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“But Russia has been acting like a post communist country in recent decades.”
Yes. It goes to the question “What’s in a name?” These terms tend to get tossed around by people like Putin to inspire the masses and make opaque the real issues. I’m not in disagreement with you.
Unfortunately, we witness this word play in our own domestic politics and we are not better for it.
On another front. I listened a bit to Biden today. Total U.S. aide to Ukraine is being upped to $1 Billion. In addition we are sending armed drones, which strikes me as perilously close to sending manned planes. These drones have incredible attack capabilities today. And, could just as easily be “flown” by someone sitting in Tampa or SF as by someone in Ukraine.
EDIT: Bloomberg has corrected earlier story. Now saying the drones weren’t described as “armed.” Humm … Thought I heard different. Stay tuned.
The expanded arsenal that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine includes 100 armed drones that are tube-launched from the ground and plunge into their targets....Army officials have described it as a flying shotgun. It’s less than 24 inches (61 centimeters) long and weighs about six pounds (2.7 kilograms.)...It can fit in a rucksack and costs as little as $6,000.
Interesting. I’d envisioned something larger. But $6,000 to destroy one tank? Holy crap! You could feed a starving family somewhere for a while on that.
“The company’s website says the Switchblade cruises at 63 miles per hour and provides “operators with real-time video downlinks for a centralized view of the area of operation” and also has a “wave-off capability” to adjust targets in flight.”
It’s probably classified, but I see no reason why these would need to be controlled from the battlefield. We’ve more “eyes in the sky” than anyone can imagine.
Few Russian drones flew across into Poland boarder and got shot down quickly. Are the Russian testing the NATO boarder as they have done so near Finland and Norway ? Other NATO countries including Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland should be on full alert and ready.
I read this item. Could not find "five scenarios." But worth reading, I suppose. Poot-face is the Russian governmental iteration of "Pauly" in "Goodfellas" portrayed by Paul Sorvino. It hangs onto the trappings of government, but it's a farce. It's not just utterly dysfunctional, the way things are in the USA. It is a parody, a dark joke, a satire of what REAL government is. Mafia-style, criminal grab-ocracy. Push comes to shove, we'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Which is what happened to Ukraine, when they refused. They got f***ed.
“As upside down as 1984 is, the world we live in is not too far off. One of the main elements of 1984 was a deteriorating standard of living for the people, yet they were told by their commie government to believe it was of the highest quality. And by blocking out information from other regions of the world, the people believed the government. The citizenry were brainwashed into believing a false reality where 2+2 = 5, history was rewritten to corroborate the communist government’s lies, sex wasn’t pleasurable and was solely for the purpose of conception, and the only thing one could love was ‘Big Brother’ (the government). And, of course, any dissent was met with the harshest of punishments – you would be ‘vaporized’. In other words, no one would see you again. “
30 March, '22: "Some Russian military units suffering heavy losses in Ukraine have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia to resupply, placing additional pressure on Russia's already strained logistics, the British Defense Ministry said in an assessment Wednesday."
"Some Russian military units suffering heavy losses in Ukraine have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia to resupply"
Not sure what any of that really means. Let's see now... I send my armor and tanks someplace, they are stalled by the defense forces and run low on fuel and supplies, so unable to advance. But they have enough fuel and supplies to go back where they came from? How does that work?
This article from The Washington Post contains a lot of interesting detail on the Russian supply and logistics problems. It should be a free link to non-subscribers.
Comments
Yes. It goes to the question “What’s in a name?” These terms tend to get tossed around by people like Putin to inspire the masses and make opaque the real issues. I’m not in disagreement with you.
Unfortunately, we witness this word play in our own domestic politics and we are not better for it.
EDIT: Bloomberg has corrected earlier story. Now saying the drones weren’t described as “armed.” Humm … Thought I heard different. Stay tuned.
U.S. Is Sending Dive-Bombing Switchblade Drones to Ukraine
“The company’s website says the Switchblade cruises at 63 miles per hour and provides “operators with real-time video downlinks for a centralized view of the area of operation” and also has a “wave-off capability” to adjust targets in flight.”
It’s probably classified, but I see no reason why these would need to be controlled from the battlefield. We’ve more “eyes in the sky” than anyone can imagine.
I read this item. Could not find "five scenarios." But worth reading, I suppose. Poot-face is the Russian governmental iteration of "Pauly" in "Goodfellas" portrayed by Paul Sorvino. It hangs onto the trappings of government, but it's a farce. It's not just utterly dysfunctional, the way things are in the USA. It is a parody, a dark joke, a satire of what REAL government is. Mafia-style, criminal grab-ocracy. Push comes to shove, we'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Which is what happened to Ukraine, when they refused. They got f***ed.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-shows-up-huge-rally-russian-troops-continue-attack-ukraine
Source
CBC:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-russia-nato-1.6395749
"Some Russian military units suffering heavy losses in Ukraine have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia to resupply, placing additional pressure on Russia's already strained logistics, the British Defense Ministry said in an assessment Wednesday."
Brought a smile to my face.
https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-officials-skeptical-russian-pledge-074407601.html
Not sure what any of that really means. Let's see now... I send my armor and tanks someplace, they are stalled by the defense forces and run low on fuel and supplies, so unable to advance. But they have enough fuel and supplies to go back where they came from? How does that work?
Why Russian troops are using tree branches for camouflage in Ukraine
☞ Washington Post Article
It also should be a free link to non-subscribers.