But that’s when the plan ran straight off the rails. The first difficulty was that most of the world’s nations didn’t cooperate with the sanctions. Some, such as Iran and China, that are hostile to the US saw the situation as an opportunity to extend a middle finger to their enemies. Others, such as India and Brazil that are non-aligned powers, saw the situation as a chance to demonstrate their independence. Still other nations wanted Russian oil and grain and weren’t willing to forgo them, so they acted in accordance with their interests rather than ours.
Yet there was another difficulty with the sanctions’ efficacy. Do you remember all those big corporations that loudly announced that they were leaving the Russian market? They couldn’t take their outlets and infrastructure with them, and so the Russians simply rebranded those and kept going. A soft-drink bottling company partially owned by Coca-Cola, for example, now produces something called Dobry-Cola in Russia. It tastes very similar to Coca-Cola, and it’s in a very slightly different red can. The crucial point is that the profits from sales of Dobry-Cola and similar products and services aren’t flowing out to stockholders in the US, they’re staying in Russia, where they’ve given a timely boost to the Russian economy. This presumably wasn’t what US and Nato elites had in mind.
But the worst news for Nato came from the battlefields. What happened there has an odd personal dimension for me. Some years ago I wrote an essay, “Asymmetric tactical shock: a first reconnaissance”, about what happens when an army becomes too dependent on complex technologies and its enemies figure out how to monkey-wrench those. The example I used came from the end of the Bronze Age, but the lesson applies more broadly: the monkey-wrenched army faces total disaster unless it does something most people these days can’t even conceive of doing. My essay circulated quietly among people interested in such things, and I have no reason to think that anybody in the Russian General Staff pays the least attention to obscure American fringe intellectuals like me. Yet the fact remains that when the Ukrainians monkey-wrenched the Russian version of Blitzkrieg, the Russians did exactly what I suggested an army in that situation should do: they fell back on an older form of warfare that wasn’t vulnerable to the monkey-wrenching tactics.
This is why the Russians abandoned their deep thrusts into Ukrainian territory, retreated from vulnerable areas around Kharkiv and Kherson, launched a mass-mobilisation of troops and a major expansion of their already large munitions industry, and got to work building entrenched defensive lines to guard the territory they had seized. Meanwhile, the Russian government strengthened ties with Iran and North Korea — two nations that have large munitions industries autonomous from Western technology and capital.
That is to say, since the new Ukrainian tactics made it impossible for the Russians to refight the Second World War, the Russians switched to First World War tactics. The defensive lines and urban strongholds on which the Ukrainians relied to defeat Russian tank columns didn’t provide anything like the same defence against massed Russian artillery bombardment. While the Russian Army was retooling for the new (or rather old) mode of war, mercenary units — Wagner PMC most famously, but there were others — took over the brunt of the fighting, tested out First World War tactics against entrenched Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, and won.
This put Ukraine and its Nato backers into a very difficult position. In First World War-style combat, the winner is the side with the largest munitions industry and the biggest pool of recruits to draw on. Russia has a huge advantage on both counts. First, Nato countries no longer have a political consensus supporting mass military conscription, while Russia does. Second, while the US and its allies dismantled most of their munitions factories at the end of the Cold War, Russia did not, and it also has those good friends in Tehran and Pyongyang. All these give the Russians an edge the Nato nations can’t match in the near term.
This wasn’t a message that Nato was willing to hear. To a very real extent, it was a message they weren’t capable of hearing. It’s been 70 years — since the end of the Korean War — since the United States and its allies last fought a land war against a major power. The entire Nato officer corps got its training and experience in an era when they had overwhelming superiority over their enemies, and they have no idea how to fight without it. (Even then — Afghanistan comes to mind — they aren’t too good at winning.) That’s when Stormtrooper Syndrome really came into play, because it never occurred to Nato that Ukraine could lose — defined as they were as the war’s Good People.
And so the elites in Washington, Brussels, and Kyiv convinced themselves that the Russians couldn’t possibly ramp up their munitions industry to a pitch that would permit them to carry on trench warfare for years at a time. (Remember all those confident reports that insisted the Russians were about to run out of shells and rockets?) They told themselves that the Russians were using mercenaries because their army was too demoralised and brittle to stand up to the rigours of combat. They drew up plans for a grand Ukrainian offensive to turn the tide of the war, and funnelled more arms to Ukraine..
The counteroffensive began on 4 June. Two months on, it is clear that it has failed. A successful assault against fortified positions in modern war requires a three-to-one advantage in soldiers on that region of the battlefield, a large advantage in artillery, and air superiority. Ukraine has none of these things, and somehow or other no eucatastrophe showed up to save the day.
The Russo-Ukraine war isn’t over yet, and the fortunes of war may yet favour the Ukrainian side — though this looks very improbable just now. Meanwhile, history is not waiting around for the details to be settled. Towards the end of last month, the heads of state of 40 African nations gathered in St. Petersburg to sign agreements giving Russia a leading position in the economic and military affairs of the world’s second largest continent, while Russia’s defence minister was in North Korea negotiating further arms deals. It seems the Russians know better than to wait for miracles to save them from the consequences of their own actions.
None of this is to say that the mess in Ukraine is the only way that Stormtrooper Syndrome has shaped recent history; it’s just the most obvious example right now. It was because of Stormtrooper Syndrome, for instance, that so many people suffered nervous breakdowns when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, their reaction amounting to: “He’s a Bad Person, he’s not supposed to win!”. Afterwards, the same factor also kept them from wondering why so many disillusioned voters were willing to settle for Trump, of all people, as an alternative. Nor, to be fair, is Stormtrooper Syndrome in short supply on the Right, where shrill moral dualism is far more common than thoughtful discussion about how to deal constructively with the cascading crises overwhelming America today.
Really, it’s hard to name anything in contemporary Western life that hasn’t been twisted bizarrely out of shape by the efforts of our privileged classes to pretend to be the heroes of their own Star Wars sequels. Yet the lesson being whispered by the winds from Ukraine is that nobody and nothing else is required to play along. That lesson may end up costing a great many people bitterly in the not too distant future.
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SubscribeThis is why I love reading and watching things about history. It keeps you grounded because every time someone says something will happen or cannot happen, you remember another time when under similar circumstances the opposite occurred. The thing that annoys me the most about this Star Wars/Marvel Movie/Harry Potter view of the world is how it removes complexity. Motivations, geopolitics, warfare, economics, systems, they are all reduced to bland plot devices instead of the complex forces of our world. Side note, when was the last time you saw modern sci-fi/fantasy anything conflict where things like logistics or even basic tactics came into play? My current antidote to being surrounded by this garbage has been TimeGhost’s World War II Week by Week. If you want, I would suggest checking out their Between Two Wars. It is probably the best history program I have ever seen.
I agree. Though history does not provide a crystal ball, it can give one a degree of detachment and perspective, a sense for the odds, a useful nose for BS and a cynical awareness of the complexity behind the simplistic public moralising. One recent UnHerd essay concluded that the Ukrainian War was “just that simple”; it rarely is.
To be fair, if western public discussion of foreign policy tends to be cast in moralising terms, US policy makers privately tend to frame their thinking more with hard nosed “realism” albeit blended with hubris. If the realist school rests on other simplifications, it does at least provide a balance. Actual US policy lurches in between.
Which strand predominates may determine how the new Cold War plays out. I suspect it will be resolved primarily by alliance building and diplomatic manoeuvring and not military clashes. The Chinese prefer Go to Chess. For the West to “contain” China, it will need to ally not only with the liberal democracies but with regimes that currently are often seen in the West as morally unacceptable. To defend freedom we will have to make friends with tyrants – and other imperfect individuals – just as Churchill allied with Stalin to defeat Hitler. If one side can win over Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, India, Russia, etc it may checkmate the other without a shot being fired (or not many). At the end of the day, it will be better for the West to have MBS, Erdogan, Khamenei, Modi and even Putin – or their successors – inside the tent p*ssing out and not outside p*ssing in even if this causes many in the West to choke on their cornflakes.
That arch-Realist, John Mearsheimer spoke in Budapest a couple of months ago.
He made the point that the obvious course of action for a hegemon to stall the rise of a potential peer was to make nice with the strongest of the non-hegemons – ie the US, to forestall China, make nice with Russia.
For whatever reason, the US did the exact opposite, encouraging all the way, the rise of the Dragon Bear.
Inexplicable, hubristic, dangerous.
Anyway, as this excellent essay says, real life doesn’t care about morals.
“Rules are for children. This is war, and in war the only war crime is to lose.”
Ingenious.
Allying with Japan while they were destroying China and taking Indochina would have been even smarter.
Meersheimer is a genius!
Japan and Germany were the equivalent of China today.
And the US did ally with Russia, even though the regime was very unpalatable, much more so than Putin.
I’d say about equally unpalatable.
Putin is already well on his way to full-blown Stalinism. And it can only get worse as national paranoia increases, just as in Stalin’s time.
The difference between now & WW2, of course, is that we only allied with Stalin when we ourselves were forced into the war.
And of course, allying with him subjected Eastern Europe to Stalinism.
Not worth the price now.
Can you say how ‘you’ were “forced into WW2”? Is it like ‘you’ were forced into the war in Ukraine? Surely nobody “forced” you into either of those wars.. you chose to do so?
I don’t know why you decided that in Russia, something similar to Stalinism. Putin’s ratings are higher than ever. Those who talk about a “terrible bloody regime” would at best gain 3% in the most honest and transparent elections. Yes, and most of them left the Russian Federation in 2022. They are just very noisy. And that’s what Western propaganda loves to publish. But for the majority of Russians they are perceived as traitors, which they
Can you say how ‘you’ were “forced into WW2”? Is it like ‘you’ were forced into the war in Ukraine? Surely nobody “forced” you into either of those wars.. you chose to do so?
I don’t know why you decided that in Russia, something similar to Stalinism. Putin’s ratings are higher than ever. Those who talk about a “terrible bloody regime” would at best gain 3% in the most honest and transparent elections. Yes, and most of them left the Russian Federation in 2022. They are just very noisy. And that’s what Western propaganda loves to publish. But for the majority of Russians they are perceived as traitors, which they
The US only allied with Russia after they were attacked by the Axis.
And the alliance was a disaster for all of Eastern Europe, and for the world. The Cold War lasted for decades, and cost untold amounts of money for all sides.
We must never make the mistake of allying with a Fascist nation like Russia again..
Surely it was AFTER WW2 and after the alliance, that the problems arose? The allying itself bought nothing but good, ie the defeat of monstrous N¤z¡ Germany?? ..a feat brought about largely BY that same Russia? A little twisting of history is okay I guess to push a propagandist view but you go too far. To say Russia today is fascist suggests your fig leaf is slipping!
Surely it was AFTER WW2 and after the alliance, that the problems arose? The allying itself bought nothing but good, ie the defeat of monstrous N¤z¡ Germany?? ..a feat brought about largely BY that same Russia? A little twisting of history is okay I guess to push a propagandist view but you go too far. To say Russia today is fascist suggests your fig leaf is slipping!
You say “Japan and Germany were the equivalent of China today” ..I hope you mean economically rather than in militaristic, expansionist and exploitative terms? In that regard, those two greedy, vicious regimes were far closer to the US of today? One only has to count the no. of invasions, bombings, coups, assassinations, resource thefts and the estimated 8 million dead over the last 30 years to see that!
The US might have launched a few wars if aggression and imo are the guilty party in Ukraine, where they instigated the war.
But they are still a much better proposition than WW2 Germany or Japan and today’s China .
For instance, they could not stomach open torture and massacres of civilians in the same scale and as openly.
The US might have launched a few wars if aggression and imo are the guilty party in Ukraine, where they instigated the war.
But they are still a much better proposition than WW2 Germany or Japan and today’s China .
For instance, they could not stomach open torture and massacres of civilians in the same scale and as openly.
I’d say about equally unpalatable.
Putin is already well on his way to full-blown Stalinism. And it can only get worse as national paranoia increases, just as in Stalin’s time.
The difference between now & WW2, of course, is that we only allied with Stalin when we ourselves were forced into the war.
And of course, allying with him subjected Eastern Europe to Stalinism.
Not worth the price now.
The US only allied with Russia after they were attacked by the Axis.
And the alliance was a disaster for all of Eastern Europe, and for the world. The Cold War lasted for decades, and cost untold amounts of money for all sides.
We must never make the mistake of allying with a Fascist nation like Russia again..
You say “Japan and Germany were the equivalent of China today” ..I hope you mean economically rather than in militaristic, expansionist and exploitative terms? In that regard, those two greedy, vicious regimes were far closer to the US of today? One only has to count the no. of invasions, bombings, coups, assassinations, resource thefts and the estimated 8 million dead over the last 30 years to see that!
Japan and Germany were the equivalent of China today.
And the US did ally with Russia, even though the regime was very unpalatable, much more so than Putin.
By what measure is Russia the strongest non-hegemon? Surely India fits the bill far more neatly. I was overly-pessimistic of Russia’s capabilities before the war. Not any more. Russian military power (the only thing giving it first-rank status) has been shown to be a sham. Ukraine was a poor country even by the standards of the region with a 3rd rate military and Russia had almost beem forced to concede all the territory it had attempted to take at th start of the war.
It is indeed a “Potemkin military”. That’s what decades of corruption and promoting yes men does for you.
I think you may be roughly 12 months out of date on your facts. Granted your swallowing of Western propaganda is bang on up to date!
It should be understood that the Russian Federation uses only a small part of its military power. Limited to only one wave of mobilization. Doesn’t even involve conscripts, only contract soldiers. It does not transfer its economy to a military footing, while maintaining the 5th place in the world in terms of GDP according to PPP, and this is all under the sanctions. How long do you think the Indian economy would have lasted under the same conditions?
At the same time, Ukraine, catching future drivers of leopards on the streets, brought the size of its armed forces to 1 million. and is fully maintained by Western countries. I doubt that India, and indeed any other country, would have looked better.
It is indeed a “Potemkin military”. That’s what decades of corruption and promoting yes men does for you.
I think you may be roughly 12 months out of date on your facts. Granted your swallowing of Western propaganda is bang on up to date!
It should be understood that the Russian Federation uses only a small part of its military power. Limited to only one wave of mobilization. Doesn’t even involve conscripts, only contract soldiers. It does not transfer its economy to a military footing, while maintaining the 5th place in the world in terms of GDP according to PPP, and this is all under the sanctions. How long do you think the Indian economy would have lasted under the same conditions?
At the same time, Ukraine, catching future drivers of leopards on the streets, brought the size of its armed forces to 1 million. and is fully maintained by Western countries. I doubt that India, and indeed any other country, would have looked better.
John Mearsheimer may well self-identify as a “realist”, but he’s nothing other than a deluded fantasist. His opinions and understanding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict have not changed at all over the past two years. Clear evidence that he has learnt nothing at all and has an essentially closed mind.
If this (war) is realism then it’s a very poor reflection on the human species.. some of us think there really is another way.
Ingenious.
Allying with Japan while they were destroying China and taking Indochina would have been even smarter.
Meersheimer is a genius!
By what measure is Russia the strongest non-hegemon? Surely India fits the bill far more neatly. I was overly-pessimistic of Russia’s capabilities before the war. Not any more. Russian military power (the only thing giving it first-rank status) has been shown to be a sham. Ukraine was a poor country even by the standards of the region with a 3rd rate military and Russia had almost beem forced to concede all the territory it had attempted to take at th start of the war.
