With Uncle Vlad losing over 1,000 recruits in the Donbas every day, mustn't there be some place not that far away where these recruits are gathered, for whatever reason, before going into rush-the-lines combat as well as supply depots either in the Donbas itself or in Belgorod that would present excellent targets so as to relieve the pressure on UKR defenders? That's question 1.
Question 2 is whether or not the JASSM's can take down the Kerch bridge.
Question 3 you answered already - would the Kremlin be within reach of the JASSM missile, especially if shot from somewhere over Kursk Oblast.
Thanks so much for this column, which does raise the spirits and make my day.
1. While militarily less than competent, the Russian military does learn from obvious mistakes near the front. They no longer seem to concentrate replacements within range of the front.
2. I suspect the current administration considers Kerch Straits Brodge as part of Russia and therefore off-limits.
3. The Kremlin is completely off-limits for American missiles.
Makes my day too, Porter. Thanks Wes for the news. The devil on left shoulder says blast Kremlin and make them pay. The angel on my right says let’s see what Zelenskyy decides. I’d be thrilled if China and Iran back-off their support for Putin and leave him to figure it out.
I’ve never understood the issue around retaliatory escalation. What can Putin do that he hasn’t already been trying to do? Is he really ready to use tactical nukes? I find it hard to imagine any suitable military target, so it would be as a terror strike on a city. If so, the wind is either going to blow fallout into Russia or into NATO. If it’s the former, the domestic politics are problematic. If the latter, he has to wonder whether NATO will take the fallout as an attack and strike back. There are enough military targets in the Russian rear to make conventional strikes inflict an equivalent many times over.
Agree. If russia crosses the line with nukes, all bets are off. I’m no expert but I think the west has belatedly understood that the russian nuclear arsenal is hopelessly out of date. To be crass, we could easily nuke the Kremlin into glass and they know it.
I don’t think we’d have to threaten Armageddon and I don’t think we’d have to. The Moscow air defense is so permeable that the dome of the Kremlin took a glancing blow already that didn’t explode but was probably meant to send a message. All we need is high explosives. Putin is no Hitler determined to lie on a funeral pyre, and even though he may be able to hole up in one of his dachas, he can govern from there and his internal enemies will starve him out. And there’s not enough skimable wealth in war. Petro is where it can be stolen, and the war makes it less valuable.
Regime change is always scary. In this case, Biden has listened to closely to his NatSec advisor, Sullivan, and wishes for some other outcome than the binary choice reality offers. Eventually, the White House will get, albeit under Harris.
CORRECTION: “With a range of 370 km, Ukraine would be able to drop 1,000 ‘lb’ warheads” not 1,000 warheads lol
With Uncle Vlad losing over 1,000 recruits in the Donbas every day, mustn't there be some place not that far away where these recruits are gathered, for whatever reason, before going into rush-the-lines combat as well as supply depots either in the Donbas itself or in Belgorod that would present excellent targets so as to relieve the pressure on UKR defenders? That's question 1.
Question 2 is whether or not the JASSM's can take down the Kerch bridge.
Question 3 you answered already - would the Kremlin be within reach of the JASSM missile, especially if shot from somewhere over Kursk Oblast.
Thanks so much for this column, which does raise the spirits and make my day.
1. While militarily less than competent, the Russian military does learn from obvious mistakes near the front. They no longer seem to concentrate replacements within range of the front.
2. I suspect the current administration considers Kerch Straits Brodge as part of Russia and therefore off-limits.
3. The Kremlin is completely off-limits for American missiles.
Well, phooey!
Makes my day too, Porter. Thanks Wes for the news. The devil on left shoulder says blast Kremlin and make them pay. The angel on my right says let’s see what Zelenskyy decides. I’d be thrilled if China and Iran back-off their support for Putin and leave him to figure it out.
More great stuff!
Step by step, inch by inch we are finding the courage to do what's right and defeat evil
I’ve never understood the issue around retaliatory escalation. What can Putin do that he hasn’t already been trying to do? Is he really ready to use tactical nukes? I find it hard to imagine any suitable military target, so it would be as a terror strike on a city. If so, the wind is either going to blow fallout into Russia or into NATO. If it’s the former, the domestic politics are problematic. If the latter, he has to wonder whether NATO will take the fallout as an attack and strike back. There are enough military targets in the Russian rear to make conventional strikes inflict an equivalent many times over.
Agree. If russia crosses the line with nukes, all bets are off. I’m no expert but I think the west has belatedly understood that the russian nuclear arsenal is hopelessly out of date. To be crass, we could easily nuke the Kremlin into glass and they know it.
I don’t think we’d have to threaten Armageddon and I don’t think we’d have to. The Moscow air defense is so permeable that the dome of the Kremlin took a glancing blow already that didn’t explode but was probably meant to send a message. All we need is high explosives. Putin is no Hitler determined to lie on a funeral pyre, and even though he may be able to hole up in one of his dachas, he can govern from there and his internal enemies will starve him out. And there’s not enough skimable wealth in war. Petro is where it can be stolen, and the war makes it less valuable.
I thought China forbade him to use nukes..
I assume that Xi has something in mind and isn’t just trusting Vladimir to stay bought.
Regime change is always scary. In this case, Biden has listened to closely to his NatSec advisor, Sullivan, and wishes for some other outcome than the binary choice reality offers. Eventually, the White House will get, albeit under Harris.
My email notice for this article said:
"Ukraine to Get the JASSM
Long-Range Cruise Missile
From Wes O'Donnell." 😂
👍