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The US is growing increasingly frustrated with Ukraine's tactics. It could put the counteroffensive in jeopardy.
Business Insider via Yahoo ^ | September 4th, 2023 | Sophia Ankel

Posted on 09/04/2023 7:59:57 AM PDT by Mariner

US officials are growing frustrated with how Ukraine is fighting the war, The New York Times said.

The officials are worried that Ukrainian forces are not consolidating their power in the right areas.

If Ukraine wants to speed up its counteroffensive, it will need to change tactics, they said.

As Ukraine presses ahead in its slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia, some US officials appear to be growing increasingly concerned.

Half a dozen US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The New York Times and other outlets that they are starting to question some of Ukraine's military tactics, including where on the frontline they are placing their combat units.

Ukrainian commanders are dividing their forces equally between the east and the south of the country when they should be consolidating them more in the south, the officials said.

They urged Ukraine to push through the vast minefields left behind by Russia in the area, even if this means losing more soldiers and equipment in the process, according to the reports.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: counteroffensivefail; haha; itistolaugh; sophiaankel; thatsashame
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To: Worldtraveler once upon a time

LOL! I’m thinking what you are. All of these reports, many are from apparently authoritative sources, seem to be wildly conflicting. Right now the only thing I need to think about the war is its a hideous monstrosity that needs to be ended as soon as possible.


21 posted on 09/04/2023 8:27:40 AM PDT by libstripper
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To: kabar

Ukraine (maybe) cannot win.

But at the same time, Russia can lose.

It is not a matter of political will, but popular will. Russia is obviously scrambling to replace its ranks, and is even irritating its neighbors by openly trying to recruit in places such as Kazakhstan, where both recruiting and being recruited by a foreign nation is illegal.

At the same time, nobody likes Russians, who as Soviets made absolute swine of themselves and ruined many other nations. And many feel that with any success, Russia may turn on them next.

So for all their faults, there is much sympathy to Ukraine, or at least hope that they take Russia down several pegs.


22 posted on 09/04/2023 8:27:51 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All he had was a handgun. Why did you think that was a threat?" --Rittenhouse Prosecutor)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Racist against white conservative Russians much?


23 posted on 09/04/2023 8:31:07 AM PDT by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: kiryandil
--- "Russia is in tatters. TATTERS, I tell you!"

If they are not careful, someone might throw a BRICS through their window -- of "opportunity" to use Blinken's term.... :)

24 posted on 09/04/2023 8:32:47 AM PDT by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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To: Mariner
The US is growing increasingly frustrated with Ukraine's tactics. It could put the counteroffensive in jeopardy.

‘MILITARY MALPRACTICE’: Armchair generals in and out of government should stop “chirping from the sidelines” and let Ukraine fight the Russian invaders in the way they think best, says the four-star Army general who advocated the 2007 troop surge credited with turning the tide of the battle in Iraq. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, retired Gen. Jack Keane, former Army vice chief of staff, calls the frustration by some U.S. military officers over the way Ukraine is conducting its counteroffensive “alarming.”

“U.S. military experts appear to want the Ukrainians to hold on all other fronts and focus on a single thrust toward Melitopol. Such advice is military malpractice,” writes Keane, who is chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for the Study of War. “No one in the American military today has designed large-scale mechanized operations against a serious and capable enemy that is employing a comprehensive defense. The last time was the Metz campaign in France in 1944, led by Gen. George S. Patton.”

“American officers appear to have unrealistic expectations of what a single counteroffensive operation can achieve,” he says. “America should stop the criticism about what Ukraine is doing and focus instead on helping Ukraine achieve our common aims as rapidly as possible. That would be sound strategy.”

‘STRETCH, STARVE, AND STRIKE’: Keane says Ukraine is wisely employing a strategy dubbed “stretch, starve, and strike” by Britain’s top military officer, Adm. Tony Radakin, chief of the U.K. defense staff.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/us-second-guessing-of-ukraines-counteroffensive-strategy-is-military-malpractice-says-architect-of-2007-iraq-surge

25 posted on 09/04/2023 8:32:56 AM PDT by tlozo ( Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees )
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To: Cen-Tejas

NYT unnamed sources?

This is the CIA trying to shape the narrative for ANOTHER spectacular neocon failure.


26 posted on 09/04/2023 8:35:31 AM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman! )
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To: Mariner

Counter offensive? What counter offensive?


