There is no doubt Russia could have defeated Ukraine essentially instantly if they had wanted to, obviously they didn’t. They still can.
It’s no different than the US vs. Canada; the US (even now) could defeat Canada essentially instantly if they want to.
Without using nukes of course.
What caught some people off guard (including me) is that it is the right answer to the wrong question.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Nov 8 2022 16:37 utc | 3

@ GoFast | Nov 8 2022 16:27 utc | 2
don’t be stupid… of course anyone can say anything and they did! who the fuck cares?? what a stupid post.. may as well hold posters at moa accountable for what they said – a waste of time…. your post is a waste of time too, but i wasted it, lol…

Posted by: james | Nov 8 2022 16:50 utc | 5

Getting Closer
WOLFGANG STREECK
bevin posted this on a previous thread… i had to go to the sidecar tab and look for this post, as bevins link didn’t work… if my link doesn’t work, you can do the same if you are interested…
here is a small segment from the article..
“Frankfurt, Goethe once noted of his hometown, ‘is full of oddities’. The same can be said today of Berlin, and indeed Germany as a whole. Bizarre things are happening, with public consideration of them tightly managed by an alliance of the centrist parties and the media, and supported to an amazing extent by self-imposed censorship in civil society. Before one’s eyes, an apparently democratically governed mid-sized regional power is being turned, and is actively turning itself, into a transatlantic dependency of the Great American War Machines, from NATO to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon to the NSA, and the CIA to the National Security Council. When on 26 September the two Nord Stream pipelines were hit by a massive underwater attack, the powers that be tried for a few days to convince the German public that the perpetrator could only have been ‘Putin’, intending to demonstrate to the Germans that there would be no return to the good old gas days. It soon became clear, however, that this strained the credulity of even the most credulous of German Untertanen. Why should what is called ‘Putin’ have voluntarily deprived himself of the possibility, small as it might be, of luring Germany back into energy dependency, as soon as the Germans became unable to pay the staggering price of American Liquid Natural Gas? And why would he not have blown up the pipelines in Russian rather than international waters, the latter more heavily policed than any other maritime landscape except, perhaps, the Persian Gulf? Why risk a squadron of Russian shock troops, which would undoubtedly have been sizeable, being caught red-handed, triggering a direct confrontation with several NATO member states under Article 5?
Lacking even a remotely credible ‘narrative’ – the new word in elevated jargon for a story manufactured for a purpose – the matter was effectively dropped, after no more than a week. Two days after the explosion, a lone reporter for a local newspaper based at the entry to the Baltic Sea observed the USS Kearsarge, an ‘amphibious assault ship’ capable of transporting up to 2,000 soldiers, exit the Baltic west-bound, accompanied by two landing boats; a photograph of two of the three mighty ships made its way onto the internet. Nobody in German politics or the national media took any notice, certainly not publicly. By mid-October, Sweden, currently applying for NATO membership, announced that it will keep the results of its investigation of the event to itself; the security rating of its findings was too high ‘to share with other states like Germany’. Shortly thereafter, Denmark also withdrew from the joint investigation.
As for Germany, on 7 October the government had to answer a question from a Die Linke Bundestag member on what it knew of the causes and perpetrators of the pipeline attacks. Beyond stating that it considered them ‘acts of sabotage’, the government claimed to have no information, adding that it would likely not have any in the future either. Moreover, ‘after careful consideration, the Federal Government has come to the conclusion that further information cannot be given for reasons of public interest’ (in German, aus Gründen des Staatswohls, literally: for reasons of the welfare of the state, a concept apparently modelled on another neologism, Tierwohl, animal welfare, which in recent German legalese refers to what breeders of chickens and pigs must allow their animals so that their farming practices can count as ‘sustainable’). This, the answer continues, was because ‘the requested information is subject to the restrictions of the “Third-Party-Rule”, which concerns the internal exchange of information by the intelligence services’ and therefore ‘affects secrecy interests that require protection in such a way that the Staatswohl outweighs the parliamentary right to information, so that the right of MPs to ask questions must exceptionally take second place to the secrecy interest of the Federal Government’. To this writer’s knowledge, there has been no mention whatsoever of this exchange in the Staatswohl-oriented media.”

