16 minutes ago, barho said:

How many troops did the US lose in the first 6 days of the invasion?  Asking for a friend.

How many civilians died?

Putin is being very reserved precisely because he wants to keep Ukraine intact. There are trade offs. 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Biden said no to the keystone pipeline when he was elected

He actually didn’t do that all by himself. The permits were blocked by the Supreme Court under trumps administration. Biden actually was forced to sign it as it needed his signature as a formality.  It wasn’t his sole decision and he didn’t just write up the paperwork first day in office like the trumplicans want you to believe. 

3 minutes ago, Lloyd said:

But it was always going to "go well for him" from that perspective, no? Few of us had any doubts about whether or not the Russian army could take Ukraine. Even with their crap GDP, they're a superpower and Ukraine clearly isn't. As we learned in Afghanistan (and the USSR before us), holding a piece of land for a period of time isn't necessarily a win.  

I don't know man, maybe I'm losing the point we're even debating.  Yes, he will likely throw enough bodies at the problem to win Ukraine. No, the people don't like him. And possibly, he's weakening his standing in the world for the sake of expanding to a land that won't want him there.  

There are people in here saying that this is some strategic blunder by Putin made out of irrationality. That it was a miscalculation, that he won’t be able to hold the cities, that Russia is economically ruined, etc.

The fact is he knew the sanctions would be the response, he saw an opening, and he took it. He will have most if not all of Ukraine by the end of this mess and, much as we may detest him, it was an intelligent move on his part to achieve his own desired ends.

4 minutes ago, TEW said:

There are people in here saying that this is some strategic blunder by Putin made out of irrationality. That it was a miscalculation, that he won’t be able to hold the cities, that Russia is economically ruined, etc.

The fact is he knew the sanctions would be the response, he saw an opening, and he took it. He will have most if not all of Ukraine by the end of this mess and, much as we may detest him, it was an intelligent move on his part to achieve his own desired ends.

and he and his countrymen will suffer for it and it will likely be his downfall.  This is the beginning of the end for Putin.  

So, intelligent?  No.

12 minutes ago, DBW said:

He actually didn’t do that all by himself. The permits were blocked by the Supreme Court under trumps administration. Biden actually was forced to sign it as it needed his signature as a formality.  It wasn’t his sole decision and he didn’t just write up the paperwork first day in office like the trumplicans want you to believe. 

It was his decision because it was a campaign promise but this isn't the thread for this

7 minutes ago, TEW said:

There are people in here saying that this is some strategic blunder by Putin made out of irrationality. That it was a miscalculation, that he won’t be able to hold the cities, that Russia is economically ruined, etc.

The fact is he knew the sanctions would be the response, he saw an opening, and he took it. He will have most if not all of Ukraine by the end of this mess and, much as we may detest him, it was an intelligent move on his part to achieve his own desired ends.

I don't know what's intelligent about knowing that you're bigger and stronger than a neighbor and taking their s***.  There's an old lady walking past my window, a really intelligent guy could walk by and snatch her purse.  

two more transports heading into eastern Poland.  They've been running all day back and forth.  A US C-17 from Belgium airbase and a French A-400 from France.  Saw Germany had a transport in and out of Poland earlier today too.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

It was his decision because it was a campaign promise but this isn't the thread for this

You need to do more homework on it.  I’m not going to go find the endless amount of info and facts for you available with a click of a Google button.  
 

he could of course make the "campaign promise” knowing full well it was done and only needed his signature as formality.  And he’ll use it again if he runs as a point of "I fulfilled my promise.”  It’s called using it to win over more voters.  
 

it’s like trump taking credit for creating jobs and building the best economy when in fact it was Obama who did that.

9 minutes ago, Lloyd said:

I don't know what's intelligent about knowing that you're bigger and stronger than a neighbor and taking their s***.  There's an old lady walking past my window, a really intelligent guy could walk by and snatch her purse.  

Not sure this situation is analogous to beating up the elderly.  

