Politics
As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale Becomes an Issue, Officials Say
WASHINGTON — In 36 days of combating on Iwo Jima throughout World Warfare II, almost 7,000 Marines have been killed. Now, 20 days after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia invaded Ukraine, his army has already misplaced extra troopers, in line with American intelligence estimates.
The conservative facet of the estimate, at greater than 7,000 Russian troop deaths, is larger than the variety of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan mixed.
It’s a staggering quantity amassed in simply three weeks of combating, American officers say, with implications for the fight effectiveness of Russian models, together with troopers in tank formations. Pentagon officers say a ten % casualty fee, together with useless and wounded, for a single unit renders it unable to hold out combat-related duties.
With greater than 150,000 Russian troops now concerned within the battle in Ukraine, Russian casualties, when together with the estimated 14,000 to 21,000 injured, are close to that degree. And the Russian army has additionally misplaced no less than three generals within the battle, in line with Ukrainian, NATO and Russian officers.
Pentagon officers say {that a} excessive, and rising, variety of battle useless can destroy the need to proceed combating. The end result, they are saying, has proven up in intelligence studies that senior officers within the Biden administration learn day-after-day: One latest report targeted on low morale amongst Russian troops and described troopers simply parking their automobiles and strolling off into the woods.
The American officers, who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate operational issues, warning that their numbers of Russian troop deaths are inexact, compiled by way of evaluation of the information media, Ukrainian figures (which are usually excessive, with the newest at 13,500), Russian figures (which are usually low, with the newest at 498), satellite tv for pc imagery and cautious perusal of video photographs of Russian tanks and troops that come below fireplace.
American army and intelligence officers know, for example, what number of troops are normally in a tank, and might extrapolate from that the variety of casualties when an armored car is hit by, say, a Javelin anti-tank missile.
The excessive fee of casualties goes far to elucidate why Russia’s much-vaunted drive has remained largely stalled outdoors of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
“Losses like this have an effect on morale and unit cohesion, particularly since these troopers don’t perceive why they’re combating,” mentioned Evelyn Farkas, the highest Pentagon official for Russia and Ukraine through the Obama administration. “Your general situational consciousness decreases. Somebody’s obtained to drive, somebody’s obtained to shoot.”
However, she added, “that’s simply the land forces.” With Russian floor forces in disarray, Mr. Putin has more and more regarded to the skies to assault Ukrainian cities, residential buildings, hospitals and even colleges. That aerial bombardment, officers say, has helped camouflage the Russian army’s poor efficiency on the bottom. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned this week that an estimated 1,300 Ukrainian troopers had been killed within the battle.
Indicators of Russia’s challenges abound. Late final week, Russian information sources reported that Mr. Putin had put two of his prime intelligence officers below home arrest. The officers, who run the Fifth Service of Russia’s primary intelligence service, the FSB, have been interrogated for offering poor intelligence forward of the invasion, in line with Andrei Soldatov, a Russian safety companies professional.
“They have been answerable for offering political intelligence and cultivating networks of help in Ukraine,” Mr. Soldatov mentioned in an interview. “They informed Putin what he needed to listen to” about how the invasion would progress.
Russians themselves could also be listening to solely what Mr. Putin needs them to listen to about his “operation” in Ukraine, which he refuses to name a battle or an invasion. Because it started, he has exerted iron management over the information retailers in Russia; state media isn’t publicizing most casualties, and has minimized the destruction.
However some Russians have entry to digital personal networks (VPNs) and are in a position to get information from the West.
“I don’t imagine he can wall off, indefinitely, Russians from the reality,” William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, informed the Senate final Thursday. “Particularly as realities started to puncture that bubble, the realities of killed and wounded coming house, and the growing quantity, the realities of the financial penalties for extraordinary Russians, the realities of the horrific scenes of hospitals and colleges being bombed subsequent door in Ukraine, and of civilian casualties there as nicely.”
The information of the generals’ deaths is trickling out, first from Ukrainians, then confirmed by NATO officers, with one demise acknowledged by Mr. Putin in a speech. They’ve been recognized as Maj. Gen. Andrei Kolesnikov, a commander from Russia’s japanese army district; Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, first deputy commander of the forty first Mixed Arms Military; and Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the forty first Mixed Arms Military.
Russia-Ukraine Warfare: Key Issues to Know
Western officers say that round 20 Russian generals have been in Ukraine as a part of the battle effort, and that they might have pushed nearer to the entrance to spice up morale.
