Ben Morgan – NATO tanks & Russian offensives – what’s really happening?
Last week, Germany relented in its opposition to Leopard 2 tanks being supplied to Ukraine, and now modern NATO tanks will start to equip Ukrainian armoured units. Tanks are the centre piece of combined arms manoeuvre, combining mobility, firepower and protection to a level that no other vehicle can. In military terminology, NATO tanks are a ‘force multiplier’ because one modern NATO tank is likely to destroy multiple Russian tanks without being destroyed itself. Historically, there are records of NATO tanks fighting Russian tanks. In tank battles in both Gulf Wars, NATO tanks demolished Russian tanks. During the 1993 Gulf War, in a large armoured battle called the Battle of 73 Easting American forces destroyed 160 Russian tanks for the loss of one Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. Not a single American Abrams tank has been destroyed in combat to date by a Russian tank.
Challenger and Leopard tanks have a similar level of capability. A Challenger 1 tank, of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards destroyed an Iraqi T 72 at a range of approximately four kilometres in the same war. Likewise, no Challenger tank has yet been destroyed by a Russian designed tank. Leopard 2’s combat history is not as one-sided; a number having been destroyed by anti-tank missiles in the Syrian Civil War. The key advantages that NATO tanks will bring to the battle field are their vastly superior optics and fire control systems and their very effective gun stabilisation. Essentially, as well as being better armoured NATO tanks can see targets sooner and are more likely to hit them. A tank gun fight is often short and bloody, the side that makes the first accurate shot winning.
But; the fly in the ointment is that these tanks will not arrive soon. It will take months before they arrive at the frontline. Ukraine’s tank crews need to be familiarised with the vehicles but even more time consuming is the development of supply chains and training mechanics to support the new tanks. A modern tank needs to replace its tracks and requires major maintenance after about 500-1000km (depending on the tank and how hard it is operated); and Ukraine needs to develop the infrastructure and technical skills to support a whole new fleet.
And: this is the crux of the current battle. Ukraine will need to fight effectively until probably the middle or end of 2023 before the new NATO tanks really start to affect the campaign. In the mainstream media we are hearing lots about Russian and Ukrainian offensive plans and it is important that we analyse the situation logically and try to separate what we can see happening on the ground versus the hype in the media. Regardless of the hype over Ramstein; and the new NATO tanks the situation on the ground has only evolved slowly and in a predictable direction driven mostly by the weather. Before the weather changes there is unlikely to be a significant move by either side.
Until then we will continue to see what we are currently seeing; probing attacks by both sides along the frontline. This week there are reports of Russian and Ukrainian attacks right along the frontline, but in most places these attacks are very small so it is most likely that both sides are gently probing each other’s defences trying to build an intelligence picture. The only place that there is significant movement is around Bakhmut and this seems to be a battle fought because it is expedient for both sides to maintain pressure in this area. Ukraine because it fixes Russian resources in the area and Russia because it provides a stepping stone towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Russia may also be trying to focus Ukrainian attention on this area.
At the moment, the Russians are clearly ‘putting their own house in order’; Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner Group are being side-lined and isolated by new campaign commander General Gerasimov. Russia’s influential military bloggers are being reigned in by the military, their access to the frontlines being more tightly controlled. Perhaps this is ‘Gerasimov Doctrine’ in action, Russia’s commander is famous for developing Russia’s hybrid strategy for 21st century war-fighting. A doctrine utilised by Russia since the 2014 invasion of Crimea, that employed a range of disruptive new tactics. A pillar of Gerasimov Doctrine is controlling the information battle. Recently, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced long-term planning to increase the size of the army by 12 manoeuvre divisions by 2026. Strategically, it is clear that the policy to unify command and control, build capacity and get ready for a long fight.
It is also clear that rather than using Belorussia as a jumping off point for an invasion of Ukraine from the north, the country is being used as a safe base for training newly mobilised units and matching them up with equipment. Mobilised units are being ‘worked up’ or brought to an operational level of capability in Belorussia then moving through Russia to the east of Ukraine, a large force now developing in the east of Luhansk Oblast (region) near the city of Luhansk. This location is important because it allows for deployment west towards Bakhmut, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk or southwest toward Vulhedar.
