If Von der Leyen’s estimate is true, that is nearly ten times the number of dead Ukrainian soldiers reported by the Ukrainian government.
Well desperate times calls for desperate measure.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the White House was planning to supply Ukraine with advanced electronic equipment to convert unguided aerial munitions into high-precision “smart bombs” to target Russia’s military positions within Russia!
Zeihan on the above.
He is quite chipper about this development.Me, not so much. What will be the Russian escalated response?
The bottom line is Putin must be stopped. Otherwise he will continue to invade other countries. War then is inevitable.
He works under the nuclear umbrella. I doubt he thinks he can win a nuclear war. He is probably bluffing and counting on our side to back down when threatened.
That read like someone who was Russian and an admirer of Putin. Is that really what American Conservative believes? Because if it is than maybe they should call it Russian Conservative, because that is not an American publisher.
It didn’t have to be this way. Ukraine and Russia could have made a lasting peace deal if it weren’t for the meddling of the Globalist American Empire. In March of 2022, the two sides appeared to be close to agreeing on terms to settle the conflict. It appeared that the agreement would assure Ukraine would never join NATO. The NATO issue is the biggest in this whole affair. The United States and United Kingdom thwarted this deal and the war has continued since, killing tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Russians, and others. Their blood is on the hands of U.S. and U.K. leaders.
Now look at that, completely rewriting history. This war has been going on since 2014. Ukraine didn’t attack Russia. So I looked up the author. George D. Oneill Jr. . Here is one of the articles that came up.
O’Neill Hosted a Dinner in February 2017 for Russian Officials & U.S. Conservatives
On January 31, 2017, O’Neill hosted a four hour dinner for former and current Russian officials and U.S.Republicans and conservatives, ThinkProgress reported. Among the attendees were Rep. Dana Rohrabacher from California, Alexander Torshin, Butina, and Erickson.*
Now it becomes clear. He is in the Russians pocket. If anyone read the article that “George” wrote you would almost get a feeling that it was written by somebody that hates America.
Nothing. The Russians can’t do anything about it except watch helplessly.
Ziehan is it spot on. Putin’s decision to bomb civilian infrastructure was a blunder of epic proportions. I followed Gen. Mark Hertling, the former commander of the US Army in Europe, on Twitter until he bailed the other day. He’s made it clear for months that creating an integrated, robust air defense is a really hard, time-consuming, expensive thing to do and hence US and allies were viewing this as more a long term problem rather than a short term need.
Welp, Putin managed to get air defenses moved to the top of the list. In the coming months, Ukraine will get a Patriot battery, more NASAMS, probably Hawk missiles and more. It will still take months, but probably by spring Ukraine will have localized air superiority. I have to think the decision to supply JADAMS figures into this.
Zelensky message to Biden:”You & NATO aren’t doing enough. I don’t believe you are serious about helping the Ukraine defeat Russia. If you won’t supply the needed offensive weapons; I will find them elsewhere!”
Zelensky announces he will regain all of Ukraine.
Putin announces he will increase the size of the Russian army by a third. The standard Russian method of war-throw more men into the breach. It worked in WW 2.
According to article the US believes that Russia has more in kitchen cupboard to throw at the Ukrainians.
Inching toward WW 3
During the meeting with Biden and his national security team, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to make another round of pleas for long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and Gray Eagle and Reaper drones, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The person and others were granted anonymity to describe internal discussions.
But U.S. officials aren’t ready to budge. The Biden White House has flatly rejected sending the ATACMS. The costs of doing so are high, U.S. officials say. Sending long-range missiles to Kyiv could risk provoking Putin using potentially even more lethal weapons inside Ukraine.
That U.S. hesitation has concerned Ukrainian officials and forced senior military leaders inside the country to seek help from others, including countries outside the Western alliance. Now, the Ukrainians fear they will not be able to advance on the battlefield this winter and will lose the momentum they gained after liberating Kherson.
I hang out sometimes on a forum for Ukrainians (I’m not Ukrainian, just U-curious). Anyway they were mentioning that some soldiers are experiencing considerable moral trauma from what is happening. Basically waves of Russians who are high on stimulant drugs and alcohol charging at them. They’re so high they don’t notice the magazine was empty, or that they forgot their weapon completely. Some are like zombies staggering forward in the cold. So they are efficiently turned into bodies and piled up.
And this is causing psychological damage. I remember reading about machine gun operators who became unable to fire after a few weeks service, or who had to change to other weapons (throwing grenades for example) because they lost the ability to use their weapon and observe the effects. I think I’ve read elsewhere that most people have a kind of internal moral limit; somewhere past 30 enemy soldiers taken down, people start to burn out and become much less effective as a soldier and have to be permanently rotated away from the front lines.
I wonder if this is Putin’s goal. To morally exhaust and psychologically traumatize Ukraine’s most effective soldiers.
I have no military experience and welcome insight from anyone who does and is able to share thoughts.
The BBC interviewed some Ukrainian troops shortly after they retook Kherson. A couple of those soldiers said something along the same lines, without the dope and alcohol bit: the Russians were sending mobs of untrained conscripts at them and they were mowing them down. But the Russians have more men than the Ukrainians have bullets, they said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky is speaking to Congress, pleading for more equipment and ammo. Members of the coming majority faction in the House are pushing back, demanding that Ukraine be cut off. From one prominent person: "“Of course the shadow president has to come to Congress and explain why he needs billions of American’s taxpayer dollars for the 51st state, Ukraine. This is absurd. Put America First!!!” If the US had cut off the UK, in March of 41, when the UK ran out of cash, we might all be goose-stepping.
What baffles me is that even if you view this from absolute, pure greed and self-interest, I mean…
Ukraine is getting old built-long-ago stuff that’s otherwise going to be binned fairly soon.
And the money to replace what’s being sent is going from the Fed budget to defense manufacturers today, who exist in the states of these politicians. They’re winning, in terms of local politics.
And that old stuff that’s going out of date… it’s entire purpose was to stop Russian aggression. That’s why it was paid for long ago. It’s only purpose.
And then you think, the USA spent trillions on Afghanistan and got nowhere, and for 1% of that they’re getting to neuter one of the top 2 threats to US safety and world peace? Without losing a single US soldier’s life?
And then there’s the ‘soft power’ diplomatic bonuses the US is picking up here, the prestige.
And it is absolutely intimidating the heck out of the other top 2 threat, China.
Then there’s the strengthening of NATO… all allies spending like crazy, new allies joining…
At some point you have to wonder if Russia has compromat on the pro-Russia politicians in the USA.
There is no question. Weakening Russia also weakens Russian influence with global players like China and India. It strengthens NATO, which strengthens US power in general. And as you point out, almost all of the military assistance gets spent in the US of A. It just flows back into our own pockets.
Ukraine for its part is a fledgling democracy. Russia is a brutal dictatorship that interfered in our elections whose armies are committing war crimes on a massive scale.
So why support Russia as an American politician? Kompromat or intense hatred of the USA are the only plausible explanations.
I don’t know that Russia having compromat on US politicians is obvious, altho their current behavior certainly dovetails with it. The Politicians might not need compromat. They could just be on-board ideologically on general principle. Kindred Spirits. “Fellow Travelers” as the saying used to go.
It’s dog-whistle stuff as in “us v. them” in the US and if Russia is now on their side (whatever that is) then we’re against it. The old ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend.’