BudmanTX
Well-Known Member
that's what i'm thinking as well, some way to get out of them.....just a thought....i've been listening to the russian media monitor to see if there is anything about it.....so far no....
War
- Thread starter captainmorgan
- Start date
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
i agree that it is a contest between good and evil...i just think russia is the evil in that formula.
printer
Well-Known Member
I got to 1:20.
Sativied
Well-Known Member
I was like who is this Steinmeyer… I’m guessing you googled president of Germany. FYI that’s mostly just a ceremonial function, no need to be unsure about him, it’s the cabinet and the chancellor (Scholz) who decide. Primarily thanks to Germany, Europe’s committed aid to Ukraine exceeds that of the US, is see no reason to doubt their commitment to a unified NATO response which surely is already developed in detail. One possible future of the war in Ukraine is that Putin awakened ze Germans.
As for France, they got stoners on nuclear subs who can identify other subs by hearing.
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
i'm not in Europe, i have to rely on what i read, and it's getting harder to find anything that says Europe is united against russia, or in support of Ukraine.I was like who is this Steinmeyer… I’m guessing you googled president of Germany. FYI that’s mostly just a ceremonial function, no need to be unsure about him, it’s the cabinet and the chancellor (Scholz) who decide. Primarily thanks to Germany, Europe’s committed aid to Ukraine exceeds that of the US, is see no reason to doubt their commitment to a unified NATO response which surely is already developed in detail. One possible future of the war in Ukraine is that Putin awakened ze Germans.
As for France, they got stoners on nuclear subs who can identify other subs by hearing.
(actual not a terrible movie)
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Vlad can't be stupid enough to attack in the same places in the north on the anniversary date of the invasion? The reception will be quite different this time. A lot of the panic we are hearing from the Ukrainians could be deception, if they are worried, they won't go on the offensive when the ground freezes and so far they have not.
If you expect a massive attack, it might be better to provoke it early if you can, before the Russians are fully prepared in the north. Then bust it up just before they begin their attack with HIMARS and artillery. Use deception and make the enemy think you are weaker than you really are. The Ukrainians will lose far fewer people defending than attacking and if the Russians try this kind of attack they will lose a lot of troops, many inside the Russian border. Tanks and APCs take ground and are used in offense, so they don't need them to defend against a Russian attack in the north, artillery would help a lot though. Lot's of extra armor in the spring would be helpful and now would be the time to get it. I'm sure the Ukrainians will have a winter offensive, but haven't seen one yet.
Retired general says Ukraine's arms request is 'a really big ask'
If you expect a massive attack, it might be better to provoke it early if you can, before the Russians are fully prepared in the north. Then bust it up just before they begin their attack with HIMARS and artillery. Use deception and make the enemy think you are weaker than you really are. The Ukrainians will lose far fewer people defending than attacking and if the Russians try this kind of attack they will lose a lot of troops, many inside the Russian border. Tanks and APCs take ground and are used in offense, so they don't need them to defend against a Russian attack in the north, artillery would help a lot though. Lot's of extra armor in the spring would be helpful and now would be the time to get it. I'm sure the Ukrainians will have a winter offensive, but haven't seen one yet.
Retired general says Ukraine's arms request is 'a really big ask'
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
he's right about the US wanting to put an end to russia in it's present form, but perhaps look at your own countries actions for the spirit of nazi-ism...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-lavrov-likens-us-actions-those-hitler-napoleon-2023-01-18/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-lavrov-likens-us-actions-those-hitler-napoleon-2023-01-18/
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Not just Uncle Sam, Vlad has many enemies and fucked with nearly every liberal democracy on the planet and is the kingpin of world fascism and it's biggest supporter in the west. America has the wind at it's back on this one, the cause is just and our collective national security interests are at stake. It will be the same with China unless they play ball, get smart, forget Taiwan, focus on central Asia with soft power and be ready to do the same with former Russian republics to the north, the path of least resistance. I think that policy might be causing some division in China and I've heard that power is being gradually removed from Xi, he doesn't have absolute control of the party apparently.
I thought that when Xi re-upped at the big CCP meeting that he consolidated his power to an even greater extent around him w/new appointments and retirements of any prior opposition that he previously paid lip service to. Hopefully w/the recent Covid policy reversal and the economic burden caused by the almost 3 yr. lockdown that people are talking and Xi isn't shining so much,I'd like to see a more moderate less nationalistic attitude from the Chinese leadership.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
He fucked up on Covid and with getting close to Vlad, a loser, Xi lost so much face over covid, it near fell off his skull and landed at his feet! The young bloods in the party are restless, there have been financial problems and internal ones too, one man rule for life does not end well and many of them know it.
Third-term Xi Jinping seizes the hour and misses his moment
China’s authoritarian leader fails to fulfil the promise he once showed at Davos
Third-term Xi Jinping seizes the hour and misses his moment
China’s authoritarian leader fails to fulfil the promise he once showed at Davos
If 2022 had been a “normal” political year in China, Davos would probably be celebrating President Xi Jinping as one of the most accomplished global leaders of the past decade.