What happens next will tell us a great deal about Russia’s internal politics.
This week commentators have told us about Putin’s obsession with anniversaries, postulating that Russia will move again on 24 February. However, the Russians seem unlikely to be able to generate a large offensive. On 28 January, the Institute for the Study of War reminded us that: “There is no open-source evidence to suggest that Russian forces have regenerated sufficient combat power from their losses in the early phases of the war to enable Russian forces to conduct simultaneous large-scale mechanized offensives in the next several months. The Russian military has not demonstrated the capability to conduct simultaneous combined arms offensive operations since early 2022” and that “Western intelligence and defence officials have not issued any indications that Russia’s effective mechanized warfare combat power has recently increased”. So although there is a great deal of speculation about Russian offensives, we need to ask whether this speculation is based on reality or if it is driven by information circulated to influence NATO decision-making about providing more support. Presenting Russia’s position as stronger than it actually is.
The chances of a large operation on multiple axes is minimal, however this does not exclude the possibility of a significant single access thrust probably at somewhere like Bakhmut or Vuledar. Last article though, I outlined what I would do if I was in Gerasimov’s position; and with another week’s time to reflect, my opinion remains the same; that a large Russian offensive is not a good option at this time. In fact, if the Russians attack too early it may lead to their defeat. Instead, it seems better tactically, to work slowly, to defend the areas captured and build up a powerful reserve that can be used later for offensive or defensive operations.
This course of action minimises risk. Specifically, the risk of a Ukrainian offensive either on frozen ground in February or in April or May when summer dries out the ground allowing armoured movement. Russian bloggers are currently discussing the idea of a Ukrainian offensive, although their statements (like mine) are speculation rather than credible information. Before NATO tanks were offered Ukraine had already captured a large stockpile of Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and ammunition and was on the offensive. The Russian withdrawal from Kherson was a well conducted ‘break contact’; or the separation of a force from its opposition creating a lag. So Ukraine suddenly needed to re-orientate its forces, specifically getting them to the east side of the Dnipro River.
Breaking contact at Kherson robbed Ukraine of the initiative immediately before autumn’s rain shut down movement. Now, months later Ukraine has had the opportunity to move its forces and although the weather has forced an operational slow down at the frontlines it does not mean that Ukrainian forces in depth are doing nothing. Instead they will have been relentlessly training and building capability, ready for when they decide to move. Therefore, it seems more likely that Ukraine will move first, not Russia. And; it is possible that the Russian military bloggers are ahead of Western media with their predictions of a Ukrainian offensive.
In summary, we are reaching a point in the war at which Russia can shorten the war and lose more quickly. A poorly prepared offensive launched in February or even spring (April / May) would likely be too small and poorly coordinated to gain significant ground and change the course of the war. Instead this option runs the risk of un-necessarily burning up Russian resources and allowing the Ukrainians an opportunity to counter-punch. If the Russians are smart, they will sit tight for now, hold onto what they have won; and work slowly to block Ukraine’s offensives before transitioning to offensive operations. This course of action conserves resources and allows more time for training and developing unit cohesiveness. Further, Russia has time before new NATO tanks arrive, so the question that will soon be answered is whether good sense or ego will drive Russia’s next move.
Ben Morgan is a tired Gen X interested in international politics. He is TDB’s Military analyst.
Well Ben, you have predicted the imminent demise of Russia for some time now.Russia is scared, tired, running out of missiles.Incidentally why does Ukraine need all this extra equipment if they have captured vast amounts of Russian weaponry and are winning anyway?
By the way Isis destroyed several Abrams tanks using Russian made AGTMs in Iraq.What gives you the idea tank vs tank is the only game in town when it comes to destroying the enemy?
Another week, another column predicting Russian defeat. The Nazis could not beat the Russians, I don’t fancy the yanks chances in Ukraine either.
Russia should not have had to promote this armed conflict, it is…as many say…a proxy imperialist war. US Imperialism should sod off back home and remove all it’s military bases and facilities that butt up against Russia. Get out of the Mid East while you are at it! NATO has some justification for bases perhaps, ostensibly being of Europe, but NATO in it’s deeds (e.g. 2011 attack on Lybia), is really just another US dominated front organisation when it comes down to it.
In the end it will be negotiation, hopefully not nukes that sort this.
