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Seanchaidh

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Nah. Putin long since dropped the presence that this is about ''western aggression''. He's been pretty open that its about blood and soil.
If you pointedly ignore everything else he's said, perhaps, but why would you do that?
 

Silvanus

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If you pointedly ignore everything else he's said, perhaps, but why would you do that?
If someone says something and their actions don't match it, it's more suspect. Like "peacekeepers" firing missiles into residential areas.

If someone says something and their actions do much it, it's less suspect.

That's generally a fair approach, anyway.
 
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Thaluikhain

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I'm sure for the people who's kids were murdered by America there's probably less of a distinction. I see the issue of murdering children as very black and white. Either you murder children or you don't. There is no "more moral" child murderers because once you start murdering children you are in the camp of child murderers. Your score doesn't really matter.
On one hand, yes, but on the other you're going to end up with most world leaders in the same basket doing that. Hitler, Stalin, and a minor leader that could help the homeless but doesn't all have blood on their hands, but I'm not going to say they were all equally bad.
 
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Seanchaidh

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Yeah and if you travelled back in time and stopped Putin being born this war would not be happening either, which is just as realistic and meaningless as your solution.
Disbanding NATO without disbanding the US military is perfectly realistic, not meaningless, and probably just as effective at preventing the war in Ukraine if not moreso. But going further to disband the US military is just the right thing to do.
 

bluegate

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Disbanding NATO without disbanding the US military is perfectly realistic, not meaningless, and probably just as effective at preventing the war in Ukraine if not moreso. But going further to disband the US military is just the right thing to do.
What good would disbanding NATO do exactly?

It'd just play into Putin's hands. "Oh look, all these former pieces of the USSR just laying around here without anyone to protect them... "
 
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Seanchaidh

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If someone says something and their actions don't match it, it's more suspect. Like "peacekeepers" firing missiles into residential areas.

If someone says something and their actions do much it, it's less suspect.

That's generally a fair approach, anyway.
Russian leaders have been complaining about NATO expansion for over twenty years and seemed perfectly happy with Ukraine under Yanukovych. But after a culturally divisive change in government that had US fingerprints on it put NATO membership for Ukraine on the table, everything went to shit.
 

Cheetodust

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On one hand, yes, but on the other you're going to end up with most world leaders in the same basket doing that. Hitler, Stalin, and a minor leader that could help the homeless but doesn't all have blood on their hands, but I'm not going to say they were all equally bad.
There is very much a difference between murdering children with explosives, knowing you did it, lying about it and then having to face no consequences. And failing to save lives by improving policy. To be clear, I do think that every world government that priorities profits over lives absolutely has blood on their hands and I consider my own government and almost every other to be murderers.

It's kind of like a trolley problem only rather than having to decide whether or not to change tracks the tram is stopped and you get out and shoot the people on both.
 

Thaluikhain

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There is very much a difference between murdering children with explosives, knowing you did it, lying about it and then having to face no consequences. And failing to save lives by improving policy.
I'd agree with that, but if I was dying due to government inaction I might not.
 

bluegate

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It would take away the most cogent rationale for the war.
Yeah, because the most logical response to countries joining a defense pact is to invade other countries.

I'm sure that if all members of NATO were to declare that they wouldn't help defend eachother that Russia would just back down and play nice again.

And appeasing bullies always works wonders, doesn't it? "What was that mister bully? You don't like the T-shirt I'm wearing today? Gee golly, I'll wear a different one tomorrow, I'm sure the bullying will stop then, right?"

What happened in your life to reach the point where you are at now? Banging a Russian mail order bride? Sipping the Russia funded alt right koolaid? Trauma to the head?
 
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Seanchaidh

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That's what the Taliban has to say, apparently. Notably, they're still dealing with the consequences of Biden's sanctions and theft of their money.

I'm sure that if all members of NATO were to declare that they wouldn't help defend eachother that Russia would just back down and play nice again.
It would make more economic sense (broadly speaking) to do that, yeah.
 

Cheetodust

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I'd agree with that, but if I was dying due to government inaction I might not.
Okay. Either way we accept violence from the US in a way no other country can get away with. Not just in terms of war crimes and international murder campaigns but even in their homeland. No knock warrants and the growing violent police state, the fact that government officials and people running for office with a genuine chance promote wild shit like q anon, abusing LGBT children and a bunch of them fuck kids. Another bunch are fine with murdering kids at home and abroad.

