An Essential Read By Lee Smith: Ukraine’s Deadly Gamble

[bourbon n blues]

Making factual statements does not equate to being a fanboy. Putin is smart enough to remain in power for how long now? Stop thinking with emotions.

He's not thinking. I talked to one fellow yesterday, not my security buddy , but a retired green beret and asked him about this NATO bs thing.
His words were they're a bunch of lying c&&nts who are just trying to blame him. This is their mess now , the Biden administration, and those from the Trump administration are trying to be relevant.
It was merely a negotiation strategy to get them to pay up. I believe only 5/29 we're paying their pledged amounts.
Trump wanted 4% of their GDP, we were paying 3.5% then while only 5/29 we're paying the pledged 2.5%.
Stump is too stupid to understand most NATO countries were putting their responsibilities on us. Kind of like a kid living high on the hog while their rich parents subsidize their rent , credit card bills, and cell phone.

 

[JeffClear]

Making factual statements does not equate to being a fanboy. Putin is smart enough to remain in power for how long now? Stop thinking with emotions.

Trump said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a genius move, which is completely ridiculous. It was a huge blunder, by far the biggest blunder of Putin’s career.
That‘s why Trump is a Putin fanboy.
Putin could slip on a banana peel, fall flat on his face and break his nose and Trump would claim Putin meant to do it and it was an act of genius. And he would say Putin’s nose looks even better now.

 

[JeffClear]

He's not thinking. I talked to one fellow yesterday, not my security buddy , but a retired green beret and asked him about this NATO bs thing.
His words were they're a bunch of lying c&&nts who are just trying to blame him. This is their mess now , the Biden administration, and those from the Trump administration are trying to be relevant.
It was merely a negotiation strategy to get them to pay up. I believe only 5/29 we're paying their pledged amounts.
Trump wanted 4% of their GDP, we were paying 3.5% then while only 5/29 we're paying the pledged 2.5%.
Stump is too stupid to understand most NATO countries were putting their responsibilities on us. Kind of like a kid living high on the hog while their rich parents subsidize their rent , credit card bills, and cell phone.

Wrong as usual.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump and the myth of NATO debt

WASHINGTON (AP) — En route to a NATO summit, President Donald Trump is spreading the myth that members of the alliance owe money to the U.S. His tweet Tuesday: "Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are...

apnews.com

 

[ao5884]

Trump said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a genius move, which is completely ridiculous. It was a huge blunder, by far the biggest blunder of Putin’s career.
That‘s why Trump is a Putin fanboy.
Putin could slip on a banana peel, fall flat on his face and break his nose and Trump would claim Putin meant to do it and it was an act of genius. And he would say Putin’s nose looks even better now.

Again you are using your personal opinion and presenting it as a fact. You don't have the relevant knowledge to make such an assertation...in fact none of us do. Hypothetical presented as fact are also worthless

 

[JeffClear]

Again you are using your personal opinion and presenting it as a fact. You don't have the relevant knowledge to make such an assertation...in fact none of us do. Hypothetical presented as fact are also worthless

It's a hard argument to make that this war is good for Russia.
I said before the invasion that it would be a huge mistake if Russia invades and I was right.
Putin has no endgame to get out of this.
Even if he "wins" he will have to keep troops stationed there to prop up his puppet government.
Plus he's left with a bombed out country with millions of people who are cold and hungry.
Is he going to throw billions into rebuilding Ukraine?
And where is he going to get the money?

 

[bourbon n blues]

Wrong as usual.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump and the myth of NATO debt

WASHINGTON (AP) — En route to a NATO summit, President Donald Trump is spreading the myth that members of the alliance owe money to the U.S. His tweet Tuesday: "Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are...

apnews.com

Wrong as usual.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump and the myth of NATO debt

WASHINGTON (AP) — En route to a NATO summit, President Donald Trump is spreading the myth that members of the alliance owe money to the U.S. His tweet Tuesday: "Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are...

apnews.com

You're just dumb, a goal, a commitment, a debt is just playing word games . They weren't pulling their weight and until Trump no one attempted to hold them accountable.

 

[bourbon n blues]

Again you are using your personal opinion and presenting it as a fact. You don't have the relevant knowledge to make such an assertation...in fact none of us do. Hypothetical presented as fact are also worthless

He has nothing. I'll talk to my friend in the security business or actually military folk on this issue and they are adamant guys like Stump are entirely wrong.

 

[JeffClear]

He has nothing. I'll talk to my friend in the security business or actually military folk on this issue and they are adamant guys like Stump are entirely wrong.

Oh yes, you talked to a bunch of Trump supporters and they say Trump is great.

 

[bourbon n blues]

Oh yes, you talked to a bunch of Trump supporters and they say Trump is great.

No, I talked to a guy who extracting people from the Ukraine. Same with Afghanistan. A retired green beret officer. He's an attorney now . A congressional candidate from NC who was a green beret / delta commando. I've mentioned him here. And my brother in law who was offered the top spot at the VA.
They understand about this stuff, you? You're just some partisan idiot. You know no one who deals with this stuff.

