NATO Chief of Staff says the Quiet Part Out Loud

The Ukraine-Russia war/conflict/invasion/special operation, choose your description, it sucks.  Innocent folks are being killed, towns being leveled, young people being conscripted/sent forcibly into battle.  It’s not a fun thing to write about.  We here at the blog have an opinion of this war that will anger most who support Ukraine, specifically NATO and the EU continuing to send out supplies, equipment and cash.

Check out this dudelet (RIP Rush Limbaugh…. this was his term to describe news) from the NATO chief of Staff

“I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return”

The above statement was made by Stian Jenssen.  He almost immediately was rebuked by Ukraine leadership and walked back his statement.  The reality is he was telling the truth about the war, and neither Ukraine, nor pro-Ukraine people worldwide wanted to hear that.

He said the quiet part out loud.  The Chief of Staff, just like most high level NATO employees and outside influencers, know this to be true.  Ukraine cannot win this war.  Russia has millions of bodies to throw into the fire, they can afford to lose many more troops than Ukraine can.  They are emptying jails, likely rounding up homeless, and drafting young men in the rural areas to fight this war.  Ukraine doesn’t have that ability.  Ukraine is 100% reliant on NATO weaponry, problem is as advanced as our weapons are, they need bodies to operate them, bodies that are piling up daily.

The reality is even if Ukraine came to the table to discuss this with Russia it will not work.  Russia views Ukraine as territory stolen from them when the USSR was broken up.  Russia really doesn’t have much room for expansion, sure they could take Georgia (the country not the state) they took some territory already, they also occupy an area “Transnistria” that is between Ukraine and Moldova.  However, neither of those countries are large enough.  Ukraine is the prize.

The meat grinder in this war is rough, Russia is quite literally throwing bodies at Ukraine front lines to expose positions.  As Ukrainians cheer the dead Russians, they got killed by rocket/missile launches later.  It’s a war of attrition and Russia has far more bodies.  Think of it like a real-life game of Risk: The Game of World Domination.  I have one country; you have the neighboring one.  While you may win a round or two, in the end I win as I have more armies, and more chances to weaken your force.  The only reason this thing is not a total blowout in Russia’s favor is NATO is gifting Ukraine all of our outdated equipment.  Even with that support, Ukraine is hardly moving the needle in their so called offensive.

This war is lost, it’s a black hole and we are throwing endless gobs of money and equipment at it.  Hey, isn’t that the USA doctrine lately?  Throw lots of money at something… have the elected’s/powerful/influencers cash in on the grift, double and in some cases triple down and eventually pull out?

The Chief of Staff of NATO said the part we didn’t want to hear or believe, now we know it’s a matter of time before the rank-and-file NATO countries stop giving equipment and money. 

That being said, I see a “stale mate” similar to the Korean War happening here.  No side declares victory, but we have in essence disputed territory, a large, demilitarized zone, and warning from governments to avoid/don’t travel to the area.

Sorry if I didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear regarding Ukraine, but I think it’s over.

The Chief