War in Ukraine: thread feedback session open unttil Saturday (i'll regret this)

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GABA ghoul: Oct 29, 2011

Man Plan Canal posted:

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/box-office-report/cheburashka-top-russian-box-office-all-time-225942.html

‘Cheburashka’ Feature Crushes Russian Box Office Records In Its First Month

Trailer for this masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1qvJL7NF9s

I'm just glad that Colin finally found a job in the animation industry

# ? Feb 17, 2023 14:41

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# ? May 29, 2024 17:27

Paladinus: Jan 11, 2014; heyHEYYYY!!!

Man Plan Canal posted:

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/box-office-report/cheburashka-top-russian-box-office-all-time-225942.html

�Cheburashka� Feature Crushes Russian Box Office Records In Its First Month

Trailer for this masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1qvJL7NF9s

Believe it or not, some Russian Duma members and right-wing activists are not happy with the movie. There's a scene in the movie where confused Cheburashka asks Gena if he's his mother, which, when you think about it enough, is pretty much LGBT propaganda. Plus, according to them, it's sort of morally grey, there are no positive male characters, and, of course, there's nothing about the war. That particular outrage didn't seem to spread beyond fiery proclamations on telegram, but since Feb 24 there are definitely much more outbursts from the right about bland pop culture products, whether it's about musicians who don't support the war strongly enough (not even opposing, just not performing for frontline troops), or looking for secret gay messages in anything that can resemble a rainbow.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 14:41

NoiseAnnoys: May 17, 2010

Man Plan Canal posted:

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/box-office-report/cheburashka-top-russian-box-office-all-time-225942.html

�Cheburashka� Feature Crushes Russian Box Office Records In Its First Month

Trailer for this masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1qvJL7NF9s

the birthday song from cheburashka is banging, you must admit.

Paladinus posted:

Believe it or not, some Russian Duma members and right-wing activists are not happy with the movie. There's a scene in the movie where confused Cheburashka asks Gena if he's his mother, which, when you think about it enough, is pretty much LGBT propaganda. Plus, according to them, it's sort of morally grey, there are no positive male characters, and, of course, there's nothing about the war. That particular outrage didn't seem to spread beyond fiery proclamations on telegram, but since Feb 24 there are definitely much more outbursts from the right about bland pop culture products, whether it's about musicians who don't support the war strongly enough (not even opposing, just not performing for frontline troops), or looking for secret gay messages in anything that can resemble a rainbow.

there's probably going to be a lot more of these kinds of non-embraces of the war as things continue.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 14:41

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

https://www.forcesoperations.com/une-premiere-vague-damx-10rc-en-partance-pour-lukraine/ The first AMX-10RC are being shipped to Ukraine right now � the crews have completed their training.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 14:56

Torrannor: Apr 27, 2013; ---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

litany of gulps posted:

Hasn't the most economically powerful European country been blocking the rest from providing armored vehicles to the conflict? How does that indicate that they don't see value in a long war? How does that prove that aggression will not be tolerated? What is the swift, decisive punch in the nose?

It hasn't done this at all, though. A lot of armored vehicles were sent to Ukraine. The issue were main battle tanks, were Germany blocked other's requests to give Germany-manufacture Leopard tanks to Ukraine, until their demands were met that the USA was part of the coalition that gave tanks to Ukraine. Once the US signed on, Germany stopped blocking tank deliveries. That had nothing to do with valuing a long war.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 15:03

fatherboxx: Mar 25, 2013

https://twitter.com/lemondefr/status/1626446704022003713

French supermarket chain Auchan not only remained in Russia but willingly helped army with material support according to leaked internal communications.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 15:06

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

fatherboxx posted:

https://twitter.com/lemondefr/status/1626446704022003713

French supermarket chain Auchan not only remained in Russia but willingly helped army with material support according to leaked internal communications.

From the English version of the article:

quote:

Video investigation: How a French company is supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine

Tools, cigarettes and clothes sold by French retailer Auchan supply Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian front, sometimes with the complicity of its Russian subsidiary.

