Category: War
Luck. Now that’s a difficult concept to get your head around. Even this deep into the Information Age when most modern folks worship at the exalted altar of science, you can still find people who refuse to walk under a ladder, won’t open an umbrella indoors, or say “Bless you” when someone nearby sneezes. We humans are pretty darn strange.
However, what do you expect? Random chance is indeed a fickle mistress. In the superb book Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab, two SAS operators are sitting side by side in a stolen car stopped at a roadblock on a black rainy night in the Iraqi desert during the First Gulf War. The two men are oriented shoulder-to-shoulder, and the car is stopped in a long line of vehicles rendered immobile by an Iraqi checkpoint.
When discovery was inevitable the two men bailed out of the car, one on the left and the other on the right. One man escaped to freedom, while the other was killed. They began in the same spot, yet each man’s ultimate fate was driven by the side of the car he exited. It’s hard not to get a little weirded out over stuff like that.
Personally, I attribute such stuff to Divine Providence. My faith that an all-powerful God loves and watches over me is a source of great comfort when life is going pear-shaped. God and I have gotten through some remarkable scrapes together. However, in the case of SSG Alan Magee, we find a tale that strains credulity. His story would be impossible to believe had it not been reliably verified.
The Man
Alan Eugene Magee was born on January 13, 1919, the youngest of six children. He grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey. When the war broke out Magee enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and trained to be a gunner on a heavy bomber. The heavies—the B17 Flying Fortress and the B24 Liberator—promised to revolutionize warfare. Through these expensive strategic assets, the Allies hoped to break the will of the German people to fight. Victory, however, would come at a terrible cost.
SSG Magee’s mount, a B17F christened “Snap! Crackle Pop!,” carried a crew of ten. WW2-era fliers had a good deal more latitude to personalize their aircraft than we did when I flew for Uncle Sam. Part of that was because so many of these old planes were destroyed so quickly. Tactical aircraft fighting in WW2 frequently did not survive very long in combat. By contrast, our mounts operating without anybody actively shooting at us were expected to last essentially indefinitely.
For a time I flew an entirely different Boeing product. In my day the flight engineer and crew chief owned the airplane. It was their names that rightfully got stenciled on the sides. The pilots just borrowed them from time to time. We typically drew specific tail numbers for specific missions at the whim of the maintenance officers. When we deployed to some austere spaces we’d typically personalize our aircraft with chalk intending to wash it off when we got home.
One of my flight engineers returned from a desert deployment with something quite risqué scrawled on the belly of his aircraft. I never crawled underneath them, so I had no idea it was there. Apparently his pornographic expression was intended to entertain the infantry guys with whom we operated. That was all fine until we got back to home station and did a demo for the local press. The belly of his airplane replete with graphic anatomical references made the front page of the local newspaper. Steve, I bet you thought I had forgotten that. Those were some epically great times.
The Plane
The B17G was the definitive late-war Fortress. The G-model included such upgrades as a motorized chin turret up front to help dissuade attacking enemy fighters from trying nose-on attacks. SSG Magee’s B17F lacked this particular system in favor of a brace of free fifties in ball mounts in the front Plexiglas.
“Snap! Crackle! Pop!” was one of 12,726 of the heavy bombers that rolled out of two plants during World War 2. These planes were powered by four Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone supercharged radial engines each producing 1,200 horsepower. The Wright Cyclone was an iconic design also used in the P36 Hawk, the Douglas DC-3, the SBD Dauntless dive bomber, the Sikorsky H34 helicopter, and, in slightly modified form, certain variants of the M4 Sherman tank.
The B17’s bomb load ranged from 4,500 to 8,000 pounds depending upon the required range and environmental conditions. The maximum takeoff weight was a whopping 65,500 pounds, and the plane cruised at 158 knots or 182 miles per hour. The B17’s service ceiling was 35,600 feet.
SSG Magee’s B17F packed eleven AN/M2 .50-caliber machineguns in a variety of handheld and powered mountings. These weapons and mounts were meticulously designed to provide optimal coverage all around the plane, particularly when flown as part of an extensive and coordinated formation with multiple aircraft. SSG Magee was a relatively short man, so he got tagged for the ball turret.
