A horrendous war crime, and I don't think the UK or US has ever acknowledged that.
They would bomb the inniscarra dam in cork and flood the city.
if the Russians attack Ireland at least we have Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to use as interlocutors
You think 5,500 KIA is an acceptable quantam of loss *in the first week*? Come down from the clouds will you?
Patriotism doesn't get you far when you're hundreds or thousands of kilometers from home, thinking you were on a training exercise, and all of a sudden you see the body bags by the dozen coming from the opposite direction.
I don't know what your angle is, but if the figure is near the bullseye, there is no way the Russian troops are merrily whistling It's a Long Way to Tipperary right now.
There are some amazing ride-along documentaries about Soviet/Russian troops in Afghanistan and Chechnya on YouTube. I'd advise you watch them. If you don't think Russian young men break in war because of some mad notion you have of irrepressible Russian patriotism, you're as tapped in the head as Putin.
Are you trying to suggest that he would be better off trusting Putin???
We've bent over for Putin time and time again.
Litvenenko
Salisbury
Crimea
MH317
Not once was he taken to task and he escalates each time. Just like they stood back and watched Hitler in the 30s hoping it wouldn't affect the west. 6 million Jews and millions of Europeans of all faiths, races and nationalities wiped out because we delayed in facing down a headcase.
And once again we're back here except this time we get to watch it live on TV.
What an embarrassment those two specimens are.
The probem with the entirety of that is presuming Russia has a right to dictate to other countries, what they can and can't do. Putin and his appologists are a laugh. The narrative is that the west should have listened to and believed Putin's threats: someone who didn't have anything to do with the poisoning of Litvinenko, didn't have anything to do with the poisoning of the Skripals, a policeman and the murder of Dawn Sturgess, didn't use a nerve agent called Novichok to commit those crimes, and who absolutely was not going to invade Ukraine, several times. Russia guaranteed the security and soverignty of Ukraine if they gave up their nuclear weapons, which they did
Putin is a serial liar and his word means nothing, and yet it's our fault for not believing him? Explain how that works?
Looks like a crackdown taking place in Moscow. Independent TV Rain and radio Echo of Moscow taken off the air.
Another thing the West needs to remember is that there appears to be a lot of young conscripted kids in the Russian army. Inexperienced and not very well trained.
They're not going to be inexperienced after using Ukraine as a training ground for a few weeks. If they're gonna go on to try to roll into somewhere else then the next country might be dealing with a much worse situation.
Which makes it even more important that it ends in Ukraine and as soon as possible.
EU parliament votes for tougher response against Russia
637 voted "for"
13 voted "against" (including Mick Wallace and Clare Daly)
26 abstained.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/security/20220228STO24214/ukraine-parliament-calls-for-tougher-sanctions-against-russia
But we’ve heard Putin is willing to let 50,000 soldiers die at least in the first phase.
Why do you think losses of 5,500 if true will effect an army after 1 Week???
The fact you think the Russian army who are just as patriotic as the Ukrainians and have listened to Putin for 20 years will suddenly loose morale all of a sudden, well I don’t know what to tell you.
They have been planning and preparing for this for years.
Unfortunately it’s going to end one way unless boots on the ground intervene.
They'll never be forgiven. Just ask the people of Dresden today 80 years after their innocent civilians were mass murdered in a firebombing by the Brits and Americans.
Just seen the footage from around the TV tower struck in Kiev earlier. Obviously too graphic to post but really horrible.
5 civilians were killed because the fckers missed.
and my grandfather was born in the 19th Century. An outlier.
No, when it gets left to a smaller amount of people then sabotage can occur.
I reckon at least 3-4 people have the codes at high levels then the codes would be under lock and key at a submarine, missile silo. Then ultimately, somebody in the silo/sub will have to make the decision, whilst surrounded by people.
Am I right in saying that NATO's fear of getting involved is the expenentiol escalation of the war, and it potentially going nuclear?
Right, so if Russia invaded Estonia say, which triggers NATO's involvement, how is it any different? Sh!t's going down either way.
So the west is just going to sit back and let Ukraine get annihilated because Putin plays the nuclear card?
Call a spade a spade. It boils down to the west accepting that Ukraine is going to get fooked for the sake of appeasing this headbanger again.
