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Putin invaded Ukraine because the West’s military is weak – and he’s right [UK]
inews.co.uk ^ | February 7, 2023 | Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

Posted on 02/07/2023 10:20:26 PM PST by familyop

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To: buwaya

“And the rest of NATO was way worse off.”

Not sure what you’re talking about, but NATO is certainly now FAR WORSE OFF than they were a year ago, having disposed of most of their ground hardware in Ukraine...while needing 5 to 10 years to get re-armed, and then only if Russia and/or China agree to supply us with some of the key raw materials that our military needs.

So, in the end, was it really worth disarming NATO when the Ukraine outcome wasn’t going to change? In my opinion yes, based on NATO’s behavior towards Russia and in Serbia and Syria.


21 posted on 02/08/2023 5:02:10 AM PST by BobL
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To: familyop
Putin invaded, because of Biden's weakness and his stupid comments.

“Russia will be held accountable if it invades, and it depends on what it does,” Biden said, when asked how he would hold Russia accountable for an invasion.

“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion, and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.

22 posted on 02/08/2023 5:03:31 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on bour Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: DesertRhino

Don’t mind the zeepers, you’re spot on.


23 posted on 02/08/2023 5:04:01 AM PST by This_Dude
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To: DesertRhino
boxed him into a corner

what a crock ... Putin is a warmongering a-hole, *nobody* forced him to invade, he freely chose to

because that's what warmongering a-holes do


24 posted on 02/08/2023 5:10:39 AM PST by canuck_conservative (12th month, no end in sight)
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To: jerod; MarMema
Because that midget Putin has a hard on for his hero’s Hitler and Napoleon, and he wants to emulate them

thank you for that brutally honest post

of course, the Russian shills here will have trouble accepting such simple truths!

Russia could have done better with a Rhesus monkey in charge ... at least a lot more Russians would be alive today


25 posted on 02/08/2023 5:14:36 AM PST by canuck_conservative (12th month, no end in sight)
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To: BobL

There have been, since 2/2023, large increases in defense budgets across NATO, large purchases of arms, ammo and equipment, much investment in military industries, increases in readiness including a large number of exercises, etc. As well as that, a large increase in, apparently, prepositioned stocks from the US and an increase in US forces permanently stationed in Europe.

And, of course, two new members of NATO.

Readiness is up, not down. The slowpokes are the Germans because of their many dysfunctions.


26 posted on 02/08/2023 5:17:46 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: BobL

“most of their ground hardware”

Now that is simply insane. Go count noses, use wiki, and then repeat that.


27 posted on 02/08/2023 5:20:39 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: BobL
NATO is certainly now FAR WORSE OFF than they were a year ago, having disposed of most of their ground hardware in Ukraine...while needing 5 to 10 years to get re-armed

Complete nonsense. Poland for instance, sent its old tanks to Ukraine, and is now replacing them with the newest South Korean K2 tank.

Poland is buying 486 HIMARS launchers from the U.S.

- Poland is also buying 288 equivalent Chunmoo MLRS systems from South Korea.

Oh, and also 1366 Main Battle Tanks (Abrams, K2 & K2PL)

28 posted on 02/08/2023 5:25:17 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on bour Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: BobL

Your “historical facts” seem to not include my historical facts - which is all the relevant facts. It comes down to your persistent problem of picking only whatever facts suit your argument while ignoring all others.


29 posted on 02/08/2023 5:26:00 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: canuck_conservative; jerod

Putin looked and saw his 70th birthday approaching. He is literally running out of time.

Russia is paranoid over another invasion from the west and must have a buffer to absorb the shock until forces can be marshaled and directed. Presently, Ukraine is that buffer.

To assure the survival of Mother Russia, Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine while he was alive to see it done and collect the legacy

The reinstallation of a buffer is the sole reason for the invasion


30 posted on 02/08/2023 5:27:43 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality day )
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To: tlozo

“Poland is buying 486 HIMARS launchers from the U.S.
- Poland is also buying 288 equivalent Chunmoo MLRS systems from South Korea.
Oh, and also 1366 Main Battle Tanks (Abrams, K2 & K2PL) “

Sorry, missed the delivery dates.


