War with Russia

[mudsticks]

Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman, the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, was on BBC News, giving his opinion on possible outcomes, so, it is possible to avoid venturing into Torygraph land.

I wonder what kind of Career an Honours Degree in War Studies, sets you up for?.

Oh well that's something I guess.

'Experts' popping up all over .

Has it become fashionable to listen to them again ??

I hope so .

An honours degree in War Studies sets you up quite well for studying war I'd imagine .

Deep knowledge, and study, of historical conflicts, could with a fair wind, and in the right circumstances, set us up for not repeating past mistakes, maybe ??

Ever the optimist .

 

[BoldonLad]

Oh well that's something I guess.

'Experts' popping up all over .

Has it become fashionable to listen to them again ??

I hope so .

An honours degree in War Studies sets you up quite well for studying war I'd imagine .

Deep knowledge, and study, of historical conflicts, could with a fair wind, and in the right circumstances, set us up for not repeating past mistakes, maybe ??

Ever the optimist .

I was agreeing with you, for the record.

The bolded bit gets my vote

I do, sometimes, wonder, do BBC (and ITV etc) actually have a "Finder of Experts/Examples Department"?, I imagine someone sitting in their little office, receiving a telephone call/EMail, with the instruction, "find me an expert in Russian Military tactics NOW", or, whatever the current hot topic in the News is.

If there is such a Department, I wonder if they are aware of this forum?

 

[Milzy]

As I understand it, Russia has conscription with a mandatory 2 year period of service. Seems likely that many of those sent to Ukraine will be reluctant young men with little experience and little appetite for actual warfare. Hopefully this will work in the Ukrainian's favour and ideally it would lead to early surrender and becoming pow's rather than additional victims of Putin's ambition.

They are just bait & cannon fodder. Putin isn’t stupid. His top experienced troops would absolutely wipe the floor with them. The real invasion hasn’t started yet silly buns.

 

[Johnno260]

They are just bait & cannon fodder. Putin isn’t stupid. His top experienced troops would absolutely wipe the floor with them. The real invasion hasn’t started yet silly buns.

Tell that to the dead Spetznaz that died when they couldn’t stop Ukraine retaking Antonov airport.

He wastes special forces as badly as he does regulars.

 

[MrGrumpy]

They are just bait & cannon fodder. Putin isn’t stupid. His top experienced troops would absolutely wipe the floor with them. The real invasion hasn’t started yet silly buns.

Not convinced tbh. Why not just roll in with them to start with and get it over with toot sweet ?

 

[Johnno260]

The Monroe Doctrine.... OK, so im supposed to draw parallels to this, despite this being the first time you mention it. Right so we've cleared that one up, finally. The Monroe Doctrine, widely supported by most South American's, particular in the earlier days and widely ignored by the likes of Spain for many years and enforced by the British for decades. Right....

Anyway......



Bizarre statement. Do you think if Zelensky gives puppy dog eyes to Putin he will stop?



A load of pish... Putin was never backed into any corner and the Ukrainian war is nothing but a shameless land grab built upon paranoia and unfounded fears. Putin wants this war, he has his reasons, and those reasons remain locked into his own mind. No one is claiming the Ukrainian government acted without mistake and miscalculation, but diplomacy is always an option, in fact talks were still ongoing but Putin wanted to strong arm Ukraine into another puppet state, a choice the sovereign nation didn't want to place themselves into, they have been there before. A fact in that he also likes to completely wave his willy shaped nukes at foreign powers for not doing what he wants them to do and the constant deception regarding his troop build up and an invasion lead from a foreign country in Belarus that was allegedly a military exercise... A decision that has been alleged to have been take last summer with Sergey Shoygu, no verification of course... Im not some mindless "support west foreign policy" at all costs, i was and still am ashamed by the decision to invade Iraq for example, but using such is not mutually exclusive as seems to be the apologists favourite argument...

That’s the other issue Putin is creating, he keeps making veiled threats about nukes, and putting his missile battalions on heightened alert escalates things, to the point where everyone is on a hair trigger and tensions are high.

Only one person keeps escalating and it’s not healthy for anyone.

 

[Milzy]

Tell that to the dead Spetznaz that died when they couldn’t stop Ukraine retaking Antonov airport.

He wastes special forces as badly as he does regulars.

I have no proof of this. If they were SAS they’d have done much better. Putins commanders are amazing though which is why it’s so weird that not much is happening right now.

 

[mudsticks]

I was agreeing with you, for the record.

