re: #79 Hecuba’s daughter

They are not quite a paper tiger because they can level most of the nation and kill many of its citizens through weapons fired from a distance. Yes, in conventional warfare against a much smaller foe, they have demonstrated their inadequacy, BUT that is not the “game” they are now playing. What we have learned is that our training techniques are very successful in preparing a military to combat a foe when a nation is led by a charismatic figure who unites his people and inspires them to fight against the enemy. Clearly, the training didn’t take in Afghanistan — but the foe there was internal, not an invading force, and the nation’s leaders did not have the loyalty of the citizenry.

Answer this: if the rest of the world had acted when we invaded Iraq as the world has when Russia invaded Ukraine - a slow roll-out of weapons at first - do you think we would have succeeded in taking over? Don’t confuse our taking over with how we ran the government afterwards, I’m just talking about the invasion.

To me, the answer is yes. We were in far better shape, even with a good chunk of our forces in Afghanistan, than Russia is now. That’s why Russia isn’t living up to what everyone thought they were, that they projected they were.