What I am about to write may come across as being a Russian apologist, but I assure you that it is not; it is, however, a blunt assessment that will not engage in wishful thinking and not underestimate the enemy as the MSM undoubtedly appears to be doing at every hour with every broadcast on the Ukraine war. If there is one thing MSM constantly pursues is quixotic interpretations of the military aspects of the war thus far, which is very dangerous because they are setting up the public for some unexpected and heavy disappointment. I am making no pronouncements about the outcome of the war. Ultimately, I think Russia will be mired in a persistent Ukrainian insurgence situation. Of course, the humanitarian coverage is just the opposite, and rightly so: Bleak and overwhelming. But to harp on the David vs. Goliath narrative, though compelling, wholly belies the reality. And all these former American military top brass on MSNBC and CNN engaging in schadenfreude over Russian perceived ineptness is also dangerous.
Some particularly frustrating examples include the following. That G.D. 40-mile long “stalled” convey. If I have to hear commentators suggest that Russia ran out of gas and supplies or Russia can’t get their act together, then I’m going to go f***ing postal. Has it ever occurred to anyone that perhaps they stopped intentionally? Actually, Secretary of Defense Bliken admitted that yesterday. They now believe Russia has paused to regroup and re-think their Kyiv strategy, which, of course, happens because nothing ever goes according to plan after the first shot. It probably says more about the state of the war, knowing that Russia feels emboldened to pause in plain sight since the convey remains unmolested. I haven’t seen any updated satellite images of destroyed and smoldering vehicles. That d*mn convoy remains just as it was days ago. (And as I update this post, new reporting reveals that Ukrainians are harassing the convoy and that they blew up a bridge, which is causing the Russian column to stall out, so Glory to Ukraine!)
Then there are those images of a few Russian soldiers looting a grocery store because the assumption is the Russian army can’t get food to their soldiers. I saw those images, and clearly, the amount of product they were taking could not feed a squad for more than a day. Who knows. Maybe Russians were stealing HoHos and Twinkies because I’m sure those are not standard ration issue.
Next, we move on to those images of Russian equipment abandoned on the side of the road, which is supposed to indicate that the military is outdated and in chaos. Of the thousands of pieces of military hardware, some of it is going to just f***ing breakdown. It means nothing about the overall Russian military. I promise you. Ukrainians are feeling the brunt of the 99 percent of all the remaining military equipment that is working just fine!
The problem with MSM reporting and experts “analyzing” the battlefield is that they use inductive reasoning to construct wrong conclusions. One incident of soldiers stealing food means Russia can’t feed the army. Vehicles stopped in convoy means the army ran out of gas. Equipment on the side of the road means the entire military apparatus is breaking down. Look! I am by no means defending Russia, but I want people to clear away all the happy talk and focus on the real problem: Russia is advancing, albeit slowly. It may not be the American military ideal of a military operation that should have been accomplished by now, but they are advancing. This has always been a fatal flaw with Americans and the West. They have underestimated Putin for decades, and they continue to do it at this very moment. This is why people need to wake up.