General Petraeus said on CNN that putin will not win this war

[onetexan]

crux of his message: While they may take a city they cannot hold it given the resolve of ukrainians to fight back.

This is encouraging after the horrific reports of setbacks this morning as the russians are advancing.

Post edit: i was amazed Gen. Petraeus named Angela Merkel to broker a ceasefire.

[Chainfire]

1. He is right, the only Ukrainians that Putin will subdue

are those that he kills.

[Tommymac]

2. Study of War is a lifelong hobby of mine - not a pro at all, I agree with the General 100%

As an anti-war activist, all my long life I have studied the Art of War extensively as a 'hobby' in order to understand the why, and to understand how to end it; i.e. know thy enemy.

And I'll have to agree with Gen Petraeus in the long run.

But have no doubt, this is going to be relatively long and bloody.

Freedom demands sacrifice.

I am personally in touch with several young persons in Ukraine right now - and they are determined to defend their country, and optimistic they are going to successfully defend their country.

Godspeed to the Ukrainian People. I am with them 100%. And they will prevail.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Conquering Is Much Easier...

...then occupying. Always has been, probably always will be.
And, they don't have the money nor does the target country.
Even a superpower like the US found out in Afghanistan. Occupation couldn't stabilize the country in 20 years. It took a half hour to defeat the Taliban.

[Tommymac]

9. Sorry, disagree with you totally here. Defense is king in this type of warfare.

The Oligarchs have raped Russia and it's infrastructure.

The Russians do not have the logistical infrastructure to maintain a long war.

Their equipment is under maintained.

Questionable how effective their Air Force is as it has not been used yet - and usually this is the FIRST order of business in an invasion.

Their soldiers are young forced conscripts not motivated or well informed. Or well fed and supplied.

The majority of the Russian People are NOT supporting Putin. As they find out what is actually going on domestic pressure will mount - a revolution is not far off.

Conquering is NOT an easy task at all, especially when 75%+ of the Globe is against you.

The Russian's are a second rate conventional military power - this is NOT the USSR of the 1950's -1970's.

They have Nukes, but it is questionable how many of those even work.

The Ukrainian People are determined to sacrifice their lives in order to protect their future as a Nation.

The Russians WILL lose in the long run.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Huh?

We agreeing completely!
Where did you get that I thought the Russians had a chance?
They do not have the resources to sustain an occupation and the target country, Ukraine, is not so resource rich that the costs can be recouped.
We're saying the same thing. Not sure how you're disagreeing by agreeing.

[gab13by13]

3. Someone ask Petraeus,

if it's against the law remove classified documents? It cost him a run for president.

[Zorro]

5. Republicans will bray incessantly that Biden lost Ukraine

[SoonerPride]

12. Republicans bray incessantly already

Nothing new to that.

[hlthe2b]

6. Not a Petraeus fan, but he does know insurgencies & I agree. I think Putin HATES Merkel so....

while I'd personally love to see her "broker" but I'm guessing he would not. Little insecure men don't like having to listen, much less compromise with a powerful, assertive, intelligent woman. And in this respect, Putin is no different than his "lesser," Donald Trump.

[Hav]

7. Further, who would be so dumb

to get installed as the next leader? I share the skepticism of DUers in an earlier thread about Yanukovych being held on stand-by. If Putin somehow takes over the country (temporarily), you would need to have a death wish to accept the position as Putin's puppet.

[lindysalsagal]

8. I read that vlad needs the resources and farming Ukraine provides, but who would

go to a war zone and be productive? This is what I can't understand. The only thing he's holding is useless rubble and a larger border to protect, which he can't do anymore.

[Victor_c3]

10. As an armchair general, I can't imagine how anyone in Russia could think they could beat Ukraine

It took a coalition force at its peak strength of 177,000 to barely subdue Iraq with a population of about 25 million.

Putin’s force is estimated to be about 190,000 and he is invading a nation of about 42 million and he expects to pacify them?

I’m lot even taking into consideration other major differences between Iraq and Ukraine such as the fact that we faced a military force that had been devastated by a decade plus of sanctions and that largely didn’t show up to fight during the 2003 invasion. For the most part, the Iraqi population welcomed us early in 2003. Additionally, roughly 90% of the population of Iraq resides within 45-60 miles of Baghdad, making it easy for us to mass force and takeover the country.