"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (19 Viewers)

[MiTasol]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/09/starlink-restricts-internet-drones-ukraine/

Pick a side Elon!!

He has and it is not Ukraine.

His "gift" of Starlink was an advertising ploy so that he could trot out his "Ukraine can just give Putler Crimea and the other four teritories and all be friends" again crap while appearing to support Ukraine and be hailed a great peacemaking hero.

 

[MiTasol]

Petain once said, under German occupation, "I am only a lemon, they will squeeze me dry and then throw me away."

How Prigozhin doesn't understand that is beyond me. He will be used until he has no more utility, and then he too will find a convenient window.

The sooner the better

 

[WARSPITER]

Strap some more sewer-grates onto it, you're good to go.

The weight of a sewer grate may actually cause problems with the COG on a Lada Niva.......

 

[WARSPITER]

It also sees you for miles. During manoeuvres, infantry units are surprised by its ability for detection. The armor is not that of a tank as it is not a tank.
Its mission is recon, the gun serving to disengage.
By the way, it was adopted in preference to a tracked concept that did not convince.

Simple then.

Leopard 1A5 to AMX - "You point to 'em, we'll plug 'em". Job done.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

The weight of a sewer grate may actually cause problems with the COG on a Lada Niva.......

Hopefully you CC'd this to Larry Bell?

 

[WARSPITER]

Hopefully you CC'd this to Larry Bell?

No I didn't. When you've only got 1600cc's to start with, you can't afford to start handing them out....

 

[RogerdeLluria]

Very interesting thread on why everyone in Russia makes threats, the bigger the better, totally destroying their credibility and reputation with the west.
Kamil Galeev is an independent researcher and a journalist residing in Moscow. His main focus of interest is the identity politics in post-Soviet Russia, the ethnification of Russian nationalism and the crackdown on the ethnic republics.

Worth reading the full thread.


View: https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1624102046822543362

 

[Denniss]

The AMX 10 RC reminds me a bit of the Sd.Kfz 234/2 - a too big gun in an armored car which led some overoptimistic crew to engage instead of disengage. I'm not even thinking about the 234/4 which was misusing an armored car chassis to carry a bif ATG

 

[Torch]

Because a Peugeot can go around the corner while a Corvette can only drive straight

I'll take you for a ride in my 2017 Grand Sport

 

[Marcel]

I'll take you for a ride in my 2017 Grand Sport

If I ever get to your place, I will hold you too that promise

 

[drgondog]

Have you seen this?
View attachment 706247

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

Yes, there are several other articles seeming to confirm what I have been told, and emerging in greater volume.

One of the 'military pundits' that I have found to be repeatedly reliable (as a 'contrarian' to the propaganda) is Col. Douglas MacGregor (USA Ret'd). He has consstently dived below the approved 'messanging and messengers' to parse the details and proceses and facts that must be in existance to 'make the messaging reliable'. He is not well liked by Left wing supporters of POTUS, or Right wing advocates of 'any war is a good war' - as long as the money flows to our defense industry.

Additionally former senior advisor to SecDef, Col. Douglas MacGregor just recently wrote his latest book "Transformation under Fire" which gained significant traction with Israel IDF.
Excerpt from website:
"With LTG Kohavi, IDF Chief hosting the meeting, Macgregor is speaking to the IDF General Staff and Commanders on 17 Feb in Israel. "The Chief of the IDF General Staff made Macgregor's book,Transformation under Fire (Praeger, 2003), required reading for all officers in the rank of LTC and above.

This is the first time in the history of the IDF that a Chief of the Israeli General Staff has identified a book as the intellectual basis for future change in the IDF."

As usual, when a learned POV is expressed by an expert, all the pundts ranging from Fox News/Gowdy to Newsweek and WaPo immediately attack the messenger and his POV.

Much has been said about US/NATO now on a 'War Footing' to ramp up capability, but little has been said about reinstating draft. expanding manufacturing capability, re-training workers, building new plants and tooling, and increasing taxes to support the buildup.. As I look around at the governments within NATO struggling with inflation (and in case of US, massive debt service) not one is articulating the need to prepare for war with Russia - only 'we need to support Ukraine (requiring unspecified commitments of national resources).

The US was FAR more capable, financially and manufacturing wise (as well as public will), to expand to war footing before and during the period we entered WWII, with sole exception of trained and experienced war fighters.

Douglas Macgregor, Ph.D.

www.douglasmacgregor.com

 

[buffnut453]

Yes, there are several other articles seeming to confirm what I have been told, and emerging in greater volume.

