Russia

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

I can't see why Russians would be upset about more members in the anti-Russia alliance. Makes no sense at all! :laugh:

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I know you're not this stupid. I hesitate to waste my time posting this, but what the hell! Okay, let's try this, again, why would there be the need for an "anti-Russian alliance" if Russia was not a hostile country with evil intentions? If Russia would clean house purging themselves of the Putinites et al and become a country just wanting to be a part of the world community, the so-called anti-Russian alliance would cease to have a reason to exist. You will note there is no "anti-Canada alliance." Because Canada is not an aggressor seeking to land grab from other nations.

This is akin to a criminal gang complaining the police have hired and are increasing patrols. Then you, Blue Dawg, identifying with the gangsters "why would the gangsters be upset...Makes no sense at all!" :icon_roll:

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Originally Posted by dawg80

I know you're not this stupid. I hesitate to waste my time posting this, but what the hell! Okay, let's try this, again, why would there be the need for an "anti-Russian alliance" if Russia was not a hostile country with evil intentions? If Russia would clean house purging themselves of the Putinites et al and become a country just wanting to be a part of the world community, the so-called anti-Russian alliance would cease to have a reason to exist. You will note there is no "anti-Canada alliance." Because Canada is not an aggressor seeking to land grab from other nations.

This is akin to a criminal gang complaining the police have hired and are increasing patrols. Then you, Blue Dawg, identifying with the gangsters "why would the gangsters be upset...Makes no sense at all!" :icon_roll:

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I understand that complex geopolitics is impossible for you to grasp, but I've tried to do my best. You have a deep seated ideological refusal to understand this complexity, which I admit baffles me.

I could even respect your rabidly anti-Russian position if you turned that lofty standard onto the nation that currently represents the greatest threat to your and my personal liberties.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

I understand that complex geopolitics is impossible for you to grasp, but I've tried to do my best. You have a deep seated ideological refusal to understand this complexity, which I admit baffles me.

I could even respect your rabidly anti-Russian position if you turned that lofty standard onto the nation that currently represents the greatest threat to your and my personal liberties.

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No, you don't understand anything. Putin's actions are not the result of some imaginary "complex geopolitical" situation that requires grasping. It is, in fact, so simple that the moron himself, and his inner circle of thugs, have repeatedly told the world exactly what motivates them and what they hope to achieve.

Let me see if I can personalize this for you. I publicly state: I am going to kill Blue Dawg, his family, and burn his house down. Rightfully alarmed, you notify the police. But the police tell you, well Blue Dawg, this is a complicated matter, let us see if we can explain it to you. I would think your reaction would be, Bullshit! seems pretty cut and dry to me and gawddam it, I'm going to defend myself. The police say, well don't do anything rash, you might find yourself in trouble with the law.

I admit this is a somewhat oversimplification of the situation, but it does cut to the chase. And to continue this scenario, I announce: after I kill Blue Dawg and burn his house down, I am going to do the same thing to his next door neighbor (Poland) and work my way through the whole neighborhood doing the same thing (eastern Europe). All of you get together to mount a common defense, to which I protest as a "provocation." How dare you wish to defend yourselves!!

"...the nation that currently represents the greatest threat to [our] personal liberties." That would be China. But, I have spoken out against them too.

Tough sledding the past 48 hours for the Ukran offensive. They have made a little progress, measured in meters, but mostly they have run up against main Russian defense lines and they will be a very tough nut to crack.

As a reminder, the Russians anticipated losing the war in open combat across most of Ukraine. That became very clear to them in the opening months of the war when Putin's 3-week plan crumbled, and his troops were slaughtered. So, hoping to retain Crimea and the three eastern provinces that makeup Donbas, Putin ordered the construction of defensive works. This began in earnest in May, 2022. Russia has a trenching machine, which I have seen video of, and it is quite remarkable, capable of building a trench that is 8 feet deep and 12 feet wide and can, depending on the soil and terrain, construct 100 meters/day or a tad more. Russia had as many as 14 of these machines, along with many dozens of regular excavators, bulldozers, etc...all working unmolested for a solid 10 months, and even since, but some of it recently under combat conditions. There are also reinforced concrete structures, bunkers, and off course the millions and millions of mines deployed. Russia has laid out their defensive works in layers with minefields in-between, and all supported by artillery and aerial support. All of this to say it is unrealistic to expect the Ukrans to just punch through these works in a short period of time.

Better news from Poland, the Polish president cleared the air about the grain dispute saying commerce officials from all the nations involved, which also includes Hungary and Slovakia in the deal, are working out details of an agreement and this has ZERO impact on Poland's military support of Ukraine.

Troops from Azerbaijan mistakenly ambushed the overall commander of the Russian "peacekeepers" in Karabakh. He was in a 3-vehicle convoy of unarmored SUVs. There was only one survivor of the 15 personnel. The president of Azerbaijan personally called Putin to apologize for the ooops!

