quote:

The truth is, the West’s militaries are not artillery forces. Ukraine has been praised as combining the best of the West’s capabilities, including their most modern, advanced, and capable systems (PhZ2000’s, Krabs, Archers, Danas, Caesars, M109’s, M777’s, Zuzana’s, etc.) and smart-munitions, with the superior Soviet artillery doctrines to create an alchemized force of unprecedented combat potential. And by ‘unprecedented’, I mean literally better than the American military. Don’t take my word for it, read this famous twitter thread from ex-DoD expert Trent Telenko who exults in the AFU’s unrivaled and revolutionary networking/integration synthesis which makes their artillery force far superior even to that of the U.S. army. Here’s an excerpt:

quote:

“It is a true distributed software environment that reduced request for fire to trigger pull from 20 minutes to 30 seconds. By comparison, the US Army did that call to trigger pull in 5 minutes in WW2, 15 minutes in Vietnam and one hour currently. No, that isn't a typo. The increased US Army time 'from call to trigger pull' has to do with trying to prevent friendly fire plus the inclusion of JAG officers in Division artillery fire control centers doing rules of engagement/collateral damage vetting of calls for fire. In 2006, when US Army Special Forces task force hunting high value targets was given direct access to an MLRS battery with GMLRS rockets - without a JAG officer poisoned chain of command - got it back down to Vietnam 15-minute levels in Iraq, thanks to the Blue Force Tracker. This didn't last long with the Obama Administration thanks to Taliban high value targets using their own kids as human shields followed by cellphone photos of dead kids. Then everything went back to the JAG officer game & the Special Forces started buying loitering drones.”

Many American military experts subsequently agreed with Trent’s trailblazing exposé on Ukraine’s GIS Art and ‘Nettle’ systems. (You can read more about it here: https://themoloch.com/conflict/uber-for-artillery-what-is-ukraines-gis-arta-system)

mila kunis posted:

found an interesting resource on how the AFU became one of the best militaries in the world and fought the russians to a standstill

mila kunis posted:

with tens of thousands of new troops being trained in the west and starting to come online, the AFU is going to just get even better. i think time is running out for the russians, this next offensive will probably be their last

mila kunis posted:

with tens of thousands of new troops being trained in the west and starting to come online, the AFU is going to just get even better. i think time is running out for the russians, this next offensive will probably be their last

mila kunis posted:

found an interesting resource on how the AFU became one of the best militaries in the world and fought the russians to a standstill

mila kunis posted:

found an interesting resource on how the AFU became one of the best militaries in the world and fought the russians to a standstill

Al! posted:

ron paul, fully moisturized and in his element: "the only way to stop the war is end the FED" followed by an "end the fed" chant

Endman posted:

Al Saqr does it better

Al! posted:

its actually pretty infuriating that the us is paying ukranian pensions while simultaneously refusing to cancel a measly means tested 10k

lollontee posted:

vote for ron paul in 2012 or i am going mail a pipe bomb to your workplace

mila kunis posted:

found an interesting resource on how the AFU became one of the best militaries in the world and fought the russians to a standstill

mila kunis posted:

an alchemized force of unprecedented combat potential

Zodium posted:

holy moly the subtext

galagazombie posted:

I’m pretty positive the U.S has more and higher quality farmland (both used and unused) than anywhere else on earth. Like it’s just obscene how much food America can and does grow. And that’s all on top of being significantly less population dense than most any other industrial country. No other country has the food export potential to hold over other countries heads.

www.usda.gov posted:

**WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2023** – The American agricultural sector posted its best export year ever in 2022 with international sales of U.S. farm and food products reaching $196 billion, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today. Final 2022 trade data released earlier this week by the Commerce Department shows that U.S. agricultural exports increased 11 percent, or $19.5 billion, from the previous record set in 2021.