The Sperry Ball Turret
Sperry and Emerson Electric both developed examples of powered ball turrets for use in ventral mounts on combat aircraft during World War 2. The Sperry design was deemed superior and placed into mass production. While the mounts were radically different, both the B17 and the B24 used the same gun turret.
The tricycle landing gear design of the B24 necessitated a retractable mount for the ball turret. Were it not for the retractable mount the turret would strike the ground when the pilot rotated the aircraft for takeoff. By contrast, the conventional landing gear layout of the B17 allowed the ball turret to remain in place through all modes of flight.
The ball turret was unimaginably cramped. As a result, this position was typically relegated to the smallest member of the crew. To enter the turret the guns were swiveled straight down, and the gunner entered through a small metal hatch in the back. Once in place, the gunner sat in the fetal position flanked on each side by the ample breaches of his twin Browning fifty-caliber machineguns. There was an electronic reflex sight mounted between the gunner’s feet. Charging these weapons and clearing stoppages were incredible chores within the cramped confines of the ball turret. Ammunition fed from the belly of the plane through a pair of articulated feed chutes.
Because of the dearth of usable space, ball turret gunners flew without parachutes. Their chutes were stowed in the crew compartment nearby. However, to bail out, the ball turret gunner had to swivel the guns straight down, unlock and open the access panel, crawl backward out of the turret, attach the parachute, and exit the aircraft. As you might imagine, in a plane that might be gyrating wildly or on fire this could be quite the impressive feat.
The Event
On January 3, 1943, SSG Magee strapped into “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” for his seventh combat mission while assigned to the 350th Bomb Squadron of the 303d Bomb Group. Their objective this fateful day was a daylight run over Saint-Nazaire, France. The submarines that sortied out of Saint-Nazaire caused no end of frustration to trans-Atlantic convoys. As a result, Allied planners invested tremendous effort in trying to take out the sub pens that housed and serviced them.
Once near the target, SSG Magee’s aircraft encountered murderously thick flak. A nearby shell burst from a high-velocity 88mm flak gun disabled his ball turret and liberally ventilated both the fuselage of the airplane as well as SSG Magee. SSG Magee clambered out of the turret with difficulty only to find that his parachute had been shredded by the flak hit. As he tried to get his head around that revelation a second shell tore off part of the right-wing. Now uncontrollable, “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” entered a vicious spin.
SSG Magee’s plane was at cruising altitude, and his quick egress from the ball turret left him without access to the plane’s oxygen supply. He somehow made it to the radio compartment before losing consciousness due to hypoxia. Soon thereafter his B17 disintegrated.
SSG Magee was miraculously thrown free of the crippled airplane and fell some four miles toward the French ground below. He ultimately ended up crashing through the glass roof of the Saint-Nazaire train station. Passersby found him unconscious but alive on the floor of the terminal.
SSG Magee had 28 different shrapnel wounds from the original flak attack. In addition, he suffered multiple broken bones, severe facial trauma, and damage to both his lungs and kidneys. His right arm was also nearly severed from tearing through the glass of the train station. However, he was inexplicably still alive.
The Rest of the Story
Terminal velocity for a limp human is about 120 miles per hour. Nothing about SSG Magee’s ordeal should have been survivable. However, he was taken prisoner by the Germans and eventually recovered after some decent medical care. He spent more than two years in a German POW camp before being liberated in May of 1945. Once he was repatriated he was awarded the Air Medal along with a well-deserved Purple Heart.
After the war, Alan Magee earned his pilot’s license and worked in the airline industry. He retired in 1979 and moved to New Mexico. SSG Magee died in January of 2003 of a stroke and kidney failure at the ripe age of 84, arguably the luckiest man alive.
“A weapon that kills without honor, without skill, but even so, it gives power and victory and Victory wipes away dishonor.
An unassuming, relatively kind man has been sitting alone at the bar…His name is Poland and he is a regular here.
