BruceVC

I don't think SA's current government is interested in tackling issues that it can't blame on white people... No its not that bad ...the government actually leaves us alone

Wow, Bruce, a racist remark has never been delivered in such a well-meaning tone Sorry dude...but you know it can't be as bad as South Africa So you have nothing to feel bad about

http://rapecrisis.org.za/rape-in-south-africa/ According to the stats its actually higher ...but I would very happy if it was less We have about 50 million people I am sorry, but what the actual F...?! WOW... I am speechless... with the rates we had it should be around 1,800 cases PER YEAR!!! There is something fundamently wrong in your region... and I am willing to assign it to the native populace... WOW.... just WOW.... I know, its not something that makes you feel good..but we are the rape capital of the world Thats why I said earlier , we all become desensitized to how bad it is...otherwise we would all be miserable

Which, of course, means these are the reported numbers, and given that rape is one of the most underreported crimes... Yes, but this is relevant for every country, so if you are comparing official data with official data I wasn't aware we were doing that. I'm interested in Hungary's rape stats, I imagine they high as well ?

http://rapecrisis.org.za/rape-in-south-africa/ According to the stats its actually higher ...but I would very happy if it was less We have about 50 million people

Fighter I have never seen you so confrontational ...and its weird as he is a fellow Russian? End of the day isn't he allowed to say " Russia shouldn't be in Syria " And now everyone is attacking his view ....that can make debate difficult ?

While not excusing their actions by any means, it's interesting how people saying something like that forgetting the fact these pilots were dropping bombs on them in the first place. And i've heard reports that they're not even particularly choosy on who they drop them, militants or civilians. In any case, it's a bit hypocritical to expect these people to act differently. "We're dropping bombs on you, but shooting a pilot is just too much!" Really? If you do not understand the basic concept shooting someone unarmed or unable to fight, then i do not know what to tell you except that may God have mercy on your soul. What if God isn't real...who will grant mercy ?

But guys killing is wrong, it seems like you guys want to see bloodshed?

Yes. And he's just done it again. That kind of attitude common amongst Russian 'liberals' is one reason why Putin is popular. They have no loyalty to their own. The type of people that would put their own soldiers in prison while praising islamist head cutters as freedom fighters because "it's our own fault". No he isn't that bad, he cares about Russia ......just not Putins rashness

Aren't you glad I convinced you to not just drop the West and rather just have smaller trade ties with China...in other words BRICS is not the solution..my country was fooled into aligning with them

Why not just nuke them? Just kill them all, men, women, children. Why bother. Just drop nukes on everyone and then we can finally have peace. Now I am not sure if this is sarcasting or does it have some backing among more nationalistic movements in Russia :D If it does, i'm certainly not sharing that view. It's beyond stupid to ask for more violence when the whole affair is ridiculous in the first place. Russia should've never went into Syria, and it was really just a matter of time before something like that happened considering what kind of person Putin is. The only positive solution here is complete withdrawal. but of course that's not going to happen and so there will be more blood. I agree with part of what my Russian friend says, Putin let this go too far... but I think Putin getting involved is a good thing so now he understands what the West has been doing for the last 14 years

It's more than "unnecessary", it's murder. They were waiting in an ambush with cameras at the ready like rats. This is the view in Russia. Okay I'm not sure if that is true ....what do you mean cameras? Are you being serious I would guess that he means that there are videos about shooting that plane that surfaced quite soon after the incident. You know Elerond I don't care what ANY of the guys in the EU say about you....you are clever

It's more than "unnecessary", it's murder. They were waiting in an ambush with cameras at the ready like rats. This is the view in Russia. Okay I'm not sure if that is true ....what do you mean cameras? Are you being serious

The next time a turkish jet or helicopter wanders for example into Armenia as they do sometimes we will remind Erdogan of his own chosen method of "defending borders". That or Kurds will find some new weapons. Either way retribution will come in kind. Yeah, we hear you. Turkeys actions seem unnecessary How is the general view in Russia?

Nice Ros But you not married, you not worried about living in sin....eternal fire and all that ?

Oh I meant to say the West should just stay out of the ME....I'm sorry its not worth the blood, the effort, the sacrifice ....for what? The local people don't appreciate it, they still blame the West for everything And now that the USA produces its own oil there is less imperative to actually ensure stability

Yep. Given all this trouble that's resulted from this adventure, can't say their lives were worth anything near it. I hear you, we actually still don't know if the West could trust them It feels weird thinking that the West should have done nothing because as I keep mentioning the West tries very hard to prevent genocides But lets look at how messed the whole region is ....and we wouldn't have known once Assad was removed if the rebels were really trust worthy I really never thought I would say this but non-intervention in this case seems it would be right decision But then it may have been harder to get Iran to agree to the negotiations?

Clowns? You mean the initial Syrian rebels who wanted the West to help?

