Russia - Ukraine WAR Warning: Political Discussions

[warrior-cat]

damnit, me

i’ll make it a point to watch for your next one

and - yes — i’ve read your screen name as VanHalen for as long as i can remember seeing you pop up

Villa Hills will have to grow on me

I was going with an older thought of VH1 or VHS since he is an older fella like me (I think older). Those were the first 2 that came to mind. My wife tells me my mind goes to weird first thoughts anyway and I needed to see a psychologist which I did last year for the first time since I opted for a third year as a Drill Sergeant during my military career. They wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.

 

[warrior-cat]

There simply is no way to control 41.5 million people with 200k troops. If just a few Ukrainians decide to kill a couple Russians every day then it quickly becomes a quagmire, yet there will be thousands of Ukrainians more than happy to kill Russians as soon as the initial smoke clears. Putin has to know this. Even being "successful" and killing/replacing the current Ukrainian Govt will be illegitimate and just infuriate the locals even more. This is like UL invading Lexington, it makes the people even madder to have their close neighbor the ones doing the occupying.

So, again, what is Putin really up to? He can't be this naive or this desperate. What is the end game?

I hope so but, people these days are comfortable and if life gets back to some resemblance of normalcy quickly the want to rebel will die to.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Does this explain why we didn’t go after energy sanctions? It’s almost as if we knew what was about to happen and still proceeded.

View embedded media

On top of not cutting off SWIFT, climate activists somehow think that mining and refining in Russia is environmentally disconnected from us in this hemisphere. Russia is not held hostage to climate activists. So, we turn down the spigot here to have it done abroad in a less environmentally friendly way. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Horatius Cocles]

The average Russian soldier could not be in a worse position. They are attacking a country many of them will have family and inlaws in. They are not well paid. They are not particularly well trained to Western standards and Putin's aloof arrogance cannot make him an enduring leader to the average soldier. Russian units do not coordinate well together as they should which was on full display during the Georgia debacle in 2008. Since then they have recognized their weaknesses and attempted some level of reform but the Russian military is still the literal definition of a paper tiger and Russia has an economy about the size of Texas to support them.

 

[warrior-cat]

Putin's public statements have been cringeworthy. Does he really believe anyone is going to find him calling the Ukrainian Govt Nazis to be credible? Even his own Russian population won't believe that, let alone the entire world.

I am starting to seriously consider that Putin has had a mental breakdown? Just as I type this I heard somebody on television echo exactly my thoughts on Putin. He seems irrational at best. His threats of nukes have serious downrange consequences. I predict he will be dead in less than 2 years and maybe he's hearing the footsteps.

Look at his eyes when he speaks, he looks deranged. Not unlike AOC and a few others we have here.

 

[Horatius Cocles]

I love Zelensky. Some men are fated by history and rise to the occasion and he is certainly doing that. If Russia makes the mistake of killing him then the casualty numbers on both sides is going to sky rocket.

 

[warrior-cat]

Currently having debate with myself of whether if it’s wrong to urge Ukrainians to fight if it means certain death. Would it be better to not fight and focus on insurgency? They will fight regardless out of pride. I’d fight for my homeland out of pride. I get it. But is it certain death and certain loss? I don’t know

In recent years I wonder how many Americans would actually fight or just give in because there has been a movement in our country to accept socialism/communism and government rule. Some would fight but how many? Nationalism (which I think the Ukrainians have) is dying in this country and is considered Taboo by many.

 

[SDC888]

Not only is he Jewish, but his grandfather fought for the Russian army against the Nazis in WWII. I also think Putin has lost his mind.

You're imposing your values and morality on him, thinking he should reason like you, have a similar rationale.

He doesn't. He knows what he is doing and isn't sick, at least not in that sense. This is all far more dangerous than people realise.

And simply being Jewish doesn't preclude one from being a neo-Nazi, but no, I'm not making the claim that he is nor propagating dur hur Russian propaganda like the stupidity Drunkslee reads on leftist twitter. This situation is all far worse than average dude on his google machine realises.

 

[It'saDoneDeal]

Apparently no city fell last night according to Ukraine Defense Ministry and Kyiv is still standing. I’m am in awe of the willpower of the Ukrainians. Ministry also says they’ve killed at least 3500 Russian troops. For context we lost 4500 in Iraq in the 8 years we were there and 2400 in Afghanistan for the 20 years we were there. They’ve done all of that in 2 days.

Russia would never seriously try to challenge NATO outside of empty rhetoric. Even their strategy going into Ukraine is like something from 40 years ago.

 

[Gassy_Knowls]

You're imposing your values and morality on him, thinking he should reason like you, have a similar rationale.

He doesn't. He knows what he is doing and isn't sick, at least not in that sense. This is all far more dangerous than people realise.

And simply being Jewish doesn't preclude one from being a neo-Nazi, but no, I'm not making the claim that he is nor propagating dur hur Russian propaganda like the stupidity Drunkslee reads on leftist twitter. This situation is all far worse than average dude on his google machine realises.

George Soros is Jewish and worked with the Nazis to help progress the Nazi movement

 

[vhcat70]

I think Putin's goal here might really just be about Ukraine.

