Politics

[YancyW]

Zelenskyy is the president of a nation that has been fighting off an aggressive attack for three years. His choice of clothes is to remind everyone of this. Perfectly legitimate.

Who in the hell is he reminding? He was in the White House, he had an audience of ONE.

 

[YancyW]

I bet Ukraine would love to give America 99 year leases to establish military bases in there country

Poland would be a far better partner for that route.

FDR got bases where the US needed them.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Poland would be a far better partner for that route.

FDR got bases where the US needed them.

The world at that time needed them. The world would be in better shape today if they’d of been permanent concessions instead of 99 year leases.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Poland would be a far better partner for that route.

FDR got bases where the US needed them.

With the range of modern aircraft if the Argentina base was still running I would imagine America could project air power over much of the top of the globe.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

]][emoji6][emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]" data-quote="Lone Star Bluegrass" data-source="post: 0" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I have emerged from the reloading bunker, and see that little has changed, save the sage observations of Professor Hanson (which is always welcome).

There’s a single malt with my name on it.

“To the medicine cabinet!” -McClintock

I’m checking in before cognac.

You girls are so predictable.

Perchance we will become productive by morning.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

The conscripts of Ukraine are being taken from their homes as soon as they turn 18 and forced to fight. Maybe younger. Ukraine is hemorrhaging young men to the meat grinder.

American tax payers have something like 300,000,000,000 USD in this war. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crew8y7pwd5o

Every American alive today has personally spent $1000 for this meat grinder in Ukraine.

I spent 20 years in the military, and fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. I am pretty much over this BS of paying for wars just so the military industrial complex can get richer.

None of this is true (apart from your military service. Well done.)

Please have a think about where you're getting such misinformation from. It's important to point out false information when it's repeated, so I will. Why haven't the forum members who've Liked your comment put you straight on this?

Ukraine's conscription age is 25 and older. It was 27 until April 2024. Younger folk may volunteer for active service or to just get training.

Ukraine is not using meat-grinder tactics. On the contrary, Ukraine is giving up ground in tactical retreats, to preserve lives and to repeatedly expose Russian soldiers to the risks inherent in assaulting. Hence the exchange ratio. Russia is using meat-wave tactics and has recently been losing between 1000 to 1500 soldiers a day. Russia will soon pass 900,000 casualties. They are sending wounded soldiers on crutches back into battles, with machine guns and drones at their backs.

American taxpayers have spent ~ $116B (and less than Europeans btw). The bulk of this is immediately invested in US military industries, i.e. jobs, materials, with taxes recollected.

Why not take some of your salary and allowances from your deployments (well done) and buy shares in US arms manufacturing companies? Disclaimer - this is not investment advice, particularly given your president's plan to reduce spending on the military by 50%. Instead, go long on life jackets, for when the ice-melt swallows Florida, etc. Sorry, what's that? Trump has cancelled climate change? Really? OK, forget my last.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

Obviously, by his post, he doesn’t

I do know. I was using humour to make a point. It was subtle.

 

[Neophyte]

Poland would be a far better partner for that route.

FDR got bases where the US needed them.

No.
They are where Europe wanted them for European benefit.
Europe can go pound sand.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

I am just hoping for some way to negotiate a lasting peace. I am much more confident in Trump providing that than I was with the previous administration.

The quickest way to get a lasting peace is to simply surrender. Ukraine wants a just and lasting peace. Much harder, because they're being attacked by war criminals and terrorists who are intent on killing civilians, raping women and kidnapping children. Please inform yourself properly.

Biden's approach was to help Ukraine resist Russia, while serious sanctions destroyed Russia's economy. Nearly there. Russia's soldiers are so close to giving up, shooting their officers and walking home. It's happened before. Right now they're surrendering in large groups, sometimes to a single Ukrainian soldier. Just like the Italians in North Africa. Now just watch Trump undo all of Ukraine's hard work and steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

[Neophyte]

The quickest way to get a lasting peace is to simply surrender. Ukraine wants a just and lasting peace. Much harder, because they're being attacked by war criminals and terrorists who are intent on killing civilians, raping women and kidnapping children. Please inform yourself properly.

Biden's approach was to help Ukraine resist Russia, while serious sanctions destroyed Russia's economy. Nearly there. Russia's soldiers are so close to giving up, shooting their officers and walking home. It's happened before. Right now they're surrendering in large groups, sometimes to a single Ukrainian soldier. Just like the Italians in North Africa. Now just watch Trump undo all of Ukraine's hard work and steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

Psst……Your TDS is showing.

