By David Glenn Cox
They found a Russian, radar guided anti-aircraft missile system, stuck in the mud on the side of the road. Retails for around 25 million dollars new, or you could check eBay for one second hand. (Note to designers; attach an electric winch to the front of the new models.) I watched a convoy of six Russian helicopters, and the Ukrainians splashed three of them. You can have a bad day and lose equipment, but you can’t have a bad day, everyday.
No matter who you are, unsustainable losses are just that. You have three, fewer helicopters now, and can send for three more. But chances are, you’ll lose three more before they arrive. Your average losses are now three a day. For the loss of a nail, the shoe was lost and so forth. Half a piece of bridging equipment is no good, without the other half. Ammunition without guns and guns without ammo etc.
General Petraeus calls the “convoy” North of Kyiv the world’s largest military traffic jam, and a cluster fuck of the highest magnitude. Say, for example; you needed something from that truck five miles back in the middle of the convoy. Parked between two other trucks on either side with no way to move or turn around. Whatever it is, might as well be a thousand miles away.
The Ukrainians said that they’ve killed 5,000 Russian soldiers, and the Russians have admitted to 500 dead. So, obviously, the Ukrainians have killed 5,000. If the Russians will admit to 10%, it must be at least 5,000. A Russian prisoner, a kid. Said they were struck by a rocket, and he was blown out of the vehicle…and that everyone else had died. The US lost 55,000 soldiers in Vietnam in ten years. The Russians just lost 10% of that amount, in a week.
Thirty Russian jet fighters or over three billion dollars, lost in a week. That’s totally unsustainable, for any power in the world. And when your crews and soldiers see six helicopters go out, and only three come back? Russian soldiers ransacked a convenience store, savaging for food. They’ll be hungry again tomorrow, but there might not be another grocery store handy. I think I know where their food is parked! In a convoy north of Kyiv, between the missile launcher and the truck with the badminton and cornhole sets.
I saw a You Tube video yesterday; A young man was running through a field of the world’s flags. As the announcer spoke about being a part of history and fighting evil. Then the video showed the soldiers doing soldier things like looking and acting tough, marching, and blowing things up. Join the Ukraine Territorial Forces. And as the soldier in the video leaned over, the American flag patch on his shoulder was clearly visible on his uniform.
Oh, there is a bad moon a rising. “Say, are you tired of that dead end job and just crave excitement? Do you ever ask yourself, “I have all this extensive military experience and no place to use it, what can I do?” US Marines, Royal Marines, twenty years in Iraq and Afghanistan, has given the world, a full bench of well-trained, experienced military fighters with time on their hands.
When the US invaded Iraq, cruise missiles were flying everywhere. All the jets were loaded up with the best of everything, they had available. Then after a few days, like a bag of fireworks, it seemed like so much, but was gone so fast. That it was necessary for a pause. To replenish all the weaponry, and at this point, the invasion of Iraq was all but over. This was the easy part, taking over militarily. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq have shown the world that the hard part, is sticking around afterwards. And if you can’t accomplish the easy part?
It’s a new world Gilda; every soldier is a cannon now, and armored personnel carriers are soft targets. Shooting down a one hundred-million-dollar jet fighter is a piece of cake, even for amateurs.
A Javelin missile will blow a tank turret weighing tons, right off the top of a tank. If you’re sitting in anything else, you might as well be riding naked on a streetcar. You’re peddling your Schwinn bicycle down a dark, dark alley. The lead vehicle is burned to ashes, tires incinerated to dust and glass melted. If you stay in your vehicle, you will most certainly die. And if you run, you might have a chance.
The genius of George Washington was never going into battle, without having a way out. Every plan has its moment, and Putin’s plan and moment have passed. What do you do when you throw your knockout punch, and they ain’t knocked out? What do you do now? How do you get home again? History says the Russians will double down militarily, but world opinion says, that’s the wrong move.
The tough guy is gonna show you that he means business. And then Fonzie is embarrassed, after he trips over his own feet and falls down. The second largest army in the world is stymied and humiliated. And the Marines are coming. And the Rangers are coming! Seals and Green Berets vs. Russian reservists and draftees. High-tech weaponry is coming by the cargo. Not since the Germans abandoned their tanks in the Ardennes and walked back to Germany, has there been such a military fiasco. Boy, if Stalin were here today, would they ever be nervous about their annual performance reviews.
Putin is stuck and Russia is stuck. Their currency deflating, their stock market closed with runs on the bank. ATMs aren’t working and the clock is set and ticking. Failure of the Russian economy is a given and is only a matter of time. If Putin tries to blitz bomb Ukraine, like the London blitz. It will only rally world support for the Ukrainians and further alienate Russia, from the rest of the world.
Your first punch is likely, your best punch. “If you thought June 6th was impressive. You should have seen June 7th!” The Ukrainians have taken the Russian’s best punch. Now everyday Ukraine grows stronger, while Russia is failing to supply its huge army. Strung out over thirty miles of muddy roads, and unable to reach its objectives. In an operation, that was supposed to be over and done with by now.
And if you didn’t bring one with you, you ain’t got one. And if it is in that convoy north of Kyiv, you still ain’t got one! And losses are never uniform, the Britt’s lost their helicopters and were forced to walk to Port Stanley. I saw a Russian ammunition truck blown to smithereens and I wondered, where the next ammunition truck was located? North of Kyiv perhaps?
Seven days on, and the Russian can’t even maintain air superiority over the battlefield. Drones a third the size of a Piper Cub, are quite difficult to pick up, even with a good radar set. Skimming the treetops and pillaging the Russian convoys. Turning the Russian’s greatest strength, into their greatest weakness. They must now defend all this hardware, while surrounded by a sea of Ukrainians. Their fuel trucks will never find that tank out of gas. If the crew doesn’t know where they are to tell them. Especially, if they’d rather not be found.
If the Russian soldiers aren’t even being fed, their disintegration is imminent. This is where it gets really dangerous. Because Putin has already lost the war. But they are too afraid of him to ever tell him. And so, he will try to thug his way through, using terrorism against civilians. But how many days of terrorism, will the world stand idly by and just watch? It’s a new world Gilda! You can see everything on your phone now, even from Russia. And everyone has a phone.
“The Ukrainians are losing territory, but they aren’t losing the war.” – General David Petraeus
This Carbon Based Life 
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