China and Korea (also regulars) are sitting at a table. They usually just hangout and keep to themselves. One is enjoying a rum and coke. The other, a red-bull vodka (respectively).
Every once in a while Poland runs into his buddies Britain and France, but neither are here at the moment. Poland being Poland, contents himself with a drink or three, wondering if his friends might show.
Japan heard that China and Korea were at the bar though. Japan figured he would show up and give them a hard time. Japan has a Napoleon Complex. He is sort of a maverick.
Italy goes to the same exact bar with his friend Germany. It’s the usual rabble. When they get there, Italy runs straight to the radio to pick a song. Germany slugs the beer as quickly as Switzerland the bartender provides them.
The USSR meets Germany at the bar. They usually hate each other, but fuck that guy Poland, just sitting there acting all innocent… They secretly agree to jump Poland when he decides to go take a piss.
Lest we forget Japan who just ripped a few shots of Sake. He is feeling nice.
Silently, Japan strikes!
He karate chops Korea and China at the point where neck meets shoulder…
This renders both men unconscious before they, or anyone else, even realizes that it happened.
Japan gives them a couple more whacks for good measure, steals their money, and doesn’t even leave enough coin to cover China and Korea’s tab… acting like any/all of this is perfectly acceptable…
Nobody else seems to care, which is absurd.
Italy walks over to Germany and grabs a seat.
While Italy was fiddling with the radio station, Germany got him a beer, even though he knows Italy prefers wine.
Italy dutifully drinks the beer.
Germany hopes beer will make Italy tougher.
Poland finally gets up to go take a piss!
Germany and The USSR quickly follow him.
While Poland is facing the wall urinal, relieving himself. Germany charges in and punches Poland from the left, and The USSR punches Poland from the right.
They totally catch him with his pants down.
Poland is knocked out cold and he might have serious brain damage.
Germany and The USSR agree to divide up Poland’s valuables, his watch, the cash in his wallet, even the ring on his finger.
As Germany and The USSR exit the bathroom France and Britain walk into the bar.
France is jacked, but his muscles are mostly for show. He is even more muscular than The USSR.
Britain is smart and he knows it. He knows his friends are less likely to get in trouble if he goes with them. They were supposed to meet Poland but they were not known for their timeliness.
Oh well, sorry Poland.
They go to the bar to grab a drink.
Germany and The USSR walk by France and Britain. It is fairly awkward because two of these guys do not get along well.
Germany says something about France’s mom.
France fires back and says something about Germany’s sister.
They get up in each other’s face. Most of the shit talking is incoherent. Their accents are thick, and they insist on talking over one another while pointing in random directions.
Britain just asks everyone to calm down and make some concessions. He wants to appease everyone, and wants to talk this out.
The USSR does not really want any part in the argument and walks away. He just keeps walking back to his seat. He just saw Finland walk in and he fucking hates Finland (because Finland exists).
With a glass of wine now in hand, Italy shouts encouragement to Germany over Italy’s shoulder. That’s what it sounded like at least. Italy is standing over near the radio again turning knobs. He’s searching for a radio station to listen in on a football match.
The USSR decides now is his chance to pick on little Finland. He fucking hates Finland for simply existing, and everyone else seems distracted at the moment.
He walks right over to Finland (who is sitting down drinking a brewski).
Finland gives The USSR more than he bargained for though.
While sitting down drinking a beer mind you, Finland kicks The USSR in the knee really fucking hard. The USSR lunges for him but “Fin” slides under the table and pops out on the other side.
Finland then finishes his beer and gives The USSR the middle finger.
The USSR looks like a bitch in front of his tough German friend.
Boom! Just across the bar Germany punches France straight in the gut, where he least expected. No one saw it coming. France goes down faster than anyone would have thought. Then Germany swings at Britain, but Britain dodges it and ducks out of the bar.
Britain is thinking to himself, ’holy cannoli that escalated rather quickly I dare say.’
He needs to regroup and gather his wits about him.
France is somehow already down and out for the count.
