Canada’s paying about $118,000 each for 800 drones to be supplied to Ukraine. Notably, none of these seem to be fitted to drop grenades or mortar bombs, which is a crying shame.
This is at least Canada doing something. However, as a former reservist who follows such things, I don’t think we have that many drones in our entire military here in the land of the beaver. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. We should be making a matching order, ourselves.
EDIT: missed this part: “can handle a variety of payloads up to 3.5 kilograms, including munitions.”
If the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, we’ll be fighting them in a NATO country next. I know nothing of this news site – if it’s Russian or what (says you can read in Russian), but it has several articles making noise that Russia is starting to agitate on Norwegian islands in the Arctic. Wasn’t it just a month ago Norway’s top general warned of impending war with Russia?
I’m disappointed to hear you think we should be involved in any way in this Ukrainian mess, and one that was created largely by the corrupt Biden/Obama maladministration.
I’ll listen to you on energy issues, though.
My grandfather and his family got out of Ukraine in 1930, the year before Stalin decided Ukrainians didn’t need food, and 6-10 million died. It’s called the Holodomor. Look it up. To think Ukrainians could ever forget that would be like asking Jews to forget the Holocaust.
I had a small involvement with assisting Ukrainian refugees coming to Canada in the first year of the war.
ALL of Russia’s immediate neighbours, those who have lived under the Russian/Soviet/Communist bootheel, are deeply concerned they’re next, should Ukraine fall. Why do you think Finland immediately asked to join NATO (and is now a member?)
Russia will not stop at Ukraine. And the next step is NATO. And that means Canada, as ill-equipped as it is after decades of military neglect, will then be involved. And I have a daughter, 19, and son, 17, both military age. My Both served in cadets. My wife and I were both reservist officers. So I am very concerned about this, indeed.
With respect, having ancestry from the region is not sufficient to be an expert on the subject.
Who’s holding themselves out as an expert? You?
I heard Denmark has claims on Hans Island. War!!!
On Spitsbergen, it was allowed to come under Norwegian administration by a treaty that gave the signatories, including Russia, continued mining, hunting, fishing rights. If Norway breaches that treaty then their right to continue to administer the area is forfeit. Norway will do what the USA tells them to do. If the USA wants to provoke Russia through Norway violating that treaty, that’s what will happen.
You have lost my respect. The US created a proxy war in Ukraine beginning with the 2014 Maidan Color Revolution where the US spent $5B USD in a Color Revolution to insert Zelensky.
You would do well to listen to Prof. Sachs regarding US/Russian history , and even Vladimir Putin who in a recent interview mentioned Russia forgiving Germany of things which occurred during WW2. When the USSR fell apart Russia wanted normalisation and to join NATO but the US rejected both.
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: US Thinks Russia is Still USSR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptaya7stymw
Exactly true.
I listened to the entire Putin interview. Not once in his 1200 year history did he mention the Holodomor. You would think starving 6 million Ukrainians might have factored into Putin’s discussions. Before anything else – does the Holodomor count – or just the Maidan uprising?
It wasn’t the Tucker Carlson interview but one shortly after in which Putin discussed forgiving Germany. I can no longer find it but Prof Sachs mentions it in the above link.
@Brian, so in the half hour history lesson, no mention of Holodomor, perhaps the most significant event in Ukrainian/Russian history, but lots on Prince Rubrick or whatever his name was.
You cannot make any point about Ukrainian/Russian history without reference to the Holodomor. Simple as that. The Ukrainians have every justification and right to never, ever want to be under Russian control again. And that includes making alliances such as NATO to ensure that doesn’t happen. Putin wants to keep his battered wife, Ukraine, from ever talking to the cops, as it were. That was clear in his interview.
Ask yourself this: If life under the Russian shadow was so good, why did nearly every country in Eastern Europe once under Russian control seek to join NATO at the first opportunity? Were they all wrong? Or did they know something the rest of the world didn’t? Why is Poland buying every single tank on the market, and building a Korean designed tank in its own factories soon? Why are they buying planes, helicopters, everything possible, as fast as possible?
Maybe they know something. As do the Ukrainians.
I’m of Ukrainian ancestry as well. Spent 23 years in Canadian Army, retired Major. Took Eastern European History, Russian studies, Ukrainian studies in university. Took some required Mil Intelligence courses in the military. Taught some pre-deployment classes to troops before departing to former Yugoslavia.
The one take-away one must have is: never, never, never, trust the Russians to behave civilized.
@RMGK, fire me an email sometime at brian.zinchuk@pipelineonline.ca.
how do the crimes of Soviets long dead committed against other soviets, also long dead, Canadian taxpayer dollars being sent to fight two former members of the Soviet Union.
Holodomor was tragic but continuing to blame Putin & modern Russia for it is like blaming Stephen Harper or Pierre Polievre for the alleged crimes committed against First Nations at residential schools
@ Thor, Holodomor was a crime committed by Muscovy against Ukraine. Soviet Union was just russian empire under new management, same whore different lipstick.
“I listened to the entire Putin interview. Not once in his 1200 year history did he mention the Holodomor. You would think starving 6 million Ukrainians might have factored into Putin’s discussions. Before anything else – does the Holodomor count – or just the Maidan uprising?”
How about the famine *at the same time* in different parts of Russia, including Northern Caucasus, Kuban Region, Volga Region, Kazakhstan,the South Urals, and West Siberia? Does that count?
(and what does any of it have to do with Vladimir Putin in 2024?)
“Does that count?”
No. It does not count at all. Russians killing russians is russians is russian favorite pastime second only to invading and subjugating their neighbors. As long as they keep their merry little Mongol traditions at home that is fine. But they can’t, for they cannot prosper as empire without conquest. Hence the need to eliminate them.
“and what does any of it have to do with Vladimir Putin in 2024?”
Since he is promising to rebuilt the russian empire… everything.
Heard Stalin was a Georgian (Beria too).
Heard Kosior was a Pole.
Heard Kaganovich was a Jew.
Heard this abortion of an argument a hundred of times, it is just as stupid the 101st time.
Everything you said was false.
The US didn’t orchestrated a coup to insert Zelensky 5 years later. Coocoo coocoo
I come from a military family, and so what? The stinking corruption of Ukraine, and the people like Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, Biden, et all, should be gigantic flashing red lights. Then there’s the multiple broken promises made to Russia. Then there’s NATO, a disgrace in itself. Or the UN.
No. We have no purpose in this European/Party of Davos debacle. Our own country is a disaster. We should put our own house in order before sending a dime or a bullet to anywhere else.
“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”
― Leon Trotsky
Didn’t Stalin have an ice pick put into his head? Kinda like Putin’s adversary just chose to up and die this week while in an arctic gulag?
Here’s an interesting thought…who has the most to gain from that adversary being killed when he was? Martyred,really….
Right when the US is fighting over a 60 Billion dollar give away, and can’t quite get people to agree to it?
Something so evil happens that we just HAVE to respond…just a thought.
“Didn’t Stalin have an ice pick put into his head? Kinda like Putin’s adversary just chose to up and die this week while in an arctic gulag?”
That has nothing to do with ill-conceived fantasies about Putin sweeping through and conquering the rest of Europe. As many people here gleefully point out every chance they get, Russia could barely handle Ukraine, never mind NATO.
Give it a rest. Your contention that “If the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, we’ll be fighting them in a NATO country next” is ridiculous and has no basis in fact.
(…and I am another one of the people who admires your posts on energy issues, but can’t understand how you can be so far off base on this issue; your heritage gives you a distorted view of this, and you have acknowledged as much…)
Stalin’s famous election slogan: “A chicken in every pot! And an icepick in every Trot!”
Fred is right. Putin will have his hands full winning the war in Ukraine; once it ends there’s no way in hell the Russians will follow him into another one. Russia will need five years of peace before it can defend itself again, let alone attack anybody. Assuming they want to attack anybody, when they have no reason to. Poland is not arming because it fears that Russia will attack. It’s arming because it suspects that Russia might collapse, and wants to capable of taking advantage of it.
No talk of peace, only war. There was a peace plan on the table almost 2 years ago, but the Biden White House killed it. The military industrial complex rolls on and the Ukrainians are chewed up in the meat grinder. Russia has already won. No more money for Ukraine in my name.
Austrian Anschluss, 1938. Sudetenland, 1938. Rest of Czechoslovakia, 1938.
Poland, 1939. Everyone else, 1940->
Crimea, 2014, Eastern Ukraine, 2014-2022.
Rest of Ukraine, 2022-2024
Poland, 2025? Everyone else, five days later?
Best way to judge future performance, is look at past performance. Also consider the Circassian genocide by the Russians in the 19th century.
A leopard simply doesn’t change its spots.
