Two excellent articles are out today that provide more clarity on the current situation in Ukraine. The first is by Larry Johnson. Johnson focuses on the issue of logistics to elucidate what’s been happening:Thanks for reading Meaning In History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
I just watched Patton last night, and it was pretty clear in the movie that Patton expected the Germans to attack before they did, and had staff working on planning the move.
That was why he was able to surprise the British at the conference with Eisenhower. (In the movie).
So Trump was right. Putin is a genius. His policies "are a.) rational and well explained and b.) thoroughly democratic in that they follow the public opinion of the majority of the people. They do not allow particular interest groups to have an oversized influence on it." Not like us.
I would further add that he has every interest in not winning this war. He is currently in control of more territory than he may have originally intended to attack and is destroying the enemy at will. The biggest bonus is the damage he is inflicting on NATO and us as the sanctions backfire and our supposed unity and military capacities are exposed as not worth much.
That's the strange conundrum about the SMO: going slowly gives the impression that they are bogged down and plain losing; but going slowly also draws out the economic agony for the EU. I fear that the West is so invested in winning in the Ukraine that they will do something really stupid in the months ahead. There are no sane voices or peacemakers on our side.
I mean not winning, ever. Just holding on to your position. Like Afghanistan, where we controlled the country with only 250 troops and had no casualties over the previous year and more. We didn't need a formal win. We did get a formal win in Vietnam, but when two years later the North invaded and we just ran away everybody thinks we lost.
So, maybe a bit like Stalingrad without the big city, Russia is allowing AFU forces to push deep. Once spent they’ll hit at the shoulders of the bulge and cut off the salient, bagging the whole bunch. Interesting to watch.
I just watched Patton last night, and it was pretty clear in the movie that Patton expected the Germans to attack before they did, and had staff working on planning the move.
That was why he was able to surprise the British at the conference with Eisenhower. (In the movie).
Not disputing any other points, though.
That film had a cartoonish level of accuracy.
The British were the ones dispensing the Ultra info, so the US was getting it from them. And it would have gone to Ike before Patton ever saw it.
Yes, I am talking "in the movie" only. Ultra was certainly not widely appreciated in 1970 the way it is today.
So Trump was right. Putin is a genius. His policies "are a.) rational and well explained and b.) thoroughly democratic in that they follow the public opinion of the majority of the people. They do not allow particular interest groups to have an oversized influence on it." Not like us.
I would further add that he has every interest in not winning this war. He is currently in control of more territory than he may have originally intended to attack and is destroying the enemy at will. The biggest bonus is the damage he is inflicting on NATO and us as the sanctions backfire and our supposed unity and military capacities are exposed as not worth much.
That's the strange conundrum about the SMO: going slowly gives the impression that they are bogged down and plain losing; but going slowly also draws out the economic agony for the EU. I fear that the West is so invested in winning in the Ukraine that they will do something really stupid in the months ahead. There are no sane voices or peacemakers on our side.
Agreed. It's the only way the sheep will ever wake up.
I mean not winning, ever. Just holding on to your position. Like Afghanistan, where we controlled the country with only 250 troops and had no casualties over the previous year and more. We didn't need a formal win. We did get a formal win in Vietnam, but when two years later the North invaded and we just ran away everybody thinks we lost.
So, maybe a bit like Stalingrad without the big city, Russia is allowing AFU forces to push deep. Once spent they’ll hit at the shoulders of the bulge and cut off the salient, bagging the whole bunch. Interesting to watch.
If you want to destroy an enemy who insists on digging in and mingling with the civilian population to protect themselves, that isn't a bad idea.
Ideology in place of reasoned interaction with reality does act like a drug.