Germany rallies a few more of the Central Europeans sitting at some tables around the bar. They include Austria, Romania, and Hungary to name a few.
They join in because they want Germany to like them, and they do not want him to knock them out like he did to France. A few saw what happened to Poland and they told everybody else.
They’re a bunch of kiss-asses.
That cocky American has been drinking at the bar with his good pal The Philippines.
These two always go for the cheaper beer so they can drink them in quantity. They are trying to ignore most of this seemingly petty nonsense but the booze are getting the best of them.
It seems like Switzerland the bartender is fine with letting them drink to their hearts content.
Germany gathers his new friends. They happen over to the bar to grab more beers from Switzerland the bartender as well.
But “guess who’s back… back again?”
No it’s not Slim Shady, it’s Great Britain!
Britain rolls through. He gathered his wits, and he’s back for a good scrap. Britain shouts for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and America to come over to his side of the bar and help a brother out.
To Britain’s credit, he was willing to stand alone either way.
“Bully!”
America decides to go drink a beer with his buddies because fuck bullies.
America and Germany are uncomfortably close to each other now.
It’s actually rather awkward… America wants to help France, China, and Korea get back up, but Germany is not about to let that happen.
Japan feels like America needs to mind his own business and go back to his spot on the other side of the bar.
Suddenly, and without warning, Germany grabs a bowl of bar nuts and starts throwing them at Britain.
Britain starts throwing bar nuts back at Germany…
Honestly, at this point they are throwing any small to medium sized objects that they can get their hands on. Few projectiles actually hit their intended targets!
Switzerland is beside himself.
America wants to go back to his seat at the moment and enjoy his beer/s away from the ruckus and hubbub. He makes a point to give Britain an extra bowl of his fresh popcorn on the way though.
Germany notices this! He wants fresh popcorn too! What’s America’s deal!?
Germany throws bar nuts at America and pretends it wasn’t him…
Luckily, America gets back to his seat. His seat is pretty far away from Germany, so he knows he is safe for now (safe from Germany’s beer nuts at least).
Canada to his credit, endures further onslaught afield.
However, Germany’s supply of beer nuts are dwindling, and without them, he will struggle to regain the initiative!
Consequently, Germany has been contemplating the fact that The USSR has something like half of Poland’s stuff…
Germany wants ALL of Poland’s stuff (Poland had some nice stuff). He also noticed that The USSR has a slight limp now. Finland might have shown The USSR to be weaker than Germany first thought…
Could this be the opportune moment to strike?
Germany feels confident he can take on The USSR now. The USSR even sees Germany coming from across the bar and does absolutely nothing about it. He does not think Germany “has the balls.”
Nonetheless, Germany full hand bitch slaps the Soviet straight across the face, followed by a strong knee to the testicles (with surprisingly little resistance).
The USSR takes a knee, holding his genitals.
Japan runs over to Germany and says “nice one man.” Japan fucking hates The USSR more than anyone else, except maybe Finland.
Japan high fives Germany and pretty soon they are standing back to back. This is a new friendship because they used to fight each other.
It will have to do.
America, Australia, and the boys (finally) decide it’s time to help China and Korea.
Their friend The Philippines could use some help too, now that you mention it.
Basically anyone with arm’s reach of Japan has taken a few whacks.
Consequently, America tries convincing Switzerland the bartender to stop serving Japan and Germany any alcohol.
The majority of the bar is in agreement, and their supplies of alcohol begin to dwindle down to precarious levels. Switzerland is no longer inclined to replenish their stocks.
Japan and Germany are definitely going to need more alcohol (and bar nuts).
America turns to point and yell at Japan, but SMASH!!
Japan cracks a bottle across the back of America’s head then lunges after The Philippines.
“Who is America to tell anyone else how much they can have to drink!? Who said Budweiser is the ‘King’ of Beers!?”
America stumbles. The Philippines gets thoroughly pummeled in retaliation.
Germany basically refuses to realize he might be screwed now. He picked a fight with half the bar, and that is probably not exaggeration. His friends include some Central Europeans, Japan…who just took a cheap shot at America and The Philippines.
