War in Ukraine

It’s a technique, I suppose. I’d be more concerned with winning than trying to convince non-belligerents why I should win. No matter how Russia wants to spin this debacle, right now, they are not winning.

 

Russia's great offensive reminds me of the Battle of the Somme.

 

Not me. The British had some negligible gains in the Somme. Doesn’t look like Russia has even that yet. The British also managed to tie down a significant number of German troops that positively affected Russia’s Brusilov Offensive in the East. Doesn’t look like Russia of today has any kind of strategic design. Finally, the British introduced a formidable new technology at the Somme. While it didn’t decisively impact the outcome of that campaign, it ended changing the face of future warfare. I’m speaking, of course, of the tank. It doesn’t look like Russia has any comparable revolution in military affairs to gift the world.

 

The Brits also had 20k *killed* in a single day at the beginning of that one.

Both are failed offensives, but not really the same.

 

Why go on the offensive when the enemy comes to you to be killed in droves ?

 

Rumor has it that Ukraine's western tanks have been disguised to look like their collection of old Soviet tanks. Russian soldiers will be drawn into a battle thinking they are facing a set of crappy tanks, only to find out that they're facing their worst nightmare. After being on the losing end of a few tank battles, they will run away from (or surrender to) any tank formation, including wooden tanks and inflatable tanks. (They will not run away from hand-held toy tanks, however. Let's be realistic.)

'More comfortable than a Rolls-Royce': Ukrainian tank drivers eagerly await Western rides

 

Putin plans to start bringing in bombers to Ukraine in June. Leaked info indicates that Ukraine's air defenses would be depleted by the end of May.

Putin may be preparing to bring Russia's prized bomber jets to the war on Ukraine after leaked military intelligence found Ukrainian airpower would 'be completely reduced' by June, report says

 

Only in the Harry S. Truman, "the buck stops here" sense. Trump shares a lot of the responsibility.

 

Proof positive that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think.

 

As they say, success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan.

 

You, of all people, don't want to go there.

Who negotiated the "treaty" (capitulation agreement) setting a deadline for our withdrawal?
Who left the Afghan government out of those negotiations?
Who facilitated the release of 5000 Taliban fighters?
Who drew our troop level down to 5000?
Who drew our troop level down to 2500 days before he was tossed out of the White House?

If I was pissed because I had just lost in a landslide and was trying to sabotage my successor, I'm not sure of what else I could have done to make it worse.

 

You can keep playing pass the buck all you like, if it makes you feel better about yourself. I'm not even a tenth as qualified to comment on the logistics of our withdrawal from Afghanistan as @uftaipan and I'd just be repeating the obvious for the 1,000th time. If his explanation a few pages back doesn't help you, I'm not going to be able to show you the light. Especially when you're just being party over country, at any cost. Have a good night.

 

i fear that RUssia may be able to neutralize tanks with tank killing rockets and drone recon just like Ukraine stopped the advance to Kyiv with tank killing rockets. no idea if russian rockets can penetrate armor on these more modern tanks or not but assume it can. that an/or their remote tank killing weapons

Russia Readying Tank-Killing Robots for Donbas, Claims Former Space Chief (thedefensepost.com)

‘Tank-killers’: Russia’s anti-tank troops to drub US Abrams, German Leopards, British Challengers (firstpost.com)

With reports of Ukraine starting counterattack anytime soon against Russia spreading like fire and the West providing arms and ammunitions to the war-torn country to fight invaders, Moscow is engaged in training tank-killer groups to fight modern munition that Kyiv is getting. The groups are not just trained to hunt the tanks, but are also taught how to fire from artillery or operate various missile systems, Arifulin said.

“The facility could instruct as many as 700 soldiers at a time,” the official added. With emphasise on tackling Western armour, Russian military are being taught about all the tanks, including American M1 Abrams, German Leopards, British Challengers and French Leclercs, Arifulin said.

The ‘tank-hunter’ group members are being trained by veteran instructors, who have been part of several conflicts in recent decades, including the ongoing full-scale special military operation in Ukraine, Russian TV channel Zvezda reported.

These groups comprise only a small number of soldiers, who are mostly armed with anti-tank guided missile launchers and predominantly use reconnaissance drones, the report added.

 

fingers crossed...

