Zelensky Says Ukraine Needs Weapons: Give the Man What He Needs
Hopefully we are going to give them what they need. But I have my doubts.
The need is obvious:
Without additional weaponry, this war will become an endless bloodbath, spreading misery, suffering, and destruction. Mariupol, Bucha, Kramatorsk – the list will be continued. Nobody will stop Russia except Ukraine with Heavy Weapons. #ArmUkraineNow pic.twitter.com/miSOL5zvuA
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 13, 2022
It looks like the Biden administration is slowly lumbering towards the right decision, but I worry it could be like Lucy with the football. Case in point:
The Biden administration is poised to dramatically expand the scope of weapons it is providing Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, with the Pentagon looking to transfer armored Humvees and a range of other sophisticated equipment.
The new aid package could be worth $750 million, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity because the transfer has not yet been finalized.
Preliminary plans circulating among government officials and lawmakers in Washington also included Mi-17 helicopters, howitzer cannons, coastal defense drones and protective suits to safeguard personnel in the event of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, the officials said, though they cautioned that it was not immediately clear if all of those items would end up in the final aid package.
Mi-17 helicopters! Good. They need those. Wait, what’s this?
UPDATE
An earlier version of this article reported that Mi-17 helicopters could be among the new arms transfers slated for Ukraine. After it was published, a U.S. defense official said that had been ruled out. The article has been updated.
This has been the typical pattern for weeks. Ruled out . . . why? Civilians are being slaughtered helplessly. It would be difficult to make up greater monstrosity: a soldier raped a baby and videotaped himself doing it. That really happened. And you’re dithering about giving the man helicopters.
Give the man what he needs.
As President Zelenskyy told us at the outbreak of war, what the Ukrainian military and civilian defense really needs right now is ammunition. This apparently continues to be a massive issue. Some of our country’s manufactures have stepped up to help, but plenty more is needed. And since ammo for some of the Soviet-era heavy weapons is no longer being made, what is desperately necessary as this post points out is modern weaponry for Ukraine.
Clearly the Biden Administration believes that sending upgraded weaponry to Ukraine will be seen by Russia as a hostile act, and as I pointed out last month, they are thus letting Putin have in effect a veto over our policy. It’s clear that we should be wary about inviting an unstable and evil mind like Putin’s to consider a nuclear response, but at some point we have to let Russia know that we’re all-in on supporting their adversary.
JVW (ee64e4) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:24 amRelated:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:47 amAgain, this:
Dana (5395f9) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:55 amKGB says, “Pay that man his money.”
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:57 amThe transfer of weapons to Ukraine isn’t just about need, it’s about capability. Are the Ukrainians capable of using the weapon system and maintaining it?
In this case, if the Ukrainians don’t have trained pilots and maintenance crew to care for the Mi-17 helicopters, then don’t send them.
Hoi Polloi (ade50d) — 4/13/2022 @ 10:03 amAccording to the article in post #1, Ukraine has more pilots than aircraft. Maintenance can be done outside the country.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/13/2022 @ 10:23 amThe Administration approach on the Ukraine is to be painfully certain that all NATO is in agreement on the steps taken. That does give doves like Macron and (in particular) Germany some veto power on the weapons going to the Ukraine. That might be the explanation why promises suddenly become inoperative.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/13/2022 @ 10:29 amThe Washington Post should not be using its unauthorized sources in the government to tell Putin what weapons Ukraine is and is not going to get.
nk (1d9030) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:27 am‘Give the Man What He Needs’
Give? Give?? Has the United States put Ukrainian Freedom Fighter War Bonds on sale yet to finance any of these freebees??? Nope. So let raise taxes instead– or ask the Afghan Taliban to send over some of that U.S. weaponry abandoned last August– or maybe just, ‘put it on Uncle Sam’s credit card financed by borrowed $ from China’ instead.
Who is going to pay for these ‘gives’??? The brass will want inventory tapped replaced as is.
This has been the typical pattern for weeks. Ruled out . . . why?
