paxromana

Get shot down only slightly less easily? I thought we'd agreed that Attack Helicopters ... indeed, any Helicopter near the front ... was now more a liability than an asset?

NAtions tried to work out a way of having Safe Zones from air attack between WW1 and WW2 to add to Hague and Geneva. They spent a *lot* of time and effort on the problem ... and no matter what they came up with they realised that it could be so easily gamed that trying to solve the problem was pointless. Against psychopathic terrorists like Hamas there is no point in even trying. Indeed, even expecting Israel to not attack targets because they'd cause 'excessive' civilian casualties when Hamas deliberately sets up their positions to make that impossible to avoid is pure insanity on the part of know nothing bleeding hearts (left and right wing, politically).

Only half?

Well, OK ... the only change is that now the Besieger is obliged to allow them to leave. Presumably also allowed to screen them to ensure that no Hamas terrorists attempt to leave inm disguise as well? So Filtration Camps without the torture and general psychopathy of the Ruzzian version? And if the Hamas psychopaths refuse to let their human shields leave? Israell theoretically would have an obligation to feed said civilians ... except that you can be 100% certain that Hamas would ensure they themselves get the pick of any supplies sent in and damn their own civil population. Rules are all very well when both sides are, even if marginally (like the Ruzzians in Ukraine) 'civilised' ... Hamas isn't, and has nol interest in being so. So the rules actually make the siege tougher for the attacker ... and easier for the terrorists. The Rules weren't written with psychopaths like Hamas in mind. Of course, the non-Hamas populace could rise up and overthrow them ... those who haven't been too busy dancing in the streets to celebrate their murderous rampage, that is.

Indeed it is. However, blockading a besieged place in time of war is not 'collective punishment' ... And any civilian casualties which result are the legal responsibility of the besieged force ... Hamas in this case ... not of the besieger. Once the Israelis take control if, for example, they decided to blow up the Power Plant, that would be collective punishemnt ... what;s going on now is entirely at the foot of the Hamas fanatics.

Perhaps bus all the survivors to the West Bank after eliminating Hamas and let the Palestinians there deal with them? I strongly suspect that the West Bank Palestinians don't want the Gazans any more than Egypt does, despite demonstrations/riots in 'solidarity.'

War isn't fair. Hamas seems to have misunderstood that Sieges make what Israel has done all perfectly legal. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity!

Well, as I understand Geneva/Hague it is a war crime to deliberately and specifically target civilians and civilians only. If you are (and prove otherwise) targetting legitimate military objects then the fact that civilians are killed incidentally to that is not a crime. In fact, much diplomatic effort was expended in the inter-war years over attempts to find a way to deem some locations 'protected' but no-one was able to come up with a solution that couldn't, and obviously couldn't, be gamed ... All the Russian hits on civilian targets ... well, inaccurate weapons and bad intel could be used to defend them if it came to trial and, unless you had actual written orders to deliberately and specifically hit those civilian targets,, well, the defense would probably succeed.

It is virtually impossible to shut down a rail line ... track repairs, as you note, generally take mere hours. Switching gear is a little harder. Power supplies for electric trains requires more precisiopn than the Russians are showing even now and, as Ukraine has already shown, they have the capacity to switch to diesel for the short outages. The thing that really disrupted the Western French rail net in the runup (and follow on) from Normandy was the Allied Airforces dropping every bridge within 200 miles of the invasion beaches and then having air Supremacy that made daylight road marches to the front ... lethal. In Germany the Strategic Bombing Campaign again only started to shut down German rail traffic when the bridges started to be dropped* and, perhaps more importantly, they started hitting the Switching Yards so new consists could only be formed by physically tipping rolling stock off the rails (effectively destroying it). And, of course, with Air Supremacy Fighter and Fighter Bomber Jocks found that shooting up trains with cannon and HMG is great fun! * By the end of the war the SBS estimated that nowhere in Germany could trains run more than 12 miles (IIRC) without running into something the prevented further travel - either completely or until repaired.

Superseded ...

Stuxnet Mk 2? Or maybe Skynet!

Putin wouldn't care in the slightest ...

A sign of things to come? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66785897 'Definitely not due to spares shortages ... nothing to see here folks!'

The war between Ukraine and Russia will become more difficult as winter brings mud and snow https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-12/russia-ukraine-war-winter-mud-snow-cold-temperature-strategy/102839110 Another article by Mick Ryan (Maj Gen, ret, Australian Army)

Potemkin Villages? Who's to say they aren't mostly or completely empty? The Russians are pretty good at that sort of thing ...

IF this twitter thread is to be believed ... ... th situation is very much worse for Russia than just fuel shortages in agriculture ... their whole transport infrastructure is, well, fcuked ... and more and more of their logistic system will be affected by being worn out ... The thread is very informative ... the whole Russian situation is descending into a complete shambles.

I read somewhere a long time ago that, for any given conflict, one side's commanders will be close to 100% wrong and a large chunk of the other side's commanders will be wrong as well. Russia is obviously (hopefully) close to 100% wrong ...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/why-ukraine-s-new-strike-strategy-has-putin-on-the-run-20230904-p5e1u4.html New article by Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan (retired) on the progress of the war. The Sydney Morning Herald is behind a paywall, but, unless they have changed it recently, you get, IIRC, 10 free articles a month. It is in agreement with much of what many here have been saying.

Actually it's interesting the number that were smiling or laughing about the hack ... not exactly the signs one would expect of a population which 90% supports the putinists!

I presume that, in both cases, it would not be 'ethnic cleansing' to expel all foreign (i.e. non-local aka Russian citizen) incomers who have arrived since 2014 and re-import all the expelled or fled Ukrainian citizens (including the Crimean Tartars)? I cannot see Western authorities seeing that as 'ethnic cleansing' ... How much of a difference would that make?

Maybe they should implement the Ceaucescu solution ... I believe that Romanian History books were Loose Leaf Binders for easier replacement of pages that 'needed' to be ...

So all of them would have had window seats!

You do know what Operation Pedestal was? The Med was closed to the Brits after the Italian DoW. Convoys from Britain to the Far East and Oz/NZ had to go around the Cape ... the Suez Canal didn't stop things, just made them ever so slightly more difficult. Britain was effectively without the Canal and was not lost. As for the Italian Armed Forces ... they were a joke. Poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly led. And easily trashed by O'Connor.

Or maybe it's the Red Queen? believing many impossible things before brekkie?