Why Are We in Ukraine?

414,061 Views | 6272 Replies | Last: 34 min ago by boognish_bear
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Sam Lowry said:

Bear8084 said:

Sam Lowry said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Redbrickbear said:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:



As usual you continue to show your vatnik stupidity.


Is everyone a Russian agent?

Or just anyone who opposes neo-con psychopaths and war mongers like you?
Only the ones actually pushing RU-propaganda like you, vatnik.


Were you cool with $7 trillion being spent on that absolute train wreck that got thousands of children killed?
Crazy as it seems, many people do think its cool.

Raised on video games they don't really comprehend the carnage of war.

Till they actually get called up to fight and possibly ripped apart by shrapnel. Or they see first hand what's left of a human body after its been burned to a crisp.

THEN all of a sudden they want to re evaluate the entire situation.

No only is modern warfare seriously horrible...been that way since smoothed bored muskets were replaced by rifled guns. (From a smooth-bore musket, 42% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 200 yards. At a distance of 300 yards, only 18% of the bullets hit the target. For a rifle, the results were much better. From a rifle, 58% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 300 yards; 42% at 500 yards)

Little valor anymore in getting your legs blow off by a hidden mine or shot dead for peeking up over a trench without even seeing the enemy.


But leaving the horror of modern war aside...no one as explained how the USA has gotten any better at regime change and long term occupation.

We can beat anyone in a peer army to army contest (Russia, China, Iran, anyone) yet as Iraq and Afghanistan showed us we can not regime change successfully or hold these nations long term.

If we could not hold Iraq (smaller than Texas) how are we gonna hold Russia (largest nation on earth) or China (size of the continental USA)?

We have a lot of people rooting on wars with some big nations and with no plan for how we are going to occupy them after the wars are over.

We should be doing our best to avoid wars with such states as Russia, China, Iran....not getting hyped up about the possibility.




The error in Afghanistan was in not leaving the day after Bin Ladin got buried at sea. If we'd done that, Afghan Policy would have been rightly lauded for the ages.
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman would have missed out on hundreds of billions in profit had that been the case. Something to think about.


Sounds like Pfizer, Moderna, and the ronas.

The difference being that the Russian threat is imaginary and viruses are real.


The only thing imaginary is your view of Russia.
Why do you hate them so much? Please don't give me a list of crimes against "democracy" that the US and its allies have more than matched. I'm curious about the real reason.


When you stop deep-throating RU propaganda, then we can talk.

I know, I know "Buh whaddabout CIA/NSA/US/Decadent West propaganda!??!"


At least you admit that CIA/NSA/Washington propaganda is decadent.

I think acknowledging the truth is always a good starting point for having real discussions.




"Decadent West" is a pro-RU propaganda talking point.


Of course it is….and it's also true.

Just like "Putin is a thug" is a Western propaganda talking point…that is also true.


Very cool you realize the 2nd part.


You just like your propaganda fed to you from one side.

I enjoy analyzing it and questioning all of it.




Uh huh.

Admittedly there are times you do share something surprising.

I will also go further and say that Russia (along with China and Iran) are also pretty decadent themselves.

Abortion rates in Russia are sky high, in China they were State ENFORCED for decades, and abortion is even allowed in Iran (under an Islamic theocratic government) with "according to official data an estimated 300,000 to 600,000 abortions are performed in Iran every year".

Materialism in all three countries is also out of control....Russia and China especially where their upper classes love to take the wealth of the nation and go abroad to spend it at shopping malls and casinos.

And the fertility rates have collapsed in all three and the divorce rates are sky rocketing in all three.
sombear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Bear8084 said:

Sam Lowry said:

Bear8084 said:

Sam Lowry said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Redbrickbear said:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:



As usual you continue to show your vatnik stupidity.


Is everyone a Russian agent?

Or just anyone who opposes neo-con psychopaths and war mongers like you?
Only the ones actually pushing RU-propaganda like you, vatnik.


Were you cool with $7 trillion being spent on that absolute train wreck that got thousands of children killed?
Crazy as it seems, many people do think its cool.

Raised on video games they don't really comprehend the carnage of war.

Till they actually get called up to fight and possibly ripped apart by shrapnel. Or they see first hand what's left of a human body after its been burned to a crisp.