And Italy… who abruptly tries to stand and put up a fight for a change, mumbles something incoherent, only to fall face first into a table.
It would seem the table dealt more damage to Italy than Italy dealt to the table.
Take note, Italy probably should not have mixed beer and wine. He is thoroughly passed out.
You could blame Germany for that, but Italy is responsible for his own decisions.
Everyone else goes back to their altercations. Italy is left alone… but Germany’s rear is now exposed as a consequence.
Japan has his hands full fighting America who is “wicked pissed off,” and sobering up.
He figures Japan has been a real pickle, and America is going to light Japan up if he can. Japan always puts up a good fight, but he is smaller than America.
Meanwhile, The USSR finds his footing again. He gets back up, albeit slowly. He wants to confront both Germany, and Finland. The USSR is still feeling those last hits though and has to take it slow. His balls still hurt, but the fact that he is still in the fight is a commendable feat unto itself.
Germany has to focus on The USSR now. He sees the look on the guys face, realizing that he really pissed The USSR off…
(Actual picture of The Soviet Union’s face after getting kicked in the balls by Germany)
Credit – Revenant
…Germany should have thought this through more thoroughly.
Shit.
Germany is trying to figure out how to best deal with The USSR. One would assume that after getting full-hand bitch slapped in the face, and kneed in the testicles, The USSR would have given up (most others would have).
Italy is still laying face down, knocked out cold, and unable to provide support in any meaningful capacity. He is unresponsive, but is clearly alive as evidenced by his rising and falling chest (indicative that Italy is in fact still breathing). Again this was largely self-inflicted.
Meanwhile, France tries to sit back up and Germany does not like this, not one bit. His attention is now divided.
America, Britain, Canada and company go over to France to help him to his feet, briefly tripping over Italy along the way.
As the Allies get close, Germany and his friends throw what few projectiles they have left. It’s a mess.
Luckily, no one has a nut allergy.
The popcorn leaves stains on everyone’s trousers though.
After running out of said projectiles, Germany attempts to kick France while he is still down. He’s a sore sport.
America, Britain, and Canada are determined to help France tho.
“Don’t make us come over there.”
Germany just stands there and taunts them with his schnitzel, calling their bluff.
So… America, Britain and Canada go over there.
Germany is now officially fucked. He should not have waved his schnitzel around like that.
France begins to get back up. And with the help of his friends, a tenuous grip on the counter, and some much needed wine, France rises to his feet.
France is wobbly but he should be alright if he has some time to get his bearings and resuscitate his pride.
Japan would go back up Germany, but he is on the other side of the bar dealing with his own problems, which are compounding.
America is a tough opponent by himself, but now he’s linked up with his home boys Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada, and The Philippines.
Japan steadily loses ground, but viciously, savagely defends every inch.
The USSR and Germany are duking it out now. Every once in a while, Germany manages a nice counter blow, yet this does nothing to stop The USSR.
It’s a truly epic fight of historical proportions. But, Germany has overextended himself… once again. He should’ve learned his lesson from Napoleon a century prior. You don’t attack Russia, especially in winter, unless you’re stupid and/or have a death wish.
(Note the Soviet Union is pictured in red/orange and Nazi Germany is pictured in white)
Germany’s energy is running dangerously low, he is overextended, and things are rapidly getting worse.
It is clear that Germany will lose, it’s only a matter of time. Determined to fight to the bitter end, he has two options; Keep getting his ass beat, or surrender. Most would quit by now, but not Germany.
Against all sensibility, Germany opts to get his ass kicked for a bit longer, but he finally falls to the combined force of the Allies after a few last-ditch haymakers for good measure.
From the looks of it Britain, France, America, and The USSR literally had to beat the Nazi out of him.
A new world definition to hanged-drawn-quartered.
However, they were too late to save the roughly 7-12 million innocent people (give or take) that Germany had exterminated… The numbers vary. Either way, it’s really fucked up.
