This whole situation has highlighted one thing and that's the UN needs updating.
It served its purpose of ensuring peace after the worst war the world had ever seen but it is not fit for purpose now. To be truly effective the whole veto system on the security council needs to go as do the permanent members of the council. Then maybe the injustices around the globe can truly be dealt with and not blocked by a permanent member because it doesn't suit their strategic goals.
I think you might be taking that out of context. I am just sick of hearing about how the UK are doing so much by sending some NLAWs over. The point about Iraq is really that they have provided Russian/Chinese propagandists with a kind of "the west do it too". We all get tarred with that as part of the "West".
I am aware of what is going on in Ukraine. We (my wife and myself) are helping refugees in our town. They are not coping very well at all. It isn't something that I heard about on the news, I have met many people who have fled the war. Most of them are women with kids, their husbands are over fighting. I admire them enormously and am in complete awe of their willingness to fight. We should help them out as much as we can, if they lose it will be a huge loss for all of us. I also think it is the prelude to the coming struggle (not war) with China for global supremacy. If China wins we will have an authoritarian government answerable to nobody as a world leader which I think would be tragic.
The nuclear question is always going to come up if Putin stays in power. If he decides that he needs Moldova, the Baltic States or Poland it will have to be addressed.
I think it should be addressed now rather than waiting and potentially throwing thousands of more Europeans into the Russian meat grinder. I think NATO should declare they will now protect Ukraine and all Russian forces need to leave the territory in 24 hours or they will be directly engaged and dealt with. Its time to call Putin and his entourages bluff. Yes there is a risk but I believe the risk is greater the longer we let this situation fester.
People "returning" refugees are absolute dickheads. Probably the same tools that took in dogs for lockdown and gave them back afterwards.
Use your brains people before you commit. It's not going to be a **** overnight stay.
Well, that is a shock.
Imagine if he could be 'deprogrammed'. Then stood up and said 'my Ukrainian friend across the floor is stating the absolute truth. We started this war for no reason other than imperial ambition and a desire to subjugate a people who wanted nothing more than the right to a better future. Our army has committed thousands of cases of torture, rap and murder - and we will kill anyone who we feel like.'
'ah, a cup of tea, why thank you Madame Deputy Ambassad - clunk'
Makes me absolutely sickening to see the Russians having a place in the UN
They should dissolve the UN and start a new without Russia
The Moon orbits the Earth - it was always thus.
Where is Will Smith when you need him?
In other news: Water is wet.
In some parts of the world it's known as the truth!
Let's get something straight here folks
Are we weighing up current suffering against the kind of suffering a nuclear exchange would cause
Or, are we weighing up current suffering against the MERE THREAT of a nuclear exchange
I'm quite happy to go cold and hungry to fcuking save lives NOW !!!
The Russian ambassador to the UN is talking a load of shite.
Similar process used to capture James Woods
You and others keep throwing up this argument but not one has been able to give an answer on where is the redline for push back.
How would any of us know? It is known somewhere by the powers that make such calls but at a guess it is an attack on a NATO/EU country.
Save us the sanctimonious bullshit & whataboutery re the UK/USA/NATO and whatever else you're having.
We are witnessing a war in Europe - not Asia or Africa, on a scale of local human suffering and destruction not seen since the 1940s.
That's why we are exercised and engaged. If affects you and I and all of us. This is how countries got dragged into wars in the past despite the willingness or unwillingness of their public. There comes a time when people & states choose to make a stand for what is right. And then we get sucked in.
You and others keep throwing up this argument but not one has been able to give an answer on where is the redline for push back. If we do nothing in Ukraine because we fear a nuclear strike, then we'll do nothing in moldova because we fear a nuclear strike and we'll do nothing in Lithuania because we don't want to escalate for fear of a nuclear strike. The time you spend wondering about your own redlines has Putin moving his redline closer to you. He senses the weakness and he'll exploit it. Nuclear war is far more likely the longer this conflict goes on.
Nato does not need to put one boot on Ukranian or Russia soil. Sell them arms like they sold them to the Russians for decades. Give them the best of the best to drive the Russians off their soil. If that crosses Putins redline well then we were never not going to cross it at some stage.
How much of a stretch it is? They invaded looking for non-existent WMD's, destabilised the entire region, leading directly to the 500k-1m deaths and who knows how many indirectly. We have ISIS and the situation in Syria to thank for their Iraqi war. Then when the refugees inevitably arrived in Europe, they blame the EU! I get it, you don't like the EU. But save us the sanctimonious bullshit about the UK. They have always and will always suit themselves in any situation.