John Mearsheimer may well self-identify as a “realist”, but he’s nothing other than a deluded fantasist. His opinions and understanding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict have not changed at all over the past two years. Clear evidence that he has learnt nothing at all and has an essentially closed mind.
If this (war) is realism then it’s a very poor reflection on the human species.. some of us think there really is another way.
The cynic in me would hope that Western officials’ apparent Stormtrooper Syndrome is just a facade to keep the credulous public onside while MICIMATT makes a killing out of this conflict. Everything they say lends credence to this thesis, it seems to me.
Is Ukraine doing well on the battlefield? Send more weapon!
Is Ukraine doing badly on the battlefield? Send more weapons!
Ker-ching!
It’s hard to know for sure, but what I think they hoped for was Russia to try to occupy far more of the pro-Western Ukrainian regions, and Ukrainian partisans – who’d been training in Guerilla tactics for the previous 8 years with various Western special forces types – would drive a long dagger into Russia’s side for years.
Instead, after it was clear that Ukraine wasn’t just going to collapse, and BoJo stymied the peace agreement – Russia withdrew to the more politically ambivalent (or even friendly) Eastern regions, and now Ukraine is throwing vast numbers of men (and quantities of kerchng! materiel) into a meatgrinder attempting to seize back “their” territory.
It’s hard to see how this ends well for the West. It’s certainly been an utter disaster for the average Ukrainian.
Most voters who support their politicians sending aid to Ukraine would cheerfully admit that they know those same politicians don’t really care about the citizens in their own country, but somehow swallow the notion these same “leaders” care deeply about Ukrainians’ “freedom” and “democracy”.
If the results weren’t so utterly monstrous it would be quite funny.
The battel cry of the Russian troll.
“Stop sending weapons to Ukraine!”
Spot on! Await the accusations of being a Russian Troll.. oops there’s one! ..and who better than the single-minded, drunk on propaganda ML.
I gather that first, you don’t live in the Ukraine, and second, for consistency ‘s sake, you wouldn’t object should Russia take a major slice of where you live.
In contrast to your thesis that the arms industry drives foreign policy, I’ve seen in the US a rapid contraction of that industry since the end of the last Cold War. It has been diminished to the point that supplying Ukraine with munitions has been a stretch, raising legitimate fears of a disastrous failure if it comes to war with China.
While doubtless, the remainder of the industry is not loath to sell and profit, I place the basis for the orders on China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Plausible threats require a plausible response.
If I were living Ukraine, I’d prefer to be ruled by Moscow than Kiev, yes. Crimeans have done well since 2014 (and have a look at the median household income of Russians vs Ukrainians).
As for the idea that there’s been a rapid contraction in US arms funding since the cold war, even if that’s true, they still spend almost as much as the rest of the world put together, and their lobbyists have a vise-like grip on both Houses of Congress.
The fact they’re finding it hard to supply Ukraine with munitions is more of a reflection of Western corruption and incompetence, I suspect, than lack of funding.
If I were living Ukraine, I’d prefer to be ruled by Moscow than Kiev, yes. Crimeans have done well since 2014 (and have a look at the median household income of Russians vs Ukrainians).
As for the idea that there’s been a rapid contraction in US arms funding since the cold war, even if that’s true, they still spend almost as much as the rest of the world put together, and their lobbyists have a vise-like grip on both Houses of Congress.
The fact they’re finding it hard to supply Ukraine with munitions is more of a reflection of Western corruption and incompetence, I suspect, than lack of funding.
The battel cry of the Russian troll.
“Stop sending weapons to Ukraine!”
Spot on! Await the accusations of being a Russian Troll.. oops there’s one! ..and who better than the single-minded, drunk on propaganda ML.
I gather that first, you don’t live in the Ukraine, and second, for consistency ‘s sake, you wouldn’t object should Russia take a major slice of where you live.
In contrast to your thesis that the arms industry drives foreign policy, I’ve seen in the US a rapid contraction of that industry since the end of the last Cold War. It has been diminished to the point that supplying Ukraine with munitions has been a stretch, raising legitimate fears of a disastrous failure if it comes to war with China.
While doubtless, the remainder of the industry is not loath to sell and profit, I place the basis for the orders on China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Plausible threats require a plausible response.
I suspect Russia, or what’s left of it, will eventually be in the alliance.
It only gained Khabarovsk and other areas from China in the mid-19th C.
Eventually Xi is gong to want it back.
Delusion..
Delusion..
Surely (at the risk of being simplistic!) if you set out the scores on exploitation, invasions, bombings, assassinations, coups, theft of resources etc. one side looks at lot more dangerous, more exploitative, more murderous – in short, more evil – than the other; though, to be fair, it’s easier to see that if you’re non-White, non-Christian, resource rich etc. So, why the great fear of Reds under the bed?
That arch-Realist, John Mearsheimer spoke in Budapest a couple of months ago.
He made the point that the obvious course of action for a hegemon to stall the rise of a potential peer was to make nice with the strongest of the non-hegemons – ie the US, to forestall China, make nice with Russia.
For whatever reason, the US did the exact opposite, encouraging all the way, the rise of the Dragon Bear.
Inexplicable, hubristic, dangerous.
Anyway, as this excellent essay says, real life doesn’t care about morals.
“Rules are for children. This is war, and in war the only war crime is to lose.”
The cynic in me would hope that Western officials’ apparent Stormtrooper Syndrome is just a facade to keep the credulous public onside while MICIMATT makes a killing out of this conflict. Everything they say lends credence to this thesis, it seems to me.
Is Ukraine doing well on the battlefield? Send more weapon!
Is Ukraine doing badly on the battlefield? Send more weapons!
Ker-ching!
It’s hard to know for sure, but what I think they hoped for was Russia to try to occupy far more of the pro-Western Ukrainian regions, and Ukrainian partisans – who’d been training in Guerilla tactics for the previous 8 years with various Western special forces types – would drive a long dagger into Russia’s side for years.
Instead, after it was clear that Ukraine wasn’t just going to collapse, and BoJo stymied the peace agreement – Russia withdrew to the more politically ambivalent (or even friendly) Eastern regions, and now Ukraine is throwing vast numbers of men (and quantities of kerchng! materiel) into a meatgrinder attempting to seize back “their” territory.
It’s hard to see how this ends well for the West. It’s certainly been an utter disaster for the average Ukrainian.
Most voters who support their politicians sending aid to Ukraine would cheerfully admit that they know those same politicians don’t really care about the citizens in their own country, but somehow swallow the notion these same “leaders” care deeply about Ukrainians’ “freedom” and “democracy”.
If the results weren’t so utterly monstrous it would be quite funny.
I suspect Russia, or what’s left of it, will eventually be in the alliance.
It only gained Khabarovsk and other areas from China in the mid-19th C.
Eventually Xi is gong to want it back.
Surely (at the risk of being simplistic!) if you set out the scores on exploitation, invasions, bombings, assassinations, coups, theft of resources etc. one side looks at lot more dangerous, more exploitative, more murderous – in short, more evil – than the other; though, to be fair, it’s easier to see that if you’re non-White, non-Christian, resource rich etc. So, why the great fear of Reds under the bed?
TimeGhost is indeed a fantastic channel. All the best history is on YouTube now.
I agree. Though history does not provide a crystal ball, it can give one a degree of detachment and perspective, a sense for the odds, a useful nose for BS and a cynical awareness of the complexity behind the simplistic public moralising. One recent UnHerd essay concluded that the Ukrainian War was “just that simple”; it rarely is.
To be fair, if western public discussion of foreign policy tends to be cast in moralising terms, US policy makers privately tend to frame their thinking more with hard nosed “realism” albeit blended with hubris. If the realist school rests on other simplifications, it does at least provide a balance. Actual US policy lurches in between.
Which strand predominates may determine how the new Cold War plays out. I suspect it will be resolved primarily by alliance building and diplomatic manoeuvring and not military clashes. The Chinese prefer Go to Chess. For the West to “contain” China, it will need to ally not only with the liberal democracies but with regimes that currently are often seen in the West as morally unacceptable. To defend freedom we will have to make friends with tyrants – and other imperfect individuals – just as Churchill allied with Stalin to defeat Hitler. If one side can win over Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, India, Russia, etc it may checkmate the other without a shot being fired (or not many). At the end of the day, it will be better for the West to have MBS, Erdogan, Khamenei, Modi and even Putin – or their successors – inside the tent p*ssing out and not outside p*ssing in even if this causes many in the West to choke on their cornflakes.
TimeGhost is indeed a fantastic channel. All the best history is on YouTube now.
This is why I love reading and watching things about history. It keeps you grounded because every time someone says something will happen or cannot happen, you remember another time when under similar circumstances the opposite occurred. The thing that annoys me the most about this Star Wars/Marvel Movie/Harry Potter view of the world is how it removes complexity. Motivations, geopolitics, warfare, economics, systems, they are all reduced to bland plot devices instead of the complex forces of our world. Side note, when was the last time you saw modern sci-fi/fantasy anything conflict where things like logistics or even basic tactics came into play? My current antidote to being surrounded by this garbage has been TimeGhost’s World War II Week by Week. If you want, I would suggest checking out their Between Two Wars. It is probably the best history program I have ever seen.
Ukraine is only the latest in the long list of countries completely wrecked by American interference in its affairs. I hope Taiwan can avoid becoming the next country in America’s trail of destruction.
The Phillipines, Haiti, the Central American Banana Republics (literally – see Dulles and his stake in the United Fruit Company) Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and, now, steadily, Germany too. The same cartel that runs US foreign policy now seems to be directing German Federal Republic domestic policy and they do not like popular dissent.
IOW, “stop sending weapons to Ukraine!”
I would stop digging now if I were you.. you’re giving naivety a bad name!
I would stop digging now if I were you.. you’re giving naivety a bad name!
IOW, “stop sending weapons to Ukraine!”
Oh, you see right through them!
By defending Ukraine they are actually invading them!
The US isn’t defending Ukraine. The US is using Ukraine in its geopolitical power games and Zelenksy has allowed his country to be used, and consequently destroyed. But he isn’t the first and I doubt he’ll be the last.
And Ukraine isn’t using the US and Europe in its “power games” to remain independent?
Sorry, the weapons will keep coming, if not from the US, from Europe.
Just too frightened by Russia not to.
Frightened by Russia? Why? ..because they defeated fascism? ..and are doing so again? What is it about fascism you find so appealing? What is it about NATOs agression, illegal invasions, bombings and assassinations you find to attractive? Reds under the bed is it?
You need to read more history. Russia was just fine with fascism; Stalin’s methods were much like Hitler’s, except on steroids, with bigger numbers. The two dictators also had a Mutual Admiration Society. You prattle as if you’d never heard of Stalin’s non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany that enabled WWII to erupt; as his henchman Molotov said when asked about fascism, that was just “a matter of taste.”
You need to read more history. Russia was just fine with fascism; Stalin’s methods were much like Hitler’s, except on steroids, with bigger numbers. The two dictators also had a Mutual Admiration Society. You prattle as if you’d never heard of Stalin’s non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany that enabled WWII to erupt; as his henchman Molotov said when asked about fascism, that was just “a matter of taste.”
Frightened by Russia? Why? ..because they defeated fascism? ..and are doing so again? What is it about fascism you find so appealing? What is it about NATOs agression, illegal invasions, bombings and assassinations you find to attractive? Reds under the bed is it?
And Ukraine isn’t using the US and Europe in its “power games” to remain independent?
Sorry, the weapons will keep coming, if not from the US, from Europe.
Just too frightened by Russia not to.
For once you (nearly) got the hang of it! Blackrock and the other vultures are already salivating at the prospect..
The US isn’t defending Ukraine. The US is using Ukraine in its geopolitical power games and Zelenksy has allowed his country to be used, and consequently destroyed. But he isn’t the first and I doubt he’ll be the last.
For once you (nearly) got the hang of it! Blackrock and the other vultures are already salivating at the prospect..
I rather thought it was Russian shells that were wrecking Ukraine.
Trying to join an aggressive anti-Russian military alliance and allowing itself to be used as a US proxy against Russia is what is wrecking Ukraine.
You’re correct but you forget the Azov battalion had an 8 year run at destroying the Donbas (Ukraine) with a death toll of 14,000 before the Russians invaded. Had NATO not encroached Eastwards, threatened Russia and orchestrated the Maidan coup NONE of this would have occurred! Not one life lost, not one building damaged..
Trying to join an aggressive anti-Russian military alliance and allowing itself to be used as a US proxy against Russia is what is wrecking Ukraine.
You’re correct but you forget the Azov battalion had an 8 year run at destroying the Donbas (Ukraine) with a death toll of 14,000 before the Russians invaded. Had NATO not encroached Eastwards, threatened Russia and orchestrated the Maidan coup NONE of this would have occurred! Not one life lost, not one building damaged..
And Russia interferes in no one else’s affairs, right? Russia is a minor regional power. Ultimately might will defeat Russia,, and might is with the west. It just so happens to be right also, fortunately.
What happened to might in Afghanistan when it ran from the place with its tail in between its legs?
Uh, we didn’t “run with our tail between our legs.”
Just a Russian troll meme.
We foolishly withdrew all troops and support, and then had to go back in to evacuate people from Kabul.
Delusional. Utterly delusional.
No, not the comic book version.. the reality!
Delusional. Utterly delusional.
No, not the comic book version.. the reality!
Uh, we didn’t “run with our tail between our legs.”
Just a Russian troll meme.
We foolishly withdrew all troops and support, and then had to go back in to evacuate people from Kabul.
Tell that to your average Vietnamese, Afghan, Iraqi, Syrian, Libyan or anyone from Central or South America and see if they agree with you! The might of the West is in serious decline not least the US, UK and EU: all bankrupt, or almost; all with major unrest and lawlessness.. a cold winter and a “hot” rebellion is what the West is looking forward to.. I’m not happy about it. I live in the West. But we only have ourselves to blame, our colonialism, exploitation, warmongering and greed is finally catching up with us. We sowed the grapes of wrath and are about to reap the whirlwind in the form BRICS through our windows thanks yo our wicked past!
What happened to might in Afghanistan when it ran from the place with its tail in between its legs?
Tell that to your average Vietnamese, Afghan, Iraqi, Syrian, Libyan or anyone from Central or South America and see if they agree with you! The might of the West is in serious decline not least the US, UK and EU: all bankrupt, or almost; all with major unrest and lawlessness.. a cold winter and a “hot” rebellion is what the West is looking forward to.. I’m not happy about it. I live in the West. But we only have ourselves to blame, our colonialism, exploitation, warmongering and greed is finally catching up with us. We sowed the grapes of wrath and are about to reap the whirlwind in the form BRICS through our windows thanks yo our wicked past!
Maybe Ukrainians who remember the holodomor have a different opinion then you do.
“One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.”
I dont think Id want to go back there?
Oh, quite a few Russians do!
The Ukraine was as much a part of the USSR as Russia at the time, and the Holodomor was supervised by… Ukrainians.
Stalin was Georgian, let’s not forget.
In the same period, there was a famine in the Volga region and in the Kuban. So the Holodomor is what unites Russians and Ukrainians.