“Three generals already — that’s a stunning quantity,” Michael McFaul, the previous United States ambassador to Russia, mentioned in an interview.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian officers reported {that a} fourth normal, Maj. Gen. Oleg Mityaev, the commander of the one hundred and fiftieth motorized rifle division, had been killed in combating.
Two American army officers mentioned that many Russian generals are speaking on unsecured telephones and radios. In no less than one occasion, they mentioned, the Ukrainians intercepted a normal’s name, geolocated it, and attacked his location, killing him and his workers.
If Russian army deaths proceed to rise, the sorts of civic organizations that known as consideration to troop deaths and accidents through the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan might as soon as extra come to prominence.
However the Russian toll, some army specialists and lawmakers say, is unlikely to vary Mr. Putin’s technique.
“It’s beautiful, and the Russians haven’t even gotten to the worst of it, after they hit city fight within the cities,” Consultant Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado and a member of the Home Armed Providers and Intelligence committees, mentioned in an interview.
“I don’t suppose it’ll have an effect on Putin’s calculus,” Mr. Crow mentioned. “He isn’t prepared to lose. He’s been backed right into a nook and can proceed to throw troops on the drawback.”
The New Yorker magazine has joined other major publications in calling for President Biden to step aside after its editor said watching Biden perform during Thursday’s debate was an “agonizing experience.”
The New Yorker is now the third publication, alongside The New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to call upon Biden to step-aside for a younger Democratic nominee.
“We have long known that Biden, no matter what issue you might take with one policy or another, is no longer a fluid or effective communicator of those policies,” The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, wrote.
“Asked about his decline, the Biden communications team and his understandably protective surrogates and advisers would deliver responses to journalists that sounded an awful lot like what we all, sooner or later, tell acquaintances when asked about aging parents: they have good days and bad days,” he wrote.
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION EDITORIAL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT ‘FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION’
President Joe Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Remnick wrote that watching Biden “wander into senselessness” moved observers to “pity” and “fear for the country.”
“Watching Thursday’s debate, observing Biden wander into senselessness onstage, was an agonizing experience, and it is bound to obliterate forever all those vague and qualified descriptions from White House insiders about good days and bad days,” he said.
“You watched it, and, on the most basic human level, you could only feel pity for the man and, more, fear for the country.”
President Biden, shown here with wife Dr. Jill Biden, faced presumed Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season last week. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Remnick made his remarks despite defensive comments from Biden’s loyalists, like former President Obama, First Lady Jill Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
THE DEMOCRATS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ATTEMPTS TO SPIN BIDEN’S DEBATE DEBACLE: ‘DID WE WATCH THE SAME DEBATE?’
“Such loyalty can be excused, at least momentarily,” he wrote. “They did what they felt they had to do to fend off an immediate implosion of Biden’s campaign, a potentially irreversible cratering of his poll numbers, an evaporation of his fund-raising, and the looming threat of Trump Redux.”
President Joe Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former president Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The New Yorker editor said that Biden staying in the race would be in direct opposition to his years of public service.
“To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service,” Remnick wrote.
“To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket,” he wrote.
Remnick concluded his piece by noting that there “is no shame in growing old” but rather there would be “honor” to step down and out of the race.
“It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it. There is no shame in growing old,” he wrote. “There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment.”
President Biden and former President Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. (Getty Images)
The New Yorker article came after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.
“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it,” The Times said. “His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.”
“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.”
President Joe Biden walks off with first lady Jill Biden following the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in “panic” after Biden’s performance.
The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE
Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump.
“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.”
This combination of pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”
“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
As pressure mounts on President Biden to quit his reelection race after a shockingly dismal debate performance, the spotlight will turn more intensely on two Californians: Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
And although California won’t matter in the November election — whoever is the Democratic nominee will easily carry the state — its huge delegation to the party’s national convention in August could play a decisive role in choosing a Biden replacement.
Harris would top the initial list of possible substitutes with Newsom close behind.
But Harris, 59, has been less popular than Biden, according to polls. And she’s widely considered a drag on the ticket. One fear of many voters is that if Biden, 81, didn’t last out his second term, he’d be replaced as president by Harris.
The former California attorney general looked sharp, however, in a post-debate interview on CNN. And although I’ve long been a critic, I got the feeling while watching her that she might not be a campaign disaster after all.
In fact, Harris might perform well on the stump. Drop the robotic script and be more spontaneous. She certainly would be a more competitive debater against Republican Donald Trump than the weak Biden.
Harris showed genuine conviction — a look she usually lacks — in pitching Biden’s policies. She tried to put the best face on his debate performance.
“Yes, there was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone,” she said. “But it was a strong finish.”
Well, no it wasn’t, but he did improve — after badly damaging himself, probably beyond repair.
