“We can spare the soldiers”

53 Responses to “We can spare the soldiers”

1. C.L. says:

   12 October, 2022 at 10:37 am

   ADF trainers can make a difference in Ukraine war.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin has been on the back foot these past weeks, but he has doubled down on his aggression. The war in Ukraine is likely to reach a new level of intensity.

   Defeating Russian aggression in Ukraine and deterring potential aggressors from future attempts to seize territory by force is essential for preserving the rules-based global order. This is why Australia must step up our support for Ukraine.

   Australia’s provision of Bushmasters and other armoured vehicles to Ukraine has been helpful, but it is failing to keep pace with developments on the ground and risks being woefully inadequate to the stakes.

   Australia needs to ensure Ukraine has the trained military personnel to counter the surge of fresh Russian troops that Putin’s mobilisation has set in train. Britain is doing the bulk of this work, giving basic military training to new Ukrainian recruits before returning them to the frontline. More than 5000 Ukrainian recruits have been through this program. Canada, Denmark and The Netherlands are already sending military trainers to Britain. Even our smaller neighbour, New Zealand, has sent 120 soldiers to assist with the mission.

   The Australian Defence Force is well-versed in such training operations, having helped train Iraqi and Afghan security forces regularly during the past decade.

   Our operational tempo is currently low. We have the capacity and expertise, and can spare the soldiers. Australia should provide basic training, supporting British efforts, or more specialised training on key weapons systems.

   The situation has deteriorated for the Russian President in recent weeks. Ukrainian forces advancing in the east have broken through Russian lines and liberated 6000sq km of territory – more than Russia had gained in territory in the previous five months.

   Ukrainian forces also are making gains in the south towards Kherson. Last weekend a Ukrainian operation exploded several sections of the only bridge linking Crimea to Russia, the Kerch bridge, severely disrupting the most important supply line for Russian troops in southern Ukraine. In response, Russia has increased its bombardment of civilian infrastructure from the air, targeting the recently liberated city of Kharkiv and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

   Russia is more isolated internationally. A chastened Putin was reduced to apologies at a recent regional meeting, promising to address concerns raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

   His attempts to break European unity and resolve by weaponising gas and cutting off Nord Stream 1 have failed. European solidarity remains intact, alternative energy supplies are being found and Europe is finding ways to cushion its public from the impact of spiking energy prices.

   Putin has responded to the deterioration with further aggression, which must be met in turn. He has announced the mobilisation of reservists inside Russia, formally annexed Ukrainian territory following sham referendums and raised the spectre of the use of nuclear weapons.

   Up until this point Putin has resisted describing his offensive in Ukraine as a war, calling it instead a “special military operation”, and attempting to shield the Russian public from its impact. Now Putin is having to wear the domestic scrutiny of his offensive. The depletion of Russian manpower in Ukraine – estimates are that 70,000 to 80,000 of Russia’s soldiers have been killed or wounded – has left him with little choice.

   The limited mobilisation under way is already proving unpopular. Protests have broken out and tens of thousands of eligible conscripts have fled Russia.

   Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory allows Putin to rationalise and justify his military operations there as self-defence. It also may provide him with the pretext to threaten the use of tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons: Russia’s nuclear doctrine permits the use of such weapons if Russian territory is being attacked.

   Russia’s decision to mobilise reservists reveals the deterioration of Putin’s position, but we should not underestimate its battlefield impact. Ukraine is already fully mobilised, with all men of fighting age conscripted into the nation’s defence. Many of these lack any military training whatsoever.

   Russia, hesitant about potential domestic unrest, to date has not used its vast manpower advantage over Ukraine. This mobilisation marks the first step.

   In the past, Russia has turned the tide of military setbacks by drawing on its massive internal reserves, ultimately repelling the assaults of Napoleon and Hitler. It may do so again.

   Australia talks a big game about protecting the rules-based global order. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the most naked and aggressive challenge to this order.

   When Anthony Albanese met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, the Prime Minister promised that Australia would “stand side-by-side with the Ukrainian people in their time of need”. That time of need is more pressing than ever.

   If we are serious about rolling back this threat, then the most material impact we can have is to ensure Ukraine’s soldiers – who are bearing all the human cost of this war – are provided with the training they need to prevail.
2. Cassie of Sydney says:

   12 October, 2022 at 10:50 am

   You wanna know something? I’m glad Karma Sharma lost to Da Spender.
3. Boambee John says:

   12 October, 2022 at 10:54 am

   An ambiguous use of the word “spare”. It could mean that we have soldiers available (as becomes clear by reading the full article), or it could have meant that we can “spare” our soldiers from the trauma of another war.

