danthewolf00
Veteran Expediter
Who says it isn't the same just relabeled.....
The Future of the Republican Party and USA
- Thread starter ATeam
- Start date
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Correct.
But force can take a number of forms - it isn't just physical violence.
Sanctions are a form of force ... to the point that some have said that they are tantamount to a act of war.
I think that Putin himself may have expressed those exact sentiments.
This line was one of the reasons I hesitated to like your post above.
I suppose the frustration is reasonable, given the powerlessness you personally feel about doing anything about the situation. Be careful not to overindulge that inclination ... it can lead to stress. Bad hormones and all that ...
To address one (perhaps false) premise contained in the above, it is perhaps not so much the case that the sanctions aren't effective, as much as they aren't instantaneous.
We are a rather spoiled generation, inclined to impatience, particularly when we don't get what we want right away.
I have similar inclinations myself.
But I also possess enough humility to recognize that I lack a lot of info on the situation.
I'm not so sure that is the case.
Admittedly that (whether it will be or not) is hard to know for sure.
But this war has shown several things:
1. Putin severely miscalculated on the ease of winning the war he attempted.
2. Our military and intelligence communities seem to have also severely miscalculated the capabilities and competence of the Russian military.
The initial assessment was that Kyiv would fall in a couple of days. That was wildly wrong ... to the point that no major city has fallen except for Kherson. And the Ukrainians have managed successful operations to retake some areas/small cities that they lost.
He certainly deserves credit for both.
Having said, I am fairly certain that he is not possessed of all the information that Biden has at his disposal, nor is it his responsibility to the make the decision.
He may not even be aware of everything that the administration is doing ... for quite obvious reasons.
A good example would be Florida's clown Senator Rubio - who despite be warned not to, posted pictures of Zelensky - which made him locatable in near-realtime - and posed a security threat to his life. (Rubio wasn't the only one either)
As you do, I find the entire situation frustrating certainly.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
People that actually know a little something.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
When time is of the essence, the distinction you draw is a distinction without a difference. Putin is days away from defeating Ukrainian democracy and installing authoritarian officials to run the country. He is advancing his troops at will and the West responds with sanctions, and the Russians continue their advance without regard to civil norms; killing people at will, advancing at will. The West has massive powers that can be brought to bear, but they hold fast for some fear of WW III. Another word for that is appeasement. Yet another word is blunder.
Two days, two weeks, two months ... it does not matter. As long as the West continues to allow Putin to advance, he will advance and the war will end with him victorious. In the meantime, a million nightmare scenarios are the reality of life and death for Ukrainians.
When your house is on fire, you don't run to the library to get more information. You do everything you can to stop the fire before the house is gone.
I said it before, I'll say it again.....
NATO needs to stop worrying what putang will do and start make him worrying what NATO will do.
In theory this is the way NATO should work. But when has NATO ever faced down a major military power? Especially this one that can cut off their natural gas and oil in the middle of winter? Also, there's their ally the USA who can't be depended on for anything except lip service. Putting knows what NATO will do: sanctions.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Dear Lord ... turn off whatever tv channel you are watching and avoid the media hysteria if it's upsetting you that much.
Or at least filter it to only watch the military analysts.
Try doing a little reading instead ... preferably military officials and people that have backgrounds in, and are involved with, tracking and analyzing military conflicts. Start here:
https://twitter.com/MarkHertling (Retired US General)
https://twitter.com/TrentTelenko (Retired US DoD Civil Servant, good on logistics and equipment maintenance)
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien (Professor of Strategic Studies, University St Andrews)
https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael (Director, Russia Studies at CNA. Senior Adjunct Fellow, CNAS
And this guy (Recently retired Major General Mick Ryan):
Familiarize yourself with the terrain. The Ukrainians are purposely ceding ground in places for a variety reasons:
UA is largely flat, with large open farm fields - which are potentially killing fields for UA troops and equipment.
The Putinist hordes supply lines are a cluster flop - the deeper they have to operate into Ukraine, the longer those supply lines become, and the worse off they are.
Also familiarize yourself with Russian anti-aircraft systems, including their mobile SAM systems. They have some of the most formidable systems currently available.
This is rather overly simplistic from several standpoints ... and ignores the need for consensus on the part of NATO allies.
Possibly one of the worst thing that could happen - short of a military quagmire by NATO - at this point would be disunity.
Or even worse, Putin deploys tactical nukes.
Where do you think those will be aimed ?
Also, it's pretty clear that Putin is spoiling for a fight with the West, specifically the US. He wants to draw us into it.
Think what that will do for public opinion at home back in Russia.
If Putin's offensive culminates in the next 10 - 14 days it will matter.
(See Gen. Mick Ryan's most recent thread above)
Or not.
No doubt ... I get it.
I'm certainly not happy with the situation and I hope that behind the scenes there's a lot more going on than we currently know about.
If that is the case, there are probably very good reasons for that.
You also don't go hop on a bulldozer and raze the house to the ground either.
I think the Brits have an expression for that ... something about throwing the baby out with the bath water.
This ain't Kosovo (in terms of the geographic area the theater of operations encompasses ...)
Last edited:
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Disagree slightly ... NATO needs to worry about what he will do ... but also make him worry about what they will do.
That said, I expect he is in shock at the moment at how poorly things are going.
Ok, I'll give you that, but for geeze O Peet's, stop broadcasting what we won't do.
Put some aircraft in the sky inside the Polish border and make him think about it.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Yup, agree.
Things need to start getting a little more ambiguous.
That's been happening for days ... possibly even weeks at this point.
Thought I had linked it (tweet that had the website to see what's up in the air)
F-35's (and possibly others) flying circular patterns, along with tankers for mid-air refueling.
Also AWAC's type planes watching what is going on inside UA.
Suspect the intel from the latter is being fed to UA.
danthewolf00
Veteran Expediter
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Very, very hot ... or so I am told.
And I'm sure Uncle Pooty doesn't really want to FAFO.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Your "modern" Trumper Republican Party folks ...
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Im going to lay something out there that I didnt come up with but will pretty much end the GOP if they do follow through with it. We all know Trump is not going to win an election, there are too many never Trumpers within the GOP for that to happen. What if Trump runs as an independent and between him, and the 2 party candidates nobody gets the required 270 electoral votes. Then the house would elect the next president and all the Republicans chose Trump instead of their candidate. The person with the fewest votes will become president.
Trump has already said he wants to expand the power of the President, he really wants to become a dictator, why not start that process with tricking the part of the GOP that hates Trump?
For anyone who watches the new Star Trek Picard show, could this be what happens in 2024 that sends the timeline off????? And of coarse Q has to show up, dam him!!!
Trump has already said he wants to expand the power of the President, he really wants to become a dictator, why not start that process with tricking the part of the GOP that hates Trump?
For anyone who watches the new Star Trek Picard show, could this be what happens in 2024 that sends the timeline off????? And of coarse Q has to show up, dam him!!!