blather. got it. If Ukraine had all this capability why didn’t they use it when Russia took Crimea from them? The idea of a Ukrainian first strike attack is amusing but, really.
“blather. got it. If Ukraine had all this capability why didn’t they use it when Russia took Crimea from them? The idea of a Ukrainian first strike attack is amusing but, really.”
My point is, this is a dangerous game and Russia appears to be superbly confident. But what if, just what if, Ukraine now has a Rommel or Patton in charge? (I think the odds are really small, but not zero.) Russia is perhaps too confident. Rommel disobeyed orders and went very successfully on the attack the moment he got to North Africa. Patton already had a plan to handle an issue in the Ardennes before The Battle of the Bulge even happened. He saw the weakness in the lines and planned for it.
Also, there could be other players like potentially traitors in the Russia ranks. It’s reasonable to believe that lots of Russian material is getting sold to some bad actors worldwide by people who have access to the keys of warehouses. (There’s an old Russian saying from the Soviet days, it goes something like, “Don’t give me a raise, just give me the keys to the warehouse.”)
Russia has a plethora of other enemies with reason to want revenge. Men who lost family in Chechnya, for example. What a wonderful opportunity to get revenge while having someone else be blamed.
Big, and I think dangerous actions like this don’t happen in isolation from other things. Putin is riding a wave of national pride caused by his tough man stance. If his poker playing in Ukraine suddenly causes a large number of casualties he will be in serious trouble.
I do think, however, that even if Putin had a bad hand, which he doesn’t, that he can out bluff any of the other payers. Biden, I think, is playing a game in his own head, so we’ve already lost there.