 

[JeffClear]

No, I talked to a guy who extracting people from the Ukraine. Same with Afghanistan. A retired green beret officer. He's an attorney now . A congressional candidate from NC who was a green beret / delta commando. I've mentioned him here. And my brother in law who was offered the top spot at the VA.
They understand about this stuff, you? You're just some partisan idiot. You know no one who deals with this stuff.

And they are probably Trump supporters. And neither of them had access to Trump like Bolton and Kelly.
And Trump is dead wrong about NATO finances and shows he doesn't understand how NATO is funded.

 

[bourbon n blues]

And they are probably Trump supporters. And neither of them had access to Trump like Bolton and Kelly.
And Trump is dead wrong about NATO finances and shows he doesn't understand how NATO is funded.

🙄🙄🙄, your level of stupidity is off the charts

 

[bourbon n blues]

And they are probably Trump supporters. And neither of them had access to Trump like Bolton and Kelly.
And Trump is dead wrong about NATO finances and shows he doesn't understand how NATO is funded.

Of course you believe them about something that didn't happen that you somehow think would've made this situation worse somehow if he was President when somehow while he was this thing didn't happen .

 

[ao5884]

It's a hard argument to make that this war is good for Russia.
I said before the invasion that it would be a huge mistake if Russia invades and I was right.
Putin has no endgame to get out of this.
Even if he "wins" he will have to keep troops stationed there to prop up his puppet government.
Plus he's left with a bombed out country with millions of people who are cold and hungry.
Is he going to throw billions into rebuilding Ukraine?
And where is he going to get the money?

He might already have the money....that's the point you aren't in a position to make assumptions because you are not privy to most of the info.

 

[JeffClear]

He might already have the money....that's the point you aren't in a position to make assumptions because you are not privy to most of the info.

Highly unlikely and how would that Russian people feel about sending billions to build Ukraine when they are struggling.
It appears Putin grossly underestimated the extent of Ukrainian resistance.
He probably thought their government would melt away like the Afghan government.
We made a similar miscalculation in Iraq.
Remember Putin is human and does make mistakes.
There are also reports the invasion is causing significant manpower problems for the Russian military.
If we use the Russians own low casualty count numbers the Russians are losing soldiers at a greater rate than their Afghan war.
While US intelligence estimates that Russia has lost 5,000 and 6,000 soldiers.
Compare this to Iraq where the US lost roughly 4,500 and that was a long war.
Plus I'm sure you remember that the US military had significant manpower issues during the Iraq war and had soldiers serving multiple tours of duty.

More Russian troops were killed in Ukraine in 2 weeks than U.S. troops in entire Iraq War, U.S. estimates

theweek.com

 

[The Spin Meister]

No, I talked to a guy who extracting people from the Ukraine. Same with Afghanistan. A retired green beret officer. He's an attorney now . A congressional candidate from NC who was a green beret / delta commando. I've mentioned him here. And my brother in law who was offered the top spot at the VA.
They understand about this stuff, you? You're just some partisan idiot. You know no one who deals with this stuff.

Aren’t you risking this guy’s security or ability to succeed?

 

[bourbon n blues]

Aren’t you risking this guy’s security or ability to succeed?

Not at all. He doesn't talk about anything in particular that would be sensitive or affect what they're doing. For example he told me one night they just missed getting a family out in Afghanistan.
Everyone knew private security was over there similar things were on social media. None of the way he presents it violates their operating or protective security.

 

[Hotshoe]

There are first hand accounts from Trump’s staff who said Trump wanted to pull out of NATO.

Lmao. The warmonger John Bolton and the NY Times. Do better.

 

[Hotshoe]

He has nothing. I'll talk to my friend in the security business or actually military folk on this issue and they are adamant guys like Stump are entirely wrong.

If people haven't studied Putin, Russian History, and philosophy, they haven't a clue. That's why so many talking heads on TV sound like a bunch of pom pom cheerleaders.
Westerners look at Putin from a Western eye, not a Russian perspective. They say ignorant sh&t like Ukraine is no threat to Russia. Ukraine is absolutely a threat in Putin's eyes. He sees NATO. He also sees Ukraine as part of Greater Russia. It doesn't matter how we think or feel, it's how Putin thinks. It’s about how much risk will Putin take. How much is he prepared to fight, and at what cost. War is always about knowing your enemy and trying to predict what he will do.

 

[JeffClear]

If people haven't studied Putin, Russian History, and philosophy, they haven't a clue. That's why so many talking heads on TV sound like a bunch of pom pom cheerleaders.
Westerners look at Putin from a Western eye, not a Russian perspective. They say ignorant sh&t like Ukraine is no threat to Russia. Ukraine is absolutely a threat in Putin's eyes. He sees NATO. He also sees Ukraine as part of Greater Russia. It doesn't matter how we think or feel, it's how Putin thinks. It’s about how much risk will Putin take. How much is he prepared to fight, and at what cost. War is always about knowing your enemy and trying to predict what he will do.

It is obvious Putin miscalculated the risk and is dead wrong on almost everything.
Ukraine and is not a threat to Russia, not militarily anyway.
Putin certainly did not know his enemies and woefully underestimated how hard the Ukrainians would defend their country and how hard the west would hit him with sanctions.
And now he is stuck fighting a war he cannot win, devastating sanctions, and alienation from the west that will likely be permanent.