Crisis in Donbass, Kiev Officials Say Ukraine Only Capable of Limited Counteroffensive in Kherson - YouTube - Alexander Mercouris
My view is that U.S./NATO tutors gave the Ukranian military such bad training and tactical/strategic advice that it verges on a war crime.
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It might be worse than that. There are persistent rumors that US and NATO officers are actually running the Ukrainian military, and that some of the hardware, like the HIMARS, are being operated by US soldiers and Marines.
ReplyDeleteSykes, Douglas Macgregor and Scott Ritter have repeatedly stated just that, although one of the two said that the HIMARS were being operated by U.S. contractors. I don't recall whether either provided sources for their statements, but they spoke as if this was definite, not just a rumor or speculation. They made the statements weeks ago. I have a vague recollection that others who were also plugged into the American defense community made the same or similar statements in recent weeks.
ReplyDeleteI didn't save the links to Ritter or Macgregor's statements but the next time I come across the mention, I'll post it either in this comment section or as a separate post.
As to whether the US is actually running the Ukranian military -- it is definite that the U.S. is paying the salaries of all the Ukranian military and civil servants. That has been repeatedly stated in recent weeks without challenge.
This does not necessarily mean the US (maybe with input from British and NATO) is handling the strategic and tactical decisions for the Ukranian military. Those have been so badly executed that there have been numerous and persistent rumors that Zelensky himself has been overriding battlefield decisions by his generals and that this has led to a schism, which according to rumor is worsening by the day.
But to return to the HIMARS, if they were indeed used on the POW camp, then we're looking at U.S. involvement in a very specific war crime given that the US contractors wh ma the HIMARS work under direction of the U.S.
The Russians traced the trajectory of the missiles that hit the POW camp and claim it is definite they were launched from Ukranian-held territory. I think that part of their claim can be accepted given that it is nonsense that the Russians would have bombed the camp themselves. However, whether these were actually HIMARS is open to question. The Russians might have gilded the lily by depositing fragments from other HIMARS attacks near the POW camp.
It would take more of a forensic investigation than 'outside' observers are willing/able to make at this time to get at the truth of the matter.
In any case, the U.S. is more-or-less openly fighting a proxy war against the Russians in Ukraine.
I think Scott Ritter would disagree with my contention that the U.S./NATO have given horrifically bad military training to the Ukrainians during the past eight years. He sees them as being very well trained.
But I think Andrei Martyanov would agree with me.