The upside to Ukraine losing would be this threads obsoletion.
-
82
-
This is why we don't war. And this is why we don't involve ourselves with countries that have nothing to do with America. How many homeless could $1 billion help in America.
U.S. failed to track $1 billion in Ukraine military aid, watchdog says. The Pentagon inspector general’s findings come as President Biden urges Congress to pass a massive package of additional assistance for Ukraine
155 -
Monumental waste. Par for the course in reality.
136 -
Things that Russia can't provide its citizens:
* basic foodstuffs
* indoor toilets
* heating and electricity in the winter
* tanks in the middle of a war
Russia is a failed state. Maybe 20 years of occupation by UN peacekeepers would help.
By looking at serial numbers on UVZ’s site, they concluded that the 192nd Т-90М tank was being built in September 2023. This puts production at around 60 a year, less than in 2021.The other side of the equation is the rate at which T-90Ms are getting destroyed, and that is going up sharply.510 -
mm yy 22 cc wrote:
Things that Russia can't provide its citizens:
* basic foodstuffs
* indoor toilets
* heating and electricity in the winter
* tanks in the middle of a war
Russia is a failed state. Maybe 20 years of occupation by UN peacekeepers would help.
Things that the US can't provide its citizens:
* public healthcare
* public safety (ranking 131st in the global peace index, behind China and UAE)
* free education
* employee benefitsThings that the US can provide its citizens:
The pride in its military, that requires 800 billion dollars per year.
The US is a failed state. Maybe 20 years of occupation by UN peacekeepers would help.
156 -
Good to know American companies continue to be targeted by Ukraine.
124 -
The country that is in the biggest economic mess just committed to increasing its aid to Ukraine for 2024. The UK, which has been in an economic mess due to Brexit, has committed @ $3.2 billion USD for 2024, up about $250 mil from 2023. The UK also signed a security pact with Ukraine, which Medvedev, the prince of darkness, quickly responded to claiming that any UK troops on the ground in Ukraine would be seen by RU as a "declaration of war" (how many times has Medvedev threatened to bomb, nuke, etc. if the West did xyz?). This will help pressure the US and EU to get their aid in gear and will give Ukraine some breathing room while those countries get their act together.
Russia is increasingly relying on arms from Iran and N. Korea, which strongly suggests that Russia is having serious issues with its arms industry due to sanctions, corruption and the fact that so many Russians have either fled the country, been killed or wounded in the war or are currently on the front lines. Just imagine if the US had to turn to Canada and Israel for arms during the Gulf War and what that would have meant about US arms production. Russia has also been accidentally bombing its own territory, showing signs of poorly trained conscripts and general war fatigue.
Ukraine has switched to a defensive posture, but is at risk for Russian breakthroughs if it is runs low on anti-tank munitions. Ukraine is also vulnerable to Russian air attacks if its air defenses are not replenished. Republicans opposing Ukraine aid are getting attack ads calling them Putin's puppets and agents of the Kremlin. So, it looks like the Biden administration and Dems are going to play chicken right now with Republicans to put pressure on them to move Ukraine funding and back off border issues. Ultimately, Biden and centrist dems will take a deal that includes harsh policies on immigration, but will exclude a wall and remain in Mexico policies. The EU is getting close to working a deal to get Hungary on board for Ukraine aid.
If all the aid packages finally get on track, I would anticipate that UA spends most of the winter and spring holding the line and trying to wear down RU in hopes of a repeat of the 2022 offensive that retook Kharkiv and Kherson. UA has learned that it cannot fight RU on RU's terms (trench/artillery warfare) and must breakdown RU's forces and advance through weak spots.
610 -
Military waste for rich Americans only wrote:
This is why we don't war. And this is why we don't involve ourselves with countries that have nothing to do with America. How many homeless could $1 billion help in America.
U.S. failed to track $1 billion in Ukraine military aid, watchdog says. The Pentagon inspector general’s findings come as President Biden urges Congress to pass a massive package of additional assistance for Ukraine
The logic and analytical shortcomings of this point are rather....notable. A few things off the top of my head, without being able to read the story:
- Failing to track does not equal failure to use properly. We could, unfortunately, have no idea where 100 Javelins went. That doesn't mean that 100 Javelins weren't used properly or successfully.
- Tracking military aid in a country at war where you have virtually no footprint is HARD. Even in 2024, it's hard.
- Even if we're far less careful or competent in tracking aid than we ought to be, that's not a great argument against providing it IF the cause is persuasive enough. Do you suppose that 100% of the Lend Lease material to our future allies (INCLUDING the USSR!!!) in WWII went to the RIGHT PLACE, and was used in the RIGHT WAY? Uh.....no. But the cause was stopping Hitler, so.....you tolerate something that's probably far from perfect.
710 -
Nnonequals wrote:
Military waste for rich Americans only wrote:
This is why we don't war. And this is why we don't involve ourselves with countries that have nothing to do with America. How many homeless could $1 billion help in America.