Brian, I usually admire you for your intelligent and skilled commentary on all things energy, and basically you seem like a well-rounded fellow in your thinking. But when Colonialista sides with you… it’s time to take pause…
I am of Ukrainian descent as well. Well-versed in the history surrounding holodymor and the historical suffering behind that iron curtain.
But here’s where it gets interesting in the nowaday world:
Hillary told me Russia was behind election interference. Then we know that factually, that was an entire pile of bullshit.
Then Hunter started taking in the big bucks for his intelligent contribution to the Ukrainian energy world. We know that he was just grifting for Dad.
I don’t trust one bit of the narrative. Zelensky came to power in what can only logically be seen as a CIA operation and if you can’t smell the stink… just FOLLOW THE MONEY. There’s Billions to start with.
Why DID Boris Johnson stymie the peace agreement? NATO is dirty. Plain and simple.
Aside from Global Warming, this is one of the biggest frauds perpetrated on the West in recent history.
Even if all you say is true, and it may be, does any of that justify Russian tanks rolling on Kyiv or Kharkiv? Does any of that justify the multipronged attach in February 2022? Maybe Biden was lining his pockets. Maybe he wasn’t. I don’t know. Does that justify hundreds of thousands dying in a war of invasion? And however Zelensky came to power (which was by an election, btw) does any of that justify Russian helicopter assault troops trying to seize the Kyiv airport?
I am not naive on world affairs. Look at what the US did in Iran through the 50s-70s. Nothing here justifies starting a major land war in Europe, and people dying by the thousands.
You blockheads seem to forget that Russia has nuclear weapons. It’s amazing how many of you want a nuclear war. You just can’t fix stupid.
@LoneRanger Trust me, I am extremely cognizant of Russia’s nuclear capabilities. My house is precisely 50.0 km from the nearest Minuteman Missile silo, a first strike target. And there’s another 149 silos, loaded and armed, to the south and east of that one.
If Russia is not stopped within Ukraine, all of the eastern block of NATO will rapidly choose to develop their own nuclear capabilities for deterrence. It’s an 80 year old tech. They have the resources to rapidly develop it and use it. There’s plenty of plutonium around from existing reactors.
And they just might become afraid enough to use them.
It is evil vs. evil.
American blood and gold purchased Europe a 2nd chance, 3rd chance, and then a 4th chance in the 20th century. (WWI, WWII, Cold War)
It is time for Europe to stand on it’s own and suffer the consequences of their poor choices. My children shouldn’t have to pay for it like I have.
“Even if all you say is true, does any of that justify Russian tanks rolling on Kyiv or Kharkiv?”
Even if it didn’t, the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of over 10,000 Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the Donbass region certainly does. Those people were promised a referendum on separation, and instead they were massacred.
“Brian, I usually admire you for your intelligent and skilled commentary on all things energy, and basically you seem like a well-rounded fellow in your thinking. But when Colonialista sides with you… it’s time to take pause…”
An excellent point. When you suddenly find yourself in agreement with the human filth of Colonialista, it’s time to take a step back from the edge.
I am my own man. I say what I say because I believe it. What others say is their own issue, good or bad.
– An excellent point. When you suddenly find yourself in agreement with the human filth of Colonialista, it’s time to take a step back from the edge.
It was a childish point, specifically argumentum ad odium (or appeal to spite). If nasty old poopoo head Colonialista says the sky is blue do you expect us all to choose another colour?
I agree with Colonialista that Russia should be defeated in Ukraine. I don’t agree with his hateful and genocidal views about Russians. I’m a grownup.
When russians stop threatening, endorsing and committing genocide. I’ll be the first to change my view. Until then hate is all I got. In the meantime, the war has proven true every negative stereotype about russians.
Canada will send all 100 of our combat ready soldiers, with outdated weapons, limited ammo, and leadership who can’t find their ass with both hands. Should make quite an impression on the ruskies. Should send CRA audit team to shake them down to the last Ruble, that we can do.
Maybe send the Mounties who beat up the Convoy protesters. Is it bad if I cheer for the other side?
Brian
The norwegians were involved in blowing up the Nordstearm pipe line, so they are fair game for the Russians.
And I agree with Cheburashka , that having family over there does not translate into involving Canada, and my Tax$$$$ in that war. I also have extended family members from over there.
Also, my father spent time in a C-camp, during the war, so should I still be hating Germans today.
Now grow the eff up.
If Germans were currently invading their neighbour and demonstrating similar behaviour to 80 years ago, then, yes. Because that’s what Russia is doing now.
Except Ukraine is not some innocent party.
I agree with pretty much all Brian Zinchuk has tried to say! This is a mess and Ukraine has been hung out to dry! First by Russia and now by the West! If you jokers don’t think Putin is calculating his time to move on the West is now you are making a grave Miscalculation!
And NATO made a huge mistake by not saying before this got rolling that they would not let Ukraine join ! That might have ease tension!
NATO and the Chinese could have held talks ——Would it have worked — possibly !
No. Russia is at the limits of its capacity handling Ukraine. As long as it’s tied up there, it’s helpless elsewhere. It’s impossible to see the war ending without Russia committed to heavy defense on the Ukrainian frontier for the foreseeable future. Their capacity for defense elsewhere will be impaired, and their capacity for offence nonexistent.
And in any event, who are they going to attack? The Baltic states? Bulgaria? How many countries have Russian minorities which they keep under artillery bombardment? That seems to be what puts you at risk. Even if the Russians really wanted war, who would it make sense for them to attack? Putin has no designs against the West. He wants to protect himself from us, and as we’ve proven, he has to, because we, as you prove, are dogmatically hostile. He’s got his hands full holding Russia together. He may pose no threat to anybody. He certainly poses no threat to us.
What a load of dreck.
I presume these are not those small flying helicopters that the Ukrianians are getting so adept at, but unmanned planes — i.e., traditional military drones.
Lol. Current price for a US Reaper type drone is somewhere around $32 million.
I imagine these are small Chinese camera quadracopters anyone can buy for a few thousand without the govment mark up
Nope, they are quadcopters with the ability to carry 3.5 KG of payload.
If we had drones they would drop grenades on protesting truckers or big mouth oil field workers 😉
“Traditional military drones” are on bagpipes. You mean “conventional” drones. Learn English sometime, Paki.
It looks to me like NATO expansion pushed Russia into a corner. They retaliated. Now we should de-escalate everything rather than go to a war that is at least 50% Natos fault.
“It looks to me like NATO expansion pushed Russia into a corner. They retaliated. Now we should de-escalate everything rather than go to a war that is at least 50% Natos fault.”
Exactly, and anyone who ignores the propaganda from both sides and examines only the recent history and the documented facts is forced to come to the same conclusion. Ignore the trolls and the people so blinded by hatred or bigotry that they can no longer apply reason or logic to the situation.
Nah, better fight it out to the last Ukrainian rather than admit error. Having no young men (and very few older ones) is obviously in the long-term interest of Ukraine /s
I don’t think people realise that men in their 50-60s with health problems are being drafted and sent to the front. They have already blown through the young men with health problems.
Next step will be teenage boys and women.
Why would NATO expansion push Russia into a corner?
Because since the loss of the Soviet bloc after World War II, the US military industrial complex has had an issue with the Soviets. They are the first boogieman to be pulled out of the closet for just about anything, real or imagined. They are the first excuse, Al Qaeda, or ISIS the second, China (when they don’t pay the cheques) third.
An Russia feels it has to attack? Why?
Because the US has a military industrial complex?
Joke, you AZZhole
CIA and MI6 engineered this war, try keeping up FOOL.
GYM
“CIA and MI6 engineered this war” Uh huh.
So why did Putin let the CIA MI6 engineer the war? Why did he take the bait? Was Putin really that stupid to fall for the CIA and MI6 machinations?
“An Russia feels it has to attack? Why?”
Because ethnic Russians were being slaughtered by Ukrainians would be the obvious answer.
Why…what would you have done in their position?
The 1,500+ odd nuclear warheads aimed at NATO are real and not imagined, and while reduced in number, they never went away. And Russia has since walked away from almost every nuclear arms control treaty except the test ban. That might be next.
Russia was sending their own people into that area to inhabit it…not dissimilar to the open border on the Texas-Mexico border. Then they were arming those Russians, to instigate trouble.
What corner? Even Pootin in his interview with Cucker Farson did not mention NATO expansion as justification. There were no plans for Ukraine joining NATO prior to orc invasion two years ago. Prior to invasion, majority of Ukrainians weren’t interested. Besides, sovereign nations get to decide what organizations they join. Orgrimmar has no say in it. And finally those who joined NATO are safe, those who did not have been invaded by orcs (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova).
He most certainly did mention NATO.
Not as justification for invasion. Point me where. Even Cucker was disappointed, he wanted Pootin to state that he invaded Ukraine because NATO and instead got a lame history lesson. The interview went something like this:
Cucker: “Why did you invade Ukraine?”