One of the 'military pundits' that I have found to be repeatedly reliable (as a 'contrarian' to the propaganda) is Col. Douglas MacGregor (USA Ret'd). He has consstently dived below the approved 'messanging and messengers' to parse the details and proceses and facts that must be in existance to 'make the messaging reliable'. He is not well liked by Left wing supporters of POTUS, or Right wing advocates of 'any war is a good war' - as long as the money flows to our defense industry.

Additionally former senior advisor to SecDef, Col. Douglas MacGregor just recently wrote his latest book "Transformation under Fire" which gained significant traction with Israel IDF.
Excerpt from website:
"With LTG Kohavi, IDF Chief hosting the meeting, Macgregor is speaking to the IDF General Staff and Commanders on 17 Feb in Israel. "The Chief of the IDF General Staff made Macgregor's book,Transformation under Fire (Praeger, 2003), required reading for all officers in the rank of LTC and above.

This is the first time in the history of the IDF that a Chief of the Israeli General Staff has identified a book as the intellectual basis for future change in the IDF."

As usual, when a learned POV is expressed by an expert, all the pundts ranging from Fox News/Gowdy to Newsweek and WaPo immediately attack the messenger and his POV.

Much has been said about US/NATO now on a 'War Footing' to ramp up capability, but little has been said about reinstating draft. expanding manufacturing capability, re-training workers, building new plants and tooling, and increasing taxes to support the buildup.. As I look around at the governments within NATO struggling with inflation (and in case of US, massive debt service) not one is articulating the need to prepare for war with Russia - only 'we need to support Ukraine (requiring unspecified commitments of national resources).

The US was FAR more capable, financially and manufacturing wise (as well as public will), to expand to war footing before and during the period we entered WWII, with sole exception of trained and experienced war fighters.

Douglas Macgregor, Ph.D.

www.douglasmacgregor.com

COL Macgregor already made an appearance in this thread at post #14,229. I question his perspective when he describes Russia's invasion as an "economy of force operation" or states that Russia tried to minimize civilian casualties. He's incredibly selective in the "evidence" he uses for his pronouncements.

As to increasing weapons production, there are a LOT of discussions about doing that...and in many cases, it's been happening for some time. Certainly the US and UK are working on that problem. I'd be shocked if Poland wasn't already in ramp-up mode given the weapons that country has provided to Ukraine.

As to nations not discussing increasing defence spending, this article dates from March 2022...yes, just one month after the Russian invasion: Seven European nations have increased defense budgets in one month. Who will be next? - Breaking Defense. There are discussions in NATO about making changing the current requirement on member nation defence expenditure, turning the current 2% of GDP "target" into a minimum baseline.

Reinstating the draft is absolutely NOT the way to expand the West's military capability. You end up with a host of unskilled people, many of whom don't even want to be there. Managing a large force of relatively untrained people massively denudes operational capability because you have to spread your skilled, professional personnel across the force, with a net effect of lowering operational effectiveness. Yes, you get more people in the front line but they end up being just like the Russian army - cannon fodder to be thrown into the meat grinder.

 

[Glider]

I think its also worth remembering some of the other things he said

That Poland has had 5000 casualties and that the US and UK have also suffered thousands of casualties

It's also worth remembering that he didn't try to defend or support his statements.

I would lay good money that the IDF don't mention this to their students

 

[buffnut453]

I think its also worth remembering some of the other things he said

That Poland has had 5000 casualties and that the US and UK have also suffered thousands of casualties

It's also worth remembering that he didn't try to defend or support his statements.

I would lay good money that the IDF don't mention this to their students

Yep...that's just one of many examples where he made entirely baseless claims. For starters, Macgregor seems to be insinuating that it's the NATO military forces that have suffered these casualties. Certainly his choice of language is....interesting, to say the least. He didn't say "Polish citizens" or "British citizens". Instead he talked about the number of casualties that Poland and others have sustained...which makes it sound like the nations' forces are fighting rather than individuals volunteering to fight in Ukraine.

I can guarantee that pretty much every UK casualty hits the headlines. Just look at the recent news article about two men who were killed trying to evacuate civilians from danger areas. For there to have been "thousands of casualties" involving UK citizens, it would require every one of their families to remain silent about the deaths. That's an impossibility in this day and age where everyone below the age of 40 feels the need to post what they had for breakfast online. Local news agencies would quickly pick up on the death of a local lad/lass, which would then get repackaged by the national media.

