Pirate's Cove

This would be the the spring offensive that was publicized like the upcoming season of a popular television show. “In just a few months Game of Thrones returns. Will you be ready?” Ukraine was basically telling Russia what they were going to do

Is the Ukrainian counteroffensive faltering?

Hopes were high throughout the spring, as a Ukrainian military equipped with Western weapons prepared to launch a counteroffensive that would reclaim land seized by Russia, which had invaded its much smaller neighbor for the second time in early 2022.

Hopes were high for the final season of Game of Thrones, and look how that turned out

“We are getting ready for the counteroffensive, so that we can finally end this war,” one Ukrainian soldier said in late May. The counteroffensive began about three weeks later, with Ukraine making initial gains in Donetsk and Luhansk, two regions in eastern Ukraine that were illegally annexed by Russia last year.

Since then, however, the pace of progress has slowed considerably, leading to some frustration from Ukraine’s backers in the West, who hoped that the heavy weaponry and training they had provided would drive the Russian occupiers out of the country’s southeastern provinces.

So far, however, Russia’s defensive positions appear to be holding — while questions about the future of the conflict are growing.

Western nations gave Ukraine a whole bunch of western weapons (and lots of cash) and some quick training and this was supposed to suffice.

By late June, it had become clear that the counteroffensive was not meeting the expectations that military and political leaders in the West once harbored. Russia simply had too much time to prepare, erecting anti-tank barriers, trenches and vast fields of mines along the 600-mile front.

Well, yeah, they had plenty of time to prepare because Ukraine was talking about constantly. The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club. Not unless you’re going to do some sort of misdirection like D-Day. I never understood what Ukraine was doing in talking about the coming Spring offensive constantly.

Ukraine has long begged for American F-16 fighter jets. Those are slated to arrive later this year, but may not make much of a difference against Russia’s fortifications — or its improving surface-to-air capabilities.

We and are allies are wasting tons of money and weapons platforms. We are enabling a constant war. Yes, most would like Russia out of Ukraine. Most understand that it won’t happen just because we throw lots of money and weapons to Ukraine. That’s realism. When they took Crimea, nothing Obama or others did made a difference.

Ukrainian military leaders were aware before the offensive began that Western allies expected a return on investment in the form of decisive victories. After all, neither patience nor supplies are infinite resources. And leadership changes in Washington and European capitals could see support for Ukraine dwindle.

The slow pace of the counteroffensive could embolden critics of aid to Ukraine, who have largely been sidelined in the United States. Thus far, both Republicans and Democrats have, for the most part, supported the defense of Ukraine. But the heavy losses of recent weeks are a reminder that Russia, which defeated both Hitler and Napoleon, may have no asset more valuable than sheer persistence, even as human and economic losses mount.

It seems to mostly be Democrats, a smattering of Republicans, Joe Biden, and some Biden supporters who support continued pissing away of tons of US money and weapons. It’s time to negotiate. This is not some poor attempted takeover of a company, it’s not a movie studio freaking over a failed movie (the latest Indiana Jones, for example). This is people getting wound and dying. This isn’t hyping up a movie, doing press releases, movie promos, showing up at events (how many times has Zelenesky showed up outside of Ukraine?), walking the red carpet. Time to stop dumping money and resources into this lost cause.