Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 16 2025 14:58 utc | 301
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I would expect men marked for death to fight like hell.
NATO soldiers and Mercs have nothing to lose in Kursk.
They will die eventually from lack of logistics.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 16 2025 15:03 utc | 303

@ Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 16 2025 14:58 utc | 301
Trump is melodramatic even a bit rediculous with a purpose – for example he is here calling attention to the reality the Ukraine and NATO are getting creamed. And the question would be: Does it make sense to continue with this hoorible mistake?

Posted by: jared | Mar 16 2025 15:10 utc | 305

@ aristodemos | Mar 16 2025 1:57 utc | 202
“Ironic humor in that highly addicted “war-gamers” in mama’s basement is simply piss-poor practice to accomplish minor levels of calisthenics. How can they create an army outta a bunch of softies?
The wet dreams of the financial elite’s dreams of extended empire featuring their U$$A designated attack-dog are kaput.”
Don’t worry, there’s a plan for that.
I believe the elite are well aware of all the failings you’ve just correctly mentioned. But that’s a feature, not a bug.
They are gambling on 2 key things;
1) While demographics and toughness have declined, this has resulted in a key segment of the population that is more likely to be compliant and less likely to revolt or undertake serious reforms. “Hey man, I’ve got my netflix and doordash on the way, chill out it’s not so bad” That kind of thing. The thought process here is that it’ll be easier to keep control, which above all is paramount for the way they think.
2) It doesn’t matter as they’ll be saved by the God From the Machine (queue foreboding sci-fi music) Seriously though, they are gambling on things such as
-Ubiquitous cheap but deadly (or deadly enough) drone swarms and other “smart” munitions. Whether remote controlled, semi or fully autonomous
-Space based weapons and ISR (better and more accurate space based ISR than they already possess today, which is pretty good)
-All of the above tied together in real-time with significant assistance or curation by AI or partial AI
That’s the gamble. That’s why Great Britain isn’t terribly concerned about the fact that they have more admirals than ships or their Armed forces are at an all time low. They’re gambling that warfare has changed enough that the war-gaming basement dwellers you mention could even be enticed into service from the comfort of their basements. No risk to them, in fact it’d probably be seen as a value add. Log-in, clock a few hours operating drones or other systems for your shift (less than 4 hours, don’t want to get carpal tunnel!) then enjoy your netflix and doordash, all without getting off the couch.
NOW with all of that said, do I agree with this dream of theirs?
Partially. There are real kernels of truth they’ve latched onto about the changing nature of warfare. Provided the underlying infrastructure of reliable communication, power grids etc doesn’t get wiped out or shut off (which is a big assumption) they may be onto something.

Posted by: Clown Shoes | Mar 16 2025 15:17 utc | 307

Posted by: William Gruff Mar 16 2025 13:19 utc #276
RE: malaise among a young workforce
<< The population was not in sync w/ the maximalist zero-sum hegemonic goals of Collective Biden, which set economic policy on a “Beat China” trajectory. Messaging like “invest in AI to beat China” or “invest in superconductor chips to beat China” or “learn to code to beat China” were not motivating to the populace. Moreover, throwing huge amounts of U.S. resources @ AI to “compete” w/ China looked like part of a domestic asset-stripping strategy. Anduril, a drone start-up that focuses on autonomous weapons systems, plans to build a $1bn hyperscale factory in Columbus, Ohio, which will eventually employ 4000 people and be capable of producing 50,000 drones per year by 2030. Note: 4000 employees by 2030. Collective Biden’s economic strategy was motivated by a desire to serve several different ends: fighting climate change, fighting China, rebuilding U.S. manufacturing, helping unions, balancing social injustice & addressing civic inequities, etc. Spending approved by Congress came w/ so many strings attached it was like playing a game of Jacob’s Ladder w/ all your fingers tied up in string. Trying to mobilize public money is labor intensive to the extent of being practically worthy. It saps momentum. Other spending was hobbled by admin actions making the products being subsidized unnecessarily more expensive—for instance, Collective Biden’s efforts to surge weaponry to Ukraine was reliant on working through favored contractors and other in-network supply chain movers & shakers, all of whom needed to dip their beaks before the weaponry could move. Additionally a percentage of the network had to include small businesses w/ women or BIPOC owners. Collective Biden created an unimplementable business plan. It meant the deliverables were undeliverable. It’s a wonder one Abrams even rolled out of the belly of a C-130 in Poland. Once an Abrams did, however, the European “partners” were ready to take a percentage for themselves: when you’re sitting on the hungry end of a government contract, everyone has to get fed. Ultimately, Collective Biden sat atop a hodgepodge of patched together manufacturing aims, none of them constituting a focused vision. Some of this resulted from lobbyists & donors contributing *strings attached* money to the DNC and Biden’s campaign which made obvious they would do so only if Collective Biden did their bidding. Biden was *for sale* << Now w/ DJT, we see the new admin hoping to re-industrialize. Elon Musk and David Sacks can guide matters immeasurably. In the State of the Union, DJT emphasized the need to build ships and to revitalize the domestic shipbuilding industry--which sounded inspiring indeed. However, he mentioned the number of ships China is now producing and noted the U.S.'s own numbers are one-fifth of China's. In other words, DJT is serving up Collective Biden's *incentive* for reindustrialization, as it were: We do so in the U.S. only to outcompete China or thwart China. (Like Collective Biden tried to do w/ coding, w/ superconductor chips and w/ AI.) Reindustrializing only as a means of countering a *China threat* is unmotivating to the populace. It's not unlike Germany's *problem* right now: recalibrating its auto industries to weapons production in order to counter an imagined *Russia threat* Are the youth excited by that-? Maybe they would as soon emigrate to a soon-to-be free & autonomous Greenland and seek their fortunes in a rough & ready land far from the need constantly to tilt @ imaginary *Russian* windmills. Stateside, my thought is that innovation must come from the ground up, from the people in the cities & the towns, not governmentally from the top-down where all the *strings-attached* decelerating regulations keep true innovation bogged down in bureaucracy.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 16 2025 15:30 utc | 309

the grand prize remains russias resources.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 16 2025 13:24 utc | 278
—
So you are told to believe.
The actual prize is the enslavement of civil society.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 16 2025 13:29 utc | 280
==============
I suspect you’re both right.

Posted by: malenkov | Mar 16 2025 15:50 utc | 311

Posted by: jared | Mar 16 2025 16:01 utc | 312
RE: nuance
<< VVP was saying in effect, "We're the top. The U.S. & Ukraine are the push-back bottom." So this is a nuanced throuple. Lukashenko, during the presser, must have been snickering up his sleeve.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 16 2025 18:25 utc | 313

Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 16 2025 15:18 utc | 308
Or it might convince Ukrainians that, if you have to choose between accepting 8.2 million immigrants and accepting Putin, joining Russia is the safer bet.

Posted by: Passerby | Mar 17 2025 9:45 utc | 315

We have heard these stories about NATO troops being captured by Russia many many times – hoping all the way back to Debaltseve a decade ago!!
Posted by: Julian | Mar 17 2025 12:21 utc | 316
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Russia does not apply the Geneva Conventions (correctly) to them.
Personnel from NATO countries sure have had a lot of climbing and hiking “accidents” during the SMO. 😂
None of that changes the fact that the US is recalcitrant to confront Russia, and the UK thinks 10,000 troops is a lot.
Remember, of those 10,000 less than half will be war-fighters.
10,000 Chechens could easily pacify the entire UK. 🤔

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 17 2025 13:12 utc | 317