As his predecessors did in 2002 and 2012 after serving two five-year terms, in October Xi had an opportunity to hand over leadership of the Chinese Communist party — before doing the same with the state presidency at the March 2023 meeting of the National People’s Congress.
Given his mastery of party politics, Xi could have dictated the choice of his successor and the other six members of the party’s top body, the politburo standing committee, while remaining a powerful force behind the scenes for the rest of his life.
A new-generation successor would then have greater leeway to adjust policies championed by Xi that were, arguably, needed at the time of their introduction but clung on to for too long, at too great a cost.
These include Xi’s crackdowns on two of China’s most important economic engines, the technology and property sectors, the zero-Covid policy that kept the pandemic at bay for almost three years but was ultimately unsustainable, and Xi’s stubborn support for the invasion of Ukraine by his “best friend” Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Instead, Xi has opted to cling to power, for at least one more term, and now presides over a chaotic and tragic retreat from zero-Covid, which will potentially lead to millions of avoidable deaths.
The party’s grip on the media may allow it to convince the majority of people in China that the hasty abandonment of zero-Covid was a well thought-out, low-cost strategy. But, for the millions who lose loved ones, and struggle to lay them to rest at overwhelmed crematoriums, the reality will be different.
China’s recently revised Covid death toll — almost 60,000 hospital-recorded fatalities since zero-Covid was abandoned in early December — as well as the chaos evident at its hospitals and morgues, suggest it is not just Xi’s administration that is less competent than it claims to be. It can be said of authoritarian regimes in general, especially as the military and economic costs of Russia’s Ukraine adventurism mount.
This is humbling for a president who, in January 2017, used the World Economic Forum’s summit as a platform to contrast the supposed stability of China’s model of party-state capitalism with the inward turn signalled that month by US President Donald Trump at his inauguration. It was an opportune time for Xi to position China as a responsible global power and try driving a wedge between the US and EU, especially as Trump unleashed trade sanctions against Beijing and Brussels.
In the EU, Xi’s support for Putin’s Ukraine invasion has eroded most of his geopolitical gains during Trump’s four years in office. It is another key policy adjustment that a Xi successor, rather than Xi himself, would be better placed to execute.
This month, China’s foreign ministry appeared to signal that it was more cognisant of the west’s concerns, when it unexpectedly sidelined one of its “wolf warrior” spokespersons, Zhao Lijian, to a department responsible for “boundary and ocean affairs”. Zhao’s demotion came days after Xi’s new foreign minister and previous ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, indicated his determination to repair relations with the US.
“China is trying to recover from Covid and [other] self-imposed traumas, including the economic slowdown,” says Yun Sun, a China foreign policy expert at the Stimson Center think-tank in Washington. “That requires China to have a better relationship with the rest of the world, especially with the west.”
It is unlikely Beijing will weaken its support for Russia, though, given the political capital Xi has invested in relations with Putin. Similarly, there is little doubt that Xi will receive near unanimous support for a third term as president at March’s parliamentary session, despite a litany of policy failures that would doom the hopes of any politician competing in a free and fair election.
This is not lost on many Chinese people, especially middle and upper-middle class professionals increasingly choosing to move abroad. “Every time there is a vote, there are few or no ‘No’ votes,” says one Chinese lawyer who recently moved to the US, referring to the National People’s Congress.
“Individuals from different backgrounds with different interests and different thoughts . . . how come they always agree on the same thing all the time? It’s not normal.”
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Everybody is ramping up the armor of all kinds for offensive operations in the spring, if the Ukrainians have a winter offensive, they will go with what they have already. I would guess the Ukrainians have been doing a lot of repair and rebuilding of Russian equipment and they should have enough force to strike the Russians somewhere enough to change the map.
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Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
Xi strikes me as an old school hardliner, who would rather go back to totalitarian dictatorship, but knows he can't, so he won't hand over the reigns to anyone else until he becomes physically or mentally unable to continue as leader. Xi is only 69, and i don't see any stories about him having any major health issues...so expect him to stick around for quite a while.He fucked up on Covid and with getting close to Vlad, a loser, Xi lost so much face over covid, it near fell off his skull and landed at his feet! The young bloods in the party are restless, there have been financial problems and internal ones too, one man rule for life does not end well and many of them know it.
Third-term Xi Jinping seizes the hour and misses his moment
China’s authoritarian leader fails to fulfil the promise he once showed at Davoswww.ft.com
Third-term Xi Jinping seizes the hour and misses his moment
China’s authoritarian leader fails to fulfil the promise he once showed at Davos
If 2022 had been a “normal” political year in China, Davos would probably be celebrating President Xi Jinping as one of the most accomplished global leaders of the past decade.
As his predecessors did in 2002 and 2012 after serving two five-year terms, in October Xi had an opportunity to hand over leadership of the Chinese Communist party — before doing the same with the state presidency at the March 2023 meeting of the National People’s Congress.
Given his mastery of party politics, Xi could have dictated the choice of his successor and the other six members of the party’s top body, the politburo standing committee, while remaining a powerful force behind the scenes for the rest of his life.
A new-generation successor would then have greater leeway to adjust policies championed by Xi that were, arguably, needed at the time of their introduction but clung on to for too long, at too great a cost.
These include Xi’s crackdowns on two of China’s most important economic engines, the technology and property sectors, the zero-Covid policy that kept the pandemic at bay for almost three years but was ultimately unsustainable, and Xi’s stubborn support for the invasion of Ukraine by his “best friend” Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Instead, Xi has opted to cling to power, for at least one more term, and now presides over a chaotic and tragic retreat from zero-Covid, which will potentially lead to millions of avoidable deaths.
The party’s grip on the media may allow it to convince the majority of people in China that the hasty abandonment of zero-Covid was a well thought-out, low-cost strategy. But, for the millions who lose loved ones, and struggle to lay them to rest at overwhelmed crematoriums, the reality will be different.
China’s recently revised Covid death toll — almost 60,000 hospital-recorded fatalities since zero-Covid was abandoned in early December — as well as the chaos evident at its hospitals and morgues, suggest it is not just Xi’s administration that is less competent than it claims to be. It can be said of authoritarian regimes in general, especially as the military and economic costs of Russia’s Ukraine adventurism mount.
This is humbling for a president who, in January 2017, used the World Economic Forum’s summit as a platform to contrast the supposed stability of China’s model of party-state capitalism with the inward turn signalled that month by US President Donald Trump at his inauguration. It was an opportune time for Xi to position China as a responsible global power and try driving a wedge between the US and EU, especially as Trump unleashed trade sanctions against Beijing and Brussels.
In the EU, Xi’s support for Putin’s Ukraine invasion has eroded most of his geopolitical gains during Trump’s four years in office. It is another key policy adjustment that a Xi successor, rather than Xi himself, would be better placed to execute.
This month, China’s foreign ministry appeared to signal that it was more cognisant of the west’s concerns, when it unexpectedly sidelined one of its “wolf warrior” spokespersons, Zhao Lijian, to a department responsible for “boundary and ocean affairs”. Zhao’s demotion came days after Xi’s new foreign minister and previous ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, indicated his determination to repair relations with the US.
“China is trying to recover from Covid and [other] self-imposed traumas, including the economic slowdown,” says Yun Sun, a China foreign policy expert at the Stimson Center think-tank in Washington. “That requires China to have a better relationship with the rest of the world, especially with the west.”
It is unlikely Beijing will weaken its support for Russia, though, given the political capital Xi has invested in relations with Putin. Similarly, there is little doubt that Xi will receive near unanimous support for a third term as president at March’s parliamentary session, despite a litany of policy failures that would doom the hopes of any politician competing in a free and fair election.
This is not lost on many Chinese people, especially middle and upper-middle class professionals increasingly choosing to move abroad. “Every time there is a vote, there are few or no ‘No’ votes,” says one Chinese lawyer who recently moved to the US, referring to the National People’s Congress.
“Individuals from different backgrounds with different interests and different thoughts . . . how come they always agree on the same thing all the time? It’s not normal.”
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Bad for China and probably bad for us too, however the wealth, NG and oil of central Asia beckon and the
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
I think the internet is gonna have a huge generational impact on China, despite the great firewall and attempts at control, it along with education and exposure to new ideas will cause social and political change, Xi is just helping it happen.
China's pessimistic Gen Z poses challenge for Xi post-COVID
The first weekend after COVID-19 restrictions ended last month, dozens of young Chinese jostled in the dark at a heavy-metal concert in a tiny Shanghai music venue that reeked of sweat and hard liquor.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
It depends on what we want as an outcome of this war. Of course it is a big ask, but the undercurrent of the good General’s monologue is that it is unreasonably big. That’s where I call bullshit. The good General sounds decidedly Republican with his spin.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Not really, his concerns were logistics, training and timetables, his professional concerns. I don't think he's republican and has been a Ukraine backer, his concerns in this instance are more pragmatic, I think he was taken aback and thought the Ukrainians better prepared like I do, and this this is partly a ruse IMHO and partly an attempt to be armed to the teeth. The more and better arms the less people you lose and your odds of success increase. Until you are ready to move however, it is very useful to have them attacking you in dug in positions and soaking up huge losses for no strategic benefit. At this point it's about killing Russians and destroying their equipment until they break, then driving them to the borders and shelling them beyond them as they retreat in disarray.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I have seen no news articles to dissuade me from the belief that the Ukrainians are getting exhausted and are up against the ropes. There’s no point in sending them the equipment a week too late.
I completely disagree with your “ruse” hypothesis.