For the last 60 years the United States has wasted money and the blood of its youth in fighting guerrillas, insurgents, goat herder and camel jockeys.At no time has the West squared up against a peer military with comparable, if not superior, air power, electronic warfare and combined arms experience, until now. The United States and its NATO partners created a de facto NATO army in Ukraine and naively assumed they could go toe-to-toe with Russia. I fear that the U.S. politicians and military leaders still fail to grasp that the “war” in Ukraine really was a special military operation. Russia did not unleash its full capabilities. The Russian General Staff, following the guidance received from President Putin, took great pains to avoid massive civilian casualties. Russia left a majority of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure in place. Russia declined to destroy Ukraine and the West’s ISR platforms and satellite systems. Those actions are what you would see if Russia went on a total war footing.
