sturg33
I
I wonder if the idiot leftists on this site are self aware enough to recognize that they are unwilling to answer this simple question because they simply don't like the answer.
Makes the concept of self reflection impossible
Global Events & Politics Überthread
- Thread starter Hawk
- Start date
I wonder if the idiot leftists on this site are self aware enough to recognize that they are unwilling to answer this simple question because they simply don't like the answer.
Makes the concept of self reflection impossible
striker42
Well-known member
Not at all. There are two ways to address crime, remedial and proactive. Remedial is punishing those who have already committed crimes. If they committed the crime, they deserve the punishment. However, you can prevent crime with proactive measures. This is everything from better lighting to community initiatives.
If you're seeing a specific group that has high rates of gang membership, you need to not only work to punish offenders but also identify what causes that group to join gangs at higher rates and see if there's something that can be addressed. Preventing someone from falling into a life of crime is a better result than punishing that person after they've become a criminal.
striker42
Well-known member
The early part of the war was disastrous for Russia. One of the biggest blunders in modern military history. The logistics were terrible, their forces were uncoordinated and overextended. And their losses were shocking. Then they withdrew to focus on the eastern Ukraine. Their movement has been much more cautious since then and they've been leveraging their advantages better (particularly in artillery). They've also been using the existing pro-Russia militias from the eastern Ukraine region as cannon fodder. The losses to those units have still been shocking.
The low estimates of Russians killed in the war so far is 15,000 which is more than were killed in a decade when they invaded Afghanistan. The high estimates are 35,000. The truth is probably in the middle. If the Ukraine defenses collapsed today and Russia took over the entire country unopposed, it's still a disastrous war for Russia. But hey, as Putin is quoted as saying, life is cheaper in Russia.
striker42
Well-known member
Ukraine almost certainly wasn't ever and will never be able to win a war against a determined Russia that doesn't care about negative consequences. The numbers slant heavily in Russias favor and numbers are still hugely important. Ukraine has only ever had two hopes. One is that Vlad is deposed or dies and is replaced by someone more reasonable.
The second hope, and the one that is usually the most effective in these situations, is to make the cost of the invasion so high that Russia decides it's not worth it and legitimate peace talks can begin. Russia took a bloody nose in the early days of the war. They've been more cautious and more effective since focusing on eastern Ukraine but its still a bloody, messy war. There are the sanctions too. Russia has been deft at fending off the worst of the effects so far (thanks more to their brilliant central banker than Putin) but economic sanctions like these have a way of grinding away at an economy.
The hope is that eventually Russia will tire of the cost of weapons, the cost of life, and the cost of sanctions and will try to negotiate a peace. You already have western powers telling Ukraine that they need to be willing to sacrifice territory to achieve peace. But if Putin keeps up his insanity and utter disregard for his own people then Russia will eventually take Ukraine. Whether they could hold against an insurgency is a different story.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Not sure about that. Ukraine has a very large army. A big segment of it is currently not well-armed. They currently face constraints in terms of munitions. And also have to make a transition in the middle of a war away from Soviet type weaponry to an arsenal provided by western countries. It will take time to train their troops with the new equipment. But over a period of time the numbers will tilt their way.
sturg33
I
Yeah they are lucky to have such a substantial Nazi brigade helping them
striker42
Well-known member
First, it's not just number of troops, it's number of artillery pieces, number of tanks, number of ships, number of planes, etc. Russia still has a sizable advantage in terms of the number of weapons. The west cant fully fill that gap without degrading their own capacity. We've already heard some rumbling that western leaders are getting worried about that.
Next, Russia's population is about 3 times the size of Ukraine's. If Russia mobilized then they could flood the battlefield. Putin doesn't want to do this as it would be an admission of weakness that he doesn't want to make. But a determined Russia without regard for the cost will eventually take Ukraine.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I would say just about any metric favors the West/Ukraine. GDP. Defense budgets. Amount of production of the things you cite (artillery, tanks, ships, planes). At the moment there are some constraints on how much can be shipped to Ukraine. Time will loosen those constraints considerably.