Like everybody was on the same page in Iraq, Yugoslavia etc.? Careful your hypocrisy counter is going over 9000 Russia didn't intervene in Iraq as far as I remember, as for Yugoslavia at one point Nato and Russian forces were close to shooting at oneanother, definately not a good idea to pretend to inteverne together while backing different factions. Russia doesn't have the military muscle to be pressing its case in Syria, not any more really, she's doing it out of pride, some sense of lost empire, you know like Britain in the Falklands. But they were against those interventions, in the mechanisms (UN) instituted with the idea that conflicts should be resolved on the basis of consensus instead of unilateral action. When NATO was doing as it pleased the world over, that's all well and good but when Russia is protecting its interests it needs to be "taken down a notch", even though its targeting an entity that is now more or less the enemy of the entire world and is attacked by country that is supporting said entity - a country that is also a member of the NATO alliance and is undermining the supposed goals of the alliance in the matter. Long story short - Turkish support for ISIS is okay, Russians protecting their interests isn't? So by your logic, what entitles Russa to intervene in Syria. Shouldn't they be going through propper channels and attempt to woo over the UN. The UN was never able to account for the cold war dynamic so a 'consensus' for anthing, not just Iraq and Yugoslavia meant everyone except Russia and China, they were going to vote 'no' nomatter what. Is that hypocritical, sure, I'll go allong with that. Not a lot of the UN's lofty ideals of peace and cooperation survived contact with reality. Russia was invited to intervene by the legitimate, elected government of Syria. That is the major difference between the Russian and US interventions in Iraq, Yugo etc. If the international framework can be ignored at will then there is nothing wrong with Russia intervening anywhere it pleases. OMG....you actually think Assad was the legitimate leader of Syria, he never had a democratic election but he somehow is legitimate? Its not a matter of what I think, the Syrian government had years of relations with more or less the entire world. It was de facto and de iure accepted as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Up until the point that the west decided to remove Assad. And even then post the 2014. presidential election the number of countries reaffirming their stance that Assad is legitimate (by way of congratulating him on his victory, which is one of the ways a government can be accepted under international law) far outnumbers the few western countries that called the elections a farce. Incidentally, your own government is among those that congratulated Assad on his victory. How does anyone let you discuss politics on air when you know so little of international relations? Yes well my government is facing so many challenges this must be the worst state our economy is in So please don't read anything into what my government says ....as far as making the right foreign policy decisions they fail almost all the time Now why you getting personal? I can easily do that with you as your idea of a prudent strategic partner is .....Russia But I don't, I just make the post about where I disagree with you

You need to be more accepting of their values. KP.... I really shouldn't find that funny but I did

We shouldn't even trade. It's because of business interests that we have gotten so involved in the situation in the first place. And trade interferes with the area, propping up rulers and supplying them. Hard not to trade given the oil in that region. And that's why we are all fighting over that place. On the point that some people are making that the Middle-East has never known democracy and that it is alien to them: Iran used to be a secular democracy, that was very progressive and was quite enlightened. Then they made a heinous mistake, they tried to nationalise their oil. Us (my British government I'm sad to say) went "Nu uh!" and sponsored a coup to replace this government with the current nutjob one, the one we now all hate. The Iranians naturally now hate us for that, as one of their wistful thoughts is "What could have been..." All because "The Oil Must Flow!" Sure you right. But I have to be honest I don't think one country that was a Democracy 30 years is much to recognize or celebrate

What about purple hair...u guys still together ? Anyway I have had some really good news about South Africa, we have finally got our electricity parastatel profitable. This may seem like a non-issue but we have issues with all the government run parastatels ....almost all of them run at a loss Anyway this proves that black South Africans can run these complex entities

Like everybody was on the same page in Iraq, Yugoslavia etc.? Careful your hypocrisy counter is going over 9000 Russia didn't intervene in Iraq as far as I remember, as for Yugoslavia at one point Nato and Russian forces were close to shooting at oneanother, definately not a good idea to pretend to inteverne together while backing different factions. Russia doesn't have the military muscle to be pressing its case in Syria, not any more really, she's doing it out of pride, some sense of lost empire, you know like Britain in the Falklands. But they were against those interventions, in the mechanisms (UN) instituted with the idea that conflicts should be resolved on the basis of consensus instead of unilateral action. When NATO was doing as it pleased the world over, that's all well and good but when Russia is protecting its interests it needs to be "taken down a notch", even though its targeting an entity that is now more or less the enemy of the entire world and is attacked by country that is supporting said entity - a country that is also a member of the NATO alliance and is undermining the supposed goals of the alliance in the matter. Long story short - Turkish support for ISIS is okay, Russians protecting their interests isn't? So by your logic, what entitles Russa to intervene in Syria. Shouldn't they be going through propper channels and attempt to woo over the UN. The UN was never able to account for the cold war dynamic so a 'consensus' for anthing, not just Iraq and Yugoslavia meant everyone except Russia and China, they were going to vote 'no' nomatter what. Is that hypocritical, sure, I'll go allong with that. Not a lot of the UN's lofty ideals of peace and cooperation survived contact with reality. Russia was invited to intervene by the legitimate, elected government of Syria. That is the major difference between the Russian and US interventions in Iraq, Yugo etc. If the international framework can be ignored at will then there is nothing wrong with Russia intervening anywhere it pleases. OMG....you actually think Assad was the legitimate leader of Syria, he never had a democratic election but he somehow is legitimate?

I think that it is the first time i can agree on something. I've been pointing it out since forever. The concept of democracy is alien to that area. Western civilization was raised on the greeko-latin culture... middle east, aside of the short rule of Alexander and later Seleucids was never under its influence. Thats the main reason we should just let them do whatever they want and only trade with whoever is ruling without meddling in their affairs. Guys I don't have the energy to go into detail because I'm focusing on my Apartheid comments But yes you right, most of the ME doesn't understand or really even wants Democracy...and yes sometimes in life you cannot force people to want to uplift themselves so we must leave them alone

Hold on....are you seriously telling me there are no cases of rape or murder where you live? Obviously there are, but not in significant numbers. I cant check the data now as i am using phone for forum tracking and not using my work related computer to do anything not related to my job. IIRC it is something like 1 per 40k populace a year in case of rapes. Please find out ...I'm interested I have to be honest its been quite a shock to realize how bad South Africa is ...I will raise this tonight on that radio station and get others opinions