If. But that's a psychological point in Putin's mind, not a reality in the real world. We're at the point where the pathologies of one man are driving this war.
Another fact I find amazing is the maidan revolution being televised for weeks across the globe on all major news channels, with prominent EU leaders traveling to Kyiv and holding speeches to the crowds. One of those was Angela Merkel and hundreds of millions must have seen it. Today this fact is considered Russian propaganda and apparently never happened. Anyone watched the news 6 years ago and isn't afraid of being downvoted on an internet forum? Remember Merkel's "Right to be forgotten" act? Guess what she used it on.
I came to this forum expecting a higher level of conversation than the horror I've witnessed on reddit. Instead I see outrage over "Russia support everywhere" in a thread where literally 1 heavily downvoted comment was not making fun of Russians(at the time of writing of course). I question the sincerity of people behind such comments. We all know psyops exist, but apparently never in our neighborhoods. Another theory is it's just trolling, which is basically a modern version of wife-beating. "Husband comes home from work frustrated where he was taking insults all day from an abusive boss and takes it out on his wife." vs. "Modern internet user is put down by society/boss/wife and takes it out on strangers on the internet." This whole propaganda shit-fest is playing right in the hands of abusers. My father used to say "come war, the bastards move up in society".
And for gods sake, can someone tell me what percentage of the global production is weapons manufacturing? One used to be able to find that piece of information, but not anymore.
It's not 2014 any more...
That word's time has come again!
It’s possible that this will give them an overwhelming force.
Keep in mind Ukraine had 45 million people before the war versus Russia's 144 million. But Ukraine mobilized absolutely everyone they could versus Russia which needs to keep their population content and downplay the "special operation".
And, 300k without artillery, tanks, air support, and logistics isn't an overwhelming force. Does Russia have the rest of what it takes to make them an effective force?
The reality is that Putin has elected to invade a sovereign neighbor country and can unelect to do so. Not one "western" leader, military or civilian, has threatened Russia "existentially" and certainly no one has threatened to invade Russia.
Putin is a liar, to put it simply. He's apparently playing the crazy-card, in attempts to freak the world out, but his constant threats to the entire world of nuclear first-strikes and then saying that "THIS TIME IS NOT A BLUFF" means that people can't really learn much by his unchanging and silly rhetoric. As some boxer said: "Be aware of the main trunk of his body and where it's moving and watch his hands"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/21/vladim...
"few of Putin’s contradictory storylines stand up to even a moment’s critical thought: we are winning in Ukraine – but the forces of the west aligned against us are so powerful that now we need to dig deeper to stay in the fight; our proxy regimes in Ukraine need to hold referendums to join us – but we already know they all want to join; we’re protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia itself – but to do this requires incorporating part of another country; our war aim has always simply been to “liberate” Donbas – but to do that we’ve also taken so much of Ukraine that we have a 1,000km frontline."
It doesn't matter which side you stand on today, if you think the solution to this problem is war instead of negotiation and peace, you are being abused by everything you read and hear.
It's going to take 100,000+ dead Russians. At some point the military and civilian leadership in Russia will realize that Putin has to go, and that is when all this will end.
There is a lot of death and destruction yet to go. Ukraine will struggle with hundreds of thousands of new bodies arming Russia's antique military machine. Iran is flying in large quantities of drones that will expose Ukraine's forces to effective Russian artillery. But the outcome won't change; Ukraine will ultimately win because it's not a war of choice for Ukraine and Ukraine has the allies it needs to keep fighting.
Ukraine would be foolish to trust the North America or Europe to support them forever, especially if even more major economic issues happen in either continent.
That seems to be Putins play, he is hoping the West's internal issues sufficiently flare up. This winter will probably determine that. The only real diplomatic path is to convince China to sever with Russia, and thats not gonna happen. Its well understood China is looking at this as a dry run for what kind of responses to expect if Taiwan gets attacked. And China is the clear winner of the Ukraine conflict right now.
It’s not going to fully happen, but Putin met Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan last week, and returned a bit disappointed.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/16/world/vladimir-...:
“President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Thursday that China had “questions and concerns” about Russia’s war in Ukraine, a notable, if cryptic, admission that Moscow lacks the full backing of its biggest, most powerful partner on the world stage”
⇒ I don’t think Russia will get much support from China.
Not really, Russia doesn’t have precision guided munitions. Ukraine - or NATO - is at least decade ahead technologically, maybe two.
