G.I. Joe

Just beautiful:
 

"A Ukrainian soldier launches a Polish reconnaissance drone in the kyiv region, August 2, 2022. EFREM LUKATSKY / AP"

OK OK, I admit that some planes are cool.  Especially P51s.  And spitfires.  and FW190s, ME109s.  And F4 phantoms.  And corsairs.  and P47 thunderbolts.  Oh, and stukas.  and B24s.  And zeros.  and of course P38s, super cool.  But other than those, planes are mostly just kinda cool. 🙃

Definitely nothing says "combat firepower" quite like a tank...at least not since battleships faded into history, I'll certainly concede that. And I will be the first to say that I love airplanes first and foremost as flying machines...their combat performance is a side issue.

OK, I gotta give you that.  After much praying and reading of scripture, it appears I overstated my case.
I agree w you that airplanes are not false gods.  They are gods but are lesser gods relative to The Most Exalted High Gods (tracked armored vehicles).    Wheeled armored vehicles are the offspring of High Gods w mortals, so are demi-gods.  😃

"ADLERTAG, mein Herren. The destruction of the English air force on the ground."
Now, as then, much easier said than done.  Actual suppression of actual defenses on a nationwide scale takes weeks; it simply doesn't happen in a single 'decapitating strike (Grosser Schlag).  And while the PLAAF has come a ways since the early 2000s when MiG-19s were still its mainstay, its ability to mount weeks of high intensity combat operations across the Straits where the primary threat is (well dispersed) SAMs, not enemy warplanes is.... untested.
Remember, the entire point of this is not to clear the skies, it's to pave the way for invasion. Taiwan is rugged and full of caves. Taiwan is also rather good at making sophisticated AA/antiship/AT missiles and firing systems in bulk, and their average reservist is more than competent to operate same.
Effectively, Xi would be betting his own life, and very likely the future of CPC rule in China, upon the abilities of a recently 'rejuvenated' force that hasn't fought a serious war since 1979. And, let's face it, does not attract modern China's best and brightest to its officer corps (although there are undoubtedly exceptions).
...so that this same untested force could then launch an even more complex and risky amphibious/airborne assault across the Strait in multidivision strength. Only once PLA mech forces are ashore in force does Taiwanese resistance crumble as the result becomes obvious; you can expect the ROC armed forces to fight ably until then.
And that all presupposes the nonintervention of the US and its allies (whose staffs have been studying this air/sea/land battlespace nonstop since 1949). Because in the time it takes to secure (more or less) air superiority and (try to) knock out the antiship defenses, you've given Team USA time to think and react. 
My own opinions, of course. Nobody really knows for sure. But to me, victory through air power remains an illusion.
****
Now, grab Penghu in a lightning operation and suddenly  Taiwan itself becomes a lot less defensible; it's now PLN shore based missiles that control that part of the Strait from the natural harbour at Magong (the Japanese used it as a fleet base).
.... And you've now presented the US with a fait accompli (a) start WW3 over an island nobody's heard of (b) garrison Taiwan with Allied 'imperialist' forces and watch the global economy go to hell, or (c) accept the proposed cease fire and eventual reunion of Taiwan with the Motherland later, one way or another.  And Xi has a victory under his belt, not a debacle.

Linking to this interesting thread from late last year....
 
 

It is possible to like both...and even to have room left over for submarines.

It is possible to like both...and even to have room left over for submarines.

It is possible to like both...and even to have room left over for submarines.

It is possible to like both...and even to have room left over for submarines.

Taiwan has the right to exist as a country in its own right. Similar in size of Australia which is also an island and an ofshoot of Britain. Time to recognise it as such.  

One does wonder how well some of these commentators would have handled 1940, 1941 or 1942...

Got to FB and here is todays post from UKR Sergey Gnezdilov that first reported the crisis in Pisky.
So, this could be the reason why RU assault groups are not pushing very hard today in Pisky.

This, absolutely, and it has been around for a fair while. I recall watching news coverage of Gulf War 1 in the UK (can't recall whether it was BBC or ITV) with a report from a journalist accompanying the leading dismounted elements of a British Army infantry recce unit. They had come under machine gun fire and were in good cover waiting for artillery support  to do their thing but the journalist was rattling on dramatically about the attack grinding to a halt under heavy enemy fire, woe and catastrophe etc. I remember thinking at the time that reporter clearly had no historical or military context within which to recognise this as the 'small change' of day to day operations (although clearly important to the guys actually being shot at).