Tiger Mountain, your ‘analysis’ is totally flawed. You have no idea of the political realities in Ukraine or Russia at all.
Better call Vlad Gad, tell him he’s got the world all wrong. I’m sure he will appreciate your “vast” insight.
Of course Nick J.
Putin is delusional – he has a tenuous grip of reality and will lose. He has sacrificed 100,000 Russian lives for virtually nothing.
The Russians were highly motivated in their fight against the Nazis, as their existence depended on it.
The average Russian soldier doesn’t give a flying fuckski about Putin’s “Special Military Operation.”
And you know this how?
Russia realises this is an exitential threat to their country, which they didn’t at the start of this SMO. Russia has tried for 30+ years to make peace with NATO (they been turned down for NATO membership twice verbally by USA Presidents), because the USA NEEDS an enemy to justify ignoring its citizens and spending insane amounts of money on its military.
The USA has NO INTEREST in peace, unless it is the boss, no questions asked. And the M.I.C is laughing all the way to the bank.
Look at all average citizens in a mid-late empire stages and they are invariably poor, suffering and subjugated. USA is NO different.
The USA and its vasal states (NATOstan etc) is trying to Balkanise Russia so the USA empire can live just a little longer and is willing to risk WW3 to that end.
This is 90+% the USA’s doing/fault and the media is controlled such that the background and honest reporting is about this basically non-existant.
Do some honest research if you DO want to know the most probably reasons for what is happening.
This is the classic ‘end of empire war of denial’ by a collapsing empire.
What a string of paranoid bs Keriman. Take your medication!
Thanks for the commentary Ben. Keep them coming!
PS Those Leopard tanks look cool!
Modern tank superiority is underwritten by airpower and any successful blitzkreig style advance will be determined by control of the skies. The russian airforce has not been discussed much in the past 6 months, but they will surely put every effort in to prevent the ‘allied’ tanks reaching their own battlelines. Drones, missles and helicopters will likely be martialled for just this purpose. If the allies if they are confident that none of their tanks will be captured they could send the tanks very quickly potentially crewed by ex nato ‘civilian volunters’ and just commanded by Ukrainians. The logistical tail for those tanks is the key vunerability- which will need top notch attention for the tanks to have an impact on the frontline.
I wonder how many of the pro Russian commenters on this site are New Zealanders?
There are not that many New Zealanders who actually want a Russian victory and who think Putin is the saviour of the Ukrainian people. Not even among old fashioned communists.
Having said that, I think General Gerasimov is a challenge for Ukraine. He is the most competent of the Russian Generals, and knows how to conserve his forces as well as motivate them. He won’t act hastily, but in my view he will act before Ukraine gets its new weapons. Maybe a March/April offensive.
It does seem the West now knows they have to fully re-equip Ukraine with western weapons including aircraft and helicopters to ensure the Ukrainians have a decisive edge. It would not surprise me if the Ukrainians get Apache helicopters relatively soon. Vastly superior to any Russian helicopter, especially in the anti tank role. You won’t see them being shot down like Russian helicopters.
I still think negotiations are likely in late summer. It is now too costly for either side to mount major offensives, though they will certainly try. When the cost of these becomes apparent there will greater incentive to actually negotiate rather than the current unrealistic aspirations of both sides.
‘There are not that many New Zealanders who actually want a Russian victory and who think Putin is the saviour of the Ukrainian people’
Not amongst those that turn to the MSM for their information…to be sure.
Putin is presenting as the saviour of the Russian people,not Ukrainian.
The U.S strategy is failing.
Wayne,
What is your opinion on the RAND. Corp. report released this week, ‘Avoiding a Long War’, suggesting the U.S. may need to switch focus to the Pivot to Asia, and avoid “unsustainable” aid?
It goes as far as stating the U.S. may have to force Zelensky into negotiations, and seems to suggest the U.S. may drop the attempt to recover the new Russian regions.
I have always thought Kissinger’s analysis on the future of this conflict is the most accurate. Yes, he dates back to the 1970’s when the USSR was near the peak of its power. However, as a historian he knows that great powers can’t be utterly defeated, except in unusual circumstances such as WW2. Normally there is some form of negotiated settlement in the wars they are involved in. This is so, even if the great power has suffered something of a defeat.