You know that scene in inglorious basterds with the finger counting. same story for putinbots and their use of “Gaelic”.
Wouldn't really agree with that either...(war between NATO/Russia on their own territory) even were such possible in a nuclear bomb-less world.
I think what's happening here is serious enough to justify such measures but agree to disagree I suppose as it is second time I replied to you on it.
As I said before it is coming down to viewpoint on what access to a Western country provided by a visa is. A "right" of sorts attaching to a person that should not be taken away because that would be wrong unless they themselves did something to deserve punishment/have it denied them, or a "privilege" or gift given out by the state to some citizens of another which can be removed or denied for other reasons (in this case to punish that state and/or for our own protection from that state)?
Is 1985 your year of birth. If so, were your grandparents not a bit young to be fighting in WWII
Not relevant to the thread. But one of my favourite random interesting facts. The 10th President of the USA was born in 1790.
His grandson is still alive (or at least was the last time I checked). His brother died back about 18 months ago.
Whoopsie, bit of a blunder there komrad. If you really lived here, you'd know that nobody calls ár teanga náisiúnta, 'Gaelic'.
You should request a new assignment from your superior.
And please stop killing people in Ukraine.
I think only a spectacular loss in Ukraine now or a grinding bloody failure over years could end their dictatorship now. Newsnight were saying that most Russians are apathetic so even if they knew all the details of the conflict now they just wouldn't bother protesting. It was very bleak.
I read the article, thanks. I can't find anything to corroborate the existence of this declassified document mentioned, but even to leave aside any doubt for the sake of argument, it remains that there is no evidence that anything was ever signed into law to this end. And the verbal promise which was claimed to have been made was made to a country that no longer exists by representatives of administrations that aren't in power anymore.
Josh Sinfrinson's claim in that tweet linked attracts considerable doubt in the replies to it as well, and even he does not provide any actual link to, or excerpt from, this declassified document which would still only outline an alleged verbal agreement.
Yes, the podcast also pointed out that the Soviets had a triple lock around nuclear launches requiring military, KGB and party leader to agree but maybe Putin can just order it more directly.
Note the Eastern European countries fears of a revanchist USSR or Russia.
Look, if it's not in a treaty (or even a memorandum), in terms of international relations and commitments, it doesn't mean sh*t. Russia knows this. And they have been welching on critical items nuclear arms control treaties all over the place. So if they don't hold to treaties, why the hell should Nato hold to an oral commitment to a country that no longer exists. It's crazytown.
The USSR subsequently fell off the map and Europe was dealing with a whole new calculus. Russia after the USSR immediately got to work undermining the sovereignty of Georgia and Moldova.
You think Nato didn't pick up on this? Why should central and eastern Europe put up with a security arrangement where they're prone to a giant irredentist neighbour who have no intention of keeping their own word?
The period of 1991- 1997 was a lesson for both Nato and Eastern Europe that Russia was up to their old tricks. F*ck em and their whinge.
The problem with nato expansion is not whether it is right or wrong. The problem is that it gives Putin a reason to invade. In Putin's head it is wrong and now he is in Ukraine.
And how many dead Ukrainian kids do ya think it would take to fix the issue?
Yes that was probably the lowest point in the Cold War. Bizarrely, I think politically things are much worse now in Russia- far far bleaker. Least back then the “President” was charged regularly enough. There was a Supreme Soviet that the government had to sort of answer to. Putin and his cronies are self appointed for life. It’s North Korea with a western face. That’s the scary thing, I can see way out of it. This dictatorship that formed in the late 90s is embedded.
Theoretically anyone could go after satellites or underwater cables and this has been a real worry in future warfare, which I guess now is present warfare.
I guess it’s kind of like blackening out the sun or using nuclear weapons: it hurts everyone. As we see in North Korea it’s not about information getting out, but getting in is really the problem.
This was posted 8 months ago. A talk from Andrei Illionov who resigned from the Putin Administration in 00s . This is a discussion on Putin's motives and his perception of events, its not endorsing him, this lad is no friend of Putin. I listened to it and find it interesting in expanding out possibly some of the reasons we are where we are with Russia
On 12 April 2000, Illarionov was invited by Vladimir Putin to be his senior economic adviser and in May 2000 he became the personal representative of the Russian president (sherpa) in the G8. He played an important role in introducing the low 13% flat income tax in Russia,[1] in earlier repayment the Russian foreign debt, in creation the petroleum revenues-based Stabilization Fund of the Russian Federation and in bringing Russia's full-fledged membership into the political G8.
On 3 January 2005 Illarionov resigned from his position as presidential representative to the G8 because of the government troops' storm of the Beslan school on 3 September 2004 leading to death of 333 children, their parents and teachers.[2] On 21 December 2005, Illarionov declared "This year Russia has become a different country. It is no longer a democratic country. It is no longer a free country". The Washington Post reported that he had cited a recent report by the human rights observer Freedom House.[3] On 27 December 2005, Illarionov offered his resignation in protest against the stealing of billions of dollars by Putin's inner circle from the Russian state via the IPO of state-owned company Rosneft. He claimed that that Russia was no longer politically free and ran by an authoritarian and corrupt elite. "It is one thing to work in a country that is partly free. It is another thing when the political system has changed, and the country has stopped being free and democratic," he said
Highlights of video:
-Putins been planning invasions since 2003
-Putins plan has been for all these newly attained countries same language, same religion and a prince at the top
-April 2008 Putin told bush that Ukraine was not a real country and half it belonged to russia, but nobody took Putin seriously
-Putins never hided his intentions, his use of “historic Russia” was basically him confirming his idea of what Russian borders should be
-Biden/Putin summit meeting was bad cause Biden didn’t put it to to Putin and speaker thinks Putin will invade Ukraine to remake “historical Russia”
-Putin won’t stop at Ukraine
-he predicted 200k troops would be moved to the border by September last year(29:45) Which he can use for large scale interventions (peacekeeping invasion?) in Ukraine
-American pundits have very limited understanding of Putin
-How does syria or libya relate to "historic Russia" ? Not related, this was foreign policy of supporting foreign tyrants for business and ideological reasons. Putin didnt want to see the dictators fall cause he could be next, keeping them up makes him stronger. USA is his only Adversary in his mind, seeing Biden as weak prompted him to get bolder
-Putin didnt respond when americans killed a bunch of Russians in Syria. Putin learned if somebody in the white house can give an order, his troops can be destroyed within minutes or hours, so the most important thing for Putin, is the ready of levelness of the current US president to use force to protect independence around the world (41:00), that is why he has tested each president one by one.
-Putin moved troops into Georgia cause he didnt think Bush would us troops. Bush said (Aug 11 some year) "I wold not recommend Putin make another step", US moved navy into position in nazy, next day russians announce operation in Georgia is finishe
-Then Putin tested obama when he moved his troops into Crimea in 2014. Obama said "I am not using american troops to defend Ukraine", Putin was happy and used troops to occupy Crimea
-When he met Trump he couldnt figure out if Trump would or not use troops. But he decided not to test Trump after Syria (Trump fans will love this) because nobody will know what will happen
-Biden would never "step up to Putin" which is why after inauguration there was a significant jump in hostilities in Ukraine. 5 days later Putin puts pipeline in North sea and now after "geneva summit" (last year) Putin was absolutely clear Biden wouldnt use any force or help to Ukraine which gave Putin Green light to use force against Neighbors
-Do you think that American military will make Putin back up ? Putin may consider military and political leadership as most important ! (if your leader is crap, you can be beaten), again seems like an insult to Biden (interested to see what Biden does later , wet fish or war president).
-How does Putin see historic Russia play into his developing relationship with China ? For Putin, it became one of the most important decisions, in early days of his presidency in 00s he wanted to develop strategic relationship with the US and NATO. He tried to join NATO cause he saw China as a great threat to Russia. Western leaders rejected Putin. So he had to look for other options available (develop relationship with China)
-Putin felt betrayed (because Iraq was soviet client state) on Iraq invasion, he thought Americans would talk with him regarding invasion. Hostoric opportunity lost
-US sees China as greatest threat and it would be in great interest for US to allure Russia away - Its too late ?! Could this be a problem for China (because Russia would be Chinas b*tch) - problem is that Putin doesnt trust the west or US. Putins problem is that he does not feel he is trusted by westerners (no sh*t) so Putin doesnt see why he should develop relationship with western leaders. (US should not expect a christmas card from Putin)
-When Putin is gone, how will US/EU/NATO develop trust with the replacement leader ?
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