Putin Wants To Win Badly

[gab13by13]

Russia is conscripting 200 to 400 new recruits every week. They are amassing troops now for another offensive. Putin is using the "meat grinder," "cannon fodder" strategy to try to win the war.

Putin is getting desperate, how do I know? I see he is talking "nuclear" again. When Putin talks nuclear it means that things aren't going well for him.

Ukraine will never give up, will never lose this war.

Fuck Putin and the Magat/Putin Party.

[Initech]

1. Fox News is getting desperate too.

I've never seen such a blatant display of ass kissing like what is happening on Fox right now. It's absolutely pathetic. Fox wants to be state run TV so badly, and the desperation is reeking.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. What a vomit inducing thought is right

[Initech]

35. Oh it gets worse.

It's like those videos you see on National Geographic where they show third world dictators and the news commentary where everyone is like "Yes he's doing the right thing! He spoke before 8,000 black people! He owned (insert name)." To quote Hermes from Futurama - "It's nauseating, mon!".

[Evolve Dammit]

48. No wonder my stomach hurts..

[Wednesdays]

47. I'll bet internal polls at FOX are pretty bad

If they were really confident, they wouldn't be pulling out all the stops.

[gab13by13]

2. What happened to DUer tomconroy?

Did I get his name correctly? He was my go to source for everything Ukraine here.

[erronis]

33. I also miss his posts. Hope he returns with more information.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Putin went hat in hand to China and was humiliated.

Putin's economy is in big trouble.
He went personally to Beijing to talk to Xi, hoping to get
a good deal on selling them Russian oil.

Xi refused to meet Putin's $$ demands and sent Putin back to Moscow.

So they are at a standoff right now. Both are letting each other stew.

And now Russia is kowtowing to North Korea.
And threatening to give advanced weapon information to NK in
exchange for lower level weapons.

This is going to upset China further. China now has two pain in the ass allies.

China is already in trouble, Xi has tanked the Chinese economy.
And Europe is playing hardball with them on their product dumping.
And putting pressure on them to get Russia to stop the war.

[gab13by13]

5. Thank you for posting this about China

I was about to post something similar. China has been backing Putin and now they may face consequences from Europe.

Maybe China needs to have a brighter light shined on it?

[Irish_Dem]

12. As soon as Putin screwed up the invasion I knew Xi would be hopping mad.

I could practically hear the cussing coming from Beijing.

The plan had been for Putin to take Ukraine quickly, and gain regional control
over Europe. Xi planned to follow with the same three day invasion plan of Taiwan
to get regional control of the South China Sea and the Pacific.

The plan is for the geopolitical autocratic bloc to become global super powers.

Xi was not anticipating Putin's failure and certainly was not thinking about possible money sanctions
against Russia and maybe China as well.

It came at a very bad time for China. Xi has run China's economy into the ground with so
many bad decisions I can hardly list them all. The housing scandal, the municipal debt problems,
the failure of the debt traps, the Chinese people now refusing to spend any money. They have lost
all confidence in Xi.

Xi cannot keep the economy afloat without the domestic spending picking up.
But he refuses to encourage spending at home. Helping the people is against his sociopath code.
Even Chinese economists have begged Xi in public at great danger to themselves to wake
the hell up.

There are so many unsold products in China, that they have to start dumping them on Europe
which is pissing off Europe. (Dumping is when the gov't subsidizes the production cost of a product,
so the product can be sold way below market value in other countries. Which then ruins those countries'
economy because a market based economy cannot compete with foreign subsided goods.)

Like Trump, Xi is blaming everyone else for his woes. Ramping up the propaganda war against the US even more.

So recently Putin came hat in hand to Beijing, trying to sell Russia oil to China at a good price.
Xi played hard ball and said he wanted the same price Putin sold gas to the Russian people,
which is highly subsidized to keep prices low.

Of course Putin could not agree to this. He is already in his own world of financial hurt.
The sanctions are working, the Ukraine drones have caused a lot of damage to oil production, etc.
So he left Beijing knowing that China needs Russia oil, and China knowing Putin has few choices left.
So they are playing a game of chicken.

