Biden declares Russia already lost

My question is Hungary. They seem to be playing the role of Putin sympathizer. I wonder when they also turn.

 

I’ve never really heard that line officially. It is probably hyperbole. The point is that Russia expected a decisive and quick victory that would not only take the concrete objectives on the ground but also serve as a show of force to NATO. It did the second, of course, but not in the sense Putin intended.

 

Well, as you know from the war thread, I agree Russia’s performance has been clumsy and haphazard. Speaking of intelligence, I think what Russia misunderstood or underestimated was not Ukraine’s capabilities, but the extent to which the U.S. could gather intelligence quickly and relay this to Ukrainian forces on the ground. Knowing Russia’s moves ahead of time gave the Ukrainians a leg up. One would think Putin has done everything in his power to remove the weak links where this information was funneling out.

Back to the OP, no I do not trust Joe Biden to give us any true sense as to what may happen in this war.

 

Hungary? They are part of NATO. One big happy family.

 

Is this why he's calling up military reserve units all over the country? He's lost.... nothing new.

 

I've not been to the Ukraine but have been fortunate to see a small part of Hungary and spend a little bit of time in Budapest. My understanding has been that Hungary had been quite supportive of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and was supportive of its westernization. The rub for the Hungarians is a human rights issue. They are incensed with how the Ukrainian government and people are treating ethnic Hungarians who migrated over the years and settled within regions of Ukraine. That's pretty understandable and doesn't suggest to me that they are leaning toward Putin, who is probably guilty of the same hatred and illwill towards Hungarians who were dumb enough, if there are any, to migrate to Russia.

 

Hmmmm….

Basically added two formidable border neighbors into NATO. A third not even getting a sniff coming, armed to the gills.

His mercenaries marched on his own capital.

Freeing his own society’s murderers and rapists to “fight.”

Even Xi is like “Dude…”

But yeah, victory is there for the taking!

 

Yep, Ukraine is not the big lovable teddy bear the media all of the sudden wants to paint them to be. It's amazing how all of their good reporting on neo-Nazi imagery and battalions in Ukraine being conscripted into the military came to a screeching halt as soon as this started. The NYT tried last month with this headline: "Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny Issues of History". The truth is many of them are scared to be labeled as Putin apologists for calling it out, but there were plenty of sources calling it out before the invasion:

NYT on Ukraine's Nazi Imagery: It's 'Complicated' - FAIR

 

Orban is beloved, in Hungary, where he was elected to a fifth term, largely because he has pledged neutral on the war. Takeaway: [insert country here] First is a winning strategy.

 

When Henry Cabot Lodge Told Us We Were Winning in Vietnam | The Saturday Evening Post

 

American fighters coming back shell-shocked …

Former Army Ranger who fought in Ukraine says conflict there is far worse than fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq

 

I do not agree that Russia has lost the war, but seems to have been a huge political blow to Putin personally as well as the aura around Russia's military. The fact that Russia and those supporting Russia have been talking so much about a potential nuclear war is telling to me. Its conventional forces seem to be a disorganized cluster. It's notable that some people have been mocking the U.S. military for being too woke and not being masculine enough when one of the world's superpowers is apparently putting on this display.

 

We don’t know how badly the US military would fare if pitted against Ukraine, whether it would languish or be demolished.

 

It does seem to be a U.S. president thing.

 

In total fairness, it's not like our forces have performed spectacularly in the past 25 years. Iraq and Afghanistan were both black eyes on our mystique. Granted, it's safe to say Russia has lost a lot more soldiers than we did in those two kerfuffles, but most Americans didn't anticipate we would come anywhere close to sustaining the amount of casualties that we ultimately did. The Middle East is always tough, but at the same time, most of the people there have very limited education and are quite primitive. Ukraine has been preparing for this war for 8+ years, we've learned. Saddam didn't think Bush Jr. would invade, by contrast. Ukraine also has the advantage of NATO support, weaponry and far more importantly, intel sharing from NATO which is vastly superior to any intel the Iraqis or Taliban had.

When evaluating Russian military performance in Ukraine, you have to remember this is a proxy war between the US/NATO and Russia. A true evaluation should consider the vast supply of NATO weaponry and first class intel Ukrainian forces are receiving. It's a lot more difficult for Russian military to succeed when western intel is sending Russian coordinates and intercepts to Ukrainian military in real time.

 

Viktor Orban is Trump lite and a Putin sycophant not all that surprising. On the other hand the former Fox News prime time star and American right are fans of his.
Conservative Fellow Travelers: Tucker Carlson Drops In On Viktor Orban (Published 2021)
Orbán gets warm CPAC reception after 'mixed race' speech blowback
Viktor Orban Is the West’s Pro-Putin Outlier

 

Agree with a lot of that, particularly the importance of weapons and intel being provided to Ukraine.

I think the U.S. took Baghdad pretty quickly, and my understanding is that we lost more than 10 times the number of troops in Vietnam as we did in Iraq. Ultimately, it's difficult for any military to occupy a place long term without public support. Part of the difference with Vietnam may have been that we were sending many troops who were forced to go, didn't want to be there, had less training, etc. Russia may be facing some of that in Ukraine.

Afghanistan is by all accounts a very tough place for many reasons to include the topography with its mountains and caves. My understanding is that Ukraine is comparatively flat. I am a bit surprised, for example, that Zelenskey is able to travel around Ukraine as freely as he seems to. Maybe Russia has had a chance to take him out and simply doesn't want to. I don't know.

 

The reason why Zelensky and Ben Stiller can travel in safety is because, other than on and near the frontlines, Russia has prosecuted the war with kid gloves, much to the displeasure of many Russians.

Oh sure, Russia has killed civilians, in Kyiv, primarily by making Ukrainian air-defense missiles miss Russian missiles and then falling onto apartment buildings.

 

Vietnam was awful, even though we maintained a pretty good kill ratio. I think a big component that hurt us in 'Nam was the South Vietnamese people by and large didn't want us there and we had nothing to relate to them with.

Contrast that with the current Russian occupied areas of Ukraine, which are composed mostly of an ethnic Russian populace. Also, the prevailing view of Ukraine throughout Russia is similar to the way we view Texas. The areas currently occupied by Russian forces were part of Russia for over 300 years up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. So, the war is an easy sell for the Kremlin to the Russian population, for the most part. This stands in stark contrast to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, for example. Very easy for Putin to sell this as "the West is conspiring against us and trying to take Ukraine away from us." I don't see any evidence currently of a massive uprising in Russia over this war.

FWIW and I'm completely speculating here, but I think Russia would use a tactical nuke in Ukraine before they would take out the head of state Zelenskyy. If they assassinate Zelenskyy, they make him into a martyr forever and the war still drags on. Ukrainians would rally around his death and refuse to ever settle. Even as it stands today, I doubt Russia really wants to take much more territory than they have as they would be in a constant struggle against Ukrainian nationalists, especially west of the Dnieper. In the end, Russia is happy if they can weaken Ukraine enough to keep them out of NATO.