The 11/30/21 dispatch.
Discover more from The View from the Front. By Stan R. Mitchell.
The 11/30/21 dispatch.
Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a great weekend and that your week is off to a great start!
This weeks’ big news continues to be the fear of large-scale wra in Ukraine. And while I typically cover quite a few topics, there’s a lot to share about the situation with Russia, so today’s newsletter will mostly focus on that.
As this perfectly-worded headline states, this truly is a big test for America right now.
From the story above:
The White House is reviewing options to deter a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, including providing more military aid to Kyiv and threatening sanctions, to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from escalating the simmering conflict into a full-blown transatlantic crisis.
The deliberations come as President Biden and his aides prepare for a virtual call with Putin next month, a moment that analysts see as an opportunity to signal the costs of an invasion to the Kremlin but also present a path for reducing tension.
…
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said Russia had massed a “large and unusual concentration of forces in the region,” including tanks, artillery, armored units, drones and electronic warfare systems, as well as combat-ready troops. Ukraine says Russia has about 94,000 troops near the border.
NATO is already warning Russia not to invade.
From the military.com story:
The United States has shared intelligence with European allies warning of a possible invasion of Ukraine. European diplomats acknowledge the Russian troop movements, but some countries have played down the threat of any imminent invasion ordered by Moscow.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the NATO ministers will “together send an unmistakable message to the Russian government: NATO’s support for Ukraine is unbroken and its independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty are not up for discussion.”
“Russia would have to pay a high price for any form of aggression,” Maas said. “Honest and sustainable de-escalation steps, which can only go via the route of talks, are all the more important now. I will not tire of stressing that the door to such talks is still open to Russia.”
Making this story a little more alarming was this news from Belarus, a neighbor of Ukraine and country closely allied to Russia (or at least its leaders are).
All right, that was a lot about the situation in Russia, so we’ll move to a few other things before ending with some motivation.
In Iran, there’s been some unrest now over water shortages.
Here’s more on that topic: Iran water: What's causing the shortages? - BBC News
Moving over to Afghanistan, there were a couple of stories of note there:
And also this one:
Sadly, there was also this: The Taliban executed scores of Afghan security forces members after surrender, HRW report alleges.
And the country remains on the verge of economic collapse. UN envoy: Afghanistan on brink of `humanitarian catastrophe.'
All right, apologies that today’s newsletter was filled with anxiety-producing and sad news.
Let’s end with some motivation:
And also one thing, a blast from the past if you will !
I’m sharing this because you need to see this photo today. And because Top Gun back in the day helped convince me and half of the dudes I served with to sign up.
(I learned, much to my sadness, that real vets don't play vollebyall wearing dog tags though... lol)
That’s it for this post. And as a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love and support your fellow Americans:
As always, please share this post if you enjoyed it, as well as comment below.
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Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I write fast-paced military and mystery thrillers. You can find all ten books here: amazon.com.