Which is equivalent of saying Putin's goal here might really just be Ukraine as a first step.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Ukrainian parliament member just noted that they are not surprised that the internet and power infrastructure has not been wiped out. Russian companies own those.

They are chiefly asking for a no-fly zone, but I don’t think NATO will get that involved.

She also noted that sanctions were way too late. Yup.

 

[ukalum1988]

No. The only way the rest of the world takes notice is if people refuse defeat. I hope the young people in this country who think socialism is a good form of government are taking notice. Some motivated folk here wanted early to show how imperfect Ukraine is, some seemingly to justify an ambivalence to Putin’s actions, but Ukrainians want to continue to move toward the ideal of the West, not back to tyranny. Would our citizenry have that free or die mentality that we once had?

^^^This…. I could be wrong but I doubt if many Ukrainians are into correct pronouns and other forms of woke BS.

 

[vhcat70]

My theory is Putin has cracked under the strain of paranoia. His power slipping away at home. His yes men would have heard the whispers and warned him. This is Putin operating at the end of his string. Grasping for his dream of putting the big fat Russian Humpty Dumpty back together again.

It's all going to come to no good end. Russia will be outlasted by a vicious insurgency in Ukraine and they'll get fed up with the body bags coming home. Putin will be ousted from within and probably killed. He's crossed too many lines. His Russian unification dreams will die along with him. Those Ukrainians have tasted freedom and there is no way on earth those folks are going to go along with returning to Russian subjugation and certainly not with Putin's ludicrous ham fisted attempts at lame Trump-esque propaganda.

I hope you're right. I've been hoping along the same lines.

 

[vhcat70]

Not only is he Jewish, but his grandfather fought for the Russian army against the Nazis in WWII. I also think Putin has lost his mind.

Well Hitler did more damage to Ukraine than to Russia.

 

[vhcat70]

Russia would never seriously try to challenge NATO outside of empty rhetoric. Even their strategy going into Ukraine is like something from 40 years ago.

I'm not so sure. See what NATO does with Sweden & Finland.

 

[ukalum1988]

 

[vhcat70]

Currently having debate with myself of whether if it’s wrong to urge Ukrainians to fight if it means certain death. Would it be better to not fight and focus on insurgency? They will fight regardless out of pride. I’d fight for my homeland out of pride. I get it. But is it certain death and certain loss? I don’t know

If they're going to fight, do it now imo because once R takes over they will be in better position to kill whomever they like. Think R won't make Ukraines pay for an insurgency with tit for tat killings?

 

[warrior-cat]

Russia is already in a box. Ukrainians are going to kill a lot of Russians and the only way historically to stop it is to mercilessly strike fear into the citizenry with brutal tactics, but now that everyone has a camera in their pocket that is impossible as you just wind up showing the world the atrocities you are committing.

It won't take long for Putin's internal enemies to rally against him and his obvious paranoia that led him to this last desperate gasp. His days are numbered. Russia is in a debacle and the only fear is what will Putin do when it is clear even to him that he is faced with certain defeat and humiliation in Ukraine? How much more irrational will he become and is he delusional enough to attack a NATO country rather than accept humiliating withdrawal as things are going to get worse every day for him from this point forward.

I think this is coming unfortunately.

 

[vhcat70]

Apparently no city fell last night according to Ukraine Defense Ministry and Kyiv is still standing. I’m am in awe of the willpower of the Ukrainians. Ministry also says they’ve killed at least 3500 Russian troops. For context we lost 4500 in Iraq in the 8 years we were there and 2400 in Afghanistan for the 20 years we were there. They’ve done all of that in 2 days.

Sure hope this is close to accurate.

 

[Horatius Cocles]

Ret. General Hurtling just predicted on CNN that Kiev will not fall. I am stunned at that? I never even considered it a remote possibility? I thought the whole game would be an insurgency after the initial Russian takeover and installation of a phony puppet Government. Is it plausible Russia is looking at an outright defeat here? Seems impossible. I wonder what is leading Hurtling to that conclusion?

 

[vhcat70]

CMON UKRAINE PUSH THESE MOTHER****ERS OUT

Might wonder if there aren't civilian volunteers for Ukraine from neighboring countries like Poland. OR maybe soldiers for hire.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Any chance the Ukrainians have someone kill Vlad? They have to have some pro Ukrainian people in the Kremlin.

 

[It'saDoneDeal]

I'm not so sure. See what NATO does with Sweden & Finland.

Too many hyperbolic folks on her fantasizing about the unlikeliest of scenarios. Get back to me when Russia invades Finland or Sweden then we'll talk. Not happening.

 

[warrior-cat]

The average Russian soldier could not be in a worse position. They are attacking a country many of them will have family and inlaws in. They are not well paid. They are not particularly well trained to Western standards and Putin's aloof arrogance cannot make him an enduring leader to the average soldier. Russian units do not coordinate well together as they should which was on full display during the Georgia debacle in 2008. Since then they have recognized their weaknesses and attempted some level of reform but the Russian military is still the literal definition of a paper tiger and Russia has an economy about the size of Texas to support them.

