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> I could be wrong, but that makes me think that we are the target of a marketing operation. a) I think we're realizing that the marketing operation was 70 yea

> I could be wrong, but that makes me think that we are the target of a marketing operation. a) I think we're realizing that the marketing operation was 70 years of "Russia is scary strong". Reality is Russia is really bad at fighting armies and great at brutalizing civilians. b) The preponderance of evidence is that Russia has made a long string of really, really bad decisions at all levels. It is so bad that they should consider playing Yakety Sax when they pass in review. c) The fact is Russia should have taken all of Ukraine by now given the asset and manpower advantage they have. The fact they haven't achieved air dominance, have lost major capital ships to a country that effectively has no navy and are being beat by forces largely using less of the same equipment plus is just mystifying. It wasn't that many years ago that the Russian and Ukrainian army were the same Soviet army.

sakopov 4y ago
> I think we're realizing that the marketing operation was 70 years of "Russia is scary strong". Reality is Russia is really bad at fighting armies and great at brutalizing civilians. Whether it was a marketing campaign or not the USSR military was scary strong until it began its collapse along with the union in the 80s.
- orbital-decay 4y ago
  It's... unclear. The Cold War was all about power projection and no real fight at scale (thankfully). Projection here implies an image to project as well as actual military power, the proportion between them unproven by definition. Smoke without fire. The same is surely true for any military of any country, but if you actually study the history of the Cold War in depth and detail, there are reasons to believe that USSR military has been hyped well beyond the real capabilities, even at its peak in 60's. Hyped not just by the Union, but by other countries as well, due to various reasons (internal funding, just to name and example; Swedish military in particular was very persistent in this and kept this strawman to fund its MIC well into 2010s).
RobertoG 4y ago
a) Well, now that we have realized the truth, I'm sure everybody is going to be on board with reducing the NATO military budgets and dedicating the resources to more productive endeavors. b) No doubt about that, starting by invading. c) I'm not sure about the manpower advantage. What are the numbers? And Ukraine is fighting in its own territory with unlimited intelligence and supply support from the richest countries in the world. We shouldn't forget about that.
- Moru 4y ago
  Ukrain troops have also recieved plenty of training from a lot of western countries since Russia took Krim 7-8 years ago. And not only NATO countries, Sweden has had instructors there until the start of the latest war.
- signatoremo 4y ago
  Ukraine wouldn’t have received the support from the West if they didn’t survive the first few weeks. Germany only wanted to send helmets before the war broke.
  - solarkraft 4y ago
    Quite infamously the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany claims a minister had talked to him like Russia had already won just after the invasion began: https://news.storyua.com/news/2517.html https://news.storyua.com/news/2517.html The whole government (or maybe a specific chancellor from a party with a history of ties to Putin ...) is still dragging its feet and only slowly coming around. It still feels a bit like they want Ukraine to lose already so they can finally stop caring about it.
rascul 4y ago
> Russia should have taken all of Ukraine by now The idea that conquering another nation through military means should be quick seems to come out from time to time (not just for this war). I wonder if that has ever happened.
- cygx 4y ago
  Repeatedly: E.g. the battle of France took six weeks, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq just over a month, never mind things like the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia that was over in 2 days. However, occupation can be a bitch...
  - rascul 4y ago
    Thanks. Not sure if I wasn't aware or if I had forgotten, but you provided just the answer I was looking for.
    - indymike 4y ago
      A few more: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia took Poland in 37 days (people forget that the Soviets and Nazis were allied at the beginning of WWII and had an agreement to split Poland). The Nazis alone took Netherlands in four days, and Belgium in 18 days.
  - BonnieBrown 4y ago
    Yah there is a huge difference in conquering and occupying a land. Insurgent fighters in occupied lands are very difficult to get rid of - as the US learned the hard way in Iraq and the Russians will in Ukraine.

sakopov 4y ago

> I think we're realizing that the marketing operation was 70 years of "Russia is scary strong". Reality is Russia is really bad at fighting armies and great at brutalizing civilians. Whether it was a marketing campaign or not the USSR military was scary strong until it began its collapse along with the union in the 80s.

orbital-decay 4y ago
It's... unclear. The Cold War was all about power projection and no real fight at scale (thankfully). Projection here implies an image to project as well as actual military power, the proportion between them unproven by definition. Smoke without fire. The same is surely true for any military of any country, but if you actually study the history of the Cold War in depth and detail, there are reasons to believe that USSR military has been hyped well beyond the real capabilities, even at its peak in 60's. Hyped not just by the Union, but by other countries as well, due to various reasons (internal funding, just to name and example; Swedish military in particular was very persistent in this and kept this strawman to fund its MIC well into 2010s).

RobertoG 4y ago

a) Well, now that we have realized the truth, I'm sure everybody is going to be on board with reducing the NATO military budgets and dedicating the resources to more productive endeavors. b) No doubt about that, starting by invading. c) I'm not sure about the manpower advantage. What are the numbers? And Ukraine is fighting in its own territory with unlimited intelligence and supply support from the richest countries in the world. We shouldn't forget about that.

Moru 4y ago
Ukrain troops have also recieved plenty of training from a lot of western countries since Russia took Krim 7-8 years ago. And not only NATO countries, Sweden has had instructors there until the start of the latest war.
signatoremo 4y ago
Ukraine wouldn’t have received the support from the West if they didn’t survive the first few weeks. Germany only wanted to send helmets before the war broke.
- solarkraft 4y ago
  Quite infamously the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany claims a minister had talked to him like Russia had already won just after the invasion began: https://news.storyua.com/news/2517.html https://news.storyua.com/news/2517.html The whole government (or maybe a specific chancellor from a party with a history of ties to Putin ...) is still dragging its feet and only slowly coming around. It still feels a bit like they want Ukraine to lose already so they can finally stop caring about it.

rascul 4y ago

> Russia should have taken all of Ukraine by now The idea that conquering another nation through military means should be quick seems to come out from time to time (not just for this war). I wonder if that has ever happened.

cygx 4y ago
Repeatedly: E.g. the battle of France took six weeks, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq just over a month, never mind things like the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia that was over in 2 days. However, occupation can be a bitch...
- rascul 4y ago
  Thanks. Not sure if I wasn't aware or if I had forgotten, but you provided just the answer I was looking for.
  - indymike 4y ago
    A few more: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia took Poland in 37 days (people forget that the Soviets and Nazis were allied at the beginning of WWII and had an agreement to split Poland). The Nazis alone took Netherlands in four days, and Belgium in 18 days.
- BonnieBrown 4y ago
  Yah there is a huge difference in conquering and occupying a land. Insurgent fighters in occupied lands are very difficult to get rid of - as the US learned the hard way in Iraq and the Russians will in Ukraine.