ReluctantEskimo

Broken record METO. Same old talking points, but still no reason.

What's the excuse du jour? Border problems? Inflation? I think the stock market dipped on Monday. You could use that.

In any case, they're poor excuses to not sell our surplus war supplies to a country in dire need.

METO Guido

Trash talk. There is no surplus. We’re torching your kids inheritance. Have no children, at least let me try to protect yours.

ReluctantEskimo

I've been itching to ask this. Since we're withdrawing from the role as "world police," that means we can stand down the standing army, right?

$860 billion a year to not engage in peacekeeping seems like a huge expense for nothing.

If you're going to play isolationist, then go all the way. No standing army, and carrier strike groups aren't required if they're only going to be on coastwise cruises.

METO Guido

You already know the answer. Lee witnessed ruin aboard Traveler. The lessons of surrender have less to do with period arms than blind belief in lost causes.
https://youtu.be/bLPCBnodI-0?si=evmdbmN5hgXVg2M9

Excargodog

Europe has NEVER been United. They aren't United now. Look at Hungary. Look at Slovakia. Look at Serbia. Throughout history Europe has never been united. What law or act of God made it our business to unite them?

Is that some cult thing, like Manifest Destiny ot "54-40 or fight?"

CLazarus

Wow, lots of frothy activity here since my last post. Those pictures of what is left of the ammo dump must have really struck a nerve. Definitely will post more juicy pics when I can. Perhaps the Kursk incursion will provide some.

Interesting choice of words METO - "We're". Who is we? All those posts of yours were in the middle of the North American night. Posting from somewhere located closer to Greenwich perhaps. And it is pretty obvious that English is not your first language, you can't seem to write a coherent paragraph from what I've seen so far (But I'm not going to take the time to search your history across these forums either to see if you or one of your coworkers actually can). How is the weather in St Petersburg? I've always wanted to throw shade on a Russian Troll. Do you get paid by the post? It would explain why you post such short and worthless taunts so often. Your concern for my kids inheritance is touching, most Russians don't die with anything to pass on so I guess sending an entire generation off to die in waves isn't really a concern there.

Excargodog

Sophistry, childish taunting, ad hominem attacks, and deflection. Can you not do better?

I realize this wasn't even addressed to me, but I can't help but comment on the Kursk incursion comment. It seems to me - and to others more knowledgeable in land warfare that I have read, that the Kursk incursion is somewhat akin to the Russians' initial invasion of Ukraine. It's an inadequate force becoming nicely overextended. Like the Russians, they will soon have the choice of retreating to a more defensible and logistically sustainable position or being cut off and defeated in detail. Russia is the largest nation on Earth in area - they can certainly afford to give ground until they can bring up reserves, and unlike Ukraine, they actually HAVE reserves. Perhaps they do have some master plan and are smarter than the rest of us - anything is possible - but exactly what their intention is is puzzling a lot of people. It seems a sort of quixotic move. Perhaps it's an attempt to get the Russians to panic and use a nuke or something - to draw NATO themselves into the fight. Who knows? It seems more likely to increase the support of the Russian government among the Russian people than it does to lessen it.

Time will tell, I guess.

As I said, we have been born in interesting times.

CLazarus

Oh PUH-LEASE!! I ignored him until he quoted me, I could be far harsher in what I say but at least I can actually crack a joke that people will get. All he does is post oddly. At least you write coherently, if incessantly (you are approaching 12,000 posts in six years here... you couldn't get me to post remotely that often unless I was paid to. Gotta wonder what motivates you.). And I have done better responding to you. Here's another one, since it's likely behind a paywall for most folks I'll post a couple of key excerpts.

https://www.economist.com/europe/202...beating-russia

In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia - The Peninsula is bcoming a death trap for the Kremlin's forces. The Economist, 2 Jun 2024.

"According to Ben Hodges, a former commander of American forces in Europe and a senior adviser to nato on logistics, the Ukrainians are “systematically in the process of making Crimea uninhabitable for Russian forces”.

"Mr Putin has invested huge sums in military infrastructure in Crimea, all of it now under threat."

"Nico Lange, a former adviser to the German defence ministry, agrees: “Ukraine’s campaign is a mixture of a military and political strategy. Politically, [Crimea] is Russia’s most vital asset; but it is also very vulnerable.” What Ukraine is attempting to do is to make it a liability rather than an asset for Mr Putin. The aim is to isolate it, push Russian air and sea forces away from southern Ukraine and strangle it as a logistics hub."

"Russia’s much-vaunted and very expensive s-400 air-defence system has been found wanting." (Multiple batteries have been destroyed)... "Each battery costs about $200m, and they are not easily replaceable."

"With the arrival of ATACMS and the increasing sophistication of Ukraine’s own drones, every square metre of the peninsula is in range, including aircraft and equipment convoys moving by road or rail."

Excargodog

I'd be the first to admit that the Ukrainians are putting up a good fight. But the manpower they are losing to do it is irreplaceable. The fundamentals - populations, logistics, geography - are not absolute determinants of victory in a war - but they are certainly some of the major determinants.

I wouldn't exactly say that the S-400 has been found "wanting" so much as they were never really designed to take hits to begin with, anymore than $1 billion Patriot systems would have been if similarly targeted.

This always was a stupid war - populations of both countries have been shrinking for decades, neither side needs the land really, and both sides will eventually still share a long common border and will trade with one another because of simple logistics. I also think it would have been easily avoidable. But now both countries are sort of victims of the old "sunk cost fallacy" believing they must continue fighting to justify what they have already lost by... fighting. At this point it's not even. an issue of who will win, but rather who will lose the least or who will have bragging rights. Not a great prize for hundreds of thousands of dead.

Hubcapped

so after all of your ridiculous poetry that you make everyone struggle through, you cannot muster up the integrity to apologize for responding in an uncivil manner when no offense was given specifically to you

copy

you, your ridiculous third person ego, and komrade bot are truly cut from the same cloth. You lash out when people have a different position.

que the baby boomer butthurt response.