While I have every respect for COL Macgregor's military service, IMHO he's just another talking head trying to bolster his reputation by making unfounded grand pronouncements and then not being held accountable if they don't come to pass. I put him in a similar category to Pierre Sprey, although Macgregor is perhaps ever-so-slightly more credible than that particular waste of oxygen.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yep...that's just one of many examples where he made entirely baseless claims. For starters, Macgregor seems to be insinuating that it's the NATO military forces that have suffered these casualties. Certainly his choice of language is...interesting. He didn't say "Polish citizens" or "British citizens". Instead he talked about the number of casualties that Poland and others have sustained...which makes it sound like a national agenda rather than individuals volunteering to fight in Ukraine.

I can guarantee that pretty much every UK casualty hits the headlines. Just look at the recent news article about two men who were killed trying to evacuate civilians from danger areas. For there to have been "thousands of casualties" involving UK citizens, it would require every one of their families to remain silent about the deaths. That's an impossibility in this day and age where everyone below the age of 40 feels the need to post what they had for breakfast online. Local news agencies would quickly pick up on the death of a local lad/lass, which would then get repackaged by the national media.

While I have every respect for COL Macgregor's military service, IMHO he's just another talking head trying to bolster his reputation by making unfounded grand pronouncements and then not being held accountable if they don't come to pass. I put him in a similar category to Pierre Sprey, although Macgregor is perhaps ever-so-slightly more credible that that particular waste of oxygen.

Holy crap, I just read up on the guy. Was his helmet made of tin-foil as well?

 

[buffnut453]

Holy crap, I just read up on the guy. Was his helmet made of tin-foil as well?

Yep...as a talking head who's made multiple appearances on RT (Russian state media), including expressing support for Russia's annexation of the Donbas, he's hardly the most objective commentator on the war in Ukraine.

Here's a classic example where one of his pronouncements proved to be widely off-target. In March 2022 he stated that a ceasefire was close because Ukrainian forces had been "grounded to bits. There's no question about that despite what we report on our mainstream media." Here we are, almost a year later and Ukraine is still very much in the fight. The mainstream media appear to have been correct and Macgregor was flat out WRONG...but that doesn't stop him bemoaning "mainstream media" as being against him and his message.

As I noted previously, nobody holds this idiot accountable when he's so wildly inaccurate. He continues to be invited onto TV and internet broadcasts where he continues to make his pronouncements.

The simple fact that Tucker Carlson sees Macgregor as "our first choice for foreign policy analysis" and "one of the people we trust to give us real information" should give any sane-thinking person pause for thought about Macgregor's objectivity and reliability.

 

[GTX]

He has and it is not Ukraine.

His "gift" of Starlink was an advertising ploy so that he could trot out his "Ukraine can just give Putler Crimea and the other four teritories and all be friends" again crap while appearing to support Ukraine and be hailed a great peacemaking hero.

It was also an attempt to blackmail the US Govt to pay him money...which they rightly called his bluff on.

SpaceX tells US government that it can no longer pay for Ukraine’s Starlink service

It wants the Pentagon to foot the bill for future terminals and service

www.theverge.com

 

[buffnut453]

Here's another example of where Macgregor's analysis was massively incorrect.

In September 2022, he again predicted on Carlson's show that "this war may be over soon" and later in the month "the Ukrainian army is bled white, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded, Ukraine is really on the ropes." This was just before Ukraine's offensive actions that took a huge swath of territory, including Lyman, in the north, followed almost immediately in October with the push that cleared the north bank of the Dniepr near Kherson.

I mean, really....could he have been any MORE wrong? And yet he's made almost monthly appearances on Fox News and continues to be cited as a speaker of "truth." I just sit here and shake my head at this nonsense.

 

[GTX]

Here's another example of where Macgregor's analysis was massively incorrect.

In September 2022, he again predicted on Carlson's show that "this war may be over soon" and later in the month "the Ukrainian army is bled white, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded, Ukraine is really on the ropes." This was just before Ukraine's offensive actions that took a huge swath of territory, including Lyman, in the north, and then in October the push that cleared the north bank of the Dniepr near Kherson.

I mean, really....could he have been any MORE wrong? And yet he's made almost monthly appearances on Fox News and continues to be cited as a speaker of "truth." I just sit here and shake my head at this nonsense.

It's quite pathetic how some are so desperate to argue against the war/for Russia that they rely on such weak individuals to justify their position. They are either desperate or delusional...or both.

 

[GTX]

Tangentially related:

Moldova names new pro-EU prime minister after government falls amid Russian pressure

Moldova was granted EU candidate status last June, but has faced intense pressure from Moscow.

www.politico.eu