Taiwan also looking like a much much harder target.
Ulrich said:
It seems like if Russia had finished the deal immediately without too much resistance, everyone was prepared to accept it. The longer Ukraine holds out and makes it clear that they really don't want this, the more governments around the world feel compelled to exert pressure on Russia.
Russia has broken the norms expected of modern nation states.
Seriously doubt chinese would overtake Taiwan by force...Yes, chinese have the firepower to overtake taiwan by force but broken taiwan is of no value to them... They know that and that is conumdrum that they can't solve.Agsuffering@bulaw said:
China was probably seriously contemplating invading Taiwan. Their demographic window is closing and they perceive the current administration as weak based on Afghanistan.
The present Russian debacle probably gives them a lot of pause. As I understand it, the Taiwanese are bad mfers with far better armaments than the Ukes. Plus, it would be amphibious as opposed to open plains.
That just means we are better insulated for the cold.Talon2DSO said:TH36 said:
I looked up plane tickets to get to Poland today, $1100 and I could be within a short drive of the Ukraine border. If I didn't have a wife and child, I might just do it. All I ever dreamed of when I was kid was being in the military but mine wouldn't take me cause I've got asthma. I bet they'd hand me a AK over there and welcome anyone with open arms willing to fight. I absolutely love these people. We've got to keep showing them how much the world loves them. I hope they somehow know that the whole world is stressed out over their situation hanging on with them. They will go down in history no matter what happens as putting up one of the greatest fights the world has ever seen.
Sorry if this is a derail. I can't tell y'all how much I appreciate y'all keeping this going. It's been a wealth of info for those of us who have no social media accounts of our own to dig some of this stuff up. I've been relying on YouTube live streams.
I've been dreaming to do this too. I was in the military and did my time and miss it. I finished my career at JSOC back in 2004. I'm too chubby these days but the desire is still there.
BREAKING: Russian helicopter shot down in Kyiv #UkraineUnderAttack #UkraineRussia #Ukraine #UkraineInvasion #Russia #Kyiv pic.twitter.com/RtuqNw1LeV
— Ukraine News (@WarNews121) February 27, 2022
There are Unconfirmed reports that Scattered Russian Forces to the West and East of Kyiv that have been cut off from Logistical Support because of what seems like a Poorly Planned Hail Marry push towards the Capitol, have begun to Surrender to Ukrainian Military Forces on mass.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2022
I may be able to, but that's not a battle I'm willing to wage tonight.Talon2DSO said:
I iike how you think. I don't fit into any of my uniforms. So that means I'm good to like -5 F
erudite said:
Russian "recon" seems to be so far, "Send a group of conscripts in an old BMP and see where they get blown up". Granted, that is exactly what happened in Chechnya war no 1 But you would think they learn?
Red Pear Realty said:There are Unconfirmed reports that Scattered Russian Forces to the West and East of Kyiv that have been cut off from Logistical Support because of what seems like a Poorly Planned Hail Marry push towards the Capitol, have begun to Surrender to Ukrainian Military Forces on mass.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2022
Seabreeze said:
Will be light soon in Ukraine, they still stand as free independent nation. For Russia, well it's Groundhog day... again..
Good catch. Guess we'll wait for the confirmation.Keegan99 said:
That tweet is from 6+ hours ago.
Ulysses90 said:erudite said:
Russian "recon" seems to be so far, "Send a group of conscripts in an old BMP and see where they get blown up". Granted, that is exactly what happened in Chechnya war no 1 But you would think they learn?
You made me recall an experience I had about 25 years ago when I was a student at the Field Artillery advanced course in 1997. I had a Ukrainian 1stLt in my small group named Igor. Igor he was a product of the Soviet era military system. He had been a cadet in the Soviet military academy but the dissolution of the USSR meant that he was in the Ukrainian Army.
I will never forget the discussion of a plan for a defense against a "Krasnovian" Motor Rifle Regiment on NTC terrain. The eight US officers were trying to see their defenses through the eyes of the enemy. Igor insisted that we were overthinking the problem and that our battle positions would be easily discovered by the Krasnovian advanced reconnaissance element which consisted of a platoon of tanks and BMPs and then would be pounded by artillery. The US officers disagreed because as we talked through Igor's description of how the ARC would approach it was obviously a suicide mission. Igor shrugged and said, "of course it is."