THEN all of a sudden they want to re evaluate the entire situation.

No only is modern warfare seriously horrible...been that way since smoothed bored muskets were replaced by rifled guns. (From a smooth-bore musket, 42% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 200 yards. At a distance of 300 yards, only 18% of the bullets hit the target. For a rifle, the results were much better. From a rifle, 58% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 300 yards; 42% at 500 yards)

Little valor anymore in getting your legs blow off by a hidden mine or shot dead for peeking up over a trench without even seeing the enemy.


But leaving the horror of modern war aside...no one as explained how the USA has gotten any better at regime change and long term occupation.

We can beat anyone in a peer army to army contest (Russia, China, Iran, anyone) yet as Iraq and Afghanistan showed us we can not regime change successfully or hold these nations long term.

If we could not hold Iraq (smaller than Texas) how are we gonna hold Russia (largest nation on earth) or China (size of the continental USA)?

We have a lot of people rooting on wars with some big nations and with no plan for how we are going to occupy them after the wars are over.

We should be doing our best to avoid wars with such states as Russia, China, Iran....not getting hyped up about the possibility.




The error in Afghanistan was in not leaving the day after Bin Ladin got buried at sea. If we'd done that, Afghan Policy would have been rightly lauded for the ages.
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman would have missed out on hundreds of billions in profit had that been the case. Something to think about.


Sounds like Pfizer, Moderna, and the ronas.

The difference being that the Russian threat is imaginary and viruses are real.


The only thing imaginary is your view of Russia.
Why do you hate them so much? Please don't give me a list of crimes against "democracy" that the US and its allies have more than matched. I'm curious about the real reason.


When you stop deep-throating RU propaganda, then we can talk.

I know, I know "Buh whaddabout CIA/NSA/US/Decadent West propaganda!??!"


At least you admit that CIA/NSA/Washington propaganda is decadent.

I think acknowledging the truth is always a good starting point for having real discussions.




"Decadent West" is a pro-RU propaganda talking point.


Of course it is….and it's also true.

Just like "Putin is a thug" is a Western propaganda talking point…that is also true.


Very cool you realize the 2nd part.


You just like your propaganda fed to you from one side.

I enjoy analyzing it and questioning all of it.




Uh huh.

Admittedly there are times you do share something surprising.

I will also go further and say that Russia (along with China and Iran) are also pretty decadent themselves.

Abortion rates in Russia are sky high, in China they were State ENFORCED for decades, and abortion is even allowed in Iran (under an Islamic theocratic government) with "according to official data an estimated 300,000 to 600,000 abortions are performed in Iran every year".

Materialism in all three countries is also out of control....Russia and China especially where their up classes love to take the wealth of the nation and go abroad to spend it.

And the fertility rates have collapsed in all three and the divorce rates are sky rocketing in all three.
Spend a few days in Moscow, St. P, and Sochi, and you'll see decadence that makes even an American blush . . . .
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I am baffled by why Harvard does not consider Japan and South Korea as western periphery

Also, another map illustrating the reasons for the war in Ukraine


Jacques Strap
How long do you want to ignore this user?
White House: Florida and Maui can pound sand unless we get more money for Ukraine

whiterock
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Sam Lowry said:

whiterock said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

Doc Holliday said:

whiterock said:

Redbrickbear said:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:



As usual you continue to show your vatnik stupidity.


Is everyone a Russian agent?

Or just anyone who opposes neo-con psychopaths and war mongers like you?
Only the ones actually pushing RU-propaganda like you, vatnik.


Were you cool with $7 trillion being spent on that absolute train wreck that got thousands of children killed?
Crazy as it seems, many people do think its cool.

Raised on video games they don't really comprehend the carnage of war.

Till they actually get called up to fight and possibly ripped apart by shrapnel. Or they see first hand what's left of a human body after its been burned to a crisp.

THEN all of a sudden they want to re evaluate the entire situation.

No only is modern warfare seriously horrible...been that way since smoothed bored muskets were replaced by rifled guns. (From a smooth-bore musket, 42% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 200 yards. At a distance of 300 yards, only 18% of the bullets hit the target. For a rifle, the results were much better. From a rifle, 58% of bullets hit the target at a distance of 300 yards; 42% at 500 yards)

Little valor anymore in getting your legs blow off by a hidden mine or shot dead for peeking up over a trench without even seeing the enemy.


