Putin Threatens The West

[RollingJ]

13 minutes ago, trastrick said:

So goes the MSM "narrative".

 

Where did he say that?

 

If he wanted to "take" Ukraine.

 

Russia could have flattened it in a week or less of air strikes and bombers, with few casualties.

For Russia - but what about the Ukrainians, and what would he be left with? A wasteland!

[trastrick]

Just now, RollingJ said:

For Russia - but what about the Ukrainians, and what would he be left with? A wasteland!

Russia has Crimea, and Black Sea access.

 

He wants the Donetsk Russian Speaking territory, and so do many of the population there!

 

It's a limited military invasion, which is why the casualties are so high!

 

Totalitarian authoritarians like the Russians, Chinese, and assorted terrorists regimes, have a rather callous attitude to casualties, compared to the West,  which is part of their strength, and brutality.

Edited April 12, 2023 by trastrick

[RollingJ]

18 minutes ago, trastrick said:

Russia has Crimea, and Black Sea access.

 

He wants the Donetsk Russian Speaking territory, and so do many of the population there!

 

It's a limited military invasion, which is why the casualties are so high!

 

Totalitarian authoritarians like the Russians, Chinese, and assorted terrorists regimes, have a rather callous attitude to casualties, compared to the West,  which is part of their strength, and brutality.

Highlighted bit - does not compute!

 

The rest, I kind of understand - almost.

[L00b]

59 minutes ago, trastrick said:

So goes the MSM "narrative".

 

Where did he say that?

 

If he wanted to "take" Ukraine.

 

Russia could have flattened it in a week or less of air strikes and bombers, with few casualties.

There’s no “MSM narrative”, just the reporting of information or disinformation-

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-revealed-secret-battle-plans-left-behind-by-russian-troops-2022-3?r=US&IR=T

 

-supported as that was, by a mountain of corroborating evidence from Russian soldiers in the initial waves, in intercepted Russian signals (phone calls, texts, Telegram chats).

 

Russia expected a cakewalk, and so brought a knife to a gunfight. 

 

Russia couldn’t “take Ukraine” then, and still less now: unlike the US and some NATO armies after Iraq 1.0, 2.0 and Afghanistan, the Russian military didn’t have any experience of wide scale combined arms assaults, and now don’t have enough professional military left to try and remedy that.
 

Russia certainly has hardware and soldiers in vast numbers and, to a point, quantity is its own quality. That explains the asymmetric losses.

 

And still more so, when Russia deems itself unencumbered by western-like/democratic-based rules of engagement, under which civilians should not be deliberately targeted and prisoners should be taken and looked after. Instead, Russia bombs civilians, tortures, rapes, loots, summarily executes…beheading prisoners with a knife, per yesterday’s Wagner video.

 

Seen that somewhere else a few times in years gone by, and I’m old enough to remember the furore and indignation about it at the time, that still goes on nowadays about Shamima Begum and the like…

 

….so where is that similar furore and indignation at Russia now, then?

Edited April 12, 2023 by L00b

[trastrick]

46 minutes ago, L00b said:

There’s no “MSM narrative”, just the reporting of information or disinformation-

Exactly!

 

46 minutes ago, L00b said:

Russia couldn’t “take Ukraine” then, and still less now: unlike the US and some NATO armies after Iraq 1.0, 2.0 and Afghanistan, the Russian military didn’t have any experience of wide scale combined arms assaults, and now don’t have enough professional military left to try and remedy that.
 

Russia certainly has hardware and soldiers in vast numbers and, to a point, quantity is its own quality. That explains the asymmetric losses.

Russia learned from their failed regime change attempt in Afghanistan 1.

 

And all the West's misadventures, around the World since then, including Afghanistan 2

 

They have limited goals in Ukraine.

 

46 minutes ago, L00b said:

And still more so, when Russia deems itself unencumbered by western-like/democratic-based rules of engagement, under which civilians should not be deliberately targeted and prisoners should be taken and looked after. Instead, Russia bombs civilians, tortures, rapes, loots, summarily executes…beheading prisoners with a knife, per yesterday’s Wagner video.

Unfortunately that's the strength of Totalitarians, and explains why the West has no interest in directly confronting them.

 

 

46 minutes ago, L00b said:

Seen that somewhere else a few times in years gone by, and I’m old enough to remember the furore and indignation about it at the time, that still goes on nowadays about Shamima Begum and the like…

 

Furor, indignation, concern, outrage are Western values, not shared by it's enemies in Russia, China, N. Korea, Middle East Mad Mullahs, terrorists etc.

 

Such is the enemy!

Edited April 12, 2023 by trastrick

[geared]

Interesting development in Russia, draft dodging is obviously quite widespread so now it can be issued online and is effective immediately.

Various reports have indicated the Wagner group has taken huge losses, meaning the Russian military will need to pick up the slack.

 

Quote

The Russian parliament has approved legislation to start serving call-up papers online.

 

Thousands of Russians have avoided the draft to escape the war in Ukraine.

 

Until now, conscription papers in Russia have had to be served in person or via an employer.

In reality, it has meant many avoiding the draft by moving away from where they were registered to live, or simply not opening the door when military officials came calling.

Under the new legislation, call-up papers will be deemed to be served as soon as they appear on a special "State Services" government portal called "Gosuslugi".

