Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

Sure they can. All they have to do is drop trying to get into NATO and stop bombing Crimeans. Anyone saying otherwise is trying to sell you a false narrative.

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

All they have to do is let Russia have whatever they want! Don't you understand?

sycasey said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

All they have to do is let Russia have whatever they want! Don't you understand?

---

Ukraine should just lie back and enjoy it.

Cal88 said:

---

The Russians did not support Hamas in Syria, they actually were on opposite sides, they supported the Syrian government. Hamas was lined up with ISIS, AQ and the assortment of other moderate headchoppers, McCain's best buddies, who were funded, armed and trained by Qatar, KSA and NATO. Qatar, main funder of Hamas, also was one of the main funders of Syrian jihadis who tried to topple the Assad government.


ISIS tactical Toyota truck in Aleppo - sourced from Texas, lol.

The Russians intervened in Syria when the jihadis were on the gates of Damascus, about to overrun the capital and butcher minorities including Christians, who have been a prominent part of that city for 2000 years. The Russians came into Syria and demolished ISIS in one month, destroying their oil tanker fleet in just a few days.

You really have to wonder how ISIS was able to conduct its business largely unmolested before that, driving their flammable oil tankers and schlepping in their long Toyota Hilux convoys on open roads without air cover largely unmolested before the Russians came in.

---

You don't have to wonder. The US wanted Assad deposed and Russia didn't because they like authoritarian regimes just like you do. Russia had a strategic interest in Syria's port and the US decided it wasn't worth risking open warfare with Russia over it.

In case anyone still doubts whether Russia is supporting Hamas.

Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian propagandist and ideologist of the «Russian world»:
«All this was absolutely inevitable. The split within the Jews loyal to Putin and the SMO after the escalation of events in the Gaza Strip was predetermined. Satanovsky and Kedmi (sure thing) chose… https://t.co/wE25NYdUcJ pic.twitter.com/ro5i2gFDh5

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 21, 2023

🇷🇺 propagandist Satanovsky from Solovyov’s channel called Russian MFA’s speaker Zakharova a hard drinker and a whore. Russia definitely has huge internal problems, and even propagandists can’t hide them anymore. I hope that one of them will have tea or stand next to open… pic.twitter.com/MmyGJ0Mljd

— Victoria (@victoriaslog) October 20, 2023

We're probably going to see a few of these new critics end up drinking polonium tea or falling out of windows in the near future.

sycasey said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

All they have to do is let Russia have whatever they want! Don't you understand?

---

The longer this goes, the more Russia will ask for.

Russia is doing great guys, nothing to worry about.

They're using 90 year old chitty chitty bang bang trucks in their disastrous offensive at Avdiivka.

pic.twitter.com/6FnD3oSnOS

— Andrij (@AndrijOtaman) October 22, 2023

And they lost yet another senior battle commander.

Russian assault battalion commander was reportedly killed in Avdiivka on 21 October. The note about this appeared on the Russian VK social network. It is unclear how he died but he was the son of a Russian officer who went through Afghanistan, so the loss is significant, given…

— Dmitri (@wartranslated) October 22, 2023

Their hope was that it would pull Ukrainian troops from Zapo but that was folly.

According to the Russian public channels, Ukrainians are not releasing pressure in the Zaporizhzhia direction, continuously using all available weaponry, receiving supplies from Western allies. There are losses, no doubt, but the momentum appears to still be with Ukrainians.… pic.twitter.com/aceYYZDJc1

— Dmitri (@wartranslated) October 21, 2023

F-16s may be in the air soon.

⚡ Air Force: Ukrainian pilots undergoing training nearly ready to fly F-16s.

The first group of Ukrainian pilots are almost ready to move from F-16 flight simulators to combat planes, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said in a televised address on Oct. 22, Ukrinform reported.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 22, 2023

This was has been a disaster for both sides but Russia continues to prove how much the world (and Putin) overestimated their military might, underestimated the toll from their endemic government kleptocratic corruption, and how damaging this war would be to their military. They are far weaker now than when the war started, and far weaker than it appears anyone in the west could have ever imagined.

It might not seem like it with Russia waging war in Ukraine and supporting terrorists in the Middle East, but what we are really seeing is a badly damaged animal backed into a corner and lashing out, not a powerful threat. Once the dust settles, Russia will have been responsible for hundreds of thousands (if not more) of pointless deaths but they will have extremely limited capabilities and it will take decades for Putin's successor to rebuild his depleted military.

Cal88 said:

---

movielover said:

---

sycasey said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

All they have to do is let Russia have whatever they want! Don't you understand?

---

The longer this goes, the more Russia will ask for.

---

Right, and at this rate, Russia will have all its conditions met when Ukraine will have somewhere between 600,000-900,000 KIAs. We're around 450,000 right now.

---

An acquaintance just told me he follows "geopolitical analyst" Peter Zeihan (religiously, it seems)... I listened to a few of his blurbs and there were so many things wrong w his analysis.

