The Mess In Ukraine

For decades, Democrats and the left along with the sports world have legitimized the Russian government and downplayed Russian aggression.

In 2008, after nearly two decades of strife and ethnic cleansing, Russia essentially took over South Ossettia, a small territory that had been part of the Republic of Georgia.  This barely made the news.

In 2012, President Barack Obama told outgoing Russian president Medvedev to pass a message to incoming president Putin that he (Obama) would "have more flexibility" in helping Russia after his re-election campaign.  Less than two years later, Putin annexed Crimea, a small peninsula in Southern Ukraine.  The world responded with useless sanctions.

From 2017 to 2021, Russia stayed within their borders.  

Within months of President Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration, however, Putin began amassing troops at the Ukrainian border.  It became obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that trouble was brewing.  

Then the 2022 Winter Olympic games began, with Putin in attendance at the opening ceremonies in China despite Russia officially being banned from Olympic competition.

Because the Olympic games take 16 days to complete, it became obvious to anyone, again, with a functioning brain that Putin would not invade Ukraine until after the Olympics.  Instead of using those 16 days to negotiate with Putin and find a way to peace, Biden spent those 16 days saying that Russia would attack "any day now," almost goading Putin.

During the last week of the Olympic games, Biden sent his vice president, Kamala Harris, to eastern Europe, where she held a press conference and praised Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for allegedly wishing to "join NATO."

For those, again, with a functioning brain, this was a statement akin to "poking the bear."  Clearly Putin did not want Ukraine in NATO for the same reason president John Kennedy led the United States through the Cuban Missile Crisis - Putin did not want missiles at his border.  Like he did with South Ossetia and Crimea, Putin also wanted territory in Eastern Ukraine where there were majority Russian populations.  

One must keep in mind in all of these situations that Soviet Russia resettled many areas across their border with Russians during the Cold War and beyond, setting up the situation we are in today.

Less than a week after the Olympic Games ended, Putin's Russian Army invaded Ukraine.

Now that we see what happened, where do we go from here?  That's the big question.

First, let's consider that despite more useless sanctions against Russia, European nations are still buying natural gas and petroleum from Russia.  And the Russian Ruble, which Biden mocked as "rubble" when he imposed sanctions, is actually as strong as it was pre-invasion.  Finally, the Biden Administration is wasting ridiculous amounts of U.S. taxpayer money to fund this war.  Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is suffering greatly, buried in massive inflation and plummeting GDP.

Further, the American population does not want war, though to what degree is unknown.  We known that the pink hat-wearing "Code Pink" organization that protested President Bush disappeared when Obama became president and didn't seem to mind Obama expanding wars.  They also seemed to be anti-Trump even though Trump is the only president in, perhaps, my lifetime that didn't get the Unites States into any new military conflicts. And, of course, they seemed quiet when some mentioned enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which would've meant shooting-down Russian military jets, which the rest of the American public did not seem to desire.

Of course, even during the Cold War, America never entered into direct military action against Russian troops despite the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs disaster and Vietnam War.  Thus, enforcing a no-fly zone would put the American military in an unprecedented position.

So what does America do?

I'll give you my opinion on the best option, which will likely be an unpopular option:  Team Biden needs to contact Putin immediately and tell him that he can have two eastern territories in Ukraine and that Ukraine will not join NATO.  In return, Putin must promise that he will immediately cease-fire in Ukraine and refrain from any future expansions of the Russian border.

I know I will be accused of giving into a madman, but clearly Biden allowed this to happen through his inaction and, since Europe is still funding Russia by their reliance on Russian energy, there really is no other option.  By ending the war now, lives will be saved, which is the most important thing to consider.  Further,  American taxpayer dollars will be saved, and we might be able to slow the rate of inflation and stave-off a recession.  Ukrainian refugees could return home immediately, and a fraction of the money Biden was going to spend on war could be used for humanitarian aid to help rebuild Ukraine, which would be far more useful than spending the money to further destroy Ukraine.

If there's a better option, I'd love to hear it, but after giving this much thought, I really believe this is the best option.