The following retired Generals are popping up on cable news channels to offer their “sage” analysis on the war in Ukraine and they all share one thing in common — they are wrong to a staggering degree. I am shocked by their inability to objectively analyze the situation. Instead, they repeat the same propaganda memes — Russian troops are poorly led; Russian troops are conscripts and poorly trained; Russian troops have lousy morale; the Russian Army is brittle and will break under pressure; and Russia is losing.
These are not uneducated men and they demonstrated some measure of competence when given commands of major forces. So why are they so consistently wrong about fundamental facts?
I am pretty sure that all have acknowledged at some point that an attacking force, when confronted with a well entrenched foe, must have air supremacy if that force is to have a snow ball’s chance in Hell of breaching the defensive lines. Yet, you do not have to be cleared for Top Secret intelligence to know that Ukraine’s Air Force has been decimated and is incapable of launching sustained attacks on Russian troop positions.
There also is a lot of happy talk about Ukraine striking Russian lines of communication (LOCs) with HIMARs and Storm Shadow missiles. But there is scant evidence to support this claim. In fact, the opposite is true. It is Russia, not Ukraine, that is striking Ukrainian command and logistics hubs throughout Ukraine on a daily basis. And Ukraine’s air defense has been depleted and cannot stop the nightly barrage.
These generals are either ignorant of Russia’s success in decimating the multitude of attacks launched since the start of the counter offensive on June 5 or they are choosing to lie. I do not see any middle ground. The images of NATO supplied burning tanks, Bradleys, Strikers and Marders are all over the internet. The photos and videos are not generated by Artificial Intelligence, but these Generals ignore that reality.
Ditto for Ukrainian casualties. Social media is filled with photos and videos of massive cemeteries with seemingly endless rows of Ukrainian flags sprouting from freshly dug graves. Hell, even Ukrainian sources admitted the shortage of burial plots compelled Zelensky’s Government to dig up World War II cemeteries and discard the remains of Soviet soldiers in order to make room for the burgeoning number of Ukrainian KIA. This is not secret information. It is easy to find if you know how to do a simple Google search.
Then there is the question of ammunition supplies. Ukraine is running on fumes and has been forced to use 155 mm cluster munitions because the West no longer has the ability to supply the more effective standard 155 mm shell. Even Biden admitted this publicly, yet the collection of retired U.S. Generals refuse to accept that fact and incorporate it into their analysis.
This failure to engage reality helps explain the failures, under the leadership of these men, to achieve a victory in the U.S. military operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. None of these men have conducted a combined arms campaign against a peer military force.
Ukraine does not have an endless supply of potential recruits. To the contrary, Ukraine is rounding up teenagers and men over 50, providing them with cursory training and throwing them into a meat grinder. Not one of these Generals concedes that this is crazy and counter productive. Russia, by contrast, has expanded its force and continues to sign up new recruits. These new soldiers are receiving a minimum of six months training before being sent anywhere near a battlefield.
What is going on? Are we are witnessing a debacle built on group think or are these Generals hostages to their economic masters? In other words, lying in order to get paid. I am posting four interviews with Stan McChrystal, Phil Breedlove, Ben Hodges and David Petraeus so that you can decide for yourself. I apologize in advance for subjecting you to this but I think it is important to hear what they say.
These four gentlemen sound like Christopher Walken in the iconic “More Cowbell” skit from Saturday Night Live. Just keep doing the same thing repeatedly and hope for a different outcome.