On Israel he claimed Hezbollah "couldn't do much [to Israel]"... but another more-informed individual claims Hezbollah has thousands of high-precision missiles on hand, which sounds ugly. Especially if the Iron Dome isn't.

10% For The Big Guy said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

Russia is doing great guys, nothing to worry about.

---

This tweet is over a month old, but someone forgot to tell you Ukraine already lost.

I lost some interest in commenting daily on the Ukraine war once it became obvious to many others that the counteroffensive failed. For a long time, my main point of emphasis was on how the establishment got this war wrong. Fewer and fewer now disagree. It was once controversial.

— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) September 23, 2023

---

That is part of the reason I don't always argue with true believers like U2S, soon enough the reality of this conflict is going to be harder to refute. I have said all along that Ukraine had no military solution, this conflict can only be solved through a negotiated settlement, and the longer it goes, the less leverage Ukraine will have, and the greater the body count and devastation.

The key aspect here is the KIA loss ratio, it's been somewhere between 5-8 to 1 in favor of the Russians. Russia could not have sustained, politically speaking, a more equal KIA ratio, or even a positive 2-3 to 1 in their favor, the KIA ratio has to be very lopsided in their favor in order for them to win this war of attrition, which has been the case. They still don't have the same type of war footing and mentality of sacrifice that the Ukrainian government has put in place in their country.

For the Russians, their strategy has been to wage a war of attrition favoring their huge advantage in artillery and ammunition. A more mobile big arrow campaign would have quickly evened out the loss ratio. This has been a successful approach for Russia, but a devastating one for Ukrainians, who have been pushed to attack in conditions that do not favor them, charging heavily mined fields on open ground without air cover, or trying desperately to hold on to Bakhmut despite being surrounded from 3 sides in much of that battle.

One key element in Ukraine going all-out in this war (so far) is their belief in western/NATO military and economic supremacy, that belief turned out to be unfounded. Russia's economy has held up quite well, they have also done well diplomatically outside of the West, and the series of NATO wonderweapons - Javelins, HIMARS, Storm Shadows, Leopard IIs, ATACMS, and soon F-16s - have not turned out to be the gamechangers they were billed.

Ukraine's military downfall is going to be shortened by the Israeli war, which is sucking American military and financial aid away from that war, as well as diluting the focus of the western public.

movielover said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

movielover said:

---

sycasey said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

Slava Palestini said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

I've always been fascinated by World War I history. The sheer butchery of it all over the smallest of issues. For years, Generals poured hundreds of thousands into the blender in offensives long after it should have been clear the front lines were a deadly stalemate.

In 1917 the French troops got it right and mutinied against more offensives. They stayed in line and fought on the defensive. In 1918 the Germans made one last offensive push with some success, but ultimately paid too high a price. The Allied counter offensive with huge numbers of newly arrived Americans couldn't be stopped.

All that to say, it reminds me of Ukraine. The front lines appear to be at a stalemate. This armchair General hopes the Ukrainians stay on defense. I also feel badly for the Ukrainian civilians who will probably be butchered by Putin in the upcoming months through various artillery and bombing attacks. Putin is a mass murderer.

---

Ukraine can have a cease fire any time they want.

---

Yes, but Ukraine can't have peace any time it wants

---

All they have to do is let Russia have whatever they want! Don't you understand?

---

The longer this goes, the more Russia will ask for.

---

Right, and at this rate, Russia will have all its conditions met when Ukraine will have somewhere between 600,000-900,000 KIAs. We're around 450,000 right now.

---

An acquaintance just told me he follows "geopolitical analyst" Peter Zeihan (religiously, it seems)... I listened to a few of his blurbs and there were so many things wrong w his analysis.

On Israel he claimed Hezbollah "couldn't do much [to Israel]"... but another more-informed individual claims Hezbollah has thousands of high-precision missiles on hand, which sounds ugly. Especially if the Iron Dome isn't.

---

Zeihan's academic credentials are fairly weak. He does have some interesting insights when it comes to the impacts of demography and physical geography on local and global economies, but he goes into ideologically-motivated sweeping generalizations that make no sense. He also has a limited military background and perhaps more importantly, a culturally restrained world view, perhaps due to his midwestern background.

What he does have though is great showmanship, his lectures and deliveries are entertaining. He's carved for himself a great niche, at a time when geopolitics have become more important.

Wow! Ex leader of Germany confirms revelations by ex Israeli PM & Ukrainian media: "At the peace negotiations in Istanbul in March 2022 with Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainians did not agree on peace because they were not allowed to. For everything they discussed, they first had to ask… pic.twitter.com/ryl18Ezhbx

— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) October 21, 2023

Biden and Netanyahu are both trapped in a burning building. You can only save one. Do you bring marshmallows or hot dogs?

— My Aunt Fanny 🇵🇸 (@Dienne_7) October 21, 2023

So you're against the 2001 9/11 AUMF but for sending weapons to non-allied countries? lol. You are such a principled fibber.