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Ukraine War


BehoId, The Underminer!

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yet again, my perspective is shifting here. and i'm delighted to be wrong.

the us is committed to fighting a proxy war with russia via ukraine, and despite some fears that our involvement would trigger escalation, that hasn't been the case.

i was concerned we'd back putin into a corner with no out other than nukes, chemical weapons, and utter destruction.

i think we've backed him into the corner, but the utter destruction from using those weapons would be equally destructive to putin's regime - and he doesn't want that, because he knows that's game over for him, too.

this could still turn much more deadly but it would be a suicide mission for himself and his supporters.

the biden administration has handled this admirably - biden's biggest foreign policy success so far - could change, sure.

our intelligence anticipated the invasion, we trained ukraine in the years-long lead-up, equipped them, rallied nato, rallied sanctions, while providing accurate info which has obliterated russia. it's been a brilliant success.

all that said, i still question the end-game. putin is fucked. russia was weaker than they projected, and the support for ukraine stronger than anticipated. we'll supply and re-supply ukraine indefinitely. so, uh, dude, go home? 

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6 hours ago, bangkok said:

i was concerned we'd back putin into a corner with no out other than nukes, chemical weapons, and utter destruction.

i think we've backed him into the corner, but the utter destruction from using those weapons would be equally destructive to putin's regime - and he doesn't want that, because he knows that's game over for him, too.

Russian troops clearly don't even have the equipment to handle NBC weapons, and I really doubt they have the training either.  Using such weapons against Ukrainian troops would turbofuck his military just as much as it would the Ukrainians, and using it against civilian population centers would get China off the fence, which would definitely be game over.  Even if China were inclined to back him, using any WMDs against the civilians would ramp the sanctions up to include countries supporting Russia.

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1 hour ago, Caponata said:

Not really, comrade.

Quote

Officials are less concerned -- at least for now -- that the weapons will fall into the hands of the Russians. The source briefed on the intelligence noted that Russia's failure to hold large swaths of territory or force the surrender of many Ukrainian units means that those arms have either been used or remain Ukrainian hands. 

And so far, it appears that Russia has struggled to intercept or destroy the supply shipments. A third source familiar with the intelligence said that it does not appear that Russia has been actively attacking western weapons shipments entering Ukraine -- although it is unclear exactly why, especially since the US has intelligence that the Russians want to and have discussed doing so both publicly and privately.

Russian losses in personnel and materiel indicate that our assistance is having the desired effect. And it’s probably foolish to think we don’t have some special forces working clandestinely on the ground, not coming anywhere close to actual combat, but who are helping to coordinate operations and the sharing of intelligence. Joe Biden isn’t calling Zelensky on the phone every day to advise him of Russian troop movements.

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Decisions on NATO membership by Sweden and Finland expected this week.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/crucial-decisions-on-nato-membership-expected-from-finland-sweden-this-week

The BBC is already reporting that Finland is expected to apply for membership.

As I’ve mentioned before, retired Admiral James Stavridis has said on multiple occasions that if they applied on Wednesday then they’d be accepted on Friday. He holds their militaries in very high regard.

Putin’s pointless decision to invade Ukraine continues to backfire on him. Nothing is set in stone yet but getting Sweden and Finland to join NATO would be huge.

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Google indicates that he doesn't smoke and wants to ban smoking in Russia. I'm surprised that didn't get him assassinated.

That does look like a distended face. It could be so many things. Frankly, I hope he's not in danger of dying soon. I don't want to add that to the equation of what he might do as the war in Ukraine continues to go so poorly.

Edited by RomaVicta
left out "not"
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6 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Google indicates that he doesn't smoke and wants to ban smoking in Russia. I'm surprised that didn't get him assassinated.

That does look like a distended face. It could be so many things. Frankly, I hope he's not in danger of dying soon. I don't want to add that to the equation of what he might do as the war in Ukraine continues to go so poorly.

honestly that may be the out the Russian heads of state are looking for. whatever it ends up being, I don't think Putin has many days left

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I can’t remember on which news program I heard this. (Probably either BBC or Morning Joe). But apparently Ukrainians have a term for the blown off turrets and cannons of Russian tanks destroyed by Javelin missiles. They reportedly call them “popsicles.”

