Russia’s failures in Ukraine imbue Pentagon with newfound confidence

[pecksniff]

Always a silver lining, kindasorta . . .

For more than a decade, the Pentagon, pinned down in Afghanistan, followed China’s rise as a global power and Russia’s ambitious military modernization program with growing alarm. The consensus in Beijing, Moscow and among some in Washington was that an era of U.S. global dominance was rapidly coming to an end.
But one month into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, senior Pentagon officials are brimming with newfound confidence in American power, spurred by the surprising effectiveness of U.S.-backed Ukrainian forces, Russia’s heavy battlefield losses and the cautionary lessons they believe China is taking from the war.

“Let me put it this way,” said one senior Pentagon official of America’s standing in the world. “Who would you switch places with? Seriously, who would you switch places with?”

It’s a stunning shift in tone for a department that in August ended a 20-year war in Afghanistan with a chaotic withdrawal as an ascendant Taliban returned to power. Even though the U.S. military has not played the primary role in the American response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, senior Pentagon officials are quick to tout the still-unfolding war as proof of America’s economic, diplomatic and military strength.

 

[mayfly13]

Always a silver lining, kindasorta . .
For more than a decade, the Pentagon, pinned down in Afghanistan, followed China’s rise as a global power and Russia’s ambitious military modernization program with growing alarm. The consensus in Beijing, Moscow and among some in Washington was that an era of U.S. global dominance was rapidly coming to an end.
But one month into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, senior Pentagon officials are brimming with newfound confidence in American power, spurred by the surprising effectiveness of U.S.-backed Ukrainian forces, Russia’s heavy battlefield losses and the cautionary lessons they believe China is taking from the war.

“Let me put it this way,” said one senior Pentagon official of America’s standing in the world. “Who would you switch places with? Seriously, who would you switch places with?”

It’s a stunning shift in tone for a department that in August ended a 20-year war in Afghanistan with a chaotic withdrawal as an ascendant Taliban returned to power. Even though the U.S. military has not played the primary role in the American response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, senior Pentagon officials are quick to tout the still-unfolding war as proof of America’s economic, diplomatic and military strength.

Are they actually implying that America sees this war as a fight for global supremacy between superpowers?

I thought it was about helping Ukraine.

 

[icanhelp1]

Are they actually implying that America sees this war as a fight for global supremacy between superpowers?

I thought it was about helping Ukraine.

Are they actually implying that America sees this war as a fight for global supremacy between superpowers?

I thought it was about helping Ukraine.

LupusDei has a really insightful perspective of this Russian/Ukrainian conflict.

Some of our generals are seeing that our fear of the great Russian bear was over exaggerated in the conventional sense, nothing fake about Russia's nuclear capability, that's what really counts in any skirmish with Russia. Russia's economy is the same size as our state of Texas and it shouldn't be, that's Putin's fault.

No! America *the people* don't see it as a fight for global dominance. They see the atrocities and feel for the Ukrainian people and want justice to prevail.

The american people are keenly aware of what happens if a full blown war breaks out against Russia and are consciously weighing the consequences as it relates to punishing Putin for war crimes and total annihilation of the planet as we know it, so this becomes yet another proxy war between our two nations and NATO. All we can do is covertly provide equipment assistance, cross our fingers and pray the Ukrainian military can give Putin's military a black eye and a bloody nose with an outside chance of killing the beast while we pray for the Ukrainian people and do our best to provide humanitarian aid.

No, American people like Russian people want to live in peace. There are those who always take every shot they can at america and many of those want a change that is antithetical to our constitution ( socialism, communism or the new fad *democratic socialism*). We have two major political parties that pretty much accuse each other of being anti-american while spending most of their time fundraising and campaigning to keep their asses in power rather than doing the people's business. Thank God there's is still an adherence to our constitution otherwise we would devolve into some sort single party tyranny and we all know what happens then.

