So much for using live ammo in draftee training. A shooting at a Russian shooting range leaves 15-17 dead and 11 wounded near Belgorod. The story (from Russia) indicates that the two shooters were from a former Soviet republic, so I'm not sure if that means that they were not draftees, or if Russia is just covering up the true story (if the shooters were actually from Russia). It must be frustrating for Putin to lose two of his top new killing machines. "Time for 'Bang-Bang' training. Everyone point your rifle and say 'Bang'." Russia military range shooting leaves 11 dead, 15 wounded
Israel is going to send aid to Ukraine, departing from prior position, which was was likely driven by the need to work with Russia to contain Iranian proxies in Syria
Good news for Russia--they have a system, according to Ukraine. The troops on the front line are the convicts. The troops watching them (and shooting them if they try to escape or retreat) are the rookie conscripts. The troops watching the rookies (and shooting them if they try to escape) are the army regulars. So if you were nervous that Russia didn't know what they were doing when they got into this war, you can relax, because they do have a system. Sure, it's slightly suicidal, but highly innovative, and everyone knows that innovations win wars. "It's impossible to escape, our own guys will shoot us": Security Service of Ukraine reveals how Russians barrier troops work
Is it your position that we are the worlds cop and no one else can fend for themselves? The EU and Europe should have been able to handle all of this on their own and yet we should pay for their mistakes? As for signals to the rest of the world we certainly don't get involved in every dispute that happens on the planet. I believe we all could agree it is in our interest for Europe to remain a democratic stronghold that we can trade with and rely on but it is obvious to me that Europe sees us as a piggy bank and cop when it suits their needs. This is the economic side of of the equation that is rearing it's ugly head now. Of course we all know this is not just an economic issue. It is also an energy issue which is much more important. The whole of Europe and the EU are fighting among themselves versus solidifying a coalition of common cause. EU unable to compensate members for aiding Ukraine Days after Russia’s war began, the EU set up a €500 million pot, encouraging countries to arm Kyiv and ask the EU to foot the bill. After looking at the receipts it received, Brussels determined it could cover about 85 percent of the costs, according to estimates shared by three diplomats. Then the EU authorized an even bigger pot — eventually totaling €1.5 billion. That’s when the flood of receipts started. The EU got so many requests that it calculated Brussels could only cover roughly 46 percent of the asks, the estimates show. The plummeting percentage angered Poland, one of the EU’s largest weapons donors to Ukraine — and a leading reimbursement seeker, having submitted €1.8 billion in receipts, according to the diplomats. For days, the country blocked a final agreement on disbursing the second tranche of money, hoping to negotiate a higher rate. “For them, below 50 percent is just too little,” one diplomat noted.
To a degree, we are the worlds cop, whether we want to be or not. If we step back, others will fill the void, and most likely we will not like the result. As I indicated earlier, we are doing this because it is in our national interests to do so.
And we are certainly being nicer to Russia than Russia was to us when the U.S. was fighting in Korea. Russia provided Russian fighter jets (with N.K. markings) AND Russian pilots to shoot down American pilots. Russia is just reaping a fraction of what they sowed.
I quite agree. If it were up to me, we would already be providing Ukraine with air support. When Russia makes threats about its vaunted Air Force and IADS shooting down our planes, I would say, “Prove it. I’ve seen your failures against Ukraine’s Air Force, so I’ll bet you can’t.” When they make their nuclear threats, I would say, “Prove it. I have a fully functional and accurate retaliatory response that bets you won’t.”