Pootin: “At the beginning there was darkness, then russian dinosaurs ruled the earth… … something something Nevsky and Rurik.. and thus Poland started WWII, here are the documents, translate them from orcish at your leisure”.
– There were no plans for Ukraine joining NATO prior to orc invasion two years ago.
Er . . .
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_37750.htm
“In response to Ukraine’s aspirations for NATO membership, Allies agreed at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.”
Which was immediately cockblocked by Merkel, Sarkozy and co. Just run a net search on “Merkel defends 2008 decision not to let Ukraine into NATO” here, let me do it for you: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Merkel+defends+2008+decision+not+to+let+Ukraine+into+NATO&t=opera&ia=web
Really?
– Which was immediately cockblocked by Merkel . . .
I think you’re getting the order wrong. At the summit Merkel opposed an immediate Ukrainian entry into NATO, and then all the leaders agreed a general aspirational open-ended statement that Ukraine would join NATO. That may be a vague plan but it’s still a plan.
It got watered down from a semi concrete plan to an utterly meaningless wish. Also, an entirely moot point since 2014. Indeed if Pootin wanted to keep Ukraine out of NATO all he needed to do was to stay within January 2022 borders. Given the unresolved border issue, Ukraine would not be joining unless agreed to cede the occupied territories and, more crucially, get russia to agree to no further territorial demands. That was never going to happen.
Agreed, but that doesn’t alter that there were plans for Ukraine to join NATO.
This is a semantic argument, if by plan you mean a series of steps to follow towards a specific goal then no, if by plan you mean willingness to consider it if things change then yes…. (hence no :p).
Ah yes, push them into a corner by being at 8% of their border. Besides, NATO is a defensive alliance. That’s what upsets Russia. It loves invading its neighbors.
If you think having NATO at your border is upsetting, try to imagine having Russia at yours instead.
Exactly correct, Wes W.
Regardless of local and international (US / UK) fantasies , the last two years have demonstrated that Russia is a super power which cannot be defeated in a conventional land war on its own turf. NATO weapons and tactics have failed with the advent of ISR , hypersonic missiles and drone warfare. This is the first time the US has faced a peer and faces a major defeat in Ukraine just in time for the 2024 election.
BTW .. It is ironic this war is taking place in the same areas of some of the most brutal and savage fighting during WW2 on the Eastern Front.
. . . the last two years have demonstrated that Russia is a super power which cannot be defeated in a conventional land war on its own turf.
It’s not on its own turf, it’s on Ukraine’s turf – turf it previously recognised as Ukraine’s and guaranteed the security of. Russia was defeated at Kyiv, at Kharkiv, and at Kherson. It can only win by suffering enormous losses to take single towns (Bakhmut, Avdiivka). Ukraine has many more towns; so long as it gets weapons and munitions it can murder Russians at a rate even they can’t tolerate.
– NATO weapons and tactics have failed with the advent of ISR , hypersonic missiles and drone warfare.
Ukraine has very few NATO weapons*, and Russia has little answer to those it does use. Ukraine doesn’t (can’t) use NATO tactics because it doesn’t have mastery of the air (the basic NATO tactic); it uses its own tactics which are still influenced by Soviet doctrine as well as NATO ideas. F16s are coming this year, but again, not enough.
Russian hypersonic missiles have had no significant impact on the war. The Ukrainians pretty much pioneered practical drone warfare (the Russians are playing catchup). Ukraine’s ISR is way ahead of Russia’s simply because they’re getting NATO ISR.
– This is the first time the US has faced a peer and faces a major defeat in Ukraine just in time for the 2024 election.
The US isn’t fighting in Ukraine. But it does indeed risk a massive and catastrophic, world-changing strategic defeat if it abandons Ukraine. This won’t be at the hands of the Russians, it’ll be at the treacherous hands of the demented and defeatist woke right. But that isn’t certain; Europe can keep Ukraine going while the MASA Republicans piss about, and if those idiots keep it up until the election then they’ll probably get slaughtered. The independent voters will decide and they aren’t caught up in this bubble of madness.
*To be fair, NATO doesn’t have many NATO weapons. This should change.
“I agree with Colonialista that Russia should be defeated in Ukraine.”
Do you also believe in unicorns and the Tooth Fairy? Or are you advocating for direct NATO intervention (even though Ukraine is not a member): NATO boots on the ground, Canadian soldiers fighting *and dying* in Ukraine. Yes or no?
I don’t agree with his hateful and genocidal views about Russians. I’m a grownup.
Me too…I just base my opinions on fact rather than fantasy, and I have no problem acknowledging reality whether it collides with my feelings or reinforces them. I say to you the same thing I say to Brian: think with your brain, not your heart.
[you responded to the wrong thread so I didn’t notice your comment straight away]
No, there is no need for direct NATO engagement in Ukraine in order for Russia to be defeated there. We clearly differ on the issue of Russian capability and sustainability, but that’s certainly not a heart over head stance on my part.
“…the last two years have demonstrated that Russia is a super power which cannot be defeated in a conventional land war on its own turf…”
ROTFLMAO. Meanwhile back in the real world: “the second army’s in the world” three day military operation goes into its third year. While NATO spent a few percentage points of their military budget by sending mostly outdated equipment, that needed replacing, to Ukraine. The war has proven utter ineptness of orc military. And the price russia paid is economic ruin with no prospect for recovery, a greatly increased NATO border and Baltic turned into a NATO lake. Yay 5D chess indeed.
Somewhere in the middle lies the truth I’d say.
Ukraine is barely holding it’s own, and the sanctions have hardly destroyed their economy. Just ask China.
. . . and the sanctions have hardly destroyed their economy.
They weren’t designed to. The sanctions were meant to bring Russia to its senses not to its knees.
This might have to change.
“Ukraine is barely holding it’s own, …”
Ukraine needs help, absolutely, but given the speed to orc advance and the loses they take, the jury is still out on who can outlast whom. Ukrainians defending and orcs attacking has always been a scenario resulting in extremally disproportionate loess for the orcs.
“…and the sanctions have hardly destroyed their economy. Just ask China.”
Sanctions are working. they are grinding down orconomy to a halt. They are not meant to be a missile that stops the tank, they are the sand constantly being poured into gears, slowly at first… And sanctions are only one dimension that harms russia. The loss of majority of European energy markets is a huge hit. And then there are micro indicators: their airline industry is cannibalizing, they infrastructure is crumbling (for example they need tens of thousands of elevators in apartment buildings, they all rely on western parts and those can no longer be imported so babushkas use stairs), car production collapses in numbers and quality, I could go on for hours… They are going back to 80s. That is what happens to parasitic cultures, that rely on conquest to prosper, when their ability to conquer is diminished.
Speaking of russian living conditions: the video should open at 18:09: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxd8fV_c3w8&t=1149s
“Ukraine needs help, absolutely, but given the speed to orc advance and the loses they take, the jury is still out on who can outlast whom.”
ROTFLMAO.
Yes yes, for the last two years you have been proclaiming the victory of the orc three day special military operation, any day now. Meanwhile russia is falling apart, brick by brick.
Stuff and nonsense.
Anyone who thinks Russia in Ukraine = Russia is interested in NATO territory, clearly does not have the slightest grasp of the regional history or dynamics.
But I guess if one’s logic is: Putin = literally Hitler THEREFORE Putin will behave literally the same way as Hitler. Then one arrives at the NATO existential threat conclusion. Which is obviously full of holes.
Stalin, Hitler – Putin draws from both. His justification of invading eastern Ukraine because of “Russian speakers” was word-for-word what Hitler said when taking the Czech Sudetenland in 1938 regarding “German speakers.” His repression of his own people, including his opponent just dying in a gulag, draw a lot from Stalin. Authoritarian dictators for life tend to borrow a lot from each other’s playbook.
If your argument is based on the fact that Putin is like Stalin and Hitler then I am afraid I don’t think there is much to be discussed.
tq for posting and saving me the trouble.
eons ago l sympathized and defended Putin because Russia is so hair brained on its own *somebody* with the knack needs to keep it off the rocky shoals.
not for a long time.
election coming up thats why the critic is dead there must be NO vote tally that would embolden critics at any time in any venue.
so 6 more years! 6 more years!
Utter drivel. You are a waste of pixels.
It is not even that Brian. Russian speakers in Ukraine are remnants of russian occupation. They have no right to demand anything other than a right to return to russia. They have been generously offered an opportunity to join civilization, in their hubris and primitivity they declined. They ought to be have been marched to the border at bayonet point.
“Russian occupation” is kind of what you expect when a region is part of Russia for hundreds of years. Before the Ukrainian SSR was drawn on a map for administrative reasons, Russia owned Crimea and the Donbas. Had the Kiev government made accommodations for Russians who found themselves in an independent Ukraine, not a single drop of blood would have been shed. This war is entirely the fault of crooked politicians being goaded by Western oligarchs into poking the Bear. And my Ukrainian mom emigrated from near Lviv.