One Harris hurdle, however, is that party leaders remember she bombed running for president in 2020.
Then there’s Newsom, 56.
If Newsom ever wants to run for president — and he acts like he does — now may be his best opportunity, assuming Biden can be coaxed out. There’s persistent speculation about him running in 2028. But he’s in the limelight now and there could be a Democratic incumbent seeking reelection in four years.
Newsom is already warmed up. The two-term governor has been promoting himself nationally while attacking red state policies and playing the role of an enthusiastic Biden surrogate. He has a veteran campaign organization.
Roger Strassburg wears a cowboy hat as he watches Thursday’s debate between President Biden and former President Trump in Scottsdale, Ariz.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
But Newsom would need to compete for the nomination against Harris, his old San Francisco ally. And he has said publicly he wouldn’t do that. If he did, he’d be considered a party pariah, especially among Black women, Newsom has said privately.
Actually, I’ve never thought that a California Democrat could be elected president in this era of hardened polarization. Our politics are just too leftist for most of America.
Newsom has Hollywood looks and oratorical skills. But his biggest political asset — being California governor — is also his biggest vulnerability.
One strength that both Harris and Newsom have, however, is that California’s delegation will be by far the largest at the Democratic convention. Presumably it would back a California candidate.
The 496-member slate will field 22% of the votes needed to win the nomination. So if Biden leaves the race, California could play a big role in choosing his successor.
Who else is a possibility? For starters, two governors of key battleground states: Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. There’s also Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
There’s no perfect candidate. But Trump is thoroughly imperfect.
Biden loyalists and lethargic naysayers have contended for months that it’s too late to change horses while the presidential race is underway, especially now that it has neared the final lap. Nonsense.
Conventions were invented to fight over nominations. But smoke-filled rooms unfortunately got a bad name and the Democratic Party went overboard on reforms. And the conventions became boring television shows that fewer people watched.
Republicans had the last convention battle in 1976 when they nominated President Ford over Californian Ronald Reagan. Ford then was beaten by Democrat Jimmy Carter. The last good Democratic brawl was in 1972 when the California delegation propelled George McGovern into the nomination. He was pummeled by President Nixon, a native Californian.
So convention battles sometimes backfire on a party. But this year could be different.
A Democratic donnybrook could stir new interest in the party and wake up the slumbering base that keeps telling pollsters it wants a president much younger than the 81-year-old incumbent.
Political leaders have a bad habit of plugging their ears when the public is saying things they don’t want to hear.
Voters aren’t satisfied with either of their choices. Trump, 78, seems healthier than Biden, at least physically. But Trump’s a pathological liar. “The morals of an alley cat,” Biden told him during the debate.
The voters’ anxiety about Biden’s ability to adequately serve a second term was re-stoked in his halting, hoarse-voiced, awkward performance. He seemed to lose his train of thought at least once and had trouble finishing sentences.
It was the worst presidential debate performance ever.
President Reagan blew his first debate against Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984, raising concerns about his age at 73. But he wasn’t nearly as painful to watch as Biden. Reagan fully recovered in a second debate.
Even if Biden’s decision-making is sound, people perceive him as weak. And that means he’d have difficulty leading the country.
If Trump’s election really would endanger democracy, as Biden contends, then the president should step aside to give the party a better chance of defeating the unfit jerk. He’ll naturally resist that. But those he trusts should level with him and push.
“You don’t turn your back [on someone] after one performance,” Newsom told a TV interviewer. “What kind of party does that?”
A winning party that prioritizes its principles and the nation.
Politics
Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board calls for Biden to drop out 'for the good of the nation'
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is calling for President Biden to step out of the presidential election after his debate debacle on Thursday night.
The AJC Editorial Board is publishing a front page editorial Sunday arguing that Biden should bow out of the election “for the good” of the country and to defeat former President Trump.
“The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden,” the board wrote.
THE DEMOCRATS’ SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT ATTEMPTS TO SPIN BIDEN’S DEBATE DEBACLE: ‘DID WE WATCH THE SAME DEBATE?’
An Axios report explained that Americans were so shocked by Biden’s debate performance because they’re more used to seeing a more competent version of him. (Getty Images)
Biden, they argued, failed to convey a “competent and coherent vision for the future of America” at the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday.
“He failed to outline the most fundamental aspects of his platform,” they wrote. “He failed to take credit for the significant accomplishments of his 3½ years in office. And he failed to counter the prevarications of an opponent, who, according to CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, lied 30 times during the course of the debate, approximately once every 90 seconds of his allotted time.”