Switzerland transferred 10 Leopard II tanks to Ukraine, Sweden sent more equipment and spare parts AND!!! announced a change in policy regarding their Griffen fighter jet, saying they are now strongly considering sending some to Ukraine. That would be huge and has long term benefits for Ukraine to be able to defend itself in the future.

Overnight the two sides exchanged missile and drone attacks. The Russians launched 43 cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities, 36 of them were shot down but 7 struck targets in several cities. It has been confirmed that only one of the seven was a military target, a warehouse of supplies and spare parts. The other six hit civilian targets including a hotel where 24 injuries have been reported, no reports of deaths...yet. Typical of the Putinites carrying out terrorist attacks. The 36 shot-down missiles were heading toward cities where there is very little military facilities.

The Ukrans, on the other hand, launched their single biggest attack yet, all aimed at military targets, namely army, navy bases, airfields, and military HQ complexes, on either Crimea or at the coastal city of Melitopol. The Ukrans sent 36 Storm Shadow cruise missiles and exactly 100 drones in the attacks. Best sources, which includes Russian army sources, say only 19 drones were shot down and there is no report of any intercept of the cruise missiles; although most pundits speculate there must have been some. So far, the Russians have admitted to and confirmed the deaths of 64 soldiers, including the commanding officer of the 58th Army Group, a high-ranking general, killed in his HQ along with 24 other officers/personnel. The Ukrans mostly targeted defensive positions and radar stations in Crimea, knocking out anti-aircraft missile batteries and their controlling radars. One batch of drones struck the navy base at Sevastopol, but reports say the Russians had already mostly abandoned that base, so no ships were struck last night, just buildings, the docks, and a warehouse.

Crimea has become untenable for the Russians. The Ukrans have the means to strike any and all facilities and structures on the occupied island. It is called a peninsula, but there is a body of water separating it from the mainland, so it is technically an island. Russian civilians are all but gone and the remaining military personnel hunker down in bunkers fearful of drone and missile attacks. Just give it up Putin, it's a matter of time anyway.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

"...the nation that currently represents the greatest threat to [our] personal liberties." That would be China. But, I have spoken out against them too.

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Nope, try again.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Nope, try again.

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Can't be the good ole US of A...not Canada or Mexico, wait! that's it, Mexico! of course, they have launched an invasion and are killing thousands of Americans daily with their drugs. Then, very cleverly, they orchestrated the spread of their invading force across the nation and at our expense too. Yep, we must call out the military, while there is still time, and declare war on these illegal foreign invaders and on Mexico itself.

Biden has agreed to sell long-range missiles to Ukraine. This will be a game-changer. Now the Ukrans can really take it to Russia, and while I think it is unfortunate, they can start targeting Russian civilians too, just like Putin has been doing for 18+ months. Give the Russian people a real taste of this war and see how they like it. Again, I do not favor targeting civilians, but Putin has given the Ukrans little choice. Besides, this is nothing new to war. Sherman did it on his "march to the sea," we did it against both the German and Japanese populations, as did every other nation in that war and in other wars.

Actually, I fully expect the Ukrans to refrain from deliberate targeting of civilian targets because 1) it is just wrong, and 2) more pragmatically, they will have a limited number of such missiles and must put them to the best use, and that is attacking Russian military targets and infrastructure. If they can they need to destroy that new T-80 tank factory.

Breaking news, just released. The Ukran 82nd Assault Brigade has penetrated the main Russian defense line near Verboze with armored vehicles. This is huge and if they can sustain this breakthrough the whole Russian defense in that area will collapse. For the past week+ the Ukrans had gotten through the main line with infantry, small bands of special forces, but up to now any vehicle approaching the line was stalled by the deep trench and dragon teeth obstacles, and then they were targeted by Russian artillery and/or aerial attacks. There is not much in the way of details, hopefully more information will be forthcoming. The early report says it was Stryker armored vehicles, not tanks, 8-wheeled, fast moving assault vehicles. But if they got through so can tanks.

You may recall that about 2 weeks ago Ukran infantry penetrated all the way through all the Russian defenses into the streets of Verboze, but they lacked sufficient numbers and had to quickly withdraw in the face of a large Russian counterattack. The Ukrans fell back a 1/2 mile and dug in. This Stryker penetration may prove to be something similar, and it cannot be sustained at this time. But, it is encouraging that they got through the main defense line showing it can be done. We shall see.

Speaking of tanks, the Abrams have arrived in Ukraine. Much excitement on the good guys' YouTube channels. This also coincides with the breakthrough near Verboze and of course there is all kinds of speculation about the Abrams tanks leading the charge through the gap. I don't think so, or at least, not yet. Also, there is nothing magical about these tanks. They are not invincible, they can be knocked out of action and besides, the Ukrans have had limited training in them thus far, and it may be prudent to wait before deploying the Abrams, with Ukran crews, in actual combat. One thing is certain, Putin will attempt to make a PR statement by concentrating everything they got against the Abrams tanks, just to "prove" there is nothing special about the American tank. If this happens, it will prove the quality of the Abrams tanks because I can guarantee the Russians are going to find this is no ordinary tank and it will take a lot to destroy one. So, after they fire a gazilion shells, attack them with fighter-bombers, and are able to knockout/damage a few Abrams...they'll look silly. Naturally the Putin propagandists will lie, like they always do, but the truth comes out. Ukraine has lost one Challenger II tank, and have had 7 Leopard IIs knocked out/damaged. Only two are considered total losses. But, the Putinites were publishing nonsense like "65 Leopard tanks destroyed in Ukraine." Neat trick since at that time only 16 Leopards were in Ukraine.