Oh, quite a few Russians do!
The Ukraine was as much a part of the USSR as Russia at the time, and the Holodomor was supervised by… Ukrainians.
Stalin was Georgian, let’s not forget.
In the same period, there was a famine in the Volga region and in the Kuban. So the Holodomor is what unites Russians and Ukrainians.
For sure! Who needs enemies when you’ve got the US for a friend!
The Phillipines, Haiti, the Central American Banana Republics (literally – see Dulles and his stake in the United Fruit Company) Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and, now, steadily, Germany too. The same cartel that runs US foreign policy now seems to be directing German Federal Republic domestic policy and they do not like popular dissent.
Oh, you see right through them!
By defending Ukraine they are actually invading them!
I rather thought it was Russian shells that were wrecking Ukraine.
And Russia interferes in no one else’s affairs, right? Russia is a minor regional power. Ultimately might will defeat Russia,, and might is with the west. It just so happens to be right also, fortunately.
Maybe Ukrainians who remember the holodomor have a different opinion then you do.
“One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.”
I dont think Id want to go back there?
For sure! Who needs enemies when you’ve got the US for a friend!
Ukraine is only the latest in the long list of countries completely wrecked by American interference in its affairs. I hope Taiwan can avoid becoming the next country in America’s trail of destruction.
I was disabused of the notion that the Bad Guys didn’t succeed in my mid-teens when Chelsea started winning trophies.
Thanks for making the point of the article, even better, albeit jokingly with football.
The “good guys” in your story are Arsenal and ManU. Two teams whose owners bought third rate teams, bought their way to the top, often by buying out the best players from rivals (in case of ManU, City’s title winning team. Also gained an unfair advantage thanks to their owners building fancy new stadiums.
In Arsenal’s case, famously, in a different part of London, shoving in on Spurs territory. And then they managed to take Spurs place in the top league as well, despite finishing behind them, because they were so “nice”.
And then they banded together to form the EPL, and squeezed all the money flowing in.
And then they put in place FFP, meant purely to protect their cartel..
Makes the US foreign policymakers look like saints in comparison.
Fair enough, except City didn’t have a title winning team, they had won the FA Cup (beating a certain Woolwich Arsenal on the way to that victory) but only finished as runners up in the League.
Fair enough, except City didn’t have a title winning team, they had won the FA Cup (beating a certain Woolwich Arsenal on the way to that victory) but only finished as runners up in the League.
Thanks for making the point of the article, even better, albeit jokingly with football.
The “good guys” in your story are Arsenal and ManU. Two teams whose owners bought third rate teams, bought their way to the top, often by buying out the best players from rivals (in case of ManU, City’s title winning team. Also gained an unfair advantage thanks to their owners building fancy new stadiums.
In Arsenal’s case, famously, in a different part of London, shoving in on Spurs territory. And then they managed to take Spurs place in the top league as well, despite finishing behind them, because they were so “nice”.
And then they banded together to form the EPL, and squeezed all the money flowing in.
And then they put in place FFP, meant purely to protect their cartel..
Makes the US foreign policymakers look like saints in comparison.
I was disabused of the notion that the Bad Guys didn’t succeed in my mid-teens when Chelsea started winning trophies.
The article does not expose the common thread to Ukraine and most all the other trouble spots in the World. No mention of the USA hegemonic Neo-Cons! There in fact is nor “Russo-Ukraine” war going on. There is a USA Neo-Con instigated proxy war. The Neo-Cons intend to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. These Neo-Cons are despicable human beings.
Either:
1) Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Right on both counts, for once. Stop sending weapons to the Ukraine.
Is there any way we can stop your childish, simplistic, blind-to-the-facts and really silly remarks? Btw do you have shares in the weapons industry and are you desperate to make a killing on those shares?
Right on both counts, for once. Stop sending weapons to the Ukraine.
Is there any way we can stop your childish, simplistic, blind-to-the-facts and really silly remarks? Btw do you have shares in the weapons industry and are you desperate to make a killing on those shares?
Neo-cons didn’t invade Ukraine.
Agree. Their list of countries is much longer.
Agree. Their list of countries is much longer.
Either:
1) Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Neo-cons didn’t invade Ukraine.
The article does not expose the common thread to Ukraine and most all the other trouble spots in the World. No mention of the USA hegemonic Neo-Cons! There in fact is nor “Russo-Ukraine” war going on. There is a USA Neo-Con instigated proxy war. The Neo-Cons intend to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. These Neo-Cons are despicable human beings.
How many times have you watched a movie in which the hero is beaten to a pulp by his more powerful evil opponent, only for the good guy to get up off the floor and destroy the villain, presumably because of, what, his moral goodness? This can’t but have a subconscious effect on the minds of most who identify as being moral.
Oh, yes, I’m sure they watch those movies in the pentagon all the time.
Forget the Pentagon. I am speaking of SJWs and self-styled “good people”. They must have developed, from watching dozens, if not hundreds, of movies like this the subconscious belief that the good will, somehow, always win.
Oh, yes “musta…”
Oh, yes “musta…”
Forget the Pentagon. I am speaking of SJWs and self-styled “good people”. They must have developed, from watching dozens, if not hundreds, of movies like this the subconscious belief that the good will, somehow, always win.
No, the idea is, you succeed when you get off the mat.
Oh, yes, I’m sure they watch those movies in the pentagon all the time.
No, the idea is, you succeed when you get off the mat.
How many times have you watched a movie in which the hero is beaten to a pulp by his more powerful evil opponent, only for the good guy to get up off the floor and destroy the villain, presumably because of, what, his moral goodness? This can’t but have a subconscious effect on the minds of most who identify as being moral.
Edward Luttwak wrote a far more authoritative article recently without the flim flam and pseudo-philosophising, However, his conclusion was similar: trench warfare is now the order of the day because neither side has the means for blitzkrieg, Another frozen conflict look all too likely.
Edward Luttwak wrote a far more authoritative article recently without the flim flam and pseudo-philosophising, However, his conclusion was similar: trench warfare is now the order of the day because neither side has the means for blitzkrieg, Another frozen conflict look all too likely.
Thin argument. Blitzkrieg was never as described. Much of WW2 was about attrition and air/ artillery superiority, rather than fast and vast tank advances. Ukraine has been a mixed bag from the start but i never sensed any “Ukraine is bound to win because theyre good” feel from the West. Far from it, germany and france as usual were trying to prevent serious reinforcing of Ukraine’s military (still are) and Biden has had to be led kicking and screaming in to promising then delivering weapons, always behind the actual curve.
Lebanon 2006 is a long time ago and Israeli and western military thinking has advanced a long way since then. in fact Lebanon was no different to early experiences in ramadi and falujah, and the US developed very effective and innovative responses – pile through/ bypass defences, set up in the heart of enemy territory and let them come to you while artillery and air support hammers them, cut off their supplies, etc. The israeli combined arms approach with integrated battlefield engineers and highly specialised engineer armoured vehicles, has spread into western thinking and the US urban combat doctrine developers especially. all of this is something that Russia isnt equipped to cope with. Western air superiority would annihilate the under trained under resourced Russian airforce, incapable as it is of large scale combined operations of the sort the yanks excel at.
I really dont see the point to the article. Russia hasnt got the capacity to move on the western powers, even backed by the mighty Iran. It never did, but now theyve wasted 100K+ soldiers and shedloads of equipment, they certainly never will.
And fiction is fiction. its a bit sh*t if the bad guys win. we all grow up a bit quicker than the author seems to assume.
‘Thin argument. Blitzkrieg was never as described.’
Tell that to Lord Gort, Heinz Guderian and Hasso von Manteuffel. It certainly was in 1940.
The actual term ‘Blitzkrieg’ is usually accredited to The Daily Mail, but obviously NOT the concept, as you so rightly say.
Just as in 1916 with the tank, the initial use of any new weapon or technique can yield great results.
But if the opponent has time to adapt and use the same tactic or weapon, it’s rarely a game changer in a long war.
The other guys ate in 1940, you’re back in 1916! ..any chance of you dodos making it into the 21st century?
The other guys ate in 1940, you’re back in 1916! ..any chance of you dodos making it into the 21st century?
The actual term ‘Blitzkrieg’ is usually accredited to The Daily Mail, but obviously NOT the concept, as you so rightly say.
Just as in 1916 with the tank, the initial use of any new weapon or technique can yield great results.
But if the opponent has time to adapt and use the same tactic or weapon, it’s rarely a game changer in a long war.
Good post, thanks for avoiding the ad hominems and sticking to a critique based on current military doctrine.
‘Thin argument. Blitzkrieg was never as described.’
Tell that to Lord Gort, Heinz Guderian and Hasso von Manteuffel. It certainly was in 1940.
Good post, thanks for avoiding the ad hominems and sticking to a critique based on current military doctrine.
Thin argument. Blitzkrieg was never as described. Much of WW2 was about attrition and air/ artillery superiority, rather than fast and vast tank advances. Ukraine has been a mixed bag from the start but i never sensed any “Ukraine is bound to win because theyre good” feel from the West. Far from it, germany and france as usual were trying to prevent serious reinforcing of Ukraine’s military (still are) and Biden has had to be led kicking and screaming in to promising then delivering weapons, always behind the actual curve.
Lebanon 2006 is a long time ago and Israeli and western military thinking has advanced a long way since then. in fact Lebanon was no different to early experiences in ramadi and falujah, and the US developed very effective and innovative responses – pile through/ bypass defences, set up in the heart of enemy territory and let them come to you while artillery and air support hammers them, cut off their supplies, etc. The israeli combined arms approach with integrated battlefield engineers and highly specialised engineer armoured vehicles, has spread into western thinking and the US urban combat doctrine developers especially. all of this is something that Russia isnt equipped to cope with. Western air superiority would annihilate the under trained under resourced Russian airforce, incapable as it is of large scale combined operations of the sort the yanks excel at.
I really dont see the point to the article. Russia hasnt got the capacity to move on the western powers, even backed by the mighty Iran. It never did, but now theyve wasted 100K+ soldiers and shedloads of equipment, they certainly never will.
And fiction is fiction. its a bit sh*t if the bad guys win. we all grow up a bit quicker than the author seems to assume.
I enjoyed this article because it does highlight the magical thinking that seems to have overtaken society. As long as you start with the premise that you are one of the good guys then everything you do is justified and an improvement. High inflation, uncontrolled immigration, people camping in the streets, random acts of murder? No problem – we mean well – we are the good guys – so our policies are good as well. The opposition has its own tool – the magical pendulum that always swings back. Governments and Big Tech creating a censorship society – no problem the pendulum will swing back. Little children being taught to hate our society in public schools – no problem the pendulum will swing back. Just like ‘we are the good guys’ the magic pendulum removes any obligation for you to do anything to improve your society – fight for your freedoms – or even care about what is happening.
I enjoyed this article because it does highlight the magical thinking that seems to have overtaken society. As long as you start with the premise that you are one of the good guys then everything you do is justified and an improvement. High inflation, uncontrolled immigration, people camping in the streets, random acts of murder? No problem – we mean well – we are the good guys – so our policies are good as well. The opposition has its own tool – the magical pendulum that always swings back. Governments and Big Tech creating a censorship society – no problem the pendulum will swing back. Little children being taught to hate our society in public schools – no problem the pendulum will swing back. Just like ‘we are the good guys’ the magic pendulum removes any obligation for you to do anything to improve your society – fight for your freedoms – or even care about what is happening.
Excellent, an article that actually is realistic and counters the rah rah propaganda that the Western politicians, in concert, with the propaganda sites, er Media, have been spewing since the beginning of the war. It is not only the politicians, who are probably the most inept folks the world has ever known, but the “elites” who have brought this suffering to both Ukraine and Russia. They are getting their Butts handed to them, again, by Putin. Also, MONEY has been particularly effective in the continuance, as the Military/Industrial complex is alive and well and making a ton of money, as are the countries Russia is buying munitions from as well as forming new relationships. This is not going to end well for the “good guys”.
Excellent, an article that actually is realistic and counters the rah rah propaganda that the Western politicians, in concert, with the propaganda sites, er Media, have been spewing since the beginning of the war. It is not only the politicians, who are probably the most inept folks the world has ever known, but the “elites” who have brought this suffering to both Ukraine and Russia. They are getting their Butts handed to them, again, by Putin. Also, MONEY has been particularly effective in the continuance, as the Military/Industrial complex is alive and well and making a ton of money, as are the countries Russia is buying munitions from as well as forming new relationships. This is not going to end well for the “good guys”.
I think there are a number of people in the American military and its accompanying industrial complex who actually do not suffer from the delusional syndrome the author mentions. Unlike in Europe, the US has an abundance of people with actual experience in warfare. Seeing actual combat and being around people who have tends to disillusion the most idealistic soul. They can and certainly do make mistakes, but they have a firm grip on the realities of warfare. America’s recent actions towards China have been sensible, if belated, and leadership has actually moved toward closer alliances with India, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, etc. The CHIPS act and some of the targeted sanctions against China make me believe somebody in Washington actually still knows what they’re doing. The Stormtrooper syndrome the author describes is far more prevalent among the other factions that compose America’s ruling class, the corporate board rooms of big tech, who seem to think every human failing can be abrogated by one of their gadgets or algorithms, academia, who sit in judgement of western civilization and pronounce truth with moral certitude, quite safe within their ivory towers from most of the practical consequences of their foolish ideals, and the political class, mostly old money aristocrats, the product of generations of lesser sons of greater fathers who are either deluded by the empty promises of utopian globalism, seduced by the anti-western progressive doctrines of academia, or both, or just hopelessly incompetent. When 3/4 of any ruling class are delusional, incompetent, or both, that’s not good, but it’s better than 4/4. I find myself in the awkward position of being a libertarian but feeling more positive about America’s military leaders and military establishment than any of its civilian ones.
What is beyond doubt is that the percentage of the ruling class who are “delusional, incompetent or both” is far higher in Russia than the US right now. The US isn’t perfect, but it is at least possible to remove the “delusional, incompetent or both” and promotion is sometimes based on competence and integrity rather than simply loyalty.
I’m not sure that the share of the ruling class who are “delusional, incompetent or both” actually is higher in Russia than the US. If you read Farida Rustamova’s enlightening column, “”Now we’re going to f*ck them all”, lot of the people in the Kremlin were doing major face-palms after Putin’s brain embolism.
I’m not sure that the share of the ruling class who are “delusional, incompetent or both” actually is higher in Russia than the US. If you read Farida Rustamova’s enlightening column, “”Now we’re going to f*ck them all”, lot of the people in the Kremlin were doing major face-palms after Putin’s brain embolism.
Hear, hear – very well put.
The military does though have a lot of David Hackworth’s ‘Perfumed Princes’, though – all the leaders who are currently pushing woke stupidity. (I am reminded of the diplomats in the US Embassy in Kabul, who were flying ‘pride’ flags 2 months before the whole thing collapsed.)
What is beyond doubt is that the percentage of the ruling class who are “delusional, incompetent or both” is far higher in Russia than the US right now. The US isn’t perfect, but it is at least possible to remove the “delusional, incompetent or both” and promotion is sometimes based on competence and integrity rather than simply loyalty.
Hear, hear – very well put.
