What Works, What Doesn’t Work, And What’s Missing (Part 2)

Mar 21, 2022

We are now over three weeks into Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and we can now see clearly what military aspects of the war do not work.

Russian logistics do not work. The massive Russian military, for all its firepower, apparently does not have an efficient logistics system to fuel and feed their military. Kiev is a day’s drive from the border of Belarus, and the Russian army ran out of gas–literally–on its way to the Ukrainian capital? Apparently so.

And the Russian advances on the eastern and southern fronts are also progressing very slowly. This is not only due to stubborn Ukrainian fighting, but also to the Russian military’s incompetence in coordinating supplies getting to their forces. However, make no mistake–warfare is a skill of adjustments–and if the Russians are determined enough, they can and will make the adjustments to keep their military advancing.

Why haven’t the Russians achieved air dominance or air supremacy yet? While the Russian air force has scored plenty of hits, the skies over Ukraine are not peaceful for the invaders. Ukrainian jets and missiles continue to take out Russian aircraft.

The T-72 tank has met its match with the hand-held Javelin missile launcher. This NATO weapon has all but relegated Russian tanks and armored vehicles to the scrap yard. The Russians have captured large numbers of Javelins also, and have dispatched their quota of Ukrainian T-72s and armored personnel carriers.

We may be witnessing a new era in warfare in which a tank against an infantryman armed with a missile is as effective as a bayonet charge was against machine guns.

Sanctions don’t work, at least not yet. The world has come down hard on Vlad Putin. The economic sanctions are crushing the Russian people (tragically), but not Vlad or his buddies in the Russian mafia or his military. They will continue to move ahead to slowly grind down Ukraine.

Diplomacy doesn’t work. It did not prevent this war, and it has not stopped it. And it won’t. If there is a cease fire, it will only be a respite for both sides to re-arm.

And lastly, weakness does not work. Military, economic, cultural, emotional, political weakness ONLY invites aggression from thugs. If you want to save lives and prevent oppression, never ever be weak. It is always…peace through strength.