Posted by: james | Nov 8 2022 17:00 utc | 7

russia should be fighting this war like the us zato ukies are fighting it,full spectrum and dirty, complete with killing civillians, civillian infrastructure, assassinations on russian soil(basically in moscow no less), etc.
where is the vaunted cyber force of the russian military? where are the top level assassinations by bomb, crew or poison of top level ukies?
was that all marketing hype of us .gov to justify military budgets and russia played along?
or are those real russian capabilities we havent seen yet? where are they?
a war happened and only half of the russian military showed up to fight seige warfare like its 1949….

Posted by: jayco | Nov 8 2022 17:10 utc | 9

Re: the Moskva ship
Can someone please tell me how it got sunk, and how come it didn’t shoot down incoming missiles ?
Wasn’t it equipped for that ? What the hell happened ?

Posted by: Featherless | Nov 8 2022 17:26 utc | 11

Here we go again with the ole ‘Russia shoulda, and coulda and woulda’ trope. Thankfully James has already dealt with that so I’ll move on. The PR firms that were hired to bolster the NATO war effort in Ukraine have done a fantastic job keeping hope alive in the minds of all the numptys that support it. I’ve long since given up trying to educate and inform them, and its now just a matter of time before they get let down, distracted and move on to support the next Current Thing. #WeCanDoThis!
What about the poor sods on the ground? Territorial Defense forced prodded into battle of trench warfare. StarLink winking out due to “insufficient funds” via the UK? Muddy banzai charges being turn back by clusters of artillery. Happy Election Day USA. As per the SouthPark episode on representative democracy: you’ve been given the right to choose between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. All kidding aside, things are about to amp up in very real ways across the board. First off, Ukraine is about to become the bronzed albatross chained to the neck of the EU. After greedily slurping up money weapons and “volunteers” it will now bless it sponsors with hundreds of thousands of gracious refugees. All this with a backdrop of post industrial collapse, cold hunger, and a winter of discontent.
Yet the cheerleaders still howl, and the slanderous presstitutes continue their smear campaign. And for what? All of them will be on the receiving end of the glorious 4th Industrial Revolution. When things get increasingly desperate, this attitude will disappear in a poof of smugness. But by all means keep it up, I’m sure there is a payday right over the next hill. Oh to see the expressions on their faces when they realize that nobody is coming to save them. Their handlers left the building weeks ago, made a bee-line for their luxury bunkers, leaving their minions to run the illusion for just a little while longer. Alas, the power goes out, the curtain is torn down and the brick wall in the back of the studios is plain to see.

Posted by: Chevrus | Nov 8 2022 17:43 utc | 13

Posted by: jay co | Nov 8 2022 15:28 utc | 1
whenever i see that weaselly little pipsqueak sullivan i feel violent; that such an obvious fucktard loser who clearly got his ass beat down twice a week in high school, is in control of my life and millions of others lives lights a fire up my ass to no end.
You should learn to appreciate… FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY and blah, blah and blah. .. we were taught since childhood in school and at home….
Last weekend ZH posted Chrystia Freeland will lead NATO as Sec General…. finally we will have a hardline and granddaughter of a NAZI leading NATO…
https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/canadas-deputy-pm-chrystia-freeland-could-become-next-nato-chief-report-articleshow.html

Posted by: JC | Nov 8 2022 17:59 utc | 15

Zelensky extends martial law for another 90 days and ups the general mobilisation. Ukranians will be mobilising themselves over the nearest border… if they can.
https://twitter.com/SprinterMonitor/status/1590039503124955136