This could be the second or third stringers as someone suggested. As far as training goes, the Russians train harder and longer than ours do because they are not constrained by the regulations of the safety measures our military is. Their training is more realistic. Yes, I believe we have the advantage of better equipment for training and our soldiers/airmen/navalmen are better educated militarily but we are softer. Unfortunately, many of our leaders as well as our warfighters rely heavily on the push button concept rather than physical training because of our technological advancements in weaponry. I have heard many soldiers say that they did not need to be physically fit to fight because this is a push button army.

 

[bkingUK]

Have never agreed with the narrative that Snowden was a hero. Think he’s a coward. Think he’s a hypocrite.

Edward Snowden shows his true colors by applying for Russian citizenship

It looks like Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin is finally making the adoption of his stray pet official: Edward Snowden announced Sunday that he plans to apply for Russian citizenship. The former Na…

nypost.com

 

[warrior-cat]

Russia would never seriously try to challenge NATO outside of empty rhetoric. Even their strategy going into Ukraine is like something from 40 years ago.

If China promised to support them militarily that would change.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Psaki claims that Biden has built a coalition and rallied the world. This spin seems as unbelievable as Putin’s. The Dems perpetuated the Russian Collusion hoax and then dropped sanctions on Russia and increased our own reliance upon Russia. Then, we sat and watched Putin ramp up his forces for weeks and we acted like it would not happen, then said a little incursion would be okay, and then only a week before began acting as if it was imminent, but then delayed in putting in place any sanctions. Weak is as weak does.

 

[ukalum1988]

Interesting article….

How Moscow’s Man in Vienna Fooled Team Biden on Ukraine | National Review

Russia used the Biden administration’s obsession with a new Iran deal to distract from the Ukrainian invasion.

www.nationalreview.com

 

[SDC888]

Putin doesn't want war with NATO.

That's not part of his calculus.

 

[bkingUK]

In recent years I wonder how many Americans would actually fight or just give in because there has been a movement in our country to accept socialism/communism and government rule. Some would fight but how many? Nationalism (which I think the Ukrainians have) is dying in this country and is considered Taboo by many.

Not sure what Americans you’re hanging with, but I don’t think thatd be a problem here

 

[warrior-cat]

Not sure what Americans you’re hanging with, but I don’t think thatd be a problem here

Get out more.

 

[UnfrozenCatfanLawyer]

Putin doesn't want war with NATO.

That's not part of his calculus.

Agreed - assuming he hasn’t lost the plot.

FWIW, I’m betting China isn’t real thrilled with these events. They aren’t going to condemn Russia, but they aren’t exactly waiving Pom-poms, either.

 

[Fact_Checker]

The average Russian soldier could not be in a worse position. They are attacking a country many of them will have family and inlaws in. They are not well paid. They are not particularly well trained to Western standards and Putin's aloof arrogance cannot make him an enduring leader to the average soldier. Russian units do not coordinate well together as they should which was on full display during the Georgia debacle in 2008. Since then they have recognized their weaknesses and attempted some level of reform but the Russian military is still the literal definition of a paper tiger and Russia has an economy about the size of Texas to support them.

I agree. This will make our excursions in Afghanistan and Iraq look like intelligent strategy. It looks really bad right now, but I really think in 2-3 years Russia is bogged down with guerilla warfare against people who care more about the fight. The economic sanctions and the expense of maintaining this type of effort will really be hurting the everyday Russian economically as well. I think Putin overplayed his hand here honestly. Also NATO has Ukraine flanked in Poland already. The longer this takes the easier NATO can supply arms to the Ukrainians. In the grand scheme of war Russia is outflanked.

 

[Gassy_Knowls]

Psaki claims that Biden has built a coalition and rallied the world. This spin seems as unbelievable as Putin’s. The Dems perpetuated the Russian Collusion hoax and then dropped sanctions on Russia and increased our own reliance upon Russia. Then, we sat and watched Putin ramp up his forces for weeks and we acted like it would not happen, then said a little incursion would be okay, and then only a week before began acting as if it was imminent, but then delayed in putting in place any sanctions. Weak is as weak does.

Fire crotch Psaki is as big of a liar as Putin.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

FWIW, I’m betting China isn’t real thrilled with these events. They aren’t going to condemn Russia, but they aren’t exactly waiving Pom-poms, either.

Hhhhhmmmm. Why would China not silently support this? I think they hope for semiconductor sanctions so that they can further justify their intentions for Taiwan. China reportedly turned over our proffered “intelligence” to Russia. China is more than ambivalent.

 

[bkingUK]

Get out more.

Get off Twitter more. What happened after 9/11?

 

[berniecarbo]

To many people today think someone else should take care of them. I blame that on the liberal slant of our government. They are to soft and I doubt it will translate well into fighting if it comes to that. I hope I am wrong.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Get off Twitter more. What happened after 9/11?

What changes in this country have you seen politically over the past 20 years? This has not been a gradual change. It has been exponential. 20 years ago, Dems would cringe and call foul if you called them socialists. Now, top Dem candidates overtly run on a socialist platform. This is not 2001.

 

[Ed323232]

Get off Twitter more. What happened after 9/11?

Go easy on him. He’s a file clerk.