[Travis McGee]

STANDARD MOCKINGBIRD DISCLAIMER

[PGR88]

He’ll shut up after his consulting check clears the bank.

[Jeff Chandler]

Heck it’s barely January and I’m already burned through and exhausted.

[ryderann]

Good time for Xi to move troops up into eastern Russia.

[MinorityRepublican]

Supposedly they will mobilize 500,000 troops. But wait and see what happens.

[Chode]

no worries, 500,000 fresh meat on the way...

[hardspunned]

What a fool! Anyone following the Biden PR team here at FR would know the Russian military burnt out in March, April, May, June and so forth.

[Lockbox]

What? We were told Ukraine was winning, what happened! 🧐

[MeganC]

The Russians are clearly being defeated but don’t underestimate their capacity for waging a lost cause. This war has a long way to go.

[trebb]

Same story - different month.
Almost like they keep telling Ukraine forces, “Just hang on one more time - your sacrifice will save us all” - as they rake in the bucks from the money laundering.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Given the history of these predictions in Afghanistan and Iraq, I’ll wait to actually see it to believe it.

[SERE_DOC]

Sorry but this ex-nato buffoon couldn't do with all of Nato and member countries against the taliban in 20 years (no matter what the reason) they expect anyone to by off on his predicting what the Russians abilities, capabilities or out come is going to be?

The reality of the Ukraine is, they were shelling for 8-9 years the Donbas region + others and now we are pissing money to prop up ostensibly another corrupt dirtbag thug.

[Kazan]

https://sonar21.com/bob-gates-and-condoleezza-rice-want-more-cow-bell-while-russia-pulverizes-ukraine/

The West is not holding back on sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. Just the opposite. The United States and NATO have sent Ukraine an unprecedented amount of aid and it has not stopped the Russians. Moreover, the United States and NATO no longer have ample stocks of some key weapon systems and ammunition, especially artillery shells, to send to Ukraine. The military cupboard is bare.

But let us ignore reality and indulge the fantasy that NATO can magically find, “longer-range missiles, advanced drones, significant ammunition stocks (including artillery shells), and more reconnaissance and surveillance capability” to send to Ukraine. Who is going to operate those weapon systems? And the timeline for training Ukrainian troops to operate these systems with some measure of competence is counted in months at a minimum.

###

Multiple sources now are reporting that Ukraine is suffering catastrophic casualties as they desperately try to hold on the Bakhmut:

Russian forces have ground down their Ukrainian opponents in fierce fighting near Bakhmut/Artyomovsk, with an American mercenary commander recently acknowledging that Ukraine is suffering “extraordinarily high casualties” in that sector, and Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Vadim Pristaiko, describing his side’s casualties as “huge” and “indigestible.”

Kiev has publicly proclaimed that it plans a major offensive in the spring, but Rice and Gates wrote that Ukraine may have “weeks, not months” to stay in the fight.

https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/273331096/ukraine-running-out-of-time-former-us-officials

###

The truth is that Russia is methodically moving forward and Ukraine has been unable to mount a credible counter offense.

###

Robert Gates and Condoleezza Rice got one thing right, Ukraine may only have weeks, not months, before it is overwhelmed.