People confuse our political structure as a democracy and we're not! Although we have a representative form of government we are a republic of 50 states were each state has a unique government of its own. Our constitution is designed to limit the powers of the federal government unfortunately the american people are surrendering their rights as a people to the federal government. Our federal government is sooo bloated and so big it has become very intrusive to our way of life. We have people who believe big government is the cure all for what ails us, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Our military differs from Russia in that it is totally voluntary, is well funded and well trained. People would have you believe the military lost in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, that's an unfair accounting of the military, I place the majority of our failings on our political structure. They are quick to engage in a conflict without specific goals and many times never formulate an exit strategy, nor do they take responsibility for the long term consequences of their actions, Vietnam and the 2nd Iraq conflict as well as the elongated conflict in Afghanistan where mission creep caused more harm than good even though are soldiers performed magnificently.

You may have noticed that we suck at nation building and suck even worse as the global police. We squandered untold treasures in search of remedies for nations that we should have never engaged in trying to instill democracies they either don't want or are to tribal to make it work.

 

[Chobham]

And somebody better stuff a ball gag in the mouth of that stupid son of a bitch living in the white house before he seriously starts WWIII.

 

[ll74]

And somebody better stuff a ball gag in the mouth of that stupid son of a bitch living in the white house before he seriously starts WWIII.

Lmao..you seem angry

 

[Chobham]

Lmao..you seem angry

Make that appalled at the senile dolts stupidity. As is most of the rest of the world in case you didn't bother to notice.

 

[LLCox]

And somebody better stuff a ball gag in the mouth of that stupid son of a bitch living in the white house before he seriously starts WWIII.

It's not often that America gets to point at someone else for starting a war.

 

[icanhelp1]

And somebody better stuff a ball gag in the mouth of that stupid son of a bitch living in the white house before he seriously starts WWIII.

I'm sure Putin is rallying his people and troops over Biden's comments that Putin needs to go, or boots on the ground in Ukraine. WH staff (cabinet ) has to follow Biden around with an industrial size roll of shit paper to wipe up his messes. Words only matter when Trump says them.

 

[ll74]

Make that appalled at the senile dolts stupidity. As is most of the rest of the world in case you didn't bother to notice.

Lol, the rest of the world, like NATO and the EU who have followed our lead in actions against Russia and elsewhere....yah....of course.

Maybe watch a few of his speeches to calm you down.

 

[ll74]

Words only matter when Trump says them.

I'm sure he's working in the Moscow bombing plan right now....in between holes.

 

[icanhelp1]

I'm sure he's working in the Moscow bombing plan right now....in between holes.

I was only responding in kind . Biden's staff is doing a fairly decent job while Biden himself consistently throws hand grenades into the fray.

 

[ll74]

I was only responding in kind . Biden's staff is doing a fairly decent job while Biden himself consistently throws hand grenades into the fray.

Absolutely...the sanctions are working and will work even better the longer they are in place. His trip to Poland was timely and effective.

 

[icanhelp1]

Absolutely...the sanctions are working and will work even better the longer they are in place. His trip to Poland was timely and effective.

The sanctions need to be deeper and tougher and target Putin's energy assets like yesterday.

Biden had a few gaffs but overall I thought he handled himself OK. His staff is doing a good job in my opinion. I think he should have been in Brussels and then Poland the first week of the invasion. Being there from the get-go would have sent a message to Putin as to the gravity of his incursion and how serious NATO would respond to article 5 aggression and would have improved his image of leadership, also give him an opportunity to address the Russian people while standing right next door.

 

[ll74]

The sanctions need to be deeper and tougher and target Putin's energy assets like yesterday.

Biden had a few gaffs but overall I thought he handled himself OK. His staff is doing a good job in my opinion. I think he should have been in Brussels and then Poland the first week of the invasion. Being there from the get-go would have sent a message to Putin as to the gravity of his incursion and how serious NATO would respond to article 5 aggression and would have improved his image of leadership, also give him an opportunity to address the Russian people while standing right next door.

The sanctions on energy sectors are what Biden has been pressinge Europe on. The US has done what it can in that regard...we really don't have much skin in that game at all.

I don't think he should've been there any sooner.

 

[Dribble]

And somebody better stuff a ball gag in the mouth of that stupid son of a bitch living in the white house before he seriously starts WWIII.

