By Lolita C. Baldor, AP
On the front lines in Ukraine, a soldier was having trouble firing his 155 mm howitzer gun. So, he turned to a team of Americans on the other end of his phone line for help.
“What do I do?” he asked the U.S. military team member, far away at a base in southeastern Poland. “What are my options?”
Using phones and tablets to communicate in encrypted chatrooms, a rapidly growing group of U.S. and allied troops and contractors is providing real-time maintenance advice — usually speaking through interpreters — to Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
In a quick response, the U.S. team member told the Ukrainian to remove the gun’s breech at the rear of the howitzer and manually prime the firing pin so the gun could fire. He did it and it worked.
The exchange is part of an expanding U.S. military help line aimed at providing repair advice to Ukrainian forces in the heat of battle. As the U.S. and other allies send more and increasingly complex and high-tech weapons to Ukraine, demands are spiking. And since no U.S. or other NATO nations will send troops into the country to provide hands-on assistance — due to worries about being drawn into a direct conflict with Russia — they’ve turned to virtual chatrooms.
The U.S. soldier and other team members and leaders stationed at a base in Poland spoke last week to two reporters who were traveling with Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he visited the facility. Because of the sensitivity of the operation, the troops there spoke on condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the U.S. military. Reporters also agreed not to reveal the name or location of the base or take photos.
Fixing a howitzer, the repair team said, has been a frequent request from Ukrainian troops on the front lines. The need for help with weapons as been growing. Just a few months ago, there were just a bit more than 50 members of what they call the remote maintenance team. That will surge to 150 in the coming weeks, and the number of encrypted chat lines has more than tripled — from about 11 last fall to 38 now.
The team includes about 20 soldiers now, supplemented by civilians and contractors, but the military number may dip a bit, as more civilians come on board. And they expect it will continue to evolve as new sophisticated weapons are delivered to the Ukrainians, and new chatrooms set up to handle them.
“A lot of the times we’ll get calls from right there on the firing line, so there’ll be outgoing or incoming fire at the same time you’re trying to help the forward maintainers troubleshoot the best they can,” said a U.S. soldier who is part of the maintenance team. Sometimes, he said, the chat has to wait a bit until troops can get to a safer location.
A key problem, said one officer, is that Ukrainian troops are pushing the weapons to their limits — firing them at unprecedented rates and using them long after a U.S. service member would turn them in to be repaired or retired.
Holding up his tablet, the U.S. soldier showed photos of the barrel of a howitzer, its interior ridges nearly worn completely away.
“They’re using these systems in ways that we didn’t necessarily anticipate,” said the officer, pointing to the tablet. “We’re actually learning from them by seeing how much abuse these weapon systems can take, and where’s the breaking point.”
The Ukrainian troops are often reluctant to send the weapons back out of the country for repairs. They’d rather do it themselves, and in nearly all cases — U.S. officials estimated 99% of the time — the Ukrainians do the repair and continue on.
Many of the chats are regularly scheduled with depot workers in Ukraine — like the one they call “Coffee Cup Guy,” because his chat has a coffee cup emoji. Other times they involve troops on the battlefield whose gun just blew apart, or whose vehicle stalled.
Sometimes video chats aren’t possible.
“A lot of times if they’re on the front line, they won’t do a video because sometimes (cell service) is a little spotty,” said a U.S. maintainer. “They’ll take pictures and send it to us through the chats and we sit there and diagnose it.”
There were times, he said, when they’ll get a picture of a broken howitzer, and the Ukrainian will say, “This Triple 7 just blew up — what do we do?”
And, in what he said was a remarkable new skill, the Ukrainians can now put the split weapon back together. “They couldn’t do titanium welding before, they can do it now,” said the U.S. soldier, adding that “something that was two days ago blown up is now back in play.”
Doling out advice over the chats means the U.S. experts have to diagnose the problem when something goes wrong, figure out how to fix it, then translate the steps into Ukrainian.
As they look to the future, they are planning to get some commercial, off-the-shelf translation goggles. That way, when they talk to each other they can skip the interpreters and just see the translation as they speak, making conversations easier and faster.
They also are hoping to build their diagnostic capabilities as the weapons systems get more complex, and expand the types and amount of spare parts they keep on hand. For example, they said the Patriot missile system the U.S. is sending to Ukraine will be a challenge, requiring more expertise in diagnosing and repairing problems.
