News from Ukraine Conflict

[BanzaiCat]

Using schoolyard bullying as an analogy: back in the early 80s, decking a bully made them humble and leave you alone. (I did this as well, though it was in 5th grade and made the rest of my school year MUCH less stressful.)

Today, you deck a bully, the next day they bring a gun to school and shoot the place up.

Nobody teaches the value of humility anymore; kids are being raised to not know how to downshift their emotions when faced with adversity or humiliation. Most people purposefully avoid humiliating kids, but to be perfectly honest, that's the BEST training tool to bring up healthy adults with. We all faced it in our younger years. I got my ass paddled in 5th grade for punching out the bully, but it was worth it. Got my ass smacked and returned to class. Today they'd kick your ass out and your parents would get sued.

Anyway...comparing that to Putin, he's a modern-day bully. If we gave him a figurative sock to the jaw I think he'd react by leveling small countries. He's one of those tantrum-fueled psycho kids that goes off the deep end when he doesn't get his way, and his mommy and daddy sit to the side and go "Oh, it's just a phase" as he screams at the top of his lungs.

That said, consider this - what's worse, having the enemy you know in charge, or the one you don't know in charge? How many psychopath closet Commies are waiting in the wings if Putin should drop dead (God forbid, of course  ::) )?

[Centurion40]

Whoa!  That's some deep shit there BC.  Looks dead-on too.

[LongBlade]

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

A column of 32 tanks, 16 howitzer artillery systems and trucks carrying ammunition and fighters has crossed into eastern Ukraine from Russia, the Kiev military said on Friday.

"The deployment continues of military equipment and Russian mercenaries to the front lines," spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a televised briefing referring to Thursday's cross-border incursion.

The report of a new Russian movement of armor across the border follows a charge on Thursday by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine that Kiev government forces had launched a new offensive - which Kiev immediately denied.

source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ukraine-russian-tanks-roll_818396.html

[bayonetbrant]

I'm curious what they're calling "tanks"

30 tanks is a full tank battalion.  More likely it's 30 BMPs and someone thinks anything with tracks and a turret is a 'tank'

[BanzaiCat]

I'm curious what they're calling "tanks"

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Are long range artillery able to load cluster munitions? Are cluster munitions enough to 'spend' explosive reactive armor? Would those tanks be eaten by RPGs once their ER armor is gone? Killing expensive tanks on the cheap seems like a way to turn back the russian columns.

[LongBlade]

Are long range artillery able to load cluster munitions?

Ours can. Dunno about Warsaw Pact capabilities.

[Centurion40]

Are long range artillery able to load cluster munitions?

Ours can. Dunno about Warsaw Pact capabilities.

First on the list to sell to the Ukes....

[mirth]

We have some lovely ways to kill armor cheaply these days -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBU-97_Sensor_Fuzed_Weapon

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97677

a single B-52 high altitude heavy bomber can destroy an entire armored division with these bombs, where in the past dozens of aircraft would have had to drop hundreds of bombs for the same effect

[Staggerwing]

The Ukes could use a couple of those right about now.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

"Russian President Vladimir Putin's portrayal of himself as a defender of ethnic Russians has prompted many to wonder whether Kazakhstan is next on the hit list.

Such fears are intensified by some Russian politicians who occasionally make remarks about "taking back" northern Kazakhstan amid growing anti-Russian sentiment there.

President Putin was recently asked about nationalism in northern Kazakhstan at a youth forum. If it is true that all questions for Mr Putin are carefully picked and censored, then this could be interpreted as a warning for Kazakhstan's government. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29843980

[LongBlade]

Ah, yes. The protection of good old ethnic enclaves.

A time-honored tradition among fascists.

[BanzaiCat]

I wonder if China would consider a Russian annexation/invasion of Kazakhstan a threat.

[LongBlade]

I wonder if China would consider a Russian annexation/invasion of Kazakhstan a threat.

More likely an invitation a la Molotov-Ribbentrop.

[BanzaiCat]

They could certainly play the ethnic-minority-needs-our-protection card. Goodness knows they have with India and points south over the years.