Posted by: Gt Stroller | Nov 8 2022 18:05 utc | 17

@Posted by: jayco | Nov 8 2022 17:10 utc | 9
This is a global war, not just between the Ukraine and Russia, with the latter having to manage its relationships and image with the rest of the world (RoW) outside Europe that has either refused to sanction it or is tacitly/actively supporting it. The West is pouring on pressure on the RoW to stop supporting Russia, and all they need is some real evidence of Russia carpet bombing towns and killing 1,000’s and 1,000’s of civilians to turn some of these states around. Even Western public opinion is turning against arming and supporting Ukraine, again such real evidence may help solve that problem for Western elites. That is why Putin is playing within real legal limits (as against the spurious Western “rules based order”).
When you are winning the trick is not to do anything stupid, and all the Ukie provocations are being tried to get Putin to do something stupid. Putin is winning, and with 300,000+ extra troops (making 450,000 – 500,000+ in total) and the Ukie electric grid wiped out the next Russian offensive will fundamentally change the facts on the ground. The Ukies are down to perhaps 350,000 troops, many of which are new conscripts with little training and with a huge loss of experienced NCOs – the backbone of any army. Hence the increasing numbers of foreign “mercenaries” to fill the gaps. The Ukie supply depots are being destroyed by the Russians, and their vehicles destroyed on the ground whilst their numbers are being continuously ground down. And Russia has increasing artillery and air supremacy. In addition, more and more Ukie reserves are being sucked into battles around Bakhmut, Kherson etc. in the south – leaving huge little protected gaps in other areas.
If nothing fundamental has changed by February I will also throw my hands up and scream “WTF Russia?” By then Europe may have survived the heating season, but be looking at an horrific cost of probably only partially refilling their storage tanks for winter 2023, and with oil prices even higher if they implement the hair-brained “oil price cap” scheme. Europe and the US will also be in a significant recession (the Uk will be the worst with pro-cyclical tax raises and government austerity). Add in significant Russian gains and the will of the Western elites may be running straight into the reality of their population’s resistance.
Patience is a virtue that Russia, China and Iran have and the Western elites do not, and Zelensky cannot afford. A possible Republican “wave” today may also change things more than we currently think, Biden may be gone very quickly together with many of the “Pale of Settlement/Ukraine” descendent nutters. And possibly the AG after the misuse of the legal system in the pat few months.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 8 2022 18:12 utc | 19

Posted by: Chevrus | Nov 8 2022 18:02 utc | 16
It will soon be a federal crime to deny that it was the Russians who blew up the pipeline.

Posted by: bottle | Nov 8 2022 18:25 utc | 21

jayco | Nov 8 2022 17:10 utc | 9
Russia doesn’t care what you think because your values are a mental illness. Fuck back off to your video games, groyper.

Posted by: sippy the shot glass | Nov 8 2022 18:30 utc | 23

@2
Russia said UKRAINE Russia did not say NATO (30+ countries). Russia took Ukraine the first week IMO…
Ask you a question: What would the ukraine have been without nato help..??
Russia is not fighting the Ukrainian army the Ukrainian army ended a long time ago Russia is fighting the wester collective (30+ countries) with mercenaires and some Ukrainian hands…

Posted by: noname | Nov 8 2022 18:34 utc | 25

GoFast@2…the Ukraine was defeated, NATO wasn’t, one country took a few weeks, then a coalition of fools piled in with encouragement, at the rate Russia is moving, slowly, it grinds through foreign armour and manpower, such a sweet delicate balance, a sight to behold. The SMO is a precedent, future SMO timelines will be judged against the world’s first SMO currently underway.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 8 2022 18:38 utc | 27

russia should be fighting this war like the us zato ukies are fighting it,full spectrum and dirty, complete with killing civillians,
Posted by: jayco | Nov 8 2022 17:10 utc | 9
Russians are not satanists, and many of them have friends or family in Ukraine.
No, Russia is doing fine. Once the US becomes less of a threat, no longer raping, poisoning and torturing entire countries all over the planet, the war tribunals can start. 95% of countries will have claims.
And once the protective “golem” is dead, the den of cockroaches infesting Palestine can be stomped out of existence.