In the Ukraine case, Russia has basically failed in their war aims. But they haven’t been utterly defeated. In fact they have gained some ground, being the land bridge, even if at huge cost.
It is in the West’s intersts to ensure Ukraine can hold its current position, perhaps even gain more ground. Hence the need for more weapons. At the minimum, so that Ukraine can defeat any major Russian offensive.
But the West has no interest in agreeing to Ukraines’s maximal aspirations, that is, in totally reconquering the Donbas and retaking Crimea.
That is the point of the Rand analysis.
I would also note that I do not rate General Hodges, and never have. His backing of Ukraine retaking Crimea at all costs seems reckless to me.
In my experience all the US 4 star generals were exceptional, and had deep insight into strategy. In contrast the 3 star generals were quite a mixed bag. The best of them (about 1 in 3) would become 4 star generals, but many of rest were surprisingly mediocre, especially at the level of strategy. They might be exceptional military commanders, but not necessarily at broader strategy. As Minister this was the area I operated in at the multiple NATO conferences I attended. I found I could trust the advice of officers of 4 star rank, but I had to be a lot more discriminating about the advice given by various 3 star officers. Hodges is one of these 3 star officers to be very skeptical about. Compare him to Milley and Austin. Both are much more thoughtful and insightful.
Thanks for your insights Wayne. They are valuable. Crimea is a bridge too far. Perhaps the Donbas as well.
I think that many Putinists on this site are ex-pat Brits both from the hard right and hard left. I remember meeting some at some NCRE forums.There were some very hardline Brexiteers amongst that lot.
Yup Putin Apologists put your cards on the table – Kiwi as or just pretending to be?
Oh dear Wayne, Kiwis “must” think and agree with your old fashioned National views. Your comment is very authoritarian, deeply disturbing.
My comment is a refection on the well known level of Russian disinformation campaigns. Because many of the pro Putin commenters here do not use actual names, I wonder who they actually are.
Obviously some are local people (Malcolm Evans for instance) but others?
Maybe they’re not so pro Putin as completely disenchanted with Nato’s and western refusal to explore a peaceful accomodation with Russia’s security concerns.
When Russia expresses its point of view, it’s denounced as a disinformation campaign .Now that Poroshenko, Hollande and Merkel have all come out to declare they never had any intention to honour Minsk 2 (unanimously adopted by the UN SC)it has become clear that war was being prepared for by those dishonest parties.
https://press.un.org/en/2015/sc11785.doc.htm
You can hardly call those admissions Russian disinformation
By the way , my earliest European ancestor in NZ
arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1826.
Accusing those with a different view from yours of being Russian propagandists is pathetic.
You haven’t proved anything Francesca. Russia broke the Minsk agreements by providing external assistance to the separatists in the Donbas. Remember MH17. The separatists are war criminals. They never had any intention of honouring the agreements either. Jim McLay called it correctly.
Gad, do try and get your history correct .MH17 occurred in July 2014
Minsk 2 in Feb 2015
Have you actually read the UN endorsed package of measures re implementation and the order in which they must happen?
Heavy weapons must be withdrawn from LOC.This actually happened, but the next measure was not implemented
This was to begin a dialogue on day 1 of the withdrawal, on local elections
On day 30 of the signing , constitutional reform
None of that happened
The OSCE recorded Ukraine in breach of its heavy weapon withdrawal.Did you expect the separatists to lie back and be slaughtered?
They countered by moving their heavy weapons .The ceasefire, while largely holding (according to OSCE)was intermittently breached
You have missed the point that at the very point of signing, Poroshenko boasted that there was no intention of implementation , it was a stopgap deceit so as to allow Ukraine to get NATO arms and training and take the rebellious provinces by force.
This war will end with negotiations (if we’re lucky and a stupendous nuclear accident doesn’t happen).Those negotiations will most probably end in something similar to what what the Minsk agreements laid out .Actually no, those regions are now lost to Ukraine forever
Was the price of Minsk 2 so high that all the destruction and death is seen to be worth it?
I suggest only the US would think so , safe on their side of the Atlantic.
