My Personal Side

By Craig Hastings

Just how close is The United States getting to being in a direct conflict with Russia?  If you believe what our own government is telling us anymore then you believe that two Russian Su-27 flanker jets intercepted a U.S. Reaper drone over the Black Sea really happened.  Early news reports stated that the Russians shot the U.S. drone down and it crashed into the Black Sea.  However, later reports stated that one of the Russian planes collided with one of the drone’s propellers causing our own government to crash the drone into the sea due to an inability to navigate the drone.  Before the mishap occurred we were shown video from the drone’s camera systems showing the Russian planes dumping fuel on the drone.  Now exactly what damage that might cause I’m not sure but video footage shows this taking place. Immediately after the news broke Senators both Republican and Democrat were calling for immediate retaliation against Russia for their part in the incident.

Back in the day, say two or three years ago I might be demanding the same but not now, not in 2023.  The United States has currently “given” approximately $32 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the start of their war with Russia in 2022.  Recently the Biden Administration announced that $5.5 billion will be provided to the Ukrainian government to shore up the Ukrainian pensions, social welfare, and health care costs for Ukrainian citizens.  Homeless Americans, drug addicted Americans, Americans with no health insurance, all be damned I guess.  Our own government won’t help these people but, anyone anywhere else in the world, just ask and the money is yours.  I really want to believe there is so much that I don’t know that is going on and that I’m not being told about this war.  Surely there has to be some kind of reasoning as to why U.S. taxpayers are paying the pensions and health care costs for Ukrainians.  Mr. President, we need an explanation!

Back to the drone.  No one is arguing that this particular drone was flying a reconnaissance mission gathering information on Russian movements in Ukraine.  The Russians see this taking place so in order to protect their own soldiers on the ground they intercept the drone over the Black Sea.  It appears to me that these two Russian planes were attempting to divert the flight path of this drone and send it back to where it came from.  That was why the fuel was being dumped on it.  I think the Russians were trying to convey to whoever was remotely piloting that drone to move it or lose it.  The collision of the Russian plane with a propeller on the drone I believe was an accident, poor piloting skills on the part of the Russian pilot.  I also believe that it was likely that had the collision not occurred that the Russians were going to shoot it down.  And why wouldn’t they shoot it down?  It was on a mission to aid the Ukranians in their war efforts with the Russians.  “But the drone was flying in international air space, you cry.”  “They can’t do that!”  Under similar circumstances I would hope that the United States military would respond the same.  People there’s a war going on in Ukraine!  The Russians initiated this war and they are in it to win it and they don’t care what the United States government thinks about it.  The Russians also know that the United States has “given” the Ukrainians $35 billion to fight the Russians.  Of course the Russians are going to down a spy plane being used in the war they are currently fighting.  How can anyone not understand this?

Our President went on the record publicly that the United States is in this to the end.  Now why in the world would he make such a statement other than to antagonize the Russians?  It was a stupid mistake and so is the fact that the Biden Administrations tells the world just how many billions of dollars the American people have given to Ukraine to fight the Russians.  The American people are growing tired of financing this war and the media is reporting this world wide.  So now the Russians know that despite what President Biden is randomly saying he is going to do, they also know the American people are fed up and want out.  And of course this encourages the Russians to stay their course.  I believe that even if the Russians pulled out of Ukraine tomorrow that the Ukrainians have lost this war.  Their country has been decimated by the fighting.  It will be a twenty year rebuild if they start tomorrow.  And I’m sure all Americans have figured out who is going to pay for the rebuild right?

Here’s what happens after the first ten years of the rebuilding.  Russia invades once again and blows all the new construction to the ground yet again.  Can’t anyone having any intelligence at all in our federal government see that this is a no win scenario?  Vladimir Putin has to be laughing his butt off at the people we have running our government.  This war is bleeding our economy!  The only way to stop this insanity is to hurt the Russian countryside.  Upset the Russian people with their own leadership.  The only way to accomplish this is to send rockets from Ukraine into Russia.  Of course that will spark World War III so that won’t happen nor do I want that to happen.  China is backing Russia’s play in Ukraine.  It’s too much for us and we need to accept it.  We can’t win this war for Ukraine! If we are not willing to go all in, willing to cause damage and casualties within the invading country, we need to stay out of these wars.  Look at our history!  Vietnam, Syria, Afghanistan, now Ukraine.  It’s time for America to take care of Americans.