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Why the West Underestimated Ukraine: A Tale of Misleading Signals and Misguided Priorities - William Spaniel
At the beginning of 2022, there was a broad consensus in the Western intelligence community that Russia would achieve a quick military victory against Ukraine. The effort would come at a high diplomatic cost, and Russia would be bogged down for years fighting an insurgency, but the military portion of the conflict would be academic. That assessment was wrong. Today's video looks at what happened and where the West's critical mistake was made. In fact, the problems started decades before the invasion began.
0:00 Expectations: A Quick Victory for Russia
4:29 Corruption within the Russian Military
7:57 Why Did Western Intelligence Fail?
14:30 Why Did Ukraine Get It Right?
16:57 The Real Intel Problem