Stalin is probably rolling in his grave about Putin's mess.
 

Napoleon's Waterloo & Hitler's Barbarossa: 5 lessons Putin can learn from failed war campaigns, World News | wionews.com

The old saying those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it fits here.

I would bet Stalin and his various generals are livid while watching from wherever what Vladimir Putin is doing.

The Great Courses

History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach
Gregory S. Aldrete, Ph.D. Professor, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay


Putin should throw in the towel. There is no way he can win this. His attack on the sovereign nation of Ukraine is a massive blunder.

Evidently you must be screwed up to run a country.

It depends on his definition of "win"

It is amazing how generals do not learn lessons from the past in how to fight a war.

Urban warfare is the most difficult , a sniper behind every window... It will be very costly for the invaders.

Would it not be a matter of just how much damage you are willing to inflict? sniper in a building? call in artillery, reduce building , worked in WW2

Major Battles in World History - How They Affected our World | Wondrium

The facts will eventually get to powerful Russians. I hope they see that Putin cannot win without causing a much larger war in the process.

You forget the two world bullies have nukes and now China is warning weaponry is not to be brought into Taiwan or else… This is not going to end well, enjoy each day you have.

Stalin would view Putin as a Boy Scout.

The Ukrainian Famine: How Joseph Stalin Starved Millions - HISTORY

Major Soviet Paper Says 20 Million Died As Victims of Stalin - The New York Times

Although old Josef might envy Putin's Palace! Putin's Palace - Wikipedia

An old Battalion Commander once told me that you should pound the enemy with long range ordinance unmercifully before committing troops.
It seems that the Russians are following a slow methodical advance, saving the troops for the occupation.

I guess we will find out how crazy Putin really is. He is threatening to target weapons systems bing brought into Ukraine. If he does that while they are still in Poland, then we have an attack on a NATO ally and will have to respond. If we have to respond, I hope we respond with overwhelming force and not get into a tit-for-tat match.

I think you don’t have to worry about tit for tat, Russia is way ahead of the US in nuke weapons.

I agree

no good is going to come of this

Sorry, you are completely wrong on that post. I am not sure where you get that, but we both have the ability to completely destroy each other.

Someone hasn’t been keeping up with what is happening. I have a feeling there are many more out there with the same status: uninformed as to current events. Can’t say I blame people for turning off the news.

I think that it is about 50/50 that Putin gets overthrown. A lot depends on how long the Ukrainians can prolong the conflict. The Ukrainians can win in the active part of the conflict or they can win a war of attrition and guerilla action that could go on long-term after a stalemate. The Russian "best and brightest" have left or are leaving the country. Putin may run out of money to continue the war and he probably will find it hard to get loans. Europe is united and becoming more aggressive and losing their passivity - they have to fear Putin and face the facts that only force has stopped Dictators in the past. Historically, appeasement and treaties (ask the Ukraine) never stop a Dictator. Only imminent capture stopped Hitler.
.....All Democracies have a vested interest in Putin losing this war. If he should win, then Taiwan likely falls to China. Small country Dictators think that Democracy is weak and they start to take, take, and take. Putin next takes Estonia or Rumania. The US is caught up in this tragedy and it is lucky that they still have Europe as a friend. US citizens will have to accept some price increases on goods and gasoline. Peace has dividends and wars have costs - usually suffered most by the average citizen.
........The Ukraine was supposedly a beautiful country that had great mineral resources and fertile farmland. They are being bombed back into the middle ages.......their big sin - choosing western freedom over Russian Dictatorship. I hope that Americans remember the Ukrainian example.

If only the world was dealing with a rational person and not an evil old man with nothing to lose, those thoughts would hold water.

Putin will use the nuclear threat now to get anything he wants, there is no squeezing him. If it becomes unmanageable for him in any fashion, his finger is on the button.