You are too fucking stupid to realize it already started

 

[Rightguide]

Always a silver lining, kindasorta . . .

Nobody in the US military leadership, Nuclear weapons aside, feared Russians or their technology. So no need to project your "newfound confidence" onto the hardcore planners and ground commanders who engineered the destruction of over 3000 of Russia's best tanks and dozens of their best aircraft in the desert war. In Syria, Russia's crack Wagner Group was destroyed in detail by a small American force of Marines, Green Berets, and Rangers on tenth the size of the Russian group. When the Battle of Khasham, as it was known, was over there were 200-300 dead Wagner Group mercenaries on the field, only one allied Syrian was wounded, and no American casualties. Outside of the press and the military-industrial lobbyists trying to boost the defense budget, American combat leaders understand the incompetence of the Russians. You can read about that battle here:
https://coffeeordie.com/wagner-group-syria-khasham/

 

[pecksniff]

There are those who always take every shot they can at america and many of those want a change that is antithetical to our constitution ( socialism, communism or the new fad *democratic socialism*).

That's no "new fad," it has been the politics of the American Socialist Party and its successor organizations ever since it split from the Communists in 1917.

 

[pecksniff]

Are they actually implying that America sees this war as a fight for global supremacy between superpowers?

The article is about how the Pentagon sees things. Naturally it will always be in those terms.

 

[pecksniff]

Make that appalled at the senile dolts stupidity. As is most of the rest of the world in case you didn't bother to notice.

You know Biden ain't senile.

 

[pecksniff]

You are too fucking stupid to realize it already started

What? What's going on in Ukraine will stop whenever Russia leaves off fighting. It's not going to escalate or spread.

 

[LupusDei]

What? What's going on in Ukraine will stop whenever Russia leaves off fighting. It's not going to escalate or spread.

That's like super naive. The war in Ukraine isn't about Ukraine. Ukraine just happened to be the victim of the day for the bully to torture for demonstration purposes. The war is virtually guaranteed to spread if it won't be contained. Putin won't stop, and won't accept any peace deal short of total capitulation from Ukraine, unless Ukraine clearly and irrefutably win by taking Sevastopol, Donetsk and Rostov-on-Don (for a bargaining chip, although they may not want to give it up if indeed take by accident, Ukraine do claim Krasnodar Krai as historically theirs (based on map of 1919, and Ukrainian language spoken there until the Holodomor)). Even then an active front line may remain all until Putin is dead or ousted.

If Ukraine fall, there's, Moldova, Georgia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan... Finland and Sweden if they dare an insult in joining NATO.

And before you hiss about NATO, Putin doesn't believe it exists or will actually help if members be targeted one by one.

 

[pecksniff]

And before you hiss about NATO, Putin doesn't believe it exists

Doesn't believe it exists?! But his pretext for this war was Ukraine's refusal to rule out joining it!

 

[pecksniff]

If Ukraine fall, there's, Moldova, Georgia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan... Finland and Sweden if they dare an insult in joining NATO.

You make it sound like Putin has ambitions on a totally Hitlerian scale. Poland?! Finland?! Sweden?!

 

[LupusDei]

Are they actually implying that America sees this war as a fight for global supremacy between superpowers?

I thought it was about helping Ukraine.

Putin certainly see it that way.

But as joke has it, he's lost 16k soldiers, thousand armored vehicles, hundreds of tanks, dozens of planes and 7 generals, all while NATO haven't yet shown up to the fight...

Where he's almost right though, it's indeed a global fight between systems. And it couldn't been more vividly illustrated. Armoured slave army armada with indiscriminate artillery of an anti-intellectual gang run dictatorship built on conservative pseudo "values" against relatively poorly equipped and chaotic but smart and self actualized volunteer effort. And the outcome may indeed dictate the world order for a long time to come.

 

[LupusDei]

You make it sound like Putin has ambitions on a totally Hitlerian scale. Poland?! Finland?! Sweden?!

Poland or Azerbaijan is the two most likely targets for demonstrative tactical nukes.

Sweden just became of an insult if they follow Finland in joining NATO.