The military does though have a lot of David Hackworth’s ‘Perfumed Princes’, though – all the leaders who are currently pushing woke stupidity. (I am reminded of the diplomats in the US Embassy in Kabul, who were flying ‘pride’ flags 2 months before the whole thing collapsed.)
I think there are a number of people in the American military and its accompanying industrial complex who actually do not suffer from the delusional syndrome the author mentions. Unlike in Europe, the US has an abundance of people with actual experience in warfare. Seeing actual combat and being around people who have tends to disillusion the most idealistic soul. They can and certainly do make mistakes, but they have a firm grip on the realities of warfare. America’s recent actions towards China have been sensible, if belated, and leadership has actually moved toward closer alliances with India, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, etc. The CHIPS act and some of the targeted sanctions against China make me believe somebody in Washington actually still knows what they’re doing. The Stormtrooper syndrome the author describes is far more prevalent among the other factions that compose America’s ruling class, the corporate board rooms of big tech, who seem to think every human failing can be abrogated by one of their gadgets or algorithms, academia, who sit in judgement of western civilization and pronounce truth with moral certitude, quite safe within their ivory towers from most of the practical consequences of their foolish ideals, and the political class, mostly old money aristocrats, the product of generations of lesser sons of greater fathers who are either deluded by the empty promises of utopian globalism, seduced by the anti-western progressive doctrines of academia, or both, or just hopelessly incompetent. When 3/4 of any ruling class are delusional, incompetent, or both, that’s not good, but it’s better than 4/4. I find myself in the awkward position of being a libertarian but feeling more positive about America’s military leaders and military establishment than any of its civilian ones.
The argument goes back hundreds of years. But the current evil actors are the USA and Russia, who are both willing to destroy Ukraine rather than lose face. The likely result will be a Korea-like armistice, and the world divided into two inimical blocs for a hundred years, to the sorrow of both. I doubt the Eastern bloc will be the Pariah, as Mr Biden seems to expect.
Dunno.
The Ruble just hit 100 to the dollar, so the price of a “double tap” is going way up.
All those washing machines and computers Russia has to buy for the chips inside are now much more expensive. You can’t build Russian missiles any other way.
So killing civilans, and then civilian rescue workers, is going to cost Russia a lot more.
Hope you can find room in your heart for poor Mister Putin…
Problem is, they’re still running a current account surplus whilst the US and UK continue to accrue debt upon debt, and now the behaviour of the west is leading a tidal wave of de-dollarisation, at which point things may (economically, hopefully not militarily) start getting very real very fast.
That’s because Russia can’t accrue debt–particularly with a ruble at 1.01 to the dollar…and falling.
Russia’s bad credit rating in the Russo-Japanese War was what forced Nikolai II to sue for peace.
Same here.
The “tidal wave of de-dollarisation” exists only in your imagination. It’s not happening and not going to happen.
The reason that the US and UK can accumulate large debts is that they are trusted to repay them and not to default. Unlike Russia.
That’s because Russia can’t accrue debt–particularly with a ruble at 1.01 to the dollar…and falling.
Russia’s bad credit rating in the Russo-Japanese War was what forced Nikolai II to sue for peace.
Same here.
The “tidal wave of de-dollarisation” exists only in your imagination. It’s not happening and not going to happen.
The reason that the US and UK can accumulate large debts is that they are trusted to repay them and not to default. Unlike Russia.
The Russians are winning
Oh, laddie, you got it all covered…
Oh, laddie, you got it all covered…
Russia has its own chip fabs.
And although they may not have the latest 4nm tech, what they produce is good enough for their missiles and other weaponry.
This is why, despite endless predictions of them running out of xyz… they haven’t.
As for killing civilians, so far the Russians have shown far greater concern for collateral damage than NATO does when it goes to war. Arestovich recently had to resign as Zelenskyy’s advisor after he admitted that apartment blocks were being hit by Ukraine’s own AA weapons that were failing to hit incoming Russian ordnance aimed at military targets.
This is the equivqlent of Hitler’s Blitz in 1944: too little too late.
All eight missiles today were shot down.
And we’ve never seen attacks of 50-100 missiles, as we saw in Kyiv since the winter.
And the Ukrainians just keep nibbling away at a line held by clueless conscripts and a few shell-shocked veterans.
And still Putin refuses to mobilize.
The End of Russia.
“Ukrainians just keep nibbling away at a line held by clueless conscripts and a few shell-shocked veterans.”
Dear God.
Alternate reality.
That’s what the mobiks say before they run or die.
Alternate reality.
That’s what the mobiks say before they run or die.
Of all the utter nonsense you’ve banged into your keyboard today, this is the utterest.
“Ukrainians just keep nibbling away at a line held by clueless conscripts and a few shell-shocked veterans.”
Dear God.
Of all the utter nonsense you’ve banged into your keyboard today, this is the utterest.
You must be seeing a different war than I do. If Russian missiles are indeed, as you claim, only aimed at Ukrainian military installations then it would seem that restricting their access to chips is working as they don’t seem to be capable of hotting them, only apartment blocks – must be those washing machine chips being attracted to other washing machine chips.
So they’re running out of the chips necessary to guide missiles, but are wasting their diminishing stock of missiles on apartment blocks?
So they’re running out of the chips necessary to guide missiles, but are wasting their diminishing stock of missiles on apartment blocks?
How come you find western + chinese produced chips in russian grenades and rockets .
Because they have stocks of them to use up?
Because they have stocks of them to use up?
I’ve worked in the semiconductor (chip) industry all my career and what you claim here is complete rubbish. Russia has no meaningful domestic chip industry and no meaningful capability to meet its military chip supply needs. I suggest you do more research before posting such obvious nonsense.
This is the equivqlent of Hitler’s Blitz in 1944: too little too late.
All eight missiles today were shot down.
And we’ve never seen attacks of 50-100 missiles, as we saw in Kyiv since the winter.
And the Ukrainians just keep nibbling away at a line held by clueless conscripts and a few shell-shocked veterans.
And still Putin refuses to mobilize.
The End of Russia.
You must be seeing a different war than I do. If Russian missiles are indeed, as you claim, only aimed at Ukrainian military installations then it would seem that restricting their access to chips is working as they don’t seem to be capable of hotting them, only apartment blocks – must be those washing machine chips being attracted to other washing machine chips.
How come you find western + chinese produced chips in russian grenades and rockets .
I’ve worked in the semiconductor (chip) industry all my career and what you claim here is complete rubbish. Russia has no meaningful domestic chip industry and no meaningful capability to meet its military chip supply needs. I suggest you do more research before posting such obvious nonsense.
Problem is, they’re still running a current account surplus whilst the US and UK continue to accrue debt upon debt, and now the behaviour of the west is leading a tidal wave of de-dollarisation, at which point things may (economically, hopefully not militarily) start getting very real very fast.
The Russians are winning
Russia has its own chip fabs.
And although they may not have the latest 4nm tech, what they produce is good enough for their missiles and other weaponry.
This is why, despite endless predictions of them running out of xyz… they haven’t.
As for killing civilians, so far the Russians have shown far greater concern for collateral damage than NATO does when it goes to war. Arestovich recently had to resign as Zelenskyy’s advisor after he admitted that apartment blocks were being hit by Ukraine’s own AA weapons that were failing to hit incoming Russian ordnance aimed at military targets.
There are 30 countries in NATO. What makes you think Biden is dictating how NATO countries respond to Putin’s invasion of their European neighbour when the US is 5,000 miles away ? We absolutely are not led by American strategy.
Hypnotism, obviously.
Hypnotism, obviously.
Dunno.
The Ruble just hit 100 to the dollar, so the price of a “double tap” is going way up.
All those washing machines and computers Russia has to buy for the chips inside are now much more expensive. You can’t build Russian missiles any other way.
So killing civilans, and then civilian rescue workers, is going to cost Russia a lot more.
Hope you can find room in your heart for poor Mister Putin…
There are 30 countries in NATO. What makes you think Biden is dictating how NATO countries respond to Putin’s invasion of their European neighbour when the US is 5,000 miles away ? We absolutely are not led by American strategy.
The argument goes back hundreds of years. But the current evil actors are the USA and Russia, who are both willing to destroy Ukraine rather than lose face. The likely result will be a Korea-like armistice, and the world divided into two inimical blocs for a hundred years, to the sorrow of both. I doubt the Eastern bloc will be the Pariah, as Mr Biden seems to expect.
I take exception to the use of Tolkien as an example. He may have wrote about, “eucatastrophe” and sundry, but its clear from the books that there is no silver bullet. Frodo, and his ilk, need to pay the price to give themselves a chance to win.
And its clear from history, if you keep on giving yourself a chance too win, sooner or later you will achieve your best result.
Currently in the Ukraine, that means everybody loses.
That is a good point. In the books Saruman went to the Shire and intentionally wrecked it so it was a mess when they got home.
Indeed, despite the deus ex machina of the eagles saving the protagonist physically in both books, each is changed forever by the experience and by the one ring, and not for the better. In LOTR, by the time the eagles showed up, the ring was already destroyed and the greater war decided, regardless of whether the people fighting at the Black Gate, or indeed Frodo and Sam, survived the experience. Frodo survived, but in a spiritually broken state. I’ve always thought Tolkien did that because he wanted Sam to get his happy ending knowing Frodo couldn’t and wouldn’t, regardless of whether he lived or died on Mount Doom. Much of Tolkien’s work was metaphorical, with the one ring being a metaphor for how power corrupts even the purest soul regardless of how good their intentions.
Indeed, despite the deus ex machina of the eagles saving the protagonist physically in both books, each is changed forever by the experience and by the one ring, and not for the better. In LOTR, by the time the eagles showed up, the ring was already destroyed and the greater war decided, regardless of whether the people fighting at the Black Gate, or indeed Frodo and Sam, survived the experience. Frodo survived, but in a spiritually broken state. I’ve always thought Tolkien did that because he wanted Sam to get his happy ending knowing Frodo couldn’t and wouldn’t, regardless of whether he lived or died on Mount Doom. Much of Tolkien’s work was metaphorical, with the one ring being a metaphor for how power corrupts even the purest soul regardless of how good their intentions.
That is a good point. In the books Saruman went to the Shire and intentionally wrecked it so it was a mess when they got home.
I take exception to the use of Tolkien as an example. He may have wrote about, “eucatastrophe” and sundry, but its clear from the books that there is no silver bullet. Frodo, and his ilk, need to pay the price to give themselves a chance to win.
And its clear from history, if you keep on giving yourself a chance too win, sooner or later you will achieve your best result.
Currently in the Ukraine, that means everybody loses.
I don’t think the American ‘Good Guys Always Win’ worldview comes from Star Wars. In fact, it’s the other way around.
I recall, growing up in Texas in the 1950s, having the very definite belief that America always won all of its wars, because we were the Good Guys. (which I framed as “God was on our side,” until at the age of 14 I became an atheist without changing my views on our wars.)
After all … we won the Revolution, (we’ll pass over the War of 1812), we got back the land which Mexico had wrongly taken when it should have been ours, we beat the Southern Secessionists, we beat the Spanish and were rewarded with exotic territories and peoples to civilize, we saved the French/British bacon in WWI, we defeated Pure Evil in WWII (with a wee bit of help from the Russians), we fought our previous Allies — now suddenly become Pure Evil themselves — at least to a draw in Korea …. so surely Vietnam would go the same way …
Okay, by then, I had changed my views, as many of my generation/social layer did under the impact of events in the American South, things like My Lai in Vietnam, growing knowledge about our Latin American client states and their Death Squads … but despite Vietnam most Americans still saw their country — rightly — as the bulwark of liberal democracy in the world, still the Good Guys who (almost) always win. Hollywood worked both sides of the street, not only giving us the Star Wars series, but also The Deerhunter, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket.
Note that the latter films are about actual Americans, whereas Star Wars is set in some distant future.
On another topic: Greer’s weird religious views are indeed anomalous, when compared with his sophisticated writing about world events. He should have believed in some normal religion, where angels impregnate women who give birth to a god-human who can rise from the dead … and we can drink his blood when we drink wine which has been subjected to a special magic ceremony …something rational, like that.
I don’t think the American ‘Good Guys Always Win’ worldview comes from Star Wars. In fact, it’s the other way around.
I recall, growing up in Texas in the 1950s, having the very definite belief that America always won all of its wars, because we were the Good Guys. (which I framed as “God was on our side,” until at the age of 14 I became an atheist without changing my views on our wars.)
After all … we won the Revolution, (we’ll pass over the War of 1812), we got back the land which Mexico had wrongly taken when it should have been ours, we beat the Southern Secessionists, we beat the Spanish and were rewarded with exotic territories and peoples to civilize, we saved the French/British bacon in WWI, we defeated Pure Evil in WWII (with a wee bit of help from the Russians), we fought our previous Allies — now suddenly become Pure Evil themselves — at least to a draw in Korea …. so surely Vietnam would go the same way …
Okay, by then, I had changed my views, as many of my generation/social layer did under the impact of events in the American South, things like My Lai in Vietnam, growing knowledge about our Latin American client states and their Death Squads … but despite Vietnam most Americans still saw their country — rightly — as the bulwark of liberal democracy in the world, still the Good Guys who (almost) always win. Hollywood worked both sides of the street, not only giving us the Star Wars series, but also The Deerhunter, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket.
Note that the latter films are about actual Americans, whereas Star Wars is set in some distant future.
On another topic: Greer’s weird religious views are indeed anomalous, when compared with his sophisticated writing about world events. He should have believed in some normal religion, where angels impregnate women who give birth to a god-human who can rise from the dead … and we can drink his blood when we drink wine which has been subjected to a special magic ceremony …something rational, like that.
Which is a hilarious things to write, given it was published in Unherd the day after the Ruble fell to 1 ₽ = US 1¢
No.Three-to-one in combat power, not numbers of soldiers, which is something quite different. Someone needs to read “Number Prediction & War” or “Attrition” by Dupuy.
Which is a hilarious things to write, given it was published in Unherd the day after the Ruble fell to 1 ₽ = US 1¢
No.Three-to-one in combat power, not numbers of soldiers, which is something quite different. Someone needs to read “Number Prediction & War” or “Attrition” by Dupuy.
An interesting perspective. Brought down to its bare essentials it reiterates the old aphorism – “might is right”. But then the entire might of the German army – vastly superior to anything it faced – was still not enough to defeat the Allies. To understand this you have to look for its internal weakness rather than its material strength. It was a war that simply could not be lost by the Allies – the consequences were unimaginable, just as it is for Ukraine. And gradually those weakness (mainly the bare-toothed infighting typical of government without conscience) exposed itself under duress (and despite the support of allies far more powerful than relatively puny Iran and North Korea) and imploded. That weakness manifested iteself in (and yes – storm-troopers – not the holywood type but flesh and blood soldiers willing to lay down their lives for freedom and democracy, were core players) the essential lunacy that values human life and freedoms as mere political indulgences to be granted and withdrawn at will. Eventually, as the Soviet Union, Albania, Romania, Maoist China, Cambodia and the rest fell one by one to the “stormtroopers” of democracy and yes – that often sneered at attribute – “human decency” (a sequence reiterated going back as far as recorded history allows), we have developed a broadly if not yet universally compassionate, democratic world arisen from the ashes of the crass brutality of the medieval world.