Posted by: Jusses | Nov 8 2022 18:55 utc | 29

As I wrote yesterday, there’s clearly an attempt to erase NATO’s history since 1989, all of which provides the underlying context for today’s need to liberate people from NATO’s totalitarian grip which is enabled by the EU’s existence. Few realize/understand that NATO, EU and other supposedly international institutions are tools of the Outlaw US Empire to attain Global Dominance and hegemony over ALL, as are the philosophy and machinations known as Neoliberalism, which as a process has evolved to where it now is over the past 140 years.
No Western figure acknowledges what’s occurred since 1989. Instead, their history begins on 24 February and not a day earlier. There’s no attempt whatsoever to rebut Russia’s legal grounds for its military technical operation; it’s as if Russia’s security demands issued last December never happened, nor did NATO at anytime break the four OSCE treaties guaranteeing Indivisible Security–apparently, they never existed either. In many respects, every word emanating from the West is absurd as a make-believe history is being forced upon humanity, yet most of humanity sees it as false, although some officials are still cowed by it and are thus too timid in rebutting it as we see from people in Indonesia as the G20 approaches.
As reported by RT, China has supposedly canceled a recorded message by the European Council President that was to propagandize those attending China’s International Import Expo with exactly that type of message casting Russia as aggressor when it’s actually the defender. IMO, it’s that last very major point that’s missed by the vast majority–Russia is the defender of Ukrainians and Russians from the Genocide that was waged on them by NATO. The actual reasons for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine as before with Syria are never truthfully offered by any Western politico or media, while every falsehood that can be devised is implemented in defense of the actual aggressor, which is the Outlaw US Empire.
Thus, we can see why the Empire is not only incapable of agreement. To even speak of or acknowledge the truth of events is to confess its guilt in them. Thus Woke, no part of the Truth can be allowed to exist; only the Empire’s Narrative is valid. And all that constitutes the vast impasse/chasm that exists between the West and the rest of humanity. The West must continue the BigLie at all costs for it cannot exist without it. IMO, it perplexes Russia, China and other nations as to why the Outlaw US Empire persists in its Lies as they only serve to widen the chasm. I’m reminded of serial prevaricators who will continue to tell their lies even after they land in prison for life–they cannot face the horror of being honest with themselves and pop the imaginary balloon their ego has inflated. In other words as others have noted, they are diseased–sick in the mind–yet their pathology threatens humanity, not just themselves.
It’s for the many reasons contained in the above that Putin has pointed out on more than six occasions since 24 February that IMO will cause him to decline to appear in Bali. Those nations Russia is friendly with will know its position on the G20’s discussion topics, and Russia will likely be represented by its ambassador to Indonesia. I’d very much like to hear the arguments in the Kremlin over this subject to better hone my understanding of Russia’s collective mind. Perhaps a hint will be provided by Zakharova in her weekly briefing. Fundamentally, however, the Truth must be upheld, and the West’s Master be held accountable.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 8 2022 19:00 utc | 31

I think it was during his first SMO speech around Feb 24 that Putin addressed the world during one section saying that they have prepared for all eventualities. Quite possibly a settlement could have been reached in Istanbul. If honored by the West (unlikely but possible) that could have been it. Didn’t work. Onto the next scenario…
This will continue until either Ukraine operates as an independent polity free from all NATO inputs or Ukraine as such is no more. And even in the latter case that may or may not be the end of it. Most likely the end of the petrodollar is a minimum way point until which point the West will refuse to leverage that power into preventing a Eurasian Civilization birthing.

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 8 2022 19:15 utc | 33

Ultimately, people vote with their feet.
Examples are legion, ranging from population levels increasing in Texas & Florida, to millions of illegals crossing the southern border, and of course Ukraine refugees in EU.
But the real tell will be from the professional classes, including engineers and technicians following capital investment and infrastructure projects.
If they are prevented or blocked from working in Russia directly, then the obvious hotspots will be pleasant regional satellites.
By this I mean Turkey. If there was ever more of a potentional slam dunk opportunity, it’s going to be gangbusters (probably already is from people who have already left thinking theyll just be wintering over) in the nicer coastal zones.
One could follow exchange rates and other econ stats, but the leading edge will be YT, whether it’s realtors or more likely, vloggers covering the emerging phenomenon of Germans everywhere in certain places.

Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 8 2022 19:22 utc | 35

@ Jusses | Nov 8 2022 18:29 utc | 22
This.
Gostomel was a pretty ballsy what the English call a “chancer”:
If the 2014 Regime collapses or flees, well and good.
If neither, deny the airport until withdrawal and wreck on leaving.
Next step.

Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 8 2022 19:25 utc | 37

and with 300,000+ extra troops
Posted by: Roger | Nov 8 2022 18:12 utc | 19
No. Putin said 50k are “working” in Ukr now. Since the beginning of mobilization they clearly said only a part of the mobilized will be sent to Ukr. I highly doubt even the 50k number but we can use that since the source is Putin. If you subtract the total deaths (Russia, including Chechens, Wagner and Donbass militia) you will probably end with max 30-35k for the whole front line. Those people will have a very difficult time keeping positions. And without lots of drones and strikes on supply lines, railways, highways, fuel storage and the power grid (again and better this time) you can forget about reaching Donbass borders next year.
After these months it’s clear their entire strategy was based on the enemy surrendering, no second plan. But Ukr/nato didn’t surrender and went into suicide mode and terrorism using infinite weapons and money. They can continue to do that for decades using mercenaries, as long as the fake government and everything I’ve mentioned above remain intact. The EU bases for “training” will actually collect all psychopaths on the planet. After Sweden/Finland join nato the flow of terrorists will greatly increase in Russia.

Posted by: rk | Nov 8 2022 19:37 utc | 39

Russian military doctrine is written by Sun Trudeau. If you kill your enemy, they win.

