Oh, I agree. But read the fine print in my post wherein I said "should have had a plan". You know as in "we plan for everything" that the military always crows about. Particularly since they had concluded that it was no longer just a possibility that Putin would invade but that he was going to. Now Putin is up to his arse in Ukraine, and Blinken states today "we are looking at it." Fine. Maybe break down into small groups and go around the room so that everyone can share how they feel about it. Put some post-its up on the white board. This is the same crew that had no plan for the Taliban taking control of Kabul and said that they had no intelligence to support that while the rest of the world was watching them on TV moving their forces into the capital for days/weeks in advance, in a very orderly day by day increase.
The prevailing thought is that the Russians tried to recreate our shock and awe campaign in Iraq and failed. The failure of the Russians was they were unable to neutralize air defenses and gain air superiority. At the ground level, the Ukrainians are destroying Russian columns and supplies in a reverse of what the Russians expected. It is also important to note the Russians are attacking their neighbor, whereas we had to go halfway around the world to attack. What I will say is the Russians certainly did not expect a long slog of a fight. They are nearly one hundred percent in with their forces and making super slow progress. Are the Russians losing, or even losing badly - I guess would be determined by what cost the Russians are willing to pay. I would say they are losing from a cost benefit analysis side of things. But at the very least, I don’t think it’s too controversial to say the Russians are significantly underperforming.
I was gonna point that out too. Now Canada... we'd take out Justin and Ottawa in about 3 days... using Maine's Nation Guard units. They could make it a drill weekend.
Even if that is true- and I don't know- it would have been stupid for the Russians to have duplicating the American experience as a goal. If anything you would want to avoid it. We had some big-bang wins in the capital then started learning right off that the population- at least the ones most committed to fighting- were not necessarily on our side. And the shock and awe campaign was just a prelude to years of fighting insurgents. One could make the argument, that the Russians were hoping to avoid shock and awe and was trying to run that convoy in there, surround the city, and do a tidy little installation of a puppet without alienating the population more than necessary- and it shiite the bed. You know, the Americans pounded Baghdad bigtime with Tomahawks and lit up the sky bright and long before going in. Options that are/were 100% available to the Russian pigs but they chose not to use before going in.
I love it when you talk dirty like that. Just keep in mind, as I have said before, I would make an excellent Governor General for the Montreal Military District, having spent much time in a foxhole there. I am fully prepared to take charge and establish order in that region.
Belarus deputy defence minister QUITS over Ukraine war: Sanctioned general who 'agreed to Russian troops deploying on the border' signs resignation letter saying he cannot support invasion Major General Viktor Gulevich said personnel refused to take part in hostilities He submitted his resignation letter to Belarus' current Minister of Defence Mr Gulevich is among a number of Belarusian officials facing sanctions from UK The Foreign Office previously said Belarusian military enabled Russia's invasion https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10582905/Belarus-deputy-minister-QUITS-Ukraine-war.html
"He was accused of directing joint military exercises with Russia, and consenting to the deployment of Russian troops along the border of Belarus with Ukraine - which, the UK government claimed, 'directly contributed to Russia’s ability to attack Ukraine'." In other words, he was responsible for helping to plan and implement the convoy from hell, and his "career options" have sort of maxed out. Hell of a job Brownie.
Poland knows that it is just a matter of time before they are targeted in Putin's plan to put the old Soviet Union back together again and create a buffer of subjected "Warsaw Pact" states under Russia's thumb. Some leaders in Europe clearly see the cold reality. Polish ambassador warns Putin has sights set beyond Ukraine, calls for decades long Russian sanctions Polish ambassador says 'unpredictable' Putin has 'neo-imperial' ambitions https://www.foxnews.com/world/polis...-set-beyond-ukraine-says-poland-arming-itself