BC0F5A8F-1875-4024-8945-5D4DB856C648.jpeg.86b1827c9c7868c341f9f7885b8b9d7f.jpeg

DE0AF5CF-F4EF-4921-AFCC-970222A5D4FD.jpeg.c054ba2538f9c0386fd218a4fea65013.jpeg

3D422424-DD08-418F-801D-FC9D8DD80325.jpeg.965df49dfc2bd841b239c9a43832e27d.jpeg

501CA80E-4337-4FAB-9BC3-A3F3B97A8F11.jpeg.c0933033201d7860f2791ea0fef820a6.jpeg

E19C65B9-5D94-4CB3-BAB2-5378561C8D44.jpeg.7355a590ef0ae035ecfa3f0f57ce6023.jpeg

I found these photos here:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10762427/The-Russian-tank-design-flaw-makes-mobile-coffins-multiple-shells-stored-together.html

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1 hour ago, Bama Chick said:

Hope whatever he has is painful and makes it burn when he pees.

Damnit. I really do try to restrict my Zappa references and limit them to the weekends but sometimes it just can’t be avoided. Please forgive me. I tried but just couldn’t pass this one up. (Oh yeah, NSFW.)

 

Edited by WhatTheBuck
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36 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I can’t remember on which news program I heard this. (Probably either BBC or Morning Joe). But apparently Ukrainians have a term for the blown off turrets and cannons of Russian tanks destroyed by Javelin missiles. They reportedly call them “popsicles.”

BC0F5A8F-1875-4024-8945-5D4DB856C648.jpeg.86b1827c9c7868c341f9f7885b8b9d7f.jpeg

DE0AF5CF-F4EF-4921-AFCC-970222A5D4FD.jpeg.c054ba2538f9c0386fd218a4fea65013.jpeg

3D422424-DD08-418F-801D-FC9D8DD80325.jpeg.965df49dfc2bd841b239c9a43832e27d.jpeg

501CA80E-4337-4FAB-9BC3-A3F3B97A8F11.jpeg.c0933033201d7860f2791ea0fef820a6.jpeg

E19C65B9-5D94-4CB3-BAB2-5378561C8D44.jpeg.7355a590ef0ae035ecfa3f0f57ce6023.jpeg

I found these photos here:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10762427/The-Russian-tank-design-flaw-makes-mobile-coffins-multiple-shells-stored-together.html

Two big takeaways from that article:
"The 'jack-in-the-box effect' has contributed to the devastating loss of up to 970 Russian tanks, the Ukrainian military claims"

"Analysts claimed yesterday that Russia has lost so much military equipment in Ukraine that it will be unable to fight another war for years."

Fucking yikes.

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54 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

Two big takeaways from that article:
"The 'jack-in-the-box effect' has contributed to the devastating loss of up to 970 Russian tanks, the Ukrainian military claims"

"Analysts claimed yesterday that Russia has lost so much military equipment in Ukraine that it will be unable to fight another war for years."

Fucking yikes.

Maybe war with tanks isn't such a good idea on the modern battlefield. Maybe learn that lesson and put your money into countermeasures against drones.

Wait, this is Russia. Tanks! Buy more tanks! Flood the battlefield with them again! Profit.

For honesty's sake, the fact that their tanks were limited to the roads because of mud was a strategy disaster as much as a technology failure.

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5 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Maybe war with tanks isn't such a good idea on the modern battlefield. Maybe learn that lesson and put your money into countermeasures against drones.

Wait, this is Russia. Tanks! Buy more tanks! Flood the battlefield with them again! Profit.

For honesty's sake, the fact that their tanks were limited to the roads because of mud was a strategy disaster as much as a technology failure.

yeah, imagine if the Panzer divisions needed roads. Hitler's army never would have gotten out of Germany. Amazing how much Russia has actually regressed 

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5 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

In case there were any doubts about the “Kremlin to your racist uncle’s brain” pipeline, here’s a graphic from Russian state TV.  Also note that now we have a “Ministry of Agriculture.” 
 

image.thumb.png.9df5391d822a4e32e9d6b319b325e554.png

That's some Glenn Beck/Alex Jones level of batshittery

cheryl-cole-okay.gif

 

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Finnish leaders announce backing for NATO membership

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Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday officially endorsed the idea that their country should join NATO, a historic move that sets the stage for a membership application in the coming days.

Until recently, Finnish leaders saw NATO membership as an unnecessary provocation of Moscow, but since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Niinistö and Marin have signaled a new openness to joining the alliance and benefiting from its mutual defense clause.

“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” the two leaders said in a joint statement. “We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/finland-leaders-announce-backing-for-nato-membership-sauli-niinisto-sanna-marin/

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That speaks of such a trauma. The pain. The blood. The chaos. Imagine the boy's helplessness on finding his family. Imagine the pain and despair of having your legs blown off a second after smiling at the tea volunteer.

Now here they are smiling and happy in each other's arms; the trauma burbling and thrashing below.

This is what you're endorsing when you advocate war/invasion. Make sure it's worth it to you. We try to be careful, but we still leave this in our own wake.

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