The expanse of weapons and equipment they’re handling and questions they’re fielding were even too complicated for a digital spreadsheet — forcing the team to go low-tech. One wall in their maintenance office is lined with an array of old-fashioned, color-coded Post-it notes, to help them track the weapons and maintenance needs.
The team in Poland is part of an ever expanding logistical network that stretches across Europe. As more nations send their own versions of weapon systems, they are setting up teams to provide repair support in a variety of locations.
The nations and the manufacturing companies quickly put together manuals and technical data that can be translated and sent to the Ukrainians. They then set up stocks of spare parts and get them to locations near Ukraine’s borders, where they can be sent to the battlefield.
Just days before Milley visited the base, Ukrainians traveled to the Poland facility for parts. The visit gave U.S. soldiers a chance to meet someone from their chatrooms face-to-face and swap military patches.
“In the next video chat we had he was wearing our patches in his video,” the U.S. soldier said.
The hub for the growing logistical effort is at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne, the U.S. Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany.
There, in cubicles filling an expansive room, the international coalition coordinates the campaign to locate and identify far-flung equipment, weapons and spare parts in other countries that are needed in Ukraine. They then plan out deliveries — by sea, air and ground routes — to border locations where everything is loaded onto trucks or trains and moved to the war zone.
At least 17 nations have representatives in what’s called the International Donor Coordination Center. And as the amount and types of equipment grow, the center is working to better meld the donations from the U.S. and other nations.
“As we send more additional advanced equipment, like Strykers, like Bradleys, like tanks, of course that sustainment activity will have to increase,” said Douglas Bush, assistant Army secretary for acquisition. “I think the challenge is recognized. I think the Army knows how to do it.”
The only things being provided for is a weaker US and an increased likelihood of a shooting war directly with Russia.
“Oceania is at war with Eurasia. Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.”
and in a year or two when we are butting heads with Chi Nah it will be
“Oceania is at war with East Asia. Oceania has always been at war with East Asia.”
I don’t believe a word of all the political bull$h!t spewed about You Crane, Rusha, or Chi Nah. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Like the whole classified document things going on while quietly Biden, Trudeau, and Obrador sign a new North American Union paper in Messy Co.
I’m kinda surprised we aren’t hearing the phrase ‘wag the dog’ from anyone.
I love how they ended their military-approved fluff piece with we’re going to need more US involvement. “It isn’t anything bad! We’re using emoji’s and having a good time sticking it to Putin!”
testing weapons in actual combat is the best way to evaluate and improve them…
Giving weapons and ammunition away without making and buying more is the best way to lose against superpowers like China and Russia.
THAT is exactly why the people of Ukraine have so few weapons themselves that they have to have everything shipped in from other countries.
Don’t worry we are producing war material day and night, that’s pretty much all we still producing in the USA. The US oligarchs making a fortune with every war we start for 250 years now.
I wouldn’t worry about that. Russias military absolutely fuckin sucks. Worse then Saddams. Their nukes probably don’t even work, or all the working ones were sold off to China, NK, Pakistan, India ect…
Russia is the biggest paper tiger in all of human history.
Russia did the heavy lifting in WW2, without them the Germans would have won. Once they start using tactical nukes in Ukraine, the world will permanently change for the worse. Meddling has a price.
All the decisions and costs are on Putin. He decided on a “military operation” to rid the landscape of “Nazis”. Such an INSANE action in the 21st century has a price. No, we need to fight such insanity even if it means rendering the entire planet void of life. Too the death, so be it!
“Russias military absolutely fuckin sucks. Worse then Saddams.”
It doesn’t matter in the least. Look at Russian history. Russia will put warm bodies on the line with little or no training. They have a vastly larger population, and can afford a 10-1 loss ratio for as long as it takes. A one-half of a million (500,000) casualty rate is nothing to them. To date, estimates are losses of 100,000. Putin has just cracked down on the media, so they will report whatever Putin says.
Ukraine cannot sustain that attrition rate, and Putin knows it…
I do agree with what you say, but if we pull out now then China goes into Taiwan. Keep giving weapons until the world is rendered lifeless, the decision on going to the bargain table is with Putin. Let him keep Crimea. “Military operations to ride the countryside of Nazis”…to insane to allow in the 21st century.
“Yep” on both counts!
At this point I do not care if the Europeans start putting each other back into gas chambers.