The bolded bit gets my vote

I do, sometimes, wonder, do BBC (and ITV etc) actually have a "Finder of Experts/Examples Department"?, I imagine someone sitting in their little office, receiving a telephone call/EMail, with the instruction, "find me an expert in Russian Military tactics NOW", or, whatever the current hot topic in the News is.

If there is such a Department, I wonder if they are aware of this forum?

I didn't for one moment, imagine that you were being disagreeable.

Media outlets such as the BBC, do indeed have 'expert finders'
Or 'researchers' as they are often known..

Now here comes the truly unbelievable bit.

On occasion, even liddle ol' me, has been approached, by such personages, to share the teensy weensy bit of 'expertise' that I have in my field..

Not ever on Russian war-faring strategies, I'm glad to say..


But I'm sure that as the CC collective, we're generally considered a rich seam of total bahoolux to mine yes, very much so .

 

[Milzy]

I don’t know why they are having talks. It’s just more hoodwinking & pointless words. I feel Putin will test out his more bigger sophisticated missiles soon.

 

[Johnno260]

I have no proof of this. If they were SAS they’d have done much better. Putins commanders are amazing though which is why it’s so weird that not much is happening right now.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...n-special-forces-claims-defense-minister.html

That’s the daily fail but other outlets confirm the story.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I have no proof of this. If they were SAS they’d have done much better. Putins commanders are amazing though which is why it’s so weird that not much is happening right now.

What criteria are you using for this? Describe amazing in this context, rather than throwing words at your computer hoping some of them will stick.

By the way, the SAS are used for special ops, not for an invasion or large scale attack. There are only around 500 of them.

 

[Mugshot]

To be honest i do believe that genuinely believed that, also supported by the fact that until about a week ago many of the Ukrainians officials didn't expect to be in this situation. But when you are in that situation, it's a bit like the scientist who i saw in a documentary being called a hero during the Chernobyl disaters for going in the building to try and extinquis the fire. He looked at the reporter and then told him i'm no hero's it's Russia if they tell you to do something you do what they tell you, there is no if and but's

They may well have believed when they were tootling up and down the border, on their own side, that they were taking part in exercises, however, once you start loading live rounds into your rifle, heading in the same direction as the missiles that are flying overhead, shooting at people, that are shooting back, and people are dying around you, my guess is that you'd figure out pretty quickly that you weren't on exercises anymore.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Haven't noticed @Fab Foodie posting recently, has he already set off?, there was a post suggesting he should get his "boots on the ground", if I recall?

I'm still here, and still of the opinion that if NATO had got it's arse in gear, and mobilised early wouldn't be in this mess.
Also, am still firmly of the opinion that the Russian military is a shadow of its propoganda. Much of their equipment is old and outdated compared to NATO which has both numerical and financial superiority.
Furthermore there are plenty lessons from Russia's own history that shows that taking cities from a well organised patriotic defence is a very blood-heavy endeavour.
The point about conscripts and the morale of the Russian forces is a good one. IIRC a few years back they were not even being paid properly such were the state of tge countries finances.
Russia's people are poor. Living conditions for the majority are low by western standards. I can't see them wanting more millions of Roubles spent fighting a war few Russians want. Also there has been a big generational shift since Putin came to power. The young, the travelled and the educated don't care about the USSR, they have grown with the internet, with freedom to travel internationally, they see through Putins lies. Hopefully now their time will come.

So despite the propaganda, I don't belive this is playing that well at home. The world is united in its condemnation, and those 'close' to Putin are feeling their livelyhoods seriously curtailled and realise Russia is about to become an economic basket case. Even China seems embarrassed into silence.

Putin is a cornered rat. This is his last throw of the dice, his Chechna. The west needs to steady the buffs, support Ukraine and others in the region in any way possible. The only remaining question is how many on both sides need to die before Putin's days are over.
It's a bloody mess but freedom can and will prevail.

 

[Rusty Nails]

The only 'good' I can see coming of all this terrible situation, is a renewed impetus to move away from fossil fuels towards more sustainable, and secure sources of energy..

On the one hand I agree with you on the need to invest a lot more in sustainable sources of energy such as tidal energy......reliable and predictable sources for which we are surrounded by in the UK.

Unfortunately I can also see fresh calls being made for fracking in the UK being treated more sympathetically as an alternative to gas supplies from dictatorships in the short/medium term until those more sustainable forms of energy come on stream.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Deleted member 49]

Unfortunately I can also see fresh calls being made for fracking in the UK being treated more sympathetically as an alternative to gas supplies from dictatorships in the short/medium term until those more sustainable forms of energy come on stream.

Great minds think alike....

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