Pretty certain west germnay had a lot more during the cold war.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
Ukraine to win by biggest margin ever.
Not sure if posted before.
That doesn't mean Germany should make such a mess with their own armed forces. As someone pointed out earlier, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces seem to be better equipped and better prepared for fighting. The only issue that Japan has is a lack of appetite for serving in the SDF unless the country is attacked or under serious threat of an attack.
That includes the current bunch of conscripts that are drafted twice per year (for 1 year) — between 250 & 300 thousands. Not sure how they're using that 1 million though to be honest.
Hittin' em where it hurts
Poor brave lad
Out of curiosity what mess are you talking about and what makes you think that Japan are better prepared for fighting?
Or another way to put that is self-determining nations have decided it is in their interest to be aligned with NATO rather than Putin. I understand it's not as simple as that but I keep hearing that NATO expanded to the east as if those former Soviet Union colonies determine their own interests in agreeing to join.
With 1 million active personnel, making it the 5th biggest number as such in the world, it is still surprising that they would send conscripts instead of only their regulars. Unless the war drags on and on, reversists/conscripts are usually kept at home.
Nah. There are some restrictions like no nukes and limits to number of soldiers in the 2+4 treaty. But we have about half the number of soldiers allowed and the problems are largely related to equipment and supplies. It's just negligence.
I agree that it is a fair bit odd.
I think (going off wiki, so feel free to correct me if you know better) that Russia has like 1,9 million of military personnel, including 1 million of active combatants (the rest being those support positions, administrators etc.). It is wiki though, so it may be wrong.
It would be naive. NATO is a closed club and the eastern nations we are talking about are with all due respect militarily irrelevant. The leading NATO nations are without a doubt using them against Russia.
We're seeing the conscripts more because they're more likely to be captured I expect. Doesn't mean there are not regulars and SOF in there.
Sadly a good chance they withdraw. Ditto with WC qualifiers.
And the delusions of a significant part of the population that if Germany doesn't start it there won't be another war involving it.
Shit
Somehow I doubt that it's going to change Putin's mind but Russia's going to be in such big shit
An all out war between NATO and Russia very likely results in the world ending in a nuclear fire.
They can play a couple of minutes of silence with no one on the stage and Ukraine will still win.
If I'm not mistaken it's around 1.5m personnel and between 900k-1m troops.
I'm not saying otherwise. Russia has legitimate beef with NATO, and it's clear to understand they don't want NATO parked on their doorstep, but those nations are still self-determining nations, unless we are claiming NATO forced them to sign up at gunpoint.
Thanks.
In fairness you sent Liz Truss first
It honestly pissed me off to no end that Russia is ruled by this absolutely sole stain.
By all accounts, they should be a nation to be marvelled at, given their resources, size and rich history. This arsehole is like the lowest of glass ceilings you will ever see on a nation.
Even despite Putin's cabal being in charge, they're still a superpower but there's so much more there...
By all accounts, they should be a nation to be marvelled at, given their resources, size and rich history. This arsehole is like the lowest of glass ceilings you will ever see on a nation.
Even despite Putin's cabal being in charge, they're still a superpower but there's so much more there...
Did you not read about Germans everywhere complaining about the state of affairs in their army? They keep on rambling about how their military equipment (like helicopters) is left in a really poor state.
As for Japan, feedback from Western armies training with the SDF keeps praising the Japanese. Furthermore, massive investments have been made by Japan to improve the JSDF since the last decade, either that's through new hardware or more joint training with Western armies. I have been following a lot closer on the evolution of the JSDF since the Senkaku Islands dispute began.
Every time Biden, or Wallace, or another European leader comes out and categorically states "We will not be sending troops to Ukraine", it just sends a big green light signal to Putin. Far better to just say nothing and leave it ambiguous. All you are doing by stating that is encouraging Putin, and making the Ukrainians see that we just dont care that much.
Shit
Somehow I doubt that it's going to change Putin's mind but Russia's going to be in such big shit
That is why I was of the opinion that tough sanctions should've been imposed straight away. No messing around. Go all in, and then negotiate steps back if necessary.
But you are probably right, unfortunately, dark days ahead. Putin tried to reassure the oligarchs yesterday when he said that the state will give them more freedom. Meaning more burden on ordinary people.
It is nice to see Japan waking up to the issues on their door step. Like you I'm impressed by the shift in the past decade from them.
I know it’s almost meme level joking about this being enough to end the war but these sorts of things are going to add up to the Russian public over time. No Eurovision, no Grand Prix, no Champions League, the list is going to go on and on and over time the public is going to begin to massively resent being cut off from the rest of the world.
If I were Finland I think I would join now before its too late
I doubt there would be a message. Once one goes they probably all go.
Yeah I was thinking this. They are not gonna to have a massive impact economically or physically or anything but everybody needs to show that they want absolutely nothing to do with Russia in any form.