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Ignoring for a moment the fact that the article cites mainly US military sources for its analysis of the Russian military's performance [so, no hint of bias the

Ignoring for a moment the fact that the article cites mainly US military sources for its analysis of the Russian military's performance [so, no hint of bias there!] an alternative way of looking at this is that the Russian military is as outdated and incompetent as at least some people have long believed. And that dis-proportionate western fear of it has been equally long been encouraged by the US as a justification for its own continued military build-up and presence in Europe. It would be highly amusing if, instead of encouraging the US's client states in Western Europe to demand more American weaponry and protection, this exposure of Russian ineptitude actually persuaded them that they were capable of defending themselves and they told the US to pack its bags, go home and leave European nations to form their own relationships with Russia. Oh well. One can but dream! FWIW --Russia's apparent cocking up of their invasion of Ukraine hasn't come as a huge surprise to me. Historically the Russian military has always succeeded where they have counter-attacked an exhausted invading enemy, who has over-stretched himself and already been practically defeated by the vastness of the country and the harshness of the winter. When the Russians initiate the aggression, they almost always falter. As the old joke goes; it's hard to mount a successful invasion when your military instruction manuals say "Form the tanks into a circle and wait for winter"

eveningcoffee 5y ago
Based on your comments, you are not one of the Europeans. I do not think that anybody in Europe is willing to have any relationship with Russia as it will be seen as it always should have been - untrustworthy criminal. Air strike against Russian ground forces is also not unlikely by now when they continue to commit war crimes and genocide. NATO has been playing games to avoid direct confrontation but there will be a moment when the voices of their own people become too loud to be ignored. It is the best for Russian army to leave Ukraine till there is an army. There will be no retaliation to this from Russia behind some more threats. Or do you think Russia is going to nuke Switzerland or what?
- Normille 5y ago
  I am a European. But one of the rare ones who thinks for himself and doesn't just lap up whatever kool-aid drips from the American teat. Your remark that Europe shouldn't deal with Russia because they are "criminal" just serves to reinforce my statement about people's play school view of global events as "goodies vs. baddies" [where, needless to say, we're always the "goodies"!] All governments are self-serving criminals and liars. And the west is quite happy to snuggle up to the most odious regimes, as long as they're on 'our side'. So please spare me the "freedom and democracy" bullshit. Ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq [plus countless others] how having freedom and democracy imposed on them worked out. I'm making a wild assumption that, if you're a European, you're from Eastern Europe. The various nations from that part of the continent seem to be involved in a nauseatingly sycophantic contest to see who can lick the US's arse the most passionately, whether that be by allowing the Yanks to use your country as a military base, or by screeching the loudest in the '2 Minutes Hate' against Russia. Its pathetic how Europe endlessly sabotages is own economic and political future for the benefit of the US. With a bit of reaching out the hand of friendship towards Russia [or before that, the USSR] Europe could have had easy access to that massive Russian market and those bountiful Russian natural resources, as well as not feeling the need to be occupied by the US military. Instead, we treated Russia as 'The Enemy' both before and after the demise of the USSR and effectively crippled Europe financially and resources-wise and kept it tied to the US's apron strings for the foreseeable future. The golden rule with all such events [global and local] is to ask yourself "Qui Bono?" The US has been looking to sabotage any rapprochenent between Europe and Russia since the Berlin wall came down. Look at NordStream 2 --which would have brought boundless cheap Russian gas to Europe. The US has been opposed to that since the outset. And, in the usual US fashion, they don't just express their disapproval and move on. They've been bullying to get their way, by sanctioning companies involved in it. Like it is any of the US's fucking business. Any more than Europe would have any business telling the US it wasn't allowed to buy oil or gas from Canada. Well, the US got its wish there didn't it? NordStream 2 has obediently been cancelled by lickspittle Germany and the next stage is to persuade Europe to stop purchasing the oil and gas it already buys from Russia. And, when this happens, I wonder who will be there; riding in on a white charger in a white stetson, to make up the shortfall, when Europe can't meet its own energy needs? Who else but our hero Uncle Sam! --saving the day as usual, and selling us all the oil and gas we need. Oh, and while we're at it, we'd better buy a few more billion dollars worth of US military hardware and station a few thousand more American troops in Europe, to protect us from those nasty Russkis! Qui Bono, folks? Qui Bono?

eveningcoffee 5y ago

Based on your comments, you are not one of the Europeans. I do not think that anybody in Europe is willing to have any relationship with Russia as it will be seen as it always should have been - untrustworthy criminal. Air strike against Russian ground forces is also not unlikely by now when they continue to commit war crimes and genocide. NATO has been playing games to avoid direct confrontation but there will be a moment when the voices of their own people become too loud to be ignored. It is the best for Russian army to leave Ukraine till there is an army. There will be no retaliation to this from Russia behind some more threats. Or do you think Russia is going to nuke Switzerland or what?

Normille 5y ago
I am a European. But one of the rare ones who thinks for himself and doesn't just lap up whatever kool-aid drips from the American teat. Your remark that Europe shouldn't deal with Russia because they are "criminal" just serves to reinforce my statement about people's play school view of global events as "goodies vs. baddies" [where, needless to say, we're always the "goodies"!] All governments are self-serving criminals and liars. And the west is quite happy to snuggle up to the most odious regimes, as long as they're on 'our side'. So please spare me the "freedom and democracy" bullshit. Ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq [plus countless others] how having freedom and democracy imposed on them worked out. I'm making a wild assumption that, if you're a European, you're from Eastern Europe. The various nations from that part of the continent seem to be involved in a nauseatingly sycophantic contest to see who can lick the US's arse the most passionately, whether that be by allowing the Yanks to use your country as a military base, or by screeching the loudest in the '2 Minutes Hate' against Russia. Its pathetic how Europe endlessly sabotages is own economic and political future for the benefit of the US. With a bit of reaching out the hand of friendship towards Russia [or before that, the USSR] Europe could have had easy access to that massive Russian market and those bountiful Russian natural resources, as well as not feeling the need to be occupied by the US military. Instead, we treated Russia as 'The Enemy' both before and after the demise of the USSR and effectively crippled Europe financially and resources-wise and kept it tied to the US's apron strings for the foreseeable future. The golden rule with all such events [global and local] is to ask yourself "Qui Bono?" The US has been looking to sabotage any rapprochenent between Europe and Russia since the Berlin wall came down. Look at NordStream 2 --which would have brought boundless cheap Russian gas to Europe. The US has been opposed to that since the outset. And, in the usual US fashion, they don't just express their disapproval and move on. They've been bullying to get their way, by sanctioning companies involved in it. Like it is any of the US's fucking business. Any more than Europe would have any business telling the US it wasn't allowed to buy oil or gas from Canada. Well, the US got its wish there didn't it? NordStream 2 has obediently been cancelled by lickspittle Germany and the next stage is to persuade Europe to stop purchasing the oil and gas it already buys from Russia. And, when this happens, I wonder who will be there; riding in on a white charger in a white stetson, to make up the shortfall, when Europe can't meet its own energy needs? Who else but our hero Uncle Sam! --saving the day as usual, and selling us all the oil and gas we need. Oh, and while we're at it, we'd better buy a few more billion dollars worth of US military hardware and station a few thousand more American troops in Europe, to protect us from those nasty Russkis! Qui Bono, folks? Qui Bono?