Posted on 01/30/2023 9:14:14 AM PST by dennisw
But Hodges is among military experts who believe that reclaiming Crimea is required for Ukraine's long-term survival. He told Britain's Channel 4 News last Wednesday that Crimea is the "decisive terrain" and that it should be isolated "with long range precision weapons."
In his view, these would include F-16 jets and ATACMs (Army Tactical Missile Systems) and armed drones, which can "reach beyond the current HIMARS being used that could isolate Crimea" and "make Crimea untenable."
The fate of Crimea as a deciding factor in the war in Ukraine continues to be debated amid speculation over whether it would be a red line for Moscow which Vladimir Putin was prepared to use nuclear capabilities to defend.
Reported Ukrainian strikes on a railway bridge near a city considered a gateway to Crimea signal a push by Kyiv to make the peninsula Moscow seized "untenable," a former U.S. general has said.
The Twitter account NOELreports, which provides updates on the war in Ukraine, tweeted how Kyiv's forces had destroyed a bridge near Melitopol on Sunday which was one of the main supply routes for Russian forces.
The bridge was reportedly attacked by U.S.-supplied HIMARS when a convoy of Russian vehicles had passed through.
Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander general of U.S. Army Europe shared the tweet, adding in the message that the move was "part of disrupting the 'land bridge' and isolating Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014.
"This is a step towards the employment of long-range precision fires which will make Crimea untenable for Russian forces," he added.
Newsweek has contacted Hodges and the Ukrainian defense ministry for comment.
Moscow's forces occupy parts of southern Ukraine including Melitopol and the city of Mariupol, which link Russia to its own border via the peninsula and is a key supply route.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
What he really said...lets go for WW3!!
Failed Tsar, and all around megalomanic Vlad Putin should stop killing Russians. Withdraw his army back to Russia. Can you imagine Putin ruling Ukraine? This idiot would steal its grains/wheat production. Steal its coal, oil and gas.
Putin the common thief, is there to steal from the Ukrainians. As if the Russians starvation of the Ukrainians during Stalin’s Holodomor (1930s) was not enough.
Recession. Depression. Degeneration. World War III.
Thanks, Joe. You’ve done well your Master’s bidding.
Newsome/Lightfoot 2024!
Lt Ben has earned a battlefield promotion to full Clown
Lt Ben Hodges
Hodges retired to Florida and began work for the think tank Center for European Policy Analysis,[16] becoming the latter's Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies.[21] At CEPA, Hodges has advocated for a stronger NATO. On defense expenditures, Hodges has said, “We need a more sophisticated approach to the spending guideline. The 2-percent number gets tossed around like dues in a club, which is unhelpful... I think the Alliance should take a hard look at the 2-percent calculus to redefine it.”[22]
He has argued for including dual-use infrastructure in the 2-percent, a "win-win" that would address "the most urgent problem in European security" in military mobility, while also offering benefits to civilian life.[23] On Iran, Hodges said, "I was disappointed that we were leaving the agreement with Iran. Not because it's a good deal, but because cooperation with our allies is very important... It worries me when we show contempt for such important allies as Great Britain, Germany or France. The cohesion of our nations was our strength and advantage. Considering all the factors, one must remember that one must not stand against the allies."[24] He has also advocated for placing greater priority on the Black Sea Region.[25][26] His comments on NATO and European security have appeared in several international media outlets, including an interview on LNK Info TV in Lithuania[27] and Anne Will,[28] and articles in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Germany.[23] In a BBC interview, Hodges stated that Brexit could threaten the NATO alliance.[29] He coauthored a book with General John R. Allen and Julian Lindley-French, Future War and the Defence of Europe, in 2021.[30]
He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in an op-ed with Ambassador Robert A. Mandell and Lieutenant General Donald M. Campbell Jr.[31] He has spoken about the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored).[32] As of 2018, he is an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization.[33]
...as if a small fraction of Ukraine is worth the US escalating the conflict into a much greater war. Sheesh. So glad that conservatives are finally figuring out the neo-cons are not (and were never) our friends.
Some people are just stupid.
This guy is really, really stupid.
OF COURSE Russia would use nukes to keep Crimea. Anyone who thinks otherwise can join the ranks of the stupid.
Reminder: Crimea was part of Russia before California was a state. It only became Ukrainian in the 1950s when Khrushchev, who was a Ukrainian, became First Secretary of the USSR, and decreed it so. And of course it was part of the Ukrainian SSR, a subunit of the USSR.
Holodomor 2.0
Ben, it’s unseemly to wear your rank since you retired. I’ve had a belly full of retired generals throwing their weight around.
He’s not just stupid, he’s ignorant as Hades. They’re the worst kind.
More ‘retired generals’ flapping their cake holes. Whatever.
What you’re saying is let’s sacrifice American blood so Ukraine can have Crimea, because Ukraine ain’t doing anything but bleeding themselves white. THEY can’t actually use anything they’re getting, not the tanks, not the missiles, not the planes, nothing. They need someone else to use that stuff for them.
Face it; it’s over. They had 10 years to prepare, and they fell short. Sorry, but my grandkids aren’t going to care who’s flag sits atop Crimea. Enough already.
There are only about 10 bridges across the Dnieper south of Kiev. The only reason that I can think of as to why they are still standing is that Russia is not destroying them if Ukraine doesn’t attack Crimean bridges.
“What he really said...lets go for WW3!!”
Yeppers! Bring on that nuclear WW3! I hope all FReeprs are ready!
Assume the position and kiss your buttocks goodbye!
I sure do love the smell of radioactive fallout in the morning.
Another Biden suckling author?
Uke harpies, like you, suck on thr Biden.
Enjoy your suck.
A German friend used that same phraseology to rebuff President Trump's complaint about the U.S. paying more than its share, implying that Trump was ignorant for even comparing it to "dues", and that he says it that way to appeal to the ignorance of the American people.
I see it as obfuscation. The truth of the matter is, Europe does not shoulder its share of its own defense.
He’s deep state and not to be trusted anymore than Putin, the CIA/NSA/DOD. None of these have the American peoples interests at heart. Follow the $$$.
We are a long way from Russia backing off. History shows that Russia will easily tolerate half a million KIA. That means that Ukrainian forces will need to have a 10 to 1 kill ratio.
I am not willing to speculate if they can achieve that. Too early to tell. It is a war of logistics and has at least another year of conflict to go.
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