Posted by: experienced | Nov 8 2022 19:41 utc | 41

I really dont think that the entire Russian strategy was based on Ukrainian surrender. And no, they were not try to storm Kiev.
Do you really think there was “no backup plan”? It seems to me that there were stated goals and that the RF military did not actually broadcast their entire strategy for all these armchair ninnies to dissect. The SMO much like the the operation in Syria is a study in efficiency. What seems to be lost on the western MSM and the presstitutes is that Russia is doing things by the books. This is in stark contrast to NATO’s butchery in places like Yugoslavia, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the like.

Posted by: Chevrus | Nov 8 2022 19:47 utc | 43

Fundamentally, however, the Truth must be upheld, and the West’s Master be held accountable.
Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 8 2022 19:00 utc | 31
—
Beautiful writer, yet you’re like a guy commisterating over a bad breakup. The fellow youre talking with might imagine it’s been a fairly recent event, possibly weeks or even months prior.
But what would his reaction be if it was actually 5, 10+ years earlier? Thats right, he’d sidle off the stool to get away and remind himself to avoid you if he ever came across you again.
Here’s a bit of advice, which I’m sure you’ll ignore, so it’s really for the broader readership: life moves on.
Last century’s debate over economic organization was conducted in an era of surplus. That is, a completely indulgent exercise in myopia that failed to consider much more significant global challenges lurking in the shadows ahead.
The current battle isn’t just for bragging rights, the empire isnt using every technique and resource at its disposal simply to play king of the hill.
No, this is the real deal where the winner is allowed to drive agenda 2030 according to their terms, one which still only really allows a modicum of current lifestyle options.
The losers aren’t just subjugated vassals, but rather the doomed steerage passengers who discovered there weren’t any more lifeboats.
Life is interesting if one stays current, understands physics, observes politics, and awaits the coming mad dash for safety.
No one will have the time, patience or luxury of hearing complaints about the bad man out to get them; they know.

Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 8 2022 19:49 utc | 45

Bottle21: You ARE kidding right?
Posted by: Chevrus | Nov 8 2022 18:31 utc | 24
A law is already on the books that makes it so as soon as it becomes the official position that Russia is the culprit. From then on you cannot question that fact.

Posted by: bottle | Nov 8 2022 19:52 utc | 47

I saw a clip earlier on today of Russia using night vision, thermal imaging, technology to target and attack the Ukraine forces as they slept at night.
Their body heat made them identifiable.
Anyone else see it?
If so, was it genuine or was it just a piece of propaganda.

Posted by: Orchard1 | Nov 8 2022 20:11 utc | 49

@Oblomovka daydream I have no doubt russia will repair kirch bridge asap, slava rossiya!

Posted by: jayco | Nov 8 2022 20:23 utc | 51

Nowdays its all about marketing.
RF performance in Ukraine is one of the most spectacular ANTI marketing i ve ever witnessed.
The future will show what will be the real consequences for Russia.
One can already say that russian military industry will face difficult times.
Hard to imagine that somebody wants to buy russian made weapons in future.
Not to mention relying on russian military support as an ally

Posted by: ratko.mladic | Nov 8 2022 20:24 utc | 53

@ karlof1 | Nov 8 2022 19:00 utc | 31
No Western figure acknowledges what’s occurred since 1989. Instead, their history begins on 24 February and not a day earlier
This enables Blinken to repeatedly, over and over, refer mistakenly to “Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine.” . . .And if Russia’s Lavrov has ever responded publicly to these repeated lies it has gone largely unnoticed.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Nov 8 2022 20:35 utc | 55

B9k9 | Nov 8 2022 19:49 utc | 45
It is about breaking people out of the narrative matrix. Many here though want Russia to be another knee jerk America. They want retribution like feuding hillbillies. Russia is about bringing peace not retribution.As to the timing of Russia’s moves to face down the US, that has been fully dependent on the research, development, production and deployment of next gen strategic weapons system that commenced in 2002 when US pulled out of the ABM treaty. Putin does not go in early and try to bluff his way through. When he makes a move there is overwhelming force behind it.
Doing it this way, Russia pays a short term cost in some lives, but over the long term, in hindsight it will be seen that this approach has saved a huge number of lives that would otherwise have been lost.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 8 2022 20:50 utc | 57

jayco @ 56

blinken reminds me of Blix form that tom cruise 80s movie..

