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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukraine, the United States and its allies face a complete failure
2021-12-24
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The American political class is about to get into yet another self-brewed mess, this time in Ukraine, which is an ideal mixture of foreign policy mistakes and defensive miscalculations that are likely to unleash the American people in a series of future crises and conflicts.

Unwilling to acknowledge Moscow's vital interests in this former Soviet republic, the US now wants to put Kiev and NATO to a dangerous and unnecessary test by engaging in armed confrontation with Russia, albeit not a nuclear one. In turn, the United States and its allies also face a test that they could easily avoid and which they are likely to fail. First you need to turn to the facts, writes retired US Army colonel and former senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense Douglas McGregor. For more information, see an August 23rd article in The American Conservative.
Posted by:badanov

#9  ^Stalin purged his officer corps not because he was stupid and paranoid, but for prudential reasons. The penalty for being wrong is death.


And also because the Red Army at the time was still filled with former Czarist officers who Trotsky had to hurriedly recruit in 1919 because nobody else knew how to do the job. Almost twenty years later a lot of these guys had reached the upper ranks - and, because Trotsky had recruited them in the first place, they were viewed as "Trotskyites." And you know the OTHER mid-century mustache man wasn't going to have that. Still, he didn't actually kill most of them (waste not, want not), and reinstated 30% or soonce the Germans invaded.
Posted by: Secret Master   2021-12-24 19:19  

#8  the United States and its allies also face a test that they could easily avoid

... easily, if they had even half the wisdom and good sense of an Eisenhower. Or even Reagan, or Bush's father. We didn't go to war with Russia over the 1956 Hungarian invasion, or the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968, or the crackdown in Poland in 1981.

Back when our political leadership was intelligently focused on vital national interests, we carefully chose our battles. We understood that Russia has a legitimate sphere of national interest which deserves respect. GHW Bush himself saw that Ukraine lies in Russia's sphere of interest.

Our idiot political class has botched yet another foreign policy.

All they have to do to preserve our national interest is do what Ike did in 1956: nothing. Stay out.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-12-24 15:27  

#7  #1 problem with Russia is the problem with all autocracies that aren't German - each and every military officer is a contender for supreme national power.

Huh? I get it... you mean, like that Russian military dictator, um what's his name... Oh wait: there never has been a Russian military dictator or junta. Not in 900 years. Not even in Nicholas II's time or any other Time of Troubles. Never.

This Russian's analysis isn't "nonsense." It's sensible. And what he says about Russian military reform is totally plausible. Russia's fighting on its home turf. The last twenty years have seen extensive military reform -- even as our own military leadership has become politicized, bureaucratic and hobbled by careerism.

Our Woke masters and the Russian leadership are moving in opposite directions: it's our own moronic rulers who are moving toward autocracy with the help of their completely political idiot generals and assorted brass.

Would that we could have some of this type of reform here -- emphasis on 'determined,' 'patriotic' and 'ruthlessly' focused on fighting and winning:

During this reform process, old generals who had resisted the change were expelled from the army. A new, determined fighting force was created, consisting of young single men with a deep sense of Russian patriotism and firmness. This policy has led to the creation of an operationally flexible grouping of smaller Russian combat formations, created for the ruthless use of the striking power of Russian rocket artillery, tactical ballistic missiles and loitering ammunition.

Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-12-24 15:17  

#6  the United States and its allies also face a test that they could easily avoid

The perfect threshold for the Obama/Biden final fall.
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-12-24 14:36  

#5  an ideal mixture of foreign policy mistakes payoffs and defensive miscalculations
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-12-24 14:33  

#4  REGNUM News Agency is a Russian nationwide online news service disseminating news from Russia and abroad from its own correspondents, affiliate agencies and partners. REGNUM covers events in all regions of Russia as well as neighboring countries in Europe, Central Asia and South Caucasus. Wikipedia
Posted by: Bertie Crains2651   2021-12-24 08:46  

#3  ^ Well put. Managed so poorly. World controlled by one master; Ha, never happen. Power only corrupts absolutely. Look how a virus disrupted the world. Especially the industrialized world. They dream of a Sky net. AI and all will be well. Fools delusion.
Posted by: Dale   2021-12-24 07:52  

#2  Russia stands in the way of a global governance. Therefore they must be invaded and regime changed. If it kills millions in a nuclear war then so be it. We must have unite the planet under a single government so as to redistribute the wealth of countries like America over the whole world. There will be a global level of prosperity that a Pakistani manual laborer would consider acceptable.

You'll live in the pod, eat the bugs, own nothing and be happy. Or else.
Posted by: Sheter the Lesser9291   2021-12-24 03:26  

#1  The superiority of the Russian ground forces is partly due to the strategic advantage of fighting close to Russia. In addition, the Russian authorities have carried out extensive military reforms and reorganizations.

During this reform process, old generals who had resisted the change were expelled from the army. A new, determined fighting force was created, consisting of young single men with a deep sense of Russian patriotism and firmness. This policy has led to the creation of an operationally flexible grouping of smaller Russian combat formations, created for the ruthless use of the striking power of Russian rocket artillery, tactical ballistic missiles and loitering ammunition.

Nonsense on stilts, as usual. The problem with Russia is the problem with all autocracies that aren't German - each and every military officer is a contender for supreme national power. Consequently, no Russian leader can afford to appoint war leaders who are to smart for his own good. They might, on their own or in concert with like-minded individuals, decide to make a run at the throne. Stalin purged his officer corps not because he was stupid and paranoid, but for prudential reasons. The penalty for being wrong is death.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2021-12-24 03:26  

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