Mission creep: Vietnam. Old Joe doesn’t want to be sucked deeper into another proxy war like LBJ was. But the MIC may have other, more lucrative ideas now that the Afghan war cash cow is done:
_______
Pentagon to meet with military contractors to discuss ongoing aid to Ukraine
The Pentagon is convening eight of the top U.S. military contractors to discuss the assistance to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks announced the meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, during a Tuesday event with the Defense Writers Group, according to New York Times. Representatives from Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation will be at the meeting, the outlet noted, though it’s unclear who else will be present. The United States has provided $1.7 billion in military aid since the start of the invasion and $2.4 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration. The most recent package was announced last week, and it was for $100 million for the use of Javelin anti-armor systems.
This military assistance has come in more than 1,400 Singer anti-aircraft systems, 5,000 Javelin anti-aircraft systems, and 7,000 other anti-armor systems, according to a new fact-sheet from the administration. Hicks did not specify what weapons the Pentagon wants these companies to provide to Ukraine. – source, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/pentagon-to-meet-with-military-contractors-to-discuss-ongoing-aid-to-ukraine msclkid=f850d229bb5111eca8074be246dd68e0
Madness. This is why European nations have modern infrastructure with efficient transit systems, national healthcare systems and can take August off for vacations— they let the U.S. carry the cost burden- and it is a 20th century mind set that has to end. America has bailed out Europe with blood and treasure three times in 100 years through two hot land wars and one cold war; this one is not America’s war to meddle in. NATO commitments aside, it’s Europe problem to manage. Start w/France. Airbus produces some fine military helicopters; check out the list of French weaponry: let France send Les Freebees:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_French_Army?msclkid=5d8f6e40bb5411ecbeb448e3f988112c
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:27 amThat’s what Biden seems to be defaulting to, because he’s afraid of the alternatives:
Worst possible outcome, according to Biden:
Ukraine losing and being conquered.
Second worst possible outcome, according to Biden:
Ukraine winning, because Russia could nullify its victory by shifting to chemical or nuclear weapons.
Preferred outcome, according to Biden:
Ukraine and Russia negotiating an armistice. But Putin has just said negotiations are at a dead end.
I would guess that Putin wants the United States to pressure Ukraine to agree to a West Ukraine and an East Ukraine – that doesn’t mean Putin is completely ready to settle for that.)
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:44 amBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a visit to Kyiv on Saturday. The White House people don’t want to say that Biden is not going, but no, he’s not going.
Great Britain has sent some weapons better than what the United States is prepared (or was, till now) to send.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:47 amIt’s clear that we should be wary about inviting an unstable and evil mind like Putin’s to consider a nuclear response…
Nuke chatter by Russia is a poker bluff- feeds nervous media chatter, is part of Russian policy to keep the West off balance, but not really card to play in Eastern Europe. Russia has experience w/a glowing example not to ever play it close by: Chernobyl.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:49 am8. The greatest dove is Biden. Now, very few other people in Washington.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:49 amBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a visit to Kyiv on Saturday.
Not a coincidence, Sammy; likely has something to do w/his deep domestic problems w/’Partygate’ and calls for his resignation:
Boris Johnson fined over secret parties thrown during UK lockdown
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being fined by the police over secret booze-fueled parties thrown while his government forced the rest of the country into strict lockdowns, his office announced Tuesday. The 57-year-old leader was told Tuesday that he was among 50 being fined over the “Partygate” scandal, including at least one other senior member of his cabinet, finance minister Rishi Sunak, Downing Street confirmed.
“The prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices,” a government spokesperson said. “We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do.”
Others facing fines included Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, according to the Telegraph. Police had investigated 12 alcohol-fueled parties at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office in 2020, some of which the British leader was photographed enjoying. While the cabinet staff partied, the rest of the country was barred from meeting families — some even kept from saying goodbye to loved ones at funerals — while thousands were fined up to $13,200 for breaking the controversial restrictive rules. It was not clear how much Johnson and Sunak were fined.
But Tuesday’s announcement immediately sparked fresh calls for their resignations. “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public,” opposition leader Keir Starmer tweeted. They must both resign,” he said, calling their Conservative party “totally unfit to govern.” Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, also tweeted that “Boris Johnson must resign.” “He broke the law and repeatedly lied to parliament about it. The basic values of integrity and decency – essential to the proper working of any parliamentary democracy – demand that he go. And he should take his out of touch chancellor with him,” she tweeted. Other members of Parliament called for a vote of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership. A support group called COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice insisted there is “simply no way” Johnson can remain in power.