Think poster (perhaps) was assuming you are a brexiter, maybe from the UK or something? Hence reference to UK which despite providing weapons to Ukraine before and during this war has made mistakes in hindsight in its policies towards Russia over the last decade or so.
Don't know if poster is right or why he did that. The EU does not set foreign policy of France and Germany re Russia. They made those mistakes themselves just like UK did, just like we did here in our own smaller way.
Anyway why do you you hate the EU as a matter of interest?
:-)
I think at some level you have to assume all the nuclear powers, including Russia, realise that they are a pretty useless weapon as if you press the big red button, we're all gone. There is no winner. All of these people have families, friends, desires to swan about on yachts in the Caribbean and all of those things would become impossible. It would be, at best, life sealed up in some bunker until the food ran out.
Nah sure the Ukrainians are all Nazis remember? :P
I'm just quoting this so everyone can revel in the instictive EUrophile counter of "But...but..Britain" no matter how much of a stretch it is
"Em what about....eh Iraq maybe?"
The nasty Brits werent selling Russia weapons after they invaded Ukraine were they? That was the likes of France and Germany who proudly proclaimed that they were still compliant with EU sanctions while doing so.
Makes you proud to be EUopean, eh?
On that subject, ever notice how a bunch of comedians can turn their hand to drama so easily? Much rarer the other way around. Could expand further but I think it's down to "acting" being putting yourself out for a reaction whereas comedic stuff is much more symbiotic by default.
This Azov lot are amazing alright. They seem to be everywhere at once according to the Russians and yet there's only about a thousand of them...
Zelenskiy calling out the spinelessness of the UN in relation to past conflicts.
He's dead right.
A relative of mine long since gone was with the American army fighting the nazis in WW2 across northern Europe to Germany. After the war he moved to Australia and he witnessed the atomic tests there in the early 50's. He came back to Ireland a few times later on after he retired and I remember a discussion between him and my dad and this guy, a man who had seen combat and the horrors of war said that bomb going off was the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen and he had nightmares about it.
If we are dissecting past decisions like going ahead with the Nordstream pipeline, I should also point out the UK's disastrous and illegal invasion of Iraq has given a huge amount of whataboutery ammunition to the Putin-bots, "look how bad the West is". There is a certain logic to it too. It isn't too different to what the Russians are doing, invading a country on some made up pretext because you don't like the government.
China's got its own agendas, and from what I can see at least, none of those involve becoming sucked in to some crazy Russian invasion of a neighbouring country. They've been fence sitting and they clearly do not want to be seen to be directly in line with the 'West' but I strongly doubt that China has any interest in being pulled into some ridiculous Russian empire fantasy.
China has huge issues with human rights abuses, it's an authoritarian state, and it has many problems. However, it's also a hugely complex trading economy of a billion people and has a strong focus on increasing and improving living standards and so on. It's a far, far more successful country than Russia in a whole range of areas, and I really cannot see it throwing all that away to cozy up to Putin.
My assumption is that China will continue with a sort of 'careful now! down with that sort of thing!' type approach while actually doing nothing.
If anything, China may have an agenda of waiting for Russia to stabilise again, whenever this does eventually end and it will probably end in a Russian coup, and then it can enter the market buying in at rock bottom prices to secure resources for its manufacturing sector.
As I've said for years, left and right matter far less than the principles of the people involved. Ukraine seemed to be continuing to progress. There's differences between campaigning, leading, and the nuts and bolts of administration. Take word from the right people, give the right people jobs and get things running properly. No-one can run a country top-to-bottom and the people with the humility to take that as a given and act accordingly are the more successful leaders.
In this war we've seen Zelenskyy be brave, speak well, be honest and earnest. He could have skipped off at any point but his principles have shone through. He's not perfect (there was something about off-shore accounts but my first impression was a nothingburger with a lack of details, like Jimmy Carr when he got stung) but only fools believe in such things. I remember the yanks putting out whispers about him and I don't think they were triple-bluffing at the time. 😅 He's done just about all he could since the Russians invaded.
Also, more an idle pondering than anything, but I think he (and the Ukrainians) are sharp enough to protect themselves. While the Ukrainians made some preparations before the invasion the fact the Yanks were shouting about it for ages beforehand and the Ukrainians didn't really seem to believe it (I'm sure behind the scenes more prep was happening) makes me think Zelenskyy and the rest were protecting themselves from the US. Similarly with the call that helped Trump get impeached, he was happy to let Trump hang himself while going off the reservation rather than just suck up to the Yanks.
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