BruceVC

" then we have lost the moral authority to criticize them " I have heard this type of left-wing, SJW, socialist doublespeak before where someone says " but we dont have the moral authority to criticize Russia because of Iraq, Afghanistan ,Yemen, Libya , Colonialism and things like the Palestinian Israeli conflict " What have those conflicts got to do with the unquestionable sequence of events where Russia unilaterally decided to carve up the borders of a soverign country and then invaded that country after Putin lied blatantly to the entire world and said "we dont want to invade Ukraine " If you follow the logic of your spurious corollary then the US and the EU should not have criticized or used sanctions against Apartheid South Africa because slavery use to legal in the US and the EU and thats " much worse than Apartheid " The world and the UN responds to the actions and decisions of countries and how they act in real time. Each case is different and each conflict is different and their will always be different levels of global response and concern But to suggest " then we have lost the moral authority to criticize them "is one of the most unconvincing comments I have ever heard about Putins War. Of course its going to be criticized. Why wouldnt you recognize this type of appalling aggression and blatant contempt of international law and sovereignty ?

Yes most people dont have a problem with RT being banned because its not objective news and we dont want people to be confused and manipulated by Russian propaganda I have huge respect for Ursula von Leyen and her latest public speeches I support and they recognize the new united future of the EU and, for example, the new energy plans for the EU Its a good time to be part of the EU because the unity we seeing makes a nice change and bodes well for the future of the EU

Im not sure I understand what you saying? Are you saying you angry and concerned with YT banning RT but you not angry and concerned with basically all media in Russia being state controlled and not telling the Russian people the truth about the invasion or showing the thousands of Russian citizens being arrested in anti-war protests? So all you see from the likes of RT is an utterly biased and selective version of the reality of Putins War both in Ukraine and the streets of cities like Moscow and St Pietersburg. Why would you want to exposure anyone to that false narrative ?

She is entitled to her opinion but its definitely not the truth. The invasion of Afghanistan was not about access to the resources because what resources Afghanistan has are largely in tribal controlled areas or areas that arent safe to mine in for international companies and to this day most of resources are inaccessible The invasion of Afghanistan was about 9/11 and the irrefutable fact that AQ attacked the US and the reality that the Taliban were giving refuge to Bin Laden. It was a perfectly legitimate invasion unless someone thinks the US and its allies should have done nothing about 9/11? Its also not about the race card, the Taliban took over Afghanistan and said they dont want the US or a Western presence in Afghanistan. So now the Taliban run the country why are we blaming the US for the state of the country and the anti-Western rhetoric from the Taliban ?

Gorthfuscious I share your concern about governments deciding on the media narrative which supports my criticism towards RT, its the mouthpiece of Putin and the Kremlin and its pure propaganda. Its state controlled unlike CNN,BBC or Al-Jazeera which at best are state funded but not state controlled. CNN and BBC for example often and on a regular basis criticizes the local government, you wont ever find that on the likes of RT Surly you would agree with me that propaganda is not the same as objective news? So you right, we should be very worried about media houses that are state controlled and decide what we see and what we dont see Thats why its good RT has been banned and or blocked in many countries. It has been blocked in SA on our DSTV offering for example

Comrade its in the best interest of everyone that RT stays banned, it was easily one of the worst examples of government propaganda and spin I have ever seen It doesnt matter if it had a large following especially if that following were believing the garbage being broadcast, thats exactly part of my point. We dont want people believing things that arent true and being influenced by it I can give you an example of how dangerous this type of propaganda is, when the invasion started you use to believe that Ukraine was a Nazi country and it was justified. Ask yourself " why did I use to think that " ? Im sure it was from sources like RT who repeat this type of fake news endlessly

Okay I see what you talking about, its another Russian false flag strategy

Sarex is right, Belarus would attack if Putin asked and how does Russia attacking them going to change their mind ?

