BY OUR HUBRIS CORRESPONDENT, JACK SHIT

“YOU’D THINK that when the Challenger Space Shuttle blew up on take-off in 1986, that the Brits might have reconsidered the name of its main battle tank when it was being upgraded in the 1990s.”

Contrarian strategic analyst Colonel Walter Kurtz, who has been scorned by orthodox commentators for suggesting the Russian Army in Ukraine might not be as incompetent as once believed, says that the loss of a Challenger II tank has been an accident waiting to happen. “The real crime here is that the British knew this tank had already been pierced by an Iraqi missile over a decade ago, and yet they kept it secret and sold their 14 Challengers to Kyiv Titanic-style, as unsinkable. Well the boast has hit an iceberg. Indeed, none of the NATO tanks have performed particularly well. If only NATO had paid attention to what happened in the Sinai in 1973. The Russians are not the Iraqis or Afghans, they’re a real army, and they know how to draw blood. You could laugh at British hubris, but they talk themselves up so much it’s become boring. My thoughts are with the poor Ukrainians who put their faith in Perfidious Albion and its NATO allies.”

The Challengers were advertised as game changers. Along with the German Leopards and American Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Ukraine is still awaiting American Abrams tanks, and F16 Fighters. It’s hoped these will be game changers too.

“What’s happening here,” says Colonel Kurtz, “is the NATO emperor being stripped of his clothes. This is real war. Not an invasion of a tin-pot desert dictatorship, or a tribal homeland. “And the Russians haven’t even used their most powerful weapons yet. The Ukrainians have shown terrific spirit but even a well-motivated army can only do so much. It seems NATO is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. The question is, will Mr Zelenskyy continue the policy? Has he, in effect, agreed to sacrifice the 2023 army, hoping he can replace it with a 2024 army? Hoping that NATO will eventually put boots on the ground? That’s how World Wars begin.”