Putin's on the brink

[MarineCombatEngineer]

In Vietnam, Afghanistan and many other conflicts, the stronger power lost because it could not win, and the weaker power triumphed simply because it did not lose. So shall it be in Ukraine, where the same process is playing out rapidly.

In less than six months, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of choice has had catastrophic consequences — for Russia itself. It has resulted in at least 60,000 Russian casualties, more than the total number of fatalities suffered during the 10-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It has led to a long-term Russian loss of political influence and energy leverage in the West. It has helped resuscitate the NATO alliance, which just a few years ago seemed to be on its last legs. And it has inflicted severe, long-term damage on the Russian economy, effectively erasing all of the gains made since the Soviet Union’s collapse.

And what has Russia gotten for this? Only a few more slivers of land in Ukraine — land that the Kremlin may not be able to hold for very long.

Russia’s elites already know this. As the body bags, wounded and discharged soldiers return to Russia, the Russian people are beginning to comprehend it as well. All of which increases Putin’s domestic political vulnerability — and puts him under growing pressure to find some way to declare victory.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-s-on-the-brink/ar-AA10NQJd?cvid=63dc5d7ff9894994a89fe722ea41f74d

Talk about a blunder for the ages, Putin's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine is even worse than Bush's illegal war of aggression in Iraq.

I've got a feeling that Putin's days on planet earth are coming to a close soon if he doesn't figure a way out of the debacle he's put himself and his country in.

[Turbineguy]

1. What if Putin's war was based on intelligence

sent by trump?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

4. Possible,

but the problem with that scenario is that Benedict Donald has no intelligence.

Oh, wait, you meant Benedict Donald handing over classified docs. to Pooty?
Yeah, that's definitely a possibility.

[thesquanderer]

22. Only Trump could destroy TWO superpowers. n/t

[Ray Bruns]

5. Then Putin is dumbed than we thought

[empedocles]

7. , or putin's ego is more out of control than we thought.

[Warpy]

24. I doubt he got more than reassurance that the sanctions wouldn't increase

and by the time he invaded, TFG had been gone for a year and those assurances were worthless.

Anything he might have learned about some of the newer weapons systems had to scare the crap out of him and he didn't need TFG for that.

No, he invaded on the basis of bogus intelligence, but it came from his own people. Now the Red Army is bogged down in a slaughterhouse and nobody can figure out how to salvage the situation so the Kremlin don't look like a bunch of idiots.

[Pobeka]

33. Maybe the CIA fed Trump false intelligence, knowing he'd pass it on? nt

[Turbineguy]

36. That would be juicy.

[Scrivener7]

43. I bet his ownership of tfg contributed to the psychology that made him wade

into this box of scorpions.

I bet the thought that "I own the American President! I decided the last American election! I am master of the universe!" led him to think he was invincible enough to take on the totally losing proposition of a Ukrainian invasion.

[Demsrule86]

2. Everything Trump touches dies...including murderous disctators it seems. Putin will not

be missed He took the promise of a 'free ' Russia and destroyed it. I hope he rots in hell with all the other murderous scumbag dictators before him.

[SheltieLover]

13. From your keyboard to karma's ear!

Can we fast forward to that?

[Demsrule86]

38. I would like that.

[SheltieLover]

39. Me too.

Be a shame if he tumbled over the edge to his demise.

[dchill]

3. From the beginning, I've thought that he did this ...

... BECAUSE he knows his end is near. Just my feeling.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Putin has exposed the weakness of his military

[MarineCombatEngineer]

8. You just know the Chinese are loving this,

privately, they're probably rooting on Ukraine to further weaken the Russian military while publicly supporting Pooty.

[modrepub]

10. The Chinese Have Problems Of Their Own

Banking issues on top of COVID closures. Not sure if one is related to the other at this point.

Bigger potential problem if China, like Russia, decides a war is a good diversion or if war is thought of as a way to distract from internal problems.

[Richard D]

11. The Yangtze River . . .

. . . has dried. No more water for a huge part of China.

[modrepub]

14. Climate Calamities

Apply to all countries at this point. This only adds to China's problems. Let's hope their leadership doesn't think the best way out of their predicament is to start a war over Taiwan.