“After everything it’s still unbelievably painful that Boris Johnson was partying & breaking his own lockdown rules, while we were unable to be at loved ones’ sides in their dying moments, or in miserable funerals with only a handful of people. We were following the rules,” the group tweeted. They said it was “shameless” that Johnson and his colleagues “lied about it, and would have continued to do so if the police hadn’t intervened.” “If they had any decency they would be gone by tonight,” the group said. -source, NYPost.com
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:58 am#14 — I don’t believe Biden is the big dove here on the Ukraine. His off message ramblings go in a hawkish direction not in a “let’s wait and hope somebody else does it” direction.
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:08 pm@16. Never forget:
“Because Putin knows if I am President of the United States, his days of tyranny and trying to intimidate the United States and those in Eastern Europe are over. I’m going to stand up to him. He’s a bully…” – Joe Biden, 2020.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:27 pmOur political structure makes us a very fickle and sometimes downright ephemeral ally.
Israel has learned to function with it, but countries in need of military assistance, no matter how dire the situation should run the video of Sen. McCain’s declaration of “we are all Georgians now” or Mrs. Obama’s #bringbackourgirls. That is about all you should expect- vague puffery.
Ukraine is fortunate to have gotten Javelins and access to intelligence, lucky that the people who measure the political for this President felt it was politically advantageous for Biden to deliver this level of assistance.
If that sounds too cold, calculating and cynical, so be it
steveg (e81d76) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:43 pmZelensky “I need ammunition not a ride!” Biden I wanted to deter putin not provoke him. Damn! he invades anyway. Zelensky why don’t you leave so ukraine will fall quickly and I don’t have to send supplies. Joe biden vietnam war draft dodger and iraq war chicken hawk. The neo-cons the same.
asset (940b41) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:44 pmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_2003%E2%80%93present
Keep in mind this is a startling number of conflicts already raging just 22% into the 21st century- yet only a few of them have been beamed and looped 24/7 on your gadgets daily and regularly as that in Ukraine. But that doesn’t mean the carnage is any less devastating in those less covered. It goes w/o saying that the destruction is awful, tragic and horrid to view. War is failure.
But an old colleague at CBS liked to remind staff that television is a very promising medium which can bring the world into your home– and one day we’d get it right; but the camera sees a scene through a straw- and magnifies the sights and sounds as it pans, zooms and records what it is pointed at. We choose what we wish to see- and if we can’t handle the program, change the channel- to ‘Yellowstone’… or ‘Gilligan’s Island’ … or switch everything off and read a book.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:58 pmThe Washington Post should not be using its unauthorized sources in the government to tell Putin what weapons Ukraine is and is not going to get.
nk (1d9030) — 4/13/2022 @ 11:27 am
Democracy dies when the WaPo sabotages it.
norcal (68b459) — 4/13/2022 @ 1:15 pm………
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:18 pmIt is clear from these results that there is no public support for transferring weapons systems (or engaging directly, like a no-fly zone) that would increase the risk of direct confrontation with Russia. It is hard to understand that while 48% of those polled disapprove Biden’s handling of the Russian invasion, only 19% favor doing more even if it means a risk of direct confrontation. That’s quite a disconnect. A clear majority (74%) essentially favor the current policy.
I still want to know which Russian oligarchs have not been sanctioned and why.
steveg (e81d76) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:19 pmI’d like to have the chance to cross reference them with what is in the Hunter Biden laptop data
Appalled (1a17de) — 4/13/2022 @ 12:08 pm
Biden, for political reasons, wants to appear to be doing more than he is. He is very strong with words.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:32 pmPutin has appointed General Aleksandr Dvornikov, who previously was in charge of Russia’s forces in Syria, to be in charge of what he will do in Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dvornikov
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:37 pmNYT review of what Russia did in Bucha
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/11/world/europe/bucha-terror.html
A Wall Street Journal op-ed says the worst of it came from the “Wagner Group”, which because they are composed of Russian nationals is not technically a mercenary force.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mercenaries-behind-bucha-massacre-russia-ukraine-putin-attack-terror-brutality-wagner-group-moscow-geneva-convention-war-crimes-atrocities-11649797041
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:41 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/world/asia/russia-mercenaries-central-african-republic.html
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:44 pmThe Taliban had great fun killing Mi-17 helicopters with Stingers. Not sure that’s something still useful. The problem with old Soviet equipment is that it’s Soviet, and old.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:45 pmDo you know what the Geneva Conventions says about captured mercenaries, outside the official chain of command?