For a moment I wondered if Igor was just stupid and he was thinking the same about us. He explained that in an attack of this sort or a movement to contact, the lead battalion in a Russian MRR would not employ scouts in the way that a US Armored Cav troop would but instead would designate a platoon as the ARC. Igor said that before crossing the line of departure they would have a informal ceremony to pin the awards for valor on the soldiers comprising the ARC and perhaps toast the Motherland before moving out. That was because their chances of survival were expected to be low and their purpose was merely to draw fire from the defending force and expose the location of the battle positioned. If any of the members of the ARC were lucky enough to survive they would already be decorated which meant that they were exempt from consideration to be in the ARC for the next operation.
I don't remember our forces running out of fuel, abandoning their equipment, and looting places for food. I also do not remember us not having air superiority in a short period of time or trying to make air assaults where our C-17's were shot out of the sky. I think you are right on the outright points, but others of us are pointing out the weaknesses that they have shown over the last three days that our military would not have.RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.
redline248 said:
Some of these "breaking" tweets are hours old
JB!98 said:I don't remember our forces running out of fuel, abandoning their equipment, and looting places for food. I also do not remember us not having air superiority in a short period of time or trying to make air assaults where our C-17's were shot out of the sky. I think you are right on the outright points, but others of us are pointing out the weaknesses that they have shown over the last three days that our military would not have.RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.
Keegan99 said:
That tweet is from 6+ hours ago.
Yeah, I was talking about Iraq! Afghanistan is a entirely different animal!Whirligigs said:JB!98 said:I don't remember our forces running out of fuel, abandoning their equipment, and looting places for food. I also do not remember us not having air superiority in a short period of time or trying to make air assaults where our C-17's were shot out of the sky. I think you are right on the outright points, but others of us are pointing out the weaknesses that they have shown over the last three days that our military would not have.RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.
Oh we have abandoned equipment.
bonfarr said:Keegan99 said:
That tweet is from 6+ hours ago.
If it were true there would be images of surrendering Russkies all over the Internet by now
flashplayer said:Red Pear Realty said:There are Unconfirmed reports that Scattered Russian Forces to the West and East of Kyiv that have been cut off from Logistical Support because of what seems like a Poorly Planned Hail Marry push towards the Capitol, have begun to Surrender to Ukrainian Military Forces on mass.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2022
Ha, what a schaudenfraude if true. Please be true.
True, but stupid **** did happen. I didn't serve in the initial invasion. But I seem to remember a national guard unit getting lost, running out of ammo and surrendering. The whole Jessica Lynch incident was always taught as an example of what not to do. I have no ideal how the Russia military operates, but I feel like things are allot more "loose". It is surprising that they don't have full air superiority. Is that because of all the manpads? idk.JB!98 said:I don't remember our forces running out of fuel, abandoning their equipment, and looting places for food. I also do not remember us not having air superiority in a short period of time or trying to make air assaults where our C-17's were shot out of the sky. I think you are right on the outright points, but others of us are pointing out the weaknesses that they have shown over the last three days that our military would not have.RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.
Completely false comparison. Saddam Hussein had the 4th or 5th largest army in the planet. They were battle hardened after fighting Iran for years.Dan Scott said:
I was refreshing my memory on Iraq war and reminded it took 3 weeks to capture Baghdad. It wasn't until May when Bush declared mission accomplished. The war began in mid March.
Maybe we're being a little too harsh expecting Russia to capture Kyiv over a weekend.
This is how we started the war. We started stronger than Russia.
#Russian military leaders should think very carefully before following the orders they recently received #Putin is 2 years shy of the life expectancy of a Russian male
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 27, 2022
and you will spend the rest of your lives evading an international tribunal for committing his crimes
fixedRangerRick9211 said:
Rubio update.#Russian military leaders should think very carefully before following the orders they recently received #Putin is 2 years shy of the life expectancy of a Russian male
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 27, 2022
and you will spend the rest of your lives evading an international tribunal for committing his crimes
RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.
Keegan99 said:#Russian military leaders should think very carefully before following the orders they recently received #Putin is 2 years shy of the life expectancy of a Russian male
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 27, 2022
and you will spend the rest of your lives evading an international tribunal for committing his crimes
Well that's ominous as hell.
RedNeckGamer88 said:
I think allot of people are looking at this invasion completely wrong. Russia is trying to surround all the major cities and minimize civilian casualties. The 2003 Iraq war invasion took about a month. This was with the US blowing up power stations, destroying utilities and infrastructure. Also, the Ukraine much better military then Iraq. People in Iraq went without running water and power for more than a year in some cases. As far as I can tell, If Russia wanted to, they could level Kiev, and they could be cutting power and completely wrecking the place like we did in Iraq.
I am assuming that Russia will encircle all the civilian locations and starve them out and focus on directly taking over government infrastructure. They want to "capture" Ukraine and keep the place intact. Destroying the country does them no good.