"A huge thank you to schoolchildren in Samara. The donations that you collected for us have reached us." The man addressing the camera, in late December 2022, is a soldier of the "Donetsk People's Republic," affiliated with the Russian army. Dressed in camouflage, he stands in front of a destroyed building in Donetsk, only 20 kilometers from the front line. Around him, dozens of boxes, sleeping bags, camouflage netting � and packaging from Auchan and Leroy Merlin, two brands owned by France�s Mulliez Group.

Le Monde, in partnership with the Bellingcat network of investigators and Russian investigative website The Insider, got access to internal emails and eyewitness accounts in Auchan's Russian branch and verified photos and videos published on social media.

Our investigation shows how goods sold by two companies belonging to the Mulliez Group � Auchan and Leroy Merlin � supply Russian armed forces on the Ukrainian front. In the case of Auchan, Le Monde's investigation reveals how the company's northern division itself organized the collection of Auchan products in Saint Petersburg for several tens of thousands of euros, just one month after the war began.

Here's the Insider's writeup. https://theins.ru/politika/259454 Not sure they've broken any actual laws here, skimming.

cinci zoo sniper fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Feb 17, 2023

# ? Feb 17, 2023 15:18

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

litany of gulps posted:

Were you not alive or adult for this time period? The war on terror? Post 9/11 frenzy? Axis of evil? Turning Iran into our enemy?

Back Hack posted:

Turning? They were already our enemies.

It's amusing that in 1990 when George Bush sr. was forming a coalition to drive Iraq out of Kuwait, he sent James Baker on a round trip to ensure that Soviet Union, Syria AND Iran would support the plan.

quote:

After stops in Helsinki and Moscow to smooth out Iraqi demands for a Middle-Eastern peace conference with the Soviet Union, Baker traveled to Syria to discuss its role in the crisis with its President Hafez Assad. Assad had a deep personal enmity towards Saddam, which was defined by the fact that "Saddam had been trying to kill him [Assad] for years." Harboring this animosity and impressed with Baker's diplomatic initiative to visit Damascus (relations had been severed since the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut), Assad agreed to pledge up to 100,000 Syrian troops to the coalition effort. This was a vital step in ensuring Arab states were represented in the coalition. In exchange, Washington gave Syrian dictator President Hafez al-Assad the green light to wipe out forces opposing Syria's rule in Lebanon and arranged for weapons valued at a billion dollars to be provided to Syria, mostly through Gulf states.[111] In exchange for Iran's support for the US-led intervention, the US government promised the Iranian government to end US opposition to World Bank loans to Iran. On the day before the ground invasion began, the World Bank gave Iran the first loan of $250m.[111]

# ? Feb 17, 2023 17:10

HUGE PUBES A PLUS: Apr 30, 2005

Here is a video from the BBC with lots of speculation concerning Lukashenko and his claim that Ukraine wants to or will attack Belarus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AZ2ztjYLHU

Lukashenko says if Ukraine attacks, Belarus will join Russia to defend its territory. Lukashenko has been cooperating with Russia all along, so this seems like saber rattling or possibly setting up for a new attack.

Also, Lukashenko seems to have a hard time sitting in a normal sized chair these days.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 17:48

Burns: May 10, 2008

HUGE PUBES A PLUS posted:

Here is a video from the BBC with lots of speculation concerning Lukashenko and his claim that Ukraine wants to or will attack Belarus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AZ2ztjYLHU

Lukashenko says if Ukraine attacks, Belarus will join Russia to defend its territory. Lukashenko has been cooperating with Russia all along, so this seems like saber rattling or possibly setting up for a new attack.

Also, Lukashenko seems to have a hard time sitting in a normal sized chair these days.

Sounds like setup for a false flag operation. UA has spent time on the northern border blowing bridges and mining areas. These are activities generally not intended for offensive operations.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 17:49

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

Someone ask Batka if Kherson, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk are Russia or not? Vova says they are and Ukraine is attacking them :colbert:

e: oh he will only act if Belarus gets attacked. Weak.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 17:58

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

FT has put up a summary piece on Davos. Doesn't look like there have been grand proclamations during it. Zelenskyy did the more moral take on gathering support, whereas Macron tried to do the same going �political� on the �global south�. Curiously enough, however, both Macron and Scholz gave what could be interpreted as criticism of the western coalition:

quote:

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has admonished Germany�s allies for failing to deliver tanks to Ukraine after having spent months urging Berlin to do so.

