As much as I want Putin out of Ukraine, I have to say the "be careful what you wish" will be for the West, not Putin.

When it comes to ground warfare, little has changed since the World Wars. In this Putin has not been wrong. Proof of this is Afghanistan. Both the U.S. and Russia took a crack at it. It should be easy, very open to air attacks. Yet, when it comes to controlling territory, a billion dollar plane is no match for a few guys on the ground with some grenades and guns.

I doubt even if we gave Ukraine all our M1 tanks it would make a difference. They MUST be integrated in combined arms ESPECIALLY control of the air. And even then (again Afghanistan) they won't be able to control everywhere.

As for the German tanks, the Germans know better than anyone that many will get destroyed (not being the current models) and will be a PR nightmare for the Germany defense industry.

That isn't to say Russian can't be beat, only that Ukraine really needs air dominance to gain the upper hand over Russia.

The West has begun to do exactly what Putin believed they'll do--chicken out. The best hope for Ukraine at this point is Putin regime coming apart internally. I'd like to believe they can push Russia out in the Spring but as you so perfectly explained, Russians will find a way to survive in their foxholes because they have no home to return to.