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As US troops left Iraq, their combat gear went to police (europe.pub)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Davriellelouna@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world

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The troop withdrawal created a ton of surplus armament. Through the so-called “1033 program,” police departments can acquire excess military gear from the Pentagon for free.

Source: https://www.stephensemler.com/p/how-the-iraq-war-turbocharged-police

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Effectively, the professor argued, Putin is trying to use a constant state of war to reshape the Russian self image into that if a warrior nation.

Hard epic fail. Over 1 million russian casualties. Tank reserves mostly depleated. Huge losses of military vehicles and gear.

If anything, I'd say russia has proved that they aren't even a country. They're a gas station with nukes that may or may not work.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean it's kind of the professors point. He says that Putin is doing this to kill off and redefine the identity parts of the Russian population, whom Putin identifies as lazy, drunkard, directionless young men.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

Ah, great plan! When they return they can be disabled, traumatized men who are drunk dealing with PTSD.

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

It's a warrior state, they just happen to be very bad at it