Scholz was asked by a journalist at the Munich Security Conference whether he was now in the position of having to persuade other nations to provide the heavy armour they had promised.

He replied: �That�s a question I have to ask to others, especially those who were so much urging [me] to act.�

...

First, however, the west needed �to intensify our support and our efforts to the resistance of the Ukrainian people and its army and help them to launch a counter-offensive which alone can allow credible negotiations, determined by Ukraine�, Macron said.

Scholz�s reference to tanks highlighted growing German frustration with its allies� position on providing heavy weaponry to Ukraine. The chancellor faced months of pressure to set up and lead a consortium of countries capable of supplying German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine.

But in the weeks after Berlin finally agreed to send 14 Leopard 2s, few other�countries have committed any of their own stockpiles of the tank.

In his conference address, Scholz urged �all those who can supply main battle tanks to really do so�. He said German defence minister Boris Pistorius and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock would be using the Munich conference to encourage allies to fulfil their commitments on tanks.

Germany would, he added, �do what it can to make this decision easier for our partners � say by training Ukrainian soldiers here in Germany, or providing support in terms of supplies and logistics�.

Another interesting piece is the WSJ interview confirming that the U.S. plans to send auditors into Ukraine.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:01

SmokingFrog0641: Oct 29, 2011

For anyone interested in Russian counter intelligence, WaPo has a new article about efforts to root Russian assets out of Europe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/17/russia-spies-europe-arrests/

In particular, it delves into the arrests of two (one a senior German intelligence official and another a Russian born jewel trader living largely in Bavaria) now which compromised BND information. The article suggests that other nations are currently curtailing information flow to BND while agencies are trying to determine if information they sent to BND was passed along to Russia. It does not appear to state if the curtailment is as much as the one with Austria. It also says that the US, is stepping up efforts to provide information to our Russian operatives. However, some suspicious actions in other counties (Spain has one incidence) have been determined to be lone actors rather than interference.

Russian assets are suspected to be significantly degraded by Finnish intelligence, but other caution that Russia still should be considered to have significant intelligence resources at its disposal even as it has pivoted to more cyber work as of late.

It also talks a bit about cyber operations designed to sow distrust between the Baltics and their Ukrainian refugees and gauge how many may be there.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:02

Ynglaur: Oct 9, 2013; The Malta Conference, anyone?

Jamsque posted:

This is a completely baffling conclusion. We have now spent an entire year watching a non-NATO nation successfully defend itself against a vastly larger and more militarised neighbour with only a trickle of material support from other nations. You are deducing from this that a country with a more modern military and more committed support from a broader coalition of allies would somehow fare worse in a similar situation?

I think near real-time intelligence, thousands of armored vehicles, vehicle and equipment repair, training for multiple brigade-sized formations, operational planning consulting, and ammunition are not "a trickle". Don't get me wrong: I wish the West would do more. But it's not a trickle.

Remember that Ukraine effectively ran out of 122mm and 152mm ammunition around May of last year. Only resupplies from the West kept--and keep--Ukraine's artillery going.

Could a NATO without the US stop Russia from reaching the Rhine? Sure. Could they stop the Baltic countries from being overrun? Probably not. Could they stop half of Poland from being occupied? Probably not. Romania? Nope.

Atreiden posted:

wtf are you talking about, yea it could. The combined arms of Europe is only surpassed by the U.S.

I suppose we'll have to disagree. :shrug:

I would, of course, love to be wrong about this. I think a strong Europe able to defend its interests is good for the world at large.

cinci zoo sniper posted:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/14/u-s-training-ukrainian-troops-use-less-ammo-00082765
If we're now talking about training Ukrainian troops with focus on manoeuvre warfare, then I'm starting to get confused as to what military doctrine was taught to the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers already trained in the west?

