These tanks (the leopards) are used widely in in Eastern Europe, specifically Poland who are next door neighbours - speak the language - training not a problem - Poland just needed the green light from Germany.
Likely the US Abrams will not see Ukraine - same as the US aircraft - these are seen as offensive whereas the leopards are construed as being defensive.
Fair chance that Russia will launch a renewed offensive next month - God will help those on the other end of that.
The whole reason for this war is simple - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - or the loss thereof.
Mostly Govts understand - in the UK we cap the wholesale rate - i.e underwrite the diff between that and the retail price - to ensure that consumers are not under pressure of course.
Edit - BP will report their profit/loss next week - now imagine whether those numbers will be in red or blackā¦ - hard to perceive in these times of difficulties for consumers?
Belief and knowledge are not the same - I believe that you exist as person in Aus - yet I cannot say that I know that.
Knowledge is a result of experience - if I have encountered (met) you then I can say I believe you are.
I havenāt seen God - no images, recordings, scientific proof - but I have encountered Him.
That meeting is as real as our interaction on this media - well truth is it is more real - here I type on a keyboard (often having to hit the back arrow to cover mistype) with God no need, He hits the back key for me - i.e. he wafts away my mistakes.
Irrational? - yeah likely - but here is a piece of knowledge - as a person lives this life the chances of that meeting increase - and as traders we live a life of chance.
The troll does not use English as normal people do ā¦ To it the language is just words - to be used as weapons - no rationality is ever embedded in itās diatribe !
Colonel Douglas Macgregor (CV Below) provides a very sobering evaluation of the Ukrainian situation going into 2023. Itās a very pragmatic view of the failings of NATO and takes a subtle swipe at the Biden Administrationās incompetent approach to the conflictā¦
This is playing out like Vietnam, or maybe Korea might be a better example. The US will spend billions on this war, kill tens of thousands, and in the end, will just walk away. That would be the best outcome at this point, my fear is this will escalate to a nuclear exchange
Unfortunately, the US has a government unlike any other, all policy is made to appease special interests or polls
God is good, all of the time
This can apply to everything this administration has touch over the last 2 years
āThe Russians feel betrayed. They know that we built the army in Ukraine, cultivated hatred against them in Ukraine, and pushed the Ukrainians to attack them. We need to stay out of this. It could lead to a confrontation with Russia.ā ā Col. Douglas Macgregor
Now thatās just plain silly.
Sounds like he enjoys his time on TV.
Also says NATO will collapse. Definitely a Putin/Russia fan. No thanks.
@dudebro Annndā¦ Which bit of this comment isnāt true??
Who has trained Ukraine military? The U.S has already trained more than 3,100 Ukrainian troops on how to use and maintain certain weapons and other equipment, including howitzers, armoured vehicles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS. Other nations are also conducting training on the weapons they provideā¦
Who is providing military assistance? The US is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine, having committed $27.4 billion since the start of the Biden administration (Proceeding the Conflict) $26.7 billion of that assistance has been provided since February 2022ā¦
āIn this time of uncertainty, we have a clear way forward. Help Ukraine defend itself. Support the Ukrainian people. Hold Russia accountable.ā
Antony J. Blinken
āUkraineās trajectory toward its Euro-Atlantic future has been clear, and the Ukrainian people can be proud of their achievements. Throughout this period, the United States has stood with you.ā
Antony J. Blinken
Say YOU! Fortunately, the Colonel has a much more informed view of NATO Operations as a whole and has given an educated, informed opinion on the Alliance going forwardā¦
Just another opinion piece rant from @dudebro ā¦ Where no facts are givenā¦
Dude, where have you been, I hope things are going well
will the US make billions or will it be the US Military Industrial Complex making those billions, While the American people are left with a devalued currency?
The best we the people can do is own stock in energy and defense, neither sector is going away
Russia was doing Russia things - annexation of Crimea and funding fake ānationalistsā in eastern Ukraine way before the US started training Ukrainian regular troops.
Iām thinking Russia attacking Ukraine, attacking itās sovereign borders, is what got this started, donāt you?
Your buddy Macgregor is all for allowing Putin to take what he wants, because at some point in time in the history of the world Ukraine belonged to the Soviet Union.
With that thinking, itād be okay for the Dutch or the British to come lay claim to Australia since you knowā¦ history.
Like I said, silly.
The spending in Ukraine is nothing compared to what the US currently spends on defense and what it would spend if Ukraine fell completely. Thereās plenty of defense budget to go around. $750b in 2021, $745b in 2022 and something like $850 billion in 2023.
The next budget is being proposed at over $1T. Pushed mainly by the centrist GOP and recent budgets approved by BOTH parties.
I donāt agree with increased spending at this scale for defense, but the military industrial complex has plenty of funding to go around.
What you hear in the US media is politicians complaining that the southern border is being militarized like Ukraineās army is being militarized. āWhy should they get all the money?ā If it were not the case, and we spent big money for an army at the southern border, the deficit and immigration hawks would not be complaining. Theyād move on to the next social program to cut funding to.
Absolutely this sadly. And if and when the Ukraine crisis is over, the defense budget will rotate over even more heavily to protecting against China, the other boogie man.
We need to protect our economy, and the US military is just one apparatus the US uses to maintain itās āinterestsā worldwide.
So we are basically repeating history as the new Roman Empire, I would have hoped we could have evolved passed that.
Hyperinflation, homelessness, Income gap, declining middle class, unaffordable healthcare, Student loan debt, ā¦ is this the economy we are protecting, are we not really just protecting the status quo
Weird reply re the 70 year thing since it was your good self who first mentioned Korea - but there you go
Anyways there will be no nukes - in 1962 ( yeah now Iām the one going back 60 years lol) we were told by our teacher to kneel and pray that there would not be a nuke war - JFK held firm and the Russians backed down.
That quote is NPR less than a month back - look at the first five words and ask again.
After independence Ukraine had one of the largest armies in Europe (over 6500 tanks, 1100 aircraft and some 500 ships) - and the 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in the world - behind Russia and the US.
So what happened the nukes - why did Ukraine bin them and downsize their military?
They relied on a guarantee - a security guarantee underwritten by their nearest neighbour, UK, and US.
Herewith a copy and paste of the first paragraph of that guarantee: 1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine
I donāt think anyone here is not familiar with this term, and while I agree that a nuclear exchange is unlikely, wars do tend to escalate, and a desperate leader is capable of anything
Nothing wrong with going back in history and learning from it, something I see little of coming from Moscow or Washington
Peter Zeihan has a rather chilling assessment of where this war is going, and he sees nukes as being in play
