Fear-fest

It's not the yeet, it's the timidity

Catching up on weekly illustrations which chronicle the issues of Ukraine’s fight against Russia and its relationship with the US—it’s complicated. Also, because it is Hallowe’en season, there’s a demon-cat.

Empty Threat, ©2024 William L. Brown. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast (state) last August crossed Putin’s red line. It is one of the many “escalations” he has threatened would trigger a nuclear response. When these escalatory lines are crossed, it is clear they are imaginary. Russians have the rational understanding that deploying even a small tactical nuclear bomb would be self-defeating. Nuclear radiation would poison land they hope to occupy, could drift into Russian air, and—worst of all—could drift into NATO air, which NATO would take as a nuclear attack.

Let Ukraine Strike Back, ©2024 William L. Brown. One of the countries successfully cowed by Russia’s nuclear threats is the USA, which does not let Ukraine use US-supplied long-range weapons on Russian ammo-dumps, staging areas and other military facilities on Russias soil.

”’Managing escalation’ is a term frequently used by the Biden administration when talking about preventing Russia’s war on Ukraine from developing into WWIII….” writes Steven Moore in his Substack Tales from WWIII,

Moore, former House Leadership Chief of Staff currently living in Ukraine, says “This fear of escalation and cowering to Putin’s nuclear saber rattling are at least in part products of a Russian propaganda campaign to create a ‘nuclear psychosis’ in the West…..as revealed by hacked Kremlin documents made public by the Department of Justice last summer.”

But, escalation fear weakens the hearts of some influential people, as does the fear that if Russia loses the war, Putin would fall and the Russian government—along with Russia’s nuclear weapons—would fall into unknown hands. It is more important to these timorous types to maintain the stability of the Putin regime than to help Ukraine win. This element has the ear of US President Biden.

One result is that the US has placed limits on where Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons. Despite pleading and ample proof that the policy in effect provides safe havens for Russian weapons and troops, the US refuses to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons against most targets on Russian soil.

Ukraine supporters are using the hashtag #LetUkraineStrikeBack.

Safe Zone ©2024 William L. Brown. Again, the issue of not allowing Ukraine to use long range US-supplied weapons on targets on Russian soil. This was also was an excuse to draw archery, which I once enjoyed as a hobby.

No Exit, ©2024 William L. Brown. Though recently reformed, Ukrainian conscription is still unfair. One aspect is that it does not include demobilization terms. There is no time limit on military service. The reason for this is that veterans are desperately needed.

Sword of Damocles ©2024 William L. Brown. Ukraine’s future, and possibly it’s existence, depend on the USA’s presidential election result Nov. 5.

Pollsters tell us the electorate is split, and the outcome unpredictable. Candidate and former-president Donald Trump pledges to end Russia’s war in one day - but indications are that he intends to do that by cutting off aid to Ukraine and strong-arming them into territorial concessions. This, of course, is a win for Russia, which may pause to regroup, but Russian doctrine says Ukraine belongs to them. Unless Ukraine has solid security guarantees (such as NATO membership) Russia will attack again.

North Korea Takes Notes ©2024 William L. Brown. Speaking of escalation, last week Russia allegedly welcomed an estimated 3000 North Korean troops. South Korean estimates as many as 12,000. If this crosses any US or NATO red lines, they haven’t mentioned it yet.

South Korea has expressed concern that North Korean troops would learn new tactics that could be applied in a future Korean conflict. There is also the question of what Russia traded for the use of these troops—nuclear bomb technology, for example.

Demon-Cat Returns, ©2024 William L. Brown. The latest Hallowe’en Demon-Cat image. This is it’s third Hallowe’en. All of these images are available on t-shirts and tote bags suitable for trick-or-treating.