History shows that, despite bleak setbacks, the trajectory of world political development over thousands of years is upwards, and that over time winning is not the prerogative of the mighty, but of civilization, compassion and human rights.
Call the forces of compassionate, advanced civilization whatever you like, but don’t predict the end of this particular episode of history based on armaments without accounting for that precious thing that tyrants the world over have unerringly underrated – the human spirit.
Let us hope this is true. But this “Whig theory of history” needs a materialist basis: why has ‘compassionate’ (ie democratic, individualist) civilization advanced over time? As the economic ‘base’ — ‘technique’ as applied to our ways of getting a living, ie the growth of the productive forces — has changed, so has, in uneven leaps, the political ‘superstructure’.
Not in a deterministic way — the growth of the base — a literate population not tied to the land — allows the possibility of a liberal-democratic superstructure, but does not guarantee it — inclines, but does not compel. How to consciously intervene in the process to push that inclination is the big question: ‘Soft Power’ alone, or something more?
I suspect more than a few of us here, twenty-five years ago, were more eager than we are today, to put American military power actively into play in that process. But we have learned something from Iraq and Afghanistan. However, knowing what NOT to do is not to know WHAT to do.
The war in Ukraine is ambiguous, because while the two sides looked at statically, in terms of their political regimes, can more or less be seen in Good Guy vs Bad Guy terms, an acquaintance with the history here — the “not one inch eastwards” promise was made by people who knew something about Russia’s attitude to being repeatedly invaded from the West — shows the complexity of the issue.
Now, as that promise was broken, we have been asked to take over the chess game at the tenth move.
The reality is, the West — following the USA — would still be supporting Ukraine, even if its political regime were identical to Russia’s, as we did Yugoslavia and Romania during the Cold War. The democratic issue is an overlay on top of standard Big Power competition: the Crimean War recidivus.
Let us hope this is true. But this “Whig theory of history” needs a materialist basis: why has ‘compassionate’ (ie democratic, individualist) civilization advanced over time? As the economic ‘base’ — ‘technique’ as applied to our ways of getting a living, ie the growth of the productive forces — has changed, so has, in uneven leaps, the political ‘superstructure’.
Not in a deterministic way — the growth of the base — a literate population not tied to the land — allows the possibility of a liberal-democratic superstructure, but does not guarantee it — inclines, but does not compel. How to consciously intervene in the process to push that inclination is the big question: ‘Soft Power’ alone, or something more?
I suspect more than a few of us here, twenty-five years ago, were more eager than we are today, to put American military power actively into play in that process. But we have learned something from Iraq and Afghanistan. However, knowing what NOT to do is not to know WHAT to do.
The war in Ukraine is ambiguous, because while the two sides looked at statically, in terms of their political regimes, can more or less be seen in Good Guy vs Bad Guy terms, an acquaintance with the history here — the “not one inch eastwards” promise was made by people who knew something about Russia’s attitude to being repeatedly invaded from the West — shows the complexity of the issue.
Now, as that promise was broken, we have been asked to take over the chess game at the tenth move.
The reality is, the West — following the USA — would still be supporting Ukraine, even if its political regime were identical to Russia’s, as we did Yugoslavia and Romania during the Cold War. The democratic issue is an overlay on top of standard Big Power competition: the Crimean War recidivus.
An interesting perspective. Brought down to its bare essentials it reiterates the old aphorism – “might is right”. But then the entire might of the German army – vastly superior to anything it faced – was still not enough to defeat the Allies. To understand this you have to look for its internal weakness rather than its material strength. It was a war that simply could not be lost by the Allies – the consequences were unimaginable, just as it is for Ukraine. And gradually those weakness (mainly the bare-toothed infighting typical of government without conscience) exposed itself under duress (and despite the support of allies far more powerful than relatively puny Iran and North Korea) and imploded. That weakness manifested iteself in (and yes – storm-troopers – not the holywood type but flesh and blood soldiers willing to lay down their lives for freedom and democracy, were core players) the essential lunacy that values human life and freedoms as mere political indulgences to be granted and withdrawn at will. Eventually, as the Soviet Union, Albania, Romania, Maoist China, Cambodia and the rest fell one by one to the “stormtroopers” of democracy and yes – that often sneered at attribute – “human decency” (a sequence reiterated going back as far as recorded history allows), we have developed a broadly if not yet universally compassionate, democratic world arisen from the ashes of the crass brutality of the medieval world.
History shows that, despite bleak setbacks, the trajectory of world political development over thousands of years is upwards, and that over time winning is not the prerogative of the mighty, but of civilization, compassion and human rights.
Call the forces of compassionate, advanced civilization whatever you like, but don’t predict the end of this particular episode of history based on armaments without accounting for that precious thing that tyrants the world over have unerringly underrated – the human spirit.
I sense it’s a Year Zero problem of political tribalims and belief similar to what you find with gender ideology. Before the creed of gender self-identification emerged, for instance, nothing else existed in terms of sexuality and psychoanalysis and no such debate should impinge upon this simple question of human rights today.
With the Ukraine, the liberal position is that no politics or geopolitics at all were at play between Washington and Moscow before the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and then their military adventure into the Ukraine a year or so ago.
And even further now, support for the ‘right’ side in the Ukraine-Russia war of regional nationalism and pan-Russian separatism can now be simplified tribally to the point that if you are on the liberal-left, you simply must support the Democrats in maintaining a proxy war against Moscow. Otherwise, you’re on the Dark Side and predestined to burn for Eternity.
I sense it’s a Year Zero problem of political tribalims and belief similar to what you find with gender ideology. Before the creed of gender self-identification emerged, for instance, nothing else existed in terms of sexuality and psychoanalysis and no such debate should impinge upon this simple question of human rights today.
With the Ukraine, the liberal position is that no politics or geopolitics at all were at play between Washington and Moscow before the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and then their military adventure into the Ukraine a year or so ago.
And even further now, support for the ‘right’ side in the Ukraine-Russia war of regional nationalism and pan-Russian separatism can now be simplified tribally to the point that if you are on the liberal-left, you simply must support the Democrats in maintaining a proxy war against Moscow. Otherwise, you’re on the Dark Side and predestined to burn for Eternity.
This is simply untrue:
“we can begin in 2014 — when a coup overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian government and replaced it with a pro-Nato one”
The Ukrainian President broke a campaign pledge, leading to demonstrations and sit ins. This president conspired so snipers killed some of the demonstrators.
This President was impeached constitutionally by the democratically elected parliament including his own party.
It’s a typically deceitful technique to start an argument from an unsound assumption like this. Russia’s intentions in Ukraine were clear and malign well before 2014. Putin has clearly never accepted that Ukraine was a free and independent country. Indeed, for him, no country directly bordering Russia can be allowed to be free and independent.
Which is precisely why there can never be peace and stability in Europe while Putin and his cronies remain in power. And we must do whatever it takes to see them off.
Thanks for dealing with the Russobot.
Thanks for dealing with the Russobot.
It’s a typically deceitful technique to start an argument from an unsound assumption like this. Russia’s intentions in Ukraine were clear and malign well before 2014. Putin has clearly never accepted that Ukraine was a free and independent country. Indeed, for him, no country directly bordering Russia can be allowed to be free and independent.
Which is precisely why there can never be peace and stability in Europe while Putin and his cronies remain in power. And we must do whatever it takes to see them off.
This is simply untrue:
“we can begin in 2014 — when a coup overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian government and replaced it with a pro-Nato one”
The Ukrainian President broke a campaign pledge, leading to demonstrations and sit ins. This president conspired so snipers killed some of the demonstrators.
This President was impeached constitutionally by the democratically elected parliament including his own party.
You can tell if someone is a Russian troll if they say:
1) Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!), SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky, SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Also, if you see the word “coup” about 2014 – you can stop reading immediately: it’s either Putinversteher or just an ignorant idiot. I read a little further, just in case, and confirmed it once again.
Also, if you see the word “coup” about 2014 – you can stop reading immediately: it’s either Putinversteher or just an ignorant idiot. I read a little further, just in case, and confirmed it once again.
You can tell if someone is a Russian troll if they say:
1) Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!), SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky, SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Star Wars vs Stalinism.
Hmmm…
The West may consider itself better than it is. But there are plenty of people to say otherwise, and point out alternatives. Like many below.
Sadly, at every stage in this conflict their “alternatives” happen to have been grossly wrong. Putin has traded most of his army and air force for a war ravaged corner of Ukraine at best.
And his life at worst.
Moreover, the reason Putin’s war has gone so badly is because, in a non-democracy, one HAS to see their nation as without blemish.
If you don’t, you go to gaol. If you’re a Ukrainian you get tortured and killed. Even pro-war Girkin is in Gaol.
Yeah, Star Wars might get a few people in the West to see reality differently.
But Star Wars never produced the kind of national delusions that gave Russia Stalin and Putin.
Delusions that will utterly destroy Russia in the end.
Star Wars vs Stalinism.
Hmmm…
The West may consider itself better than it is. But there are plenty of people to say otherwise, and point out alternatives. Like many below.
Sadly, at every stage in this conflict their “alternatives” happen to have been grossly wrong. Putin has traded most of his army and air force for a war ravaged corner of Ukraine at best.
And his life at worst.
Moreover, the reason Putin’s war has gone so badly is because, in a non-democracy, one HAS to see their nation as without blemish.
If you don’t, you go to gaol. If you’re a Ukrainian you get tortured and killed. Even pro-war Girkin is in Gaol.
Yeah, Star Wars might get a few people in the West to see reality differently.
But Star Wars never produced the kind of national delusions that gave Russia Stalin and Putin.
Delusions that will utterly destroy Russia in the end.
I’ve got news for Greer, the author of this piece. It’s only certain sectors of America who have ‘Stormtrooper’ syndrome. This is usually accompanied by what we ever patient Europeans, Canadians and Australians term ‘Six Gun Diplomacy’ and makes us roll our eyes as we wait for the next US misunderstanding of foreign policy as a means to achieve peace.
He served twelve years as Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, ok ?? As the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America he battled Stormtroopers, so i’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.
No dafter than being a Rabbi or Episcopalian Minister – and I’m broad and philosophical enough of mind to see nothing wrong in that, or anything that disqualfies him from airing a well-informed and well-reasoned view on a whole range of other matters.
Play the ball, pal, not the man.
I’m broad and philosophical enough to not make a comparison between “the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America” and your average rabbi or priest. As to his views, they fully fit his title. Neither well informed or well reasoned, he and his article are a joke
A cult is a cult whether it has 100 members or 1 billion.
Not a fan of the abrahamic religions but c’mon, don’t be a reddit atheist
Not a fan of the abrahamic religions but c’mon, don’t be a reddit atheist
A cult is a cult whether it has 100 members or 1 billion.
I’m broad and philosophical enough to not make a comparison between “the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America” and your average rabbi or priest. As to his views, they fully fit his title. Neither well informed or well reasoned, he and his article are a joke
No dafter than being a Rabbi or Episcopalian Minister – and I’m broad and philosophical enough of mind to see nothing wrong in that, or anything that disqualfies him from airing a well-informed and well-reasoned view on a whole range of other matters.
Play the ball, pal, not the man.
He served twelve years as Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, ok ?? As the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America he battled Stormtroopers, so i’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.
I’ve got news for Greer, the author of this piece. It’s only certain sectors of America who have ‘Stormtrooper’ syndrome. This is usually accompanied by what we ever patient Europeans, Canadians and Australians term ‘Six Gun Diplomacy’ and makes us roll our eyes as we wait for the next US misunderstanding of foreign policy as a means to achieve peace.
Anyone know what his Bronze Age example was & what had to be done?
He provide an HTML link in the essay above, just where he mentions it.
Clicked it, just got a contents page.
The Egyptians versus ‘The Sea Peoples’ circa 1200 BC*?
(*To use Christian chronology.)
Is it? I was wondering what solution that would be unpalatable today is – any idea? The link doesn’t go anywhere useful unfortunately.
As you say that link only goes to page 10! Which is not very helpful.
No, I’m just guessing. I seem to recall resorting to traditional methods (steady infantry ?) the Egyptians managed to see off the Sea Peoples.
Could be, sounds reasonable. Something about a battle in the reeds in the Nile delta with massive casualties? Perhaps that’s what we couldn’t accept now?
Russia’s Central Bank just raised rates to 12%.
That will stop most economic activity in the country.
It won’t be long now…
Russia’s Central Bank just raised rates to 12%.
That will stop most economic activity in the country.
It won’t be long now…
An astute assessment but I for one never subscribed to the “we” in the subtitle…
The tip-off is calling the events of 2014 “a coup.”
This is Pure Russian propaganda.
“Coups” are lightning attempts to overthrow a govt by a small, armed force, almost always the military. They involve taking over key parts of a capital, and placing a city under martial law.
They also invariably fail if they fall short of their goals within a day or so.
Maidan was a mass movement, involving up to half a million people at a time, and over many months.
They were there because Yanukovich himself had asked to join the EU (not NATO). When he reneged, they knew he had sacrificed their futures for a small loan from Russia–all so Ukraine would join Putin’s Eurasian Economic Union.
And, after months of conflict, Yanukovich finally fled after his Berkuts shot over a 100 demonstrators. So the Rada elected a new president.
Nothing “coup-like” about any of it.
But if you’re Russian–or a fool–you may think that is how the whole world works…outside of Russia.
Your definition of coup is inaccurate. Liz Truss, for better or worse, was deposed in a coup; which is some elites replacing other elites by dubious legal means, whether armed or not.
Who shot who, during Maidan revolution, is also very unclear.
Funny, I thought that Liz Truss was replaced because a majority of her parliamentary majority decided they would be better off with someone else. This is ‘dubious legal means’???
Your poor suffering Jesus. Definitions of coups nomally include violence, and you know it.
Funny, I thought that Liz Truss was replaced because a majority of her parliamentary majority decided they would be better off with someone else. This is ‘dubious legal means’???
Your poor suffering Jesus. Definitions of coups nomally include violence, and you know it.
This guy who was there seems to disagree :
‘As a Wall Street Journal correspondent who helped to cover the revolution and its aftermath, I must correct the impression left by her review that a courageous popular response to armed repression led to victory for the protesters. On the contrary, on the last days of February 2014, armed thugs – many, if not most, heavily armed far-right and neo-Nazi activists from western Ukraine – stormed Maidan square, killing and capturing police officers and forcing the hand of a government that, as well as being unpopular, was bankrupt and diplomatically isolated’.
David Roman, Wall Street Journal
Russians just aren’t very good at history-just rote ideology..
The Berkuts had earlier beaten and killed all the peaceful protesters. So they created their own nemesis, which eventually destroyed them.
That’s still not a “coup,” but a popular uprising. Unless you think 1789 and 1848 were also “coups.”
But a Russian would never even understand that. “Great October” was supposedly all engineered by that “genius” Lenin. It actually was closer to Maidan.
So that’s why they keep saying “coup” about any govt change.
Simply no other term available.
Mr David Roman is a Spaniard. Not a Russian.
Why are you dribbling this nonsense ? Isn’t it embarrassing ?
This satisfies all the elements of a coup.
A three-quarters majority was needed to remove Yanukovich. This was not gotten. So, they broke their own rules to get rid of him.
coup : a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government
All the elements are here, suddenness, violence as described by Mr Roman, and unlawfulness – the Ukraine parliament breaking its own constitution to get rid of Y.