But leaving the horror of modern war aside...no one as explained how the USA has gotten any better at regime change and long term occupation.

We can beat anyone in a peer army to army contest (Russia, China, Iran, anyone) yet as Iraq and Afghanistan showed us we can not regime change successfully or hold these nations long term.

If we could not hold Iraq (smaller than Texas) how are we gonna hold Russia (largest nation on earth) or China (size of the continental USA)?

We have a lot of people rooting on wars with some big nations and with no plan for how we are going to occupy them after the wars are over.

We should be doing our best to avoid wars with such states as Russia, China, Iran....not getting hyped up about the possibility.




The error in Afghanistan was in not leaving the day after Bin Ladin got buried at sea. If we'd done that, Afghan Policy would have been rightly lauded for the ages.
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman would have missed out on hundreds of billions in profit had that been the case. Something to think about.


Sounds like Pfizer, Moderna, and the ronas.

Isn't the OP still Biden Bribes?

4:40 a.m. ET, January 24, 2023
Ukraine's deputy defense minister resigns amid corruption allegations
From CNN's Kostan Nechyporenko
Ukraine's deputy defense minister Viacheslav Shapovalov has resigned after allegations of corruption surfaced in the media.

Shapovalov submitted his resignation after a "campaign of accusations related to the procurement of food supply (to the Armed Forces of Ukraine)," according to a statement from the ministry, which described the allegations as "unfounded and baseless."

The minister was responsible for the logistics of the Armed Forces, the statement said.

On Monday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said that it was investigating "high-profile media reports about possible abuses by the Ministry of Defense in the procurement of food for the military."

In his resignation letter, Shapovalov said he was leaving so as not to distract from the war effort.

"Due to the large public outcry, which was largely provoked by unsubstantiated manipulations around the issue of supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there are risks of destabilizing the army supply processes. This is unacceptable during the war with Russia," reads the letter.

this is progress. 10 years ago, there'd be no scandal and he'd still have job.
Not to mention an army.
The Ukrainian Army has succeeded admirably in spite of him
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Fre3dombear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Over 400,000 dead Ukrainians in a war they stand no chance of winning.

Great job democrats.
whiterock
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Fre3dombear said:

Over 400,000 dead Ukrainians in a war they stand no chance of winning.

Great job democrats.
nope. Casualties are not synonymous with "KIA."

Almost all sources indicate total casualties, both sides, are south of 600k. The standard deviation of estimates are between 400k=500k...for both sides.

Estimates of Ukrainian KIA are typically below 100k, usually closer to 50-75k range.



Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
whiterock
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:


Musk owns the company. It's his call. And it's certainly understandable that a business owner might wish to avoid the risks attendant to their company getting dragged into the status of combatant in any war.

If he'd have just stuck to that argument and avoided the WWIII nonsense, there'd have been a lot less controversy.
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:


m]
What a load of shlt. A Pearl Harbor attack?!? That's absolutely laughable and utterly embarrassing for Elon.
Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man.
Bear8084
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216 said:

Redbrickbear said:


m]
What a load of shlt. A Pearl Harbor attack?!? That's absolutely laughable and utterly embarrassing for Elon.


Especially after what could be going on tonight at this very moment.

Realitybites
How long do you want to ignore this user?
The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
FLBear5630
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..
william
How long do you want to ignore this user?



pro ecclesia, pro javelina
trey3216
How long do you want to ignore this user?
FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..


That's a big ass country for only twice the people as us
Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man.
whiterock
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..


That's a big ass country for only twice the people as us
and a country in demographic collapse like that will also be facing economic collapse, which impacts regime stability. The PRC knows that all too well. It's one of the reasons they are closing up their system and purging all the moderates - to get ready for hard times.

and another option for regimes facing such a scenario = war. War mobilizes the country behind the government, tends to cause nationalist sentiment to rally around leadership. And it tends to legitimize state suppression of dissent. EX: A successful Chinese assault on Taiwan would lead to euphoric levels of nationalist pride in China. That would buy a year or two of idyll for the PRC regime.