Reminds me of an agent in the Matrix, as does Sullivan.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 8 2022 20:53 utc | 59

On this election night I’d like to remind any whippersnappers here that it always gets worse under Republicans. Just because the Democrats are the quintessence of heinousness doesn’t mean that the GOP taking power takes us to a lower degree of horror. Buckle up, maybe get in the crash position, the Overton window is about to be pushed off the cliff, God knows what’s on the other side.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 8 2022 21:10 utc | 61

OT but coming to a war theater near you tomorrow.
*
Bitcoin crash.
https://twitter.com/GeromanAT/status/1590051425606066183/photo/1
“COINBASE WEBSITE DOWN”
$SHIB $BTC $LTC $XLM $XRP $DOGE #Bitcoin $ETH all down.
*
Japan is dumping all it’s US treasury holdings to support the Yen.
“JAPAN’S FOREIGN RESERVES FELL AGAIN IN OCTOBER AS TOKYO BATTLED TO PROP UP THE YEN BY DUMPING ITS HOLDINGS OF THE US DOLLAR”
****
Another open question; is Putin now turning to hardliners in the Russian establishment?
****
The AFU attacks Snihurivka/Snigirevka (Kherson Front)
“The source of the War Gonzo reports this”.
Both sides have claimed a large convoy of the other side, were wiped out. (Probably a Grad salvo acc. to the Ukies) Heading south (Attacking Ukies or retreating Russians would both be going in the same oveall direction).

Posted by: Stonebird | Nov 8 2022 21:13 utc | 63

@GoFast #2
You don’t have anything better to do than scour the internet cherry picking contrarian opinions of random Russian nobodies and then rush over here to log in and trumpet your profound discoveries?

Posted by: nwwoods | Nov 8 2022 21:18 utc | 65

Every time the russians complaining about the strong fortifications of Ukronazis.
After watching many videos from both conflict sides i could not find anything special about Ukis fortifications. Its classic military standard. Miles of ukro trenches ……. perfect coffins…..
I dont know for certain the number of Iraqi casualties in the trenches caused by B-52 raids.
In the Vietnam War, when the BUFF were on target (massed enemy troops, trenches,…) they pulverized their enemies. The old D models carried 108 Mk 82s so a cell of three could rain down a lot of firepower.
Carpet bombing is also a very effective psychological weapon, i remember that once lots of iraqis buried the few others (regulars)started to surrender a lot then followed.
Against the front line dug-in Ukro infantry, the TU 95 with loadouts FAB-250 x 24, FAB-500 x 12 and FAB-1500 x 3. would be much more successful because the Ukros are dug-in close together and are poorly trained reservists.
On the other hand cant remember now that Tu-95 was ever used on combat as bomber (Bear A), the others versions was specialized anti-ship missile carrier / Cruised Missile / EW / Maritime Patrol.
it might be worth trying even u ve thermobarics like ToS

Posted by: ratko.mladic | Nov 8 2022 21:21 utc | 67

LightYearsFromHome, I get it that people think that the Blue Team is going to save them from the Red Team, but history proves that thinking wrong. I have been following elections and politics since the Carter Presidency. Very little changes in terms of foreign or domestic policy between administrations. Clinton continued most of Reagan’s bad policies, Bush continued and accelerated most of Clinton’s bad policies, Obama continued almost all of Bush’s bad policies, Trump continued most of Obama’s bad policies, and Biden has continued most of Trump’s bad policies. In each case, things got worse over time, not better. In each case we were told that if so-and-so didn’t win, we were all doomed.
No, it really doesn’t matter who wins the very constrained elections today, we will still be in a proxy war with Russia, and that threatens the whole world. So I am not going to lose sleep tonight over who wins. I am only going to lose sleep over the doomsday clock, which Joe Biden has been really messing with.

Posted by: John R Moffett | Nov 8 2022 21:24 utc | 69

I don’t know about Russian intelligence and how far they reach, but Iran for sure has extensive intelligence assets in UK. They could start doing all kinds of dirty de-stabilization that UK is doing in Iran. The unlimited and uncontrolled mass migration to the UK pretty much guarantees it.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 8 2022 21:38 utc | 71

@Posted by: rk | Nov 8 2022 19:37 utc | 39
What are you talking about? The Russians have raised the extra 300,000+ specifically for operations in Ukraine. Many of those raised may not go to Ukraine, because they will be replacing more experienced military personnel who will be going there instead. The Russian losses are low, as even Western observers have to acknowledge plus there are the LPR/DPR troops. 450,000 – 500,000 is about right, your numbers and your analysis is completely off.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 8 2022 21:40 utc | 73

