China Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war Opinion by Yuval Noah Harari Less than a week into the war, it seems increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin is heading towards a historic defeat. He may win all the battles but still lose the war. Putin’s dream of rebuilding the Russian empire has always rested on the lie that Ukraine isn’t a real nation, that Ukrainians aren’t a real people, and that the inhabitants of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv yearn for Moscow’s rule. That’s a complete lie – Ukraine is a nation with more than a thousand years of history, and Kyiv was already a major metropolis when Moscow was not even a village. But the Russian despot has told his lie so many times that he apparently believes it himself. When planning his invasion of Ukraine, Putin could count on many known facts. He knew that militarily Russia dwarfs Ukraine. He knew that Nato would not send troops to help Ukraine. He knew that European dependence on Russian oil and gas would make countries like Germany hesitate about imposing stiff sanctions. Based on these known facts, his plan was to hit Ukraine hard and fast, decapitate its government, establish a puppet regime in Kyiv, and ride out the western sanctions. But there was one big unknown about this plan. As the Americans learned in Iraq and the Soviets learned in Afghanistan, it is much easier to conquer a country than to hold it. Putin knew he had the power to conquer Ukraine. But would the Ukrainian people just accept Moscow’s puppet regime? Putin gambled that they would. After all, as he repeatedly explained to anyone willing to listen, Ukraine isn’t a real nation, and the Ukrainians aren’t a real people. In 2014, people in Crimea hardly resisted the Russian invaders. Why should 2022 be any different? With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Putin’s gamble is failing. The Ukrainian people are resisting with all their heart, winning the admiration of the entire world – and winning the war. Many dark days lie ahead. The Russians may still conquer the whole of Ukraine. But to win the war, the Russians would have to hold Ukraine, and they can do that only if the Ukrainian people let them. This seems increasingly unlikely to happen. Click on the link for more 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simmsy Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Dear God, for once, in their miserable existence, can't the GOP be on the right side of history? How many losers can one group get behind? 4 2 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobraCommander Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Just now, Simmsy said: Dear God, for once, in their miserable existence, can't the GOP be on the right side of history? How many losers can one group get behind? Gotta own the libs tho. Can’t appear weak, or competent, or sane. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spjunkies Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 3 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 That Russia tank has a horn? It sounds like it came out of a civic 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spjunkies Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RansomthePasserby Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 They just leave it with the keys in the ignition and don’t even bother to disable it? Every tank crew knows how to de-track their tank, it’s almost like they’re leaving them for the Ukrainians on purpose 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPinstripe Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 26 minutes ago, Simmsy said: Dear God, for once, in their miserable existence, can't the GOP be on the right side of history? How many losers can one group get behind? Well, the Republican party freed the slaves and won the Civil War if you are referencing history. But that is pretty far back. 😁 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaytoAli Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 14 minutes ago, MisterPinstripe said: Well, the Republican party freed the slaves and won the Civil War if you are referencing history. But that is pretty far back. 😁 This isn’t that party, this is the party of the former Democratic Dixiecrats. 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoDus84 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 15 minutes ago, RansomthePasserby said: They just leave it with the keys in the ignition and don’t even bother to disable it? Every tank crew knows how to de-track their tank, it’s almost like they’re leaving them for the Ukrainians on purpose Or they got into a skirmish, and the tankers thought it best to gtfo instead of potentially roasting alive if they got hit by an NLAW. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Green Fan Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) 33 minutes ago, spjunkies said: Boy he is taking a huge risk. I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly disappeared Edited March 1, 2022 by Darrell Green Fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmirOfShmo Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) More from Asha... Edited March 1, 2022 by EmirOfShmo 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Hackers attack train network to stop Putin moving troops from Russia to Ukraine Hackers in Belarus have claimed an attack on the country’s trains that brought them to a halt in order to stop Russia moving troops into Ukraine. The ‘Cyber Partisans’ group said that trains had been stopped in Minsk, Orsha, and Osipovichi due to them compromising the routing system and switching devices by encrypting the data on them. The hackers claimed that the attack was to “slow down the transfer” of troops moving from Belarus to northern Ukraine, saying that they had put the trains in “manual control” mode which would “significantly slow down the movement of trains, but will not create emergency situations.” Click on the link for the full article 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Uggggghh..... that column moving towards Kyiv is just begging for a few