There was a thundering gobsh1te on Joe Duffy. He's stopped short of saying we should fire missiles armed not with war heads, but with love. Send love over there. We need more love.
Yes. That will work. I can already hear the tanks heading back east already.
I think they call that the Horseshoe theory. It's certainly interesting how complex this situation is. Personally I've never been able to make up my mind what to think about Putin and Russia. You just never know what info is reliable or not. I admire his patriotism and commitment to traditional family values. But I'm not a fan of some of the dark arts he practices and certainly no a fan of repressing minorities. Churchill had a great quote about Russia being a mystery and it applies just as well today as it did back then.
I'm seeing an interesting blend of far-right and far-left people on twitter supporting the Russians in all of this, for completely different reasons:
By your logic they must have allowed 9/11, how can they stop a small group that they have no idea about doing it?
US CIA and other country secret ops would never allow this to happen as it would result in possible uncontrolled escalation
They are currently using the T90 series of tanks , which they boasted was near unstoppable, except in Syria and ukraine where suffered losses
That's a good point actually Russia has not experienced the kind of terrorism that comes from an angry population that can easily cross your sizeable border with them and has virtually nothing to lose
Some of the comments here on Russia are interesting, some are a bit... well you know yourself. I myself think that the current Russian regime and its power brokers are opportunists. Opportunists that care not an iota for the civil populations anywhere in the world.
They are mostly Cold war tanks. The Afghan's crippled them with Stinger missiles.
Ya the Armata is the new Russian tank if the have not got that they could not afford to attack without rock solid ground
That's potentially one feed into it.
I was thinking more of amateur trouble makers, students, idealists and such. There would be people of a particular political view that might historically see USSR, Libya = good, "The West" = bad. All while ingesting western culture, goods, and enjoying western rights......
Interesting to see comments from, I think, former Spanish deputy PM on the issue yesterday. When I Googled him what did I find, a number of years spent as a Communist youth movement member.
Peoples context is more important than their commentry.
You mean it's OK if it's a Democrat President does it but if it's a Republican then "NAZIS"!!!!?
I suspect a lot of organisers are "left leaning" politically. Wouldn't go down well with their international links to be biting the hand that's feeding them.
The latest variant used by the Russians were used against Ukrainian forces ,they didn't fare too well against antitank missles ,
They have Been promoting the armata super tank , costs as much as a decent fighter but it's not in service and likely won't be brought in large numbers
Would it be wise for Russia to try and capture all of Ukraine? It's hard to believe they would have any authority and long term prospects of holding Kiev or Western Ukraine. Surely after Crimea, there will be huge resistance. Maybe I'm reading this wrong and Ukraine could capitulate but we have seen the damage small cells can do in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. It's not that difficult to see a situation similar to what the American's faced in Iraq. Taking the East might be a bloody affair, but trying to take Western Ukraine would be a major mistake. SVBIED's aren't that difficult to make these days. Interesting times ahead.
I think at the time there was a real sense that the protests could actually prevent war. I know I was only a student but I lost a little bit of innocence when the war finally kicked off. I thought the world had become civilised and violence was a retrograde step. I honestly thought protests and dialogue were going to win the day. Having said that I didn't protest myself as I found myself conflicted with the idea that the Americans had suffered badly in 9/11 and who were we to tell them how to keep themselves safe. Of course at that stage there was a 50/50 chance the the WMD's actually existed since the Iraqi's were not being completely open/honest.
It might not stop them but it would make defending much easier for the Ukrainian army. A lot of the tanks the Russians use ate probably 50+ years old. They may have a few of there newer models but these will never have been in a war setting before. It would definately be a factor in the Russian decision to attack
Yes they have tracks, but there weight is huge in comparison to other tracked vehicles. They are 4-6 times the weight of tracked digging machines.
https://youtu.be/4VsmnxM8288
I think it's to show that we are mad, gas and great craic etc.
That's a pretty good description of the difference. It's ironic, the REAL bad guys are bad enough that nobody bats an eyelid when they do something bad. But when the US and Israel do anything controversial the whole world loses their sh*t and acts like they are the great Satan. I think countries are held to different standards around the world. Like Turkey does a lot of aggressive stuff against the Kurdish people and 99.9% of people in Ireland are not even aware of it let alone care enough about it to have an opinion. I suppose it's somewhat natural but it still bothers me when the most open, democratic countries are the ones that are held to the strictest standards whereas the real bullies do whatever they want and people just shrug.
This fellow came in from Iceland to Shannon last night now off to Stuttgart. Wonder what he was up to in Shannon, just a refuel?.
Everything can get stuck. What I'm saying is the ground not being frozen is not going to stop the Russian army from invading Ukraine. It's ridiculous.
They can still get stuck
Absolute nonsense. Tanks have treads not wheels, specifically to spread the surface pressure and be able to traverse difficult ground, exact same principle as caterpillars etc.
i think he'll be concerned when he sees the current prices of fertiliser and realizes how much its going to cost him to get his first cut of silage this year
it's nothing about not being able to operate in muddy ground, it's about giving you the optimal conditions to succeed with your mission.... frozen ground = easier to transit = less movement issues = adding to possible success
They are a Ray of hope for the Emerald Isle?
Tanks are 50+ tons, some may be nearly 100 tons. Unless the ground is frozen 12 inches down the tracks will just churn through the top layer. This would effect them being able to maneuver. They would be the attacking force so this would be a huge disadvantage to the Russian army. It would make defending the Ukrainian positions easier.
Another factor is what tanks the Russians are using. They were supposed to be bring there new generation tanks into the Russian Army last year. If they have these it would give them an advantage. However I imagine most of there tanks are still cold war vintage ( late'60/early 70's) if they are dependent on these as the backbone of there attacking force they definately want frozen ground.
Jack Keane says weather is a factor. Is he talking crap? Former Chief of Staff of the US Army.
John M. "Jack" Keane (born February 1, 1943) is a retired American four-star general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. He is a national security analyst, primarily on Fox News, and serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and as chairman of AM General.
Right ok, I'll tell him.
I am not sure what the point of this anectode is?
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