So the argument would go that China will wait to move on Taiwan until it needs a distraction for its peoples.
FLBear5630
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..


That's a big ass country for only twice the people as us
China - 1.41 billion
US - 339 million

Yeah, the can drop a billion and be bigger than the US...
trey3216
How long do you want to ignore this user?
FLBear5630 said:

trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..


That's a big ass country for only twice the people as us
China - 1.41 billion
US - 339 million

Yeah, the can drop a billion and be bigger than the US...
I was thinking they were closer to 1.7bn people, which if they dropped 1bn, would be 700mm people, or roughly twice the US. That was what I said.

And if China dropped 1bn people...they'd have an economy worse than most Central African republics
Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man.
FLBear5630
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:

Realitybites said:

The Russians aren't transing their kids. The Russian ambassador to Hungary isn't lecturing that nation about LGBTQ garbage. Chinese kids are learning math, not climate change. We have met the enemy and he is us.


All true.

And yet the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians are still not having any kids so it does not matter much.

All have below replacement fertility rates.

China has one of the lowest on earth (probably well below 1.2)

"China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births."

And Hungary (God bless them for trying) has massive state subsidies for having kids and no income tax if you have 4 kids…and yet their fertility rate is around the same as the USA (1.6 to 1.7)



But they can drop a billion and still have more than we do ..


That's a big ass country for only twice the people as us
China - 1.41 billion
US - 339 million

Yeah, the can drop a billion and be bigger than the US...
I was thinking they were closer to 1.7bn people, which if they dropped 1bn, would be 700mm people, or roughly twice the US. That was what I said.
Sorry, I meant to support your position...
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
FLBear5630
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:




Someone from Illinois government??? Haven't they been bankrupt since Blogo???
trey3216
How long do you want to ignore this user?
FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:




Someone from Illinois government??? Haven't they been bankrupt since Blogo???
they've been functionally bankrupt since well before then. But actually since right around then.
Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man.
FLBear5630
How long do you want to ignore this user?
trey3216 said:

FLBear5630 said:

Redbrickbear said:




Someone from Illinois government??? Haven't they been bankrupt since Blogo???
they've been functionally bankrupt since well before then. But actually since right around then.


Company I worked for when Blogo was found guilty had the job of taking his name down on road signs. Illinois was f-ed financially. Sold Skyway toll road!
quash
How long do you want to ignore this user?
bear2be2 said:

quash said:

bear2be2 said:

Doc Holliday said:

bear2be2 said:

Doc Holliday said:

How many of you guys would support a US hot war with Russia?
No one wants war with Russia. NATO has appeased Russia for decades trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, Russia has proven both in Crimea and the Donbas that appeasement is wholly infective as a war deterrent.
We're going to be in a hot war with Russia. Its going to happen.

Do you not understand how insane DC is?

That will be Russia's decision. The only way we end up in a war with Russia is they attack a member of NATO. And ceding Ukraine to Russia only makes that more likely.

No. If Russia takes all of Ukraine (highly unlikely) then it has the buffer it wanted.

Unless you're talking about neocons convincing a US president to start a hot war. Highly unlikely.

I don't see a hot war with Russia.

You'll have to forgive me for having a healthy of amount of skepticism when those who were adamant that Putin wouldn't invade Ukraine try to convince me now he'll be satisfied with his "buffer."

The West has underestimated and appeased Putin for decades. That's precisely what's put us in this mess to begin with. We tried to sand his rough edges through the media and normalize his insanity for years instead of treating him like the KGB thug he is.

I'm frankly tired of being told by Western politicians, media and partisans what Putin does/doesn't want and what his motives are. At this point, I'll take him at his word. The guy has told and shown us exactly who is. It's well past time to believe him.

Not sure why opened your reply to me with that first paragraph. It wasn't responsive to any thing I said in that or in the past.
“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” (The Law, p.6) Frederic Bastiat
Doc Holliday
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear said:


Yep. This time they're advertising it as "nation partnering". Same money laundering concept though.

I expect trillions of US tax dollars to find its way to Ukraine over the next decade.
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?

Jacques Strap
How long do you want to ignore this user?


Redbrickbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
First Page Last Page
Page 27 of 180
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.