Review the above. Aces4 writes we are way behind Russia in nukes.
Martin says Aces4 is wrong
aboutown links to a story to apparently prove Martin is wrong and Aces is correct.

But the link is a story about how useless the Reagan idea of a missile DEFENSE shield has proven to be. After 200 billion dollars we cannot protect ourselves from a Russian nuclear attack. Thus the Russians can still kill us.

Can we still kill them? Many times over.
If you really care to read:
The US nuclear capability is HERE


The Russian capability is HERE

And a summary of the data is HERE

"Current nuclear weapons inventories
The latest assessment of Russian nuclear military capability estimates that as of early 2022 Russia has a stockpile of approximately 4,477 nuclear warheads — nearly 6,000 if “retired” warheads are included. The US maintains a similar inventory of 5,500 warheads, with 3,800 of those rapidly deployable."

TL: DR
Russia is not ahead, nor behind in nuclear weapons. Years of treaties and verification have kept a nuclear balance in the face of mutually assured destruction. MAD

So how many “retired” warheads does America have for backup? Russia is well prepared for nuclear attack and has also exercised and conducted ongoing training in that area. One may want perform an online search for a Bloomberg opinion article as to why the US currently isn’t ready for nuclear rivalry with Russia or with China.

Thanks, I didn't see any point in just going round and round. People believe what they want to believe, and like often will conflate one story with anything similar.

Yes, the anti-ballistic missile system was a complete waste of money. But, that was ONE thing, not our entire system. Oh well.

Linking to an opinion piece doesn't make it so. And you seem to be very knowledgeable of just what Russia has and just what we have - strange when I was in the Marines making comments in public like that would have prompted a visit from the FBI. I wonder where you got your FACTS, I know you liked to an opinion, but you know what they say about opinions - everyone has one.

Have anything official documenting your comments?

Interesting analysis. If push comes to shove would the Russian military allow Putin to start a nuclear war? Hope we never have to find out.

Not if they have a choice in the matter. I would expect many of the nuclear strike attack plans in place target the military leaders of Russia.

Seriously? It’s a crime to listen to news reports, reading news items and listening to reports from government officials who are interviewed? It’s now a crime to form an opinion regarding information provided to the public? That doesn’t sound like the America of which I am a citizen. That sounds more like Russian control of it’s citizenry. Geezzz:ohdear:

I suppose I just made up the fact that Russia has approached China for weaponry and financing now. Sorry if this all interrupts one’s head-in-the-sand moments.

Stalin killed millions. A Stanford historian answers the question, was it genocide?

Stalin was a murderous dictator but he would be very upset with Putin for starting a war he has no real way of winning short of sparking a nuclear war and no one knows how that would end. Maybe whoever winds up with the most surviving nuclear submarines and even those would have to come up for air and provisions.

My greatest concern is the state of Putin's health, primarily his mental health. Rumors have it that he has neurological and possibly some other health issues. That could make him very dangerous IMHO. He is unpredictable may be becoming increasingly irrational. At some point he may push or try to push the nuclear button. As you suggested his invasion seems unwinnable. I do not think anyone has an answer.

I found an interesting article about how Russians are possibly feeling. Of course they cannot really speak out fully. What it'''s like inside Moscow amid Ukraine war: Reporter'''s Notebook | Fox News

And the winner is
 

More than likely putin is already looking for an out. So are the sycophants that surround him which makes it very dangerous for him. All the war game scenarios are being dusted off and decapitation strikes are certainly being discussed.
In the end all the radioactivity spreads to the atmosphere and spreads all over the earth killing possibly all life.
1959 movie " on the beach" with gregory peck scenario.

Yet Russia is winning.

Would you bet on it? No.

Stalin appears to Putin in a dream

Putin: "What can I do to make Russia great again?"
Stalin: "Execute half the population and paint the Kremlin blue."
Putin: "Why blue?"
Stalin: "Well done comrade! I knew you wouldn't ask about the first part."