Find this interesting and very revealing. Official Russian sources are saying the recent attack on Crimea was done with the Ukran converted SU-200 missiles, not the British-built Storm Shadow cruise missile. Why does this matter? Well, months ago the Russkies beat their chests and issued a warning to retaliate directly against any nation supplying weapons to Ukraine that are then used to attack Russia itself. The Putinites specifically threatened Britian since they had supplied the cruise missiles to Ukran. Russia claims Crimea as their own sovereign territory, so an attack there meets their definition. And now that it has happened Russia doesn't want its bluff called because they know they lack the means to "punish" Britian and even if they did something, that would be an attack on a NATO member and invite retaliation on a scale they can't handle. So, to save face, they make a false claim. Except...

Partisans operating in Crimea videoed the missile attacks on Crimea, and they clearly, without a doubt, show those were British Shadow Storm cruise missiles. They even sent a snapshot of a Storm Shadow about to the hit the Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol. The partisans broadcast these images/videos out all over the Internet with mocking comments about the chicken-chit Russians, now afraid to back up their tough talk. There has been no official reaction from Britian, yet, but I have to think they are like, ah, shut up please, no need to poke the bear and cause a response.

British concerns about a retaliation aside, I think the fact the Russians tried to distort the truth (which they do a lot of) to avoid having to attack Britian speaks volumes about the state of affairs. The Putinites know they are nothing but a paper tiger, barely holding on to power and losing the war in Ukraine. Provoking NATO would result in Russia being crushed like an empty aluminum can.

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Originally Posted by dawg80

Can't be the good ole US of A...not Canada or Mexico, wait! that's it, Mexico! of course, they have launched an invasion and are killing thousands of Americans daily with their drugs. Then, very cleverly, they orchestrated the spread of their invading force across the nation and at our expense too. Yep, we must call out the military, while there is still time, and declare war on these illegal foreign invaders and on Mexico itself.

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Mexico can come put you in jail for owning firearms? Mexico controls the military which is abetting the invasion (no argument about the invasion from me)? Mexico takes your tax money and gives it to the undeserving and entitled? Mexico can bring their deep state to punish you for violating sexual degenerate dogma? Wow, their statecraft sure has increased.

I am curious, and I know it's foolish of me to propose a hypothetical conditional: would your opinion of Ukraine's chances change at all were it to become obvious to you that the leaked numbers of Ukrainian KIA were in fact closer to 500k to a Russian <100k?

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Mexico can come put you in jail for owning firearms? Mexico controls the military which is abetting the invasion (no argument about the invasion from me)? Mexico takes your tax money and gives it to the undeserving and entitled? Mexico can bring their deep state to punish you for violating sexual degenerate dogma? Wow, their statecraft sure has increased.

I am curious, and I know it's foolish of me to propose a hypothetical conditional: would your opinion of Ukraine's chances change at all were it to become obvious to you that the leaked numbers of Ukrainian KIA were in fact closer to 500k to a Russian <100k?

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I'm beginning to think you are saying the good ole US of A represents the biggest threat to our liberties. Surely not! :shocked2:

As for numbers like this, if true, then that is EVERY reason for NATO to stop pussyfooting around and declare war on Putin. And why does it change things from a moral standpoint as to our involvement in supplying Ukraine weapons? What is your point, the bad guys, the evil invaders are winning and therefore we should side with them!? Only, the evil invaders are not winning. And yes, it is a shame, no that is not a strong enough term, it's horrific, it's pure disgusting evil that even ONE Ukrainian died as a result of Putin's blatant UNPROVOKED aggression.

Ukraine's chances? Hmmm...interesting concept to harp on. Good thing ER personnel don't adopt your view of the world, eh. Some accident victim is brought in, and the doctor says, well, his chances are not very good, just shove him aside and let him die over there. I could go on giving real-world examples, but I think you get the point.

Thats what I expected, thanks.

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Originally Posted by Blue Dawg

Thats what I expected, thanks.

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What you expected was your boy Putin to walk over Ukraine in less than a month, and ever since that didn't happen you've been pretending to be concerned about Ukrainian losses. Why? Why, when you don't give a shit about Ukraine or Ukrainians. Now, the Putinites are losing and will lose just as long as the west continues to support/supply Ukraine and for whatever sick reasons you have, that upsets you. Get used to it. Putin is losing and is going to lose and soon he'll be removed from power by the Russian people, and I hope they hang him by his heels like Benito Mussolini ended up.