America's fascist, totalitarian fringe, isn't a fringe. It's half the government. They will probably run the show, if not later this year then byv2024. America is rapidly becoming a violent police state run by theocratic psychopaths who murder indiscriminately and I wish my country would refuse to have anything to do with them anymore.
 
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Thaluikhain

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Okay. Either way we accept violence from the US in a way no other country can get away with. Not just in terms of war crimes and international murder campaigns but even in their homeland. No knock warrants and the growing violent police state, the fact that government officials and people running for office with a genuine chance promote wild shit like q anon, abusing LGBT children and a bunch of them fuck kids. Another bunch are fine with murdering kids at home and abroad.

America's fascist, totalitarian fringe, isn't a fringe. It's half the government. They will probably run the show, if not later this year then byv2024. America is rapidly becoming a violent police state run by theocratic psychopaths who murder indiscriminately and I wish my country would refuse to have anything to do with them anymore.
Most definitely yes. And since they control western media, at least where I live, we get people trying to ape whatever Americans do.
 

Hades

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Russian leaders have been complaining about NATO expansion for over twenty years and seemed perfectly happy with Ukraine under Yanukovych. But after a culturally divisive change in government that had US fingerprints on it put NATO membership for Ukraine on the table, everything went to shit.
Of course they were happy when Ukraine was ruled by their puppet. Them too proudly parading that fact is exactly what got the puppet kicked out.

If you pointedly ignore everything else he's said, perhaps, but why would you do that?
Because blood and soil kinda reveals everything else he said as what it was. Excuses, lies, and weak justifications. Its hard to maintain that NATO was the sticking point once you revealed that the mere idea of Ukranian independence was what really bothered you. If Ukraine genuinely has no right to exist in their mind and if its existence is offensive to Russia then the circumstances make no different. Ukraine not being in NATO doesn't change anything about its existence being offensive to Russian imperialists.

If anything the blood and soil speech made it clear that NATO is the only thing that might protect Ukraine from Putin's wish to destroy and subjugate it.
 

bluegate

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It would make more economic sense (broadly speaking) to do that, yeah.
Backing down from war would make economic sense for Russia yeah, but as we can all see by Russia's current actions, making sense isn't one of their strong suits.
 
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Seanchaidh

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Its hard to maintain that NATO was the sticking point once you revealed that the mere idea of Ukranian independence was what really bothered you.
Whatever Putin and anyone else with influence in his government thinks of Ukrainian independence is unlikely to be enough to actually motivate military action by itself. It is much more reasonable to look at the increasing tensions between the two countries through the lens of the threat of Ukraine being able to stage armies from half the world and missiles five minutes from Moscow. Especially as it was concessions on Ukraine's neutrality which were the price of backing down. There's even the neat historical parallel of the Russo-Georgian war which was also a country on Russia's border talking about joining NATO and then getting junked while NATO watched.
 

Cheetodust

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Most definitely yes. And since they control western media, at least where I live, we get people trying to ape whatever Americans do.
Don't even get me started on the absolute nonsense Irish media and people will parrot out of America. I think the Irish people were left completely Hollow after 800 years of occupation and genocide and the sheer volume of us media filled them up because they had no culture to speak of themselves anymore.

Edit:do you have any idea how weird it is dealing with nationalists who won't learn to speak their own language? They're literally fighting to preserve the colonialist's culture
 
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Satinavian

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Disbanding NATO without disbanding the US military is perfectly realistic, not meaningless, and probably just as effective at preventing the war in Ukraine if not moreso. But going further to disband the US military is just the right thing to do.
The only thing disbanding NATO would have done is allowing Putin to not only conquer the Ukraine but the Batics and others as well in his bid to restore the USSR borders.
 
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tstorm823

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The only thing disbanding NATO would have done is allowing Putin to not only conquer the Ukraine but the Batics and others as well in his bid to restore the USSR borders.
I hope you understand, there no rationale here for how disbanding NATO makes sense in this context. Seanchaidh wants all and only the things that weaken the US to happen, and disbanding NATO would do that, so the context is irrelevent.
 
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