War Games: Russia Takes Ukraine, China Takes Taiwan. US Response?

[Genady]

1 hour ago, koti said:

Thank you.

[koti]

4 minutes ago, Genady said:

Thank you.

Who knows if these numbers are correct or not, probably nobody knows the exact numbers but its undeniable that Putin wasn’t expecting this scale of losses. 

[geordief]

13 minutes ago, koti said:

Who knows if these numbers are correct or not, probably nobody knows the exact numbers but its undeniable that Putin wasn’t expecting this scale of losses. 

What to make of Putin's  claim that all the Russian combatants were professional and not conscripts?

 

Oh and does anyone know any Russian  social media sites or discussion forums where non Russian  speakers can contribute from outside the country?

Edited March 6, 2022 by geordief

[Genady]

9 minutes ago, koti said:

Who knows if these numbers are correct or not, probably nobody knows the exact numbers but its undeniable that Putin wasn’t expecting this scale of losses. 

2 boats is perhaps correct - this is easy to count. The other numbers are more unreliable. Regardless, the reality is not what Putin expected. Or, anyone else.

[iNow]

10 hours ago, Alex_Krycek said:

Considering how integral sorties are to Russia's campaign, it's hard to see how a no fly zone wouldn't be seen as a declaration of war, considering it would necessitate expelling the Russian aircraft using force.

It would also put our own aircraft at significant risk against surface to air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery in both Ukraine and Russia 

[SergUpstart]

The Ukrainian army uses the tactics of Middle Eastern extremists, hiding behind the civilian population as a human shield.

As RIA Novosti reports, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, said this on Fox Business.

According to him, this tactic is explained by the fact that the APU lacks mobility, there are no air defense systems and air cover.

"They have to hide in settlements, mixing with the population. We could see similar things in the Middle East. When we defeated the Islamists there, they fled to the cities, used people, civilians, as human shields and tried to avoid destruction. This is exactly what is happening now in Ukraine, where the army is using the population to avoid defeat," McGregor stressed.

[iNow]

What a ridiculous interpretation given that the civilian population is voluntarily standing up, taking up arms, and fighting alongside their military by the hundreds of thousands to defend not only their country, but democracy itself. 

[SergUpstart]

Today, the news went out in the Russian media that Ukraine was going to make a nuclear bomb, and the main institute in this project was the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. Now the list of Russia's priority targets in this operation is clear, Chernobyl, Kharkiv, Energodar and Yuzhnoukrainsk. And here is the meaning of the Russian troops' rush from Nikolaev to Voznesensk, as well as the fact that the Russian army is storming Kharkov.

[iNow]

1 minute ago, SergUpstart said:

Today, the news went out in the Russian media that Ukraine was going to make a nuclear bomb, and the main institute in this project was the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology.

You misspelled “propaganda and lies.”

What DID go out in Russia is access to independent news from the BBC, and all access to Facebook and Twitter for Russian residents.

Authoritarian lockdown of internal information and dissemination of disinformation is now in full swing within Russia. 

[Genady]

5 minutes ago, iNow said:

You misspelled “propaganda and lies.”

What DID go out in Russia is access to independent news from the BBC, and all access to Facebook and Twitter for Russian residents.

Authoritarian lockdown of internal information and dissemination of disinformation is now in full swing within Russia. 

Right, no more doubts and confusion, everything is crystal clear now. Жить стало лучше, жить стало веселей.

[SergUpstart]

4 minutes ago, iNow said:

What DID go out in Russia is access to independent news from the BBC, and all access to Facebook and Twitter for Russian residents.

It really is. Echo of Moscow Radio and Dozhd TV channel are closed. Only YouTube remains. I think need should start broadcasting in Russian again on short waves of AM.

 

As for democracy, the people do not need it if their standard of living is below the poverty line.

[koti]

2 hours ago, SergUpstart said:

The Ukrainian army uses the tactics of Middle Eastern extremists, hiding behind the civilian population as a human shield.

As RIA Novosti reports, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, said this on Fox Business.

According to him, this tactic is explained by the fact that the APU lacks mobility, there are no air defense systems and air cover.

"They have to hide in settlements, mixing with the population. We could see similar things in the Middle East. When we defeated the Islamists there, they fled to the cities, used people, civilians, as human shields and tried to avoid destruction. This is exactly what is happening now in Ukraine, where the army is using the population to avoid defeat," McGregor stressed.

Considering that you still have access to American internet (posting on this site) you are not located in Russia, right?
If you are not in Russia, you have complete access to all information sources whenever you please hence you should be able to draw correct conclusions but... not necessarily:

"Change the perception of reality to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions"

Jurij Bezmienow
Ex KGB agent who defected to the US in 1970.

Google the guy, he has very interesting stories.
 

Edited March 6, 2022 by koti

[Genady]

22 minutes ago, koti said:

Considering that you still have access to American internet (posting on this site) you are not located in Russia, right?
If you are not in Russia, you have complete access to all information sources whenever you please hence you should be able to draw correct conclusions but... not necessarily:

"Change the perception of reality to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions"

Jurij Bezmienow
Ex KGB agent who defected to the US in 1970.