Russia has ample artillery. While they're blind it isn't very effective. Drones correct that deficiency, which is why Russian drones are a serious threat.
how allies will help if Russia will use tactical nukes on Ukrainian forces?
If a country invades a neighbor, claims it’s now part of their sovereign homeland while the neighbor is still actively defending, and then uses nukes based the justification their newly occupied “homeland” they just invaded is being invaded by its defenders then it means any country with nukes can use nukes to invade and grab neighboring territory
At the very least, everyone is going to get nukes
Get ready for WW3.
You can argue with every point, but won't ever win cuz "it's just a way to communicate without being pedantic", but then you put all of this together and get a complete and utter gibberish. And this is basically how doublespeak works.
Putin took Crimea because he was afraid of losing it if Ukraine joined NATO.
Against who? Russia can't even fight Ukraine. China es calling for peace. This is a minor regional conflict. I feel sorry for the people of Ukraine and Russia that are going to suffer and die pointlessly for the delusional imperial ambitions of an old man that lives 75 years in the pass.
Putin is the new Mussolini, getting his ass handed to him while trying to invade Greece and for exactly the same reasons; mainly a low moral, low quality army that doesn't want to fight that war.
No.
All this “but USA!”, “but NATO!”, “but the Nazis!” whataboutism is complete nonsense.
It doesn’t even begin to explain one country invading a neighbor with 125k men, leveling entire cities and killing thousands of civilians.
Even making hypothetical Mexico comparisons is impossible without focusing the debate around something other than the invasion and therefore sounding like a Russia apologist.
The US won against Japan essentially without help from the USSR.
There was an article a while back that showed a much higher recognition of Soviet efforts and sacrifices in WW2 immedistely after the war ended but tapering away ever since.
You should at least make an effort to see things from the Russian point of view. To say there's nothing valid in the Russian state's actions, is really idiotic.
1) Are post WW2 borders sacred?
2) The dissolution of the USSR was chaotic, unnegotiated, and basically due to the magnanimity of Gorbachev.
3) Therefore, post USSR space resembles post-colonial Africa: former co-nationals are now minorities, depending on which post-Soviet state one examines. Armenia and Azerbaijan are good examples. Oh, but the news didn't tell you to get upset about it yet, so you have no opinion? That's why these opinions on Ukraine are so unprincipled.
4) The Turks depopulated Ukraine via the slave trade. Russia conquered the land, pushed the Turks back, and colonized E Ukraine for themselves. 18th century stuff. What I want to know is why the wokester position (the official Western "Good Guy" position, otherwise known the Party Line Winston) finds the USA's existence an affront to Native Americans and Mexicans, Israel's existence an affront to Palestinians, but cares not one whit for Poland occupying half of historic Germany, Turkey's ongoing genocide of Armenians (They back Azerbaijan, and Turkey is also a NATO power), and Greeks (threatening to invade... read proper journalists and you'll know)?
5) The West did the same thing to Serbia. The West in fact helped with the Muslim genocide of Serbians. Kosovo is the origin of Serbian culture and the Muslims overran it in the last 400 years. If you weep for the Native Americans and Tibetans, then you should care about what happened in Serbia too. Worse, the precedent is the one that the Russians used as the pretext to invade Ukraine.
6) Crimea was given to Ukraine in the 1950s by Khrushchev. It was Tatar and then it was Russian. HOW IS THAT SACRED? The same international law the US breaks constantly?
7) Remember that post-Cold War Magnanimity by Gorby? Know how people keep saying 'uh oh, if Putin loses, he'll nuke us all?' Do you really think that political shift came from nowhere? The west has been attacking Russia ever since the Cold War ended. If western idiots (sadly, most of us) haven't recognized (or are too ignorant to even know about because you don't read) the damage, that's only because you do the same thing the Russians do: slavishly listen to leaders without actually questioning the fact-stack. The US broke the promise not to move NATO eastward. That was the original sin. That was not nothing. That was as aggressive as attacking Ukraine. The demographic decline of Russia is not war damage? The economic damage of allowing China into the WTO and not Russia (when they were trying to be good) is not war damage? The use of western financial institutions to pillage Russia and financialize and control its mineral assets, while at the same time encouraging the de-industrializing of Russia is not war damage?
8) The Russians stopped the Cold War, but the US and the West did not.
9) Now they are mobilizing. They can't do it like we do: the US uses war to pillage its own people. The Russians are mobilizing the only way they can: the old fashioned way. The Russians are pushing back the only way they can: the old fashioned way.
10) Everywhere I go, supposedly intelligent people act like citizens of Oceana who can't seem to remember what happened the prior news cycle and remember only what the Wokeing class demands. Everything else goes in the memory hole.
