Using that logic,Iran is defeated on the long term then and the US is victorious on the long term. lol
Ahhhhhh touche, except that you forget the big picture. This isn't about Iran; in a world of just USA and Iran, Iran can only fold (although in such a world, the US is unlikely to be interested in fighting Iran since its dominance is unchallenged). But China is a bigger player waiting to eat America's lunch. Therefore, there is no long term for the US and to win, Iran only needs to drain American resources until China can finish the job. After China surpasses the US, it's going to be drowning in China's wake, no longer bullying other countries. America doesn't have the stamina for this fight; it needed Iran to fold and offer terms quickly without draining American resources and it sure as hell did not get that.
Anyway , I don’t think it’s always the case , but yeah I agree with your point actually
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m not talking about being useless for other powers. In fat the biggest winners of this war are those powers who are not involved per se. Like India, China, and even US to some extent . The losers (and the reason I call it useless from their perspective) is the two main parties involved I.e Russia and Ukraine . The loses on both sides are massive in all aspects one can think of , in fact in manpower alone Ukraine is trying to draft any available citizen they can find, Russia has drawn from much of their army to the point they have been releasing prisoners and pushing them on the front line for death and they have even called on help from North Korean troops and they are clandestinely /illegally fooling poor African countries to send their people to Russia where many are unaware it’s to join the war (traffickers lie to them that it’s for a job . lol) it has gotten so bad that some African countries are taking the unprecedented step of calling out Russo on this publicly (something that was unthinkable years ago). In fact all this itself is a humiliation itself for Russia to be honest. It shows they are far less capable than many imagined . If you had told me or anybody just 5 years ago that Russia will struggle to defeat Ukraine in a conventional war , I’m sure nobody will have believed . Don’t forget that even many reputed western military organizations constantly put Russia as the world second most capable/powerful military (ahead of even China ) after the US. lol
First of all, you have the order of things confused. Russia first sends its prisoners, and foreign mercenaries before using its core power. Those are expendable. You mean to tell me that if you were in charge, you'd let your main army get decimated before sending cannon fodder??
Secondly, I was not talking about being useless for other powers. The fact that it's very useful for China means that it's very useful for Russia. Russia is going to have a shit time in a world that is USA/EU centric. It is going to have a much better time in a Sino-centric world. China will never harm Russia unless attacked first but all day all night, NATO thinks about how to harm Russia. So, in pulling the EU down from the fight and forcing the US to face China alone, Russia is helping its own future.
Anyway , I think both sides should sit down and make a deal. Neither side can achieve a decisive victory.
Nah, drag it out. When the EU is exhausted and the US has piped down knowing that it is outmatched by China, Russia can unleash what it held in reserve for NATO unto Ukraine and win. If not, I think Xi can lend a hand. After all, Putin has lent us plenty.