President Biden and former President Trump participate in the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
AJC said that responses by Biden surrogates, former President Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as the cover-up attempt by aides that the president had a cold were “insulting to the American people.”
BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT
Biden’s age and mental acuity was a concern only heightened by Trump’s resolve, the newspaper argued.
“President Biden’s ability to withstand the mental and physical rigors of another four-year term would be of concern regardless of his opponent,” they wrote. “The fact that he is all that stands in the way of Trump returning to the Oval Office significantly raises the stakes.”
President Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections in Atlanta on Thursday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
The editorial board pointed to Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s refusal to support the former president as proof of Trump’s “egregious” personal and professional conduct following the 2020 election.
“That Trump remains at the top of the Republican ticket is a testament to the deep divisions and tribalism that has come to define American politics in the 21st century,” they wrote.
President Biden stands at a debate podium in Atlanta, Thursday. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The board encouraged Biden to pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders at the convention in August.
“If he truly hopes to defeat Trump, he must pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leaders and urge the party to nominate another candidate at its convention in Chicago in August,” they wrote. “Doing this will require a massive and unprecedented string of legal and regulatory actions to get a Biden successor named and placed on each state’s ballot. This is difficult and necessary work that must start immediately.”
BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE
The right Democratic leader, they argued, would move forward and make a compelling appeal to both Republican and Democratic voters ahead of the election.
“The Democrats have a number of talented and principled leaders who might take the president’s agenda forward and provide the nation with a viable alternative to Trump,” they wrote. “The right candidate would make it a priority to appeal to Republican and Democratic voters.”
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The board said that Biden’s very candidacy was “grounded in his incumbency and the belief of Democratic leaders and pollsters that he stood the best chance of defeating Trump in November.”
“This is no longer the case,” they said.
The Atlanta-based newspaper board said that while this may be difficult for some Democrats to swallow, it is the truth.
“Biden deserves a better exit from public life than the one he endured when he shuffled off the stage Thursday night,” they said.
“If he displays the courage and dignity that have defined his political career, he might follow in the footsteps of the nation’s first president and welcome his retirement, secure in the knowledge that he again served his country with honor,” the board ended.
People watch the 2024 presidential debate between former President Trump and President Biden in New York City, Thursday. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The AJC Editorial Board’s call for Biden to step down comes just one day after The New York Times called for him to drop out of the race.
“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it,” The Times said. “His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020. That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.”
“Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for,” the Times concluded. “But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — then his dedication to this country leaves him and his party only one choice.”
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., Friday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Following the debate, Democrats and liberal media figures were reportedly in “panic” after Biden’s performance.
The optics led to a full-on meltdown in Democrat-friendly media, with journalists at various outlets reporting on dozens of Democratic Party officials who said the 81-year-old Biden should consider refusing his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
BIDEN’S INNER CIRCLE SILENT AS PARTY REELS FOLLOWING ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE
Biden gave no indication he would step down at his first rally following the debate Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, insisting he is capable of beating Trump.
“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden energetically said. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.”
President Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally Friday in Raleigh, N.C. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
President Biden also addressed his stumbling performance, saying, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.”
“I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done,” he told a roaring crowd that chanted “Four more years.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
1 confirmed dead after severe rain causes roof collapse at India's New Delhi airport
The New Yorker editor calls for Biden to step down after 'antagonizing' debate performance
Caitlin Clark lauds childhood idol Diana Taurasi ahead of first WNBA matchup: 'One of the greatest players'
Looking for more ways to lock down your Android? Here's how to do it
Paramount leaders address 'simply unacceptable' profit declines after sale talks collapse
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
The New Yorker editor calls for Biden to step down after 'antagonizing' debate performance
Norway's LQBTQ community party at the Pride parade in Oslo
Rescuers try to keep dolphins away from Cape Cod shallows after a mass stranding
Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board calls for Biden to drop out 'for the good of the nation'
Italy’s reign as Euro champs is over, eliminated by Switzerland in last-16
-
News1 week agoTracking a Single Day at the National Domestic Violence Hotline
-
Fitness1 week agoWhat's the Least Amount of Exercise I Can Get Away With?
-
News1 week agoSupreme Court upholds law barring domestic abusers from owning guns in major Second Amendment ruling | CNN Politics
-
World6 days agoIsrael accepts bilateral meeting with EU, but with conditions
-
Politics1 week agoTrump classified docs judge to weigh alleged 'unlawful' appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith
-
Politics1 week agoSupreme Court upholds federal gun ban for those under domestic violence restraining orders
-
World7 days agoNew Caledonia independence activists sent to France for detention
-
World1 week agoIs Israel’s Smotrich fulfilling his dream of annexing the West Bank?