 

[gbflyer]

You do know that the Donbas 'separatists' were in fact Russian plants, Russian agents? Back in the early teens, wise and well informed Russian political analysts forecast all that has happened since. It's total playbook by Putin. We're talking about the guy who bombed his own citizens' apartment buildings, to have an excuse to attack Chechnya again. Then he murdered a defector in London who told the truth about it.

Putin is an absolute monster. Trump calls him a friend and wants to be more like him. Americans chose Trump to be their president. Most of us elsewhere in the world see this as insanity; to democratically elect a leader who has openly declared that he will be a dictator.

Think one of our members here might disagree with some of that. Has family there. Me, I don’t know. I don’t live there. This is all entertaining but end of the day is a big waste of time to debate. None of us here are gonna do shit about any of it. I hate the loss of innocent life.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

Who in the hell is he reminding? He was in the White House, he had an audience of ONE.

I used the word 'everyone'. I guess I meant everyone.

 

[mark-hunter]

With the range of modern aircraft if the Argentina base was still running I would imagine America could project air power over much of the top of the globe.

In my opinion, very soon it will be irrelevant, probably already in our life time.

I think we are at the start of weaponization of space. There are international agreements against space weaponization, but Donald Trump in his first term established and started Space Forces, and Russians have Aerospace forces. Chinese are catching up, too.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

I hate the loss of innocent life.

Me too. And it's not a waste of time to talk about it.

I spent my entire career working in Defence to stop this shit from happening. My parents lived through WWII, seriously too close for comfort at times. As a child my mother watched bombs falling from the sky, killing 800 of her fellow townspeople in seconds. And they were American bombs, dropped accidentally on Nijmegen's town centre. She saw her playmates from next door, dead in the street. My father starved as the Canadians tried to liberate southern Holland. He'd been bombed earlier in the war, but towards the end, it was food falling from the sky. Manna from heaven, via Operation Manna. Look it up.

Some time back I wrote to our Prime Minister and other senior cabinet members, urging more support for Ukraine from Australia, to help stop WWIII. Yesterday I had a brief uplift in spirits, when I heard the Prime Minister speaking in support of Zelenskyy and Ukraine. It was as if he was reading from my letter.

It's not a waste of time.

 

[rigbymauser]

None of this is true (apart from your military service. Well done.)

Please have a think about where you're getting such misinformation from. It's important to point out false information when it's repeated, so I will. Why haven't the forum members who've Liked your comment put you straight on this?

Ukraine's conscription age is 25 and older. It was 27 until April 2024. Younger folk may volunteer for active service or to just get training.

Ukraine is not using meat-grinder tactics. On the contrary, Ukraine is giving up ground in tactical retreats, to preserve lives and to repeatedly expose Russian soldiers to the risks inherent in assaulting. Hence the exchange ratio. Russia is using meat-wave tactics and has recently been losing between 1000 to 1500 soldiers a day. Russia will soon pass 900,000 casualties. They are sending wounded soldiers on crutches back into battles, with machine guns and drones at their backs.

American taxpayers have spent ~ $116B (and less than Europeans btw). The bulk of this is immediately invested in US military industries, i.e. jobs, materials, with taxes recollected.

Why not take some of your salary and allowances from your deployments (well done) and buy shares in US arms manufacturing companies? Disclaimer - this is not investment advice, particularly given your president's plan to reduce spending on the military by 50%. Instead, go long on life jackets, for when the ice-melt swallows Florida, etc. Sorry, what's that? Trump has cancelled climate change? Really? OK, forget my last.

The age for conscrips is 18-60. These male agegroups must not leave Ukraine. If they do they will be charged with treason even if returning in peacetime later on.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

The age for conscrips is 18-60. These male agegroups must not leave Ukraine. If they do they will be charged with treason even if returning in peacetime later on.

Hi rigbymauser. Nice handle.

Sorry, but you’re mixing up two aspects. Yes, men aged 18-60 are banned from leaving the country. This is not conscription. It is to keep the country running, help with the war effort and if appropriate, voluntarily join or be conscripted into the armed services.

Conscription age is 25+.

 

[mark-hunter]

Conscription age is 25+.