Yanukovytch was the Putin supported candidate who came to power on the promise that he would continue with Euro integration. Instead he went with Putin’s Eurasian Customs Union and signed jan 16 anti protest laws (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-protest_laws_in_Ukraine) and the popular maidan movement happened and he and his sons ran off to Russia. Since then Ukraine had democratically elected two Presidents meanwhile in Russia you have Putin’s bloody regime for more than twenty years
Since you are so concerned with unlawful seizure of power, how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea (remember putin’s initial lies and denial of the annexation and the “little green men”) and of the creation of DPR and LPR ?
Can you present your proofs that I’m not concerned with Putin illegally annexing Crimea or indeed anywhere ?
“Proofs”
Who in the Anglosphere uses terms like that?
I rest my case…
My proofs ? You can easily find proofs for everything I said online. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-lavrov-idUSKBN0KU12Y20150121
Stop avoiding the question. You said I was ‘unconcerned’ with the Crimea, but since you know zip about me, this is a bare-assed lie.
I said that you were “unconcerned” with Crimea ? Where ? I said that you are concerned about unlawful seizure of power. Are you not ?
“how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea”
you said. And I asked you for proof of this amazing finding of yours. Which you’ve avoided, since you can’t know that I’m ‘not concerned’ with it, and clearly don’t.
And you’ve been trying to wriggle out of it ever since.
An excellent place to finish. Toodle pip.
“Unconcerned with Crimea” is different from “how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea” so unlike you wasn’t avoiding anything, and you need to work on your reading comprehension.
Now one more time. Are you not concerned with unlawful seizure of power ? So why are you not concerned when Russia does it ?
“Unconcerned with Crimea” is different from “how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea” so unlike you wasn’t avoiding anything, and you need to work on your reading comprehension.
Now one more time. Are you not concerned with unlawful seizure of power ? So why are you not concerned when Russia does it ?
“how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea”
you said. And I asked you for proof of this amazing finding of yours. Which you’ve avoided, since you can’t know that I’m ‘not concerned’ with it, and clearly don’t.
And you’ve been trying to wriggle out of it ever since.
An excellent place to finish. Toodle pip.
I said that you were “unconcerned” with Crimea ? Where ? I said that you are concerned about unlawful seizure of power. Are you not ?
Stop avoiding the question. You said I was ‘unconcerned’ with the Crimea, but since you know zip about me, this is a bare-assed lie.
Only a Russian Z-Patriot would not answer this question.
Because if he did, he would be technically breaking Rusia’s law.
Ergo, you are a Russian Z-Patriot.
“Proofs”
Who in the Anglosphere uses terms like that?
I rest my case…
My proofs ? You can easily find proofs for everything I said online. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-lavrov-idUSKBN0KU12Y20150121
Only a Russian Z-Patriot would not answer this question.
Because if he did, he would be technically breaking Rusia’s law.
Ergo, you are a Russian Z-Patriot.
Can you present your proofs that I’m not concerned with Putin illegally annexing Crimea or indeed anywhere ?
Yanukovytch was the Putin supported candidate who came to power on the promise that he would continue with Euro integration. Instead he went with Putin’s Eurasian Customs Union and signed jan 16 anti protest laws (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-protest_laws_in_Ukraine) and the popular maidan movement happened and he and his sons ran off to Russia. Since then Ukraine had democratically elected two Presidents meanwhile in Russia you have Putin’s bloody regime for more than twenty years
Since you are so concerned with unlawful seizure of power, how come you’re not concerned with putins illegal annexation of Crimea (remember putin’s initial lies and denial of the annexation and the “little green men”) and of the creation of DPR and LPR ?
Mr David Roman is a Spaniard. Not a Russian.
Why are you dribbling this nonsense ? Isn’t it embarrassing ?
This satisfies all the elements of a coup.
A three-quarters majority was needed to remove Yanukovich. This was not gotten. So, they broke their own rules to get rid of him.
coup : a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government
All the elements are here, suddenness, violence as described by Mr Roman, and unlawfulness – the Ukraine parliament breaking its own constitution to get rid of Y.
Russians just aren’t very good at history-just rote ideology..
The Berkuts had earlier beaten and killed all the peaceful protesters. So they created their own nemesis, which eventually destroyed them.
That’s still not a “coup,” but a popular uprising. Unless you think 1789 and 1848 were also “coups.”
But a Russian would never even understand that. “Great October” was supposedly all engineered by that “genius” Lenin. It actually was closer to Maidan.
So that’s why they keep saying “coup” about any govt change.
Simply no other term available.
What is it about Logan? Everything he writes in UnHerd is pure BS.
American troll?
I humbly aim to please.
He’s certainly very far unhinged from the facts in this case.
Reverting to type, are we?
That exactly parallels the psychiatric wards used to silence dissidents in the SU.
Reverting to type, are we?
That exactly parallels the psychiatric wards used to silence dissidents in the SU.
American troll?
I humbly aim to please.
He’s certainly very far unhinged from the facts in this case.
Well said, saved me writing that! Nonsense, peevish article
A nonsense, peevish comment.
Agreed.
Star Wars explains everything.
Agreed.
Star Wars explains everything.
A nonsense, peevish comment.
The same ultranationalist thugs in Avoz’s neo-F-scist militias were mobilised to bring violence to Kiev much as they went on to terrorise the Russian population in the Donbas provinces. The Ukraine was the country that sent almost as many Jews to their death as Poland.
Your definition of coup is inaccurate. Liz Truss, for better or worse, was deposed in a coup; which is some elites replacing other elites by dubious legal means, whether armed or not.
Who shot who, during Maidan revolution, is also very unclear.
This guy who was there seems to disagree :
‘As a Wall Street Journal correspondent who helped to cover the revolution and its aftermath, I must correct the impression left by her review that a courageous popular response to armed repression led to victory for the protesters. On the contrary, on the last days of February 2014, armed thugs – many, if not most, heavily armed far-right and neo-Nazi activists from western Ukraine – stormed Maidan square, killing and capturing police officers and forcing the hand of a government that, as well as being unpopular, was bankrupt and diplomatically isolated’.
David Roman, Wall Street Journal
What is it about Logan? Everything he writes in UnHerd is pure BS.
Well said, saved me writing that! Nonsense, peevish article
The same ultranationalist thugs in Avoz’s neo-F-scist militias were mobilised to bring violence to Kiev much as they went on to terrorise the Russian population in the Donbas provinces. The Ukraine was the country that sent almost as many Jews to their death as Poland.
The tip-off is calling the events of 2014 “a coup.”
This is Pure Russian propaganda.
“Coups” are lightning attempts to overthrow a govt by a small, armed force, almost always the military. They involve taking over key parts of a capital, and placing a city under martial law.
They also invariably fail if they fall short of their goals within a day or so.
Maidan was a mass movement, involving up to half a million people at a time, and over many months.
They were there because Yanukovich himself had asked to join the EU (not NATO). When he reneged, they knew he had sacrificed their futures for a small loan from Russia–all so Ukraine would join Putin’s Eurasian Economic Union.
And, after months of conflict, Yanukovich finally fled after his Berkuts shot over a 100 demonstrators. So the Rada elected a new president.
Nothing “coup-like” about any of it.
But if you’re Russian–or a fool–you may think that is how the whole world works…outside of Russia.
To a Russian, every change of govt really IS a coup.
That’s why they say it so often.
They honestly can’t believe anyone would voluntarily give up power. In Russia it is certain suicide.
Ergo, any genuine change has to come from Dark Forces manipulating events behind the scenes.
It’s Ivan the Terrible crossed with Marxism-Leninism.
So they will never get anything better.
Thanks you so much for not being able to refute my argument.
It IS appreciated!
Thanks you so much for not being able to refute my argument.
It IS appreciated!
To a Russian, every change of govt really IS a coup.
That’s why they say it so often.
They honestly can’t believe anyone would voluntarily give up power. In Russia it is certain suicide.
Ergo, any genuine change has to come from Dark Forces manipulating events behind the scenes.
It’s Ivan the Terrible crossed with Marxism-Leninism.
So they will never get anything better.
I note with great satisfaction that some on this site are certainly Russian Z-Patriots.
Whether or not they are paid is irrelevant.
They refuse to answer questions anyone in the Western would readily answer.
The reason?
They would be breaking the law in Russia, and any Russian who found out could denounce them.
In Putin’s Russia no one can now take that risk.
I note with great satisfaction that some on this site are certainly Russian Z-Patriots.
Whether or not they are paid is irrelevant.
They refuse to answer questions anyone in the Western would readily answer.
The reason?
They would be breaking the law in Russia, and any Russian who found out could denounce them.
In Putin’s Russia no one can now take that risk.
Sorry to say, but the overview article is a new low point in Unherd. And there has been a couple in the last weeks.
Sorry to say, but the overview article is a new low point in Unherd. And there has been a couple in the last weeks.
A self-described “fringe intellectual,” and deservedly so.
The “fringe” part, not the “intellectual.”
He assumes that the Ukraine general staff and the whole western military apparatus somehow spend all day watching “Star Wars.” Hilariously, he then effectively defaults to the movie “All Quiet on the Western Front,” as Russia’s REAL war-winning strategy. Too bad they didn’t think of it before they lost their regular, trained army.
Fact is, war is a very dynamic enterprise. We have seen various weapons and tactics transform this battlefield again and again. One could also describe Italy and Normandy in 1944 as “WW1” style fighting. But it wasn’t before, and it certainly wasn’t afterward.
In Feb 2022, nearly all western thinkers assumed Kyiv would fall and most of Ukraine would be occupied. That didn’t come from Star Wars. Then Kyiv counterattacked and took back most of its territory, destroying most of the Russian ground forces, and much of its air power. How this war will end has nothing to do with George Lukas–or Erich Maria Remarque.
As in all wars, the introduction of new weapons necessitates new tactics and strategies. So far Ukraine has been far more able to adapt than Russia.
But Ukrainian commanders didn’t do this by sitting around watching “Star Wars”…or “All Quiet on the Western Front,”
Erm, no, he doesn’t. I’m not sure how you got that from the article, without making a very concerted, possibly peevish effort to misunderstand his point! 🙂
His point was not that NATO leadership are obsessed with Star Wars, but that there is a certain pollyanna-ish view that western foreign policy makers can be tempted to indulge in, that causes them to miscalculate risks, because they’re lulled in comforting (but ultimately illusive) binaries; Good vs Evil. And we’re the good guys, obv.
I think it’s a fair point, especially when you consider the recent wars / interventions (Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan). Not one of those resulted in anything like a decisive victory, and all 4 produced negative externalities that have been seriously destabilising, and don’t appear to have been properly anticipated or mitigated against.
We are all prone to thinking that our own view of what’s ‘right’ is so self-evidently righteous as to be almost inevitable; the world will bend to deliver us ‘justice’ like an eternal arc of progress [toward our own positions]… but as the author notes, history does not necessarily bear this out.
Uh, do you know of any war where the leaders DIDN’Tthink they were the “good guys?” I included both Germany 1933-41 and Russia, 12th C to…today.
His “point” is that “Americans”, like every other human being… behaves like all human beings.
No, somehow I think you missed his point, again.
Of course we are all self indulgent about our own virtue, that goes without saying. However he is highlighting the contrasting manner in which both sides have responded to the unexpected; one side with more pragmatism than the other. He suggests that one’s own view of their moral superiority can play into this.
He notes that Russia, whatever one may think of them morally, have actually responded very pragmatically to the circumstances in front of them. Their initial strategy was not successful. So they pivoted to another. The NATO side of the conflict may be somewhat hampered by our sense of righteousness, and not thinking as pragmatically as we should be.
It’s an interesting and useful observation, I think.
I will charitably accept your reply as total ignorance of Russia post-14 Feb 2022.
Listen to Russian television, and to the Z-entertainers hired to lull the public into accepting the war.
See all the people in prison–including pro-war dissidents like Girkin–and tell me that Russians don’t just think they are morally superior.
Anyone who DOESN’T Think Russia is morally superior goes to gaol.
Whereas you can say what you like about the war anywhere.
Just the difference between a free society and Russia.
Turning Russia into Z-Patriot Land and prosecuting anyone who speaks out against the war isn’t “Pragmatism.”
It’s militant War Fascism.
Russia cannot be “pragmatic” while a tiny group rules the country, oblivious of of both political and military realities
I will charitably accept your reply as total ignorance of Russia post-14 Feb 2022.
Listen to Russian television, and to the Z-entertainers hired to lull the public into accepting the war.
See all the people in prison–including pro-war dissidents like Girkin–and tell me that Russians don’t just think they are morally superior.
Anyone who DOESN’T Think Russia is morally superior goes to gaol.
Whereas you can say what you like about the war anywhere.
Just the difference between a free society and Russia.
Turning Russia into Z-Patriot Land and prosecuting anyone who speaks out against the war isn’t “Pragmatism.”
It’s militant War Fascism.
Russia cannot be “pragmatic” while a tiny group rules the country, oblivious of of both political and military realities
No, somehow I think you missed his point, again.
Of course we are all self indulgent about our own virtue, that goes without saying. However he is highlighting the contrasting manner in which both sides have responded to the unexpected; one side with more pragmatism than the other. He suggests that one’s own view of their moral superiority can play into this.
He notes that Russia, whatever one may think of them morally, have actually responded very pragmatically to the circumstances in front of them. Their initial strategy was not successful. So they pivoted to another. The NATO side of the conflict may be somewhat hampered by our sense of righteousness, and not thinking as pragmatically as we should be.
It’s an interesting and useful observation, I think.
Pushing Ukrainian ultranationalism with the objective of stimulating Russian military overreach is definitely not ‘right’ because the resulting war has cost more than a 100,000 Ukrainian lives and made millions more refugees.
The ‘right’ course was to enable the Donbas republics to remain semi-independent as Ukrainian territory, as laid out in the Minsk Accord.
Uh, do you know of any war where the leaders DIDN’Tthink they were the “good guys?” I included both Germany 1933-41 and Russia, 12th C to…today.
His “point” is that “Americans”, like every other human being… behaves like all human beings.
Pushing Ukrainian ultranationalism with the objective of stimulating Russian military overreach is definitely not ‘right’ because the resulting war has cost more than a 100,000 Ukrainian lives and made millions more refugees.
The ‘right’ course was to enable the Donbas republics to remain semi-independent as Ukrainian territory, as laid out in the Minsk Accord.
Sorry Martin, but Russia did not withdraw from Kiev, Kharkiv and Kherson because of Ukraine’s “counterattacks”; after Kiev didn’t capitulate, it was clear it made more sense for the Russians to retreat to the friendlier Eastern regions and let the Ukrainian military come to them.
Now they have short supply lines and well entrenched positions, whereas Ukraine has to send men, materiel and fuel hundreds of miles across its country to where – assuming they even reach the Eastern front – they get destroyed in a matter of days (if not hours).
The Russians never (initially) meant to occupy most of Ukraine; if they had, they would have sent far more than the (widely-estimated) 190k men they committed to the task.
Barring a miracle, Ukraine are going to lose this (the average Ukrainian has already “lost”), and it’s because Russia out-thought our NATO “experts”.