   Better we stick with the latter meaning. Australia’s commitment to Vietnam started with a small training team.
4. Baba says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:02 am

   Can’t we send our Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters instead? They’re absolute rubbish and we would be better off without them.
5. Cassie of Sydney says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:08 am

   Actually, Sharma is still young. He can volunteer and go to Ukraine.
6. Lee says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:09 am

   Tough talk from armchair general Sharma, but I suggest he go to Ukraine first.

   Especially considering the accusations thrown about against some Afghan veterans, why would any Aussie serviceman or woman want to serve in a foreign war, thousands of miles away?
7. Franx says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:10 am

   Marles too thinks it’s a good idea to support Ukraine with Australian troops against the Russians who he says are taking revenge about the Kerch bridge. In other words, since the missile attacks are said to be revenge, Marles is also saying it was not the Russians who committed the terrorist attack or war crime in blowing up Kerch.
8. Shy Ted says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:10 am

   I see Dave Sharma has already sold out to The Drum. Yep, we can spare the soldiers.
9. Lee says:

   12 October, 2022 at 11:10 am

   Actually, Sharma is still young. He can volunteer and go to Ukraine.

   Perhaps we could all chip in for his plane fare.
10. Bruce of Newcastle says:

    12 October, 2022 at 11:18 am

    Massed volunteers from the Teals, Greens and wet Libs!
    All frantic to go to Ukraine.
    Sounds great.

    (Send us a postcard from the front, wet lib peoples. We’ll treasure it.)
11. Boambee John says:

    12 October, 2022 at 11:56 am

    Cassie of Sydney says:
    12 October, 2022 at 11:08 am
    Actually, Sharma is still young. He can volunteer and go to Ukraine.

    m0nty-fa wants a war to prevent Wussian imperialism. He and Karma Sharma can enlist together.
12. Not Trampis says:

    12 October, 2022 at 12:21 pm

    you lot are idiots.
    He is talking about sending people to train them against the Russian invaders.

    do you understand what that means and no he could not train them.
13. Cassie of Sydney says:

    12 October, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    “He is talking about sending people to train them against the Russian invaders.”

    Poor idiot, he forgets that’s how the Vietnam war started, Oh and Von Trampis, I look forward to you volunteering. Send us some despatches from Kiev, and if Putin’s troops capture you, especially if they’re Chechens, be sure to cover your backside.
14. Baba says:

    12 October, 2022 at 12:32 pm

    Please tell me our army trainers will be prohibited from training Ukraine soldiers sporting death and Nazi symbols.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-28/death-symbol-ban-not-political-correctness/9696674
15. C.L. says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    All the best minds are in favour of intervention in Ukraine.
16. Lee says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    Amazing how so many on the left (especially Democrats in the U.S.) have become hawks and supporters of the military industrial complex.
17. Boambee John says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    Non Mentis

    He is talking about sending people to train them against the Russian invaders.

    No problem, Sharma and m0nty-fa can do the same training course.

    As Cassie suggests, so could you. Let those keenest on the war have their chance to participate. Or are you just another chickenhawk/front bar urger?
18. C.L. says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:18 pm

    If Trump was President, the streets of the West would be filled with violent anti-war protesters. We all know that.
19. Lee says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:33 pm

    If Trump was President, the streets of the West would be filled with violent anti-war protesters. We all know that.

    Absolutely.
    And we all also know that Trump would have been somehow blamed for the war, even if he was calling for a negotiated end to it.

    Before the last U.S. election many of the pundits, even in Australia, said that Trump had to go, if only because he was a “warmonger” and “would start World War III” based on zero evidence.
20. NFA says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    Meanwhile, which major Australian strategic port does China NOT control?
21. Terry says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    ‘Before the last U.S. election many of the pundits, even in Australia, said that Trump had to go, if only because he was a “warmonger” and “would start World War III” based on zero evidence.’

    We also know the Left have a pathological predilection for projection – just can’t help ’emselves.
22. Buccaneer says:

    12 October, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    I find it amazing that lefties can’t put together the 6 years of vilifying Trump for Russian collusion fakery with events that have happened in Ukraine. Do they really think that Putin would have waited for the Biden admin to invade Ukraine if he had Trump on a string?