Yawn. Yes, russian occupation, russia is nothing more than a cancerous afterbirth of Mongol Empire, always spreading, always destroying, a parasitic entity that cannot prosper without conquest. It needs to be fractured. Given what russians have done to Ukrainians and others residing within the borders to today’s Ukraine over centuries russia has no claim to any of that land. It has no claim to most pf the land that is today’s russia. The sooner it disintegrates (and it will) the better.
Absolutely correct!
Yes dollops, well said. Let’s hope it’s well read.
– “Russian occupation” is kind of what you expect when a region is part of Russia for hundreds of years.
The former president of Mongolia had a good take on that perspective:
https://twitter.com/elbegdorj/status/1756818696700657935
Actual Lolz
orcCOLON
Read up about what Ukraine used to be comprised of, it was not much bigger than Israel is
So your take is BULLSHIT, with the most mercs in the fight, POLAND has inserted themselves into this mess, and you may have family and friends in there, and that could explain your asshole whining.
Brian
Read up about V Nuland and her actions in 2014, and then get back to me.
So was this a sole source contract outside the normal bidding process? and was GC Strategies involved?
The Ukraine will never stand any chance of victory until they acquire a functional air force. That will take years and trillions of dollars from Western taxpayers because they have to start largely from scratch. Right now Russia has total air superiority and in a treeless plain, any Ukrainian ground forces on the offensive will be pulverized. The Ukrainians are in the same boat as the German army in France in 1944 after the Luftwaffe had been withdrawn to Germany. German armored forces could only operate in proximity to forests or in bad weather; otherwise the Allied air force destroyed them.
How long will it be until the Ukrainians run out of people willing to fight in such a hopeless scenario? Their government long ago ran out of money and are now complete wards of the Western taxpayer. How long can this last?
The Afghans did pretty well against the Russians.
Yep. Afghanistan is very mountainous. You proved Dennis’ point.
Petros
The Russians do not have total air superiority over Ukraine. Russian airplanes are getting shot down flying over Russian held territory
“The Afghans did pretty well against the Russians.”
In a completely different scenario which has zero bearing on this one.
(oh, and they were getting their asses handed to them until the US got involved and started providing them with weaponry to shoot down the Soviet helicopters)
Ukrainians are risking their freedom and in some cases their very lives to flee across the nearest border in the dead of night, because they know a hopeless cause when they see it.
The Ukraine will never stand any chance of victory.
Could have left out the rest.
Russia is left to finish taking the Russian speaking areas as it claims as a civil war or NATO gets involved with “boots on the ground” and turns it into a nuclear war.
There’s not allot of wiggle room.
NATO countries need to prove an attack on a NATO country before getting more stupid than they’ve been to date.
Should never have messed with Ukraine to begin with, but you know “pronouns” & Barismo.
Those are valid points – what happens when Ukraine is bled white, when there’s no one left to throw into the slaughter? What happens then? The answer is Russia advances to the Polish border, and doesn’t stop. And they’ll probably take Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and parts of Romania, too, for good measure. All Canadian NATO allies.
As for the point on the air force, saying this as a lowly former reservist RCAF officer whose spent his life studying about military aviation, this war is proving that in many ways, air forces over the front lines, unless they have American-level stealth, are almost moot. Looking at what’s happening, the US Army just canned their long-range manned aerial scout program, basically a smaller helicopter, because they realized they’ll be swatted out of the sky. Drones are cheaper, expendable, and don’t involve funerals for your own people. The airspace over the front lines, and anything within several hundred kilometres, is rapidly becoming a no mans land just like the space between the trenches in the First World War. MANPADS and various layered anti-air defence is swatting everything out of the sky – Ukrainian and Russian. Only expendable drones. are worth putting in the air. Maybe a large scale alpha strike package like the Americans can put up would have a chance. Nothing smaller than that does.
Sure, until Russia invades a NATO country it’s a regional civil war like they claim. Russia also has a claim to protecting the Russian speaking ukrainians of the Donbas area, a 5 minute Google search can find plenty of UN and Amnesty International reports validating those claims as far back as 2015. If anyone bothered to check.
So until Russia jumps the boundaries of its “Special Military Operation” it’s none of our business.
Of course our own Oligarcs won’t listen, so I guess no whining when our kids or nephews get the draft one day, or we get the no warning mushroom cloud on the horizon driving to work.
Brian you are now resorting to fear mongering. Deep down you really want a nuclear war.
“What happens then? The answer is Russia advances to the Polish border, and doesn’t stop. And they’ll probably take Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and parts of Romania, too, for good measure. All Canadian NATO allies.”
A ridiculous and unsupportable accusation. Any such action would trigger an immediate NATO counter-attack, and Putin knows it. And you also seem unaware that Poland has some military might of their own.
Poland has been buying every tank they can get their hands on – South Korean, American and German. Same for helicopters, and fighters. Poland is expecting the Russians on their border. Maybe they know something you don’t?
Peter Zeihan has been describing this exact scenario in speeches, presentations, videos and books for about a decade now. And he’s been pretty damned accurate thus far.
“Poland has been buying every tank they can get their hands on – South Korean, American and German. Same for helicopters, and fighters. Poland is expecting the Russians on their border. Maybe they know something you don’t?”
They know that as a NATO member they are required to spend a certain amount of their GDP on military readiness. They also know that as a NATO member if their nation is ever attacked other NATO members will immediately come to their defense, meaning that they face no real threat from Russia.
@Fred from BC: I do think before I post. I think a lot, about a lot. And I’ve got a pretty broad background. I’ve written columns on over 1500 topics over 32 years.
Poland is WAAAY outpacing other NATO members in spending. The supposed quota next to no one reaches is 2% GDP. Poland is at 3.9.
“Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Warsaw has ordered 250 U.S.-made Abrams tanks, hundreds of Chunmoo rocket launchers, K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, and FA-50 fighter aircraft from South Korea as well as Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N), opens new tab HIMARS rocket launchers.
Warsaw’s ruling Law and Justice government (PiS) says it is also making a historic overhaul of its air defences.” – and that was in July of last year.
Poland is setting up its own tank factory to license-build Korean tanks. They’re not waiting for the neighbours to show up with their nothing-burgers. They’re preparing to keep the Russians out of their borders.
Why? Why would they do that? As I’ve said numerous times today, maybe they, and the Ukrainians, know something about life under the Russians the rest of us don’t. Because that is very much the case.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/scope-polands-spending-spree-focus-nato-ups-defence-goal-2023-07-12/#:~:text=Poland%20surged%20to%20the%20top,twice%20NATO's%20current%202%25%20target.
“Poland is setting up its own tank factory to license-build Korean tanks. They’re not waiting for the neighbours to show up with their nothing-burgers. They’re preparing to keep the Russians out of their borders.
Why? Why would they do that? As I’ve said numerous times today, maybe they, and the Ukrainians, know something about life under the Russians the rest of us don’t. Because that is very much the case.”
Maybe Poland wants to be ready for anything if NATO should call upon them. Maybe they want to become a more prominent member of the EU and the UN, and have a bigger say in the future of the EU or NATO. They already have Europe’s strongest army…how do you know it’s not just economic in nature, and they want to build their own arms industry? Or, God forbid, what if they have territorial ambitions of their own?
You seriously think, with all the trouble Russia has had so far with a second-rate army like Ukraine, that they would then turn around and attack *the strongest army in Europe*? Give your head a shake, Brian…. Poland has nothing to fear from Russia.
As long as “run out” = stole, I agree.
uhuh.
and Puketin remains the hero @ SDA because nazis.
be careful. you heaped praise on dubya when he held the crown. what now of him?
“and Puketin remains the hero @ SDA because nazis.”
(Puketin? Are you channeling your inner 12-year-old like Colonialista? Grow up…)
No one here ever says anything about Putin being a hero, he’s a very bad man. But we also don’t have to support the corrupt Ukrainians or the billionaires who are making a fortune and sacrificing thousands of lives in the process just because Putin is a bad guy, either…that’s the ‘reasoning’ of a teenager (or a Simpleton ™).
“If the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, we’ll be fighting them in a NATO country next.”
Just stop. You’re parroting msm propaganda. I expect more from you.
Just more blind rage from the usual suspects. Agreed, that’s just MSM and limpwristed NATO talking points without evidence of such.
If that was Russia’s strategy, Kyiv would be in Russian hands in 2022 when they were at the outskirts of the city. Instead, Russian forces pulled back. Putin has stated many times, that their cause here was to liberate Russian peoples in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
The Ukes had been genociding them since 2014, with over 14, 000 citizens killed by Nazi Uke forces.