So now you are making excuses for the separatists Francesca. The fact was that both sides did not honour the Minsk agreements. Anyway the separatists were reinforced by FSB, GRU, saboteurs from Russia plus the Vagner Group. The Donbas is awash with criminal elements. Strelkov aka Girkin is hardly a law abiding citizen.
Can you come up with a primary source for those allegations?
Sorry, but Wikipedia will not do
Find an independent source
You will find enough evidence in the rulings of the Dutch court rulings on MH17 where Strelkov aka Girkin is the chief suspect. Girkin was not born in Ukraine, he is a professional saboteur working for the GRU. The separatists would never have succeeded without external help from criminals such as Girkin.
Wayne, as a Nat you’d be familiar with Muldoons scurrilous “Reds under the bed” and Dancing Cossacks campaign. Seems leopards don’t change spots.
Wayne is not remotely authoritarian Nick J. Your imagination knows no bounds.
And all the while, as stock prices soar and ever more billions of US taxpayer dollars are siphoned its way, the US Military Industrial Complex says “Tanks very much.”
Capitalism and imperialism go together like a horse and cart.
Malcolm if you accept that the Russian Federation is a capitalist country, then you must have to accept the reality that the Russian Federation is just as imperialist and predatory as the US or any other capitalist country with its own military industrial complex that benefits from war.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/01/18/guest-blog-pat-odea-empire/#comment-707530
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/12/31/guest-blog-pat-odea-the-global-military-industrial-complex/#comment-704009
Pat I love how you link your opinions with…. your opinions. Very convincing not.
Yeah right Pat
Remind me , how manyRussian military bases outside of Russia ?
How many does the US has ?
What is Russia’s military budget?Because to be a serious contender in the imperialism stakes it has to be huge .
How big is the US budget ?
I can tell you it is bigger than the next 9 countries combined
You would be better to turn your guns on western imperialism, where you might make a difference .All your efforts against Russia merely serve Western imperialism .Sorry to break it to you , but the Russian people couldn’t give a tuppeny whatever for your rants
Russia isn’t an imperialist’s arsehole
The US sets the standard for that.They need Russia’s titanium, they need Russia’s fertilisers, uranium,rare earth metals, they would like nothing better than to splinter Russia and divvy up the spoils, return to the Yeltsin era, when Russia was the Us oyster
They’ve already got their claws into Ukrainian black soils and other resources .The biggest foreign investors in Ukraine are the US, Germany and the UK.Not to mention the profits immoral western armanents manufacturers are making
You’re a terrific salesman for Lockheed Martin Pat
+1
What defines imperialism in your narrow world view Pat? Is it wars of aggression, 49 cents in the dollar spent on the MIC or several hundred military bases surrounding country’s that don’t play ball with the “World based order”
There’s imperialism and there’s imperialism. One responsible for an estimated 20 million civilian deaths with regime change and one conducting a SMO. Get your own house in order before climbing on that high horse.
The language of the Russian imperialists becomes more and more belligerent and aggressive.
The accusation of being fascists” that the Russian imperialists used to justify invading Ukraine, they are now using the same accusation of being ‘fascists’ against Germany.
In effect the supporters of Russian imperialism at the Kremlin mouthpiece RT are now calling for the ‘denazification’ of Germany. WTF!
The RT Editor writes, that the end of the Soviet Union’s occupation of East Germany is the root cause of the current conflict with the West. The obvious conclusion from Fyodor Lukyanov’s remarks is that Russian imperialism ambition is to reoccupy German territory occupied by the Soviet Union. Starting an even bigger war in Europe.
30 Jan, 2023 15:15
HomeWorld News
Fyodor Lukyanov: Berlin has abandoned its post-Hitler pacifism, the ‘German question’ has returned
By Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
The “German question”,…
…. The Second World War seemed to have resolved it by abolishing the unified German state and placing its regions under external control.
This is why the reunification of the country at the turn of the 1990s initially provoked cautious reactions from Bonn’s Western allies, for whom the memory of ambitions for a greater “reich” were still fresh.
……the roots of the current dangerous crisis in European security can be traced back to this time.
https://www.rt.com/news/570704-berlin-has-abandoned-pacifism/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=push_notifications
Maybe you missed Amnesty internationals own report of Neo Nazi crimes being committed in the Donbass there Pat. There is no way in hell I will ever support a country that crucifies someone, carves swastikas into human flesh and beheads pregnant Woman with impunity and with the full support of the State.