Well over 300,000 American men died destroying Germany Italy and Japan in WW2. I served a quarter of my life in the US army. I am not interested whatsoever in helping foreigners who simply don’t believe in the basic concepts of liberty. It took the United States 400 years to learn the basic concepts of liberty. Perhaps the Europeans need to spend another 400 years trying to figure this out for themselves.
From 2016
“Why Is The Ukraine Government Disarming Its Citizens?”
https://dev.thetruthaboutguns.com/why-is-the-ukraine-government-disarming-its-citizens/
I don’t support either side. Two fascist bullies fighting for dominance.
Russia could have avoided all this by simply staying home. But they didn’t. Now both sides pay the piper.
Ukraine gave away their nukes. On a slick Willy lie. I am also neutral on the most corrupt country in Europe going under. WW III in 10 9 8 7…
If you don’t support either side, then you don’t support the US. We’re at war with Russia without a single vote on it. It’s much easier this way. Votes are pesky things that stick with you years later when the citizens figure out the lies.
Ukraine was preparing for a massive attack against Pro-Russia Ukrainians in Southern Ukraine..
Ukraine and the WEST signed a peace deal with Russia knowing full well Ukraine wasn’t going to comply with the MINSK AGREEMENT!!!
EVEN MACRON AND MERKEL KNEW WHEN THEY SIGNED THE MINSK AGREEMENT IT WAS A “DELAYING TACTIC” FOR UKRAINE!!!!
In effect you had NATO MEMBER STATES SIGNING A CONTRACT KNOWING FULL WELL IT WASN’T GOING TO BE COMPLIED WITH!!!
It is the WEST who forced Putin to send in the guns…
Russia is slowly advancing all along the front, contrary to WEST MSM MARXIST NEWS!!!
I think it is hilarious how gun proponents chastised the MSM on their blatant lies about guns, but on Ukraine/Russia war, they are “ALL IN ON THE PROPAGANDA BEING SPEWED BY THE SAME MSM”!!!!
Screw Ukraine and their little dictatorship. Slava Rossiya! Go Russia!, end this civil war and restore order. USA needs to STAY OUT of it, it is frankly none of our business and is being used by our military-industrial complex to ruin Russia as a world power. Sadly, it may be US that will be ruined by it, and leave us open to the red Chinese, our real enemy. We’ve succeeded in driving Russia into the arms of Iran and the CCP.
Russia bot doing what russia bots do.
russia is being embarrassed on the battlefield…something they’ve done to us in the past…..
NOT a “Russia bot”. 100% politically right-wing conservative USA American male. I simply do not ascribe to the Hate Russia sh*tpot being stirred by the media in the west and the Bidenistas. You like it, you swallow it. I decline.
Too late. Can’t pull back now…or Red China invades Taiwan. Putin truly is an evil monster, regardless of the Ukrainian corruption.
Trump authorized a drone strike on an Iranian jerk who was somewhere he was not supposed to be and all the dims scream about him trying to start WWIII.
Slo Joe openly sends billions of tax dollars (cough, cough money laundering) and American military hardware into a war zone and hint at letting Ukraine into NATO in a blatant effort to “poke the bear” into starting WWIII and nobody says a word.
I’d be one thing if he was doing this a’la “Charlie Wilson’s War”, but that would require an actual desire to keep our involvement hidden so as not to spark a bigger conflict and less arrogance than to flaunt “I own the govt, I own you, and can do whatever I want whenever I want.”
It’s amazing how many people still trust the propagandist media after the past few years of blatant lies and coverups.
Amen!
My personal opinion: almost all of the complex stuff is entirely unnecessary.
Consider Russian troop or equipment carriers: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them.
Consider Russian tanks: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them.
Consider Russian attack helicopters: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them.
Consider an entrenched and fortified Russian troop location: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them.
Does everyone see a theme here? Not only are tanks and Howitzers not necessary, they are arguably significantly less effective than shoulder-fired missiles.
And how about some additional advantages of shoulder-fired missiles: they are vastly less expensive to produce and infinitely less expensive to support, maintain, and repair. Furthermore, they are all but invisible due to their tiny size.
Instead of shipping something like $600 million in tanks and Howitzers over to Ukraine, why don’t we ship $300 million of shoulder-fired missiles over to Ukraine? Note that $600 million only buys 60 tanks. And that doesn’t include the cost of their ordnance. Whereas $300 million buys something like 1,500 Javelin shoulder-fired missiles.