[geardaddy]

20. +1

[Beastly Boy]

29. Hmmm... Russia has plenty of water...

... and a long border with China.

I wonder if Putin realizes where the existential threat to Mother Russia that he is so fond of bringing up is coming from.

[bronxiteforever]

34. +1 China is seeding clouds to replenish its shrinking Yangtze River

Cloud seeding has been in practice since the 1940s and China has the biggest program in the world. It used seeding ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to ensure dry weather for the event, and the technique can also be used to induce snowfall or to soften hail.

At least 4.2 million people in Hubei have been affected by a severe drought since June, Hubei’s Provincial Emergency Management Department said Tuesday. More than 150,000 people there have difficulties accessing drinking water, and nearly 400,000 hectares of crops have been damaged because of high temperatures and drought.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-is-seeding-clouds-to-replenish-its-shrinking-yangtze-river/ar-AA10KGc9?ocid=Peregrine

[Warpy]

32. The banking system is being floated on the backs of ordinary people

and it's a lot worse than you think. The stupid response to Covid is just a little blip. Thisis where the real disaster will come from:

[Irish_Dem]

40. No, Xi is most likely furious with Putin screwing up the Ukraine invasion.

It should have been a three day operation.
Designed to install fear in the world and demonstrate strength.

China and Russia are partners in their quest for world power.
Now with western sanctions hurting Russia, China is having to send financial support.

And it set back Xi's invasion plans for Taiwan.

[SheltieLover]

15. Ruskie ineffective/depleted military is perfect dxample of what qpukes want to do to every US

Institution!

[scarletlib]

9. Don't forget the near total destruction of the Russian Army

[Evolve Dammit]

12. May he regret this act of war and war crimes and may the Russian people reclaim control.

[Heather MC]

16. Putin's own people will assassinate him, just like Hitler's generals attempted to do several times

And if they don't Get him, hopefully the cancer will🤷🏾?♀️

[Duncanpup]

17. Russia Army has always been backwards a failure

WW1 failure czar Lenin brokers peace. WW2 lend lease.
Cold War highly doubtful Warsaw Pact the Warsaw pack could have never taken west Germany with army they’d have to have relied on nukes we would have killed them in toe to toe battles
Afghanistan Syria meh
Chechnya 2 wars those pigs shedding blood.

As old infantry soldier from Cold War I always felt the Russian army was shit they have no NCO cadre in ranks like the western military.

I’m happy they’re dying in Ukraine.

[geardaddy]

21. Lenin died in 1924

It was Stalin who accepted the Lend-Lease from the US

[Duncanpup]

23. I understand that from Ww2

Stalin was a evil pig to famine Ukraine

[geardaddy]

25. No argument here

He was evil

[Calculating]

44. Honestly we should've let the Nazis have Russia

Would've been better in the long run probably

[Polybius]

54. I'm not convinced that they would have won in the USSR even if we stood out

That was one long cold Winter that the Russians were more used to.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

41. Oh, believe me, I know all about the former Soviet Military,

In the late 80's, early 90's, I "worked" with the "equivalent" of their combat engineers, and I put those 2 words in italics because working and equivalent were a fucking joke, the enlisted ranks would show up either high, drunk or just plain lazy if they showed up at all, their equipment, what they didn't sell for drugs or booze, was shit, maintenance was poor or nonexistent, the "NCO's" didn't take charge and the line officers didn't give a flying fuck as long as it didn't affect their chances of graft or promotion.

I can't tell you how many times we had to cancel training exercises because of them and from what we're seeing in Ukraine, it hasn't gotten any better, troop morale is in the toilet, their vaunted equipment is a distant second best to Western weapons systems, their Command and Control is anything but, in other words, they're less than a paper tiger compared to US or Western Militaries.

[former9thward]

45. Russia took 90% of the deaths in European WW II

Without the Russian army Hitler would have rolled over all of Europe and there would have been no D-Day.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

48. They took those casualties because Stalin killed their best and took control himself.

[uponit7771]

47. USSR military based on defense would've been hard to attack and beat. Putin's military is broken ...

... and don't know what the hell they're doing

[Submariner]

18. Tomorrow will be telling at those 6 nuke plants

Putin has ordered all Russian plant operators and military troops not to go to the plant for work tomorrow.