Suffice to say, Germany is kaputt…
America and the boys still have their hands full with Japan though. Japan has put up a good fight, but he is steadily losing ground.
America is now determined to finish the fight at all cost, but Japan has no intention to surrender.
After repeated warnings (and pamphlets tossed about the establishment), America connects one… and then two haymakers with the chin of Japan. Both landed in quick succession. Japan gets rocked, and the aftermath is just as bad. The guy loses several teeth and bites clean through his tongue. He is concussed, bleeding, and clearly traumatized from the attacks.
An eerie, weird silence then ensues.
Japan knows that The USSR fought with America, Britain and their pals to beat up Germany and his friends. Japan also saw what happened to Poland.
Soon The USSR would come after Japan too.
Japan, tempted by Seppuku, wisely chooses to surrender to America instead.
It was a previously unthinkable act.
Everybody is stunned…
Everybody except Italy, who is somehow upright and drinking again… a warrior in his own right.
Much of the bar is once again destroyed, bodies lay strewn about, but the fight is finally over.
Hopefully nothing like this ever happens again, but humans are notoriously stupid and forgetful so who knows.
Categories
The cost in the Ukraine
Authored by Andrew Korybko via The Automatic Earth blog,
Speculation has been swirling over the past month about why the US-led West’s Golden Billion so decisively shifted its “official narrative” about the Ukrainian Conflict from prematurely celebrating Kiev’s supposedly “inevitable” victory to seriously warning about its potential loss in this proxy war.
This took the form of related remarks from the Polish Prime Minister, President, and Army Chief as well as the US’ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after which the New York Times admitted that the sanctions failed.
The reason why they decided to so decisively shift the “official narrative” was because NATO’s military-industrial crisis, which the New York Times warned about last November and was then touched upon by Biden’s Naval Secretary last month, finally became undeniable. Putting all prior speculation about this to rest, NATO’s Secretary-General declared a so-called “race of logistics” against Russia on Monday precisely on this pretext and thus confirmed the bloc’s crippling military-industrial crisis.
According to the transcript of Jens Stoltenberg’s pre-ministerial press conference that was shared by NATO’s official website ahead of his meeting with this anti-Russian alliance’s Defense Ministers, he said the following of relevance to this subject:
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield.
…
Ministers will also focus on ways to increase our defence industrial capacity and replenish stockpiles. The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions, and depleting Allied stockpiles. The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defence industries under strain.
For example, the waiting time for large-calibre ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months.
Orders placed today would only be delivered two-and-a-half years later. So we need to ramp up production. And invest in our production capacity.
…
Well, this is an issue we started to address last year, because we saw that an enormous amount of support for Ukraine, the only way to deliver that was to dig into our existing stocks. But of course, in the long run, we cannot continue to do that we need to produce more, to be able to deliver sufficient ammunition to Ukraine, but at the same time, ensure that we have enough ammunition to protect and defend all NATO Allies, every inch of Allied territory.
…
Of course, in the short run, the industry can increase production by having more shifts, by using existing production facilities more. But really to have a significant increase, they need to invest and build new plans. And we see a combination both of utilizing existing capacity more and also by making decisions to invest in increased capacity. This has started but we need more.
…
So what I said was that the current rate of ammunition consumption is higher, bigger than the current rate of production. That’s a factual thing. But since we have been aware of that for some time, we have started to do something. We’re not just sitting there idle and watching this happening. …
And of course the industry has the capability to increase the production also short term, sometimes this on some non-used or not utilized capability there. But even when you have a factory running, you can have more shifts. You can even work during weekends.
…
So yes, we have a challenge. Yes, we have a problem. But problems are there to be solved and we are addressing that problem and we have strategies to solve it both in the short term and also longer term to as a mobilized defense industry. And if there’s anything NATO Allies, and our economies and our societies have proved over decades, is that we are dynamic, we are adaptable, we can change when needed.
…
And let me also add, of course this is –the challenge of having enough ammunition is also a big challenge for Russia. So it just shows that this is a war of attrition, and the war to attrition becomes a battle of logistics and we focus on the logistical part of the defence capacity, defence industry capacity to ramp up production.”
