UKRAINE MUST WIN
The war in Ukraine has reached a turning point. The Russian troops that invaded the country from the north, south, and east are now scarcely moving. They have targeted schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, and a theater sheltering children, but they are not yet in control even of the places they occupy.
And no wonder: Few Ukrainians are willing to collaborate with the occupiers. The overwhelming majority, more than 90 percent, believe they will defeat them. The Ukrainian army refuses to surrender, even in cities badly damaged by bombardment.
There must be an endgame, a moment when the conflict stops. The Ukrainians, and the democratic powers that support Ukraine, must work toward a goal. That goal should not be a truce, or a muddle, or a decision to maintain some kind of Ukrainian resistance over the next decade. That goal should be a Ukrainian victory. Now.
WHY WOULD ANYBODY BACK PUTIN?
How can anyone of moral decency excuse this?
We’ve been assured repeatedly lately that nobody on the right supports Vlad the Invader and his inept, ill-planned, and ill-fated invasion of Ukraine. Would that it were so… but it isn’t.
In truth, there are numerous people on the right and calling themselves conservative, who are praising, egging on, and making excuses for Putin in his war of conquest against Ukraine. I won’t bother to link to any of them. You’ve no doubt seen them and can provide your own examples.
There seem to be three major elements to the pro-Putin platform. They are all nonsense and here’s why.
RUSSIA HAS A HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONS AND COUPS AFTER LOST WARS
It is well documented that sanctions themselves are not enough to topple authoritarian regimes – look at North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba. Yet sanctions have had tremendous impacts on the citizens of those countries – Venezuela experienced a 30% contraction in its economy in 2020, while the consequences of sanctions against North Korea have left most of the country malnourished.
Despite a war fever whipped by Putin's propaganda machine, sanctions can be a stress multiplier on an already vulnerable political system facing military, economic, and social setbacks.
For history has shown that Russian revolutions are not just a result of economic despair; they are also deeply intertwined with heavy Russian losses attributed to war. One only needs to look at the Crimean War in the 1850s, the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, World War I, and the Soviet War in Afghanistan in the 1980s to see how in Ukraine history may be repeating itself.
INDIAN TIBET
There is a part of Tibet the British kept from China and is now a part of India. The region is called Ladakh and this is its capital of Leh. It’s the Upper Indus river valley after it flows out of Chinese Tibet and before it reaches the Line of Control with Pakistan.
Ladakh is geographically and culturally Tibetan, where Tibetan culture still flourishes. Here the great gompas (monasteries) of Thikse and Hemis are active, and where you are welcome in hidden mysterious gompas like Lamayuru over a thousand years old.
There is an ultra-remote part of Ladakh called Zanskar where the Zanskar River flows through the crest of the Himalayas to reach the Upper Indus. Running the Zanskar is one of the world’s greatest whitewater experiences. We’ll see and do all of this next August on our Indian Tibet Expedition. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #120 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
KEEPING YOUR SANITY BY BUILDING A GOOD REPUTATION WITH YOURSELF
We pay attention to other people who matter to us, and we tend to ignore those who don’t.
There’s more to this, though: We watch ourselves just like we watch others, and we develop a reputation with ourselves accordingly.
What kind of a person are you, in your own assessment? Do you have values, goals, and priorities? And do you act in accordance with those values, goals, and priorities? Are you the kind of person you would like to be? And if not, what are the barriers to becoming the kind of person you would like to be?
These questions are really important because our own self-reflection has a huge impact on our behavior.
MONTEZUMA’S CASTLE
When American explorers came upon this extraordinary cliff dwelling in 1860s Arizona, they dubbed it “Montezuma’s Castle” on a whim. The Aztec ruler had nothing to do with it, of course. The Anasazi people built a number of these marvelous structures in the Southwest, high up on cliffs above a river that seasonally flooded.
For hundreds of years the Anasazi flourished, skilled agriculturalists and brilliant at constructing vast irrigation systems. Yet it all came to naught with a devastating megadrought with no rain for many decades, culminating in the collapse of the Anasazi culture and abandonment of their cliff dwellings by the early 1500s.
Another lesson that it is nature that control’s the Earth’s climate, not us. You’ll find Montezuma’s Castle above Beaver Creek south of Sedona. It’s a marvel not to be missed. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #194 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: AFGHAN MUJAHADDIN?
When my son Brandon was a cadet at Virginia Military Academy, his professor teaching Modern Military History gave a lecture on the 1980s War in Afghanistan fought by Afghan Mujahaddin against the Soviet Red Army occupation of their country. One of the pictures he showed was the one above of “three typical Mujahaddin fighters.”
Brandon raised his hand. “Yes, Cadet Wheeler,” the professor called on him. “Actually, Professor,” Brandon said, “only the man in the center with the white beard is one. The man on the right is United States Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, while the man on the left is my father.”
The professor was stunned while the rest of the class stifled laughter. “Are you quite sure of that, Cadet Wheeler?” stammered the professor. “Oh, yes sir,” Brandon replied. “I recognize my own father. That photo is framed in my father’s study. It was taken in November 1988. The Afghan Commander’s name is Moli Shakur. I have known Congressman Rohrabacher all my life.”
The cadets all applauded in appreciation. To this day, this remains one of Brandon’s fondest college memories. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #145 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
QUICKSAND
HALF-FULL REPORT 03/18/22
A TTPer is in Ukraine now, who tells me the latest joke on Ukrainian lips is, “Everyone thought that Russia had the #2 army in the world. Turns out, that it has the #2 army in Ukraine."
The Russian Titanic has hit the Ukrainian Iceberg and is sinking. Here are the latest (3/16-17) updates from British Military Intelligence:
Our TTPer on the ground confirms this. I was asked on the TTP Forum this morning, “Jack, what’s your take on the end game in Ukraine?” My reply: “China feeding on the carcass of Russia.”
SKYE’S LINKS 03/17/22
This is a photoshop fake picture. Enter “biolabs Ukraine” and you’ll get 9.5 million hits and not a single picture of one
Why did Czar Putin the Terrible invade Ukraine? Here are eight plausible reasons, and all eight may be true. The more that they are true, the less that Vladimir The Would-Be-Great is likely to give up rather than double down:
Why Did Vladimir Putin Invade Ukraine?
I add one more point to the above. I suspect that the CCP is feeding Putin with false information regarding Ukraine with respect to making biosurveilance labs look like biowarfare labs (see Jack’s HFR last Friday on this) and promoting further disinformation that the Ukraine has a nuclear weapons program.
Long overdue; if the; if the Crats lose one House of Congress, will the Republicans have the guts to do this?