Adm. Stavridis: "Putin owns this problem" - Velshi - MSNBC

[Rhiannon12866]

Following much consternation, Germany now plans to send 14 sophisticated Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine while authorizing other European nations to send more, as the U.S. pledges 31 advanced Abrams M1 tanks. Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Adm. James Stavridis says those tanks will help, but combat aircrafts are the “next big need on the battlefield” for the Ukrainians. - Aired on 01/28/2023.

[Cha]

1. So glad the World is Stepping

up to Save Democracy by giving Ukraine More of what it Needs.. while Balancing the act of keeping the Genocidal Maniac from Starting a War.

TY that was excellent.. Next Air Power

[Rhiannon12866]

2. They've shied away from air power for risk of triggering Putin

From, as you said, resorting to nukes. But the Ukrainians want and need it - and there is so much damage and death already. This is such a tough balance and Putin refuses to back down no matter what.

[Cha]

3. I Hope Adm. James Stavridis is

right about Putin Not wanting to destroy Russia.. bc that would happen.

Btw.. Zelensky just had his 45th Birthday on Jan 25th.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. The thing is, Russia is so vast

I think I mentioned that I've been there. I went to the USSR back in the late '80s with my grandmother and a peace group that she joined - it really was the trip of a lifetime. And the people we met, especially fellow peace groups, were dedicated to peace after the devastation they'd experienced during WWII on their own land. There were memorials everywhere, including museums right in the schools to teach the children. I cannot imagine how they're dealing with what's happening now, but then those who remember WWII are likely no longer with us - how soon they forget.

[Cha]

7. Thanks for the reminder.. We

did have that conversation about you going to Russia with your Grandmother.

I was thinking that very thing...the Peace Groups in Russia must be Beyond Devasted.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. I'm just wondering how many are left that remember?

There was one older lady who sticks in my mind, she'd served as a nurse during WWII - and she said "Please, when you go back, tell your president that we want peace!" It still chokes me up a little to think of her, she experienced war first-hand.

[Warpy]

4. How is Putin going to escalate? Send in the Armatas?

So far those things are prototypes, the drive train so glitchy that it hasn't even survived a single show & tell.

It does have some heat signature shielding that works very nicely. The rest of it is not good and that is an understatement.

They don't have that many operational aircraft and they lack the parts to fix the non operational aircraft. There is a "conserve ammunition" order at the front, meaning logistics are still a major problem. Their casualties have nearly doubled in the last 5 days or so, showing the desperation of throwing waves and waves of men to be slaughtered in the hope a few will get through and claim a few meters of ground, which is all they've done. Tney continue to lose tanks and the aircraft they have left.

About all they can do now is strip the rest of their border of defense and throw everything they've got that rolls, flies, or walks at the war in Ukraine, something nearly as suicidal as using nukes. I'm hoping there are still a few clearer thinkers in the military high command who will realize just how insane this whole thing is and Russia will be treated to 3 days of "Swan Lake" on all TV networks, after which there will be a state funeral for Putin and the next thug will take over and do what Putin should have done, declare victory and GTFO and hope that when enough window dressing reforms have been enacted, they can renegotiate the use of the Sevastopol harbor with less favorable terms than the execrable Yanukovych gave them.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. As I said above, I have been to the USSR that KGB-trained Putin yearns to recreate

And I read recently that he has the support of the people - really? The reason I went - and this was in the late '80s - was with my grandmother and this amazing peace group that she joined. They had a "sister town" and this was the initial visit. Hopes were high back then because of the reforms instituted under Gorbachev - and the movement for a lasting peace was also quite serious, there were memorials everywhere commemorating those they had lost during WWII which devastated the country fought on their own land. There were even memorials and museums in schools to teach the children so this nightmare would never happen again. So what happened? I realize that the WWII generation has gotten fewer by the day, but what happened to all the memorials and museums - even located in their famous subway system - have they forgotten so soon?

[Warpy]

9. The memorials and museums are still there

Hell, supposedly a lot of the Politburo is still there, shoved into the upper house of the Duma and making sure all Putin's favorite fascist laws get rubber stamped.

Even Putin was on the "never again" road until his wife left him and he decided he needed a conquest to compensate. Or maybe she was the last person who dared tell him the truth about anything. Who knows? As soon as she was gone, little green men invaded Donbas and Crimea and the game was on.

Meanwhile, the main reason he's not going to eescalate into lobbing nukes is because his children and grandchildren live in the west, as do the families of the old Politburo fossils and all the oligarchs and most of the military high command. More importantly, it's where their stolen loot is stashed in numbered bank accounts in tax havens.

Still, the attack on Iran today has me very nervous, this is how limited land wars in Europe tend to escalate and turn into world wars.

Fuck Putin with a burning chainsaw, sideways.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Thanks for the information!

Back in the day, the Russian people, even those you'd meet on the street, were very welcoming to Americans - despite Reagan who they did not like since his tough stance with Gorbachev caused the hardliners to force a cutback of his progressive reforms, Glasnost and Perestroika.

And then came TFG, another Republican, who is fine with Putin and his repressive and brutal dictatorship - and then came his unprovoked war.

I also agree that you're right, this does have the possibility of escalating into another world war, that's why Biden (and our allies) have to tread so carefully. Putin's actions make no sense when it comes to what this war is doing to his country and has lost him any tolerance he might have enjoyed from the Western world.

[Warpy]

11. If you can afford to have a few brain cells cie of shame

check out Russian Media Monitor some time to listen to the garbage this gang of thieves and war criminals is feeding to the Russian people. The trash they talk makes their Q garbage look believable by comparison.

Putin has backed himself into a corner now and has absolutely no way to escape. His only chance of breathing for one more day is to convince the other movers and shakers that everything is going according to his plan.

Yeah, if his plan was to cripple Russia's economy while squandering their military on a fool's errand because he blew a fit over the ouster of his buddy Yanukovych instead of waiting a month and then renegotiating Yanukovych's bad faith contract pretty much ceding him 100% use of the Sevastopol harbor over the next 18 years.

It's going to take decades for Russia to recover. All the young men who could have built up their industry and military are either dead or in permanent exile. None of the ones who left expect to go back until they are very old men.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. I agree with you, he's sacrificing the Russian people for his losing and stubborn dream

The only thing he's got going for him is State Media - but the effects have to be felt by the Russian people by now, especially since so many men are attempting to leave the country. And you're right, the economy has to be in shambles now, too. I feel for the Russian people - able bodied men are escaping for their lives, his military is in shambles and, thanks to Putin, Russia has again become a pariah in the world.

[Warpy]

13. Yeah, they don't deserve it

Putin was actually a reformer when he got into power about 22 years ago, throwing the Russian mob into prison and cleaning up Yeltsin's mess. He even left office when it was time. Then he went back into office, got surrounded by yes men, made himself the new Czar, and started passing laws against all his own reforms.

Maybe if they manage to dump the Soviet system again, we can make them realize our adage about politicians and diapers is true.