12 Comments
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Alan Cotter's avatar

Excellent article, Wes.

Brian Rosen's avatar

You must surely have a big staff to produce so great a quantity of well researched and referenced quality analysis. Your work is unparalleled. Thanks.

Wes O'Donnell's avatar

Thanks Brian. This is my full-time job now which gives me the freedom to read and write for 10 hours a day. I’ll pass on your compliment to my wife who represents the sole member of the research team 😆

Brian Rosen's avatar

“Wife” takes on a whole new shade of meaning in your household! Credit to her is credit due.

BG Pete Chiefari's avatar

LOL! Your wife is an absolute powerhouse! Be careful! She may get an offer from one of the largest technological defense firms and you guys will be moving somewhere! We don't want to lose either of you!

serghiy's avatar
2hEdited

…only it’s not a “conflict”, it’s a aggression and occupation, conflict implies dispute

…p.s. i understand your military mind using this word in a different context “conflict” as a subject of war, but in a political context it might be taken or use as a talking point for propaganda

pascal martin's avatar

Putin cannot eliminate corruption: his power depends on it. Without corruption there would be no loyalty to Putin: he buys loyalty.

John Laurie's avatar

It sounds like 2014 (Crimea and Maidan) was a wake-up call to Ukraine that the corrupt Russian system never recieved.

John Schwarzkopf's avatar

Wes, if you don't already follow Don Knight I strongly suggest it. He writes pretty much exclusively on Ukraine. I sent your post to him and suggested he follow you as well.

https://donovanwashere.substack.com/p/the-devil-had-a-month-from-hell?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1wbr1r

BG Pete Chiefari's avatar

"I wonder if Putin feels regret, or at least, a sense of irony for what he’s created?"

I really enjoyed your post today because I've been wondering the same thing for quite a while now! I do dearly love the Law of Unintended Consequences! Great post, Wes! We all made the same mistake. We all were trained the same way! I didn't think Ukrainians had a chance either until I started seeing videos of Javelins taking out entire Russian armor columns!

One thing is certain! Western armies have a lot of catching up to do.

J. Butler's avatar

Tucker Carlson (yeah, Putin's shill) says Ukraine is undergoing a 'Great Replacement' because they are bringing in Africans to replace their casualties. Seems like Russian disinformation to me. Thoughts?

Wes O'Donnell's avatar

Butler, that sounds like disinformation.

Ukraine does have foreign volunteers, through its International Legion, and that’s been public for years. That’s a long way from Great Replacement.

Ironically, the documented large-scale recruitment of Africans in this war points much more toward Russia, including repeated reports that African men were misled or trafficked into fighting or war-related work for Moscow.