When comparing the statements and actions of the tranny penis piano player and Putin, it seems Putin is a man of his word, while the Penis Piano player is a lying Cokehead.
I’ll repeat what others have said, why are we involved in a regional military action? Everything that Trudeau, Biden, Freeland, NATO, Sunak has said has been an endless stream of lies.
The Crimea = The Sudetenland
Ukraine = Czechoslovakia
??? = Poland, Belgium, Holland, France ….
But, with a bit of (take your pick) rationalization, projection, or minimalization, anything can be justified.
Crimea is Russia’s only warm water port (ie. essential for their commerce and defence) and has been Russian since the late 1700s when Catherine the Great took it from the Ottomans.
The USSR made Crimea into an independent protectorate and it remained independent in name until Kiev obolished it as an independant republic and essentially annexed it to Ukraine. Yes, it was forcibly annexed by the Ukrainians in the 1990s.
Cue American agitation and Maiden and we all know the rest.
My point is that those making these WWII comparisons seem to not have any grasp on history or population of these places. They want people to die, horrible horrible deaths, in order to defend a fantasy sold by CNN and the CBC.
“Crimea is Russia’s only warm water port …”
And since russia has no right to exist in the first place, your point is moot, vatnik.
Muscovy delenda est (don’t forget the salt).
That seems reasonable and like a comment a sane person would make /s
Not any more unreasonable than Pootin’s demands from late 2021/early 2022 that Central Europe becomes demilitarized and at a mercy of the Muscovy horde.
Cheburashka
orcCOLON and sanity shall never meet.
You’re insane. Seek help.
Insane is to demand that russian neighbors from Finland to Japan continue being threatened by a chimp with a straight razor. Insane is to claim that russia has some divine right to a “sphere of influence” over her neighbors. Especially that russia has nothing to offer to them but shit and syphilis. If russia cannot leave the civilized world alone, then russia needs to be dismantled. It is doing a great job cannibalizing itself, and this needs to be speeded up.
Okay. You have rationalization and projection. Two out of three.
There’s plenty of Black Sea ports in Russian control outside of Crimea. I have no idea where you get this from.
Sevastopol is their main one, some of the others can’t be open all year due to winds, depth etc.
It’s a common misconception. Novorossiysk ships a lot of Russian oil and other products. Sevastopol is principally a military base, more than anything. Take a look at it – see any major cargo facilities? Shipping container cranes? Massive grain handling facilities? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Novorossiysk,+Krasnodar+Krai,+Russia/@44.6152183,33.5461119,6289m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x40ee03bb38a719df:0x628956e1835d7aa3!8m2!3d44.7180464!4d37.7770117!16zL20vMDRmeDlt?entry=ttu
Of course it is a military base. I never said it was purely civian but rather that it is essential to the Russians for their military and commerce.
Novorossiysk is closed/unuseable up to several weeks a year due to winds.
– but rather that it is essential to the Russians for their military and commerce.
It is not essential to Russia. Indeed, previous to their invasion of Ukraine in 2014, they planned to move the entire Black Sea Fleet and headquarters to Novorossiysk due to their lease deal for Sevastopol expiring. They spent half a billion dollars on the project.
In 1954, the USSR transferred Crimea to the Ukraine.
Taking a look at that drone, it seems… hmm, interesting shall we say that they cost $118K each. Because you can buy bigger, better ones with a 4K large format cinema camera included, with more payload, for $20k. Including the camera.
I might, at a stretch, admit it might be possible for a militarized quadcopter to cost double what a Hollywood-ready civilian version does. But I’m sorry, $20K vs almost $120K?
Phantom, the drone tech is progressing rapidly. Off the shelf designs require complete gutting these days. Replacement of nearly everything inside before use is a norm. Both sides are constantly upgrading their jamming and guidance. So the Canadian drones, if built up to spec, will be valuable and hopefully immediate plug and play for Ukrainians.
Control hardware is a $100 board. Radios are similar. There’s almost nothing inside one of these things. That’s the beauty of them, they’re CHEAP. You can build them for under $1000 dollars, including the radio, camera, etc.
Are the ones currently being flown by Ukraine the super duper gold-plated version? No, they’re like mine. $500 all up. Four motors, a cheap Chinese battery, and a single-board computer with a motor controller attached. Camera hacked out of a cellphone. Jamming and guidance are handled in software. They tape a grenade to it and off they go.
$120K is naked graft, dude. Naked. Unclothed, in a spotlight. Disgraceful.
I have listened to a long discussion with a guy who flew drones in Ukraine for months. It used to be that easy at the start. It is much more complicated now. You bring an off the shelf drone to the front lines and you will have an artillery barage on your position in under four minutes if russians are shooting and under two minutes if Ukrainians are shooting an have a BMS online.
Yes, I’m quite sure that’s true, I know they also fire on cell phone signals. What kind of new radios are being used to circumvent that targeting? Hmm? How much do they cost? I’ll tell you that they cost less than $118,000 bucks, that is for sure. Hellfire missiles cost $99,600 each, okay? Let’s be serious.
Quadcopter hardware is -cheap-. This is robbery. Canadians being robbed by the Canadian government. Again.
“$120K is naked graft, dude. Naked. Unclothed, in a spotlight. Disgraceful.”
Yes, just more of the same thing that has been going on since the very beginning of this thing.
Follow the money. It will almost always lead to the truth.
The usual markup when the government is paying for it.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2024/02/defence-minister-bill-blair-announces-canadian-donation-of-over-800-drones-to-ukraine.html
I was looking for a Liberal friendly company, but unless it’s Teledyne, wasn’t successful.
I read this morning that Dmitri Medvedev said that Russia WILL use nuclear weapons if it becomes necessary.
Probably more saber rattling, but as I’m not a close friend of Putin, can’t opine on that one.
https://kyivindependent.com/russias-medvedev-threatens-to-nuke-us-germany-uk-ukraine-if-russia-loses-occupied-territories/
I have no idea how “independent” this site is.
Brian, thank you so much for being the voice of sanity on this issue at SDA. The tankie/vatnik chorus has been nauseating lately.
Putin is a villain and Zelensky is wannabe villain. Regardless, Canada has no business giving weapons of war to a kleptocracy halfway around the world while simultaneously trying to disarm Canadians. In addition, I’m pretty sure I read that a comparable drone valued between $20k to $40k would have done the same job more effectively. So even if you do believe Putin has any realistic expansionist views, it’s severely unlikely they extend beyond Eastern Europe. And even then, if you’re still intent on spending Canadian taxpayer dollars to kill Europeans in a conflict that doesn’t directly effect Saskatchewan, it likely could be done significantly cheaper ♂️
If I could, I’d leave Canada in a heartbeat – and move to Russia (this is starting to happen, sane people are fleeing to Russia).
Canada is ruled by Clown World globalists.
Russia is the Good Guy. Satanic Globallist Western Countries are the Bad Guys.
Ukraine is a NATO proxy war – with the goal of destroying Russia (but is failing). God is with Russia and not our countries.
NATO countries would never win against a Orthodox Christian country such as Russia. Russians are fighting for the preservation of Russian Civilization, NATO countries are fighting for what? Gay Rights and ‘democracy’? Who would fight and die for that?
You REALLY think you would have more freedoms in Russia? Truly?
As much as I despise the way much of the West has gone, it is because people have the freedom to choose, to do what they wish, including the freedom to do or be what you or I might not like.
Spend a week or two reading The Gulag Archipelago, and then compare it to today’s Russia. You would be shocked at the similarities. But if you really want to go, I have a surplus suitcase for you.
After I read some more GA, I’ll be on the call to my old friend who has been incarcerated by my government for months because of his presence in Washington DC during the Jan 6 demonstrations.
Rule of law used to separate us from the Russians. No more.
Brian
And again you are uninformed, yes, one would have as many, or more freedoms in Russian, than in the “west”
Gym
If Russia is such a nice place, with more freedoms than here, why wouldn’t you move there?
Like freedom of expression, association, speech, etc… All of the above, yours to behold in Mother Russia!
You are absolutely right. Putin might not be an angel but he is immensely popular in Russia. Name ANY Western leader who enjoys such respect among his people — other than Trump who, it’s clear, is the same sort of pragmatic patriot.
That is a proof that there is something wrong with russians not that Pootin is a good guy. And there is plenty wrong. A russian does not want freedom, a russian will always eagerly lick the boot of its master, will accept any injustice and humiliation as long as the leader is strong and willing to occasionally unleash russian on his neighbors to rape, pillage and murder. Russia is not a product of Pootin, Pootin is a product of russia, no wonder he is popular among the horde.
Under Yeltsin they had more freedom than ever before, they pissed it all away and their biggest trauma was that none feared them anymore. There is no coexistence with that. FETE.
“If the Russians aren’t stopped in Ukraine, we’ll be fighting them in a NATO country next.”
