The U.S. government has impossible goals for the war with Russia and its hubris has caught up to it. However, there’s been no attempt to negotiate its way out of the Ukraine disaster. From David P. Goldman at asiatimes.com:
US foreign policy establishment blindly intent on beating Russia on the battlefield and crushing its economy. Neither will happen
Somewhere last weekend a few dozen former Cabinet members, senior military officers, academics and think tank analysts met to evaluate the world military situation.
I can say that I haven’t been so scared since the fall of 1983, when I was a junior contract researcher doing odd jobs for then Special Assistant to the President Norman A Bailey at the National Security Council. That was the peak of the Cold War and the too-realistic Able Archer 83 exercise nearly set off a nuclear war.
Now, the US foreign policy establishment has staked its credibility on humiliating Russia by pushing NATO’s borders to within a few hundred kilometers of Moscow, while crushing Moscow’s economy through sanctions.
It has pulled every chit it has with European governments, mobilizing its legion of journalists, think tankers and stipended politicians to promote the Ukrainian proxy war, with the intent of degrading Russia’s armed forces and ultimately forcing regime change in Russia.
The messaging from the most distinguished participants – former Cabinet members with defense and national security portfolios – is that NATO is still determined to win at any cost. “The question is whether Russia can generate strategic reserves,” one rapporteur said, “Its officer corps is at 50% strength and it has no depth of non-commissioned officers.”
It’s a good thing that Ivan is a big dumb vodka swilling lout (s/) who will never figure out that the UKES would have given up long ago without all the Western assistance.
Oh, wait.