Not a thing. I think you can boil them in oil.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:47 pmThe neo-cons the same.
Yeah, that damn McCain. A draft dodger like his dad.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 2:48 pmIt’s clear that we should be wary about inviting an unstable and evil mind like Putin’s to consider a nuclear response…
Or “Dad is drinking again. We should be very quiet so he doesn’t hit Mom like he did last time.”
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 5:06 pmI’m willing to bet that if AOC were drafted, she’d manage not to go.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 5:08 pmOh no.
steveg (e81d76) — 4/13/2022 @ 6:03 pmShe’d go. Gravitas.
She’d be great on the team that looks for reasons to court martial warfighters for process crimes
If I was in charge of Selective Service I’d find a way to drop her but snag her boyfriend to shove shells into a howitzer
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2022/04/07/these-50-russian-oligarch-billionaires-havent-been-sanctioned/?sh=6a51dbe57d64
Oh look, Elena Baturina
On February 14, 2014 Baturina wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden.
· Between April 4 and April 5, 2014, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer sent emails about meeting with Baturina potentially relating to a business deal in Chelsea, New York.
· On April 13, 2014, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer discuss the potential business deal involving Baturina. Archer wrote that Baturina “confirmed green light to fund deposit.” Archer continued, “Just spent two hours on the phone with Kiev. I am confident at this point this is a good, if not life changing, deal if the Uk[raine] doesn’t collapse in the meantime.”
steveg (e81d76) — 4/13/2022 @ 6:24 pmShe’d be great on the team that looks for reasons to court martial warfighters for process crimes
My suggestion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJKcdlj-Uiw
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 6:57 pm“But in general, we cannot gain a real air superiority, unfortunately.”
What they CAN do is air denial with SAMs. I would think that Israel would be tripping all over themselves to help but they are in bed with Putin so they can kill a few extra terrorists. For a country whose entire existence rests on their moral capital, they are being incredibly short-sighted.
Then again, Ukrainian Jews were in the worst of all places when the choices for all Ukrainians were “Hitler or Stalin?” and I think that some hostility remains. The fact than many American Jews have roots in Ukraine (e.g. my wife) complicates matters further.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 7:03 pmDoesn’t seem like a FOV (Friend of Vladimir) to me:
nk (1d9030) — 4/13/2022 @ 7:09 pmThe whole world was the neo-Soviet kleptocracy’s enabler. And, besides, beating up on women is something Russians do.
nk (1d9030) — 4/13/2022 @ 8:14 pmThe best way to end the slaughter is to send in more arms. LOL.
kaf (5ae0b3) — 4/13/2022 @ 8:53 pmThe best way to end the slaughter is to send in more arms. LOL.
Yes, it is. Sorry you can’t see that. When they come to kill you, I hope you are armed.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:33 pm@31 John Mccain was never a neo-con. He was always a conservative in the goldwater tradition. Ukraine has hit the russian black sea fleets flagship moskva with two neptun missiles. Russians announce ship is on fire and crew is abandoning ship with rescue difficult because of bad weather.
asset (b56b77) — 4/13/2022 @ 9:49 pmClearly the Biden Administration believes that sending upgraded weaponry to Ukraine will be seen by Russia as a hostile act,
Is there a possibility that the US is sending weapons but is keeping it quiet?
Mattsky (55d339) — 4/13/2022 @ 10:28 pmJohn Mccain was never a neo-con. He was always a conservative in the goldwater tradition.
Uh, no. A vast, vast gulf. I guess from over there we all look alike. But I do credit you with the sense to keep an eye on what goes on outside the bubble. Not everyone does. But except for a few folks here, we’re not very hard right. GOLDWATER was hard right. McCain was not.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/14/2022 @ 12:23 amThe best way to end the slaughter is to send in more arms. LOL.
It’s not the very best, but as long as NATO declines to send in its elite cadres of genetically modified invisible brain-eating vampire ninja zombies to suck out the brains of Russian soldiers as they sleep ….
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 4:36 amGive AOC 2 choices for her service and make sure one of them is Fort Hood. She’d balk at first but probably crave the attention from all the real dudes
urbanleftbehind (688102) — 4/14/2022 @ 5:12 amIs there a military specialty for those unable or unwilling to serve? Maybe one where she would lounge under a palm tree all day, drinking rum colas and strumming “Preciosa” on her charango? If socialists could do anything besides talk, they would not be socialists.
