War in Ukraine

In what way are they not "irrational and psycho"? Do you think NATO was planning to invade Russia if Ukraine joined?

 

I agree, but sometimes you make decisions based on the results of the decision. It doesn't excuse Putin, but there is a principle: blessed are the peacemakers. Peacemaking is part of doing geopolitics well. Geopolitics is balancing competing foreign interests to keep the peace.

 

Is it too left leaning for you?

 

lol it’s totally irrational. Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and Putin knows with complete certainty NATO will never attempt a conventional attack.

But even taking nukes out of the equation, all conquering Ukraine does is put NATO right on the new border. And it almost certainly pushes Finland into the alliance, which means NATO territory is now going to be a stones throw from St Petersburg.

If Putin we rational he would have deesclated, withdrawn from Crimea, attempted to modernize, and given CIS countries a reason to love him instead of fearing his stated desire to reform the USSR.

But speaking of rationality, it’s obvious that you are carrying Putins water because you think it will be politically beneficial. Much like Putins bs pretexts, yours are completely transparent.

 

This argument may have been applicable a few months ago before Putin began massing troops at the border, but that ship has sailed. Once the bombs began falling and troops crossed the border, it'd been born out that Putin bit off more than he can chew. Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk were easy for Putin. Particularly Crimea, you saw no resistance at all. If you had put unification with Russia on the ballot in Crimea in 2014, Crimea would have chosen Russia. Crimea is 90% ethnic Russian and Russian speaking. Similar is true in Donetsk and Lugansk. Those were rational moves on Putin's part, because the effected regions had populations that were enamored with Russia and spoke Russian primarily. The same is not true about the rest of Ukraine, however. The further west you go, the less Russian is spoken and it's mostly ethnic Ukrainian. To the people, that's when it became clear Putin was a madman. If you're NATO or the UN, you now know unequivocally Putin has to be stopped.

 

Neville Chamberlin thought like you. All for the sake of peace. What does Koheles teach you?

 

Hope this is true and that it spreads

 

Interesting points, and the perspective, appreciated, but TBL there's no prohibition against Ukraine and even every single former country of the USSR from allying and forming a federation, an alliance, even a nation.

Putin wants to invade (and has obviously).

So what we're talking about, is Russia's right to invade other countries, and the alliance that formed to prevent Russia from spreading its COMMUNISM, from getting involved militarily.

Note: the commies are the assholes who deny God, and kill believers.

That's just not a right anyone needs to defend. Russia can earn every square inch of turf it seeks to expand to, if it can.

But may they shed a gallon of blood for every thimble's worth of bloodshed they cause, in the process.

 

I think Putin has blood on his hands and should hang from the gallows. I'm not providing moral justification for his actions. I am critiquing Biden's and NATO's handling of the situation. I think they handled a delicate situation the wrong way.

We can escalate the rhetoric here, and I could say you are just saying what you are saying because I'm questioning your dear leader. I don't think that is productive, but Biden's foreign policy decisions are not untouchable and beyond questioning. It reminds me of the fans who will call you a nole or a dawg if you ever said anything negative about Muschamp, McElwain, or Mullen. You can critique your own team without being a fan of the other team. In the same way critiquing Biden's foreign policy decisions surrounding this incident is not siding with Putin. That is "trust the coaches" rhetoric applied to the political realm.

 

An uplifting bit of Ukrainian propaganda. Hope those to whom it is intended will see it somehow. Ukraine says FAFO

 

So the world's largest country needs more territory, 10-4. How dare anyone object to that.

 

I liked him. Good find. Thanks.

 

I also think both Trump and Putin underestimated Ukraine and Zelensky, and maybe, Putin was trying to help Trump politically by invading, as Trump is defending Putin.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Trump is already trying to use the invasion as a campaign issue, and Putin knows that if he helps Trump win, Bidens sanctions will be quickly lifted,

 

Biden sucks out loud. Useless.

In this instance, his worthlessness proving benign.

His telegraphong weakness baited the toothless bear into blowing its wad and showing the world hes shooting blanks...

I'm good with that.

Putin is the last echo of Stalin's horrific legacy. It can't possibly fade into silence too soon.

 

I think trying to look at a major geopolitical issue that predates Trump in the first place through the lens of a U.S. political sideshow is a mistake.

I can unequivocally say that Russia isn’t invading Ukraine because they think it might help Donald Trump. And for all the “Trump will just lift the sanctions” talk, bear in mind that in actuality Trump got in a pissing match with Congress over who could be tougher on Russia that resulted in more sanctions on Russia being imposed under Trump than at any point in history up until the past two days (including some - like those aimed at blocking Nord Stream 2 from ever opening - that Biden lifted).

 

How desensitized are we that we are happy people died in this video. I’m ashamed of my own reaction.

 

The deference Trump showed to Putin was historical. Never had I imagined a POTUS agreeing with Putin over our own national security intelligence. On the world stage. Trump never read or understood policy or history. Everything was a transaction to him, including NATO and our allies, and Ukraine. What had they done for him. He is exceptional at getting people to do things that were against all of their training and better instincts, i.e Barr, Pompeo, Guiliani, the list goes on, and they all have suffered as a result. I don't who was leading who in the relationship between Trump and Putin, but America was not first.