You speak like the world began today. Ukraine was anti-Trump and pro-Clinton since day one. They even provoked Manafort case to hurt Trump and their intelligence chief is on tape admitting to it.
05/29/2024 4:39:36 AM PDT
· 54 of 54 NorseViking
to Lonesome in Massachussets
Iraq had particularly crappy air defenses, most of the systems of 1950s vintage, and poorly integrated on top of that.
Also most of the action wasn’t in Baghdad.
All of those “war spending” mantras are generally bullcrap. Russian defense spending has merely increased from $70b to $100b, which is miniscule in terms of the whole economy which largely grows on civilian import substitution.
Of course they get much more materiel, but it is based on reduction of waste in the industry.
For example, a laser guided 152-mm shell now costs about $15k, down from about $50k.
In Europe you see the opposite process. A regular 155-mm shell used to be $2k in 2022, and $8k in October 2023. Now they claim 50% increase from 2023 price.
Would you mind explaining me how a shell can cost even $2k, let alone $10k+?