Meanwhile Putin hightails it to NK, which of course rankles China. I think he is trying to pressure
China into buying his oil at a good price.

China is nervous about NK. Every time Kim Jong Un acts out, thanks to Trump we now know the US
sends nuclear subs to the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea next to NK.

Which unfortunately is also close to Beijing, the capital of China, government hub.
And Shanghai, the huge financial hub of China. Those two cities get blown up,
China is done for.

I could go on and on, but you get the drift.

[former9thward]

23. You are predicting the U.S. is going to blow up Beijing and Shanghai?

Reading your post one would think that Russia and China are going to completely collapse. Is that your theory?

[erronis]

34. What a thoughtful post. I don't know as much as you but this seems pretty spot-on.

[Irish_Dem]

39. I study geopolitics almost every day.

China Update podcasts here on DU are an excellent source of all kinds of tantalizing
information about China.

I also listen to podcasts about Russia, etc.

I have been aware for many years now that geopolitical tectonic plates are shifting
beneath our feet. Everyone is too busy watching Trump blow up the US to pay much attention.

China and Russia have a good shot to be 21st century superpowers now that the US GOP
has aligned with them, right out in the open, not even hiding it. Evil is getting a toehold.

I also lived in the South China Sea as a child (US military) and have a love of all things
Asian. I watch the politics of China quite closely.

I visited China twice and traveled around the country there.
Have Chinese friends here in the US.

I know, it is odd for an Irish Catholic military kid.

[erronis]

42. I think a bit of life lived in other places/cultures is absolutely necessary to develop a keen view.

And, of course, the "America Love It Or Leave It" party is the least keen.

[Irish_Dem]

45. Yes I agree.

From an early age, I realized there was more to this world than just the American
viewpoint.

And as a military kid I learned about gov't BS.

Reading in Newsweek that the US only had "advisors" in Viet Nam
when my father and others were flying back and forth to Viet Nam all the time
carrying weapons and getting shot at.

[llmart]

38. Thank you for that very informative post.

As someone who doesn't follow the situation closely, I am grateful that you wrote this in a way that I can grasp what is going on in that part of the world.

[Irish_Dem]

46. I like writing this way.

Keeping it real and factoring in the personalities and psychology of a situation.

Thank you for the feedback!

[flying_wahini]

9. I suspect that Xi is thinking he is on the wrong side.

He doesn’t need Russia or NK to have his needs met. All he has to do is wait it out and let American dollars take them both down. He can sit back and wait.
Yes, China needs their goods but not as bad as Putin does.

I saw somewhere that Russians are dying at 8-1 in Ukraine. Shouldn’t take much longer.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Xi is in a tight spot.

He does need Russia for his plans to be a global superpower.

He needs Russia to get control of the US and Europe.
Xi will get control of the Pacific.

It is the geopolitical autocratic block shifting world power.

He also needs Russia to supply oil to China.

Xi is secretly helping Russia with the war.
Being careful not to piss off Europe and the US too much.

But Xi is dealing with his own economy going down the drain.
Because of his very bad decisions. He just doesn't know how to run
a capitalistic economy in a communist country. And refuses to listen
to his own economists.

Xi is afraid of sanctions against China, he just cannot afford it right now.

He also hates it when Putin threatens nukes. If the world gets blown
up, there will be no one to by the crap china makes.

Yes Xi is pissed at Putin, and wishes there was another way.
It is what it is for the time being.

[former9thward]

26. Where is this "somewhere" that you read about death tolls?

Internet bloggers?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

17. But what about North Korea's booming economy and aid to Putin?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219042579

[Irish_Dem]

22. NK has a booming economy?

NK is an isolated and impoverished country.
The basic needs of its citizens are not met.

NK spends its money on weapons and the military.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

25. Their dear and beloved leader says it is great, so it must be so. (Please don't notice the starvation).

[Irish_Dem]

28. The poor NK people.

My heart goes out to them.