The pressure from Biden Administration was to mobilize from 18 upwards. Zelensky refused.
To me this suggests extreme losses on battle front of Ukrainian Army. Generation 25+ decimated. Much more losses then written or reported, I assume.

White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-olds so it has enough troops to battle Russia

The aim is to expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia.

apnews.com

Ukraina lost 25% of population due to emigration to other countries.
Dropping mobilization age to 18+ (with similar losses) will make demographic catastrophe for the country in next decades.

Ukraine faces population crisis amid war, emigration, low birth rate

With deaths outnumbering births nearly three to one, officials are seeking ways to encourage Ukrainians to return and boost the declining population.

global.espreso.tv

Demographic catastrophe, does not mean it will be stopped or further prevented by the seize of hostilities.
After the war, if economy is destroyed, infrastructure destroyed, or later "privatized" (a process known to transition countries) economic emigration will continue affecting working age generaton, because of lack of job opportnities.

This happened in Croatia, and is happening elsewhere in "transition" countries.
Before the war for independence, we had almost 5 million people. After the war won, we joined EU, infrastructure and industry,, factories and other economic base was privatized, and we started loosing people due to economic emigration. Entering the EU speaded up the process.
Now demographic is unsustainable, we are down to 3.7 million population, with average age growing rapidly. We started with issuing 50.000 working visa per year, (from non-eu countries such as India, Nepal Sri Lanka, Fillippines), and now we are at 200.000 working entry visas annually. Most of legal immigrants, work under contract, very hard, often for small money, support families at home (sending money home from our finacial system), and presumably will one day return home. But they are integrated in society, and cause no problems.
However demographic problems remain.

 

[mark-hunter]

Russia is using meat-wave tactics and has recently been losing between 1000 to 1500 soldiers a day. Russia will soon pass 900,000 casualties.

Numbers dont match.

Russia is recruiting 30,000 soldiers a month to fight in Ukraine - National Security News

Russia is still able to generate 30,000 recruits a month to fight on the frontline in Ukraine despite suffering in excess of 500,000 casualties, western officials have said. The Russian summer offensive has cost Moscow a record 1,200 personnel killed or wounded daily, raising questions over...

nationalsecuritynews.com

They mobilise 30k per month, loosing up to 1.5k per day, the army should be reducing in size.

Russia is recruiting 30,000 soldiers a month to fight in Ukraine - National Security News

Russia is still able to generate 30,000 recruits a month to fight on the frontline in Ukraine despite suffering in excess of 500,000 casualties, western officials have said. The Russian summer offensive has cost Moscow a record 1,200 personnel killed or wounded daily, raising questions over...

nationalsecuritynews.com

But it s growing. Either they are mobilizing more, or loosing less.

Moreover for the casualties, on both size.
70-75% of casualties are reported to be caused from Artillery action.

Russia’s Artillery War in Ukraine: Challenges and Innovations

While Russia has experienced difficulties elsewhere on the battlefield, artillery has been central to its ability to hold Ukrainian forces at bay. This article explores how the Russian armed forces have adapted traditional artillery practices to overcome challenges and achieve greater efficacy.

rusi.org

qoute/unqoute; Recent reports indicate that 70% of Ukraine’s casualties are a result of artillery fires.


Depending of source, and depending of present situation, ratio between fired shells Ukraine : Russia, is 1-2, up to 1-10. (again, depending of source, and historical situation on front)

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/ministry-...ussia-and-ukraine-has-fallen-to-a-record-low/

I assume therefore higher casualties on Ukranian side.
You said 900.000 on Russian side? What would you estimate Ukrainian losses?

 

[spike.t]

Why is Putin suddenly willing to let Trump broker a deal?
Does Trump have something that the EU leaders don't, or are not capable of?
What makes me hot under the collar, is that many here, and abroad, hardly ever said anything about Biden, who was indirectly responsible for this mess because of his weakness, are now continually throwing turds at Trump for trying to clean it up.
Trump may be no genius when it comes to foreign policy, but at least he is trying, which is more then the rest of the world has done.

Maybe this.....unbelievable

Putin ally pushes deal to restart Nord Stream 2 with US backing

Ex-spy Warnig’s plan to involve American investors shows breadth of Trump’s rapprochement with Russian president

www.ft.com

 

[spike.t]

make it impossible for trump to read FDRs December 7th speech with out making it sound something like “japs are bad…their just very bad people …. Little people… bad little people who sank our ships…”

Shit that made me laugh....