27 posted on 09/04/2023 8:36:06 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA (The Delay Trump’s trial, delay. Elect Trump President. Trump pardons himself. )
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To: PGR88

> I’m surprised the US deep-state gave its client state and puppets Kiev in that much operational freedom

They didn’t, but then they would have to admit NATO tactics are hopelessly obsolete.


28 posted on 09/04/2023 8:37:26 AM PDT by DarkSavant
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To: Mariner

“ tactics” won’t change the outcome of a war based on fatally flawed strategy and the flawed assumptions on which it is based.

Like not knowing or understanding the “enemy”


29 posted on 09/04/2023 8:38:09 AM PDT by silverleaf (Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out” —David Horowitz)
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To: Mariner

The Uke Nazi counter offensive is designed to move the maximum amount of American dollars and gold to Ukraine Oligarchs, and is extremely effective, ... except at keeping Ukrainians alive.


30 posted on 09/04/2023 8:39:04 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Celebrate Decivilization)
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To: Nextrush
Ukraine is winning so big that Zelensky fired the Defense Minister this weekend.

And in the Russian side, Putin 'fired' his biggest offensive general, Prigozhin.
31 posted on 09/04/2023 8:41:08 AM PDT by adorno
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To: Mariner

“They urged Ukraine to push through the vast minefields left behind by Russia in the area, even if this means losing more soldiers and equipment in the process, according to the reports.”

It’s easy for the US Generals to tell Ukraine to use human wave tactics, since it’s not THEIR UNITS that are getting destroyed.


32 posted on 09/04/2023 8:42:26 AM PDT by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart, I just don't tell anyone)
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To: foundedonpurpose

> The Ukrainian offensive is done, a sad and pathetic joke from Zelinski and his US counterparts. They will rot in hell. The destruction of Ukraine to protect the ass wipe Bidens, is evil beyond words...

After getting embarrassed in Afghanistan, the Military Industrial Complex is desperate for a show of power, which is why U.S. boots to the ground is likely unstoppable. There’s too much momentum and money involved for a reasonable retreat. Another major defeat will cause more untethering with America worldwide.

A lot of old-schoolers here don’t want to recognize the new reality, that Heritage Americans are now seen as second class citizens, and the only way to regain our homeland is for the Global American Empire to suffer catastrophic economic and military defeats.


33 posted on 09/04/2023 8:43:24 AM PDT by DarkSavant
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To: tlozo
“U.S. military experts appear to want the Ukrainians to hold on all other fronts and focus on a single thrust toward Melitopol. Such advice is military malpractice,” writes Keane, who is chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for the Study of War.”

I didn’t realize General Jack Keane had been purchased by the Kagan-Nudelman (Nuland) lobby

34 posted on 09/04/2023 8:43:29 AM PDT by silverleaf (Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out” —David Horowitz)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy
It is not a matter of political will, but popular will. Russia is obviously scrambling to replace its ranks,

You don’t know jack chit about a proper military and you blindly consume propaganda without any critical thinking. Russia is not scrambling to replace its ranks. They fire/replace generals and officers when they do not meet their objectives. They have 300k of troops in reserve. Perhaps, you are used to how our military is run. Our woke generals and officers get promotions when they don’t perform.

35 posted on 09/04/2023 8:43:41 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA (The Delay Trump’s trial, delay. Elect Trump President. Trump pardons himself. )
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To: Mariner

“If they can’t fornicate, they can’t fight!
And if they don’t fight hard, I’ll flog their backs raw”

Vicky Nuland channels Lord Cardigan, 2023 (colorized)


36 posted on 09/04/2023 8:44:23 AM PDT by CapandBall
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To: Mariner

Who needs a counteroffensive? Ukraine has already won. I heard and read about it on the news.


37 posted on 09/04/2023 8:44:48 AM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and harder to find.)
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To: Cen-Tejas

“My advice to the Ukrainians is to have a good belly laugh and then keep on keeping on.”

Very true - Ukraine will not be permitted to lose before the 2024 November election (for obvious reasons), so it’s very likely they will do just what you say.


38 posted on 09/04/2023 8:45:39 AM PDT by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart, I just don't tell anyone)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy; All

This post is an example of why people who do not know or understand their “ enemy’ have almost zero chance of defeating them


39 posted on 09/04/2023 8:47:06 AM PDT by silverleaf (Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out” —David Horowitz)
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To: Mariner; Saint Athanasius
They urged Ukraine to push through the vast minefields …

Wow…. these neo-cons aren’t subtle anymore are they?

40 posted on 09/04/2023 8:47:37 AM PDT by rhinohunter (“Being woke means you’re a loser” — Donald J. Trump)
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