11) THE WEST IS JUST AS BAD! CYBERPUNK IS JUST AS SH!T AS FALLOUT!
12) I didn't want any of this. The time to have stopped this was in the 1990s when the Western Trojan horse known as Chubais was busy annihilating the Russian economy. We nurtured China because their slaves were going to make our masters more profits and turn the majority of Americans from a free people with trades into a poor, welfare dependent people from the noblesse oblige of our 'elites' who shipped our manufacturing overseas... Russia has resources, China has slaves. Russia didn't play along when we tried financializing their economy and pulling it into our orbit. So now it's war.
13) To all you stubborn ignorant dummies: Good job. You have caused global starvation, European economic collapse, the annihilation of Ukraine, and it all benefits... you?
14) Hacker News is filled with beneficiaries of US policies. You can rely on a man to not understand something when his paycheck is dependent on him not understanding.
15) Keep on downvoting. The truth is a virus and I hope it destroys your brains.
Reality: in this day and age it's not OK to begin bombing your neighbors for any reason. Never mind blamethrowing, equating old treaties to bombing, and appeals to good ol-fashion murder.
1) you didn't say "bombing anyone for any reason", does it imply it's ok to bomb distant countries for some reason?
2) if (1) is yes, then:
2.1) what is the appropriate distance to a country to count it as distant?
2.2) what are the appropriate reasons and is this list of reasons exhaustive?
3) where has "this day and age" begun and why on that moment specifically?
You can stop reading here
They aren’t. But the only international law that matters says you don’t try to change borders by force. You don’t murder civilians or stage fake referendums to annex territories.
There is no “other perspective” worth nothing other than as an excercise in trying to predict the criminals next step.
"What I want to know is why the wokester position (the official Western "Good Guy" position, otherwise known the Party Line Winston) finds the USA's existence an affront to Native Americans and Mexicans, Israel's existence an affront to Palestinians"
Is not entirely true in the US. The majority of the political class supports Israel and looks the other way to what is happening to Palestinians. In fact right now multiple states have introduces anti-BDS laws (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) to help stop any attempt to curtail Israeli expansion via peaceful means.The Native American population also isn't doing great either which goes against your narrative.
Non-existent moderation and both side-ism is killing HN. Now the median post is barely better than reddit, but with lots of DK and idiotic contrarian garbage up top. @dang what's it gonna take for you to do start deleting this crap? A nuke?
Do you want the legitimacy debate confers your position? Then debate.
None of my points are any one else's talking points. That's a sign of a non-dogmatic thinker, dummy.
And to anyone who thinks taking the Russian point of view means you are Russian shill please view some John Meersheimer on YouTube. He also references prominent and respected IR American scholars who criticize American policy towards post Soviet Russia. It's been a disastrous mess. And now we face possible nuclear war because of arrogance.
Arguing that policies have been poor isn’t.
It’s possible that this war could have been avoided through different policies, but this is an unprovoked invasion. Arguing it somehow has any responsibility outside Russia is like arguing rape victims should have dressed more appropriately.
How about you just make an argument on it's merits, instead of injecting your own bad take?
2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ukraine
BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR
https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-...
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/313615_UKRA...
(I love how the downvotes have already begun not even a minute in... how is this not context to the speech? Zealots...)
This formal declaration by Russia is basically saying they are about to stop holding back. They have purposefully avoid destroying infrastructure like water and power in ukraine for an unusually long time. They also have been sending their b-c teams not their A-list because they wanted to save them.
This action pleases a great deal of the america military complex because money. At least it would have if American troops were in better shape, enlistments were dropping heavily, and troop fitness is dropping radically. The desire for the common man to die for his country has dropped significantly in Russia AND NATO countries.
So you will soon see the following, America will try to rebuild "patriotism" prior to instituting a draft. This is why the pentagon is reviewing all psyops, they are about to reverse the social engineering psyops in motion such diversity and "woke". Russia will push religion to build morale on their side.
I believe a draft in America will lead to disintegration, but only time will tell.
That this comment claims this really says all one need about the comment. Russia Just admitted it was over extended and had exhausted its professional army by declaring a mobilization of reservists.
Everyone clearly knows the professional army is the C list and it’s the reservists that are the true A listers. <heavy sarcasm>
Evidence?
NATO is sending a lot of materiel and weapons. NATO is helping with intelligence. If that's what you mean by "core operations", maybe I can see it. More than that? Let's see the evidence.
