Easy to talk when you don’t have to walk.
NFR Ukraine...Little Did I Know
- Thread starter Old406Kid
- Start date
Non-fishing related
- Status
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
A warning; This could be disturbing to some viewers
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Wow. No offense, but I needed a score card to keep track ....This article absolutely nails what is going on with Putin and Russia, an excellent read:
The Weakness of the Despot
An expert on Stalin discusses Putin, Russia, and the West.www.newyorker.com
Y
It's easy to sit on your ass and call for others to go risk their lives so they can execute your foreign policy views. Ones that aren't shared by your own government.
If you want to join in the fight. Ukraine is willing to take pretty much anyone that can fog a mirror right now to help them defend their country. Thousands of folks worldwide who have the courage of their convictions have left the comfort of their couch to go and do what they can to help.
You qualify....
Put up or shut up.
This
It's easy to sit on your ass and call for others to go risk their lives so they can execute your foreign policy views. Ones that aren't shared by your own government.
If you want to join in the fight. Ukraine is willing to take pretty much anyone that can fog a mirror right now to help them defend their country. Thousands of folks worldwide who have the courage of their convictions have left the comfort of their couch to go and do what they can to help.
You qualify....
Put up or shut up.
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
With nuclear weapons in play we are all walking.
fkajwg
formerly known as ...
Pretty good essay here on the Russian fantasy that is crashing down right now, written by a Russian.
Unfortunately catastrophic nevertheless.
meduza.io
J
Unfortunately catastrophic nevertheless.
Putin’s last stand How to lose a war simply by starting one — Meduza
How did this war with Ukraine even become a possibility? According to Meduza’s Ideas editor, Maxim Trudolyubov, the answer to this question can be found in the political alternate “reality” developed in Russia in recent years on the basis of lies, manipulation, and the production of fakes. This...
J
Triploidjunkie
Life of the Party
Two Ukrainians whose family hid someone during the Holocaust say they've found refuge in Israel because the survivor's granddaughter took them in
The granddaughter of the woman who was rescued by a Ukrainian family during World War II returned the favor to the family's descendants.
www.businessinsider.com
Just out of curiosity Rob, what was your MOS?
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
Selfish non joiner.
Late life regretter and student of history.
Putin will do something that demands a US military response. So we might as well get the ball rolling now.
Feel free to call me a hypocrite and all that good stuff. It's all true and doesn't change what we will eventually have to do.. it's going to happen it's just a matter of how much suffering occurs before we do..
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Has anyone forgotten how useless our government was in preventing the taking of Crimea? Putin hasnt, and he's counting on it again here.
I am curious about statements like this - so we were to prevent Russia from taking over Crimea - how were we to do that?
I think a good deal of Putin's miscalculation came from the lack of internal Ukrainian resistance to the takeover of Crimea. I suspect the west would have done more (stiffer sanctions) had there been greater Ukrainian resistance, but I s'pose we will never know.
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Our presidential administrations at that time were basically a rubber stamp. We, the US, could have done a lot more than just stand on the sidelines and wring our hands while Putin invaded. By doing so, those administrations just went ahead and gave him a pass to do whatever he wanted. A pass that he is now using to invade another, sovereign neighbor.
Putin hasn't flinched in his demands for demilitarization of Ukraine and ceding territory. Given all the analyses I have no reason to think he will change his mind. Putin has always been indifferent to the conditions of Russian citizenry, and he is concerned only with himself. If these things are true, Putin will take Ukraine eventually, and when he gets near that objective, if not before, he will begin attacking the Baltic nations. The whole world's watching, but the whole world needs to act. Like it or not, and who likes it?, but I think we're witnessing the beginning of WWIII. I can't see how declaring a no-fly zone in Ukraine at some future date is better for Europe and N. America than doing so now. It's inevitable unless NATO decides to accede to Putin's ambition to restore the USSR.
Just speculation here, but I think NATO rationalized Russia's need for an ice-free winter seaport, making it easier on everyone to accommodate Russia's aggression. In hindsight, if the rationale were just, and I'm not one qualified to judge one way or the other, then some kind of international easement agreement might have avoided annexation. But only if seaport access were Putin's true motivation, and hindsight tells us now that may not have been the case.
Again, specifics of what could have been done would be useful. To say we should have stopped it is easy, to say how takes a little more thought. With all the threats we made here, Putin still went forward with a full out invasion of Ukraine, so please again, what should have been done in 2014 to prevent Crimea, which was taken over very quickly, almost without a shot fired (by little green men), and with a vote of the Crimean Supreme Council asking to accede to Russia.
Crimea: Six Years Post-Annexation Analysis
Examine the situation in Crimea six years after its illegal annexation by Russia.
www.brookings.edu
Sanctions were imposed after the annexation (no rubber stamp).
Seems to me, trying to lay blame with the west for what Putin has done misses the mark.
jaredoconnor
Peabrain Chub
That was a very different scenario, though; I believe the people in Crimea were overwhelmingly pro-Russia. Thus, it wasn't worth resisting, just to end up in a civil conflict.
I think the "world" will sacrifice Ukraine, to avoid WWIII, if it comes to that. I also think Putin won't be able to go after the Baltics, for many years; if things continue on this trajectory, Russia will have little power left, even if they manage to take over Ukraine.
I'm not convinced Ukraine can't win on their own, though. Things I have been reading, recently, give me hope.
I've also read some interesting stuff about what might be going on in China. There's a lot of speculation that China will play both sides and is just as likely to try and scoop up some Russian territory.
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
KARE11.com: Twin Cities astronaut facing threats from Russian Space Agency.
www.kare11.com
Heard about this Friday.
Threaten a defenseless astronaut just so you can get your way on the ground.
Twin Cities astronaut facing threats from Russian Space Agency
In a video posted to social media by the head of the Russian Space Agency, Russia threatens to abandon American astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
www.kare11.com
Heard about this Friday.
Threaten a defenseless astronaut just so you can get your way on the ground.
From what I read, the Russian anti aircraft missiles based inside Russia can cover about 2/3rds of Ukraines airspace. The problem then becomes evident, effective enforcement. Somebody is going to have to strike Russian territory with bombs and missiles to realistically make an effort to secure the airspace.
Given that will go over so well in Russia, any attempt to enforce a no fly zone will need to be backed up with a lot of men and materials. The logistics of moving that stuff into place, enough to counter what would likely be a major assault on the adjacent countries would take a bit to get in place.
The no fly zone seems to be the panacea du jour lately, when ground launched missiles seem to doing the most work for Russia.
- Status