Posted on 03/26/2022 3:20:17 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
Russian morale is rock bottom, but they are adapting. As they dig in, they resort to laying reams of mines alongside roads and around their positions. The Ukrainians, who lack mine-clearing equipment, find themselves now unable to get close enough to use some of their much-vaunted anti-tank systems. The British-made NLAW, for instance, which has done sterling work throughout the campaign so far, has an effective range of only 500 meters in the hands of a good gunner (this despite what the manuals say, since feedback from the field is just that).
Assets such as small drones, which are regarded as being de rigueur for effective small unit operations in the U.S. military, are in short supply here – and the ones that the Ukrainians possess are vulnerable to Russian interference. Ukrainian soldiers use their cell phones to communicate because they don’t have secure radios – and by doing so make themselves a target for Russian artillery. They drive their own cars to the front because official vehicles are not available. A fleet of Toyota pick-ups with cross-country capability would make all the difference, the colonel told me, assuming as so many here do that because I am an American I have easy access to such things.
Despite stories in the media that appear to indicate that the Ukrainian military is now one of the best equipped and supplied armies in the world thanks to Western largess, bureaucratic and logistic difficulties plague the equitable distribution of badly needed assets. And everything the Ukrainians need costs money – something that they simply don’t have. A friend of mine, an American who has lived in the city for some 30 years, runs one of the leading non-government organizations devoted to the defense of Ukraine, and yet has amassed a paltry $400,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at taskandpurpose.com ...
“A warrior’s chief concern is personal survival. Soldiers fight for causes. Warriors fight for personal aggrandizement.”
I could cite numerous examples to the contrary.
But, on a basic level: A Comanche brave was a warrior, and sought personal glory (aggrandizement), as it was his culture. But he didn’t give a shit about personal survival, and would fight like hell to protect his family (cause).
Putin's trying to acquire by threats what he can't achieve by yet another of his wars of aggression. Biden and Putin are indeed on the same side, Biden having worked for years to undermine Ukraine, just like Putin has. So far, Putin's managed to destroy property, destroy and lose equipment, kill thousands of people, send thousands of his stooges to their deaths and disfigurement, and crush the Russian economy. His war turned rapidly into just another Russian fiasco, and Ukrainians aren't buying his Russian BS.
Warriors throughout history would disagree with you. Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae were certainly warriors; yet, they died for Sparta: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by; that here, obedient to their laws, we lie." History is replete with examples of soldiers having loyalty only to themselves, and whose cause is often just his own survival. That is not at all to demean soldiers. I am merely pointing out that you can't pigeon-hole warriors and soldiers into two restricted categories: There are many exceptions, and many overlaps.
That’s a real stretch.
So, these are the guys who are winning? (according to MSM, including FOX.)
Cannon fodder. Quantity has a quality of its own. But communism has destroyed the Russian soul. So they are not longer reproducing. So they no longer have the cannon fodder advantage that they've used to subjugate their rivals.
“Cannon fodder. Quantity has a quality of its own. But communism has destroyed the Russian soul. So they are not longer reproducing. So they no longer have the cannon fodder advantage that they’ve used to subjugate their rivals.”
Yup.
Alex Christoforou at about the nine minute mark of this video breaks down how ridiculous the NATO numbers are and amount to the Ukrainian military killing a higher percentage of Russians in 28 days than the Nazi military did in 41 days in the same area in WWII:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWSdfUb7omQ
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/03/i-
In recent years, it's hard to think of too many instances of high intensity warfare involving fairly well-armed adversaries - including one of the superpowers - that was stalled the way the Russian invasion is. For a few weeks, the Tet Offensive was one of them. It is a bit long in the tooth, but the closest thing I can think off. During a two-month stretch, the US and South Vietnam lost an average of 175 KIA/MIA a day, combined, compared to the NVA/Vietcong's 750 dead a day. Note that the US and South Vietnam were defending, and the NVA/Vietcong were attacking. The US had air supremacy and fire superiority, and the NVA/Vietcong lacked the expensive man-portable PGM's, effective from a mile away, with which the Ukrainians have been supplied.
The NVA/Vietcong had the benefit of $3.6b in current dollars of equipment per year in Russian aid.
Under the rule of Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union initially supported North Vietnam out of “fraternal solidarity”. However, as the war escalated, Khrushchev urged the North Vietnamese leadership to give up the quest of liberating South Vietnam. He continued by rejecting an offer of assistance made by the North Vietnamese government, and instead told them to enter negotiations in the United Nations Security Council.[90] After Khrushchev’s ousting, Brezhnev resumed aiding the communist resistance in Vietnam. In February 1965, Premier Kosygin visited Hanoi with a dozen Soviet air force generals and economic experts.[91] Over the course of the war, Brezhnev’s regime would ultimately ship $450 million worth of arms annually to North Vietnam.[92]
They also received substantial amounts of Chinese weaponry and other equipment:
Military aid given to North Vietnam by China[3]: 379
Year Guns Artillery pieces Bullets Artillery shells Radio transmitters Telephones Tanks Planes Automobiles 1964 80,500 1,205 25,240,000 335,000 426 2,941 16 18 25 1965 220,767 4,439 114,010,000 1,800,000 2,779 9,502 ? 2 114 1966 141,531 3,362 178,120,000 1,066,000 1,568 2,235 ? ? 96 1967 146,600 3,984 147,000,000 1,363,000 2,464 2,289 26 70 435 1968 219,899 7,087 247,920,000 2,082,000 1,854 3,313 18 ? 454 1969 139,900 3,906 119,117,000 1,357,000 2,210 3,453 ? ? 162 1970 101,800 2,212 29,010,000 397,000 950 1,600 ? ? ? 1971 143,100 7,898 57,190,000 1,899,000 2,464 4,424 80 4 4,011 1972 189,000 9,238 40,000,000 2,210,000 4,370 5,905 220 14 8,758 1973 233,500 9,912 40,000,000 2,210,000 4,335 6,447 120 36 1,210 1974 164,500 6,406 30,000,000 1,390,000 5,148 4,663 80 ? 506 1975 141,800 4,880 20,600,000 965,000 2,240 2,150 ? 20 ? Total 1,922,897 64,529 1,048,207,000 17,074,000 30,808 48,922 560 164 15,771
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.