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"If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project will have failed.” Eisenhower in 1951 I saw this morning refusal to refuel USN ships from a Norwegian company https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/01/mike-lee-calls-for-exit-from-nato-after-norwegian-fuel-company-stops-refueling-u-s-military-ships/ I’m not sure the US doesn’t have interests in Europe or should not have some military commitments/alliances but perhaps NATO really has out lived its purpose, perhaps a more focused alliance of the US and perhaps the UK to the nations of Eastern Europe (Poland, Baltics, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece) is realistic and more in our interests. A smaller very mission focused alliance (territorial sovereignty and nothing more) would be more manageable, sustainable and with this membership be more cohesive as these countries would not be at odds with the US in other areas (economics, political differences, strategic areas in other theaters, etc…)

Or, arguing with you is like playing chess with a pigeon. You just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut around like you won the match. There are more interesting people to converse with here. Though you are occasionally amusing.

look you guys can cry and bitch all you want, but the fact remains that the US is done with Project Ukraine. there is no path forward for ukranian victory...other than a full blown WW3 with nato troops being committed. is that what you fools want? i don't. and most americans don't want that either.

Guess NATO isn’t such a big threat to Russia after all lol #excusetoinvade

Possibly one of the most transparent demonstrations of high stakes diplomatic negotiation that’s ever been available to the public. It had the feel of a meeting that should have been behind closed doors. So why wasn’t it? We can assume that both sides were blundering fools who allowed their emotions to take over. Or, they knew exactly what they were doing. So, what would be the desired outcomes from such a public display? What were the realized outcomes. Putin certainly watched the interchange. He’s probably going to come away from it willing to allow Trump to be an impartial arbitrator. Z comes away staying true to his position, and not undermining the faith of his people. He fought valiantly for the Biden status quo, and lost. Which sends a clear message to anyone who benefits from the status quo (most of Europe) that they’re not getting any more free chicken from the US. Z gained incredible negotiating power with European leaders. He also gets access to some creative peace solutions if the rare earth minerals deal ever gets realized. Trump gets to stay true to his campaign promises, and further separate himself from Biden. He also gets to avoid direct provocation of large scale US conflict. Vance gets yet another opportunity, as Trump’s successor apparent, to demonstrate a hardline diplomatic posture, putting American outcomes first. So, they may all be fools. Or, we might find ourselves looking back on this event as an inflection point in the path to peace.

Just don’t buy more than the 179 ordered AF get busy figuring out how to acquire this:

a sign you're losing the intellectual argument is when you have nothing to offer but "well you're a putin agent" drivel it isn't adding anything to the conversation and very childish.

Again, a comparison to Nazi Germany and Hitler is the ultimate fall back position for a failing argument. It's a cliche. Neville was dealing with a rapidly rearming Germany with a leader who explicitly stated his goal was domination of Europe and wasn't bound by any international agreements or institutions such as the UN. Hitler nearly entirely rejected coexistence with the nations he believed to be responsible for the ruination of Germany. Russia requires international economic interdependence through sales of energy and other resource exports. Germany did not. Russia is a nuclear nation, yet doesn't seek a totalitarian endgame like Hilter's Thousand Year Reich. Neville and Europe were still reeling from WWI and didn't have the economic or military power to meaningful oppose Hitler in a conventional conflict. Both Europe/NATO and Russia are nuclear armed. Neither is gong to invade. How can you expect Russia to launch and invasion of Europe when they could barely push a few dozen miles into Ukraine? And that was with no NATO troops participating. Putin may be a terrible person, but he's pragmatic whereas Hitler was ideological. Your comparison is desperate and an intentional conflation of two completely difference scenarios, periods of time, technology, motivations, etc. All of your arguments are just hyperventilating fear-mongering touting an imaginary worst-case scenario. You're the type of person where someone could plant a seed of fear and doubt, and you'd ruminate on it until you worked yourself into frenzy believing there is no action that shouldn't be take to completely eliminate your perceived threat. You're motivated by emotion, whereas I try to find reason and logic.

If you're going to attempt petty insults, at least embed them in some sort of a rational argument. Otherwise, it only appears you're trying to deflect from a debate you can't win. I've been here more than 20 years. I have seen every debate tactic. You're simply not going to have an effect. Either win, or find another way to cope. Why didn't you just combine the posts? Not once have I ever said Russia was our friend. But their threat the the United States is as ineffectual as your insults are to my feelings. For the record, I love my country and I support the decisions our country is making with regard to this conflict. It seems you're a little put off by the position the USA has taken with regard to seeking peace. You don't dislike America, right? You don't seem supportive of the idea of peace and stability. Very strange.

NATO's job: Keep the Russian out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.

Right into personally attacking me, huh? I never implied I’m not on your side, whatever that is. The guy is literally a talking head on Russian-paid state TV.

There's a reason why all of our allies are replacing their Hs and Js with them. Unfortunately it's a direct competitor with the million herks we've bought from Lockheed and is built outside the US so it will never happen. Doesn't matter that it's a clean sheet design which goes faster, further, higher, uses less gas, less mx, cheaper, and is more modernized than the J. We'd rather keep throwing money at a 70 year old design that's been Frankensteined into the 21st century.

I plan in making that grueling drive to Riverside from Orange County for the airshow. I'll be the retired helicopter pilot with a gnarly mullet. Biff

Side note - they bought CFM 56s with the aforementioned lower accessories drive unit because the good idea fairy thought they could quick change them on the ramp because airlines that do 20x more flying than the AF does just weren’t that smart and couldn’t see the need for that capability

The one Zelensky fucked up? I'm one of the more pro-funding-Ukraine people here, but that was an absolute dumpster fire. What did he think his job at that meeting was? Just because your flag is raised to the same height doesn't make you peers with the US. He knew the starting positions of Trump and Vance, and he should have known Trump's disposition towards flatter, and he decided to press. I'm not saying he's factually wrong, but his job at that meeting wasn't to be the debate champion. I wish this was just Trump playing 4D chess to get the Europeans to take over funding Ukraine, but it's not. Trump's first impeachment made Zelensky the enemy, and he's looking for any reason to embarrass him. Zelensky failed the test. However the end result may still be that the Europeans finally take ownership of their sphere of influence.

Also, take note of the A-37 in the video link picture 2 posts above (tail 10779): They modified their jet with new Martin Baker seats. That jet is one of 3 in Australia/New Zealand and part of the group of 10 that were recovered from Vietnam. With ours in the US, that makes four of those 10 now airworthy in private hands with another 1 or 2 that will be flying in the coming months, hopefully.

The meme factory is running three shifts

The mission is to retrieve the 10mm these chicks dropped a while back.

So a "known racist" has a POV on a topic unrelated to race, and it's "not ideal" that a similar POV aligns with this? What? hope you don't like vegetables, because Hitler liked vegetables and we know how that turned out.

I think I posted awhile back that when the official file drawer is opened, a few moths will fly out. Seems like Pam just witnessed that. Those files with names are long gone.

Can we leave them all on the ISS?

By a guy who lost his investments in Russia and now takes money from the Kremlin? That’s rich—even coming from you.