It's a blatantly obvious strategy: keep the war at a stalemate as long as possible to reduce Russia's capacity for making war.
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I cant see why we need to be increasing Ukranian leverage at all. We no longer have an interest in doing so. We tried it, ultimately didn't work. Ukraine can't win. I'd argue they've done all they can do, so even if you can justify our actions to this point, you can't any longer. It's why i think the mineral deal is more than fair.
Why do you say it "didn't work"? They're still willing to fight, Russia is no closer to victory today than they were two years ago. What is the cost to America of the status quo? Another $50bn in old equipment, which we will pay American companies to replenish with newer tech?* You say Ukraine can't win, I'd argue that Russia can't either - as long as our thumb is on the scale.
Do I want the war to end as an individual? Yes, absolutely -- today. But nations face different constraints and have different motivations and imperatives.
*I will say there's a very real possibility we actually
can't keep up the arms shipments. We may have depleted all of our ready stock, which would definitely explain our actions right now. Just a possibility to consider.
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It's time to start considering what our real interested in the region are, if any...If you can no longer being involved then it's time to cut ties. which is where i am.
This is the only question that matters. I don't think the US has a coherent answer, which is why there's such chaos in the explanations.
Pick whatever you like
- Prevention of being drawn into a ground war via Article 5 from NATO after Russian attack on Romania or Poland
- Continued hegemony over the west
- Kneecapping of a rival power in Russia
- Pulling Russia into
our sphere of influence away from China
- De-risking our exposure in Europe altogether
- Getting out of NATO altogether
What are our goals? I have no idea. But a lot of those actions carry much more risk than continuing to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Cutting ties doesn't automatically eliminate our risk in the region, unless we're willing to ignore an Article 5 attack on a NATO country. You could argue that inaction leading to victory in Ukraine makes that
more likely, not less -- especially under a future administration with a weak / democrat president.