JSOWs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FootballZombie Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 5 minutes ago, China said: Hackers attack train network to stop Putin moving troops from Russia to Ukraine The cyber warefare going down is so impactful its crazy. Its the future of combat as we know it Impacting troop movements by messing w. trains. Impacting economy by taking down key websites Impacting Russia state run media outlets impacting moral by blocking access to entertainment impacting stable and reliable communication of combatants impacted communications of those at home in Russia by clogging up major phone carriers Mass release of sensitive info Making people fight wars on multiple fronts really adds up and while some of these things are not particularly devastating, having to juggle all this while actually fighting a war has to be an absolute kick in the balls. IT army is a thing and I'm almost not joking if it needs to spin off into its own military branch that just supports the others. 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 38 minutes ago, Darrell Green Fan said: Boy he is taking a huge risk. I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly disappeared I think he's been in New York or somewhere for a few years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, tshile said: @The Almighty Buzz i realize it may not have been your department, and even if it was I realize you wouldn’t talk about it. But what are you willing to say about quality of Russian missile program? Is the general consensus that we should be terrified, appropriate? Are you asking about ICBMs or like anti-aircraft missiles and stuff? Edited March 1, 2022 by The Almighty Buzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, The Almighty Buzz said: anti-aircraft mussels and stuff? Must be some tough mussels. 😉 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoshuaj Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Simmsy said: Dear God, for once, in their miserable existence, can't the GOP be on the right side of history? How many losers can one group get behind? just another log on the fire…… The Hypocrisy of Bob Good Over the weekend, as his Alma Mater and former employer Liberty Universitychanged the colors of Freedom Tower to blue and yellow while encouraging prayer for Ukraine, few were aware that two weeks earlier Congressman Bob Good (R-VA 05) had co-sponsored a bill to refuse security support resources for Ukraine.…. …….On Sunday, in a gesture of love and unity, members of Good’s megachurch in Lynchburg shared sheets of paper in the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine, a country that is 67% Christian; each contained the name(s) of Ukrainian citizens to pray for. Wonder if they were aware their congressman and fellow church member was working against the freedom and safety of the very people named on those sheets of paper….. more at link: https://bearingdrift.com/2022/02/28/the-hypocrisy-of-bob-good/ The silver lining, this is a conservative site calling out this asshat. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 18 minutes ago, The Almighty Buzz said: Are you asking about ICBMs or or like anti-aircraft mussels and stuff? I'll jump in here. The first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Mandatory reading 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 6 hours ago, tshile said: 🙄 im going to get the impact is to cause a run on the banks. why would you give 3 days notice to withdrawal money? and I’m sorry but aside from ddos attacks, and a couple random anon people doing some more high level stuff, they haven’t pulled off anything that actually matters. drain all the Russian bank accounts? Yeah ok. Man, I said it would be pretty cool if they could pull it off. Big IF there. Sheesh, tshile, you could ruin pizza. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) 41 minutes ago, The Almighty Buzz said: Are you asking about ICBMs or like anti-aircraft missiles and stuff? ICBM’s and general nuclear capabilities. is it realistic they could launch from subs off our coast? Hit us with an icbm? i mean I feel like I’ve been conditioned to think Russia could wipe us off the map by pressing some buttons. but I feel like I’ve also been conditioned to think Russia is a top flight military, and I’m watching g them unable to fuel their tanks within 200km of their own damn border. meanwhile it seems like our military can operate anywhere at any time (obviously moving resources takes effort and time but you know what I mean) just trying to square the military that can’t fuel their tanks with the one that can launch the most sophisticated and dangerous weapons known and hit targets on the other side of the globe. Edited March 1, 2022 by tshile 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatBuzz Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 29 minutes ago, visionary said: Must be some tough mussels. 😉 Been getting my ass kicked by auto-correct all day. I need to learn to slow down and proof-read better. 14 minutes ago, Forehead said: I'll jump in here. The first one. I don’t know anything that Google wouldn’t tell you. My military career had zero to do with Russian ICBMs. Though just from news and such, my understanding is their nukes are in rough shape. Many of them probably wouldn’t even successfully launch and reach their target. But they have enough nukes that if even only 10% of them worked, they could still kill every living thing on the planet. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said: Man, I said it would be pretty cool if they could pull it off. Big IF there. Sheesh, tshile, you could ruin pizza. Hah. Anonymous makes big claims but doesn’t often do more than basic stuff. a run on the bank would hurt Putin. It makes sense. And they already sort of have that problem. ability to drain all Russian bank accounts? Sorry. Seems far fetched @The Almighty Buzz as far as I’ve found, the first nuclear-capable missile test launch from a sub for Russia was 2019. That seems late for what I feel like we’ve been conditioned to believe about them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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