I'd be curious as well. I assume much of the earlier training was tactical in nature--battle drills, combat lifesaving medical training, etc. The operational training could have been focused on improving Ukraine's ability to leverage fires: i.e. improving the process by which they identify, prioritize, and execute fires. There was a good podcast on MWI before the war in which a US officer described some of the early advisory work in 2014. The US kept bringing up things like civilian oversight, and investments in a professional non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, and so forth, and the Ukrainian generals apparently responded with, "Yes, that's great but I have units in contact right now and I need advice on how best to employ them. What are operational things my military should do now to prevent Russia from expanding?"

Ukraine's army organizationally and doctrinally still looks very Soviet.

litany of gulps posted:

Isn't this playing out exactly as the West would want, though? If NATO gave everything that Ukraine would need to win, the conflict would either escalate or end. NATO doesn't want the conflict to escalate or end. NATO wants the conflict to drag out for as long as it takes to bleed the Russians dry. Walking the tightrope where Russia keeps throwing conventional forces into the meatgrinder, but can't quite justify anything much beyond that, isn't that the best possible outcome for the West? The Ukrainians aren't going to stop fighting, so there will always be just enough weapons to keep the fighting ugly (but not enough to settle things)...

I don't believe the West wants this conflict to continue. I think they want it to end, but are cautious about escalating assistance so rapidly that it ends in both sides losing (i.e. Clancychat). One can make very reasonable arguments that the West is escalating too slowly--that is, too cautiously--but I don't believe their intent behind slow escalation is to keep the war going as long as possible. On the contrary, I think their genuine hope is to end the war as soon as possible with an intact Ukraine and without spreading the conflict further. Maybe I'm wrong. Reading minds isn't a thing I can do. But I think the West's collective behavior does not indicate a desire for prolonged conflict.

Herstory Begins Now posted:

On a factual level, too, Ukraine is getting a lot of the good stuff and much, much more of it than anyone would've expected a year ago, or even 9 months ago. I still think it's wild that Ukraine is getting patriots.

Hell, they're getting Switchblades. Patriots are highly-classified but at least you can restrict who sees what to a fairly limited group of people. But something shot out of an 81mm mortar? I've been a little surprised just how many classified capabilities we are giving to Ukraine at scale.

litany of gulps posted:

This is a fun one because you're trying to do satire but basically all Americans are taught exactly this in school.

In sixth grade history class my teacher was going on and on about how "the US won WW2" with the unspoken-but-understood "by itself" and I spoke up and said something like, "9 out of 10 Germans died on the Eastern Front, so while we certainly helped, the Soviet Union deserves the greatest credit for defeating Nazi Germany." This was around 1989--before the fall of Communism--and was not well-received. :suicide101:

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:18

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

Speaking of the Washington Post, two sections of their morning WorldView newsletter are relevant to the thread this morning so I'll post it. Of note, these articles contain a lot of links to other reporting, mostly other WaPo articles but also to some external reports. I haven't included them because it's a pain in the rear end to but if there's any claim in particular you would be interested in following up on let me know and I'll try to include more of them in the future.

quote:

A year after invasion, has Russia already lost?

Western politicians, military leaders and diplomats are convening with one goal at the top of their agenda: Russian defeat. This year�s edition of the Munich Security Conference comes almost a year since the Kremlin unleashed its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, flaring an open war on the European continent that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions, devastated Ukrainian cities and wrought billions of dollars in damage. The war has galvanized the geopolitical West and led to an emboldened and soon-to-be enlarged NATO.

U.S. and European officials are publicly bullish. On Saturday in Munich, Vice President Harris is expected to give an address that will �convey the continuing U.S. commitment to Ukraine,� my colleagues reported, and assure Kyiv that the vital U.S. support and coordination that has sustained Ukraine�s efforts to repulse Russia�s invasion will endure. In his speech, French President Emmanuel Macron plans to discuss how to �ensure Russian defeat� and how the West can bolster Kyiv in the months to come.

At meetings this week with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said a possible Ukrainian spring counteroffensive has �a real good chance of making a pretty significant difference on the battlefield and establishing the initiative.� On the sidelines of the same session, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, declared that an impoverished, isolated Russia had already failed.

�Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience,� Milley said. �In short, Russia has lost; they�ve lost strategically, operationally and tactically.�

There�s no doubt that the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a disaster for his country. Estimates of Russian casualties on the battlefields in just the space of a year range as high as 200,000. A mass mobilization of some 300,000 troops appears to have been more or less fully deployed to Ukraine�s battlefields and, at best, may have only blunted some Ukrainian advances to reclaim territory lost to Russia. In recent weeks, the Kremlin�s losses may have been particularly acute and demoralizing.

A rumored new Russian offensive may prove even bloodier. �If current casualty rates are any indication, the coming attack could result in unprecedented loss of life and spark a complete collapse in morale among Russia�s already demoralized mobilized troops,� noted Peter Dickinson of the Atlantic Council. �This would make life very difficult for the Russian army in Ukraine, which would find itself confronted by a breakdown in discipline that would severely limit its ability to stage offensive operations.�

Moreover, the Russian military has seen its arsenal severely depleted. It has lost nearly half its main battle tanks, according to an estimate published this week by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is dipping into inventories of older-era (and sometimes Soviet) weaponry. Russia�s ammunition stockpile is rapidly dwindling (though Ukraine�s is, too).

The war and popular mobilization triggered an astonishing exodus of people � perhaps as high as nearly a million emigres � desperate to leave Russia. Activists and independent journalists left, but so, too, did 10 percent of the nation�s IT workforce. �This exodus is a terrible blow for Russia,� Tamara Eidelman, a Russian historian who moved to Portugal after the invasion, said to my colleagues. �The layer that could have changed something in the country has now been washed away.�

Western sanctions on Russia have contracted its economy, impacted the country�s industrial capacity in some sectors, and brought an era of Russian integration into Europe to a shuttering halt. But while the measures have exacted a painful toll on Russia, they have not forced Putin to reconsider his war of neo-imperialist revanchism.

�Instead of growth, we have a decline. But saying all of that, it�s definitely not a collapse, it�s not a disaster,� Sergey Aleksashenko, former first deputy chairman of Russia�s central bank, said at a panel discussion in Washington last month. �We may not say that the Russian economy is in tatters, that it is destroyed, that Putin lacks funds to continue his war. No, it�s not true.�

Part of the reason for that is the significant amount of revenue still generated by European imports of Russian gas and oil. No matter their avowed desire to wean themselves off Russian energy dependence, most European countries could not go cold turkey on Russian energy even as Putin�s war machine pummeled Ukraine. But the new geopolitical faultlines created by the invasion may accelerate Europe�s transition to decarbonized economies and further diminish Russia�s leverage over the continent.

�The results already speak for themselves; for the first time ever last year, wind and solar combined for a higher share of electrical generation in Europe than oil and gas,� wrote Brent Peabody in Foreign Policy. �And this says nothing of other decarbonization efforts such as subsidies for heat pumps in the EU, incentives for clean energy in the United States, and higher electric vehicle uptake everywhere.�

For all the certainty of Russian failure, the war still looks nowhere close to ending. Analysts put this down in part to the personal determination � and delusions � of the Russian leader himself.

�Since February 2022, the world has learned that Putin wants to create a new version of the Russian empire based on his Soviet-era preoccupations and his interpretations of history,� wrote Fiona Hill and Angela Stent in Foreign Affairs. �The launching of the invasion itself has shown that his views of past events can provoke him to cause massive human suffering. It has become clear that there is little other states and actors can do to deter Putin from prosecuting a war if he is determined to do so and that the Russian president will adapt old narratives as well as adopt new ones to suit his purposes.�

They cite a former Finnish diplomat who thinks fondly of the days of the Soviet Politburo, since, in Putin�s Russia, there appears to be �no political organization in Russia that has the power to hold the president and commander in chief accountable.�

In the face of an opaque, implacable adversary, strategists in Washington are keen to avoid a prolonged war. Milley himself gestured to the need for realism on both sides of the conflict. �It will be almost impossible for the Russians to achieve their political objectives by military means. It is unlikely that Russia is going to overrun Ukraine. It�s just not going to happen,� he told the Financial Times. �It is also very, very difficult for Ukraine this year to kick the Russians out of every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine. It�s not to say that it can�t happen � But it�s extraordinarily difficult. And it would require essentially the collapse of the Russian military.�

As my colleagues reported earlier this week, while the Biden administration is adamant about its continued support to Kyiv, it is also making clear to Ukrainian authorities that the current level of security and economic assistance may be difficult to sustain, especially with the current Republican-led House. �We will continue to try to impress upon them that we can�t do anything and everything forever,� one senior administration official told my colleagues, referring to Ukraine�s leaders.

quote:

Talking Points
� Scotland�s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon�s shock resignation has left her Scottish National Party (SNP) reeling and prompted big questions for Scotland, namely over what�s next for her cherished independence movement and who will push that forward.

� Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that his military would only join Russia�s war if Belarus is attacked on its own soil � laying down a bright red line ahead of a meeting in Moscow with Putin. �I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if at least one soldier sets foot in Belarus to kill my people," Lukashenko said.

� Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the man behind the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit fighting on the front lines, has claimed to also have founded the Internet Research Agency. The shadowy St. Petersburg-based company has carried out Russian information warfare around the globe, governments say. The admission, more an acknowledgment than a revelation, affirms his role at the center of Russia�s aggressive interventions on the world stage � on the ground and online.

� Ukrainian officials added to the worldwide focus on aerial balloons. They said they routinely shoot down small objects that could be used by Russia for spying but mostly seem to be decoys intended to draw the Ukrainian military�s attention, and ammunition, from more important targets.

quote:

Despite promises of a huge boost in defense spending in response to Russia�s invasion of Ukraine, Germany�s armed forces are in a worse place than a year ago, the country�s new defense minister, Boris Pistorius, told The Washington Post this week.

Germany is not alone among Ukrainian allies in struggling to fill a gap created by deliveries to Kyiv, and the military�s operational readiness has been impacted only �to a limited extent,� Pistorius said on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels, in his first interview with an English-language newspaper since taking office last month.

But it may be some time before the vision of a strengthened German military is realized.

�Given the rate at which materiel and weapons and ammunition are being provided, it�s impossible to reorder and deliver again,� Pistorius said.

The pressure points are similar elsewhere. Many allies who have helped supply Ukraine�s military are now expressing unease about the dent to their strategic assets. Of particular concern is ammunition: Ukraine has been firing as many as 7,000 artillery shells a day, which is more than European industry has the capability to manufacture.

But in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had raised expectations that he would revitalize the country�s beleaguered armed forces, announcing a dramatic shift in defense policy and a special fund of 100 billion euros just days after Russia�s invasion. Instead, German donations to Ukraine have further diminished the supplies of its long-neglected armed forces, bureaucracy has slowed replenishment and the fund has been eroded by inflation and interest payments.

And now, as other European countries have stepped up purchases, arms manufacturers can�t fill new orders quickly.

The task of turning things around falls to Pistorius, 62, the former interior minister of the German state of Lower Saxony, now thrown into the national and international spotlight. Pistorius said he is lobbying for more money. �Loveday Morris, Kate Brady and David L. Stern

Read more: Germany pledged a military revamp when Ukraine war began. Now it�s worse off.

I decided to link that last one, though.

Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Feb 17, 2023

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:22

WarpedLichen: Aug 14, 2008

So I've heard the German complaints about other allies not doing their part but who is he really complaining about here? Just Spain really?

Greece, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria are understandably out.

Poland and Canada have promised and shipped tanks as I understand it?

I don't know if they were expecting commitments from Denmark or Norway or something.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:26

OddObserver: Apr 3, 2009

Norway actually promised 8 Leo 2A4s!

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:30

Endjinneer: Aug 17, 2005; Fallen Rib

Nenonen posted:

It's amusing that in 1990 when George Bush sr. was forming a coalition to drive Iraq out of Kuwait, he sent James Baker on a round trip to ensure that Soviet Union, Syria AND Iran would support the plan.