Posted by: ratko.mladic | Nov 8 2022 21:21 utc | 67
The bombs are there just waiting to be used. Identify coherent lines and run large scale bombing run, parallel over the defensive/front line to maximize hits and damage.
If anyone has watched maps in the Ugledar and Kherson region, you can easily notice that there are fields, between which there are strips of wooden areas. Very often UAF uses these wooden strips as some kind of defensive areas.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 8 2022 21:43 utc | 75

#46
I have seen the use of TOS. Looks more like July 4th fireworks than a destructive weapon. God, looks like you could walk around to avoid the sparks. And no or little fire combustion. Napalm was the shit and everything underneath got burnt to sh*t. Maybe I’m wrong but check Viet Nam film. And no more forest to hide in. Let’s roll!

Posted by: RicK | Nov 8 2022 21:58 utc | 77

Seems I remember the MOAB (mother of all bombs) was used by US forces in Iraq. Basically a huge gas tank exploded mid air and lit with a match. Iraqis thought we went nuclear, that’s how big it was. Prolly cost 1000 bucks.

Posted by: RicK | Nov 8 2022 22:08 utc | 79

Posted by: Sam | Nov 8 2022 20:53 utc | 60
There is too much made of Article 5 of the Nato charter. It means squat. I have actually read it as have many others. It is considerably weaker than the treaties that were relied on in both the Balkan and The Great War respectively for instance. There is NO LEGAL requirement for any Nato member to help any other in the event of war. All it asks is for a nation to TALK about what it should do to help , if at all, given it is constitutionally legal . A nation could decide to do absolutely nothing at all and be well within its rights.
You can be sure the US will try and badger other Nato members to help in case of war -a coalition of the Nato willing – but the law was written so loosely , I presume to allow the US to weasel out of helping anyone if it is a peer enemy.

Posted by: Brother Ma | Nov 8 2022 22:23 utc | 81

Posted by: Brother Ma | Nov 8 2022 22:23 utc | 81
Nato article 5: “everyone is free to help the one supposedly under attack, in any way they see fit”. That MSM tries to make something else of it is irrelevant – that’s how the facts are.
It is similar as the banking system. It works as long as a given amount of critical mass do not withdraw their money from the banks in a panic, at the same time, or the whole “treaty” crashes and burns and becomes an emperor without clothes.
I would say that Nato is dead already due to trying to use the article 5 in Ukraine, which simply demolishes whatever legitimacy and purpose it had earlier. It doesn’t mean that Poles will not go into Ukraine, it just means that the rest of the crowd will scatter away under various reasons and excuses.
The primary goal of Ukraine has already been achieved, mass collapse of EU-rope and wealth transfer to USA.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 8 2022 22:43 utc | 83

Re: LightYearsFromHome | Nov 8 2022 21:10 utc | 61 – “I’d like to remind any whippersnappers here that it always gets worse under Republicans”
Disagreed. Look at 2016 vs 2020. When DJT was elected, I told horrified, politically-correct, well-adjusted, left-leaning friends (in Mtl, Canada – there’s plenty of that kind here) that war in Ukr had been avoided with the electoral defeat of Hillary, and that this was the only real important point for folks outside the USA. Oh surprise, we got the war as soon as the Democrats got back in.
@ various about the slow pace of the operations in Ukr – a couple of speculative points that hopefully might be relevant in addition to the usual arguments about the objectives of the SMO not including territorial gains, the RF’s desire to preserve manpower, and the effectivity of a strategy of attrition from letting UAF come to the contact line:
1) if you agree that Russia fights more than just Ukr, i.e. NATO and the USA behind it, then you probably also agree that RF have to consider all of Russia’s perimeter as a potential combat zone, with reserves, equipment and logistics ready for all eventualities at the very least all along Russia’s Western borders in Europe. I don’t know anything about military matters, but in that context I would expect that Russian forces would have more difficulty concentrating forces to achieve victory in Ukr if borders along Poland and Finland for example must be reinforced at the same time.
2) As soon as RF achieves victory in Ukr, then Russia will probably have to face another open front elsewhere since the USA would still want to pin and weaken Russia in a long term conflict as per their stated objectives. Other fronts have been touted, Transnistria, Georgia, other parts of Central Asia… If I try to take a Russian perspective in that context, then I’m happy to continue fighting in Ukr rather than elsewhere with all of the unknowns and drawbacks of handing the initiative back to the USA by closing the Ukr theater. And if I’m happy to fight there, I don’t want to win too soon, and I keep in mind that the USA has stated that they expect the window to confront China to close much sooner than expected, possibly as early as mid 2020s.
This is not to say that RF are all powerful and unbeatable, not at all. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have big problems also, plenty of them mentioned often, i.e. slow reactivity, over-centralisation of some processes, corruption, lack of resources in some areas (drones at the beginning of the conflict for example), some startling intelligence failures (Helmer had a good one about this not too long ago),…