Surprised you didn’t mention “tactical retreats”. The small russian professional (contract) army got decimated and never had the chance to occupy Ukraine, as Edward Luttwak correctly pointed out at the time when it was happening. Putin’s plan was to repeat what the soviets did in Prague and install Medvedchuk as the new puppet president. But what ended up happening was similar and worse than what happened in Grozny. Russian columns were hit and the army became literally bogged down and was destroyed. Special military operation denazification is now doing rounds of compulsory conscription even though Putin publicly said that there would be no conscription and conscripts fighting in the war
The march on Kyiv was a provocation to make NATO believe that the Kremlin was counting on a blitzkrieg and was not ready for a protracted war. The provocation was a success, in my opinion, they still do not understand this. It is impossible to wage a protracted war without preparing for it, and now it has become obvious who prepared better.
Surprised you didn’t mention “tactical retreats”. The small russian professional (contract) army got decimated and never had the chance to occupy Ukraine, as Edward Luttwak correctly pointed out at the time when it was happening. Putin’s plan was to repeat what the soviets did in Prague and install Medvedchuk as the new puppet president. But what ended up happening was similar and worse than what happened in Grozny. Russian columns were hit and the army became literally bogged down and was destroyed. Special military operation denazification is now doing rounds of compulsory conscription even though Putin publicly said that there would be no conscription and conscripts fighting in the war
The march on Kyiv was a provocation to make NATO believe that the Kremlin was counting on a blitzkrieg and was not ready for a protracted war. The provocation was a success, in my opinion, they still do not understand this. It is impossible to wage a protracted war without preparing for it, and now it has become obvious who prepared better.
This is what the kids on twitter call “cope and seethe”.
Erm, no, he doesn’t. I’m not sure how you got that from the article, without making a very concerted, possibly peevish effort to misunderstand his point! 🙂
His point was not that NATO leadership are obsessed with Star Wars, but that there is a certain pollyanna-ish view that western foreign policy makers can be tempted to indulge in, that causes them to miscalculate risks, because they’re lulled in comforting (but ultimately illusive) binaries; Good vs Evil. And we’re the good guys, obv.
I think it’s a fair point, especially when you consider the recent wars / interventions (Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan). Not one of those resulted in anything like a decisive victory, and all 4 produced negative externalities that have been seriously destabilising, and don’t appear to have been properly anticipated or mitigated against.
We are all prone to thinking that our own view of what’s ‘right’ is so self-evidently righteous as to be almost inevitable; the world will bend to deliver us ‘justice’ like an eternal arc of progress [toward our own positions]… but as the author notes, history does not necessarily bear this out.
Sorry Martin, but Russia did not withdraw from Kiev, Kharkiv and Kherson because of Ukraine’s “counterattacks”; after Kiev didn’t capitulate, it was clear it made more sense for the Russians to retreat to the friendlier Eastern regions and let the Ukrainian military come to them.
Now they have short supply lines and well entrenched positions, whereas Ukraine has to send men, materiel and fuel hundreds of miles across its country to where – assuming they even reach the Eastern front – they get destroyed in a matter of days (if not hours).
The Russians never (initially) meant to occupy most of Ukraine; if they had, they would have sent far more than the (widely-estimated) 190k men they committed to the task.
Barring a miracle, Ukraine are going to lose this (the average Ukrainian has already “lost”), and it’s because Russia out-thought our NATO “experts”.
This is what the kids on twitter call “cope and seethe”.
A self-described “fringe intellectual,” and deservedly so.
The “fringe” part, not the “intellectual.”
He assumes that the Ukraine general staff and the whole western military apparatus somehow spend all day watching “Star Wars.” Hilariously, he then effectively defaults to the movie “All Quiet on the Western Front,” as Russia’s REAL war-winning strategy. Too bad they didn’t think of it before they lost their regular, trained army.
Fact is, war is a very dynamic enterprise. We have seen various weapons and tactics transform this battlefield again and again. One could also describe Italy and Normandy in 1944 as “WW1” style fighting. But it wasn’t before, and it certainly wasn’t afterward.
In Feb 2022, nearly all western thinkers assumed Kyiv would fall and most of Ukraine would be occupied. That didn’t come from Star Wars. Then Kyiv counterattacked and took back most of its territory, destroying most of the Russian ground forces, and much of its air power. How this war will end has nothing to do with George Lukas–or Erich Maria Remarque.
As in all wars, the introduction of new weapons necessitates new tactics and strategies. So far Ukraine has been far more able to adapt than Russia.
But Ukrainian commanders didn’t do this by sitting around watching “Star Wars”…or “All Quiet on the Western Front,”
About normal for most criticism of Ukraine, and the West’s role in the war.
Indeed, a cut above very many…
About normal for most criticism of Ukraine, and the West’s role in the war.
Indeed, a cut above very many…
The author obviously knows nothing about combat. Estimates are that in 20th century wars it took approx. 50,000 rounds fired for every one enemy killed. Estimates for Afghanistan were several hundred thousand rounds per enemy casualties. Professionals in combat absolutely do spray the landscape with fire. Suppression is the #1 goal; hitting someone is a bonus.
Also, why are you repeating Russian talking points. Their are no “NATO mercenaries” in Ukraine. There are volunteers from NATO countries; under the rules of law, they are not mercenaries.
‘Suppressing Fire’ is a euphemism for lack of ‘fire control’, but probably unavoidable now, given the standard of the modern soldier.
O for the days of disciplined fire control, ‘aimed shots’ or ‘shoot to kill’ as it was called.
Take for example Good or Bloody Sunday* back in 1972. 108 rounds fired, 28 targets hit, not bad under the circumstances. Had ‘suppressing fire been the order of the day, the “butchers bill would have been far, far higher, and we would never have heard the end of it.
In your final sentence did you mean to say rules of law? Or did you in fact mean rules of war?
(*Depending on one’s viewpoint.)
Ah, the good old SLR! Rifle of the Gods.
We never heard the end of it anyhow.
The US Army explicitly changed their training in WW2 because soldiers were waiting to acquire targets for aimed shots. That resulted in way too low a volume of fire vs. Germans using MG-34s and MG-42s as the base of squad firepower.
The reality is that the riflemen does almost no killing in modern warfare, unless it is at incredibly close range. The riflemen are their to protects the MGs and the mortars (they do the killing) and carry ammo for them.
I meant rules of war.
‘We’ waited until after the Korean War, when it was thought that neither the Brengun (LMG*) nor the bolt action .303 Lee-Enfield rifle fired fast enough to scythe down the hordes of Chinks ‘we’ were faced with!
Thus ‘we’ adopted the belt fed GPMG**, a sort of poor man’s MG-34/MG-42, and the Fabrique Nationale (FN) SLR***. Apparently FN offered ‘us’ a fully automatic version of this excellent weapon but ‘we’ deferred, preferring the semi-automatic version, because ‘we’ still believed in the efficacy of AIMED shots.
Of course you are absolutely correct in saying that rifleman do very little of the actual killing, which off course is what made Northern Ireland so unique.
As to ‘rules of war’ I always think that Marcus Tullius Cicero put it best with:”Silent enim leges inter arma”-
‘In times of war laws fall silent’.
Glossary.
(*Light Machine Gun.)
(**General Purpose Machine Gun.)
(***Self Loading Rifle.)
An infantry rifle like the SLR using a full-powered cartridge on automatic is impractical; it only has a 20-round magazine (max), is too light to be controllable and would overheat rapidly. The great mystery is why Western armies were so slow to copy the assault-rifle concept pioneered by the Germans (Sturmgewehr 44) and the Soviets (AK47).
It’s fairly shocking that the MG-3 (MG-42 updated for 7.62 x 51 NATO) is still the best MG in the world and NATO armies still choose inferior FN designs (modified BAR receivers) for no apparent reason. Of course the US military is still enamored of the SAW concept, which was outdated in 1942. If you don’t have a team to carry 1000+ rds of ammo, full auto fire is useless.
An infantry rifle like the SLR using a full-powered cartridge on automatic is impractical; it only has a 20-round magazine (max), is too light to be controllable and would overheat rapidly. The great mystery is why Western armies were so slow to copy the assault-rifle concept pioneered by the Germans (Sturmgewehr 44) and the Soviets (AK47).
It’s fairly shocking that the MG-3 (MG-42 updated for 7.62 x 51 NATO) is still the best MG in the world and NATO armies still choose inferior FN designs (modified BAR receivers) for no apparent reason. Of course the US military is still enamored of the SAW concept, which was outdated in 1942. If you don’t have a team to carry 1000+ rds of ammo, full auto fire is useless.
‘We’ waited until after the Korean War, when it was thought that neither the Brengun (LMG*) nor the bolt action .303 Lee-Enfield rifle fired fast enough to scythe down the hordes of Chinks ‘we’ were faced with!
Thus ‘we’ adopted the belt fed GPMG**, a sort of poor man’s MG-34/MG-42, and the Fabrique Nationale (FN) SLR***. Apparently FN offered ‘us’ a fully automatic version of this excellent weapon but ‘we’ deferred, preferring the semi-automatic version, because ‘we’ still believed in the efficacy of AIMED shots.
Of course you are absolutely correct in saying that rifleman do very little of the actual killing, which off course is what made Northern Ireland so unique.
As to ‘rules of war’ I always think that Marcus Tullius Cicero put it best with:”Silent enim leges inter arma”-
‘In times of war laws fall silent’.
Glossary.
(*Light Machine Gun.)
(**General Purpose Machine Gun.)
(***Self Loading Rifle.)
Ah, the good old SLR! Rifle of the Gods.
We never heard the end of it anyhow.
The US Army explicitly changed their training in WW2 because soldiers were waiting to acquire targets for aimed shots. That resulted in way too low a volume of fire vs. Germans using MG-34s and MG-42s as the base of squad firepower.
The reality is that the riflemen does almost no killing in modern warfare, unless it is at incredibly close range. The riflemen are their to protects the MGs and the mortars (they do the killing) and carry ammo for them.
I meant rules of war.
The Author seems pretty coherent to me, particularly with the conceptual loss of tactical advantage. The West has been fighting weak opponents for a long time – Syria and now Ukraine are a rude awakening and the seemingly psychopathic leaders within our (now blatant) elites have been exposed for the greedy and evil people they are, reaping guaranteed financial rewards paid for by their easily led taxpayers (or rather the debts the aforementioned elites are racking up for future taxpayers to carry).
“Merchants of Death!
“Who cleverly hypnotize the vast number of non-weapons making firms and the genral public into enriching themselves in pointless wars.
BTW:
Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
“Merchants of Death!
“Who cleverly hypnotize the vast number of non-weapons making firms and the genral public into enriching themselves in pointless wars.
BTW:
Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
‘…repeating Russian talking points’.
Well there’s a classic piece of pre-fab verbiage straight out of the CNN/ MSNBC/ 77 Brigade Public Opinion Management Handbook.
‘Obviously knows nothing about combat.’ No, he clearly knows a good deal and, ISTM, more than you. There is a vast difference between suppressive fire and, as you ‘put it, spraying the landscape’.
Ammo is heavy. With the mass of other gear and body armour required in the field, a sweating infantry soldier might carry c. 240-300 rounds. With the distances (typically 200-1,200m) involved, the camouflage factor and the need to take cover, the main problem is identifying the enemy firing point in the first place, but you can’t just blaze away at a square mile of hillside or in three minutes flat, you’ve all got eight empty mags, the Miinimi belts are all gone and you’re snookered.
“Winning the fire fight”.
SLR+GPMG or SA80 (fully automatic) + GPMG?
Your choice.
I’d take an MG-42 and 9 M-1 Garands for a squad over any weapons combo NATO has fielded in the last 75 years.
I’d take an MG-42 and 9 M-1 Garands for a squad over any weapons combo NATO has fielded in the last 75 years.
“Winning the fire fight”.
SLR+GPMG or SA80 (fully automatic) + GPMG?
Your choice.
‘Suppressing Fire’ is a euphemism for lack of ‘fire control’, but probably unavoidable now, given the standard of the modern soldier.
O for the days of disciplined fire control, ‘aimed shots’ or ‘shoot to kill’ as it was called.
Take for example Good or Bloody Sunday* back in 1972. 108 rounds fired, 28 targets hit, not bad under the circumstances. Had ‘suppressing fire been the order of the day, the “butchers bill would have been far, far higher, and we would never have heard the end of it.
In your final sentence did you mean to say rules of law? Or did you in fact mean rules of war?
(*Depending on one’s viewpoint.)
The Author seems pretty coherent to me, particularly with the conceptual loss of tactical advantage. The West has been fighting weak opponents for a long time – Syria and now Ukraine are a rude awakening and the seemingly psychopathic leaders within our (now blatant) elites have been exposed for the greedy and evil people they are, reaping guaranteed financial rewards paid for by their easily led taxpayers (or rather the debts the aforementioned elites are racking up for future taxpayers to carry).
‘…repeating Russian talking points’.
Well there’s a classic piece of pre-fab verbiage straight out of the CNN/ MSNBC/ 77 Brigade Public Opinion Management Handbook.
‘Obviously knows nothing about combat.’ No, he clearly knows a good deal and, ISTM, more than you. There is a vast difference between suppressive fire and, as you ‘put it, spraying the landscape’.
Ammo is heavy. With the mass of other gear and body armour required in the field, a sweating infantry soldier might carry c. 240-300 rounds. With the distances (typically 200-1,200m) involved, the camouflage factor and the need to take cover, the main problem is identifying the enemy firing point in the first place, but you can’t just blaze away at a square mile of hillside or in three minutes flat, you’ve all got eight empty mags, the Miinimi belts are all gone and you’re snookered.
The author obviously knows nothing about combat. Estimates are that in 20th century wars it took approx. 50,000 rounds fired for every one enemy killed. Estimates for Afghanistan were several hundred thousand rounds per enemy casualties. Professionals in combat absolutely do spray the landscape with fire. Suppression is the #1 goal; hitting someone is a bonus.
Also, why are you repeating Russian talking points. Their are no “NATO mercenaries” in Ukraine. There are volunteers from NATO countries; under the rules of law, they are not mercenaries.
Moral ambiguity again from the writer, perhaps not befitting a man of religion? I guess evil is always in the third-person, kind of like freedom fighters are always in the first-person “our” and mercenaries/rebels are always in the third-person “their”. He’s lucky to live in a society where he can safely spew this nonsense.
All joking aside, some things are indeed objectively right or wrong, regardless of whose “side” one is on. If one cannot see the difference, then it’s time to do some soul-searching.
right and wrong? that concept is based on how many parts of the jigsaw you have (or are willing to accept).
The Minsk accords specified referenda to allow the very morally correct use of self-determination to settle matters – the west (and Ukraine) signed it but lied (as per Merkel’s Die Zeit interview in Dec-22).
Tht question; whether the people living in Donbas etc, want to be a part of a highy nationalist Ukrainian state, or feel safer unaligned, or alignng more closely with Russia – would be the moral thing to do – we, as confirmed by Merkel, lied – do you have different facts?
Highly nationalist ?Thats what Moscow propaganda wants everyone to believe and you’re regurgitating propaganda. Zelensky is a Russian speaker and a Jew and so is Poroshenko. Azov which was based out of Mariupol is mostly Russian speaking. The people of Donbas which you so care about were and are being used by the kremlin as cannon fodder for DPR LPR armies. Russian occupation has been a complete disaster for the region and if you think that the Russian state actually cares about Russian speakers abroad you’re delusional
Seen any videos from Mariupol recently ?
