There is much wishful thinking talk among the chattering liberal classes who compose the first choice of equally liberal media editors for interviews on western TV networks. The borders of acceptable opinion are known and they remain very firmly within those boundaries. One of the bordered areas that all adhere to is that Russia is suffering in this way and that.
Out of the air they commonly pull a “factoid” that Russia is suffering comparable losses to the Ukrainians. No background is given on this as it doesn’t exist, except that official Ukrainian sources said so. In fact the BBC investigated this with a detailed search across the length and breadth of the Russian Federation regarding burials. They came up with a figure of 4,000. According to the Ukrainians they are losing between 200 and 500 troops per day. The comparison becomes quite clear and is simply not within the border spoken of above.
Where even the smallest apparent gain by the Ukrainians can be ascertained it immediately receives the attention normally given for some extraordinarily great event, and not just for a few hours or days, it may be milked for weeks. The so-called Kherson counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces is a case in point. That no significant gains occur never seems to matter, the positive aspect that something is being done rather than nothing, is enough.
Meanwhile the border of thought that all adhere to encompasses every manner of possible Russian woe. Once stated these “woes” can be extrapolated endlessly into a whole convoluted theory whereby Russia is described as losing or is supposedly about to lose in some important way. This belief bubble talking point having been sealed there can be talk regarding how Putin must be given a way out of his awful position and so on and forth. Academics well versed in what’s expected deliver exactly that, sticking to the largely unspoken rule of what will get them called back in again next time… and what will not.
Meanwhile the entire western world has entered an economic meat grinder while the Russian economy is doing rather well again by comparison. The economic weapons fired at the Russian economy have pretty much all rebounded to hit those of the West. This was not how it was supposed to be. Russia’s economy was supposed to collapse. Instead it proved extremely resilient, in part due to the innovative techniques designed within the Russian coterie of economic analysts to ensure this.
By comparison the nations of the collective west appear to have little to no clue how to survive this unexpected consequence of the Russian economy’s continued survival. Right across the entire western world the woes expected in the Russian Federation months ago are being felt keenly. Inflation is soaring. Consumption is falling. Recession is inevitable. The West is in very big trouble and it is clear has entered an economic meat grinder of sorts.
While this goes on we see the weapons sent to Ukraine being destroyed on a regular basis. Tanks, planes, HIMAR systems and almost all else are being destroyed, in many cases before they are used even once. Up to one thousand Ukrainian troops are taken out of action either being killed or injured every day according to the Ukrainian authorities. Foreign irregulars and poorly-trained conscripts are taking their place.
Kiev intends to mobilise ever more civilians and send them to the front lines with the minimum of training. How they will be able to use the sophisticated weaponry they receive from the West (if they ever receive them) is unclear. Already Google searches for instructions are quite common it seems. The black hole the western powers have been delivering weapons to in Ukraine has been virtually all-consuming, this fact being evident by the almost complete lack of significant success by Ukraine in holding back the inexorable and incremental advance of the Russians. Now there is talk that these weapons, that don’t even replace what is being lost, are being supplied in diminishing numbers.
The supply chain is an additional factor pointing to an inevitable Ukrainian defeat. It is quite clearly impossible to keep the front line Ukrainians supplied with a continued supply of shells/missiles required. So many arteries of transport are blocked, barred or destroyed. Russia can hot any point across the entirety of Ukraine at any point while effectively barring Ukraine from doing anywhere near the same thing. Russia is shooting down the remaining Ukrainian planes and helicopters (supplied by the surrounding NATO nations) on a daily basis in twos and threes.
But… the show must go on across western mainstream media. Russia MUST be being beaten somehow or other and plucky Ukraine MUST be winning. The boundaries of media-sanctioned thought demand it along with the absolutely unconscionable and unthinkable nature of even hinting that this is not the case.
Western politicians, at the edge of their own black hole of recession in almost every case, must also remain orbiting the boundaries of what is acceptable to think and say. And, heaven forfend, they know they must not, cannot for a second even, talk of Ukraine being realistic, coming to the negotiation table and ironing out a settlement with Russia. No, the downward spiral for both Ukraine and the collective west must be continued until… until what? Does anyone know? A Ukrainian victory? It is clear this is impossible. Ukraine doing so well on the battlefield that it can then eventually drive a better bargain with Russia? There is no sign of this either.
What if things simply carry on as they are with Russia steadily taking town after town, decimating both Ukrainian troop levels and weaponry, destroying targets vital to the Ukrainians right across the entirety of Ukraine. What if Russia continues to make inexorable gains without the slightest sign of Ukraine turning things around? What then? Will some element of reality burst through the set boundaries of western elite thought? I suspect this is unthinkable. In that case the West will continue to be a party to blindly grinding itself down… ad infinitum.
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