Putin's Health Worsens: Russian Tyrant Receives 'First Aid' After Suffering 'Partial Loss Of Sensation In His Right Arm & Leg' (msn.com)

Vladimir Putin was allegedly forced to receive first aid over the weekend after he suffered a “partial loss of sensation” in half of his body, RadarOnline.com has learned.

In a shocking development to come amid rumors and reports the 70-year-old Russian leader is dying from cancer, Putin was reportedly struck by a series of severe symptoms this weekend before receiving urgent medical care from a “council of doctors.”

According to the Russian Telegram channel General SVR, which has followed Putin’s alleged cancer battle and deteriorating health over the course of the past few months, the Russian tyrant first suffered "severe pain in his head, blurred vision, and numbness of the tongue.”

He then suffered a “partial loss of sensation in his right arm and leg,” at which point his “council of doctors” were called to provide the allegedly ailing Russian leader with immediate first aid.

 

If Logan Roy can die, anyone can die.

 

Between Russia and Ukraine, it ain’t Russia that’s been prattling about some great offensive for months.

 

My assumption is that Ukraine will follow (somewhat) the model and recommendations of NATO and more specifically U.S. strategy for the deployment of MBT's in an offensive thrust.

I openly admit to being no expert (others here are imminently more qualified to post such strategies) however it is my understanding MBT armored thrusts must include infantry support, anti mine preparation, water (river and creek) crossing capabilities, firm ground or use of roads, air cover if not air superiority, mobile artillery and rocket systems, electronic counter measures, and satellite and drone reconnaissance capabilities. .............and I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface.

I suspect that NATO strategists watched with literal amusement regarding the folly of a 40 kilometer Russian armored column headed to Kiev, stacked up for a turkey shoot ala the Republican Guard retreat from Kuwait, as happened in the early sages of the conflict.

While all this is nothing new to the erudite posters on this board, my particular concern is that I can't think of any better time for Russia to actually follow through on their threats to use tactical nukes, than against a concentrated Ukranian force effort in theater, given Russian failure to acheive much strategic progress
so far in 23. But the die is cast.

I suspect that Ukraine has issues of it's own, specifically, that they may only have the resources for one big offensive in 23, so the decisions they make now, will be fundamental to achieving their objectives and ultimately the outcome of this costly and gruesome conflict.

 

You did not contest the factual accuracy of any of my points....interesting. Not that you could have, but still interesting. You suggested I go back and reread uftaipan's post on the issue, which I did. Perhaps you glossed over this statement oh his toward the end of his post.."But Biden 100% owns the critical decisions, the outcome in Afghanistan, and the geopolitical second and third-order effects. That is what it means to be President." Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like my "the buck stops here" Truman quote, doesn't it? The one you replied to with your snarky little "can't make them think" comment.

I disagree Biden was no more locked into following through with a signed treaty than he was with completing Trump's wall. A valid treaty properly executed by duly authorized representatives of the United States carries far more significance, both legally and in terms of our international position, than some whack job's campaign promise.

When Biden took over, our troop presence was 2500 thanks to Trump's parting gift. Trump had absolutely no business doing that, that was Biden's call, and it certainly didn't help. uftaipan is correct, we could have re-engaged and renewed bombing Taliban positions with the likely consequence of needing to reestablish a much larger troop presence. Maybe after six months or a year we could have gotten out better. Biden didn't want that, he wanted out. 20 years of never ending was long enough and he wasn't going to extend it. On that point he and Trump agreed.

If you are envisioning some scenario where the US could have peacefully withdrawn from Afghanistan is a safe and orderly fashion, bringing with us the Afghans who helped us, you are delusional. It was always going to be messy, it was always going to be violent, people were always going to get killed/left behind. The fact the republicans in Congress didn't want those Afghans here didn't help, either.

Faced with the choice of re-escalating or withdrawing, Biden withdrew from a 20 year war started by W. I am not suggesting things could not have been better organized or planned. Our military clearly did a poor job of assessing how demoralized the Afghan security forces were after Trump pulled the rug out from under them.

That's on Biden. He made the decision to rip the band-aid off and we're out. At the time, most people realized Nixon's "peace with honor" resolution to the Vietnam war was going to be neither, Saigon fell in 30 days, but we got out of another hopeless, never ending war. And getting out of a war is never going to be neat and clean unless you have utterly beaten your enemy into total submission.

 

I thought the armored column headed for Kyiv was long enough to wrap around the globe three times and that a billion Russian soldiers died ?