Armchair Generals and Diplomatic Gasbags Seek War By J.B. Shurk

[mystery-ak]

October 5, 2025
Armchair Generals and Diplomatic Gasbags Seek War
By J.B. Shurk

Among the arguments of those who seem to be pushing for expanded war with the Russian Federation, one of the strangest is that Russia is a weak, third-world country and a “paper tiger.”  Those who make this argument point to the protracted three-year conflict in Ukraine and scoff at the Russians’ inability to subjugate a much weaker adversary.  These same voices usually ignore America’s ten-year war in Iraq and twenty-year war in Afghanistan, even though both wars cost Americans much and accomplished far fewer strategic objectives than Americans were promised. 

Russia has chosen to execute a war of attrition that wears down Ukrainians’ will to fight.  At the same time, it has refrained from unleashing destruction on the scale of Dresden or Hiroshima that might trigger a wider U.S.-NATO response.  Three and a half years into the war, the Ukrainian people are desperate for the conflict to end.  So far, the war has been primarily limited to the territories of Russia and Ukraine.  From Russia’s point of view, Putin is threading the needle.

What is particularly discordant about calling Russia a “paper tiger” is that so many of the people who make this assertion simultaneously warn that Russia is preparing to conquer all of Europe.  In one breath, Senator Lindsey Graham, special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, or former secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes Russia as a backward country whose nuclear capabilities pose little threat to the United States.  In the next breath, these same voices argue that Russia intends to reconstruct the Soviet Union and envassal the nations of Europe.  Online commenters mock the Russian bear as having no real teeth but then insist that France and Germany will soon see Russian tanks in the streets.

more'
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/10/armchair_generals_and_diplomatic_gasbags_seek_war.html

[Kamaji]

Another Russian a$$-kisser.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Another Russian a$$-kisser.

Sounds like it.

[Timber Rattler]

This article is pure garbage.  The American Thinker used to be a good Conservative blog but over the past 3-4 years, it has gone to pot.  It's editors and contributors are all fools.

[Cyber Liberty]

This article is pure garbage.  The American Thinker used to be a good Conservative blog but over the past 3-4 years, it has gone to pot.  It's editors and contributors are all fools.

Almost as bad as National Review?

[Timber Rattler]

Almost as bad as National Review?

It's worse now.