Posted by: htyul | Nov 8 2022 23:00 utc | 85

Big Anthill conquered!
The Donetsk airport has been liberated for the 100th time. This time for real! The six o’clock news on Channel One Russia had some story about a geographic feature to the north of the runway of the Donetsk airport. Evidently it is called “Big Anthill”. It is a landfill hill just north of the western end of the runway, with a dominating view over the whole airport. Google Maps shows that it is full of Ukrainian trenches.
WarGonzo has two videos of the hoisting of the Sparta Battalion flag on top of the hill.

🇷🇺 The flag of Russian Spartans on the former fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “big anthill” near the Donetsk airport.
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/38230
“>https://t.me/ZandVchannel/38232

Actually the Anthill may have been taken several weeks ago. There are no signs of fresh battles. Two weeks ago Sparta Battalion posted videos of their BMPs driving right past the hill all the way to Vodyane on the northern side of the Donetsk Ring Road.
So why was the hill in the TV news today? My Russian is not good enough to follow what was said on the news. Maybe the hill had been recaptured by the Ukrainians for the 50th time and was again liberated.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Nov 8 2022 23:13 utc | 87

Posted by: RicK | Nov 8 2022 22:08 utc | 79
Another moronic statement. Try $170,000 – and the development costs aren’t included and range from $16 million to $400 million for 20 bombs.
Here’s how much the ‘mother of all bombs’ the US just dropped on ISIS in Afghanistan actually cost
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-moab-bomb-cost-mother-of-all-bombs-2017-4
If you’re completely ignorant, STFU.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Nov 8 2022 23:15 utc | 89

I presume to allow the US to weasel out of helping anyone if it is a peer enemy.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Nov 8 2022 22:23 utc | 81
Correct, without that get-out there was no way that Congress was going to accept an agreement that took the US to war without its say so or say no.

Posted by: JohninMK | Nov 8 2022 23:16 utc | 91

[43] And no, they were not try to storm Kiev.
The Russians got to the zoo inside the city of Kyiv.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1497385748680556548
Given that it seems they did try to storm Kyiv.
Posted by: Bill Smith | Nov 8 2022 23:16 utc | 90
If they wanted to storm Kiev, they would have done so.

Posted by: Saint Jimmy | Nov 8 2022 23:40 utc | 93

@john r moffett #69
Thanks for this comment
It is very much the same here in France
Chirac although popular continued most of Mitterrand’s bad policies. Then came Sarkozy and he buried what was left of De Gaulle’s legacy. He was followed by Hollande who continued the bad policies of his predecessors only making them worse. Now with Macron we have sunk half into the abyss of blind otanism and uninhibited corruption and cronyism. All this happened in bipartisan fashion as a way to fool the people.

Posted by: lahire | Nov 8 2022 23:59 utc | 95

Heh “general secretary” should be “secretary general” ..or should it when acting as a US stooge? 😛

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Nov 9 2022 0:05 utc | 97

Don Bacon @55–
Lavrov has refuted the many lies so many times he can do it in his sleep.
GreyRaven @64–
Nice to read your writing again. And thanks for your clarifying reply and excellent word choice.
Bill Smith @92–
The OP is correct. There was never any mention of territorial acquisition, but that can’t be assumed to mean there wouldn’t be any as you have done. What was stated was the Donbas oblasts would be “liberated” to the extent of their boundaries, which at the time did mean the acquisition of territory. The further need to denazify Ukraine has led to the further need to liberate the portions of historical Russia that were ceded to form the Ukraine SSR, which no one in the West at the time objected to, although many Russians did but were ignored as Putin has noted on several occasions. Many have said Ukraine was an “artificial” creation, and that’s true to an extent. Russia gave it life and now it’s altering its creation, or rather NATO’s forcing Russia to do that.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 9 2022 0:19 utc | 99