At that point, the only offensive weapon that Russia could launch at Ukraine are fighter jets, high-altitude bombers, and long-range guided missiles. And a few surface-to-air missile batteries should neutralize the combat effectiveness of fighter-jets and high-altitude bombers. All that leaves for any significant offensive capability is long-range guided missiles–and our Patriot air defense system can handle those.
Consider Russian artillery: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them if you can get in visual range of them without them blowing you up first
Russian doctrine is to pulverize the landscape with artillery from miles away. You either need your own artillery or aircraft to get close enough to destroy them. They also unleash drone swarms and missiles from miles away and target Ukrainian cities and power.
Consider Russian HQs, logistics, and airfields: shoulder-fired missiles destroy them if you can penetrate behind enemy lines and get to them before they’re moved
Russian logistics suck. Take out critical raillines and bridges, and they quickly lose the ability to continue fighting. Their northern invasion of Kiev failed because they didn’t bring enough food or fuel. Their soldiers aren’t particularly enthusiastic, and many won’t fight without direct supervision, which is why many senior officers were getting killed.
‘Smart’ missiles are expensive, and we don’t have an unlimited supply of them.
If Ukraine was smart, they would get NATO to fire up a massive artillery shell factory, but that takes time Ukraine doesn’t have.
Also, rumors are the Putin is negotiating with the Taliban for the massive stockpile of US weapons abandoned by Biden… 🙁
Glass the eastern hemisphere. Problem(s) solved.
Most every annoyance, conflict and threat comes from there.
Once smooth and shiny maybe those clowns south of the border will straighten up and act right.
Hmmmm, there will never be any regret in the future over teaching/training/equipping a socialist country all these things, right?!
Bueller?… Bueller?
Hard to imagine how many idiots didn’t even take this into account with all their “support Ukraine” bullshit early on. It’s obviously to that point now. Neither of them want to end the war – they are the same shit different toilet. And the glorification of drone videos fucking up Russian soldiers is all they care about anymore. They have no idea what this war really is.
We’re paying the salaries of Ukrainian government workers so they won’t get cold feet and push for a peaceful resolution.
😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
The Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Eastern Europe.
Still are based off the last round of resignations.
No or low accountability. I give it a year or so and one of those Biden admin provided “weapons of war” ends up on the streets of Chicago, or LA.
How did we get here? Some foreign policy experts have said years ago that the Eastern expansion of NATO would get us to where we are today. Is it true? I do not know.
The Ukraine going back on the Minsk accords?
The Ukraine was not a democracy in the first place. Zelensky is just as corrupt and a thug as Putin is. He jailed journalist and other news outets critical of him. Disbanded the opposition party and took their money.
Biden’s failure in the withdraw of Afghanistan a sign to Putin and the world of weakness got us here?
Reading reports of how depleted US stockpiles are, a good opportunity for someone to take advantage of the situation? The Strategic Oil Reserve is awfully low.
Seems to be a perfect storm for something exceptionally dumb to happen.
They want the US stockpiles to be low. That means they have to fill them back up $$. Do you think these people are thinking beyond their own wealth and power?
they’ll be replenished…and our forces will have newer and better weapons…
We should probably just ignore any financial incentive for doing so.
“and our forces will have newer and better weapons…”
That takes years, if not a few decades. In the meantime, China will invade Taiwan and dare us to do anything about it, since the precursor chemicals for many pharmaceuticals come from… Wait for it…
China… 🙁
When Putins crazy gamble at instant & painless victory failed it really put China in a pickle, seeing how countries rallied to Ukraine while the invasion fizzled into a long slog. China must be pissed at Putin. We would be viewed as weak if we pulled back and Putin took Ukraine now. Got to get it ended at the negotiation table. Let the Chinese see the costs and second guess. Not saying they still won’t invade…evil being evil.
Umhummm… Goes without saying, really. But if it wasn’t said, some people would ignore it.
F* Europe. They’re lost to socialism and will be majority Muslim in a decade, anyway, the way things look. F* Taiwan, too. I say we beef up the Monroe Doctrine against both Russia and China and keep them out of the Western Hemisphere. Let ’em rot.
I’d sign that. Add the Brits, France, and Germany to it as well.
they’ve already got a presence here…just no nukes this time….
Most computer chips are made in Taiwan.
We just read an article about drone warfare. The Ukrainians are the drones.
Anyone think the tens of billions in cash we are sending to Ukraine is staying in Ukraine?