This may be the event where Putin decides if he wants his gas station country labeled a terrorist nation.


Russia allegedly tells nuclear power plant workers to not go to work Friday amid concerns of a planned incident

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-says-may-shut-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-shelling-continues-rcna43673

[Lonestarblue]

19. Whether Trump sold or gave secrets to Russia, Putin definitely underestimated Biden.

I think Putin bought at least some of the Trump/Fox line and the Republican denigration of Biden as too old and out to lunch. Putin also knew that Trump had significantly alienated US allies in NATO and weakened the organization. What Putin may not have realized is how Biden spent his first year rebuilding NATO relationships and making the organization more coherent, thus allowing the group to respond quickly to Putin’s illegal war. I think Putin is holding on as long as possible because he is hoping the NATO alliance will start falling apart as prices rise and gas supplies become scarce.

[Cosmocat]

30. I don't know that it was about Biden as much as

one of our two political parties completely compromised, and that they would work against Biden on this, which they have, but maybe not to the extent that he might have hoped.

[3Hotdogs]

26. Trump??

Intelligence?

[3Hotdogs]

27. Trump??

Intelligence?

[liberalla]

28. Let's hope!

:fingerscrossed:

[LymphocyteLover]

31. it can't come a second too soon for the world. He's the world's biggest monster at this point in

history.

[bronxiteforever]

35. Kick & recommend.

[calimary]

37. Seems to me the biggest concern here is - WHEN Putin's gone, who (or what) replaces him?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

42. That is certainly a big concern,

I would imagine every Western intelligence agency is working on figuring out who would take his place in the event he had to "retire due to health problems", like a bullet in the back of the head health problems.

Hopefully, it would be someone more willing to ratchet down the tension between Russia and the world.

[denbot]

46. It ain't over yet..

The Russians have been presaging an incident at that southern nuc plant they have already revealed they have rigged with explosives. The told the Russian techs not to show up tomorrow.

The asshole knows he's done, and doesn't give a fuck about dragging the world to hell with him. The only question is if the Russian General Staff can keep him from gambling with tactical nuc's before someone can penetrate his security bubble.

[flying_wahini]

49. Yes we are coming to the turning point probably within a month or two, is my guess.

Putin is Out of soldiers, the ones left are mercenaries or just stuck and can’t leave.
Ammo and heavy artillery is becoming scarce.
The nuke idea isn’t that great because even if
Putin tries it he may spread radioactive clouds Into Russia.
No food and supplies and China is letting him sink into the quagmire.
China May officially be on their side but Ping is probably reluctant to help because they are going to lose anyway. The wheat crops are as important as the oil at this point. We will probably see a spreading famine into next spring.
Gonna be a cold and hungry winter for most Russians this year.

Putin is a marked man. His time is growing short.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets strung up in Red Square before this is all over.

[peggysue2]

50. Threatening the nuclear power plant in . . .

Zaporizhzhia is a sign of Putin's desperation and could lead to a global catastrophe. After mining the entire area, the Russians now want to shut the plant down cutting off electricity throughout Ukraine. But without proper shut down protocols in place and skilled technicians, this could be as bad as bombing the plant.

Putin has already warned of false flag operations, basically saying if anything happens it will be the fault of Zelenskky and the West.

Putin is flailing in all directions.

[JustAnotherGen]

51. I hope it would end with

'of death'

[Mosby]

52. Why would deposing Hussain be illegal? He committed genocide.

There is a reason we aren't part of the ICC.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

53. If that was the reason we invaded Iraq, then maybe,

but that's not the reason for the invasion, there was the lie about WMD's, the lie about Saddam having something to do with 9/11, and Jr,'s revenge for the alleged hit team sent to kill Bush Sr..

Are you alluding that the US invasion of Iraq was legal?

[Mosby]

55. Regardless of the reasons, it's not remotely similar to Putins invasion of Ukraine.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

56. Please point out where I said it was. nt

[Mosby]

57. You compared them.

aggression in Ukraine is even worse than Bush's illegal war of aggression in Iraq.

I work, so this will be my only reply until I have a break later.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

58. You're reading far too much into my comments.

The only comparison is that they were both illegal wars of aggression, the circumstances are far different, but both are/were illegal.

Have a great day at work.