A community for discussing events around the World
Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed. Sources that have a Low or Very Low factual reporting rating or MBFC Credibility Rating may be removed.
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF 10/19
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
News [email protected]
Politics [email protected]
World Politics [email protected]
For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/
US commander needs to keep his gob shut.
Careless talk costs lives.
Loose lips sink ships
I am very sure that there are British special forces in Ukraine.
After one of his visits to Ukraine, Michael Kofman was being interviewed about the possibility of soldiers going in and partway through started laughing and said "if anyone has people there, I'm sure the British do". The interviewer asked him why he thought that and he laughed even harder and said "let's just call it one analyst's guess".
My guess is that they're present and that it's an open secret that they're there, but that the British government chooses not to officially announce the fact.
Later, they had that German military discussion that leaked and IIRC they said that the British had about 50 people in Ukraine, more than anyone else...IIRC we in the US had 17. The Brits were doing things like helping target British weapons (and French weapons, as IIRC the French didn't have anyone present). The Germans were talking about having the British target their weapons too if they decided to send Taurus missiles, so that they could avoid putting anyone in-country.
Probably being present as trainers or consultants for British systems, intelligence, tactics etc. I can't imagine they operate at the front or you'd be inevitably getting body bags back and you can only keep quiet so many.
I believe that the German discussion had something to to with programming weapons, which I assume -- given the talk of Taurus and of the British dealing with French weapons and the British Storm Shadow and French SCALP having a common heritage -- has to with the Storm Shadow/SCALP.
They may be doing other things too, but my guess is that that's one thing.
IIRC Latvia also had some, don't remember who else was on the list.
Well duh, special forces are one of our specialities.
This should not really be surprising to anyone, given that training others is a part of their mission set. Does anyone doubt MI6 is active there, pursuing the missions they've been trained for?
That said, I'm surprised a Green Beret team doesn't already come with a cyber guy. I mean, yeah, that's probably a good idea to have someone that can monitor and work in the information space when you're doing a long-term deployment overseas. Probably want a drone/EW guy too.
Yeah the Airforce pilot reference probably means drone pilot. Can imagine the Airforce training the pilots and detaching them into other units.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
"A 12-person detachment might be up-gunned," Fenton said, explaining that as warfare becomes more high-tech, there may be a need for teams to have a cyber expert, an Air Force pilot, or a cryptologist, for example.
Fenton said that British commandos have required Royal Air Force pilots' advice on drone operations and needed navy personnel "to help them understand, more than a SOF (special operations forces) teammate could, the way a ship in the Black Sea navigates."
Indeed, the possibility of Western powers openly sending military units to fight Putin's forces has gained momentum in recent months, with President Emmanuel Macron saying he'd consider dispatching French soldiers.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "It is the long-standing policy of successive governments not to comment on UK Special Forces."
Meanwhile, the radical idea of Western troops being officially sent to Ukraine has been floated by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron said he'd consider sending troops "if the Russians were to break through the front lines" or "if there were a Ukrainian request—which is not the case today."
The original article contains 527 words, the summary contains 182 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Anybody who is surprised by this is either hugely naive, knows nothing about previous British military tactics or has been under a rock for the last 40 years.