Their dear leaders keeps them starving and in dire straights.
While he lives in the lap of luxury and plays with his military toys.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. The whole country is a concentration camp. It's heartbreaking.

[Irish_Dem]

37. Yes it is indescribable.

I visited China way before the economic boom and relaxed surveillance.
People were starving and terrorized.
It was quite grim. And very scary.

But NK is seriously worse than China back then.
I can hardly imagine it.

[Martin68]

21. Anything that sets China, Russia and N. Korea against each other is a good thing for the world.

There's a lot of performance going soon pretending to be good friends, but that's mostly to piss off the West. China isn't going to make a big bet on Russia. Russia's success or lack of it in Ukraine, a well as the degree of international aid to Ukraine will make a big difference in what China eventually decides to do about Taiwan.

[Irish_Dem]

27. The US appears to be worried about destabilizing these countries too much.

So the US pulls back from going too hard on them.

I disagree, China will get Taiwan in the end.
This is certain.

Unless China can get regional control of the South China Sea,
it cannot be a global superpower, and it is hell bent on achieving that goal
this century.

So China now has to make some midcourse corrections.
Yes China now has a more realistic view of Russia.
But it still needs Russia for a number of reasons.
Oil and geopolitical alliance power.

[Martin68]

49. I agree that China could get Taiwan in the end, which would be a tragedy, but I'm hoping for a detente.

I've visited Taiwan, and it's a wonderful country. The people are so much more friendly and natural than those on mainland China. But everybody has now seen what China did to Hong Kong, so empty promises they make about Taiwan will never trusted. Invading Taiwan would be extremely costly for China, and they don't want to end up with a demolished Taiwan. I'm betting on the Taiwanese, and international support.

[Irish_Dem]

50. China has no problem destroying Taiwan.

No problem whatsoever. In fact that is part of the point of the invasion.

Just like Putin has no problem with burning down and destroying Ukraine.
He will destroy Ukraine and its people to get what he wants.

Putin, like China, MUST obtain regional control before they can be superpowers.

Also for China, Taiwan has great symbolic value. It is a long time dream to unify all parts of China.
And symbolizes the rise of China as a superpower.

The Chinese (Xi) dream is to change the world, to impose a communist system globally for a better
world. Xi truly believes that China is the vastly superior county and will restore China to its rightful
place as global leader, same thing Putin believes.

So China, a socialist country, engulfing and taking over a thriving democracy, is symbolically quite important.

Of course Xi is doing a constant cost benefit ratio regarding invading Taiwan. And taking careful notes about Russia and Ukraine.

Xi is no doubt working on subverting some of the Taiwan government and people to be pro-china so when
the Chinese military hits Taipei, it is more of a civil war than an invasion. Half the population and government will be pro-china and just hand over the capital and airport to Xi.

Similar to what Xi and Putin have done to the US. Captured the GOP who are now Putin, and fascist puppets.

[Martin68]

52. I don't think I agree that China doesn't care about destroying Taiwan.

If China destroyed Taiwan, it would destroy all progress they've made in establishing good relations with countries in Africa and elsewhere. No one would ever trusts them to abide by any agreement.

[Irish_Dem]

53. China has Africa in a huge debt trap.

And has had Chinese troops stationed there as well.

These countries do what China wants them to do.
These are not "good" relationships. This is colonization by coercion.

China goes in and loans to poor African countries billions of dollars.
Then sends in Chinese construction companies to build infrastructure with those loans.
So the Chinese economy benefits. And Chinese companies go in and extract resources.

The Chinese military has been stationed in Africa for decades.

China could also do a soft invasion of Taiwan like they and Putin have done in the US.
Capture half the sitting government and population, use those puppets to install
fascist rule. Not one shot fired or one bomb dropped.

Any one with any brains already does not trust China as far as they can throw them.

[Martin68]

54. Yes, we all know about the debt trap. But there are still small island nations in the Pacific, for example, the are

vulnerable to Chinese overtures. The total destruction of Taiwan would result in China becoming an international pariah. The Chinese economy depends on exports. They can't afford the repercussions. China will not "totally destroy Taiwan" as you claimed earlier.

[Lovie777]

4. Majority of the Russian conscripts get very little combat training....................

and are sent to the front line where many are killed and injured (missing body parts). Some do surrender and are put into facilities that do treat them like humans.

Economically, Russia is failing, but Putin has a well-greased social media empire that spouts total propaganda around the world. GQP are enamored with Putin and are following in his footsteps.

[gab13by13]

6. Yes, this is why I asked about DUer tomconroy

he always gave reliable reports on Ukraine.

[Irish_Dem]

13. Putin is using prisoners for the meat grinder.

They have no training and are just sent to the front line.

[marble falls]

7. And badly is the way he seems to be conducting this war.

[Botany]

8. I wonder how long those 200 to 400 drafties

.... last? I would guess it is not more than a
month. Vlad is running out of men, materials,
and money. SLAVA UKRAINE 🇺🇦

[yagotme]

10. Probably more time in training would mean fewer losses,

but that's not the Russian way (or Putie's).

[Irish_Dem]

14. Stalin sent over 1 million Russian soldiers to their deaths at Stalingrad.

WWII. It is considered the bloodiest battle in the history of the world.

It is the Russian way.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. Stalin also murdered the most competent generals because he feared them.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Fascists must always be in total control.

And get rid of any one who is competent.

The only goal is to be surrounded by loyalists who keep the fascist in power.

[Lovie777]

29. And the GQPs and their orange Jesus .....................................

have been threatening to jail or kill the opposition.

[Irish_Dem]

36. yes straight out of the fascist playbook.

Including the orange f wad acting like a buffoon comical figure.
Underneath he is very dangerous, very ruthless.

[moondust]

11. Dear Vlad the Invader,

"You break it, you pay to fix it."

Hospitals, schools, housing, businesses, roads, bridges, etc., etc.

All of it.

[bluestarone]

20. He DOES want to win badly.

Ukraine WILL defeat them, unless TFG (and his CRONIES, TRAITORS) cheats to get elected. If Joe is RE-ELECTED, maybe a Russian general will have to save Russia! ( i mean put pooty out of his misery)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. Putin has suffered massive losses and has degraded the Russian military machine

Link to tweet

[Hermit-The-Prog]

31. Some of those tanks are their latest, too, taken out by comparatively cheap drones.

[Javaman]

32. he's "winning" badly for sure. nt

the aggressors mission is to win, the defenders mission is not to lose.

putin will most certainly lose.

[Warpy]

40. Putin wants to stay alive and in power

and having started the war, he can't end it. If he tries, he'll be gone as soon as they find another sociopath to take his place. If he's really lucky, they'll let him retire in China or N. Korea (yes, they have resort areas for their muckety mucks, they're not bad, either). Otherwise he'll have a heart attack possibly brought on by a fall out a high window or by some well aimed lead.

He's done a great job of destroying his country.

[KS Toronado]

41. So how long before Putin is conscripting women & children?

[GB_RN]

43. 200 to 400 New "Recruits" Per Week???

Hell, that doesn’t even begin to make up for his losses. Every day, around 1000-1500 orcs are killed/wounded/maimed. That’s 3-5 times as many casualties, every day, than he dragoons per week.

Good fuckin’ luck with that.

[gab13by13]

44. Nicolle just had John Brenna on

Talking about Putin’s visit to N. Korea. The consensus was that Putin wants Kim to do something provocative right before the election. In return Putin will give Kim military technology.

[Irish_Dem]

51. It is quite predictable that Putin has some tricks up his sleeve.

I keep saying there is more Russian/GOP rat fucking to come before the election.

I believe the HAMAS attack was an example of this, and it worked.
Peeled off votes from Biden. Damaged liberal unity.

There will be more, and we need to not take the bait.

[uponit7771]

55. Russia is selling all of its eastern river access to China for money and needs NK word they won't complain

... about their side of the river.