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I was reading that Russia has racked up 15,000 KIA so far.
Two months.
By comparison the US took ten years to get to about four times that in actual 'Nam.
Our worst year was '68 and that was almost 17k. A year to lose almost as many troops as Russia has in two months.
Losing those near 60k troops upended American politics for decades.
Losing troops at six times the rate of our worst year can't have a positive effect on Russia.
Unlike Vietnam there is territory to be won, and things to capture in Ukraine. The propaganda is so ridiculous it's hard to know what is real there or not. Russia has already presented captured evidence to the UN though. So at least there are some aims to their presence. Afghanistan was their Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Gee
Afghanistan was the Soviet Union's Vietnam. Russia is getting its own shot at the brass ring.
DeleteRussia's control of the media and suppression of dissent seems to be keeping Putin from bearing the political fallout to a certain degree. However it remains to be seen if he's on the level of Stalin in being able to rule by fear or not.
ReplyDeleteI've read that the ratio of fatalties/wounded for the US in Iraq was 1:7.2. Assuming that the Russian military does not enjoy the same superior medical facilities as the US, and working on a ratio of 1:5, the figures you refer to, if correct, imply total casualties of 90,000. Given the commonly reported total deployment for Russian forces of 100,000, I'm amazed that the Russians are still in the game:).
ReplyDeleteI guess there is a reason that Russia is trying to hire mercs out of the middle east and eastern europe.
DeletePutin is a very stubborn and egotistical man. He strikes me as the kind of guy who will piss away resources for years on something like this.
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