T-90’s rolling into Lisbon would be the best thing to ever happen to those ungrateful European idiots. At least the Russians won’t be telling them it’s raining when they’re pissing in their face.
Ok tankie.
T-90s couldn’t get that far. They’d break down. If they didn’t suffer from catastrophic turret failure.
Is that all you can do is fking insult people?
Trudeau, Ford and the others can mosy their fat ass– over there and die for the ideals they finally threw in the fking garbage three years ago and sealed the West’s fate.
Insane is fking dying for what we call democracy, good governance, individual freedom, ethics and sanity as it stands in the West today. We let it slide and if you and others think we are going to vote it back not likely. But by all means if you need your ticker tape parade get marching.
You can lay Russia to ashes and the West will be continuing on the same crooked path down.
Sorry that’s how I see it.
And if you and others don’t like it that’s your problem.
I won’t wade in on the laundry mat the Americans have opened in Ukraine. But this …
EDIT: missed this part: “can handle a variety of payloads up to 3.5 kilograms, including munitions.”
Handling (aka carrying) a payload is one thing. Dropping it in the right place and having it detonate is a totally different problem. I would be surprised if our military had so much of this equipment, least of all trained technicians to operate. Maybe we’re buying it from Iran and shipping it direct via Amazon International.
Brian Z
I’m surprised you waded into this SDA flame war which has been going on for some time now. My opinion? ….. its all relative to the individual …. just another distraction if you will. I wouldn’t even venture to comment on just what and just who’s motives over there are more honourable …. it doesn’t matter and it will play out to its eventual outcome regardless of what any of us think or say. Armchair semantics never amount to more than just that.
Should we be sending more Canadian treasure over there? ….. A big resounding No!
Canada as a democracy is dying right before our eyes and we’d better do something about it while we still can …. if its not already too late.
Well, might not make that mistake again.
As for spending our treasure, spend it now, or send our sons AND daughters later. That’s what I’m most afraid of, as I said earlier.
Hey Brian I for one found this a fascinating post. Also this situation has the potential to change all of our lives in a big way. I’d love to see some more discussion on this topic.
Most of what we’re sending gets lost along the way or rerouted back to the LPC and Democrats.
But when I look this drone up on google, you can buy them commercially on one website for $3,000 each; i.e. you could get 800 for about $2.4 million. Or another for $13,900; i.e. about $11.2 million. The latter are the high-end model with all the high-tech sensors, so give them that. One would think there would be an even better price for quantity. What does the other $84M buy us? Or is this just another example of the Liberal way of sub-contracting its purchasing; and how many hands have to include “10% for the big guy”?
https://farrwest.com/skyranger-r70.html
https://www.allsafeindustries.com/skyranger-r70-unmanned-aircraft-system.aspx
Drones have been a game changer. They are effective and cheap and offer more options than artillery shells.
I just did a quick search and 155mm artillery shells are going for around $3,000 +/- each. If you are shooting artillery shells at a rate of 5,000 per day well, you can buy an awful lot of drones for that kind of moolah.
As have others on this thread, I am also wondering about that $118,000 price tag.
Say… does anyone know which Universities are offering degrees in International Arms Dealing? Seems like a lucrative career path to me. Wa-a-a-a-y better than a degree in Feminist Glaciology.
To everyone here who thinks NATO overstepped its bounds, this whole war is about Biden getting rich, Canada shouldn’t send a cent – whatever. Let’s say you’re right. All of you.
What happens if Ukraine loses? What then?
Does Russia just stop at Lviv? Are the Ukrainian people subjugated?
Do all the neighbours get real serious about their own nuclear deterrence? Poland, Germany, Finland, and more all could likely develop their own nuclear capacity within months of a “go.” If the US proves undependable, as Trump is saying, they will have no choice. What then?
If you’re right, and maybe you are – what are the consequences if and when Ukraine loses?
Ukraine will lose. Russia will stop there. The Ukrainian people will continue to be subjugated. The Russians will annex the eastern part of Ukraine. The stupidest thing that Poland could do is invite nuclear weapons onto its soil. The US is undependable because support is dependent upon a fickle voter who tires easily and doesn’t like their money being sent overseas. The main consequence of the impending Ukraine loss will be hyperventilation by the US and NATO, followed by … not much.
But let me ask a follow-up question. Do you think that Russia, with its nuclear weaponry, will concede defeat and allow itself to be surrounded by American made nuclear weapons, without deploying any nukes themselves? If the answer is NO, then Ukraine must lose.
You do realize that russia deployed nukes to Belarus and nobody deployed nukes to Central European members of NATO?
What is the downside for Poland to have US or French nukes deployed from there? Poland should enter nuclear sharing ASAP. Of course West is afraid to upset the convulsing corpse of the whore called russia, so west is adopting the salami strategy. Meanwhile Ukrainians are unnecessarily paying the price.
Also your assumption that an emboldened russia would stop expanding for once is based entirely on wishful thinking. Russia is like pisslam (that coincidently devours her from within) always lays claim to the the next frontier, based on the fact that it conquered and ruined a part of it in the past, … for such is their Mongol nature.
Brian ,like a lot of people I greatly respect your insight and vast knowledge of energy matters. we cannot expect to be experts in everything though, and this conflict has a ton of moving parts. Russia is like every other European nation in that they too are in a demographic death spiral, and because of that any imagined imperialistic ambitions of Russia cannot possibly be sustained. the US promised Russia in the 1990’s that there would be no further expansion of NATO, and reneged on their word. how would the US react if Russia renewed their military cooperation with Cuba and other Latin American countries? Sorry Brian, but the neocons in the US have been itching for a scrap with Russia and found a willing proxy in the Ukrainian nationalist movement. What happens when Ukraine loses? The Donbas becomes an independent country, like Belarus, Crimea remains part of the Russian Federation and the rest of Ukraine starts the process of rebuilding. the legacy will be an enduring hatred for the US and the rest of the collective west because they were eager to sacrifice the lives of Ukrainians for no other reason than to see what Russia’s military capability was. and who do you think is going to provide the funds for rebuilding Ukraine? take a wild guess……..
“What happens if Ukraine loses? What then? ”
What do you mean, IF they lose? They have zero chance of winning.
“Does Russia just stop at Lviv? ”
Yes…having achieved their stated objectives, they will then stop. Why would you believe otherwise?
Why would I believe otherwise? I don’t know. I expect Russia to act just like Germany, when it stopped in Poland.
No, wait, like it stopped in Belgium,
No, wait, like it stopped in Netherlands,
No, wait, like it stopped in Luxemburg,
No, wait, like it stopped in Denmark.
No, wait, like it stopped in Norway.
No, wait, like it stopped in France.
No, wait, like it stopped in the United Kingdom – well, it gave up on that.
But wait, like it stopped in Libya,
No, wait, like it stopped in Egypt,
No, wait, like it stopped in Tunisia,
No, wait, like it stopped in Algeria,
No, wait, like it stopped in Morroco
No, wait, like it stopped in Yugoslavia,
No, wait, like it stopped in Greece,
No, wait, like it stopped in the Soviet Union. Oh, THERE, they were stopped.
So clearly, Russia will stop at the Polish border. Just like it did in 1939, just like Germany did, too, when they split Poland. No other reason to believe otherwise. Especially not Putin saying in 2005 the collapse of the Soviet empire “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057
“So clearly, Russia will stop at the Polish border. Just like it did in 1939, just like Germany did, too, when they split Poland. No other reason to believe otherwise. ”
Oh, please…a comparison to World War Two is the best ‘argument’ you could think of? That just reeks of desperation, Brian. You’re better than that.
Perhaps because this is the closest thing we’ve had in Europe to World War Two since World War Two. Major power invades neighbour. Millions of refugees flee. Largest conventional war of the 21st century.
And yet a wholllllle bunch of people think appeasement will be just fine. Just like 1938. Let Putin keep what he has. That’ll be enough. He’ll stop. “having achieved their stated objectives, they will then stop. Why would you believe otherwise?”
We have seen this movie before. If not stopped when the conflict is small, it may turn into a conflagration, except that this time, there’s nukes at play. As I’ve mentioned before, the time it would take for Poland, Germany, Finland or Romania to develop their own initial nuclear weapons capability could be measured in weeks, if it came to that. And if Russia starts rolling through eastern Ukraine and up to the gates of Kyiv, what do you think the Poles are going to start doing? As for where do they get the plutonium – Finland and Romania have been running reactors for years, and have plenty of waste full in dry storage that could be processed, with the right hardware. The tech and science is 80 years old. It’s doable for any of these nations. They don’t HAVE to rely on the US, France or UK. And there’s plenty of nuclear scientist around who can build them a bomb or 20.
