I'm genuinely interested in your answers to these questions:
- What threat does Russia pose to the US? Please categorize (economic, political, military) and quantify each threat. Be specific.
- On a scale 1-10, what is the likelihood that Russia would ever attack the US unprovoked?
- What are the top 5 reasons that the US should be attacking Russia via Ukraine right now?
- How much has the US spent supporting Ukraine vs. the war in Afghanistan?
- What is the end criteria, and how much more money is required to achieve this end goal? How long will this take?
1. Europe depends on Russia for energy. Europe is not as economically stable this century via the Great Recession. Makes it a lot harder for the US to have a grip on the financial and payment systems with all of that hanging over everyone's heads. We probably don't even know the full economic ramifications just yet, though, direct and indirect.
Russia is a threat to our allies and to us. US NSD calls them an "acute threat." Putin isn't someone we can rely on as an ally or partner and he has a particular interest is sowing division among Americans politically. Obviously we're better divided to him than united. He should be taken seriously and from a strategic standpoint, a weakened Putin is better for everyone, especially the United States. We send a message of our resolve to our allies and enemies alike.
Militarily, Russia is being drained of resources, but they still have nuclear capability. That should be taken seriously, especially if they are pursuing nuclear modernization. they're not the threat they were during the Cold War, but a serious nuclear threat in addition to the cyber hacking capabilities.
2. On a scale 1-10, what is the likelihood that Russia would ever attack the US unprovoked?
Haven't a fucking clue. I'm sure our military and intelligence people know this better than I could answer it. Nuclear? Militarily? Space? Cyber hacking? Disinformation to the American public?
3. What are the top 5 reasons that the US should be attacking Russia via Ukraine right now?
1. Ukraine holding off Russia and potentially winning stops the war from spreading and spilling over into nearby countries.
2. NDS calls Russia an acute threat. The more money they spend fighting, the more materials they use and lose, the more men that they lose on the battlefield downgrades them as an overall threat.
3. Ukraine succeeding vs Russia is better for the global economy, especially for Europe, which makes it good for us and everyone.
4. Putin undermines American values, democracy in particular. We can't be the world police, but we should still stand for something decent.
5. Sovereignty, secure borders and defense. Stuff we take for granted here.
4. How much has the US spent supporting Ukraine vs. the war in Afghanistan?
I assume this question can be answered by everyone here with the capability of looking it up.
5. What is the end criteria, and how much more money is required to achieve this end goal? How long will this take?
Defend and preserve democracy and sovereignty, our values, around the world. Ukraine is an ally. I am concerned about our troops being redeployed from where they already are in the world to that region the further this goes on and would like to avoid that. Ukraine becomes an even stronger ally in the end, particularly militarily, with a victory and support. One threat gets put back into the box.
How much money it takes, I don't know, but we obviously can't go on forever giving it. Nor can all the other nations providing support, most of whom have even higher inflation than the US does right now. I also don't know how long it takes because the Ukraine has been essentially crippled in every aspect of their existence. What does reconstruction and recovery look like after a victory? A decade? Two decades?
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