In 1979, the People's Republic of China carried out an invasion of Vietnam. In 90 days of fighting, they had roughly 15,000 soldiers killed. They publicly admitted that they could not continue to sustain these losses any longer. They withdrew from Vietnam. As a matter of interest, the US suffered some 58,000 US military personnel killed during 10 years of war in Vietnam.
This morning the Ukraine government announced that 13,800 Russian
military personnel had been killed since the Russian invasion began on February
24. If we follow the traditional formula of three soldiers wounded for each
soldier killed, we get an estimate of 41,400 wounded. No statistics have been
released on Russian soldiers who were captured or surrendered. In some nine
years of war in Afghanistan, the old Soviet Union suffered roughly 15,000
soldiers killed.
The Ukraine statistics above are subject
to heated controversy. The term "fake news" is heard time and again.
We are stuck with estimates and a question of who one believes and sides with.
I went to several different sources to reach my opinion on the death toll. I am
a firm believer in that old saying: "Where there is this much smoke, there
has to be some fire." We have not even looked at civilians killed and
wounded. This is a bloody war.
Yuri Noah Harari is a world-famous and
recognized historian. Three of his history books are in my books-to-be-read
collection. I gave these same books to Pedro as his Christmas gift. Here is an
interview where he talks about Ukraine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQqthbvYE8M
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