    Surely he would have been in there during the Trump admin with a guarantee of no western support for Ukraine… It would have been all over in a month.

    But if the russian collusion narrative were a sham, Putin would absolutely know and his respect for us diplomacy under a regime so obviously wedded to untruths would likely make him very nervous of any perceived encroachment on ‘russian interests’. And that is how it played out.
23. NFA says:

    12 October, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    What is Sharma’s background?
24. jupes says:

    12 October, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    Australia’s provision of Bushmasters and other armoured vehicles to Ukraine has been helpful, but it is failing to keep pace with developments on the ground and risks being woefully inadequate to the stakes.

    No! Surely you jest!
25. and says:

    12 October, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    if Putin’s troops capture you…

    They’d send him back. Please, take him back!
26. twostix says:

    12 October, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    have broken through Russian lines and liberated 6000sq km of territory

    ”

    “Liberated an area half the size Sydney” doesn’t sound quite the same does it.

    Also type 6000sqm into google images and bask in your brave new world of Total Propaganda.
27. twostix says:

    12 October, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    Australia’s provision of Bushmasters and other armoured vehicles to Ukraine has been helpful

    The 21st century equivalent of “Australia’s valuable contributions to the world: the hills hoist.”.
28. Old School Conservative says:

    12 October, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    What is Sharma’s background?

    Teal.
29. C.L. says:

    12 October, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    The 21st century equivalent of “Australia’s valuable contributions to the world: the hills hoist.”

    Australia: ready for the Uniparty’s war on two fronts (against two superpowers):

    ADF plan: hire ferry to deploy infantry.

    The Australian Defence Force would need to buy new ships or hire commercial vessels such as the Spirit of Tasmania ferries to deploy the army’s proposed infantry fighting vehicles in significant numbers, a new report warns as the government stalls on the $27bn purchase.

    Australia’s three amphibious landing ships, HMAS Canberra, Adelaide and Choules, can carry a maximum of 20 of the vehicles each, and would face the risk of enemy attack in a conflict scenario, an Australian Strategic Policy report says.

    Its author, military historian Albert Palazzo, argues that the planned acquisition of up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles would be a “generational leap” forward for the army in troop protection and lethality.

    He says both of the vehicles on offer – the German Lynx or South Korean Redback – are highly capable, offering necessary sensors and communications technologies to operate in a “system-dominated” future war.

    The report comes at a tense time for the army as the government’s defence strategic review, led by former defence minister Stephen Smith and former Defence chief Sir Angus Houston, evaluates the proposed acquisition – which was due to be decided in September – against competing capability needs.

    Dr Palazzo said any plans to use the vehicles offshore would pose transport problems for the ADF, which “lacks significant sea and air lift with which to deploy the army”.

    “The RAN doesn’t have the ability to control the seas against an adversary such as China; nor does the RAAF possess sufficient aircraft to control the air,” he said.

    “An adversary would be able to threaten with destruction any overseas movement by the Australian Army, except one protected by a coalition partner or undertaken in the most benign conditions.”

    Using all three of the navy’s amphibious ships at once – an unlikely scenario – would allow a maximum lift of 60 vehicles.

    “A need for a larger lift requirement can be met in several ways. The most likely is for the ADF to obtain additional capacity from hired commercial vessels,” he says.

    A lack of a national fleet of Australian-flagged ships would limit ADF options, Dr Palazzo said, and the most useful would be “two cargo ships that sail between Victoria and Tasmania, as well as the Spirit of Tasmania ferries”.

    Creating a national fleet of merchant ships – which the Albanese government is considering – is another option, along with the purchase of a navy fleet of auxiliary cargo ships, “the primary function of which would be to deploy the army and its equipment”.

    Australia could also ask for help from the US, “but there’s no guarantee the US will be able to meet such a request because it will naturally meet its own needs first”.

    Dr Palazzo warns the ammunition and Israeli-made Spike missiles to be used by the vehicles would also have to be imported, posing potential supply chain problems.

    He poses a range of scenarios in which the vehicles could be used, including to protect ground-based anti-ship batteries on remote Pacific Islands to hinder an enemy’s maritime movements. They could also be used to protect the mainland from “raids by small bodies of troops” in a future conflict seeking to “disrupt Australia’s war plans”.

    Note that all of the ‘experts’ being trotted out to advocate paths to Total Victory are from the US, the UK or Australia. This trio just lost a 20-year war against the Taliban – possibly the most lopsided and humiliating defeat in the entire history of war.

