Scott Ritter Dubs Ukraine War Unsustainable, Even If U.S. Takes Over

Sept. 22, 2023, (EIRNS)—Scott Ritter, in a column posted on the Intel Drop today, picks up on a comment made by NATO commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli, who told an audience at a Jan. 9, 2023 Swedish defense forum, that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is “out of proportion with all of our [NATO] recent thinking,” adding that “the magnitude of this war is incredible.”

Ritter pointed to the 2019 edition of U.S. Army Field Manual 4-0, “Sustainment Operations,” which forecasts that theater medical planners “may anticipate a sustained rate of roughly 3,600 casualties per day, ranging from those killed in action to those wounded in action or suffering disease or other non-battle injuries,” putting the U.S. Army on track to lose some 50,000 casualties in two weeks of sustained combat operations against a Russian-style threat.

By way of analysis of the level of violence on the Ukraine battlefield, Ritter concludes that the 3,600 figure is completely realistic. He argues that on a very fluid and foggy battlefield, the Russians will have the advantage by a large margin, which he attributes to their superior electronic warfare capabilities. The U.S. military depends heavily on precision weapons, but the Russians will be able to deny the U.S. side the situational awareness that it needs to be able to find and destroy targets.

“In an environment where speed and alacrity are the cornerstones of victory, the U.S. will find itself lethargic and unresponsive, unable to coordinate effectively on the most rudimentary of tasks,” Ritter writes. “The result will be the total collapse of the U.S. forces involved in the meeting engagement, leading to their retreat and ultimate destruction.”