Anyone suspicious the Biden’s are getting a cut?
Anyone thinking our defense contractors are pushing the propaganda because they are reaping a bonanza?
Everyone remember that our Assistant Secretary of State admitted we had secret bio-weapons labs in Ukraine and now the Russians have them, along with all the proof.pf what we were doing in those labs?
Everyone remember how the Ulraimians were killing and repressing ethnic Russians in the Donbas, in violation of prior treaties with Russia?
Everyone recall how our CIA fomented a color.revolution.in Ukraine to overthrow the Russia-leaning administration. Remember how that started the attacks on ethnic Russians in the Donbas?
Remember how Ukranians forced a Caesarian section on an ethnic Russian woman and sewed a live cat inside her?
By propping up the Ukraine we are willing participants in their criminality and evil doing. But that is the way the.deep.state rolls.
LifeSavor, isn’t it funny how the media helps us forget those important and very relevant points?
You are spot-on, Dude. Bullseye spot-on.
They don’t care. It’s an easy way to keep them in debt to us. The US loves that shit.
I remember, and I don’t much forgive, either.
Money laundering using the military
Get rid of older stuff and buy new all the while screaming “our democracy”
Matt in Oklahoma,
Precisely! And may I add:
“….screaming “our democracy”….while shoveling over the mass graves.
The stuff we don’t give to the Ukrainians we’ll have to spend money to decommission. Giving it away is cheaper.
We should fund more wars, so we can keep saving money like this.
I’m sorry but when I read he couldn’t get the gunm to work and he called customer service he got a guy on the other end with an Indian accent.
” Ello,you hab reach U.S. Ermmie, my name is Bob, and how can I help you today?”
After 25 minutes of checking the device the guy still dont know what the fck.
… and yet here I am in beautiful you hess ovaye, going on seven months to get a ballistic MUFFLER that I already own out of ATFE paper prison…. maybe departments that are run by tyrants deal more efficiently with other tyrants since they speak the same language.
Why sure.
Russia is paranoid about invasion since its formal borders are indefensible. Stalin’s purpose in creating the USSR and controlling eastern Europe was to create a buffer that an invader would have to fight its way across to get to Russia. Putin’s goal is to reconstitute that buffer.
Putin expected to get away with taking over the rest of the Ukraine the way he did Crimea in 2014. The Ukrainians lacked the strength to stop him and NATO was afraid to provoke Russia by supporting the Ukraine. This time, it’s different. The Ukraine is better prepared, has NATO materiel support, and Putin had no idea how poorly his forces would perform.
If the Ukraine goes down, Russia’s next targets are the countries to the west — Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. All but Moldova are members of NATO. A Russian attack on any of the others is supposed to trigger defense by all of NATO which would effectively be another world war. The strategy in supporting the Ukraine is to bleed Russia, until it’s too weak to go after its next targets, without provoking a wider war with combat between NATO forces and Russia. So far, it’s working although the Ukrainians are paying a terrible price. If they can drive out the Russians, I expect NATO to spend a fortune rebuilding the infrastructure the Russians are destroying.
Sure Russia is having a tough time with Ukraine, but they’ll definitely invade a NATO country next. That way they can go to war with the West for real. That makes perfect sense. We’re basically stopping the next Hitler. Let’s keep telling ourselves that.
Putin is insane and needs to die. What he did makes no sense and he needs to go to the bargaining table and end it. Only he can. Otherwise we MUST fight him even if the world ends up devoid of all life.
I call Bullsh*t! on that.
“This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.” – Admiral Josh Painter – The Hunt for Red October
they’ve already got a presence here…just no nukes this time….
awful lot of pro-russian crap on display here…makes you question the source…the fact is we’re killing russians without putting any of our people at risk…sounds like a win to me…
Why is it such a win to kill Russians? You don’t think there’s more than a few young patriotic Russians who signed up to defend their country? How are they any different from our military? Did you think it was a win when US military men and women were killed while invading and toppling a sovereign country based on a lie? Because that’s what we did. Is it okay for Ukrainians to die in a war we’re enabling and prolonging because, hey they aren’t Americans, so who cares! Is life valuable or not? Is only American life valuable? A win would be avoiding war or resolving the conflict as soon as possible. Ukraine was ready for peace talks early on, and the West talked them out of it. Now the country’s a mess with tens (hundreds?) of thousands killed and millions displaced. But hey, it isn’t us! Go get ’em boys!
Putin is insane and needs to die.
And Biden is… ???
Don’t talk bullsh*t.
NATO has sent in its own “LITTLE GREEN MEN” into battle in Ukraine..
NAVY SEAL WAS KILLED RECENTLY in Ukraine..
YET NAVY CLAIMED HE WENT AWOL, yet “CLASSIFIED IT AS KIA (KILLED IN ACTION)”
Killing Russians is a “win”??? Then I suppose killing Americans is a “win” for them? Careful what you wish for.
I come from a time when I enlisted it was to possibly fight Soviets. After the Cold War was over and I met some former Soviet soldiers, I realized those films from basic training and infantry school over hyped the soviets. They were not as well trained, lead or equipped as we were. And they were amazed about how much responsibility we gave Privates compared to how they run their military. The only Soviets that impressed me were Spetznas I met and had drinks with. They could drink, they had discipline and even as former enemies we were brothers of the silk that if we met on the field of battle we have gave each other a fight.
Regardless of Ukraine’s past, I would hope this fight will spark a sense of independence in the people. Maybe the Russians have accidently made positive changes. We won’t know for a long time.
Putin made a strategic mistake, and we should hope there are those with the rank and power have a moral side if he decides to order WMD’s of any type.
It’s all nonsense propaganda coming from Ukraine and we are playing right into it and for it. Russia has thrown about 5% of what they have at Ukraine and is ready to throw another 5% at them. The truth of it all is if you listen to anyone over there who isn’t MSM, Ukraine is getting destroyed.
Neither one of these countries is close to being a democracy, I would say that Ukraine is probably worse. A drag queen, comic, actor comes over here and demands that we give him weapons but yet he doesn’t pay for them?
This is the typical bullies on the block scenario, eventually they are going to fight. I say we watch and use the money to secure our border and help out our own homeless problems. Part of that homeless problem is veterans, shouldn’t we take care of our own first?
Russia isn’t going to go into Poland and Zelensky could end this if he sat down with Putin in a neutral place and worked out a treaty. Regardless of what MSM is feeding us Zelensky would probably be the one to break it. It’s all nonsense and we shouldn’t be involved at all, we should have grabbed Zelensky and turned him over to Putin when he was here begging dressed like a bum.
70–85 million people died when Hitler went into Poland and started WW2. Putin isn’t stupid enough to think that he could touch Poland, as a matter of fact I seem to recall when a ” Russian” missile hit Poland on 11/15/22. The problem was it wasn’t a “Russian” missile, it was from Ukraine.
“On 17 November, Polish officials stated that Ukrainian investigators were likely to be granted access to the site of the explosion.” “On 21 November, it was reported that Ukraine will not be granted access to the investigation by the Polish prosecutor’s office.” Poland doesn’t even trust Ukraine and that’s telling.
We need to just keep doing what we are doing and see if Russia wants to throw another 5%, because evidently it’s no problemo for them. Cool, just 5%. I do know the $ we have given them in NOTHING to our GDP. Just keep on going for another year or so and a teeny tiny 5% from the Ruskies and a few $ from us. Win win.
We cannot AFFORD to “just keep doing what we’re doing”… we’re draining our military capabilities and havent you noticed our 31 TRILLION $$$$ national debt and the recent 1.7 TRILLION U$$$$ budget? Where does all this money come from, ya just pull it out yer @$$ ???
A whole lot of people in the States need to wake up and smell the house is burning down around our ears!
Russia wants them wheat fields so the U.S.cant sanction them on that no more.
Two things is going to happen, One Ukraine gives up and saves a lot of bloodshed, or Two NATO puts boots on the ground and starts WW3. Ukraine cant win this one on their own no matter how many arms countries give them.
Nuclear War in Ukraine, right back where Chernobyl put the wheat fields. only this time theres no coming back
We just need to keep on keeping on and give it another year or so. There will be no giving up and Putin needs to die.
BS on all three counts- you begin to sound suspiciously like a Ukie agent…
If they sat down and worked out a treaty then people wouldn’t have to die.
Putin and Zelenskyy are both cut from the same cloth.
Putin didn’t want Nazis (actual Ukrainian Nazis with Swastika armbands) on his border.
He took action knowing that Biden was weak, he would have worked this out if Trump won.
We are spending a lot of money on something we should have NO part of.
Do you have any idea of the problems that we could have been solved in the USA with the money and arms we are GIVING to the Ukraine? 28 Billion dollars would easily secure our border and then some.
“You don’t see the bigger picture, Putin won’t stop at Ukraine, he wants Europe.”
That’s total BS and this just escalates until it turns from a scuffle to WW3.
“Lets send them M1A2 Abrams to take out the T-72s”. Then Russia busts out the T-80s and T-90s.
Actually we wont be giving them M1A2 Abrams for a year and it could all be over by then.
You severely underestimate Russia’s arsenal and are like a Orange man bad person.
Putin is pretty much toying, he could level Ukraine in a few weeks if he wanted with his army.
Zelenskyy could end this next week with a treaty and save what’s left of the Ukraine.
He’s a fool and wont. He’s too busy begging and spinning propaganda.
We have 28 BILLION dollars in a fight that would be better spent here on OUR problems in the US.
Russia has 1.15 million troops and is adding 300,000+ more to get to 1.5 million.
Ukraine had about 500,000 depending on the actual counts. As for killed? Who knows?
Get the popcorn out and let’s see how this ends, it could be ended with a treaty.
Otherwise say goodbye to Ukraine and that’s a no spin fact, they are getting destroyed Pat.
If Zelenskyy caves, the price will be a Ukraine completely under Russian domination including Russian troops stationed on Ukraine’s borders with the other countries I mentioned and Russian controlled secret police to repress the population.
If Russia wins in the Ukraine, it will be because Putin was able to mobilize conscripts faster than the Ukrainians were able to kill them. This is a real possibility and, in my opinion, is why Zelenskyy is so desperate for the most advanced weapons he can persuade NATO to give him.
Abrams tanks will take a year to deploy in the Ukraine so they won’t make a difference this spring and summer. However, Leopard tanks will make a difference and agreeing to provide Abrams was the price to get Germany to release Leopards it had sold to other NATO members.
The isolationist argument to leave the Europeans to clean up their own mess reminds me of similar arguments prior to World War Two. They didn’t stop Japan from attempting to destroy the US Navy in the Pacific so that it couldn’t interfere with Japan’s plans to conquer the entire Far East. Neither did it stop Germany from declaring war on the US, in support of Japan, immediately following Pearl Harbor.
The best place to defend your home is someone else’s home using their people. (The only better place is the enemy’s home.) This is what we have in the Ukraine. It’s Ukrainian soldiers dying and Ukrainian infrastructure being hit by Russian air strikes. So far, American losses have been limited to a few volunteers and no American infrastructure has been damaged. Our costs have been purely financial of which the worst has been cash to keep the Ukrainian government functioning.
NATO has been sending it its own “LITTLE GREEN MEN” into battle and are dying in Ukraine!!!
If the Ukies lose, the WORST CASE SCENARIO (not necessarily the only possible outcome) will be a Ukraine RE-united with the Russian homeland, of which it was an integral part until 1991. In fact Ukraine was THE Russian homeland until the Mongol invasion of 1227-1240.
Consider how Americans (Unionists and Abolitionists) felt when most of the American South seceded in 1860-61. It was a serious casus belli that resulted in the national disaster known as the US Civil War. Likewise the Ukrainian war is indeed a civil war in a country divided, and one that the US should steer clear of.
Remember the Union reaction when it was made clear that the Brits were materially and diplomatically supporting the secessionist South? Had Lincoln not kept his head and said “One war at a time, Gentlemen”, we might have fought a third war with the British Empire… THIS WAR is none of our legitimate business! This is a LONG TERM Russian vital interest, not ours. To expect Putin and Russia to back down now is a fool’s pipe dream, seems to me.
God Help US All!
Kendahl: Japan attacked the US and Euro-colonial states in Dec 1941 only after the cut-off of US, Dutch and British supplies of OIL, scrap iron, OIL, rubber, OIL, and other products (did I mention petroleum?) in order to aid the Nationalist Chiang Kai-Shek government in China. Granted, Imperial Japan was at war with Nationalist China, which at the time wasn’t exactly a first-line U.S. ally. Never-the-less it seemed like a good idea to the media and liberals at the time and was pushed hard by the Rooseveltian Democrat party. It may have been that war with Imperial Japan for control of the Pacific was inevitable, and was certainly considered so by many- on both sides of the Pacific.
It has been forgotten or unmentioned by many that nearly 1/2 of Japanese war-making ability was sucked into the Chinese war during ww2- men and materiel we never had to face in combat…
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