Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast: Why Is Ukraine’s War So Bloody? The Soviet Union Trained Both Sides.
“First we work with massive artillery fire to clean up space and then infantry and tanks roll in.”
WNU Editor: No precision and targeted strikes in this conflict .... and as for rules of engagement .... just an after-thought.Throw in massive fire-power in the hands of numerous militias and groups .... it is a surprise that the death toll is not in the tens of thousands.
4 comments:
The War in the Ukraine, is not all that bloody, or destructive.
The high count has 5,800 civillian dead, in 10 months of combat, Syria, Iraq rack that up in a month,
US Drone / Anti-Terrorist Airstrike operations kill that number every year.
Even the combatant death toll, ( as underreported as it is on one side), is not that high given the intensity of the combat.
To a large extent, this is actually due to the use of artillary, rather than airstrikes. A 2,000lb GBU does about 3,000 times the damage, and penetrates a good 15 feet deeper, than a 155mm HE shell.
In the one case, to stop and protect against a direct hit by a 155mm HE shell, all you need is 12 inches of cross laid timber beams, and 2 layers of sandbags for a roof,
In the other case, you need 36 inches of steel reinforced concrete, all round, with arched walls and ceiling, with the concrete floor set on at least 14 inches of rubber, to act as a shock absorber.
"The high count has 5,800 civilian dead, in 10 months of combat, Syria, Iraq rack that up in a month, "
Between the Atlantic & the Urals and the Med & the Arctic, nothing of this sort was expected under representative democracy. So it is high.
Fukiyama might have been wrong when he penned the book "The End of History", but certainly the sentiment was there.
In comparison to other conflicts .... 5,000+ seems to be a low figure. But the gloves are now off .... and both sides are now getting ready to really battle it out and heaven help the civilians who may be caught in the middle. And if the Ukraine military decides to hold large cities like Mariupol at all costs .... casualty rates will explode.
Aizino,
Bosnia, Hertzogovina, Croatia, the Serb Enclaves, Kosovo, Chechnia 1 and 2, Dagestan, South Ossettia,
All nomonally caucasian victims,
Boko Haram killed half that number in 2 days and nada,
WNU Editor,
Unless Russian Frontal Aviation get's involved, the " body counts" will remain low, even in urban fighting.
Civillians will hunker down in cellars, which will be " cleared" with discrescion, ATO fighters hunkered down in cellars, will also be " cleared" with discrescion, no need to kill everyone in a cellar, when the occasional grenade can be rolled, until the lack of food, water and ammo causes them to give up.
Unless you are " above ground", modern artillary is not all that deadly, even Grads.
On the other hand, if you can see a cell phone tower, from your house, if airpower targets that cell phone tower, unless you have taped your windows and sandbagged the walls of your house, you will probably die.
Back in the 80's, I was at the Raddison in Beruit, when the IAF hit a phone exchange a block away. I had taped my windows, but still wound up bleeding from my ears from the concussion. My neighbors in the hotel were not so lucky.
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