Turns Out the Ukrainians Don't Want to Die Either.

So much for paying the Ukrainian soldiers to do our proxy work against Russia.  Nobody wants to die, not soldiers either.  And no wars are ever won really from long-range.  How long are we going to keep supplying them?  Do the U.S. taxpayers really support this war?  Or have the politicians and media just convinced themselves so?

Ukraine is attacking Russia now.  Shouldn't we be rethinking our support of undertaking their "national defense" sooner rather than later?  (Wow, Helen Cooper is covering the Ukraine beat now? Wow.  I wonder if her military expertise or lack of is relevant in the reporting? Is she a Martha Raddatz military supporter, or can she ask hard questions of America's military?  Somebody should, no? Doesn't mean you don't support your country.  The ones who unquestioningly support America's military have proven not so patriotic in practice... looking at you Iraq neo-con warhawks and missionary men preaching peace... for someday)

By Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper Reporting from Washington  Aug. 2, 2023

The first several weeks of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive have not been kind to the Ukrainian troops who were trained and armed by the United States and its allies.  

Equipped with advanced American weapons and heralded as the vanguard of a major assault, the troops became bogged down in dense Russian minefields under constant fire from artillery and helicopter gunships. Units got lost. One unit delayed a nighttime attack until dawn, losing its advantage. Another fared so badly that commanders yanked it off the battlefield altogether.  

Now the Western-trained Ukrainian brigades are trying to turn things around, U.S. officials and independent analysts say. Ukrainian military commanders have changed tactics, focusing on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire.