"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (6 Viewers)

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SaparotRob said:
Perhaps not an apt analogy but the First and Second World Wars did much to improve the U.S. economy.
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True, but it is, with all i know of, this a good cause. You see, all the investments the US made in Europe will come back in jobs and whatever now. There is no sentiment against spending enormous amounts of money in hardware now feel needed. There are no protesters burning whatever flag over here, not even remotely anti sentiment against the USA getting somewhat involved. In fact i think there is consensus that it is honourable to supply. The people feel so, i think.
Also re arming isnt a dirty word any more.
They should not have pissed off those guys at Snake Island. That is were Russia starting too bleed. They forgot we ( the people) like the brave under dog.

And as a side note, some other dictators will take note. Do not tickle the beast and friends too hard. You may not like the outcome. Yes we fight around the table, some slack around their chores, but we are family when it is starting to count.
 
GTX said:
Referencing a conspiracy theory pandering "alternative news" (their own words) website is hardly a way to justify a position
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Entirely agree. I was particularly confused by the reference to "neo-cons in the US government." I thought neo-cons were, in 1980s terms, the arch-conservatives within the Republican party. Apparently, now they're running amok in Biden's government....all while the Republicans point to "deep state" and left-leaning bias in US government organizations. Am I the only one confused by this?
 
SaparotRob said:
I've read in a linked article somewhere in this thread that President Zelenskyy is doing a good job but I read just the one article. He certainly is safer from the hit squads that work for the oligarchs.
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Zelensky has a close to 94% approval rating amongst Ukrainians, which is a staggering percentage if you look at other leaders' approval ratings abroad.

Anyone who attempts to take out Zelensky, or does, will not last long at the hands of a furious nation.
 
Ukraine doesn't have to 'win' by smashing the Russian military and clearing them from the battlefield. It merely has to survive to win in the long run as Russia's economy withers and its military resources run dry.

Russia's propaganda fig-leaf has been unceremoniously ripped away by the brutal reality of facing a determined and motivated opponent: It seems pretty apparent that a large proportion of its purported strength has been purely paper in nature. And Russia stands effectively alone and in any practical way, unsupported- unless we're counting some ersatz Iranian drones. Its not as if Pakistan, Venezuela, Cuba, North Kora or other bastions of progressive culture and support are going to be shipping arms, dollars or manpower is it? But who stands in opposition? Just about every functional democracy in the world. And is seems that they are increasingly happy to feed the Ukrainian war economy the treasure and arms it needs to keep going.

This invasion was clearly designed to be a quick and easy victory - a modern day blitzkrieg that was supposed to have achieved all of its major objectives within a few weeks, if not days and before the democracies that Putin regards as weak had woken up. But like a lot of grandiose plans drawn up by yes men and generals invested according to loyalty rather than ability, it didn't survive first contact with the enemy. Nor did it reckon upon how quickly nations would wake up to not only the threat, but the paper-tiger nature of an arch brinksman who was finally having his bluff called in the most globally public way.

I find the apologia for American isolationism viz a viz Ukraine utterly bizarre. They're an indelible echo of similar sentiments heard in the USA before WW2, the annexation of Austria, the Sudentanland and all that was to follow. People repeating them might have pause to think a little harder about the lessons of history.
 
Are there any more MiG-29s or Su-27s to be had on the global 2nd hand market? Didn't the Slovakians have some?

In other MiG-29 news….

Watch: How MIG 29K made its maiden landing on INS Vikrant | News - Times of India Videos

In another historic achievement for Indian Navy, MiG 29K landed on INS Vikrant on Feb 06. Apart from, Mig 29K, indigenous LCA Navy also made its maiden landing on the made-in India aircraft carrier. It demonstrated India’s capability to design, develop, construct & operate Indigenous Aircraft...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 
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I've just started a thread inspired by your comments here coinciding with something I've considered for sometime. I'd be interested in your 'what if' capabilities on the subject matter!
 
Have you seen this?

Rebuilding U.S. Inventories: Six Critical Systems

Are U.S. weapons inventories getting too low because of transfers to Ukraine? Although most inventories are acceptable, some key munitions will take many years to replace. Often, there are workarounds, but there may be a crisis brewing over artillery ammunition.
www.csis.org

SplitRz said:
Ukraine doesn't have to 'win' by smashing the Russian military and clearing them from the battlefield. It merely has to survive to win in the long run as Russia's economy withers and its military resources run dry.
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So Ukraine doesn't 'win' by retaking the donbass and crimea?
 

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That's one way that Ukraine could win….but it may not be the most likely option. Sustaining Russian losses while not actually losing is, arguably, Ukraine's best chance for victory.

The Mujahedeen didn't retake large swaths of Afghanistan and yet they beat the Soviet military.
 
No, not necessarily. That is of course their ultimate objective - but how realistic it is in the face of Realpolitik remains to be seen. Perhaps sadly those regions are lost permanently. But for any nation invaded by another, preserving their capital, their government, their culture, their freedom and their borders at the time of that invasion is surely the first priority. Given they were expected by Putin - and not a small percentage of the same isolationist voices constantly predicting their imminent doom each week - to have folded like a pack of cards MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, where are we now? The Ukrainians have taken back a significant amount of territory despite all the apparent (but clearly inflated and inaccurate) odds.

Whatever issues of supply, munitions and equipment faced by the Ukrainians, and whatever the ebb and flow of the front line, the Russians clearly face exactly the same problems, and face them magnified by a greater factor. So the net result is neutral at worst.

And that's without accounting for the significant disparity between a motivated army of people fighting for all of the things listed above, and one of poorly trained, poorly equipped and increasingly conscripted men fighting for a cause which must look increasingly pointless and hopeless. That the Russians best troops are a blend of mercenaries and indentured convicts should send a huge message..
 
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SplitRz said:
It seems pretty apparent that a large proportion of its purported strength has been purely paper in nature.
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[...]

SplitRz said:
Nor did it reckon upon how quickly nations would wake up to not only the threat, but the paper-tiger nature of an arch brinksman who was finally having his bluff called in the most globally public way.
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It's a Potemkin military, put on parade to impress the Tsar just as the facades of the village were redone to impress the Empress. The Russian MoD is currently struggling to retain credibility against Prigozhin.

Consider that for a moment: the Ministry of Defense there has fouled things up so much that a private contractor is regarded as a bureaucratic threat.

The fact that Prigozhin can mount this challenge by using convicts speaks volumes about the combat power of the Russian army.

The Russian military is a hollow vessel which has steered directly into a torpedo.
 
It is perhaps where the greatest long term danger of Russian failure and humiliation lies, eh?
 
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