"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (1 Viewer)

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Ok - enough! It's obvious you don't need to be here, good-bye!

Yeah...the whole "US owns and dictates to NATO" is another good one.

Having participated in a number of NATO meetings over the years, I can absolutely guarantee that the US does not dictate to NATO. It's one of the reasons making progress within NATO is so slow...because all the countries have to agree. Take national bureaucracy inertia and then multiply that by 30 for ANY decision...which standards to adopt? Which software applications to use? What acronyms should forces use and what do they mean? What doctrine does NATO follow?

I can absolutely guarantee that the US is not dictating any of this stuff...and if the US can't dictate low-level crap like this, how on earth is it going to dictate the big stuff like how to respond to crises?
 
Some interesting info re Turkey/Erdogan's behavior in the current situation involving Russia.

"Relations between Turkey and the Russian Federation / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

I had not realized the extent of Turkey's pre-Ukraine war economic dependence on Russia. Seeing this I am a bit surprised that Turkey shut down the Bosphorus as quickly as they did. On the other hand, it may have been the most effective and practical option for them in terms of economic and international relations.

Also "Russia and Turkey: An Ambiguous Energy Partnership"
 

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops pushed farther into a key eastern Ukrainian city and fought street by street with Kyiv's forces Monday in a battle the mayor said has left the city "completely ruined" and driven tends of thousands from their homes.

Military analysts painted the battle as part of a race against time for the Kremlin, which they said wants to complete its capture of the industrial Donbas region before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine's defenses. Weapons from the West have already helped Kyiv's forces thwart a Russian advance on the capital in the early weeks of the war. That failure forced Moscow to withdraw, regroup, and pursue a more limited objective of seizing the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists already held swaths of territory and have been fighting Ukrainian troops for eight years.

In recent days, the fighting has focused on Sievierodonetsk in a battle Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called "indescribably difficult." Relentless Russian artillery barrages have destroyed critical infrastructure and damaged 90% of the buildings, and power and communications have been largely cut to a city that was once home to 100,000 people.

"The number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting," Mayor Oleksandr Striuk told The Associated Press in a phone interview, adding that Moscow's troops advanced a few more blocks toward the city center.

"The city has been completely ruined," he added, and only about 12,000 to 13,000 residents remain, sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape the Russian bombardment — a situation that recalls the siege of Mariupol that trapped residents and led to some of the worst suffering of the war.

While tens of thousands are believed to have died in Mariupol, Striuk estimated that 1,500 civilians have died in his city since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as from the dire conditions, including a lack of medicine or medical treatment.

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces reinforced their positions on the northeastern and southeastern outskirts of Sievierodonetsk, 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of the Russian border in an area that is the last pocket of Ukrainian government control in Luhansk province.



As Beez said upthread, it's like Mariupol on a smaller scale.
 
Some interesting info re Turkey/Erdogan's behavior in the current situation involving Russia.

"Relations between Turkey and the Russian Federation / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

I had not realized the extent of Turkey's pre-Ukraine war economic dependence on Russia. Seeing this I am a bit surprised that Turkey shut down the Bosphorus as quickly as they did. On the other hand, it may have been the most effective and practical option for them in terms of economic and international relations.

Also "Russia and Turkey: An Ambiguous Energy Partnership"
I think you will find this article of interest as well

And:
Biden: US will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach Russia
Joe Biden this afternoon confirmed the US has no plans to send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia.
The US has provided Ukraine with a significant amount of military aid since Russia launched an invasion of the country in late February.
Reports had emerged that the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Kyiv.
However, Mr Biden dismissed this today.
 
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Biden: US will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach Russia
Joe Biden this afternoon confirmed the US has no plans to send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia.
That's just dumb. For starters, the Ukrainians east of Kharkiv can throw a rock into Russia, they're just yards away from the border. Any rocket the Ukrainians posses can already reach Russia. How far does Biden think Russia is from Ukraine?


One of the US national TV news reported last week that a second ship bringing food to Ukraine had been sunk in the Black Sea.
I don't think a ship is needed to bring food to Ukraine, but instead the ships are needed to bring food out of Ukraine to the rest of us.
 
That's just dumb. For starters, the Ukrainians east of Kharkiv can throw a rock into Russia, they're just yards away from the border. Any rocket the Ukrainians posses can already reach Russia. How far does Biden think Russia is from Ukraine?
What the Ukrainians do with their indigenous gear is their own concern, but it seems our current administration fears any damage to Russia proper from US supplied weaponry. Shall we ask for return of our M77 howitzers? How about our TOW and Stinger missiles? "If you're a bad boy and kick the bear in his nether regions, we'll take away your toys."
How silly can this get?
 
What the Ukrainians do with their indigenous gear is their own concern, but it seems our current administration fears any damage to Russia proper from US supplied weaponry. Shall we ask for return of our M77 howitzers? How about our TOW and Stinger missiles? "If you're a bad boy and kick the bear in his nether regions, we'll take away your toys."
How silly can this get?
I think once you've sunk a Russian cruiser the gloves are off.
 
What can Russia do if Ukraine uses American weapons against them? Apply sanctions? I doubt many would see MLRSes fired by Ukraine as a justification for nuclear war, which is the only Russian response that can hurt America.
 
I think you will find this article of interest as well

And:
Biden: US will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach Russia
Joe Biden this afternoon confirmed the US has no plans to send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia.
The US has provided Ukraine with a significant amount of military aid since Russia launched an invasion of the country in late February.
Reports had emerged that the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Kyiv.
However, Mr Biden dismissed this today.
Well, those rocket systems can't reach Russia, from here! 🙂
 
Easy. They use this to rally the Russian public and call for general mobilization to defend the motherland. If the Ukrainians are smart they'll fire never a shell into Russia.

Given the parlous state of their reserves, that might be useful to Putin for controlling the domestic narrative, but in terms of combat capability -- T-62s and raw recruits on the battlefield?
 

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