As proven by Stoltenberg’s press conference, there should thus be no doubt that NATO is experiencing an unprecedented military-industrial crisis, which is responsible for reshaping its members’ narratives and overall strategy towards the Ukrainian Conflict.
This self-declared “race of logistics”, which he also described as a “war of attrition”, first of all proves that the bloc wasn’t prepared for waging a prolonged proxy war against Russia otherwise they’d have preemptively retooled their military-industrial complexes accordingly. The New York Times’ recent admission that the anti-Russian sanctions are a failure also suggests that NATO completely miscalculated in this respect by expecting Russia to collapse as a result of those restrictions, which didn’t happen.
These two factors add crucial context to why the Golden Billion’s “official narrative” about the conflict so decisively shifted over the past month. They simply can’t sustain the pace, scale, and scope of their armed assistance to Kiev, especially not after their much-ballyhooed sanctions failed to catalyze Russia’s economic collapse or at the very least give their proxy an edge in this “race of logistics”/”war of attrition”. As a result, they were forced to change how they present this conflict to their people.
Most tellingly, the Polish President didn’t rule out the scenario of Kiev making territorial concessions to Russia in his recent interview with Le Figaro, which he said should solely be that country’s choice to make and not anti-war Republicans’. Even Stoltenberg let slip during his latest press conference that “we must continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win. And to achieve a just and sustainable peace”, which also didn’t include his usual explicit condemnation of the territorial concession scenario.
That selfsame “just and sustainable peace”, according to the Jerusalem Post’s Dave Anderson, can actually be achieved by Kiev finally giving up its territorial claims. In his opinion piece about how “Ukraine can win against Russia by giving up land, not killing troops”, which was coincidentally published on the same day as Stoltenberg’s press conference, he argued that this swift resolution of Ukraine’s territorial disputes with Russia could result in its accelerated admission to NATO.
That outcome would thus sustainably ensure its security, thereby representing a victory over Russia, at least according to Anderson’s view. In the broader context of this analysis and in particular the interpretation of Stoltenberg’s remarks from his latest press conference, his article can thus be seen as the latest contribution to decisively shifting the “official narrative” about the Ukrainian Conflict in the direction of preconditioning the Western public to accept some sort of “compromise” with Russia.
All of this, the reader should be reminded, is occurring because of NATO’s military-industrial crisis hamstringing its members’ capabilities to sustain their bloc’s pace, scale, and scope of armed assistance to Kiev. Their “race of logistics”/“war of attrition” against Russia is obviously trending towards Moscow’s favor after that Eurasian Great Power proved that it truly has the wherewithal to sustain the pace, scale, and scope of its special operation in spite of the Golden Billion’s unparalleled sanctions against it.
If someone still remained in denial about the existence of NATO’s military-industrial crisis in spite of Stoltenberg’s surprisingly candid admission on Monday, then they should also be made aware of Politico’s exclusive report that was published on the same day, which reinforced his claim. Four unnamed US officials told this outlet that their country can’t send Kiev its requested “Army Tactical Missile Systems” (ATACMS) because “it doesn’t have any [of them] to spare”.
This revelation should thus serve as the proverbial “icing on the cake” proving that NATO is in the midst of such a serious military-industrial crisis right now that its US leader itself can’t even afford to spare important munitions that could give its proxies in Kiev the edge that they so desperately need right now. What’s so stunning about this strategic dynamic is that the combined military-industrial capabilities of the bloc’s two and a half dozen countries can’t compete with their single Russian adversary’s.
That insight in turn shows just how mighty Russia’s military-industrial complex is that it’s still capable of sustaining the same pace, scale, and scope of the ongoing special operation in Ukraine despite the sanctions against it while 30 Golden Billion countries can’t collectively do the same. Should its rumored full-scale offensive transpire, then it’s likely to deal a deathblow to NATO’s proxies due to Russia’s edge in this “race of logistics”/”war of attrition” and thus force them to finally cede their disputed regions.
* * *