31 posted on 02/08/2023 5:36:02 AM PST by BobL
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To: buwaya

“There have been, since 2/2023, large increases in defense budgets across NATO, large purchases of arms, ammo and equipment, much investment in military industries, increases in readiness including a large number of exercises, etc. “

Sorry, missed the delivery dates.


32 posted on 02/08/2023 5:36:54 AM PST by BobL
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To: buwaya

“Your “historical facts” seem to not include my historical facts”

You’re in Europe where there isn’t even a First Amendment, so that probably explains why you guys are fed different information.


33 posted on 02/08/2023 5:38:11 AM PST by BobL
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To: BobL
Sorry, missed the delivery dates.

Poland would take delivery of the first Korean K2 MBTs and K9A1 howitzers on 2nd December. Last ones supplied by 2025, so no not "5-10 years" as you stated.

Poland signed framework agreements back in July, with Hyundai Rotem, on the delivery of 1,000 K2 and K2PL MBTs in total, and with Hanwha Defense, regarding 672 K9A1/K9PL howitzers. Performance contracts on the delivery of 180 K2 MBTs and 212 K9A1 howitzers were signed in August. The former one is to be finalized by 2025 and has a value of USD 3.43 bn. The latter one, with a value of USD 2.4 bn., would be finalized by 2026. Both agreements include logistical support, and training packages, along with large quantities of munitions.

https://defence24.com/armed-forces/timeline-set-for-the-first-k2-and-k9a1-deliveries-for-poland

34 posted on 02/08/2023 5:46:33 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on bour Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: BobL

I lived in the US for forty years. To the intense unhappiness of my wife I ended up with a library of thousands of volumes, in the main modern history. I had to get rid of most of that upon retiring abroad.

One book I kept is actually by my wife’s distant relative, John Lewis Gaddis - The Cold War: A new history”. Get it. Read it. You may want to expand from there.


35 posted on 02/08/2023 6:04:43 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: BobL; DavidThomas
“He (Putin) wants to create the Russian empire that existed during the Cold War.”

Link please.


You want links, here are links.

Putin has called the dissolution of the USSR the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the twentieth century and has said he’d like to change it. Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-putin-idUSKCN1GE2TF The big problem, as Putin saw it, was: “Tens of millions of our co-citizens and co-patriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself.” Link: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/mar/06/john-bolton/did-vladimir-putin-call-breakup-ussr-greatest-geop/ That link also includes an analysis of Putin’s mindset: “The ‘upshot’ of the speech was that if the greatest geopolitical tragedy was the breakup of the USSR, the greatest geopolitical achievement should be the reformulation of a Russian superstate, said Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow in Russian and Eurasian studies at the Heritage Foundation.”

In December of 2021, Putin returned to this theme:

"President Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago as the demise of what he called 'historical Russia' and said the economic crisis that followed was so bad he was forced to moonlight as a taxi driver.

"Putin's comments, released by state TV on Sunday, are likely to further fuel speculation about his foreign policy intentions among critics, who accuse him of planning to recreate the Soviet Union and of contemplating an attack on Ukraine, a notion the Kremlin has dismissed as fear-mongering."

Link: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-rues-soviet-collapse-demise-historical-russia-2021-12-12/

Yeah, right, fear-mongering.
36 posted on 02/08/2023 6:14:26 AM PST by Eagle Forgotten
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Be careful of those gators and crocks....


37 posted on 02/08/2023 6:19:56 AM PST by deport
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To: Eagle Forgotten

“Putin has called the dissolution of the USSR the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe””

Now do you have a link stating that he wants to restore the SOVIET UNION, not (maybe) Czarist Russia.

Hint: It doesn’t exist, but nice try!


38 posted on 02/08/2023 6:57:45 AM PST by BobL
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To: tlozo

We’ll see if South Korea is even around that long, now that we’ve CANNIBILIZED their defenses and dumped them in Ukraine.


39 posted on 02/08/2023 7:02:45 AM PST by BobL
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To: BobL
South Korea...now that we’ve CANNIBILIZED their defenses

These are new production South Korean K2 tanks.

40 posted on 02/08/2023 7:25:09 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on bour Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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