"It's going to be worse than what the Russians had in Afghanistan"
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/04/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-is-baffling-military-analysts.htmlBegging to differ with Putin’s assessment (or propaganda) on Russian progress in the invasion, former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus, said this week that Putin’s war in Ukraine is “going terribly” for Russia, telling CNN on Wednesday that “at the strategic level, he has essentially united most of the rest of the world ... And then on the battlefield, it’s going terribly.”
He said Russia was “stretched beyond its logistical and mechanical capabilities,” its troops (some of whom are less experienced conscripts) likely to be extremely tired and inexperienced in the face of a determined opponent, as Ukraine is proving to be.
That point is agreed with by Col. Liam Collins, founding director of the Modern War Institute in New York, who said Thursday that Ukraine’s army, and thousands of volunteers who have stayed in Ukraine to fight to save their homeland, would continue to mount a staunch resistance in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
“Not only do the Russians have to fight through the Ukrainian forces that are there, they have to fight through all these armed volunteers that are just going to be conducting attacks on them the whole time,” he told the BBC’s “The Briefing Room” show, adding that Ukrainians were preparing to mount an insurgency against Russia.
“It’s going to be worse than what the Russians had in Afghanistan, that’s what the Ukrainians are going to do,” he added, alluding to the then Soviet Union’s drawn-out, bloody, costly and unpopular invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 that lasted 10 years and led to the loss of around 15,000 Soviet soldiers.
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This is war. It is messy, dirty, confusing and does not lend itself well to immediate analysis.
Thousands will die. Tens of thousands will be injured. Ukraine's infrastructure will be devastated.
These are the price true Freedom demands when attacked.
Ukraine will continue to receive supplies via the Black Sea coast. It is simply too big to control every single river, stream, bay and harbor.
This is Putin's war and he is losing big time. But it will be a very long struggle if he continues in power.
No reason for pessimism, unless you count the M$M constant fear mongering and horse race mentality used to drive up ratings.
Response to Victor_c3 (Reply #4)
We were never able to really raise educational standards for most of the populace. I heard stories of Afghan soldiers not knowing their numbers. If you asked how many brothers Ali had (just making up a name) he couldn't tell you. He could name them all, but he couldn't tell you that he had seven. He also couldn't tell you that the medal in your avatar has a blue stripe in a red field. He had other ways of describing those colors, but not the traditional way.
Ukraine has (had) a high standard of living and an educated population who are clearly willing to fight for their country and their freedom. This will be hugely different from Afghanistan.
The West HAS shown it has a Spine of Steel in this struggle.
Again, that is NOT what the West is saying. That is what YOU are saying.
War is War - things get destroyed. People Die. But they are dying for what they believe in. Freedom.
The US would annihilate Russia in a nuclear war. It too will be annihilated. MAD still exists. However, Russia's nuclear forces are in as much trouble as their conventional ones - corruption has made them inefficient and probably less then 40% will actually work. On the other hand, the West's Nuclear forces are probably at 80% reliability or better.
Putin is losing. The West is strong. All it takes is a few hours reading reliable source material on the web to understand this.
I am not an expert, but I believe the experts of War. Putin is losing. He will be out of power before the end of this year.
He probably will not survive in power past summer.
Ukraine will be with us as long as we have countries.
