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Russia and Ukraine
RE: Russia and Ukraine
adapting under fire is a different thing from adapting out of sound, forward and intellectually honest peace time thinking.  

in the past the russian army has repeatedly recovered from the consequences of its own lack of forward, sound and intellectually honest peacetime  thinking by adapting during war, often under appalling circumstances of its own making.

this is relatively little recognized on the west, and then only in the context of recovery from German invasion  of 1941.  But in reality, Russia exhibited this in most of its wars during the last 2 centuries.   The recovery is not always enough to enable Russia to win the war in the end, but the recovery was nonetheless a feature of almost every war the russians engaged in.

in fact, if a russian army went into a new war prepared, then look closer, it is probably not a russian army,
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
I think that's broadly true of every army. They say generals prepare to fight the last war by habit. I guess we'll have to wait a year or two to see russian fail in a new war with tactics that might have stood a chance in ukraine.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
that every army adapts to the reality revealed by actual war is true.   But different army also exhibits different levels of initial preparedness both relative to its pre-war perceptions, as well as to early realities of war.   In general Russia has seldom if ever entered a war without being less prepared than it had believed itself to be compared to powers, and less prepared than those other powers.

it appears the normal peacetime state of the russian army is having thought less far ahead, having analyses probable nature of the next war with less intellectual rigor, and more fatalism in reliance on the capacity and willingness to absorb casualty and wing it then leading armies.

A particularly traumatizing experience, such as WWII, may prompt the society and ruling class to support a generation or two of diligent military reform that enables it to find ways to keep pace with other leading armies in overall effectiveness.   but that diligence gradually fades after a generation or at most 2, and russia falls back again.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
Macron and Scholz have both floated the idea of ceding some (not a lot) of territory so Putin can end the war without being completely humiliated.

I think this is a VERY good idea. Now, all that’s needed is for the parties to work out which parts of France and Germany now belong to Russia.

Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
(May 17, 2022 at 5:43 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Macron and Scholz have both floated the idea of ceding some (not a lot) of territory so Putin can end the war without being completely humiliated.

I think this is a VERY good idea. Now, all that’s needed is for the parties to work out which parts of France and Germany now belong to Russia.

Boru

Alsace and Lorraine
Cetero censeo religionem delendam esse
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
Antarctica!
[Image: extraordinarywoo-sig.jpg]
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
(May 17, 2022 at 9:45 am)Angrboda Wrote: Antarctica!

Bit chilly.

Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:

"You did WHAT?  With WHO?  WHERE???"
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
(May 17, 2022 at 10:12 am)The Valkyrie Wrote:
(May 17, 2022 at 9:45 am)Angrboda Wrote: Antarctica!

Bit chilly.

Russians are used to that. Seems a little unfair to the penguins, though.

Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
963 Americans have been banned from Russia by Putin, including President Biden and Vice President Harris, actor Morgan Freeman and deceased Sens. Orrin Hatch and John McCain. But, not Donald Trump. He is welcome anytime to visit.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/21/kremlin...russia-ban
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
How significant is Russia’s invasion? It has made the Swiss - the Swiss - re-visit their policy of neutrality. Not to the extent of joining NATO, but they’re considering working more closely with the alliance, even to the extent of backfilling munitions sent to Ukraine by NATO members.

That Switzerland is even considering this is an indication of how badly Putin read the room.

Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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