You right, on Codex their are some very angry people on both sides and a few calmer opinions. Much of the anger makes me laugh

I dont have an issue with that considering the fact Ukraine was invaded by Russia and many Ukrainian citizens have been killed

Thats true, they get a lot of unfair grief And sometimes both parents and politicians can be very selective with their anger

https://time.com/syria-white-helmets/ The White Helmets are going to be advising the Ukrainians on a humanitarian level on how to best deal with the typical Russian military campaign of " bomb and target civilian areas " They went through this in Syria where the Russian air force bombed the city of Aleppo to the ground. The link I posted discusses some of what the White Helmets went through in Syria

Yes but you an ex-marine so its to be expected

You lucky, I wish I was retired What did you use to do for a living?

Yes but we all know teachers finish work at 2pm and get more holidays than anyone else

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crude-oil-markets-trying-stabilize-162933124.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall Oil price $105 but still very volatile and still influenced by factors like the actual production capacity of countries outside of Russia and Ukraine

Mostly because of the sarcastic comment " So Ukrainian victory in 2 weeks or so, then ? "

Some really interesting reads, thanks for sharing

Wow, you really sound disappointed that the Ukrainians are doing better than we thought against the much larger Russian army that is better funded and resourced? Russia clearly doesnt have a very well trained army especially for ground combat, they very effective at levelling cities to the ground from miles up in the sky with airpower but not actual boots on the ground strategy But Russia should still win this conflict so need to be worried But they will lose the war and the sanctions will have the last say

I do think Putin is neurotic and paranoid but I dont think he is politically or economically suicidal He is still a survivalist. For example he is paranoid about getting the virus, remember how Macron was treated and had to sit at the end of that huge table. A suicidal person wouldnt care about the virus in such an extreme way ? But he is committed to this invasion and he needs to save face and needs to win something from the negotiations

That was partly the reason, Clinton was horrified at the way those two dead Delta Force soldiers were dragged naked through the streets of Mogadishu by militant groups and paraded in some sort of grotesque theater Trump would never have tolerated that, thats one of the things I liked about Trump

Yes they will more than likely " defeat " then Ukrainian army but whatever happens after that the sanctions will continue You must see this as a longer term conflict than just the terrible war in Ukraine, the true weapon against this Russian aggression are the sanctions So yes Putin can achieve victory by occupying Ukraine but they will lose the war due to the Western sanctions but either way they will have to pull out of Ukraine in the next 6-24 months maximum I would guess ?

Aaahhh, you being sneaky Mamie the US and its allies cant and wont intervene in every conflict or examples of genocide. For example their was no military intervention in Myanmar and the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims because thats Chinas backyard and to be honest they should have stopped it And unless its a conflict linked to Islamic Extremism and is a direct threat to the US the US needs African Union agreement to intervene in Africa or the government of any country to request US military involvement As far as I know the African Union never asked for US military intervention in Rwanda because back then, 1994, it was seen as imperialism or neo-Colonialism or some other similar word that has a selective definition

The US didnt intervene in Rwanda, we were talking about US military interventions that are not about oil and are about things like humanitarian reasons

You ask a good question, how much can the West stomach? I am prepared to continue for as long as it takes to end Putins War. The problem with not finding a real negotiated settlement is you just embolden Putin and his warmongering and that doesnt help anyone. Lets look at the sequence of events that led us to this We were told Putins not a warmonger : That was a lie We were told Putins worried about NATO but he is one trying to recreate the old Soviet borders irrespective if the citizen of that country want to align with Russia or not We were told Putin wanted to negotiate around Ukraine : That was lie We were told Putins buildup of troops on the Ukraine border was just a " training exercise " :That was a lie We were told Putin wont try to unilaterally recognize the separatist states : That was a lie We were told Putin wont invade Ukraine : That was a lie We were told invasion was about helping Russian speaking people and the denazification of Ukraine: That was a lie We were told the Russian military wont target Ukrainin civilians : That was a lie The West and its allies needs to make a stand ,as Putin cannot be ever trusted to not do this again, over Ukraine and it shouldnt end until we come to a proper, agreed on settlement that the Ukrainians also agree to