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 5:54 amAlthough the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, basing it on an interview of and quoting John Arquilla, who recently retired as a distinguished professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.gave a good account of why Ukraine is so successful
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/opinion/putin-ukraine-war-strategy.html
the fact remains that the best defense (and the one with least casualties to the defending side) is aerial bombing before the offensive starts.
Incidentaly, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, in saying in 1944 “Make peace, you fools! showed how out of touch he was. That was something appropriate for Germany in the first World War – Hitler had committed too many crimes for anyone to make peace with him.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/14/2022 @ 6:40 amPresident Biden seems to have given instructions (or is telling the oress he has) to send Ukraine everything it needs. But this is going slowly, and may have caveats.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/14/2022 @ 6:42 am“Caveats” is putting it mildly. There are powerful interests opposing and impeding weapons to Ukraine or just looking for a piece of the action. Just one Iron Dome battery could have saved Mariupol, for example, but Israel is both protective of its technology and its relationship with Putin. The Poles and the Slovakians would have wanted to be paid in American aircraft for their obsolescent Mig-29s and Mi-17s. Our military-industrial complex wants to peddle its own goods. Our current foreign aid recipients don’t want “their” money going to Ukraine. And the omnipresent profiteers who never let a crisis go to waste.
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 7:15 amJust one Iron Dome battery could have saved Mariupol, for example, but Israel
Is that realistic and would it be effective?
Not likely.
“The larger the country is, you need a much larger number of radars and interceptors. Israeli is a small country, in that regard it’s an advantage to missile defense. That’s not the case in Ukraine,” he said, noting that Saudi forces, with their more advanced missile defense capabilities, are still struggling to prevent Houthi strikes because of the large territory they have to defend.
… Russia is “using all the weapons in its arsenal,” including ballistic and hypersonic missiles that cannot be stopped by a short-range system like Iron Dome.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/explained-why-israel-s-iron-dome-won-t-really-help-ukraine-against-russia-1.10690475
Does Israel even have Iron Domes on a shelf to sell? How long does it take to make and train people to operate the Iron Dome? Do you want to insert the IDF into the fight by operating them? Russia has bases and troops in Syria. Syria has a border with Israel. Israel has good reasons for not wanting to piss off Russia.
Mattsky (55d339) — 4/14/2022 @ 8:40 amIf socialists could do anything besides talk, they would not be socialists.
That’s unfair. They are also very good at ordering other people about, and blaming hoarders and wreckers for anything that goes wrong.
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:40 amDoes Israel even have Iron Domes on a shelf to sell?
Foreign sales
It should be noted that these are point-defense systems, with coverage for maybe 50-60 square miles. You’d need a half dozen systems to protect a big city (e.g. Los Angeles), but one would probably handle Mariupol.
Israel has sold them to Azerbaijan to counter Armenia’s Russian-built Iskander missile system (the same one used against Ukraine).
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:47 amWithout going into details, I have heard that there is pressure on US military suppliers to get producing, and to hurry development of new systems. I think there is concern about more than just “what Ukraine needs.”
Kevin M (38e250) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:50 am56. Kevin M (38e250) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:50 am
If there enough now to handle whatever Russia, China, North Korea and Iran could throw at the U.S. and allies it’s not a problem, because whether Russia uses its equipment in attacking Estonia or Poland, or is using it up now in attacking Ukraine, it’s the same.
But if there never was enough (Stingers, for instance) to handle the sum total of whatever could be thrown against U.S. ad allied supplied forces, then there’s a problem.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/14/2022 @ 10:15 amMattsky (55d339) — 4/14/2022 @ 8:40 am
In the final anlysis, they need it themselves.
Sammy Finkelman (bfe3de) — 4/14/2022 @ 10:18 amBreaking-
Sad!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/14/2022 @ 3:48 pmWhat Ukraine may need, as well as fancy weapons, is trucks:
Since Ukraine has interior lines, giving them an advantage in trucks might pay off big.
