The Stan R. Mitchell report for 3/11/22.
The Stan R. Mitchell report for 3/11/22.
Happy Friday, everyone! Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend!
One quick reminder… If your email says “clipped content,” then you’ll need to click read more.
Also, a small bit of personal news. My most recent book is now available in audio. And the craziest part is I did the narration myself.
So, if you're too busy to read, you can now listen on the go.
And if we've talked before, you can play the sample and be like, "I know that guy!!"
With that out of the way, let’s move on to some news.
Beginning with Ukraine, from what I can see on Twitter, folks are succumbing to compassion fatigue. It’s been two weeks and the war is horrendous.
And frankly, humans can only take in so much devastation and destruction, when you’re mostly powerless to do anything. After a while, you just turn your head and ignore it. I think that’s partly what is happening in the West.
As we speak, the capital city is being flattened. Just look at how much has been destroyed already.
Speaking broadly, I’ll share a couple of sad realities, and then flip things and share some optimism. I’ll give you seven good reasons that I think Ukraine will win.
First sad thing.
Second sad thing.
Now for the promised good news. Here are seven things you can cheer about.
First, Russian troops are bogged down.
Second, it seems one of Putin’s allies is struggling to help with ground troops.
Third, Russia seems to have forgotten how to fight a war. Check out this lack of dispersion.
And this is even worse.
In the video above, nothing is good. No dispersion. No fire and movement. And it looks like they're moving down a funnel, with concertina wire on both sides of the road at least part of the way. (Or certainly one side of the road.)
Typically concertina wire would warn you that you’re headed into a trap on an approach route such as that.
The fourth bit of good news is the weapons keep getting better for the Ukrainians.
The fifth bit of good news is that the Ukrainian people are relentless. And they’re not going to put up with an occupation. (This video is from a city that Russia supposedly “controls” and these are un-armed civilians. This video isn’t graphic, but it shows you the hatred just oozing out of civilians. And bombing cities is NOT going to decrease the tension. It’s only going to do the opposite.)
As Abraham Lincoln said more than one hundred years ago, “In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.”
The sixth bit of good news is from this video, which is far and away the best reporting I’ve seen on the war in a long while.
But if you watch it, you’ll see a fortitude and professionalism from the Ukrainian police and troops.
They’re not only tougher and more composed, but their gear is better. Their morale is better. Watch.
The seventh thing is thousands are going there to fight and help. More than 16,000 in the first week, though some put that number closer to 20,000. These are angry, passionate fighters coming from more than 50 countries, including the United States, Canada, and other countries.
All of this has combined to make me feel more and more confident that Ukraine will prevail in the long run, though it won’t be pretty or be in the short term.
But the bottom line is the Ukrainians will drive out the Russians and Putin better hope his security is as good as he thinks it is.
And it frankly better be of a higher quality than the army he sent into Ukraine. Or he faces a future in a prison cell or a casket.
Now, just because the topic of a no-fly zone simply will not stop, let me share this link: Russia-Ukraine: What’s a “no-fly zone” and why is it a terrible idea?
Moving to another conflict zone, there was more definitive news about an attack that’s already long been forgotten. But it’s a tragic lesson in dropping your guard.
From the story above, the Pentagon is calling this a complex attack involving almost 40 terrorists. But American troops saw “the heat signatures of fighters hiding in the bush but mistook them for hyenas, according to Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, who participated in the Funk review.”
It’s a good article if you have a moment to read it.
Finally, in tech news, there was this:
Let’s end with some motivation and wisdom.
That’s it for this edition. As a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.
Don’t forget to also please consider signing up for email notifications if you’re just a visitor dropping by. That will make sure you don’t miss any future editions. Or you can help support my work by subscribing and paying $5 per month. It’s like throwing a few bucks into a hat. Here’s why you should.
As always, please share this post if you enjoyed it! And I welcome any and all respectful comments below.
Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a leadership/biography book, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan.
About me: I am a prior infantry Marine, who earned the rank of Sergeant and a Combat Action Ribbon in 1997, and I’d love to do my small part to unite this country. I’m also a proud independent author, who used to own a small weekly newspaper for nine years that was probably (in hindsight) too generous on pricing to my advertisers and too lenient on my collection terms (I’m honestly just almost too nice). I also sought to downplay controversy, understate headlines, and never create panic, all of which is a terrible way to sell newspapers (but a responsible way for a media outlet to act). Looking back, it’s clear I had (and have) a big heart and that I wasn’t made to be some kind of cut-throat business executive. It’s this same streak in me that prevents me from signing any book deals, even big ones. I just don’t trust ruthless business executives at the big publishers. And even if I did, that very same company that I trusted could be bought and purchased overnight. Sorry, but I’ll pass on that. The truth is that while I’ve relented and signed some distribution deals, such as the one I did with Audible for my Nick Woods series, I’m just not willing to be owned by any of the big publishing houses. If I want to speak out on China? I will. If I want to send free books to military members? I will. (And I have.) I don’t ever plan to be owned by some New York publishing house. (The only person I answer to on this earth is my wife and I plan to keep it that way.) My success to this point has been made by doing it the right way: gaining one new reader or one new subscriber at a time. So join me on my journey. Let’s build a community of like-minded Americans, who believe in this country and in our fellow citizens (even those on the other side of the aisle). People who believe in small businesses and independent dreamers on their own journey, whether it’s owning a small farm or staying autonomous in their creative fields. And when it comes to politics? No name-calling. No screaming. Just honest discussion and a genuine search for the truth. In the end, we truly all want the same: good government, unity throughout our land, and ethical leadership.
If you’d like to support me, you can subscribe to my newsletter for $5 per month (it comes out twice a week). Or, you can check out my books at this link: http://amzn.to/3p6lAnQ. I’ve sold 70,000-plus copies and had thousands of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I’m confident you’ll enjoy them.
And if you want to know just a tad more about me and my journey, there’s this: Writers are crazy, and I’m crazier than most.
Great job, Stan. You are amazing.