Winston Churchill defined Russia when he said they’re “Either at your throat, or at your feet.”

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Is Ukraine blackmailing Biden into a losing WW3?

Disaster for America will come, and quickly, unless Biden stops the hurtling war-train. Except Ukraine may have a hold on him. Op-ed.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/320983

Halfway through reading this I had to go back see who published it. Holy shit what a hilarious, history ignoring jumble of trash.

Jumble of trash? Exactly what 'History' is being ignored in that article?

I'm sure Neville Biden will do a SPLENDID job and bring "peace in our time". What a phukktard!!!

quote:

Originally posted by satch:
Winston Churchill defined Russia when he said they’re “Either at your throat, or at your feet.”

“The Hun [Germany] is always either at your throat or at your feet.”
— Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill defined Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

Thank you guys forthe kind words.

My SIL when asked how it was going in Kharkiv said people are swapping karavay recipes

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
Winston Churchill defined Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

The Western mind has a hard time understanding Russia.

This thing going on in Ukraine is as an example.

Our elites did not understand and probably still don't how important Ukraine is to Russia and the extent they would go to protect their interests their.

We thought we could kind of slow roll, sleep-walk (Biden) into joining the West/NATO.

It was a mistake. Now we are not in position to actually protect Ukraine and will look pretty foolish for having dabbled their.

I see Ukraine as Georgia 2.0 (the country not the state).

I just hope we are smart enough to not send a Stryker Brigade to take on multiple Russian armored divisions. It will not go well and we will be forced to greatly escalate or walk away with our tail between our legs.

“The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinaman or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them, except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other Asiatic characteristics, the Russian has no regard for human life and is an all out son of bitch, barbarian, and chronic drunk.”

General George S. Patton

If Russia and China are smart and play the long game like they've been playing, they do nothing but sit back and crack open a beer and watch us destroy ourselves.

Then come in and pick up the pieces.

One really has to be awed at the astounding level of incompetence from this administration.

Afghanistan part Deux?

*******

Biden admin says it may not be able to evacuate Americans from Ukraine if Russia invades

President Joe Biden’s administration said on Sunday that it will not be able to evacuate Americans from Ukraine as a Russian invasion of the neighboring nation appears imminent.

“To be clear, President Biden has said military action by Russia could come at any time. The United States Government will not be in a position to evacuate U.S. citizens in such a contingency,” a senior State Department official said on Sunday during a special briefing via teleconference. “So U.S. citizens currently present in Ukraine should plan accordingly, including by availing themselves of commercial options should they choose to leave the country.”

https://americanmilitarynews.c...e-if-russia-invades/

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:
Kharkiv was traded 3 times during WW2 and each time it was very bloody....

Kharkiv/Kharkov changed hands four times during WW2.

The Germans initially attacked and took the city in October 1941. (First Battle of Kharkov).

The Soviets tried to take it back in May 1942 but failed (Second Battle of Kharkov), before eventually retaking it in February 1943 when the Germans withdrew from the city while consolidating their lines in the face of a large post-Stalingrad Soviet offensive (Operation Zvezda).

The Germans then quickly counterattacked and retook it again in March 1943 (Third Battle of Kharkov).

It was finally attacked and retaken by the Soviets in August 1943 (Fourth Battle of Kharkov).

This isn't an endorsement of Putin, just a look at the situation from the Russian perspective.

They don't have an ocean to protect them from their historic enemies. They can and have each walked into the others country during a war.
Ukraine is right next door. Much like Mexico or Canada is to us.

We feel some insecurity when Russia has made inroads into Cuba, Venezuela and other central American countries. We fought the Vietnam War and in Korea, on the other side of the world, under the domino theory. To keep them out. Some may remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. We made some mistakes in judgement in the execution in those but the theory wasn't without some merit.

They look at Ukraine as the last domino in NATO's march to mother Russia. They lost all of their buffer when the Soviet Union fell and if Ukraine ever becomes a NATO member they are surrounded by enemies, in their view anyway. Some cooperation with China is just a marriage of convenience right now, much as ours was with them during WW2. As soon as that ended,our artificial friendship did too.

If this does become a hot land war, they are right next door and their forces are under one country's command.

The US & NATO need to move a lot of troops and equipment a long way and there is really no central command or common will or even vision on our side. Look how long the build up took before Iraq. Where are the countries efforts on the west side of Ukraine?

The only real counter we have is the threat of economic harm to Russia. We'd both be crazy to threaten or actually use nukes. Other than that, we are bluffing them.

From various reporting I've watched/read:

Russia finances the majority of their plans based on funding from oil sales. We're buying about 10 times as many barrels per day of oil from Russia than we did in 2017 under Trump.

Germany could put more pressure on Russia but is reluctant because they are dependent on Russian oil. Just a few years ago they were buying US oil.

Basically, pick any successful foreign policy under Trump and do the opposite - that seems to be the current plan.

Ground just truly froze. Unfreezes in March.


Both China and Russia now waiting on the Olympics. Once that’s done, feel somewhat probable that China will move on Taiwan.

Not really sure what Putin’s gonna do as he has already won the match. He can go in and grab land, or declare America the loser and have most of Europe’s support. Or both.

And about the Huns … General Patton was probably correct about them.

O' beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And they've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
- Don Henley, The End of the Innocence

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Ground just truly froze. Unfreezes in March.


Both China and Russia now waiting on the Olympics. Once that’s done, feel somewhat probable that China will move on Taiwan.

Not really sure what Putin’s gonna do as he has already won the match. He can go in and grab land, or declare America the loser and have most of Europe’s support. Or both.

And about the Huns … General Patton was probably correct about them.

I've been thinking this for awhile.

Russia makes the first move on Ukraine and is the focus of the world's focus in terms of the bulk of the response. Once the Olympics are over, including the Winter Para Olympics, China will have an excellent opportunity to make inroads on Taiwan.

The US has more partners in Europe than in SE Asia and other than Japan, S. Korea and Australia, there aren't a lot of assets or help nearby. China and Russia are acting in concert.

The statement that was released saying President Potato’s administration not being able to safely evacuate Americans from Ukraine is basically a signal to the Russians to go ahead and invade and we will not do much but make a show. Everyone here knows Bidet is a puppet of the Russians and Chinese so I won’t bore you with any other commentary.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:
Kharkiv was traded 3 times during WW2 and each time it was very bloody....

Kharkiv/Kharkov changed hands four times during WW2.

The Germans initially attacked and took the city in October 1941. (First Battle of Kharkov).

The Soviets tried to take it back in May 1942 but failed (Second Battle of Kharkov), before eventually retaking it in February 1943 when the Germans withdrew from the city while consolidating their lines in the face of a large post-Stalingrad Soviet offensive (Operation Zvezda).

The Germans then quickly counterattacked and retook it again in March 1943 (Third Battle of Kharkov).

It was finally attacked and retaken by the Soviets in August 1943 (Fourth Battle of Kharkov).

Thank you Rogue...if anyone would know it would be you

Why worry. Biden's drawn a red line in the snow. Putin wouldn't dare.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmo952:

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
Winston Churchill defined Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

The Western mind has a hard time understanding Russia.

This thing going on in Ukraine is as an example.

Our elites did not understand and probably still don't how important Ukraine is to Russia and the extent they would go to protect their interests their.

We thought we could kind of slow roll, sleep-walk (Biden) into joining the West/NATO.

It was a mistake. Now we are not in position to actually protect Ukraine and will look pretty foolish for having dabbled their.

I see Ukraine as Georgia 2.0 (the country not the state).

I just hope we are smart enough to not send a Stryker Brigade to take on multiple Russian armored divisions. It will not go well and we will be forced to greatly escalate or walk away with our tail between our legs.

This is very true....until the fall of the Soviet Union there really was never a Ukraine (also for a short time after WW1)....it was Kiev-Rus and except for the intermittent invasions has always belonged to Russia at least the eastern side and in the west Poland, Romania etc.