Thanks - that does make a bit more sense. I had heard something last week that indicated that they wanted a bigger US military presence in Europe so I wondered whether that was what they were planning.
I’m listening to Scholz’s speech in the Bundestag. Currently a lot of waffle! I’m curious as to how the training will be done. I’m assuming it will be in existing NATO facilities - presumably away from Poland.
I don’t think there was anything groundbreaking in the Scholz speech. His reasoning on the delays is that they needed to act in a co-ordinated manner so as not to risk escalation. I think that’s bollocks, TBH, because these things are not decided on a whim. Diplomats would have been discussing this for weeks prior to Ramstein.
Anyway, he has confirmed tanks, logistics, support and training will be provided. The only interesting comment was a reply to a CDU politician in which Scholz made a comment about ending national service being a mistake.
This quote makes me wish that the German tanks, as well as those coming from other countries, will hopefully be repainted with Ukraine colors. No need to stir more shit than necessary.
The ‘remnants of mutual trust’. Laughable.
wonder how long it would take for Russia to notice that the fiber-optic lines going west into Europe keep getting damaged…interrupting their service and bandwidth. keeps happening on that border with Ukraine, Finland, Latvia and Estonia, weird. Oops, did the one in the Black Sea to Georgia get damaged? How’d that happen.
An ex-military friend of mine speculates that the reason Canada has not joined in the donation round is that we are likely painfully short of parts for the Leopard 2s. Military procurement has been a mess, maintenance budgets have been run lean, and the MBTs have been low on the totem pole for rebuilding post-Afghanistan.
I think that’s a very good idea. The Russians would have an absolute field day at home with the propaganda they could concoct with ‘nazi’ imagery.
methinks a giant yellow/blue tank running across the battlefield has lost all modicum of camoflage 
That goes without saying, even without the historical context. At the very least the national markings of the previous owners will be erased.
Sky blue and straw yellow seems apt for Ukraine to me. Certainly not as blatant as red, white and blue!
It’s like the David Hasselhoff of newspapers
would make sense to paint the trident on it, in those colors. not the whole machine.
One tears down walls of division and the other is a ‘top class newspaper’
The post-Chelsea life of Roman.
Not sure if this belongs here but there’s an interesting interview with Alexander Litvinenko’s widow:
It’s quite long (48 minutes) but there is quite a bit about the Putin regime and the west’s initial attitude towards it.
not really surprised by this. If anything, the war is making the wrong people rich