Wikipedia posted:

In the days after the September 11 attacks, Ryan Crocker would later become the United States ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, and other senior U.S. State Department officials flew to Geneva to meet secretly with representatives of the government of Iran. For several months, Crocker and his Iranian counterparts cooperated on capturing Al Qaeda operatives in the region and fighting the Taliban government in Afghanistan. These meetings stopped after the "Axis of Evil" speech hardened Iranian attitudes toward cooperating with the U.S

TLDR- Iran and America were cooperating until Dubya's speechwriter needed another baddie to complete a three part list.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:31

Hannibal Rex: Feb 13, 2010

https://twitter.com/y_akopov/status/1626565601089953792?t=UjpqT-951UOE-U76NojqJw&s=19

Just a reminder how vile Russian propaganda is.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:41

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

Ynglaur posted:

I'd be curious as well. I assume much of the earlier training was tactical in nature--battle drills, combat lifesaving medical training, etc. The operational training could have been focused on improving Ukraine's ability to leverage fires: i.e. improving the process by which they identify, prioritize, and execute fires. There was a good podcast on MWI before the war in which a US officer described some of the early advisory work in 2014. The US kept bringing up things like civilian oversight, and investments in a professional non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps, and so forth, and the Ukrainian generals apparently responded with, "Yes, that's great but I have units in contact right now and I need advice on how best to employ them. What are operational things my military should do now to prevent Russia from expanding?"

Looking back, I remember there was a training expansion announcement explicitly for combined arms/manoeuvre, along one of the recent vehicle packages - with Bradleys, I think? That could be the logical precursor, or maybe even the same thing.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:42

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

Hannibal Rex posted:

https://twitter.com/y_akopov/status/1626565601089953792?t=UjpqT-951UOE-U76NojqJw&s=19

Just a reminder how vile Russian propaganda is.

Impressively, this establishes a new low for how verifiable an alleged leak of a paper document is, because it�s got that blob vomit covering all text.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:44

Hannibal Rex: Feb 13, 2010

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Impressively, this establishes a new low for how verifiable an alleged leak of a paper document is, because it’s got that blob vomit covering all text.

Well, if I've been had by a pro-Ukranian psyop, I'd feel relieved in this instance.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 18:52

Ynglaur: Oct 9, 2013; The Malta Conference, anyone?

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Looking back, I remember there was a training expansion announcement explicitly for combined arms/manoeuvre, along one of the recent vehicle packages - with Bradleys, I think? That could be the logical precursor, or maybe even the same thing.

I think you're correct. I remember the training expansion announcement either coinciding with the Bradley announcement or very close in time to it.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 19:14

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

Thread:

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1626649565314129920?t=_cwefDBgxUmmLM2ddKF3Wg&s=19

Real dusty in here all of a sudden.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 19:33

Brave New World: Mar 10, 2010

Endjinneer posted:

TLDR- Iran and America were cooperating until Dubya's speechwriter needed another baddie to complete a three part list.

It's obvious that either you didn't read it, or you're arguing in bad faith. Nenonen's post was in reference to the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, which happened when George H.W. Bush was President.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 22:02

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

Remember those artillery scorch mark satellite photos from Vuhledar?

That burnt out spot used to be a gardening cooperative that Russia troops may have tried infiltrating through :stonklol:

though I'm not entirely clear on who was calling artillery on it and when. That general area in those days seems to have also had some thermobaric artillery action.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 22:12

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

Brave New World posted:

It's obvious that either you didn't read it, or you're arguing in bad faith. Nenonen's post was in reference to the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, which happened when George H.W. Bush was President.

I didn't read it that way? I for one wasn't making any argument, just an observation about "strange bedfellows", and my interpretation was that Endji wanted to point out that H.W's son's advisors ruled out any cooperation with Iran. Which didn't have to go that way, but let's not go there (and in particular let's not think of the alternative reality where Al Gore got Florida).

# ? Feb 17, 2023 22:23

Tuna-Fish: Sep 13, 2017

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Impressively, this establishes a new low for how verifiable an alleged leak of a paper document is, because it�s got that blob vomit covering all text.

The untranslated sources are in that twitter thread.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 22:40

cinci zoo sniper: Mar 15, 2013

Tuna-Fish posted:

The untranslated sources are in that twitter thread.

Not as of the post you're quoting (and not in the thread, technically speaking).

