4 ms·

>Both Western governments and private parties have been publicly showing extraordinary amounts of intelligence on Russia troop movements, disposition, and likel

>Both Western governments and private parties have been publicly showing extraordinary amounts of intelligence on Russia troop movements, disposition, and likely intentions, and I can only imagine that that Ukraine is getting much more than what is public. Limiting one side’s ability to generate surprise really shifts the balance. Oh ya, drones, awacs, satellites. Every step by every russian solider is recorded. Whereas Russia has to track literally everyone? General mobilization means everyone is your enemy. Then you have the simple reality that there is no doubt a very significant proxy war going on. Russia can't even admit to this or tell the troops because it would destroy their morale. Behind every bush is a navy seal... id shit my pants as well.

mrandish 5y ago
> the simple reality that there is no doubt a very significant proxy war going on. Are you saying there are U.S. military combat forces actively engaged on the ground inside Ukraine? I find this extremely difficult to believe. I could believe that there are a handful of U.S. intelligence advisors relaying satellite comms inside Ukrainian military HQ. It's also plausible that there are a small number of private contractors (ala Blackwater) on the ground in Ukraine. Do you have any evidence to support active combat engagement of U.S. military forces?
- jack_squat 5y ago
  Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree.
  - mrandish 5y ago
    I was confused by the poster's comment: > Behind every bush is a navy seal... Which seems to imply U.S. military personnel engaging on the ground.
    - salawat 5y ago
      No, it implies every bush could be concealing very bad news given info asymmetry.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree To be fair, most actual “proxy wars” (e.g., during the Cold War) have also involved covertly-inserted forces from whichever (including both, where that was the case) of the two superpowers wasn't overtly involved.
FpUser 5y ago
>" Russia can't even admit to this or tell the troops because it would destroy their morale. " From what I saw their morale is pretty much destroyed already. It was probably never there to begin with except maybe special forces.
- atoav 5y ago
  Maybe it is because I am not a soldier, but I would need a pretty strong reason to fight a war. One that really makes me want to fight. Even if you factor in Russian nationalism I doubt that many russian soldiers really believe their involvment in Ukraine helps their country.
  - tguvot 5y ago
    Not many, but there are some who do believe it. Check out my other post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30497688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30497688 . It's opnions that are held by some chunk of russian population.
vba616 5y ago
>Behind every bush is a navy seal If there are Americans engaged in Ukraine, this would imply that his nuclear deterrent is hollow, right? It sounds good in a way, if nobody is prepared to blow up the world. But if there is no assumption that anyone will, then where does escalation stop?

mrandish 5y ago

> the simple reality that there is no doubt a very significant proxy war going on. Are you saying there are U.S. military combat forces actively engaged on the ground inside Ukraine? I find this extremely difficult to believe. I could believe that there are a handful of U.S. intelligence advisors relaying satellite comms inside Ukrainian military HQ. It's also plausible that there are a small number of private contractors (ala Blackwater) on the ground in Ukraine. Do you have any evidence to support active combat engagement of U.S. military forces?

jack_squat 5y ago
Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree.
- mrandish 5y ago
  I was confused by the poster's comment: > Behind every bush is a navy seal... Which seems to imply U.S. military personnel engaging on the ground.
  - salawat 5y ago
    No, it implies every bush could be concealing very bad news given info asymmetry.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Proxy war means no boots on the ground. The two of you agree To be fair, most actual “proxy wars” (e.g., during the Cold War) have also involved covertly-inserted forces from whichever (including both, where that was the case) of the two superpowers wasn't overtly involved.

FpUser 5y ago

>" Russia can't even admit to this or tell the troops because it would destroy their morale. " From what I saw their morale is pretty much destroyed already. It was probably never there to begin with except maybe special forces.

atoav 5y ago
Maybe it is because I am not a soldier, but I would need a pretty strong reason to fight a war. One that really makes me want to fight. Even if you factor in Russian nationalism I doubt that many russian soldiers really believe their involvment in Ukraine helps their country.
- tguvot 5y ago
  Not many, but there are some who do believe it. Check out my other post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30497688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30497688 . It's opnions that are held by some chunk of russian population.

vba616 5y ago

>Behind every bush is a navy seal If there are Americans engaged in Ukraine, this would imply that his nuclear deterrent is hollow, right? It sounds good in a way, if nobody is prepared to blow up the world. But if there is no assumption that anyone will, then where does escalation stop?