How to respond to a Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Tahuyaman]

Most of the military problems in the whole world are caused by America .

The Blame America First notion is a position held by people on the far left and even some on the right. Propagandists on both sides.

[Ethereal]

No. The more material and weapons support we provide Ukraine, the more Russia is deterred.

The only reason Russia is supposedly considering military intervention is because the US is arming the government in Kiev. Ergo, the more the US arms the government in Kiev, the more likely Russia is to invade.

[Ethereal]

Is there any problem anywhere in the world where you don’t blame America?

I'm not blaming America, I'm blaming crooked US officials and agents. I know you the know the difference, so the only conclusion I can reach is that you're just lying intentionally about my views.

[Tahuyaman]

I'm not blaming America, I'm blaming crooked US officials and agents. I know you the know the difference, so the only conclusion I can reach is that you're just lying intentionally about my views.

That's taking the cowardly way out. That's what I expect.

[Tahuyaman]

The only reason Russia is supposedly considering military intervention is because the US is arming the government in Kiev. Ergo, the more the US arms the government in Kiev, the more likely Russia is to invade.

That's not why Russia wants to take over Ukraine. Russia lost a substantial amount of human capital with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is viewed to be in a critical strategic location by Russia. Russian energy concerns is also a prime issue.


Ukraine, while one of the most corrupt nation's on earth second only to Russia, has made trade advances with the Euopean Union.


Russia and Putin want to restore some of the prestige and power they thought they had during the era of the Soviet Union.

[blackjack21]

With regards to the terrorism comment, that wouldn't apply as the actions I describe would be taken by sovereigns. Not non-state actors.

Insurgencies are notorious for not following the laws of war--openly wearing uniforms with country, name and rank clearly visible, etc. What is the situation in the Donbas now? Insurgency--except it's against the central government of Ukraine.

AQ was created by the CIA in Afghanistan.

Maybe Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his militia, but probably not Al Qaeda.

They were already there. By 100 years.

The Taliban, yes. They were giving the British Empire fits as well.

I'm not talking about generic Islamists, though, I'm talking about AQ specifically. Before the CIA came along, they were just a bunch unsophisticated goat herders and rabble.

Al Qaeda was founded by Osama bin Laden, who was anything but a goat herder or rabble. His attack on 9/11 was led by people like Mohammed Atta--Egyptian and trained as an architect.

Americans have always lived in a world with Islamic fundamentalists.

Islamic fundamentalism was originally ginned up by the Germans as a means of destabilizing the British Empire. The British responded by promising the Arabs a Pan-Arab state if they fought against the Ottoman Turks. That's what the United Arab Republic was trying to achieve.

The anti-Soviet "freedom fighters" that the CIA trained and armed in Afghanistan were the same Islamists who went on to form AQ.

No. Al Qaeda was Arabic. The Mujahidin were largely Pashto.

And that means the US government is justified in installing an anti-Russian government right on Russia's borders?

I didn't say that. I think the US has been $#@!ing it up there for quite awhile.

Not sure how we're going to eat grain if we're all dead from a nuclear war. Just saying.

Most places won't be disturbed by a nuclear war, but I wouldn't want to be living in a big city.

I said the US has installed and armed a hostile government. I did not say "Ukraine" was hostile because "Ukraine" is not a monolithic polity anymore. It is split into western and eastern halves who have been at war with one another since 2014. When you say "Ukraine", you are really just talking about the corrupt Ukrainian government in Kiev.

The government of Ukraine isn't interested in a military conflict with Russia. Some Ukrainian factions want closer trade with the EU. Back in 2004, the run-off leading to Yanukovych was protested, and he was later ousted. The US isn't in a great position to be mucking about in these types of disputes with a barely legitimate Biden at the helm.

Even after what happened to Trump, with the endless anti-Russian hysteria coming from the CIA and the DOD, these boomers still do not get it.

Well, they have dug themselves a mighty hole by impeaching Trump for a conversation about Biden's corruption in Ukraine, only to have the whole thing go to $#@! as soon as Biden is in charge. If someone is screwing up badly to Russia's benefit, it sure seems to be Bush, Obama, and Biden and certainly not Trump.

The only reason Russia is supposedly considering military intervention is because the US is arming the government in Kiev. Ergo, the more the US arms the government in Kiev, the more likely Russia is to invade.

That's really not Russian geostrategy. Ukraine was the bread basket of the Soviet Union, and a big part of its military industrial complex.

[PJL]

The Blame America First notion is a position held by people on the far left and even some on the right. Propagandists on both sides.

.........and me , as well , and there's plenty of solid evidence to show exactly why .

[Tahuyaman]

.........and me , as well , and there's plenty of solid evidence to show exactly why .

Yes. You are a propagandist. You continually provide the evidence to support that statement.

[pjohns]

A nuke or a powerful bioweapon would cause this country to collapse. Our response to either China or Russia wouldn't change that.

To bring up the (scary) strawman of a "nuke or a powerful bioweapon" seems to suggest that standing up to an aggressor nation--and forcefully--is more likely to bring about war than simply capitulating to it.

But I believe that precisely the opposite is true.

[pjohns]

[W]e all just saw how the country handled something barely worse than the flu.

Since this is a response to DGUtley's point that "we've always fought back and we'd do so again," this appears to suggest that the current generation is just not up to snuff, when compared with previous generations of Americans.

Is this what you truly believe?