We haven't lost a war since Vietnam. And we lost Vietnam because LBJ was an idiot who was too stupid to know that we shouldn't have been involved in Vietnam in the first place. We walked away from several countries (Iraq, Afghanistan) because we couldn't manage the peace after winning the war. Those countries were not ready for peace or democracy, and it was foolish of GWB (also not that bright) to pretend that they were. There is nothing for the military to feel bad about--they did their jobs. Civilian leadership put them in a position where they could not succeed. The rules of engagement also worked against the U.S. in all of those cases--they could not engage the enemy if there was any chance of collateral damage to civilians. We forced the military to be unusually gentle with the opponent to avoid killing innocent people nearby. We are not as ruthless as the Russians. Russia doesn't scare anybody at this point. Poland is just about ready to drive the Russian military back to Moscow. Ukraine is running low on people and ammo, so they might not be able to hold off the Russians, but they will give it their best shot. And yes, they are decimating Russia's military. Russia is paying an extremely high price for their foolish land grab. Their economy may not recover from this for decades, partly because no one trusts Russia anymore, and no one wants to do business with a country that can't be trusted. Even if Russia wins the war, they will be dealing with a hostile population for years, and their economy will likely collapse (again) within a few years. So, in summary, you've lost all credibility and your reputation is in the toilet. Other than that, you're doing great.
To be fair, we didn’t lose in Grenada. But it was nip and tuck ... The US Military Hasn’t Won a Real War Since 1945 – The Urban News Why America doesn’t win wars anymore Why We Lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, by Daniel Bolger
Pretty much the map of everyone who has any money, besides China, who is thinking about starting their own invasion of another country. And even China has largely stayed away from doing business with Russia. For most of the other countries (except North Korea and Iran), the U.S. can put economic pressure on them to further limit their business relationship with Russia. Once again, you lose.
Oh top of that Russia only has 2/things to sell to shit hole countries. Oil and caviar. No one in shit hole countries can afford caviar and as for the oil they can’t sell it at market rates. It’s hillarious.
It appears that Russians are tired of dying for Putin and are exiting the country legally and illegally. for reference, the UK defense minister has reported that Russia has 97% of its entire army in Ukraine. One would hope that the dissidents in some portions of Russia would recognize an opportunity soon. I can see a scenario where Russia gains some real estate over the next 4 - 12 weeks with massive casualties for every meter by which time the next round of tanks and weaponized armored transports will be available for ukraine to turn the tide after Russia has suffered so many more casualties. People way smarter than me likely already have that schemed out with kill zones mapped out to bleed Russia dry of what little resources they have left. Recall that Russia is digging 40 - 50 year old tanks out to try and provide something and lucky for Ukraine, they haven't ramped up their war machinery production either. So much pain and suffering for one man's ego. May he die a miserable death knowing that his place in history will be that of a failure. 97% of Russia Army Is in Ukraine, UK Says, so Few Trained Troops to Add (businessinsider.com) Almost all of Russia's army is already in Ukraine, the UK's defense minister said, making it hard for Russia to have enough trained troops to help reverse its losses in the war. Ben Wallace told the BBC on Wednesday that Russia had not been able to amass a single force to "punch through" Ukrainian defenses. "That has come at a huge cost to the Russian army. We now estimate 97% of the Russian army, the whole Russian army, is in Ukraine." He also reiterated the 97% number as he defended the UK's military support for Ukraine, saying that "helping Ukraine defeat Russia in Ukraine actually adds to our own security at home."
I have no idea. The US, and Europe, should have never accepted Russian annexation of Crimea. The sanctions in place now should have been deployed then until Russia left Crimea. The problem was the leader of Ukraine was a Putin puppet so without Ukraine objecting and raising hell, why should the west. I can understand not wanting to arm Ukraine when the puppet was in charge or even when most of his machine was still in place. Once Ukraine repelled the original invasion, we should have provided them means of defense ASAP that included himars and air defense systems. all jmo
Agreed and it still pisses me off Obama was not more militarily committed in overthrowing Assad in Syria.
Let's face it, Putin started his aggression in Chechnya, and continues on in Georgia, Crimea, Syria, and now wants the rest of Ukraine. Along with shooting down an airliner, signing off on countless assassinations. He has situated himself as a dictator with no term limit, and he also sanctioned a misinformation and cyber campaign against the U.S.A. This is a man eating wolf, but he does it on a country wide level. He's working on his own version of history at the expense of his neighbors. The die is cast, last gasp of the old Soviet Union.
destruction of a thermobaric rocket launcher. Ukrainian Forces Destroy Russian Thermobaric Rocket Launcher in Donetsk
Russia losing badly in Ukraine. It’s lost most of its troops. And after it takes Ukraine expect it to take Poland.
Putin getting the George Bush treatment. He’s incredibly stupid but incredibly evil. He’s losing and he’s taking over Europe.
Russia PPP on par with Germany. China pours more concrete every two years than US did all 20th Century.
Not sure that pouring concrete will help a nation that is hemorrhaging citizens, especially working age men, nor that having PPP on par with Germany will hold up as their GDP shrinks and they can no longer trade with almost any of the world's largest consumer markets. Anyway, all your map shows is that it will take decades until Russia is relevant in the global economy again. If it was no big deal to stop doing business with the west China would have already done so.
This is known as the You Just Wait Fallacy. Recall that the US expected to bring Russia to its knees and isolate it from the rest of the world. Quite the opposite is the case. US is losing another proxy war and is losing face all over the world.
Blinken warns Ukraine not to even think about Crimea. Also, Stoltenberg admits that war began in 2014 ... Blinken Warns Ukraine Against Seizing Crimea In About-Face | ZeroHedge
Members of the Wagner Group who fought in Ukraine. Satellite images hint at scale of Russian mercenary group's losses in Ukraine
