Ukraine’s Uncivil War For Lack Of Horses?

Civil War Gen Burnside would have agreed US & NATO allies’ failure to fully & timely support Ukraine vs Russia inevitably meant its summer offensive would be a fiasco ala Union Army being butchered at Fredericksburg …

Not only that, suggests James Marson & Oksana Grytsenko in a WSJ op ed, but the “rout of elite Ukraine forces in that counteroffensive [was] a lesson in why the war effort is stalled” NOW as well. One Ukraine paratrooper company, the authors argued, learned the deadly reasons minutes into their assigned mission: Not only had the operation’s objectives been downsized “because the West had dithered for months over the provision of tanks & other armored vehicles” (as well as jet fighter coverage), while the Russians had ample time to be ready for their attack with “hundreds of thousands of mines” & deadly cross-firing positions.” The latter truth eerily recalls what happened to the Union forces outside Fredericksburg who waited days for engineers to arrive to help them cross the Rappahannock River while Confederate Gen. Lee had time to set up withering cannon & rifle fire from behind Marie’s Wall on the heights above flat plains below. Burnside knew success depended on speed & an “all in” effort at all levels to catch Lee by surprise, but it was the former who was surprised & wept as a dozen Union charges were cut down like wheat being reaped at harvest time.

Fast forward to 2024 & it’s unclear, the authors say, whether Ukraine & its allies can craft an alternative approach” featuring “better technology” & an end to the “domestic political squabbling” in the West that seems to be blockading those other military assets needed to defeat a determined Russia. Unfortunately, Pres Biden is no consensus building wizard like Lincoln or even an FDR who faced similar political resistance to helping Britain fight Hitler, & even his modest “Lend Lease” deal would likely be too little, too late for Ukraine today.

Davd Soul