Yeah, I am picturing Eisenhower walking into the first big staff meeting during battle of the bulge, seeing map and wetting his pants .  Oh wait, I mis-remembered that.  He actually said something about the great opportunity provided by the germans leaving their defenses.  (Note, I don't think anyone here on the forum is wetting their pants, but the pundit world probably will be)
Current situation is on-going murder, but everything RU gets comes at much greater cost to RU than to UKR.  And if RU decides to keep its arty doing massed fire on this small sector then it's an opportunity for UKR CB fire.  Plus RU is plowing through shells that aren't going to be available elsewhere, all to take one town that is still very, very far from Bakmut.  This is unsustainable for RU.  Meanwhile they are weakening this front to shore up Zaporize & Kherson.  So if they couldn't advance w everything in the donbas, how they gonna do it w less?   RU transferring troops from around Izyum to the west means UKR can move troops also, or try to cut the road thru Izyum, creating another crisis for RU.  
Maybe I'll be proved wrong and this really is the beginning of a local disaster.  But what I see if RU offensives have been getting smaller and smaller and smaller, until the little town of Pisky is the only 'major' thing going right now.

One does wonder how well some of these commentators would have handled 1940, 1941 or 1942...

Right?!  Gawd help us if we in the west ever get into a real war.  After the first setback we will be ready to wave white flags if this proxy war is any indication.  I am losing count of how many times the Russians take a small berg somewhere after weeks of trying and people freak out - “aaah, see the Russians are winning!  Abandon ship!!”  
Meanwhile the Ukrainians are basically spelling on bridges with arty shells and crippling Russian logistics, after collapsing a Russian front in the north, pushing them off Kharkiv, stalling then Donbas assault, and now this thing in Kherson.  But those are just flukes as the “Russians bide their time” and wait for their moment…while bleeding all over everything.

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/soldiers-of-the-armed-forces-of-ukraine-are-undergoing-training-on-ships-and-training-grounds-in-great-britain/
Good news.
 

Yep. Probably best not hold shows of force in places that remind people of your most devastating defeat...

which makes this bit of news really funny.
Russian Ships Transit Tsushima Strait, Continue to Circle Japan - USNI News

Yep. Seen that before:
Every panzer in Normandy was a Tiger Every artillery piece in North West Europe was an 88 Every Luftwaffe pilot shot down in the Battle of Britain was shot down by a Spitfire, never a Hurri Once somethings got a reputation, it sticks I suppose.

It is in Poznań, my city, in an old Prussian army complex. It belongs to PL armed forces since, and is now located almost in the city center. What is funny is that US Army has some over-the-top security requirements compared to Polish - old fence was not enough, and they sandbagged the whole perimeter, put some concertina wire here and there and (most unfortunately) cut a number of street trees that were too close to the fence. And some concrete blocks, I assume to stop cars trying to ram the fence. The place now looks like a proper military compound (missing machine gun emplacements and Hesco wall) but it made many eyebrows to raise and provoked some snarky comments...

Some key foundational truths to consider: 
1. Nobody ever honestly thought Afghanistan was a vital interest.
2. Everybody sees peace in Europe as a vital interest.
3. Nobody believes that Russia will stick to any peace deal that it is in any shape to challenge.
4. Everybody sees what happens in Ukraine as linked to what China believes it can do in re to Taiwan.
I am quite sure there will be unhappiness this winter in Europe. I'm sure that attention will wax and wane. But Putin made the cardinal mistake of creating a situation in which the geopolitical incentives and penalties are entirely obvious and inescapable to his enemies. Worse, a successful Ukrainian effort is possible if only Poland and the US give it wholehearted support. So, I get the pessimism and I don't disagree with the stressors you identify but none of them counterbalance the need to stop Russia now or make sure China doesn't use the precedent later.
 
 

Galeev went into detail why he felt that Russia was similar to South America than other places. Heres the ending, rest of the thread, he was discussing the stat that 80% of the population was Russian in Russia by pointing out decent chunk is mixed, or Mestizo and self-identification is a very important part of ethnic group identification. Not sure if hes correct regarding his premise, but I was wondering why he felt that way.