Ukraine (Mod Note & Threadbanned Users in OP)

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121258212#Comment_121258212

Gut feeling is the more moderate wing of Republicans (relatively speaking) will vote for it to park the whole issue until the presidential election along with the democrats. They will moan about the spend but point to the border funding they got included etc. as a reason to accept it while secretly letting out a sigh that they don't need to deal with it every three months. The lunatic Trumper wing will of course whine and complain about how not a single cent should be sent to Ukraine etc. but nothing new there. Biden of course along with the Democrats will point to the defending democracy, supporting Israel, protect USA & supporting USA jobs depending on the audience.

m2_browning

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121258258#Comment_121258258

According to Biden’s speech the Bill which is now up to 105 billion is about to land on Congressional desks today

aidanodr

Transcarpathia is a Ukraine oblast whose southern borders are with Romania, Hungary. Historically was part of Hungary

Today a tragic incident occured in Transcarpathia as a deputy detonates a grenade during a session meeting in the village of Keretskovsky.

The deputy lost his life in the explosion, while 26 others were injured, with 6 in serious condition, according to police reports.

( From videos over on X it appears he dropped 3 grenades )

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121500153#Comment_121500153

I’d say that the individual was not ‘ right in the head’. He apparently did not think his actions through unless he he could not wait to meet with the 40 virgins in heaven. He made no attempt to throw the grenades far enough away to increase his chances ofsurvival

aidanodr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121501217#Comment_121501217

Interesting that the BBC earlier saying no one lost there life ..

aidanodr

Concerning one would think?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67748813

beggars_bush

Imagine if the USSR or China got no aid from the allies during ww2

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511707#Comment_121511707

They would have been beaten, especially in the earlier part of the war.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520250#Comment_121520250

At least the Ukrainians who died did so defending their homeland from invaders.

There really is no case for all of those Russian deaths. They died for nothing but the vanity of an old man who cared nothing about them and wouldn't even allow them to call this a war.

kk.man

Navalny has died in prison. You couldn't write the script and all the hallmarks of a James Bond movie.

bear1

Yeah, I mean I can’t say I’m overly surprised. They were determined to make his life as painful as possible.

They’ve also barred the one person that managed to get the signatures needed to run against Putin.. yet another shocker.

And then we’ve tucker Carlson, sweet Jesus what a terrible interview. An embarrassment to journalism

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121775183#Comment_121775183

It looks like Siberian Prisons may have windows..

Kermit.de.frog

The Ukranian Army has evacuated from Avdivka. You'd have to question why they didn't do it weeks a go. Can only assume political and optic considerations got in the way. It's been obvious for weeks the situation was hopeless there.

Question is now, having taken the town, will the Russians push on west of Avdivka quickly while the UAF are at sixes and sevens or just consolidate the gain.

Putin has his "victory" for the upcoming "election" (term used loosely)

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121780344#Comment_121780344

I fail to understand why so many on here think that Russia is on the up simply because if it’s metre or two advancement daily without factoring in the number of a Russians being killed, the slowly developing impact of the body bags being sent home - remember Afganistan- and the damage being done behind the front lines re logistics, oil depots, ships, planes, docks supply lines, etc, etc, etc.

The UKr army on the ground know MUCH, MUCH more about what’s going on, what to do , etc, etc, than any of us boardies do. Of course mistakes will be made by it but would any of us have done any better if in charge?

Nody

In case someone had any doubts about how Musk "I love freedom and everyone's right to speech" is leaning...

The social media site X (formerly Twitter) has suspended the account of Alexey Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya.

Navalnaya created the account on February 19, when she announced she would continue the work of her husband.

Before the account was suspended, users reported that posts from Navalnaya were accessible by direct link but would not display when other accounts quoted it or replied to it.

More than 90,000 people followed Navalnaya’s account within 24 hours after she created it.

ilkhanid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121792419#Comment_121792419

So much for Freedom-of-speech fundamentalism.

Kermit.de.frog

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1762246028789485608

Given what seems is the more likely direction of travel of this war (though far from inevitable) this seems like a very risky approach and perhaps he is speaking emotionally. Would European populations be content with having their troops confront a nuclear power in Europe directly? Ukraine is not NATO and I'm not sure the moral argument is persuasive enough for European countries to endure an elevated risk of a broader or nuclear conflict.

I guess everyone's morally righteous until remakes of the ancient nuclear war advisory ads start airing for the public again on television.

I can't see an overall cost benefit analysis to Europeans being sympathetic to what Macron suggests. The risks are far too high.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121821841#Comment_121821841

I think people are sick of Putin's posturing. He can't use the nukes or they will be used on him personally..

chuchuchu

Nukes have served Russia well as no country will intervene because of it. Putin won't use nukes in Ukraine as he sees it as been historically part of Russia. Macron would never retaliate with nukes as that leads to mutual destruction. But Europe should kick starts it's military industry. It's too dependent on the US, now that US have reduced the military support, it should kickstart the EU military support, which will also create a lot of jobs and reduce our reliance on the US. Ireland should also be innovating, there is a lot of tech talent here that could create advanced weapons systems, if given the right supports. But I would assume our government is more interested in supporting the humanitarian side i.e. the people who run away rather than the people who stay and fight.

Nody

On a separate note Putin "The mastermind" has now achieved yet another goal in his war of making Russia safer by reducing it's power and scope.

