On 17 September 2026, I was on Glenn Diesen’s popular podcast talking about the war in Ukraine. We focused much attention on how the war is likely to end and what I mean when I say that Russia is likely to win an “ugly victory.” We also discussed how Russia is now waging both its ground war on the front lines and its strategic bombing campaign against Ukraine and how those two dimension of the Russian offensive relate to each other. We also spoke about the important article that Iuliia Mendel, President Zelensky’s first press secretary published recently in The Spectator. It maintains that Ukraine is pursuing national suicide by continuing its war against Russia, and backs up that argument with facts that can only be described as shocking. In essence it portrays a truly grim picture of the state of affairs in Ukraine.
What Is An”Ugly Victory”?
Hmmm. Wasn’t it John Mearsheimer who warned in 2015 that “the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path, and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked”? And wasn’t that hundreds of thousands of young lives—and hundreds of billions of dollars—ago?
"The playbook the pimps of war in Washington use to lure us into one military fiasco after another including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine, does not change. Freedom and democracy are threatened. Evil must be vanquished. Human rights must be protected. The fate of Europe and NATO, along with a "rules-based international order" is at stake"
Chris Hedges
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202402/1307352.shtml