Putin state of the nation address - news channels now.

[Wampus Cat]

13 hours ago, Staffsknot said:

The Gulf War was a force mismatch involving air superiority and rapid advances & complete dominance of comms and intelligence by professional forces against a force lacking in morale & only partly professional. It is nothing like the current conflict in Ukr.

The current fighting in Ukr has involved quite a lot of urban conflict with high attrition rates on attackers against well prepared defensive positions.

Each tank you see blown up is generally between 2 and 3 servicemen killed for starters if you want grizzly estimates

That's my point, if there's a mismatch in heavy weapons, then the attacker may suffer fewer casualties than the defender. I'm not suggesting the mismatch is as great as in the Gulf war, but there is still a mismatch.

[Wampus Cat]

20 hours ago, MarkG said:

I really hope to see the West try to "go balls deep into war" when they have an army of trannies and they sent most of their industrial production to China.

"Come, white men! We who have been calling you despicable scum and trying to disarm you for decades now need you to sign up and die for the oligarchs! Why won't you fight for us? Come, industrial workers! We know we shipped your jobs overseas and told you that you should learn to code or just die, but now we need you to make weapons for the valiant fight against people who have never called you a useless eater! Why won't you slave away eighteen hours a day to keep us in power over you?"

Allegedly the Russian Foreign Minister recently told the US that if they send long-range weapons to Ukraine which are used to attack Russia, Russia will feel perfectly justified in launching conventional attacks on the US. I don't know if it's true, but it would make a lot of sense.

As for China, they haven't yet declared war on the US but if there is a declaration of war to come it will probably look much like the document the Chinese Foreign Ministry just published.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/202302/t20230220_11027664.html

When a country's foreign ministry writes a document about its largest trading partner "to expose the U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, and to draw greater international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace and stability and the well-being of all peoples," you know shit has already been flung toward the fan.

China's top diplomat just met Putin in Moscow, and the Chinese have announced that Xi is going to meet him there soon.

I don't think the "Rah! Rah! Ukraine! Rah! Rah!" NPCs have any idea of what a shit-show they've helped to create.

But I'm guessing they soon will.

Fair point - China is a great unknown that could tip this war into a massive escalation. I hope that China is just sabre rattling because it's sore that Biden is openly backing Taiwan, a Chinese red line.

China still needs America to buy it's products and the CCP depends on Chinese economic growth to stay in power, this might be enough to stop China from intervening directly in the war, but it might still become a Russian supplier- a calculated pushback against America throwing its weight around in Asia.

 

[Staffsknot]

9 hours ago, Wampus Cat said:

That's my point, if there's a mismatch in heavy weapons, then the attacker may suffer fewer casualties than the defender. I'm not suggesting the mismatch is as great as in the Gulf war, but there is still a mismatch.

Only if they are using it effectively and in a superior, coordinated way. Which there is little evidence of.

Urban combat strips most of your advantages of firepower back and brings near parity so often it doesn't even if you do it well.

[Staffsknot]

9 hours ago, Wampus Cat said:

NATO is the organisation watching the area the pipeline was destroyed, it was just outside Danish waters. Nothing was seen because the US and Norway probably did it, and the explosives were planted months ago.

Also you have to ask 'who benefits?' Russia does not benefit from blowing up their own pipeline, and thus their leverage over Germany.

You really think Russia is not observing that area, especially during a NATO exercise - I have a bridge at a cheap rate if you are interested 

[Staffsknot]

10 hours ago, dugsbody said:

You live in rural Canada I think and from memory, most of your posts, you despise liberal Western governments?

So, while I was reading your post, all the while I was wondering, "how would this guy react if Russia annexed the territory he lives in", but then I realised, you'd probably actually enjoy it. A real man running your new country, rides bare chest on horseback, doesn't like poofters, and doesn't mess around with namby pamby tolerant stuff. Disagree with him and you're going to enjoy a brief visit to the 27th floor, then a fast visit to every other floor on the way down.

It sounds like that is the sort of power you respect.

The crazies are out in force

[yelims]