Where's the beef?

Scott Ritter nails it as the disaster known as Ukraine has gone full circle, along the lines of Nam where victory was never part of the equation but rather money as war is the ultimate enabler for enormous profits for the war merchants supplying the weapons needed to perpetrate said war.

To whit.

Back in 1984, Wendy’s (an American fast-food chain) released an advertisement starring an elderly actress named Clara Peller. The premise of the ad had Peller ordering a hamburger from an unnamed competitor, only to receive a very large bun containing a very small beef patty on the inside. 

Upon examining the burger, Peller looks up in exasperation, and proclaims “Where’s the beef?”

Channeling Nam ...

In the weeks leading up to the summit, Ukraine was desperately trying to do its part, throwing its newly constituted NATO-trained and equipped assault brigades at prepared Russian defenses in actions which made the infamous “Charge of the Light Brigade” seem like the epitome of military planning and execution by comparison. With much of its NATO-provided weaponry, including the much-touted Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, destroyed or damaged without ever reaching the main Russian defensive positions, and some 20,000 Ukrainian casualties, the Ukrainian counteroffensive fizzled out. Instead of presenting his NATO partners with a decisive Ukrainian victory, Zelensky confronted his erstwhile allies with the harsh reality that not only would the conflict with Russia not be ending any time soon, but also the growing realization that, when it did end, it would be as a decisive Russian military victory.

But to achieve a peace that created the conditions favorable to Ukraine joining NATO meant that Ukraine must first defeat the Russian army on the field of battle. To do that, Ukraine would need NATO to radically alter the formulation upon which current levels of military assistance were being calculated, if for no other reason that the current formulations were, simply put, not working. But NATO is neither inclined nor capable of changing this formulation. Its goal has never been to defend Ukraine, but rather defeat Russia, a cause it is willing to pursue to the last Ukrainian.

Zelensky came to Vilnius like customers flock to fast food restaurants, full of expectations about the delicious burger they are going to order and consume, only to find himself cast in the role of Clara Peller, shouting out in exasperation, “Where’s the beef?”

The answer doesn’t matter. There is no beef. It’s just a script. And Zelensky is just an actor, playing out his role in the tragic opera that has become the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, watching helplessly as his nation and people are being sacrificed on behalf of a dysfunctional NATO alliance that proclaims its mission as peace, but whose only product is war.

Same as it ever was - Talking Heads