Do your own damn research Pat, all documented by Western sources pre SMO.
Yeah, well maybe just for once you could provide a link to these so called “Western sources” so we can check it out.
Until then such bullshit only exists inside your fevered imagination.
Pat, I’ve been there done that on “provide link”, etc. In general you want links to be able to be corroborated and stand up to scrutiny. With so much propaganda from all directions it takes time and effort.
In this case I Googled (US run search engine) and got conflicting he said she said about swastika carving.
Amnesty reports I searched, up until 2014 they document atrocities and abuses by Ukrainian neoNazis. Even your mates the Guardian report it. Post 2014 these dry up or don’t show on the search engines…suspect it has been buried or sanitised.
“…..…suspect it has been buried or sanitised.” Nick+J
Possibly Nick, but more likely, is that these alleged atrocities only occurred in your fevered imagination because that is what you want to have happened.
Confirmation bias, is where someone scours the internet to find some reference or testimony on some obscure far right conspiracy website that backs up their preconceived imagined view.
But you can’t even do that.
Instead relying solely on your preconception bias with nothing with nothing to back it, you make all manner of outrageous claims to excuse and justify all the very real evidence of the atrocities committed by the Russian Federation imperialists.
Earth to Nick…
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof” Carl Sagan
Nick you haven’t provided us one single shred of evidence or testimony to back up any of your extraordinary claims.
Thats because you won’t accept the testimony from the people who have suffered the atrocities.”Russian propaganda”crisis actors no doubt
And you have the infantile belief that “we” don’t do propaganda, using western sources to back up your arguments
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/alleged-war-crimes-by-ukrainian-authorities-militias-under-scanner/articleshow/91373384.cms
https://mronline.org/2022/09/27/from-the-tops-market-massacre-to-ukraines-war-crimes-in-donbass/
You will totally deny this in your predictable one eyed manner
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/24/ukraine-unguided-rockets-killing-civilians
Pat, WRONG PERSON. Read your thread, its not my claims. I tried to put some sanity around your lack of research. You are losing it.
Nick j and francesca, thanks for the efforts you have made in engaging with Pat.
As for Pat losing it, when I first read some of his post/comments I thought that he had lost it and was not to be trusted.
I don’t have any confidence in your research skills Nick J. Your language appears to parrot the propaganda sources that you surround yourself with.
Utter rubbish as usual Finngrin- you believe all the Russian propaganda and rule out any of the counter arguments. You really are chronically naive.
I guarantee you Gadfly I read numerous other blogs with differing options, can you say the same?
Yes provide the links finngrin. For a start Amnesty would not use the unbalanced pejorative language that you use.
Of course I can say the same but I can tell the difference between news and propaganda. You on the other hand seem to be blinded by a fixation on Nazism in Ukraine and you cannot see the wood for the trees.
Here’s a big picture look at the Ukraine war by the president of the European Trade and Industry Centre
Guess he’s just a mouthpiece of the Kremlin huh Wayne and Gad?
https://www.thepostil.com/author/oleg-nesterenko/
Also , the rise of BRICS , with more countries clamouring to get in
https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2022/11/09/the-new-candidate-countries-for-brics-expansion/
Of course Nesterenko is a mouthpiece of the Kremlin. Can you prove otherwise Francesca?
So the BRICS want to admit Iran and Afghanistan. Good luck with that!
Pariah nations of the world unite!
Like some sort of 19th Century showman Oleg Nesterenko reveals to us with great dramatic flourishes that the USA is imperialist.
Tell us something we don’t know.
But wait, there’s more.
All new improved Russian and Chinese imperialism will liberate humanity from the shackles of US imperialism replacing it with a new glorious global imperium of peace and prosperity.
As seductive as this dream may be, every imperialism is genocidal and rapacious by nature.
https://www.thepostil.com/author/oleg-nesterenko/
Dishonest
have written a reply, up to Ben to publish
“…have written a reply, up to Ben to publish”
francesca February 3, 2023 at 11:25 am
Yeah, and I’m sure it’s devastating.
But why don’t you put your reply up for publication under your own name?
Francesca, do you really expect that Ben would publish something on your behalf?