No, he is no better than that. He really believes that there’s a Hitler robot that always performs the exact same functions, and they keep it until a box until they pull it out and call it “Putin” and it starts up again. It’s never occurred to him that wars have causes and consequences, and those determine what happens next. He’s been busy with a lot of worthwhile things and he’s never had a chance to look into any of this. It’s just, “Uh oh, Hitler!”, and that’s always been good enough.
A scorpion mess to say the least.
NATO did express desire to arm the Ukraine/Russia border region.
Russia did loudly express concerns and drew a line, this will not be acceptable.
Nato, Ukraine etal…who knows….said oh well….gonna admit Ukraine, do it anyways.
Pause, then conflict in Russia conclaves, Ukraine builds fortifications, the NEW line.
NATO says, chill Ukraine, we have your back.
Russia says, this is challenge to our Nation, our Borders, cant tolerate.
The Russia attack begins.
The West pledges everything, but sad fact is capacity is lost.
Russia always expects it will be attacked, by someone.
They have capacity, and are well equipped, old, new, borrowed, blue, but massive country and resources.
West in all all aspects has been sleepwalking, no capacity, its nervana land, all is good, right?
Now West resources are running thin or out, no capacity, no manufacturing, simply no capacity.
My Grandparents came from Russia, lots of stories, yep, I’m old, revolution was not good.
BUT, win/lose/draw, Russian people believe in their country, like Gov or Not.
They believe Ukraine is/should be Russia. Historically it WAS.
Granted, the European Historic borders moved constantly over the years.
BUT, Ukraine was always, historically viewed as part of Russia lands.
Russia admires strength in leadership, whether right or wrong, it is the MOTHERLAND.
Not commenting on right/wrong/or other.
Ukraine sadly does suffer serious corruption, and truly has a serious issue confronting the Russia Bear.
NATO etal screwed up, Ukraine bought it.
young people in Ukraine are paying deep price, Outcome is somewhat predictable.
TBD, but my opinion.
If Russia isn’t stopped and they take over the world here won’t be any pride parades. There’s a lot of folks shrugging their shoulders over that. Conservatives say they don’t like pedos but they sure like jerking off to any other porn.
I’m descended from people that came from Ukraine but they left because it was a $hthole then and it still is. Mennonites weren’t treated well there because the Czars had treated them preferentially to the locals who basically were Slavic morons; the Irish of the east. Bolshevism enthusiastically enforced by Ukrainian locals gave impetus to leave. Earlier the better. MCC exists for this.
So the good people left that could and what couldn’t are dead.
Not to say Russia is good, I assume they might be because the perverted leaders of NATO say they are bad. They lie about everything.
So I believe no one.
Russia will not be defeated by Ukraine. Thats not possible. Can NATO defeat Russia? I doubt it but I’m not going to sacrifice anything trying. If they somehow up and liberate Canada then I’ll reserve judgement until then. I have 7.62×39 piles up and an SKS to make them feel more at home if necessary.
The Chinese won’t let Russia take over the world.
How noble of us, to fight to the last Ukrainian.
If we intend to fight, we should be putting real skin in the game. Issue a declaration of war, conscript soldiers, send them over there and start facing real consequences. If that’s too dangerous, then we have no bloody business playing arms supplier and should instead be encouraging Ukraine to make peace and salvage what they can of this catastrophe.
Frankly Russia has every valid reason they need to take the fight to us, as we are effectively functioning as belligerents. The supply lines between us and Ukraine are valid military targets, as are advisors and trainers who enter Ukraine territory. The fact that Russia hasn’t escalated to that degree is reason enough to throw every bit of western propaganda about this war into the trash where it belongs.
The only thing that prolonging the war achieves is prolonging the death and destruction of Ukraine. They cannot win in any meaningful sense of the word, but they are full blown western puppets now and will not be allowed to stop fighting and dying until their usefulness to the west is at an end.
Someday historians will condemn the west for this debacle.
You are correct it’s remarkable that the war hasn’t expanded. Russia could have used a few subs to torpedo a few of those roll/on roll/off ships full of Bradley fighting vehicles. It would have been a valid target, as you say.
So how do you see this war being resolved, correctly?
“So how do you see this war being resolved, correctly?”
The only way it has been possible right from the beginning: Russia annexes the territory they already hold and both sides cease hostilities.
At the moment any other result seems impossible. The Russians are committed to regime change in Ukraine, but there’s no downside for them doing that since Zelensky is committed to ongoing war and will not make peace in any event. If the Ukrainian regime changes of its own accord, the Russians would have no need to impose further change and would have strong incentives to end the war.
The problem is that, for two years now and for the foreseeable future, they’ve been fighting a war which neither side can win, in the expectation that sooner or later something will crack, and, in the new situation after the roof falls in, someone will be able to seize victory. The question is, what will go crack and when? Obviously if it’s Russia against Ukraine, we’d expect Ukraine to crack first, and if it’s Russia against the world, Russia to crack first. But, things crack when they crack, and we just have to wait for it.
Yes. Someone is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian and you can bet that last Ukrainian won’t be Zelesnkyyyyyy or his cronies. They will be enjoying their ill gotten gains somewhere far from the ruins.
Oh boy Tommy stepped into it again.
“I need ammo not a ride”, remember that? West wanted to evacuate Zelensky and he refused. Zelensky (all his faults aside) is not a coward. He could have enjoyed a prosperous life being a Ukrainian Dalai Lama giving lectures on western university campuses and being celebrated by the intellectual and academic elites, living in splendor and comfort. He refused all that and stayed with his people despite him and his family living under constant threat with a target on their backs.
Why are you so intent at trying to fit your foot in your mouth? It is like your comparison of Trump to Navalny a couple days ago. You try to say something profound and only cringe and embarrassment come out.
What a bore you are.
Well someone has to remind you about your limitations. Consider it my good will gesture.
Well, we are talking about drones. Your sense of self importance is truly impressive though. I’m right and you’re wrong is such an impressive feat of argument. The insults are like the cherry on top of a steaming pile. Keep the hive cool, man.
First law of holes, idgit.
“How noble of us, to fight to the last Ukrainian.
If we intend to fight, we should be putting real skin in the game. Issue a declaration of war, conscript soldiers, send them over there and start facing real consequences. If that’s too dangerous, then we have no bloody business playing arms supplier and should instead be encouraging Ukraine to make peace and salvage what they can of this catastrophe.”
Well said, I.M. The damage we have already done to the Ukrainian people is appalling enough.
“The damage we have already done to the Ukrainian people is appalling enough.”
You’re the kind of scum that would disarm Jewish resistance fighters in Warsaw Ghetto for their own good.
Hear, hear.
Anyone who wants the war to continue should get on the first flight to Poland and from there go join the Ukrainian army. I hear they need soldiers in the East.
You don’t want to do that? Then you should shut up and think about why other men, sons, fathers should die for your noble, hopeless cause.
.maybe YOU should stand up for Russia and go join Putin in his glorious liberation of ‘just the Donbas’ until this 3 day war is over. After all, if victory is assured, you should go be a part of it!
Oh, you don’t want to do that. I understand, just a keyboard warrior.
Establishment apparatchik for NATO’s “rules-based order”, which includes:
1. Welding all borders into place as they are now, and permitting no further changes, unless it expands NATO influence.
2. Killing their own people by destroying their food and energy sectors, and replacing them with immigrants.
3. Teaching their kids how to be gay and get choppadikkoffami operations and so on.
Nice to see SDA contributors fully aligned with Trudeau, Freeland, Biden, Obama, Soros, Schwab, Schiff and so forth.
Well done.
Ironic, isn’t it?
Notice how quickly, and conveniently, that western governments, MSM and the deep state pivoted from TRUMP IS ENEMY#1 to COVID IS ENEMY#1, to RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA/ENEMY#1 !!!!
Seems the western oligarchs constantly need a Bogeyman.
Cackling like a bunch of hens, what a pile of bullsh*t that is growing here. Russia is the boogeyman, Russia is going to invade Spain, Canada is a free country, America is the bastion of Democracy, on and on and on by self proclaimed experts that have as much knowledge about international politics as they do about provisioning a flight to Mars. When you’ve solved the problems that reside in your own province then the ones that exist nationally then come and tell me how to fix international relations.
Canadians that think they live in a ‘free’ country are living in a magic mushroom dream. The wildest writtings of Lewis Carroll and George Orwell could not compete with what we are living through today. Canada has ridden on the coat-tails of British and American defence policy since Confederation. Eastern Europe has been a mish-mash of borders for 500 years. All of you commenting here are so focused on the fear of Russia invading Europe you cannot see the invasion taking place across the “democracies” of the West. Your leaders are hell bent on destroying what has taken four generations of your ancestors to build and you’re all squawking like a bunch of chickens headed to the nearest KFC outlet. Give your heads a shake and give me a break from your protestations and prognostications.
Not all.