If there's an American politician with his finger on the pulse of this situation more than Blake Masters, well, I'd really like to see him.

 

1 hour ago, The_Omega said:

And he was the first president to provide actual weapons to them. All of history is not nearly as useful to you as part of history, is it?

Stop. He did it only after he was exposed.

43 minutes ago, Lloyd said:

I don't know what's intelligent about knowing that you're bigger and stronger than a neighbor and taking their s***.  There's an old lady walking past my window, a really intelligent guy could walk by and snatch her purse.  

Being intelligent isn’t mutually exclusive with being a bad guy. This is power politics. Again, Schmitt and Dugin style geopolitical action. If you are sovereign then YES, you can snatch that purse. Not saying it’s right, but it is reality.

59 minutes ago, barho said:

and he and his countrymen will suffer for it and it will likely be his downfall.  This is the beginning of the end for Putin.  

So, intelligent?  No.

You are far too optimistic. It is far, FAR more likely Ukraine is stuck behind a neo-iron curtain for the rest of our lives.

Pentagon official says Russian troops have 'deliberately punched holes' in their own gas tanks 'presumably' to avoid combat as morale declines: report

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-official-says-russian-troops-213818317.html

Katie Balevic

Tue, March 1, 2022, 4:38 PM

 

 

 

A man on crutches walks past the remains of a Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022.Serhii Nuzhnenko/AP

• Some Russian troops are intentionally punching holes in their gas tanks, a Pentagon official said, per The New York Times.

• The official said that many of the Russian troops are young and inexperienced, per the Times.

• Some Russian troops are surrendering to Ukrainian forces as morale drops, Insider previously reported.

Some Russian troops have "deliberately punched holes in their vehicles' gas tanks" as morale among the Russians declines, a senior US official said.

The troops appear to be self-sabotaging in order to avoid combat, the unnamed senior Pentagon official said, per The New York Times. The official added that many of the Russian troops are young and inexperienced in combat, and they are facing dwindling food and fuel resources.

11 minutes ago, TEW said:

Being intelligent isn’t mutually exclusive with being a bad guy. This is power politics. Again, Schmitt and Dugin style geopolitical action. If you are sovereign then YES, you can snatch that purse. Not saying it’s right, but it is reality.

The issue I have with this argument is the timing of it. Yes Putin is a pretty intelligent ruthless human being, but as ex president of US in middle of concern for an adversary invading another sovereign nation, typically you don’t want to blow the guy about how smart he is for attacking a smaller nation. It’s pretty my horrible optics and generally just **** 

45 minutes ago, Kz! said:

Not sure this situation is analogous to beating up the elderly.  

Eh, it works because the essential amoral viewpoint works.

The strong take from the weak for their own ends. This is an element of human nature that didn’t go away with the advent of liberalism.

Putin has real geopolitical goals and he’s not going to let people dying get in the way of that any more than the street thug is going to pass on someone else’s wallet because they’re elderly. In fact, it makes the purse snatch a smart decision— weak target with low risk.

3 minutes ago, homerpat said:

The issue I have with this argument is the timing of it. Yes Putin is a pretty intelligent ruthless human being, but as ex president of US in middle of concern for an adversary invading another sovereign nation, typically you don’t want to blow the guy about how smart he is for attacking a smaller nation. It’s pretty my horrible optics and generally just **** 

I mean, I’m not talking about trump, but if he said something to the same effect he’s right, though I agree it’s piss poor optics (what else is new?).

 

The U.S. and EU should be flying stingers, javelins, guns, ammo, jets, tanks etc. into Moldova ASAP. 

Belarusian president displays map suggesting Putin plans to attack Moldova

https://www.yahoo.com/news/belarusian-president-displays-map-suggesting-222320415.html

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

 

 

He has a mustache. He's ready.

1 minute ago, Paul852 said:

He has a mustache. He's ready.

Da. He was probably born with a mustache. 

2 minutes ago, Paul852 said:

He has a mustache. He's ready.

You know what they say, grass on the field play ball...oh wait that is something else