You’ve got to be joking.
I am sure that Ben Morgan has better things to do with his time.
If you have got something to say, try saying it yourself, don’t try to hide behind others.
Personally speaking I think that you are just a blowhard with no reply.
Your verbose posts certainly get thru
@Francesca
Still waiting for that devastating reply.
You’ll have to ask Ben
Devastating your word not mine
francesca
February 3, 2023 at 11:25 am
Dishonest
have written a reply, up to Ben to publish.
Pat+O’Dea,
February 3, 2023 at 4:23 pm
@Francesca
Still waiting for that devastating reply.
Reply
francesca
February 4, 2023 at 6:04 am
You’ll have to ask Ben….
Francesca you say I am dishonest and that you have made a reply, but claim that Ben has censured it.
Ben has not censured your reply. Because you never made one.
You can’t write a reply, because you don’t have one.
Marx wrote that the accumulation of the Feudal lord was limited by the walls of his stomach. The point being made, is that capitalism knows no such limits. Capitalism is tied to endless accumulation and expansion. Enough is never enough. Where a Feudal Lord may acquire enough to sate them, the capitalist can never acquire enough.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-russian-official-teases-next-192835625.html
…..Minnekaev said Friday at a meeting with the Union of Defense Industries, as reported by the Russian state-owned Interfax. “Control over the south of Ukraine is another way out to Transnistria, where there are also facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population.” Transnistria is a separatist region of Moldova that has so far not been officially involved in the war despite hosting a Russian military base since the 1990s.
The general’s words suggest that Moldova’s sovereign borders would also come under threat from further Russian expansion. Phony efforts to protect Russian-speaking peoples have often foreshadowed Putin’s imperial invasions….
https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-russian-official-teases-next-192835625.html
…Russia’s top diplomat said the actions of Western nations could soon turn Moldova into the “next Ukraine,” according to TASS.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Moldovan President Maia Sandu of being “eager to join NATO.”…
Lavrov’s comments appeared to echo complaints Russian President Vladimir Putin made about Ukraine and NATO when announcing Russia’s invasion into Ukraine last year. Putin cited the expansion of the alliance and Ukraine’s interest in joining NATO as “fundamental threats” against Russia in his speech justifying invasion….
For all their posturing and maneuvering, the Western imperialists did not invade Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. This is a war of choice by Russia, Russia is the aggressor here, not Nato or the US. Nato and America not levelling Russian cities with missiles and drone strikes.
But obliterating cities is Ok because y’know, “Nato”.
Nato is not leveling Ukrainian cities, Russia is.
But obliterating cities is OK because y’know, “Nazis”.
Stick a hateful label on other human beings, dehumanise them, then you can commit or justify any crime against them you like, and do it with a clear conscience.
Whatever hateful ‘ist label you stick on other human beings, Capitalist, Communist, Fascist, Nationalist. Islamist
Can not justify in any way, the crimes that Russia is committing right now in Ukraine. No matter how much some think it does
During the Great Depression of the 1930s millions of Germans came to believe that Jewish “capitalists” had caused the Depression. Sticking an ‘ist label on people of Jewish faith removed any reservations about murdering millions of Jewish men women and children. A small number of Jews were rich capitalist bankers, sure.
Some Ukrainians are neo-nazis. So what?
The accusation by the supporters of Russian imperialism that the Ukrainians are “Nazis” is a false one. It is just an excuse used to invade and take over their land.
In the modern world the worst possible thing you can be called is a Nazi.
To accuse someone of being a Nazi is to dehumanise them, if you can dehumanise them, you can then justify any crime committed against them with a clear conscience. Any crime you commit against them, even genocide, You can justify to yourself, that they are just “Nazis”, people less than us, sub-humans, genocide is too good for them.
Yes there are some Nazis in Ukraine, just as there are some Nazis in New Zealand, or indeed in Russia itself, Russia is infested with neo-nazi groups.
But to use this fact to attack and murder the Ukraine people and drive them off their land is just an excuse of a greedy and blood thirsty empire.
Well said Pat. I am 100% in agreement. The word to use is schizofascist – that is an extremist who denigrates a rival by calling a ‘Nazi’ or something similar when in fact they are a fascist themselves.