U.S. failed to track $1 billion in Ukraine military aid, watchdog says. The Pentagon inspector general’s findings come as President Biden urges Congress to pass a massive package of additional assistance for Ukraine
The logic and analytical shortcomings of this point are rather....notable. A few things off the top of my head, without being able to read the story:
- Failing to track does not equal failure to use properly. We could, unfortunately, have no idea where 100 Javelins went. That doesn't mean that 100 Javelins weren't used properly or successfully.
- Tracking military aid in a country at war where you have virtually no footprint is HARD. Even in 2024, it's hard.
- Even if we're far less careful or competent in tracking aid than we ought to be, that's not a great argument against providing it IF the cause is persuasive enough. Do you suppose that 100% of the Lend Lease material to our future allies (INCLUDING the USSR!!!) in WWII went to the RIGHT PLACE, and was used in the RIGHT WAY? Uh.....no. But the cause was stopping Hitler, so.....you tolerate something that's probably far from perfect.
Oh, and about homelessness: I'm very, very confident that less than 1% of Trumper morans currently against aid to Ukraine give ONE sh** about homeless people.
In other words: Massively, 100% transparently DISINGENUOUS.
(lastly, they're called "question marks")
710 -
Nnonequals wrote:
Military waste for rich Americans only wrote:
This is why we don't war. And this is why we don't involve ourselves with countries that have nothing to do with America. How many homeless could $1 billion help in America.
U.S. failed to track $1 billion in Ukraine military aid, watchdog says. The Pentagon inspector general’s findings come as President Biden urges Congress to pass a massive package of additional assistance for Ukraine
The logic and analytical shortcomings of this point are rather....notable. A few things off the top of my head, without being able to read the story:
- Failing to track does not equal failure to use properly. We could, unfortunately, have no idea where 100 Javelins went. That doesn't mean that 100 Javelins weren't used properly or successfully.
- Tracking military aid in a country at war where you have virtually no footprint is HARD. Even in 2024, it's hard.
- Even if we're far less careful or competent in tracking aid than we ought to be, that's not a great argument against providing it IF the cause is persuasive enough. Do you suppose that 100% of the Lend Lease material to our future allies (INCLUDING the USSR!!!) in WWII went to the RIGHT PLACE, and was used in the RIGHT WAY? Uh.....no. But the cause was stopping Hitler, so.....you tolerate something that's probably far from perfect.
I read the article and you've summarized the main points quite well.
That is, there is a book keeping issue because tracking stuff in the middle of a war zone is not the highest priority (which is not to downplay the importance of logistics in a war) and Ukraine doesn't have the infrastructure to comply with "normal" bean counting practices from a large number of supplier countries.
The article explicitly says there is no indication that weaponry is being misdirected, simply that the book keeping isn't what one might hope.
711 -
With the UK's funding, it only gets worse from here for Ukraine. Same for other countries who step forward to fund Ukraine.
Ukraine is already losing this war on full funding and full support right now. Current fundings are at various stages of exhaustion to outright ending.
As we see countries pull back funding amounts, that will translate on the battlefield and in Ukraine's society in meaningful ways. Like not allowing your neonazi problem to start civil wars then pretend Russia is the aggressor for not controlling your own far-right fascists.
We have not seen how Ukraine will do with less. And they still are not at the end of old funding. I'm excited to see them fail faster to end this war. Countries can burn their money to harm their own citizens domestically however they please. Won't change things on the battlefield.146 -
59
-
106
-
Ukraine is smaller now. wrote:
With the UK's funding, it only gets worse from here for Ukraine. Same for other countries who step forward to fund Ukraine.
Ukraine is already losing this war on full funding and full support right now. Current fundings are at various stages of exhaustion to outright ending.
As we see countries pull back funding amounts, that will translate on the battlefield and in Ukraine's society in meaningful ways. Like not allowing your neonazi problem to start civil wars then pretend Russia is the aggressor for not controlling your own far-right fascists.
We have not seen how Ukraine will do with less. And they still are not at the end of old funding. I'm excited to see them fail faster to end this war. Countries can burn their money to harm their own citizens domestically however they please. Won't change things on the battlefield.
We can thank America for helping Russia beat Ukraine. Team work!113 -
Russia is on course to lose 500,000 troops by end of 2024, after turning its forces into a 'low quality, high quantity mass army,' says UK intel
35 -
Yeah, I spent 3 years in Russia before leaving in 2020. Can't believe they are still throwing all this money and all these lives away. And that the majority of Russians I know support it.
When I was there the average salary was around 30k rubles. Less than $500. Such a poor country. They wish they were a global superpower, but even if they beat Ukraine it will have come at such a blow to their limited reputations. Global superpowers don't struggle to fight poor countries. This money could have been invested in the country and led to actual growth.
But I guess the Russians are happy with their current affairs, so I doubt much will change. Out of all the countries I've lived it was the most miserable. Such an apathetic country.
51 -
Asus wrote:
Susa wrote:
Russia is on course to lose 500,000 troops by end of 2024, after turning its forces into a 'low quality, high quantity mass army,' says UK intel
With all those dead Russians, why is Ukraine losing?
I don't care that they're losing. They're killing a lot of Russians, that's a good thing.
31
What People Are Talking About On LetsRun
No top threads at the moment. Check back soon.