Putties war is not going as planned..

[pbmus]

Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

1. Kicking for visability

[WHITT]

2. I'm Afraid That's Silly

1) I had speculated the tanks would be at Kiev in 36 hours. It took 39, but instead of just concentrating on that, they were also mounting attacks in the South, and sending forces over to the Polish border, I assume to deter any attempts at support/supply lines.

2) Less than 40% of Russian forces are inside the borders of Ukraine. I don't mean to be flip, but you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

[Raven]

3. You would know more than the NATO commanders? n/t

[gab13by13]

15. Richard Engle was just on Rachel

and he said that Russia has only committed 1/3 of its army so far, the other 2/3 is still waiting in Russia.

[paleotn]

20. Why are the begging Kazakhstan for manpower?

Going to their few allies with hat in hand. Strange.

[WHITT]

27. Saw That

No, he meant what I posted, only I was being conservative.

Of the Russian forces that were originally staged around Ukraine, only 1/3 are inside the borders of Ukraine, the other 2/3 are still staged just outside the borders.

[Ex Lurker]

29. Many of those are logistics and support troops

who wouldn't be coming across the border anyway.

You send your best troops from the beginning, you don't hold them back. That goes against the tactical doctrine of every army in the world. The Russians are giving it their best shot. Whatever reinforcements they can scrape up won't perform any better and probably will be a good deal worse.

[WHITT]

34. No

That's exactly backwards.

Even Richard Engel, who's on the scene, made the point that the bulk of their forces, TWO THIRDS, are still outside the borders. All their heavy artillery batteries are still outside the borders.

[Ex Lurker]

35. Engel hasn't had any military training

certainly not at the staff level, and is frequently wrong.

[WHITT]

36. Did I Claim He Did?

He's merely observing the same thing I posted.

[WHITT]

28. Did I Post

that I know more than the NATO commanders?

Not to mention, what does that mean? NATO forces are not in Ukraine.

[dem4decades]

4. I agree with you, Kyiv is soon to be surrounded. Russia is suffering l but Putin doesn't care. Any

talk of crushing the Russians is probably just trying to keep spirits up. Tomorrow's events in the capitol will be telling.

[uponit7771]

5. Even the conventional war doesn't end if Kyiv is taken, there's a long way to go here.

[bearsfootball516]

7. Similar to when the US "took" Baghdad.

If Kyiv is taken, it just begins the start of a long, bloody, relentless insurgency. It's hard to see a way this all ends well for Putin.

[uponit7771]

8. +1, and I'm not eating the bullshit that Brenner "allowed" the Iraqi C&C to melt away they told

... him to fuck off and they weren't going to take his money they had national pride too.

The same is going to happen here, there's going to be enough UKR's wanting to fight with guns and other means that'll make this worse than Afghanistan.

[WHITT]

30. I Don't Think

the plan is to occupy all of Ukraine.

[Kaleva]

12. The capture of Kyiv certainly doesn't mean the end of the war

[paleotn]

19. Sending troops to the POLISH border?

To do what? Invade Poland? A NATO ally? With shit tons of NATO forces there??? Poland and Ukraine have their own border. A very long border, I might add, free of Russian interference.

Now what's that silliness you were talking about?

[gab13by13]

21. Poland is on the border,

NATO troops are there to send a message to Putin, stay the fuck out. Also, just maybe we can resupply Ukraine through Poland.

[paleotn]

24. Easily supplied through Poland.

The Ukrainian Polish border is extremely long. Over 330 miles. Any fighting there would inevitably spill into Poland, given us pretext to rip the Russian's balls off and feed them to them.

[WHITT]

32. Not Sure How

There's much more space West to East.

[paleotn]

41. Ukraine is relatively wide at it's western half...

Between Belarus and Moldova. It will take sizable combat power to actually cut off material coming in from Poland and hold it the territory. I don't think Russia has the strength to do that and confront intense resistance in the east and Kyiv, etc. Thus they're asking what few allies they have for manpower. The Ukrainian military didn't fold, and shows zero signs of folding. Putin is in a tough, dangerous spot. Taking it whole will be a protracted, dangerous, months long bloodbath on both sides and we'll make sure Ukraine has something to shoot with. He'll have to throw in every thing he's got at immense cost he can't afford economically or politically.

[WHITT]

47. Not Needed

they can monitor any supply lines by satellite and drones.