# ? Feb 17, 2023 22:56

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

This is extremely NMS :nms:

but holy man the footage coming out. Video containsan extremely close range trench fight, Russians dying and a Ukranian Rambo popping off.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/114u66s

# ? Feb 17, 2023 23:18

Blut: Sep 11, 2009; if someone is in the bottom 10%~ of a guillotine

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1626244170917478400

Good to see Mitch McConnell trying to shore up support for Ukraine in the US.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 23:36

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

queeb posted:

This is extremely NMS but holy man the footage coming out. Video containsan extremely close range trench fight, Russians dying and a Ukranian Rambo popping off.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/114u66s

Holy gently caress that looks like footage from Commando without the saw blades and pitchfork. Good grief that looks absolutely miserable.

# ? Feb 17, 2023 23:51

Endjinneer: Aug 17, 2005; Fallen Rib

Nenonen posted:

I didn't read it that way? I for one wasn't making any argument, just an observation about "strange bedfellows", and my interpretation was that Endji wanted to point out that H.W's son's advisors ruled out any cooperation with Iran. Which didn't have to go that way, but let's not go there (and in particular let's not think of the alternative reality where Al Gore got Florida).

Yeah that's how it was meant- that the present absolutist stance on Iran/US cooperation is a surprisingly recent innovation.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 00:29

Kraftwerk: Aug 13, 2011; i do not have 10,000 bircoins, please stop asking

queeb posted:

This is extremely NMS but holy man the footage coming out. Video containsan extremely close range trench fight, Russians dying and a Ukranian Rambo popping off.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/114u66s

Is there a way for me to see that without getting a Reddit account or downloading the app?

# ? Feb 18, 2023 00:29

Alchenar: Apr 9, 2008

Kraftwerk posted:

Is there a way for me to see that without getting a Reddit account or downloading the app?

Yes but you'd need to pack an overnight bag.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 00:31

FEMA summer camp: Jan 22, 2006

Kraftwerk posted:

Is there a way for me to see that without getting a Reddit account or downloading the app?

Put "old." In front of the URL

# ? Feb 18, 2023 00:31

Orthanc6: Nov 4, 2009

queeb posted:

This is extremely NMS but holy man the footage coming out. Video containsan extremely close range trench fight, Russians dying and a Ukranian Rambo popping off.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/114u66s

It's so equally terrifying and bizarre the things that happen in war. That Russian that died (was he Russian? Probably, hopefully for the camera man's sake) just walked right up to the enemy trench. Who knows how long he took walking up there, how he didn't get seen sooner, or if he had any idea how bad a situation he was putting himself in. He's looking for his enemy, which seems like just these 2 guys, but he looks the wrong way and his life is over.

I hope the 2 guys in the trench made it out of there. Such a terrible hell all thanks to some evil psycho in the Kremlin.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 00:33

Sergg: Sep 19, 2005; I was rejected by the:

Orthanc6 posted:

It's so equally terrifying and bizarre the things that happen in war. That Russian that died (was he Russian? Probably, hopefully for the camera man's sake) just walked right up to the enemy trench. Who knows how long he took walking up there, how he didn't get seen sooner, or if he had any idea how bad a situation he was putting himself in. He's looking for his enemy, which seems like just these 2 guys, but he looks the wrong way and his life is over.

I hope the 2 guys in the trench made it out of there. Such a terrible hell all thanks to some evil psycho in the Kremlin.

They were engaging some kind of armored vehicle (probably a BMP) that was very close and dropping autocannon rounds on their position before apparently taking it out with the 2nd rocket.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 01:05

Kraftwerk: Aug 13, 2011; i do not have 10,000 bircoins, please stop asking

The hardest thing to deal with is that fighting position is now known to the Russians so they could probably drop a drone launched grenade the next time they move some Wagner cannon fodder in to draw their fire.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 01:06

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# ? May 29, 2024 17:27

Charlz Guybon: Nov 16, 2010

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Impressively, this establishes a new low for how verifiable an alleged leak of a paper document is, because it�s got that blob vomit covering all text.

They post the original Cyrillic document further down in the chain

# ? Feb 18, 2023 01:13

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > The Goodmine > War in Ukraine: thread feedback session open unttil Saturday (i'll regret this)

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