Sweden clears final hurdle in bid to join NATO after Hungary approves accession

Hungary’s parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Monday, clearing the way for the Nordic nation’s accession to the alliance after nearly two years of intense negotiations and dealing a geopolitical blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Making the Kaliningrad fleet and area (already targeted by Ukraine in attacks) even more of a liability than an asset and losing him another fleet location (they already had to start build to relocate the black sea fleet or what will be left of it as 1/3 is already destroyed).

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822109#Comment_121822109

Even though Ireland will not supply arms to UKr - and which are so badly needed- because of its policy re NeUTRALiTY, I think that we are doing an awful lot in providing humanitarian aid . The provision of accommodation and other supports to UKr who come here for protection is very welcome and , IMO , we should be providing more of it. It’s disappointing that some of us do not like to be discomoded . It’s so disappointing that CHU CHU CHU thinks that those who have ‘RUN AWAY’ - mainly women and children - is implying that they should now returned.

Plutarch

Has anyone touched on this resignation? Nuland going is a big deal. Her replacement is John Bass, a China hawk who also had a lead role in the Afghanistan withdrawal. I have a feeling we're about to see a 180 in US foreign policy as it pertains to Ukraine. I genuinely hope for an end to this horrendous conflict.

https://apnews.com/article/state-department-victoria-nuland-retiring-russia-ukraine-b06cfb9ca517f1a7f2e10ee7520e3086

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121866200#Comment_121866200

Do you think Russia should go back to their own country and give the Ukrainians their land back too?

Plutarch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121866309#Comment_121866309

Yes, but I do not think that it is going to happen sadly. Do you have comment on the Nuland departure?

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121866581#Comment_121866581

US foreign policy is not decided by the Under-secretary of State for political affairs.

Pa ElGrande

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121866200#Comment_121866200

Did she jump or was she pushed? Something is going on in Washington DC. Neocons are repositioning themselves after another foreign policy failure.

https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1764484934792528229

This is a diplomatic view of her departure by retired Indian diplomat M. K. Bhadrakumar.

Is ground beneath Biden’s Russia policy shifting?

The general impression of Nuland is of an inveterate ‘hawk’ and Russophobe fired up by neoconservative ideology and American exceptionalism who precipitated the Russian intervention in Ukraine and is largely responsible for fuelling the ongoing war. Of course, there is no denying that Nuland played a key role in the regime change in Kiev 10 years ago.

and

The only plausible explanation would be that as a strong believer in Trans-atlanticism throughout his career, Biden prioritised the reversal of Trump’s benign neglect of the NATO alliance system (which was also crucial for his containment strategy toward China) and it was tactically as well as strategically advantageous to cast Russia in an enemy image to give new ballast to the US’ transatlantic leadership, which had got weakened under Trump. 

Meanwhile, the inclusion of Hillary Clinton’s nominees in Biden’s foreign policy team in key positions also meant the injection of a heavy dose of Russophobia into the US policies. (Clinton’s antipathy toward Russia, an intensely felt personal emotion as she felt Moscow deprived her of her rightful claim to presidency is a legion, of course.) The rest is history. source

Continued support for Israel by the Biden administration is ripping the Democrats base apart and will split their voting block. After being burned last time by the Democrats over Ukraine and the entirely made up Russia collusion due to Clintons election loss. A new Trump administration will give even less of damn about Ukraine and would exit the Democrats foreign policy mess, in fact if not resolved Israel will be the primary foreign policy headache for a Trump administration, on top of that the American establishment has fomented a domestic opposition to US president Trump, that will consume his administrations cycles. There are no votes for American politicians gained by continuing to support Ukraine, however, there is campaign finance and media spin originating from the military industrial complex. There is precedent back in the 1960s, US president Lyndon B. Johnson did not seek a second term, Richard Nixon won on an end the war platform, his administration extended carpet bombing to try gain leverage, that did not work, the Americans were withdrawn, that was the end for South Vietnam, it was finally defeated in 1975.

The more important question is why has French president Macron upped the hardline diplomatic talk: Macron says don’t be ‘cowards’ as he digs in over ground troops remark. What are the implications for the EU of a defeat in Ukraine? I suspect it leads to an economic crisis in Europe.

Dohnjoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121866200#Comment_121866200

As long as you aren't hoping for a situation in which Putin prevails under the guise of "the terrible war must end".

The Ukrainians want this to end more than anyone, unfortunately they don't have that choice. They are being attacked 24/7 and only have to the choice to defend or be occupied.

Podge_irl

What on earth does the Vietnam war have to do with Ukraine?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121878626#Comment_121878626

An example of the US not staying the course and leaving its allies to their fate?

Although if the South Vietnamese had just needed munitions, money and maybe even air support, I would have expected the US to stand by them and to prevail. There's no body bags coming home to the US in this war. The Ukraine war should be a perfect opportunity for them to be the arsenal of democracy.

It is plain Republican opposition to this has no regard to US national interest, but because they are either compromised by Russia or merely opportunistically using this to try to attack Biden.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121878746#Comment_121878746

Well indeed. There is such a yawning chasm between millions of soldiers directly partaking in the conflict, with over 50k deaths, all in support of a civil war in a small country in South East Asia and providing some funds to enable someone else to counter an invasion of Europe that it is an utterly meaningless comparison.