Various people have asked what is our goal in Ukraine. I suppose most of us would like the Russians to pack up and go home, leaving Ukraine intact geographically, if relatively battered. This may not be a realistic goal.
If we can do nothing else, we can provide Ukraine enough support to keep fighting. It is something they’ve either chosen voluntarily to do or have been pushed into by Russian brutality.
Our model for this is Afghanistan before the Soviets left that benighted and pestilential place and we were dumb enough to take their place. We gave various Afghan tribes enough weapons to keep fighting Russians and it became the Soviet version of Vietnam, a quagmire.
On a relatively weak economy like that of Russia, realism should set in within a few months as the number of casualties and expenses in Ukraine climbs and sanctions continue to bite. Meanwhile Ukraine appears to be running the Finland playbook against Russia, with less preparation but something like the same success.
Afterthought: How long will it take the smart people in Russia to start drawing comparisons between their bad experience in Afghanistan, and what is now happening in Ukraine? Weeks or months?