Now that I’ve started I may as well throw this into the mix. America was p*ssed that Germany was buying energy from Russia and thus was subsidizing the Russian war effort. Solution get rid of the delivery system of gas to Germany. Now America is delivering aid to the Russian war effort directly by buying Russian oil distilled through Indian refineries. Canada is assisting the Russian war effort by importing Mid-East oil for the Irving oil refineries instead of using Alberta oil. Canada has imported so much Chinese manufactured goods that we are unable to manufacture just about damn near anything. Freedom, Canadians couldn’t even spell the word.
Like your comments.
– Canada’s paying about $118,000 each for 800 drones to be supplied to Ukraine.
About time. Not Canada paying / supplying (bless ya) but Ukraine actually seeking them. I was very surprised to learn a few weeks ago that up until very recently the Ukrainian government / senior military had no significant drone acquisition programme. Astonishingly, one of Ukraine’s most important and effective weapons systems has come via volunteer efforts of fundraising, purchase, supply and construction. The little FPV drones spotting the enemy and taking out T90 tanks did not come from the Ukrainian defense establishment.
Brian, it’s good to see an alternative take at SDA. I hope you’re enjoying the wasp nest you’ve just kicked.
I recommend this ten minute video that offers an explanation of what has happened to many on the right:
Tucker Carlson And The Woke Right – Konstantin Kisin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cN_mB_D96w
And he’s a Russian . . .
It was indeed a very interesting video. Wasp nest is right. Wow. Might just stick to energy after today.
Ukraine has said they wish to procure a million drones this year. So this would be a very small chunk of that.
– Wasp nest is right. Wow. Might just stick to energy after today.
Maybe write a piece on how Russia funded and agitated the green movement to undermine Western energy resilience. ; – )
That was the Tides Foundation, out of the USA.
It was far more than the Tides Foundation
And plenty of US and Canadian based foundations had their funding traced to russia, and China and Iran and Saudi Retardia.
“Wasp nest is right. Wow. Might just stick to energy after today.”
Not necessary if you just think before you post. You’re a smart guy, but you make yourself look stupid on this particular issue because you are thinking with your heart and not your brain.
You trying to patronize your betters always results in cringe.
“Might just stick to energy after today.”
Don’t cede the field to the howler brigade. You may not like my methods, but they are the result of not enough polite people countering the vatnik/tankie/”woke right” chorus.
Well Brian you might consider the source of such claims.
“Russia is going to take over Eastern Europe..again.”
Coming from the same people who have been lying to us for decades.
Time will tell.
But my enemies are not in Russia nor the Ukraine.
And these same enemies have been over the top in their “support ” for the Ukrainian Administration.
Never mind that our leaders have betrayed their promises to the Ukrainians already and will stab them in the back whenever it suits their agenda..
Never mind the horror we have been observing from the area where WW1 trench warfare is being recreated with modern weapons..
Never mind the “We will fight these Russians to the last Ukrainian” now being obviously a truism.
What are Canada’s National Interests in this area?
Why should we care?
From a business POV,war is great for us..
Must be why our Dear Leaders are stringing the Ukrainians along.
This Drone Supply is a classic War Profiteering Scam..Which our corrupt management excel in.
And as a final note..When our resident Raving Nasty agrees with you,you might want to reexamine your stance..
Peter Zeihan has been saying for almost a decade Russia would invade the rest of Ukraine, and then keep marching west. He accurately predicted 8 years before the war began it would begin in eight years. (referring to the war beginning here as the Feb 2022 expansion). Zeihan has a remarkable tendency on being right about a lot of things (except for his never-ending predictions of famine.)
Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow back in 2014 “wouldn’t it be great if Russia got dragged into another Afganistan style conflict in Ukraine so that we could bleed it’s economy dry”.
They did exactly that with the 2014 coup led by Victoria Newland – on record.
Take a hard look at who has promoted and supported this “none of our bussiness” proxy war from the beginning. They ain’t our friends.
And Russia was stupid enough to get dragged in.
– Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow back in 2014 “wouldn’t it be great if Russia got dragged into another Afganistan style conflict in Ukraine so that we could bleed it’s economy dry”.
You know, Paul, when you put words in quotation marks it’s supposed to be an actual quote by someone, not what Paul remembers some half-drunk bloke ranting on the internet said someone said.
Well Paul has a habit of agreeing with himself while posting under different nicks. Sometimes he forgets to change the nick and Paul agrees with Paul. he then claims it was the other Paul. Hilarious really.
A reminder …
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
― Albert Einstein
Stalin was from Georgia, not Russia. His Holodomar killed a lot of Russians as well as Ukrainians.
A lot of comments are conflating USSR and Russia. Might as well hold Danielle Smith responsible for everything Notley did.
American expansion via NATO has been ongoing ever since Russia was promised that former East Germany would be the the only expansion of NATO.
Yeah but, yeah but, yeah but … where is that chipped in stone? It’s like the handshake Ray Kroc gave the McDonald’s for 1% of profits in perpetuity. Pfff. Prove it. The little yapping drone will be at my heels in 3-2-1 ….
Frankly, I’ve lost respect for both Ukraine and the U.S. as a result of this war effort. Sad to see Canada going down the same drain.
What I find interesting is how Russia has adapted so resiliently as a complex adaptive system whereas the U.S. and its vassals have not. Even matters as mundane as durability, range and accuracy of artillery show NATO is inferior whereas the Russians are adaptive. NATO nominally all use 155mm but the munitions vary among countries which contributes to the already inferior durability of barrels and significantly decreases range and has decreasing accuracy with barrel degradation. So the Russians have effective artillery superiority despite NATO specifications on paper. It’s an adaptive manufacturing-capable economy versus a sclerotic bureaucratic economy, A week doesn’t go by there isn’t an article on how degrading student quality is endangering the future of the sciences in the U.S. and this week it was declining math scores starting to pose a national security risk to the U.S. Meanwhile, Iran has access to hypersonic missiles (through Russia-China) and the U.S. is still struggling to get one operational. The nihilism of woke progressivism is bringing down the West. We’ll see if the West can recover from its delusions or continue its spiral toward a quantum collapse in social complexity.
Frankly, I’ve lost respect for both Ukraine and the U.S. as a result of this war effort. Sad to see Canada going down the same drain.
What I find interesting is how Russia has adapted so resiliently as a complex adaptive system whereas the U.S. and its vassals have not. Even matters as mundane as durability, range and accuracy of artillery show NATO is inferior whereas the Russians are adaptive. NATO nominally all use 155mm but the munitions vary among countries which contributes to the already inferior durability of barrels and significantly decreases range and has decreasing accuracy with barrel degradation. So the Russians have effective artillery superiority despite NATO specifications on paper. It’s an adaptive manufacturing-capable economy versus a sclerotic bureaucratic economy, A week doesn’t go by there isn’t an article on how degrading student quality is endangering the future of the sciences in the U.S. and this week it was declining math scores starting to pose a national security risk to the U.S. Meanwhile, Iran has access to hypersonic missiles (through Russia-China) and the U.S. is still struggling to get one operational. The nihilism of woke progressivism is bringing down the West. We’ll see if the West can recover from its delusions or continue its spiral toward a nonlinear collapse in social complexity.
Murray …”What I find interesting is how Russia has adapted so resiliently ..”
Indeed that along with the arrogance of the US. Case in point … The US has a number of low orbit Synthetic Aperture radar satellites which rotate around the earth. One of the functions of said radars is to keep track of the locations of Russia military aircraft parked on the ground. This task is far too tedious for a 24hr human operation , so the US devised an algorithm (sort of AI) to automatically detect an aircraft on the ground from the radar image based on it’s 2D shape. Early on in the Special Military operation the US media began laughing at the dumb Russians who were weighting down their aircraft with old used tires. It turns out that the tires sufficiently “muddy” the radar image so the US detection algorithm fails to detect the aircraft. An intelligent human could possibly discern an aircraft but not the AI algorithm.
Another example was the screen mesh above the tank turret to prevent drone dropped grenades … guess what the Israelis have started using the screens.
Another is the GSP jamming in which Russia is learning how to do it while the West/NATO ponder what to do.
I too am hoping for a end to this war soon. Peace under the terms of the Minsk agreement would be preferable to continued destruction. Canuckistan will collapse soon as we can’t pay our bills, let alone continue to shovel money into the Ukraine. I will not be fighting in the Ukraine, nor will my son be going there either.
Are the current Russian people and all future generations of Russian’s required to pay for the sins of the 80 year Bolshevik regime? Isn’t the original meaning of the word Ukraine, “Borderland”, borderland of whom? Are we being asked to never trust the Japanese or Germans, didn’t they do bad things? Is Putin a communists? I doubt it. Not saying he is good or bad, but then neither are most world leaders. People are quick to react to events, but slow to actually understand what’s really going.