Comments by "Stephen Sipe" (@stephensipe5405) on "“We need to decide that we want Ukraine to win”" video.

  1. I do not challenge 99% of what GEN Hodges ever states. Nevertheless, probably in deference to a Ukrainian interviewer, I will object to GEN Hodges comments on early support for Ukraine. Ukrainians have to look in the mirror and take responsibility for their own leadership failures as Euro-centric democracy evolved in Ukraine. For example, the US could not support 1991 Ukraine with arms because it was an independent country with a Russian puppet leader. It was not until the Orange Revolution in 2005 that Ukrainians had a real Ukrainian leader. However, this Ukrainian still followed in the footsteps of Russian puppet leaders. Ukraine had KGB operatives everywhere in Ukraine’s government and policies were Russia friendly. He also allowed Ukrainian Oligarchs and corruption. Why would the US give this government money and arms? Then came the Maiden Revolution in 2014. This was the 1ST Ukrainian government which openly tried to orient to European values. A real election occurred. It was not perfect, but was closer to reflect the true will of Ukraine’s people than previous elections. The Russians did not wait for good US relations to develop. They took Crimea by force within months. What could the US do but publicly protest. Most European countries did NOT think Crimea was a big lost to Ukraine and did not want trouble with importing Russian gas. The Donbas activity was different. It started quickly in 2014 but rose slowly in ferocity. Again the US condemned it but Ukraine’s government was unstable to work with. It was not until 2018, after several elections, did Ukrainians have a stable government with stronger US relations. It is then the US sent military advisers as trainers. They provided small arms to help fight Russian separatists in the Donbas. The US Intelligence identified 100s of KGB agents in Ukraine’s democratically elected government. Heavy NATO weapons could NOT be given because the US feared compromises of its weapon technology. In fact, it was not until President Zelinsky agreed to fire about 100 known KGB agents did the US finally agree to send HIMARS artillery. Now here is another problem. Ukraine is not a NATO functioning military. It’s a Soviet style military in transition to a NATO style military. The core organization since 2018 is NATO style with a trusted NCO Corp. This 1 change combined with patriotism and NATO small arms won the early Russian War On Ukraine. However, Ukrainian Offensive Operations still rely on Soviet heavy use of artillery instead of NATO Combined Arms including air power. NATO countries appear to be under supplying weapons to Ukraine because artillery is not used like water. I agree the train up for NATO weapons like aircraft, tanks, and IFVs should have started in April after the Russians regrouped to the east. However, at that point is was still unclear whether Ukraine would fight to win back all its territory. After the Great Kharkiv Offensive, total victory for Ukraine was obvious. This is where NATO wasted 3 months of training time. Keep in mind, the US was training a 100 Ukrainian pilots for F16s and the UK 10,000 Ukrainians in Basic NATO Training. However, the rest of NATO had to be prodded to give any help. Look at Germany today. Germany in many ways proves President Trump was right about self serving Germans under Social Democrat leadership. My hope is the US follows those statements of GEN Hodges to supply MBTs, IFVs, and more artillery. The US alone can supply 300 M1A2s and 600 IFVs. We have already publicly agreed to 50 Bradley M2 IFVs, 100 Stryker Light Tanks, and 200 Stryker IVFs. The US should add at least 56 M1A2 MBTs and an additional 100 Bradley IFVs. This would be a Combined Arms Brigade and a Recon Brigade. Surely Europeans can add at least the same!!!
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  2.  @richbattaglia5350  Ramstein is filled with military leaders who understand how winning organizations are built. President Zelinsky is NOT such a skilled military leader. Nevertheless, he hit on the one element common to both political and military leaders; time. Decisive actions have to be taken now to enable Ukrainian Units to be victorious in liberating all its territory from Russian occupation. Ukrainian military leaders have asked for 300 MBTs and 600 IFVs/APCs. This is what Ramstein military leaders need to do: 1: Ukrainian Units fight as Brigade Combined Arms Offensive Operations. Each Brigade can NOT be logistically (logpac) supported with 10-15 different types of equipment. Therefore, Ramstein needs to build Brigades with the minimum amount of equipment diversity which can be supported by Brigade logpac operations. 2: Ramstein members willing to send equipment need to commit to Brigade packages of: Combined Arms (87 MBTs and 152 IFVs) or Recon (56 Light Tanks and 152 IFVs). 3: Pledged: A-US: 1 Battalion Bradley M2s (2 Battalions short). B-US: 1 Brigade Recon (56 Stryker Light Tanks, 152 Stryker IFVs). C-UK: 1 Company Combined Arms (14 Challenger 2 MBTs, short 73 MBTs). D-France: 1 Battalion Recon (56 AMX 10 Light Tanks). E-Canada: 1 Battalion Recon (56 Senator APCs). F-Australia: 1 Battalion Recon (56 Bushmasters APCs). G-Germany: 1 Battalion Combined Arms (56 Marders IFVs, short 96 IFVs). H-Poland, Finland, Spain, and Denmark pending permission to send Leopard 2 MBTs. Thus far from the above pledges, 2 Recon Brigades are filled. The 2-3 Brigades Combined Arms are partially filled with IFVs but are short all but 1 MBT Company. This is pitifully weak support for Ukraine. I would expect the US to supply 87 M1A2 MBTs and 102 Bradley IFVs. I expect the UK to provide 73 addition Challenger 2 MBTs. It would be nice to supply 152 Warrior IFVs too. Germany needs to supply an additional 96 Marders and give other countries with Leopard 2s permission to send these MBTs to Ukraine. The other countries need to create a package of 87 Leopard 2 MBTs. If they could create additional 1 Battalion MBTs (56 total), this would be helpful as a Reserve force. This is how Ramstein military leaders should plan!!!
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  3.  @dannyv2468va2  Time cuts both ways. The Russian economy is very unstable as sanctions increasingly kick in. In the short run, Ukrainians are trying to hold back fresh forces until additional equipment is received and trained soldiers return. In this case both sides are rushing to deploy. I believe Ukrainians are getting some aid too late. However, both sides are playing cards and trying to have the last big play. By my calculation, Ukrainians are short 300 IFVs and 150 MBTs. The will probably use 14 Challenger 2 MBTs in defense to ease logistics. This will free up Ukrainian T72s for Offensive Operations. The same with the enhanced T55s. I believe Ukraine will have 2 Brigade Armored Teams (Leopard 2s) and 2 Brigade Armor Teams (T72/P91). If 200-300 additional IFVs are donated, these Brigades will be complete without APCs. The 2 Battalions Recon, if given the APCs, could make 1 Brigade Infantry Team (Stryker) and 1 Brigade Infantry Team (AMX 10). There is also 1 Brigade Artillery with 6 Regiments of 36 pieces each. This is a lot of direct fire support. If 24 F16s and 24 MIG 29s are also added in, this is a huge amount of firepower. It does not count 4-5 Brigades Ukrainians already have on the front lines, in current fire support, and in close Reserves.
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  4.  @realnapster1522  Solve Poverty??? Like when President Johnson broke open the “lock box” of Social Security to fight the War On Poverty. That was a lost war right along with Vietnam. So save your BS for an ignorant person. Homelessness in America come in 2 forms: temporary and long term. Temporary is usually from natural disasters, divorce, fires, and sudden economic reversals. Long term homelessness is from substance abuse, and because mental health does not include quality institutions, like a townhouse complex for people mandated medications. Defeating Russia in WW3 via Ukrainians is the most cost effective way forward. Fighting another 50 years of Cold War is way more expensive. So far the support of Ukrainians has cost us nothing but prepaid stockpiles. About July is when new supplies will actually cost new money.
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