    “The world is seeing how woefully inept the Russian military really is,” these now retired green room Napoleons say on Sky/Fox/ABC/NBC etc.
30. C.L. says:

    12 October, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    What is Sharma’s background?

    Lawyer, DFAT, defeated MP.
31. Diogenes says:

    12 October, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    Lawyer, DFAT, defeated MP.

    Then he can go and act as the liaison between the AATTU and the Ukranian Govt. He will be colocated with the team.
32. Baba says:

    12 October, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    This trio just lost a 20-year war against the Taliban – possibly the most lopsided and humiliating defeat in the entire history of war.

    Hey, Australia did bribe Oruzgan tribal leaders to give permission for us to build schools for girls. So there’s that.
33. rosie says:

    12 October, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    Some of those war criminal Afghanistan veterans perhaps.
    Australia has soldiers’ lives to spare.
    Nicely said, Sharma.
34. Cassie of Sydney says:

    12 October, 2022 at 7:09 pm

    “Lawyer, DFAT, defeated MP.”

    You forgot one C.L…..”dud”.

    Back in October 2018, after Malturd spat the dummy, there was a by-election in Wentworth. At that by-election, I voted for Sharma, I knew he’d been a good Oz ambassador to Israel, he was quite accomplished. The thought of Phelps as my MP made me physically sick. As it was, she won however in 2019 Sharma went up against her again. I campaigned for him and once again I voted for him. On election day in May 2019 I spent hours on my feet handing out how to vote cards for Sharma at Bondi Junction. I remember saying to another Liberal campaign worker at the booth that one day, sooner or later, the Liberal Party is going to have to walk away from electorates like Wentworth. He look at me as though I was from another planet. As it happened, Sharma won, albeit very narrowly. I was always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, I’d had a few conversations with him and he appeared nice and steady. I know the electorate of Wentworth well (I should, I live in it and have for most of my life), it’s affluent, it’s shallow, I know how much it’s changed over the last two decades since the wonderful Peter King was the MP, an MP who was later dumped by Malturd in 2004 (with John Howard’s support).

    However Sharma was a total disappointment. I always knew he was a moderate but it took a while before I knew just how dripping wet he was. My first major disappointment was in the days after the riot (and a riot it was, it was not an insurrection) on January 6 in Washington. Sharma tweeted in support of Trump being booted off social media, and although he quickly backtracked, I was dumbfounded. I wrote him a scathing email. His reply was an exercise in obfuscation and he was clearly shocked at my sentiment. And then it went further downhill. I have no doubt it was Sharma, along with other Liberal wets such as Zimmerman, Falinsky, Allen and Wilson who pressured Morrison to ban offshore mining of gas and oil, I have no doubt it was Sharma and his wet comrades who pressured Morrison to adopt net zero emissions, I have no doubt it was Sharma and his fellow wets who pressured Morrison to give yet more money to their ABC…..and the coup de grace? In February 2022, these despicable Liberals in name only….Sharma, Allen, Zimmerman, Martin and Archer, crossed the floor to vote against the government’s Religious Discrimination bill. That act still makes me seethe with anger and that was the final nail in the coffin, there was no way, no way in the world I was going to vote for Dave Sharma. And then it got worse, during the election campaign Sharma joined in the pile on with his Green mates Zimmerman and Kean of Katherine Deves. I remember thinking, good riddance. In May I voted LDP and I have no regrets. Yes, Spender is vacuous and tedious but her policies are no different to Sharma’s and she’s going to cause less damage than Sharma did because Sharma and his wet comrades have damaged the Liberal Party for years.

    A month or two ago, Sharma was on Sky and it was after the Wyoming primary which saw Liz Cheney wacked into electoral oblivion. Listening to Sharma speak, I nearly fell off my chair laughing, he described Liz Cheney as having “impeccable conservative credentials” and he smeared Trump and his supporters. I thought to myself, my oh my, you’re showing your true colours Davey boy.

    I’ve only seen Sharma once since the election, he was with his young daughter so I decided not to engage in a discussion with him, but when I next see him, and if he’s alone, I will have words with him.

    Sorry about the long rant, to sum it up in a few words…..

    Dave Sharma is no loss to the voters of Wentworth and he’s no loss to the Liberal Party of Australia.
35. jupes says:

    12 October, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    Australia’s three amphibious landing ships, HMAS Canberra, Adelaide and Choules, can carry a maximum of 20 of the vehicles each, and would face the risk of enemy attack in a conflict scenario, an Australian Strategic Policy report says.

