We can not fucking do any fucking thing militarily versus Russia vis-a-vis Ukraine. [View all]
Last edited Tue Mar 4, 2014, 01:11 AM - Edit history (3)
The world is not a fucking comic book or inspirational film about bullying, or about high school football teams that beat the odds.
Absent the use of nuclear weapons to obliterate Russia's ability to project military force (and the consequent destruction of many American military assets along with most large American cities) there is not a god damned fucking thing we can do to make Russia leave Crimea via military force.
Everyone talking about Munich and resolve and diplomatic memoranda and our national "face"... grow up. Really. Grow the fuck up.
We cannot sensibly militarily confront Russia in the field for any reason short of the very existence of the USA. Actual existential threat.
Because a real conflict with Russia would be like shooting ones self through the head in hopes the bullet goes out the other side of your head and hits the bad guy. The response to existential threat is, itself, an even worse existential threat.
There are things we cannot do. Perpetual motion machine. Trisecting an angle with only compass and straight-edge. Imposing our will through military force in keeping Russia out of some contiguous real estate.
Similarly, there is nothing Russia can do to prevent us from annexing Tijuana that does not end up with Russia being nuked. That's the catch... that does not end up with Russia being nuked.
It sucks, but for folks who missed the cold war, that's the name of the game. Either side can do anything short of what the other side considers worth getting nuked over.
Our nations are self-designed, as regards each other, to be doomsday devices. The trip-wire nature of the thing is intentional, because neither is going to back down versus the other so the losing side would always make the "stand your ground" play and go for the big gun. And that is why even trivial US-Russia military dust-ups are out of consideration... we all know the ending.
Could economic power encourage Russia to stay in its boundaries? Perhaps. Military force from the USA? No. In an extreme instance we maybe could have another proxy war where one side has boots on the ground and the other side supplies weapons to some other side. (e.g. US in Vietnam, USSR in Afghanistan)
The US military is not going to shoot a Russian soldier, asset or location. And visa-versa.
The logic of nuclear arms precludes dealing with nuclear powers with the means to reliably deliver those bombs here (unlike Pakistan and North Korea and such) like we deal hapless non-nuclear states. Russia is not Iraq or Syria or Grenada or Panama.
It is Russia.
Since we and Russia got nukes we just flat don't allow a situation where US and Russian soldier are in armed opposition, let alone either side dropping any bombs on the other's territory or military assets.
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