Not that different from the model the Soviets used in World War II and apparently they used "barrier troops" as early as the Russian Revolution. On September 12, 1941 Joseph Stalin issued the Stavka Directive No. 1919 (Директива Ставки ВГК №001919) concerning the creation of barrier troops in rifle divisions of the Southwestern Front, to suppress panic retreats. Each Red Army division was to have an anti-retreat detachment equipped with transport totaling one company for each regiment. Their primary goal was to maintain strict military discipline and to prevent disintegration of the front line by any means.[8] These barrier troops were usually formed from ordinary military units and placed under NKVD command. In 1942, after Stavka Directive No. 227 (Директива Ставки ВГК №227) issued on 28 July 1942, set up penal battalions, anti-retreat detachments were used to prevent withdrawal or desertion by penal units as well. Penal military unit personnel were always rearguarded by NKVD anti-retreat detachments, and not by regular Red Army infantry forces.[6] As per Order No. 227, each Army should have had 3–5 barrier squads of up to 200 persons each. A report to the Commissar General of State Security (NKVD chief) Lavrentiy Beria on October 10, 1941, noted that since the beginning of the war, NKVD anti-retreat troops had detained a total of 657,364 retreating, spies, traitors, instigators and deserting personnel, of which 25,878 were arrested (of which 10,201 were sentenced to death by court martial and the rest were returned to active duty).[9] At times, barrier troops were involved in battle operations along with regular soldiers, as noted by Aleksandr Vasilevsky in his directive N 157338 from October 1, 1942. Order No. 227 also stipulated the capture or shooting of "cowards" and fleeing panicked troops at the rear of the blocking detachments, who in the first three months shot 1,000 penal troops and sent 24,993 more to penal battalions.[10] By October 1942 the idea of regular blocking detachments was quietly dropped, and on 29 October 1944 Stalin officially ordered the disbanding of the units.[11]Barrier troops - Wikipedia
If we are going to be the cop then shouldn't we have more of say in what Europe does? Being the cop comes with a price. Are we hired mercenaries? As for finding someone else to fill that role shouldn't Europe rely on their own cops? I don't disagree that we do have national interests in Europe. Where I have an issue is NATO, the EU and our allies believe it the responsibility of the US to ensure their safety and cohesion. That is not our job nor should it be.
Barrier troops probably work better when you are in an existential fight that everyone generally believes in, even if they don't necessarily want to die for the cause. When that is not the case, I expect that you get a lot more surrendering, or shootouts between barrier troops and front line troops. And certainly, it is extremely difficult to win a modern war when all troops are not on the same page and willing to do their part without a gun to their head. Also, when your regular army troops are in the rear and you have convicts on the front line and rookie conscripts behind them, your fighting capability is severely degraded. It only guarantees that you will suffer the maximum number of casualties.
Europe is doing what they can to support Ukraine. Their economies are headed into recession faster than ours and they expect to have severe energy difficulties going through the upcoming winter, so they probably aren't contributing as much as they otherwise would. They look for the U.S. to take the lead because we have a much larger military, and some of the best military technology on the planet. I'm sure that Biden has ways of putting pressure on European countries to persuade them to do their part.
It appears the shockingly bad news for Russia has stunned DD into silence. What talking point will he tout now? It can’t be the 300k conscripts they’re almost as deadly to Russian soldiers as the Ukrainians.
He’ll be back telling us of Russia’s massive victories in the Kherson region. Happens whenever AFU goes silent for opsec - Russian mil bloggers crank up the fiction and DD comes here to spout the nonsense.
Well if you are saying Europe and others should pull their own weight, I agree they should. Should we punish them for failing to do so by giving Russia Ukraine? No. If any good comes out of this mess it seems that Europe has somewhat awakened regarding their need to defend themselves in a better manner. Again, is it in our self interests to help Ukraine? Yes. The fact that Europe has been derelict in historically pulling their share doesn’t change that.
That's why pursuing this war was in my opinion a bad idea. We are in no way prepared for an extended war much less a war with Russia or China for that matter. The US is just as guilty of relying on globalization and trade with unsavory nations as the Europeans are. COVID made that fact abundantly clear. As far as the military goes the European Union could have raised, equipped and maintained an army of significant force. The population of the EU is over 447 million. The US population is over 333 million people. Tell me why the Europeans need to rely on the US for military strength. President Biden may attempt to put pressure on European nations but given what we know good luck getting blood from a stone.
It's not a question of punishment. It is a question of resources and energy. I already stated we have self interest in Europe. Self interest in Ukraine is a different matter and my answer is Ukraine isn't worth the price of Europe. When all is said and done we will have sacrificed Europe for Ukraine.
I would argue between Putin, China and the general trend to authoritarianism, this war was going to be fought, sooner or later, somewhere. The good news we can fight this off of our own turf and not be a direct participant.