    You think? How much money do you reckon the government paid for that revelation?
36. C.L. says:

    12 October, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    Gold, Cassie.

    The sliminess is sickening. If you read his Ukraine column (above), note that he casually attributes the Nord Stream explosion to Russia (a black lie) and says Europe “is finding ways to cushion its public from the impact of spiking energy prices” (also a lie).

    When a man lies like this in the context of advocating the sending of ‘trainers’ to a war zone, that should set off alarm bells. But there are no more alarm bells, apparently. None in the Liberal Party, none at Sky or News Corp.

    Related: Just watched Dutton on Paul Murray Live. I am really tired of climate change believer Murray’s “cost of transition” cop-out and “I feel your pain” bullshit. Both men discussed the energy crisis for ten minutes but neither mentioned the Liberal Party’s commitment to net zero. Murray can be Mr Aussie Battler or a Liberal Party stooge but he can’t be both. Dutton can credibly mock Albanese’s energy policy “vibe” or maintain net zero but not both. They refuse to get real.
37. Lee says:

    12 October, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    In February 2022, these despicable Liberals in name only….Sharma, Allen, Zimmerman, Martin and Archer

    You have to wonder why they were in the Liberal Party in the first place, instead of Labor or the Greens.
    It’s a bit of a cliche about leftists infiltrating institutions and organisations (but true nonetheless), but they have even managed to infiltrate the formerly centre-right Liberal Party to a significant degree in recent years.
38. Boambee John says:

    12 October, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    Lee

    You have to wonder why they were in the Liberal Party in the first place, instead of Labor or the Greens.

    With Labor, there are the requirements to start the factional game early and be prepared to sell your soul to the party. With the Greens, there is virtually no chance to land a ministerial or shadow position.

    Greed conquers all.
39. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 2:10 am

    So, Sharma is the Australian equivalent of Vindman.
40. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 2:52 am

    This old backblock farqwit redneck bible clingen arzhole might get started bein’ a tad pissed off with some of you them there city slickers who don’ even know when it rains.
41. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 3:04 am

    Cities produce nothing but piss and shit.
42. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 3:42 am

    One of my younger cousins rang me when I happened to be working in Kambra and said we are afraid that our eldest brother is going to kill himself but we figure you are the one to talk to him.

    I got his mobile number from his younger brother, rang him and told him get fucked I love you.

    John had been a forward scout in Vietnam and the fuckwits in the ADF echelon wanted to blame him for their incompetence.

    Far outsqui
43. Jannie says:

    13 October, 2022 at 3:44 am

    Green is now the War Party. Its a culture war.
44. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 4:06 am

    If the farquing crap against the Australian soldiers who served whether in the opium fields of Afghanistan or wherever is not dropped then the ADF and DFAT should be burned to the ground.
45. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 4:10 am

    They are both staffed and led by incompetents.
46. NFA says:

    13 October, 2022 at 4:28 am

    @ Jannie

    Sergeant Majors always knew where the enemy was located.
47. Not Trampis says:

    13 October, 2022 at 8:11 am

    A terrorist state invaded another country. They thought it would be a walkover. They were wrong.
    Russia is now committing daily war crimes.
    and you clowns simply want to be Putin apologists and leave Ukraine to be gobbled up by Russia.
    Possibly the worst lie here is that Biden is responsible for this war.
    Exactly who invaded Ukraine.
    however it is always useless to present facts to trump cultists.
48. Boambee John says:

    13 October, 2022 at 8:22 am

    Silly old Non Mentis arrives with the usual fascist left talking points. Nothing new to say, no capability for independent thought. NPC.
49. Gerry Jackson says:

    13 October, 2022 at 8:32 am

    The country can also spare Sharma.
50. Cassie of Sydney says:

    13 October, 2022 at 8:43 am

    “A terrorist state invaded another country. They thought it would be a walkover. They were wrong.
    Russia is now committing daily war crimes.
    and you clowns simply want to be Putin apologists and leave Ukraine to be gobbled up by Russia.
    Possibly the worst lie here is that Biden is responsible for this war.
    Exactly who invaded Ukraine.
    however it is always useless to present facts to trump cultists.”

    Off you go then Von Trampis. I’m really looking forward to reading your daily despatches from Kiev. Oh and you will be able to help the Azov battalion liberate the Crimea. You’ll fit right in, fascists always love other fascists.