From that moment, a conscript will be obliged to turn up at his local enlistment office.

Quote

Citizens who fail to show up will be banned from travelling abroad and could face other restrictions. They will not be able to buy or sell property, their driving licences will be invalidated and they will be unable to register small businesses.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65239093

[L00b]

6 hours ago, trastrick said:

(…)

 

Unfortunately that's the strength of Totalitarians, and explains why the West has no interest in directly confronting them.

 

(…)

That approach worked really well, last time around 😏
 

Instead of mounting a coordinated, international opposition to such Totalitarians right away in the mid-1930s, ‘the West’ just let them pactise and continue, as you now propose.
 

And then when the Totalitarians inevitably came a-knocking…well, trampling really… across ‘the West’ borders, it took how many, and on what scale of death and destruction, to put an end to those Totalitarians, again?

 

That explains why ‘the West’ has every interest in directly confronting them early, instead of repeating the mistakes of its past yet again.
 

Those that do such repeating, well…it rarely ever ends well for them. Just ask a Russian male nowadays. Not as if his grandparents didn’t live through Stalinism and its throes, nor as if his baby boomer parents didn’t grow up under it 🙄

Edited April 12, 2023 by L00b

[trastrick]

Just now, L00b said:

That approach worked really well, last time around 😏
 

Instead of mounting a coordinated, international opposition to such Totalitarians right away in the mid-1930s, ‘the West’ just let them pactise and continue.
 

And then when the Totalitarians inevitably came a-knocking…well, trampling really… across ‘the West’ borders, it took how many, and on what scale of death and destruction, to put an end to those Totalitarians, again?

 

That explains why ‘the West’ has every interest in directly confronting them early, instead of repeating the mistakes of its past yet again.
 

Those that do such repeating, well…it rarely ever ends well for them. Just ask a young Russian male.

That horse left the barn when Obama/Biden stood by and let Russia walk into Crimea. Something about some. "minor incursion', not worth starting WW3 over!

 

No world wide outrage over that!   The Left MSM, and some here, l parroted the usual tired Dem talking points, "It wuz Trump's fault", but history will not be kind to that analysis.

 

When you feed the Bear, he will inevitably come back for more! And with totalitarians, telling them in advance that you will not confront them directly guarantees it!

 

History proves that Totalitarians can smell weakness and indecision from 10,000 miles away

 

 

 

[L00b]

19 minutes ago, trastrick said:

That horse left the barn when Obama/Biden stood by and let Russia walk into Crimea. Something about some. "minor incursion', not worth starting WW3 over!

Hardly: if ‘letting Putin do as he pleases’ is the yardstick of your logic, then it goes back much earlier than Crimea in 2014.
 

By that stage, Putin had already been adventuring all over, including Syria and Donbas, with the tacit approval of most ‘good’ western politicians (good = once bought, stays bought), particularly Brit and European (German, Dutch, Balkans) ones, never mind Trump. Nord Stream goes back a long way before 2014 and then Trump’s presidency.

 

Trump was supposed to let Putin continue West/north west unhindered (recall Trump’s confirmed intention to get the US out of NATO insta-quick, as and when re-elected in 2020; as quick as out of Afghanistan): the fly in ointment was Trump’s unexpected loss in 2020.

 

Putin will try and keep the Ukrainian invasion going until the next US Presidential election in late 2024, on the off chance that Trump swings it, so he can resume the plan. That’s why Europe is fast-tracking rearmament in the meantime.

 

If Trump loses in 2024 (or if the GOP should confirm for good beforehand, thatTrump doesn’t get to stand), Putin is done for.

Edited April 12, 2023 by L00b

[trastrick]

37 minutes ago, L00b said:

Hardly: if ‘letting Putin do as he pleases’ is the yardstick of your logic, then it goes back much earlier than Crimea in 2014.
 

By that stage, Putin had already been adventuring all over, including Syria and Donbas, with the tacit approval of most ‘good’ western politicians (good = once bought, stays bought), particularly Brit and European (German, Dutch, Balkans) ones, never mind Trump. Nord Stream goes back a long way before 2014 and then Trump’s presidency.

 

Trump was supposed to let Putin continue West/north west unhindered (recall Trump’s confirmed intention to get the US out of NATO insta-quick, as and when re-elected in 2020; as quick as out of Afghanistan): the fly in ointment was Trump’s unexpected loss in 2020.

 

Putin will try and keep the Ukrainian invasion going until the next US Presidential election in late 2024, on the off chance that Trump swings it, so he can resume the plan. That’s why Europe is fast-tracking rearmament in the meantime.

 

If Trump loses in 2024 (or if the GOP should confirm for good beforehand, thatTrump doesn’t get to stand), Putin is done for.

Trump, Trump, Trump! 

 

Lazy, lockstep Left wing talking points submitted as "analysis". Trump is not running the show! Biden and his pals in the MSM are! They got the job, remember?

 

Don't give up your day job!

 

What excuses will the Left have for their wars and economic chaos, if Trump loses, quits, or is in jail in 2024?

 

At this point, happily retired,in a functioning country, I'm coming to the conclusion that I'd like to see Trump out of the public eye., altogether. As my Mom used to say, "Leave 'em to it!"

 

After 2 years of Biden, already,  I heartily agree.

 

Enjoy your BidenWorld! 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by trastrick