[WHITT]

31. Did I Post That?

Let's check. No, I posted:

sending forces over to the Polish border, I assume to deter any attempts at support/supply lines.

Helps to READ what others post before responding.

[paleotn]

45. No worries. I get it. I just don't think they've got a prayer of cutting support through Poland.

[DallasNE]

22. One Report I Read Said The Plan All Along Was to Defend The Large Population Centers

And so far they are holding. Granted, Putin has only unleashed about 40% of his troops that were stationed on the 3 sides of Ukraine. But at this point it is pretty fair to say that Russia has not achieved their objective as rapidly as they expected. And they are getting hit in other ways as well. Will Putin declare Mission Accomplished?

[WHITT]

33. I Assumed Just The Opposite

Only a fool would go barreling into cities and urban areas to get ambushed. Again, I assume the plan was to use the tanks and rocket batteries to own the areas they wanted to control, then roll the artillery batteries in and attack targets in the cities and urban areas from a distance, then roll the tanks and rocket batteries in.

[honest.abe]

37. What exactly is "silly"??

Was Putin planning to lose thousands of troops in 3 days?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216402419

[WHITT]

39. The Key Phrase Is

according to Ukraine's military

When they pass along such claims, the media states something like, this is an unconfirmed report or we have no confirmation of this report.

Grain of salt.

[honest.abe]

40. There have been numerous videos plus US confirmation of some of these stats.

You seem to be rooting for the Rooskies

[WHITT]

48. Please

merely the Real Politik.

[honest.abe]

49. LOL

The reality is Putin's war is not going as planned. For some reason you are having a hard time admitting that.

[WHITT]

50. People Are Assuming What The Plan Is

but it's obviously not.

[honest.abe]

51. You seem to think you know what Putin is planning.

I doubt even Putin knows what Putin is planning.

[WHITT]

52. Nope

Merely observing that what many are claiming was/is the plan does not natch reality.

[honest.abe]

53. Putin may end up destroying Ukraine to get what he wants.

But I seriously doubt that was the plan.

[honest.abe]

42. ..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216403352

No guarantee this is authentic but it sounds plausible.

[Cha]

6. Rts TY & NATO! I don't understand

though... If Ukraine isn't in NATO how is it ok to assist them.

I love it.. I just thought they couldn't help a country that wasn't a member?

TY! 💙

[marie999]

9. Countries help other countries not in NATO.

They probably can't fight Russian troops because that could escalate to a European war.

[Cha]

10. Thanks, marie! I was so

happy and encouraged to see these OPs about NATO helping Ukraine!💙

[caraher]

11. The obligations work the other way around

If a NATO member is attacked, the others are obligated to assist.

But there is no prohibition on NATO assisting non-NATO members; they don't have to do so but could decide it's in NATO's best interest to do so.

[Cha]

13. Ah.. I like the way you said

That!

11. The obligations work the other way around
If a NATO member is attacked, the others are obligated to assist.

But there is no prohibition on NATO assisting non-NATO members; they don't have to do so but could decide it's in NATO's best interest to do so.

TY caraher 💙

[paleotn]

23. We can help whomever we like. Same for our allies, including NATO members.

And helping out a free democracy on the borders of several NATO members makes perfect sense in the light that one of NATO's primary purposes is to contain Russia. Plus it's the moral thing to do in the face of naked aggression against a free people.

Attack a NATO member, however, and it's on.

Fry the bastards!

[Cha]

25. Thank You, paleotn! I'm getting so much

good feedback asking that question.

Glad I asked & TY for your comprehensive reply!

💙

[SunSeeker]

14. I hope this ends in Ukraine regaining control of its Donbas region and Crimea.

Kick Putin's ass all the way back to his mistresses in St. Petersburg.

[jmbar2]

16. Greg Abbott to help battle Russians in Ukraine

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[USALiberal]

17. This should be a new post!

[jmbar2]

18. Done - thanks

[USALiberal]

26. Thank you!! Nt

[honest.abe]

38. I think the US is providing Ukrainian military with valuable strategic information.

Hope we can do even more without directly getting involved.

[Happy Hoosier]

44. I have no doubt that Ukraine is getting excellent intel.

And likely some on—the-ground tactical advice.

[Happy Hoosier]

43. If Ukraine survives this...

Offer them immediate NATO membership.

[Patton French]

46. All your base are belong to us! (n/t)