No solution, no ideas, lots of coin

Good analysis and interesting opinion piece by Simon Tisdall here

Before we start let's just do the numbers - aid to Ukraine, so far, is estimated at 9.8 $us billion and 2.3 billion uk pounds. So that comes in at circa $A 17.5 billion (13.76 + 3.92). Given the scale of numbers thrown around these days (hundred of billions and trillions) it is sometimes a bit hard to make these numbers meaningful, this one's not too hard however, A$17 billion is about half of Australia's total defence spending for an entire year.

That's a lot of 'coin', so to speak.

And for what? As Simon points out - Russia has not changed its position, Russia is making territorial and military progress, and Russia does have Europe by the 'short and curlies' on energy supply if it chooses to 'play that card'.

The rhetoric is both histrionic and ineffectual.

The obvious, from history, issue with these conflicts is all the rhetoric is based on the laudable 'self-determination and democracy', but the actions taken bring neither military success, nor negotiated settlement. It's a lose lose. It's talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

And there's, in my opinion, a fundamental flaw from the outset, with the goal of 'self determination and democracy' - Ukraine (like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan to name just a few from past conflicts) were never 'self-determined democracies' to begin with. Taking Ukraine itself you're talking about, at best, a vassal client state of USSR and latterly a totally corrupt dysfunctional eastern european style 'democracy' (read: democracy is simply a facade in front of an entrenched ruling oligarchy).

Clearly there is no strategy to defeat Russia, just to wear it down and cause as much damage (financial, military personnel & materiel, etc.) as possible. This comes at little risk to main 'jawboners', the US and the UK, because it's not their people or on their soil. They get to 'inflict damage' geopolitically on Russia by using Ukraine as the 'playing cards', and/or the 'game board', with which to do it.

The problem, of course, is this is not a game - Ukrainians are losing their lives and having their livelihoods and society destroyed by a proxy war that, at it's highest level, has nothing at all to do with them, it just happens to be 'on their dirt', and they're in the cross-fire.

buggered if I know 😛