I declare an interest in having a Crimean wife who actually lived under the Soviet Union, Ukraine and now Russia.
From 1991 to 2014, Crimea was literally left to rot under the Ukrainians. No more. Whenever I visit, the new airport at SIP is gleaming and the roads no longer pot-holed.
Free healthcare and a tripling of the pension under Russia too.
I’ve seen videos from Mariupol, and if you think that referring to these videos as a positive than you have something wrong with you. What you wrote about Crimea is a complete lie and propaganda. Crimea was rotting you say ? It was a popular tourist destination for many Russians and Ukrainians and was better off than the majority of regions inside Russia. After putin illegally annexed it the tourism money evaporated and he and his crooks started taking over local businesses and real estate
This whole Russian narrative about Ukrainian poverty is the most disgusting hypocritical propaganda because the average Ukrainian is better off than the average Russian, and Ukraine doesn’t have the natural resource wealth as Russia does. Russia outside of a few major cities (you can see poverty and dilapidation in the big cities as well) is very poor and the inequality levels are some of the highest in the world. Russian roads and infrastructure are terrible and the roads are as you mentioned are filled with pot holes. Compared to Putin’s criminal regime’s corruption and crimes against its own people and other countries all current regimes pale in comparison
Before the war started, Russian per-capita incomes were about 4 times higher than those in Ukraine, in real terms. Since then, the Ukrainian economy has shrunk by about 30 per cent, but so has the population, so the disparity is probably still about the same.
Incorrect. The ratio was a bit less than 3 and not 4.
But once Ukraine is established as a free and independent state, I’d put money on Ukrainian GDP per capita exceeding Russia’s.
Per-capita is an average and a bad metric for wealth measurement. Compare Russian vs Ukrainian gdp per-capita from 1992-now and you’ll see that Russian gdp was 3-4 times higher yet Ukrainians and Ukraine were better off
Incorrect. The ratio was a bit less than 3 and not 4.
But once Ukraine is established as a free and independent state, I’d put money on Ukrainian GDP per capita exceeding Russia’s.
Per-capita is an average and a bad metric for wealth measurement. Compare Russian vs Ukrainian gdp per-capita from 1992-now and you’ll see that Russian gdp was 3-4 times higher yet Ukrainians and Ukraine were better off
Before the war started, Russian per-capita incomes were about 4 times higher than those in Ukraine, in real terms. Since then, the Ukrainian economy has shrunk by about 30 per cent, but so has the population, so the disparity is probably still about the same.
I’ve seen videos from Mariupol, and if you think that referring to these videos as a positive than you have something wrong with you. What you wrote about Crimea is a complete lie and propaganda. Crimea was rotting you say ? It was a popular tourist destination for many Russians and Ukrainians and was better off than the majority of regions inside Russia. After putin illegally annexed it the tourism money evaporated and he and his crooks started taking over local businesses and real estate
This whole Russian narrative about Ukrainian poverty is the most disgusting hypocritical propaganda because the average Ukrainian is better off than the average Russian, and Ukraine doesn’t have the natural resource wealth as Russia does. Russia outside of a few major cities (you can see poverty and dilapidation in the big cities as well) is very poor and the inequality levels are some of the highest in the world. Russian roads and infrastructure are terrible and the roads are as you mentioned are filled with pot holes. Compared to Putin’s criminal regime’s corruption and crimes against its own people and other countries all current regimes pale in comparison
Seen any videos from Mariupol recently ?
I declare an interest in having a Crimean wife who actually lived under the Soviet Union, Ukraine and now Russia.
From 1991 to 2014, Crimea was literally left to rot under the Ukrainians. No more. Whenever I visit, the new airport at SIP is gleaming and the roads no longer pot-holed.
Free healthcare and a tripling of the pension under Russia too.
IOW,
Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Highly nationalist ?Thats what Moscow propaganda wants everyone to believe and you’re regurgitating propaganda. Zelensky is a Russian speaker and a Jew and so is Poroshenko. Azov which was based out of Mariupol is mostly Russian speaking. The people of Donbas which you so care about were and are being used by the kremlin as cannon fodder for DPR LPR armies. Russian occupation has been a complete disaster for the region and if you think that the Russian state actually cares about Russian speakers abroad you’re delusional
IOW,
Poor Ukraine is being used by the US (really the Military Industrial Complex!),
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
Or:
2) Ukraine is run by Nazis–to include that arch-Nazi Zelensky,
SO STOP SENDING WEAPONS!
You’re doing nothing but proving his exact point for him, and are lucky to live in one where you can ‘spew’ yours.
The Scots have a name for your sort: a Holy Wullie. from the Rabbie Burns poem, ‘ Holy Willie’s Prayer’.
Okay, I regret the words “spew nonsense”, there’s too much ad hominem in this discourse. That said, I still don’t agree with all the moral equivalence being posted.
Okay, I regret the words “spew nonsense”, there’s too much ad hominem in this discourse. That said, I still don’t agree with all the moral equivalence being posted.
How many Ukrainians are you willing to sacrifice so that Kiev – rather than Moscow – can go back to fleecing “their” breakaway Eastern regions?
Don’t think he is a man of religion. The AOD’s rules say they are “not a religious organisation – in fact any discussion on religion or politics is forbidden within the lodge rooms.” That’s the UK one but I doubt the American order is any different. To the extent groups like this engage in any kind of mysticism, it is highly speculative and doesn’t involve submission to doctrine or creeds. This is down to their masonic origin.
Thanks for explaining.
Thanks for explaining.
right and wrong? that concept is based on how many parts of the jigsaw you have (or are willing to accept).
The Minsk accords specified referenda to allow the very morally correct use of self-determination to settle matters – the west (and Ukraine) signed it but lied (as per Merkel’s Die Zeit interview in Dec-22).
Tht question; whether the people living in Donbas etc, want to be a part of a highy nationalist Ukrainian state, or feel safer unaligned, or alignng more closely with Russia – would be the moral thing to do – we, as confirmed by Merkel, lied – do you have different facts?
You’re doing nothing but proving his exact point for him, and are lucky to live in one where you can ‘spew’ yours.
The Scots have a name for your sort: a Holy Wullie. from the Rabbie Burns poem, ‘ Holy Willie’s Prayer’.
How many Ukrainians are you willing to sacrifice so that Kiev – rather than Moscow – can go back to fleecing “their” breakaway Eastern regions?
Don’t think he is a man of religion. The AOD’s rules say they are “not a religious organisation – in fact any discussion on religion or politics is forbidden within the lodge rooms.” That’s the UK one but I doubt the American order is any different. To the extent groups like this engage in any kind of mysticism, it is highly speculative and doesn’t involve submission to doctrine or creeds. This is down to their masonic origin.
Moral ambiguity again from the writer, perhaps not befitting a man of religion? I guess evil is always in the third-person, kind of like freedom fighters are always in the first-person “our” and mercenaries/rebels are always in the third-person “their”. He’s lucky to live in a society where he can safely spew this nonsense.
All joking aside, some things are indeed objectively right or wrong, regardless of whose “side” one is on. If one cannot see the difference, then it’s time to do some soul-searching.
Anyone who describes themselves as a ‘fringe intellectual’ belong in the bin.
I doubt he’s ever had a truly hair-raising experience in his life.
Reduced to making ad hominem attacks – sad really.
It strikes me as a rare example these days of what we used to call intellectual humility.
Before everyone got degrees and mistook credentials for intelligence.
Yes, I think he was merely attempting to be (politely) self-deprecating in the way he referenced his own career, no?
Yes, I think he was merely attempting to be (politely) self-deprecating in the way he referenced his own career, no?
I doubt he’s ever had a truly hair-raising experience in his life.
Reduced to making ad hominem attacks – sad really.
It strikes me as a rare example these days of what we used to call intellectual humility.
Before everyone got degrees and mistook credentials for intelligence.
Anyone who describes themselves as a ‘fringe intellectual’ belong in the bin.
Where did unherd find this nutter and who thought it was a good idea to publish this nonsense ? Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, really ?
I’m not sure, but this Grand Archdruid certainly makes a lot more sense than the Institute for the Study of War, Times Radio and the BBC.
What a strange world we live in.
Does it have to be one or the other ? Ok, suite yourself
Does it have to be one or the other ? Ok, suite yourself
I’m not sure, but this Grand Archdruid certainly makes a lot more sense than the Institute for the Study of War, Times Radio and the BBC.
What a strange world we live in.
Where did unherd find this nutter and who thought it was a good idea to publish this nonsense ? Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, really ?
Guess that’s one reason among many why if you meet a 45 year old whose favourite book is LOTR, you get away from him fast.
However I am not sure that not ought equally apply to assessments of situations that rely on trundling out this junk.
It is actually okay to just forget very old science-fiction movies, you know.
I saw Star Wars in no particular urgency, as a nine year-old in 1978, I think on its one-year anniversary. Left to my own devices, I would have forgotten it for good an hour after leaving the cinema. Apart from the effects, it was a bit of a nothing.
Guess that’s one reason among many why if you meet a 45 year old whose favourite book is LOTR, you get away from him fast.
However I am not sure that not ought equally apply to assessments of situations that rely on trundling out this junk.
It is actually okay to just forget very old science-fiction movies, you know.
I saw Star Wars in no particular urgency, as a nine year-old in 1978, I think on its one-year anniversary. Left to my own devices, I would have forgotten it for good an hour after leaving the cinema. Apart from the effects, it was a bit of a nothing.
We waft in people from Ukraine because they “look like us”. Unlike the Afghans who are drowning in the Channel. France is closer to Ukraine than Britain is, so why do we not demand that Ukrainians stay there? And what cultural values are they bringing? If every regional commissar in charge of military recruitment in Russia had been sacked for corruption, then there would be no other news.
We let in Ukrainians because they’re women, children, and the elderly fleeing actual bombing. The Channel crossers are fighting-age men adventuring in the hope of money.
Also because the expectation and hope is that most will go back home.
Though few will and if I were them, neither would I.
The majority already have.
Though few will and if I were them, neither would I.
The majority already have.
The ‘Channel crossers’ as you so politely called them should armed and equipped and despatched to the Ukraine for a six month tour of duty.
If they wish to join the ‘west’ they should have to earn that privilege.
Demining, Iranian style.
Many of the Afghans have incomparable skills in making ‘home made Bombs’* which could be very useful.
For the others I agree it would not be dissimilar to serving in a Penal Battalion, but they would be adequately rewarded.
(* Ludicrously described by the US Military (and all too predictably but nevertheless sadly by our own) as Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs!)
In today’s world, ‘experts’ rely on polysyllabic verbiage to create an illusion of ‘special expertise’ and of fanning PC respeck for the group being referred to. Hence, for instance ‘Persons with learning disabilities’, ‘Members of the Travelling community’ (each 11 syllables, where three would do) and ‘Persons of Colour’.
Home Made Bomb just doesn’t cut it. It’s too short, too concrete, no faux-expert abstraction in it. Orwell’s classic essay ‘Politics & the English Language’ is very perceptive on this.
In today’s world, ‘experts’ rely on polysyllabic verbiage to create an illusion of ‘special expertise’ and of fanning PC respeck for the group being referred to. Hence, for instance ‘Persons with learning disabilities’, ‘Members of the Travelling community’ (each 11 syllables, where three would do) and ‘Persons of Colour’.
Home Made Bomb just doesn’t cut it. It’s too short, too concrete, no faux-expert abstraction in it. Orwell’s classic essay ‘Politics & the English Language’ is very perceptive on this.
Many of the Afghans have incomparable skills in making ‘home made Bombs’* which could be very useful.
For the others I agree it would not be dissimilar to serving in a Penal Battalion, but they would be adequately rewarded.
(* Ludicrously described by the US Military (and all too predictably but nevertheless sadly by our own) as Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs!)
Via NATO Turkey, IS fighters are now in Ukraine on the side of the Zelensky regime. What sympathy refugees from the Taliban might have for them is, however, a different question.
Demining, Iranian style.
Via NATO Turkey, IS fighters are now in Ukraine on the side of the Zelensky regime. What sympathy refugees from the Taliban might have for them is, however, a different question.
You have obviously not met them. A startling number of the Ukrainians are men of fighting age. And now it turns out that every regional commissar in Ukraine has been taking bribes not to conscript them. As for going back, Ukrainian women and children known to me have already done so. Just think about that.
We have quite a large number in our town. Not one of them is a man of fighting age.
How can you POSSIBLY know that there is ‘not one’ single Ukrainian man of fighting age in your whole town? You must have quite some network of informants…
Well, they are good at camouflage.
Well, they are good at camouflage.
How can you POSSIBLY know that there is ‘not one’ single Ukrainian man of fighting age in your whole town? You must have quite some network of informants…
We have quite a large number in our town. Not one of them is a man of fighting age.
I thought women were equal to men. Why aren’t there female tankers or infantry in equal numbers to men? Men are now very, very good at minding babies – we can even feed them …….. with formula – but that’s what most modern females do anyway.
The proportion of females to males that are KIAed should ~ 50:50 rather than the current ~99.9:1 male to female death rate in Ukraine.
This situation must be corrected urgently or the whole feminist ideology of the past 50 yrs or so will be shown to be nothing but hypocracy.
So to save the feminist ideology, we need mass conscription of females to get any future KIA into gender balance.
BTW I’m very happy to mind the kids.
Also because the expectation and hope is that most will go back home.
The ‘Channel crossers’ as you so politely called them should armed and equipped and despatched to the Ukraine for a six month tour of duty.
If they wish to join the ‘west’ they should have to earn that privilege.
You have obviously not met them. A startling number of the Ukrainians are men of fighting age. And now it turns out that every regional commissar in Ukraine has been taking bribes not to conscript them. As for going back, Ukrainian women and children known to me have already done so. Just think about that.
I thought women were equal to men. Why aren’t there female tankers or infantry in equal numbers to men? Men are now very, very good at minding babies – we can even feed them …….. with formula – but that’s what most modern females do anyway.
The proportion of females to males that are KIAed should ~ 50:50 rather than the current ~99.9:1 male to female death rate in Ukraine.
This situation must be corrected urgently or the whole feminist ideology of the past 50 yrs or so will be shown to be nothing but hypocracy.
So to save the feminist ideology, we need mass conscription of females to get any future KIA into gender balance.
BTW I’m very happy to mind the kids.
Hmm. I don’t recall the British public or even HMG ASKING your Afghan migrants to pay £6,000 a head to depart the EU and to attempt cross the world’s busiest shipping lanes in a 15-foot dinghy.
We let in Ukrainians because they’re women, children, and the elderly fleeing actual bombing. The Channel crossers are fighting-age men adventuring in the hope of money.
Hmm. I don’t recall the British public or even HMG ASKING your Afghan migrants to pay £6,000 a head to depart the EU and to attempt cross the world’s busiest shipping lanes in a 15-foot dinghy.
We waft in people from Ukraine because they “look like us”. Unlike the Afghans who are drowning in the Channel. France is closer to Ukraine than Britain is, so why do we not demand that Ukrainians stay there? And what cultural values are they bringing? If every regional commissar in charge of military recruitment in Russia had been sacked for corruption, then there would be no other news.