(During World War II, the United States gave the Soviet Union more than 300,000 trucks, which were essential to supplying the Soviet army, especially as it advanced.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/14/2022 @ 4:22 pmStart a AVG group – like they flying tigers in the late 1930’s. Two dozen “Gifted” F35’s two dozen gifted AH64 and 50 missile carrying drones all in Ukranian colors. soviets will suffer irreplaceable losses
EPWJ (0fbe92) — 4/14/2022 @ 5:13 pmWhat I like about Old Testament warfare is that the winners thanked God for winning and blamed their own sinfulness for losing.
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 5:16 pmWe cannot bomb Russia’s oil fields, factories, ports, and granaries. But we can produce close to the same effect by denying them imports and more importantly exports. Which we have not come even close to doing. We really need genuine, tough, economy-destroying sanctions. Forever.
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 6:19 pmI would make this exception to limiting Russian imports. I see that makers of some luxury goods are stopping them going to Russia. I think this an error for two reasons: First, the money spent on luxury goods can’t be spent on weapons.
Second, seeing the kleptocrats with those fancy handbags and such will alienate the ordinary Russian, who will be suffering, from the leadership. (Near the end of World War I, the existence of war profiteers alienated ordinary Germans from Kaiser’s regime, and helped undermine it.)
Jim Miller (406a93) — 4/14/2022 @ 6:44 pmThe sinking of the Moskva continues the fine art of Russian seamanship.
This was the previous high water mark of the Russian Navy
https://www.hullwebs.co.uk/content/l-20c/disaster/dogger-bank/voyage-of-dammed.htm
If you don’t have time to read it:
Baltic Fleet voyage to fight the Japanese at Port Artheur starts with flag ship running aground and a destroyer colliding with a battleship.
steveg (e81d76) — 4/14/2022 @ 7:28 pmThe Baltic fleet now off coast of Denmark begins firing on approaching small boats convinced the Japanese fleet is in the Baltic. They not Japanese, the Russian miss all their shots which is good because the boats were bringing the fleet great news, the Russian Admiral has been promoted.
And it goes down hill from there
Heh! Good link, steveg. The whole thing is worth reading.
nk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 8:44 pmI suspect that little quarter is being given on either side now.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:44 pmWe cannot bomb Russia’s oil fields, factories, ports, and granaries
We can give Ukrainians the weapons to do some of those things.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 4/14/2022 @ 9:45 pmnk (1d9030) — 4/14/2022 @ 5:16 pm
[I submitted this comment once before, but I do not see it, so here goes again]
Same here, nk.
felipe (484255) — 4/15/2022 @ 8:58 amThe Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are being slowly bludgeoned to death.
steveg (e81d76) — 4/15/2022 @ 9:08 amI would also add the Kursk disaster.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 4/15/2022 @ 9:50 amThe media loves to write about “Crippling sanctions” but rarely notes that Russia has internal reserves and is also still selling oil and gas to Europe, so the actual “crippling” is a ways off.
The current sanctions will become “crippling” after Southern Ukraine has been crushed… literally and figuratively.
Javelins and NLAWS may keep Russian troops from making long mechanized drives into Ukraines interior, but they aren’t going to root out the Russians in and around Mariupol.
At this point I’d say that the type of weaponry NATO is currently providing Ukraine is possibly designed to leave Russia in control of the two new republics and most of the Azov/Baltic coast
steveg (e81d76) — 4/15/2022 @ 9:54 amRussia has no legitimate military targets inside or outside Ukraine. Ukraine’s territory is “legitimately” Ukraine’s and only Ukraine’s “legitimate” government can say what “legitimately” enters it or “legitimately” travels across it, and that’s without even saying that Russia’s invasion is an illegal war to begin with.
nk (1d9030) — 4/15/2022 @ 11:02 am@74. So what can Vlad do other then telling Joe to knock it off?? If you were Vlad, what would you do knowing the dementia riddled POTUS wanders on stage trying to shake hands with invisible people? Fund waves of illegals to flow into America’s southern border– and then plan to plant missiles in Central and South America w/allies: Cuban Missile Crisis 2.0… Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua — all long-standing allies of Russia — have voiced support for the Russian leader. And this time, it’s Squinty McStumblebum who will blink.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 4/15/2022 @ 12:49 pmBiden is the only President we have, so we are stuck.
steveg (e81d76) — 4/15/2022 @ 6:29 pmHe should go to Ukraine and tell Vlad I’m the head of the USA visiting a sovereign nation and I’ll do the f what I want, stay for a couple weeks and enjoy the weather.