“This second consecutive year of record-setting agricultural exports, coupled with a record $160.5 billion in net farm income in 2022, demonstrates the success of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to create new and better markets for America’s agricultural producers and businesses,” Vilsack said. “We’re strengthening relationships with our trading partners and holding those partners accountable for their commitments. We’re making historic investments in infrastructure to strengthen supply chains and prevent market disruptions. We’re knocking down trade barriers that hamper U.S. producers’ access to key markets. And we’re continuing to invest in export market development programs, partnering with industry to bring high-quality, cost-competitive U.S. products to consumers around the world.”

The value of sales increased in all of the United States’ top 10 agricultural export markets – China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Colombia and Vietnam, with sales in seven of the 10 markets (China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Colombia) setting new records.

“While we remain committed to our established customer base around the world, we are also setting our sights on new growth opportunities in places like Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Overall, there were 30 markets where U.S. exports exceeded $1 billion in 2022 – an increase from 27 markets in 2021 – demonstrating the broad global appeal of American-grown products,” Vilsack noted.

The top commodities exported by the United States in 2022 were soybeans, corn, beef, dairy, cotton and tree nuts, which together comprised more than half of U.S. agricultural export value. International sales of many U.S. products – including soybeans, cotton, dairy, beef, ethanol, poultry, soybean meal, distilled spirits and distillers’ grains – reached record values.

crepeface posted:

please nobody say something that will get cspam closed

crepeface posted:

please nobody say something that will get cspam closed

quote:

Ukraine from Above: Secrets from the Frontline review – the startling tale of how a child destroyed Russian tanks

Those drone operators included the likes of Andrii Pokrasa, who, in a documentary that interviews resistance leaders and sergeant majors, is captioned simply as “schoolboy” and looks no older than 14. When the Russians mobilised a column of tanks to the south-east of Kyiv and headed for the city, what they didn’t know was that Andrii and his dad were hiding in a hedge 600 metres away, Andrii expertly tweaking the controls of his drone like a gamer. Andrii’s piloting provided the intel, his dad alerted the local resistance leader and, again, artillery fire did the rest. “They did not go to Kyiv that day,” says Andrii’s father, drily.

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IHL prohibits the recruitment and use of children in hostilities.

The prohibition is applicable in both international and non-international armed conflicts. The bans on recruitment of children below the age of 15 enshrined in Article 77 of Additional Protocol I, and in Article 4 of Additional Protocol II are also considered to prohibit accepting voluntary enlistment (P I, Art. 77 (2); P II, Art. 4(3)(c)).

In international armed conflicts, the prohibition covers direct participation in hostilities, while in non-international armed conflicts, it covers any type of participation in hostilities. In both IACs and NIACs, these terms (“direct participation” and “participation”) are understood more broadly than the term “direct participation in hostilities” as it is used in the language of the rule governing the conduct of hostilities which deprives civilians from protection against attacks.

Article 38(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibiting the recruitment of children below the age of 15 is similarly interpreted as banning voluntary enlistment of such children and, hence, completely outlawing child soldiers.

quote:

Andrii Pokrasa is being hailed as a hero in Ukraine, known to the public as "Drone Boy," after he helped a crucial Ukrainian military operation using his drone.

Andrii, 15, helped by his father, put his life in danger and sent the Ukrainian military the coordinates of advancing Russian forces during the early days of the war.

mawarannahr posted:

lol

gradenko_2000 posted:

Al-Saqr posted:

yeah the west has really planted a big flag on ukraine with bidens visit not only does it show russian impotence to knock ukraine out of the fight but that the west are really in it to win it with this one.

Al-Saqr posted:

yeah the west has really planted a big flag on ukraine with bidens visit not only does it show russian impotence to knock ukraine out of the fight but that the west are really in it to win it with this one.

mila kunis posted:

with tens of thousands of new troops being trained in the west and starting to come online, the AFU is going to just get even better. i think time is running out for the russians, this next offensive will probably be their last

crepeface posted:

please nobody say something that will get cspam closed

Jel Shaker posted:

if putin really wanted to destroy america he’d pop biden right now in kiev, kamala would immediately have a secession crisis and the usa would tear itself apart

Honest Thief posted:

drat this poo poo's going to last a whole decade isn't it?