Google the guy, he has very interesting stories.
 

Sometimes it seems to be a self-inflicted impairment. Just yesterday I had a phone call from a Russian acquaintance living long time in the US. Evidently, she didn't see the program that gave the nuclear bomb reasoning for shelling Kharkov, and started telling me about the Ukrainian ultra-nationalists shelling their own people to create the anti-Russian public opinion. On my questions, she said that Russian TV is the only truthful source of information about what is going on there, and all the rest is just fake news.  

(I've told her to never call me again and hang up.)

[beecee]

3 hours ago, iNow said:

You misspelled “propaganda and lies.”

What DID go out in Russia is access to independent news from the BBC, and all access to Facebook and Twitter for Russian residents.

Authoritarian lockdown of internal information and dissemination of disinformation is now in full swing within Russia. 

Totally agree with that summation. How the hell, can people believe that it is the democratic western nations that are indulging in fake news ( a terminology that forever will keep the name of Trump alive) and lies and misinformation? Sometimes I really wish I could block politics totally out of my mind...politics and religion! two areas where people can twist, turn and alter the facts to reflect and protect their inner biases and beliefs.

Edited March 6, 2022 by beecee

[SergUpstart]

33 minutes ago, beecee said:

How the hell, can people believe that it is the democratic western nations that are indulging in fake news ( a terminology that forever will keep the name of Trump alive) and lies and misinformation? Sometimes I really wish I could block politics totally out of my mind...politics and religion! two areas where people can twist, turn and alter the facts to reflect and protect their inner biases and beliefs.

Exactly. Politics is a dirty business. And Ukrainian politicians are not much better than Russian ones. This also applies to American politicians.

[beecee]

Just now, SergUpstart said:

Exactly. Politics is a dirty business. And Ukrainian politicians are not much better than Russian ones. This also applies to American politicians.

But Ukrain did not invade and bomb the shit out of Russia!

4 minutes ago, beecee said:

But Ukrain did not invade and bomb the shit out of Russia!

Just to make it clear, I actually agree totally with 

3 hours ago, iNow said:

You misspelled “propaganda and lies.”

What DID go out in Russia is access to independent news from the BBC, and all access to Facebook and Twitter for Russian residents.

Authoritarian lockdown of internal information and dissemination of disinformation is now in full swing within Russia. 

 

[Sensei]

5 hours ago, Genady said:

2 boats is perhaps correct - this is easy to count. The other numbers are more unreliable.

Other numbers are growing as we talk..

Nobody took the destroyed vehicles out of Ukraine. They can be counted, for example, by analyzing satellite images..

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Sensei

[Genady]

2 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Other numbers are growing as we talk..

Nobody took the destroyed vehicles out of Ukraine. They can be counted, for example, by analyzing satellite images..

 

Yes, maybe. Anyway, I hope that if they err, then only by undercounting.

[SergUpstart]

1 hour ago, beecee said:

Authoritarian lockdown of internal information and dissemination of disinformation is now in full swing within Russia. 

They never lie as much as after hunting and during the war

[TheVat]

So many possible flashpoints now.  Would Russia try to seize the Suwalki corridor if it felt Kaliningrad exclave was threatened?  What if NATO were to flip Vlads territorial logic back on him, point out that the exclave is not really historically part of Russia?  Or what if Putin saw NATO movements around the exclave and misinterpreted them as directed towards a land grab?  

Another random thought - how does a NATO ally deliver fighter jets to Ukraine without, erm, you know?  Or do Ukraine pilots go to that donor country and pick them up, fly a sortie from there?  IIRC, Poland is looking into something like that.   Does that send Vlad off the rails and he declares war on the donating nation?  Seems likely.  

All this "we're helping the war but hey we're not really in the war" stuff seems like thin ice to me.  

 

[geordief]

2 minutes ago, TheVat said:

Does that send Vlad off the rails and he declares war on the donating nation?  Seems likely

You mean threaten the donating nation with a nuclear strike?

 

He would only have that "card" to play,I think.

 

He doesn't seem to have a great conventional  warfare capability   so as to open another front does he?

[zapatos]

10 minutes ago, TheVat said:

All this "we're helping the war but hey we're not really in the war" stuff seems like thin ice to me.  

 

Possibly, but that is the way it's been done since the end of WWII, all over the world, between the Soviets/Russia and US/NATO. Everyone knows the rules. Not to say it may not fail this time, but as long as Russians and NATO are not pulling the trigger on each other, I expect cooler heads to prevail.

[iNow]

Planes from Poland will come in the same way stinger missiles and ammunition etc do. Poland will as a sovereign country donate the planes to Ukraine. Then the US, also acting as a sovereign nation, will dance along that razor thin edge btw the “intent” and “meaning” of the “law” by backfilling Poland who will receive donated US planes. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by iNow

[Jalopy]

If so, could WW3 break out?

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Jalopy

[iNow]

Some would say this already is WWIII. I’d say we don’t need a 4th thread on this.

Edited March 7, 2022 by iNow