Adm. Stavridis Slams Russian Military's 'Amazing Incompetence'

Not only has the Russian military shown an "amazing incompetence" in its deadly Ukraine invasion, but Vladimir Putin has effectively united the world for NATO and against Russia, former NATO Supreme Commander Adm. James Stavridis said Sunday.

"In modern history, there is no situation comparable in terms of the deaths of generals," Stavridis told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y.

"The United States, in all of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," he continued to host John Catsimatidis, "not a single general lost in actual combat. Here, on the Russian side, in a two-month period, we've seen at least a dozen, if not more, Russian generals killed."

Ukraine was projected to be overwhelmed quickly by Russian forces, but the failures to reach expectations and seeing Russian generals being killed in combat show "amazing incompetence," according to Stavridis.

"Not just the generals being killed, their inability to conduct logistics, their bad battle plans, the loss of their flagship at sea: The Moskva sunk, probably with the loss of 90% of the crew," he said. "It's been a bad performance by the Russians thus far."

Stavridis denounced Putin's having "unleashed war crimes, attacking and massacring civilian populations, destroying entire cities, and using rape as a weapon of war."

"To compound it, he has appointed a new general, Alexander Dvornikov, who is well-known to Western intelligence as the 'Butcher of Syria,' where he used the same terrible tactics against civilian populations," Stavridis said, warning of continued if not escalating atrocities.

But Putin's invasion of Ukraine has not only backfired, but it has united the world for NATO and against Russia, Stavridis noted.

"You see the entire alliance standing together," he said. "It's not just the NATO alliance. It's the democracies around the world.

"When you add up the gross domestic product of the nations that are standing against Russia, you were at 60% or 70% of the world's GDP. More nations may join NATO as a result of this, notably Sweden and Finland, who are very capable militaries.

"Vladimir Putin is creating the expansion of NATO by his unwarranted attack on a neighbor."

Despite all this, Stavridis stands shocked that Indonesia still invited Putin to attend November's G-20 summit there, predicting a mass protest from member nations if Putin actually shows up.

"I think [Putin] certainly believes he will be in power then," Stavridis said. "Unfortunately for the West, he probably will be. He has immense control over the [levers] of state, espionage and authority within Russia itself.

"I am very disappointed in the government of Indonesia for inviting him. The United States and other members of the G-20 are going to have to come together and decide whether they want to attend — whether they will walk out when Vladimir Putin walks in. There is no reason to be in a room with Vladimir Putin."

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