So sitting on this side of the pond and not being a military expert - but having studied a little history my guess is.

1) Russie is blocking all external access to the internet this week for its citizens (Eg. no more VPN so no more balanced view and not more dissension).
2) Internal PR will go into overdrive so Russian residents believe that this is merely a military campaign to oust the NAZI and evil West. (remember WW2 - The German people were brainwashed to believe the lies of their leaders). China is also not far behind the same thing with Hong Kong AND Taiwan moving under draconian control.
3) China is really behind this - feeding both US and Russia with info to cause infighting and weaken both parties - divide and conquer. - I have no proof - it's mere speculation.
4) China will step in when things start getting out of hand and broker a settlement (a more palatable conclusion than armageddon) - by which time China will not be hampered by the huge debts of war incurred on top of the huge debts of Covid. Lest we forget that China already has many financial problems of its own - War is a great way to resolve those debts - either by leveling up the opposition (eg East/West) OR taking control of the opposition's assets. This may be the start of the great leveling up around the world and potentially the start of more peace - or the start of a 100-year war....the outcome of which will not be pleasant.
5) We are all thinking of conventional warfare. Russia doesn't work like that. Yes, the Ukrainian people can fight a long-term gorilla war but Russia now has vacuum bombs and isn't frightened to use them. Flatten first - chemical warfare second. Higher casualties for the indigenous population - but potentially swifter in the long run... HOWEVER - you can NEVER kill people's spirits which may fester for generations - as we see all over the world with repeated conflicts over the same ground with the same arguments.

Like I said - I am not a military expert - just an observer of human actions. As the original author implied - If you want to predict the future read the past.

And to end with - we are all the pawns in the game of a few. Whether American, British, European, Russian, or Chinese. We will pay the price at the tills, through our lives or the lives of the younger generations who now fight. We are all the same - as an enlightened and very frightened Russian friend said to me over the weekend in what they think will be their last VPN posting - we are the 's' people that are expendable to those with self-interest for power. We are all the same so do not automatically blame the peasants for the crimes of the dictator - even if the peasant supposedly committed an unseemly action - that had they not have been indoctrinated with lies they would not have performed...

Who said it's a crime to listen to news reports from government officials? Certainly not the person you're quoting...

Lets look at the future outcome possibilities, because most everyone knows the current situation is a mess at the moment, and disinformation is everywhere, both Russian and the West, as the article about stepping up information versus disinformation from both sides in a prior post is key to keeping a skeptical view about everything

Possible Outcomes of the Russo-Ukrainian War and China's Choice - U.S.-China Perception Monitor

some strategic outcomes, well thought out, NOT AN OR THE ANSWER, the answer is in the future, and the future has not arrived yet.

We live in interesting times, and yes, bonds are falling / interest rates are rising, and the stock market is correcting . . .

[QUOTE=JMintzer;2072122]Who said it's a crime to listen to news reports from government officials? Certainly not the person you're quoting...


The person I was quoting:

[/Linking to an opinion piece doesn't make it so. And you seem to be very knowledgeable of just what Russia has and just what we have - strange when I was in the Marines making comments in public like that would have prompted a visit from the FBI. I wonder where you got your FACTS, I know you liked to an opinion, but you know what they say about opinions - everyone has one


You don’t think that his inference that my posts in public should prompt a visit from the FBI because the FBI is doing tea parties, do you?

interesting

[QUOTE=Aces4;2072137]He specifically stated that when "he was a Marine", and making public comments...

Remember that one Officer who was busted in rank and discharged for making comments about politics?

It has NOTHING to do with your LISTENING to, or your MAKING said comments. Huge difference... Unless, of course, you're active duty...

Great response. That said, I was going to mention China. Remember them? Also...my thoughts are that this war is a deflection of "something" that takes the world's eyes off from some things more important. Time will tell.

Putin already has nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The power plants He already is trying to blow them up