Even he isn’t dumb enough to intentionally fire a bullet at a NATO member, as it would not go well in his favor.
Yet. That’s the problem with his behaviour and the reason why we need to see this as a lead up. He’s pushing boundaries, testing our resolve, finding cracks and stoking divisions. He’s not going to attack a NATO member yet, but sooner or later he will find the right time, the right member, to strike and expose our weakness.
the uprising in DPR and LPR where people rebelled against the regime.
You mean these people, right? The ones Russia sent in?
The fact that the west ran a coup in Ukraine is well documented,
It most certainly is not. If it were you’d have provided a source.
and it’s very clear that the fascist regime there does not represent the majority o the people.
Citation needed. The events of 2005, 2013/2014, 2022-present beg to differ.
The very fact that Ukraine no longer has elections underscores just how unpopular this regime is.
Oh you got me, I definitely can’t think of ANY other reasons why elections would be challenging in Ukraine right now.
Go spread your propaganda elsewhere.
Pot, meet kettle.
This perspective is just the casual erasure of the free agency of people living in the democracies of central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic states.
Instead of seeing it as NATO expanding, why can’t you see it that many countries are afraid of Russia and are voluntarily joining? Why would they be afraid of Russia? Sweden and Finland held out for a long time, and when they joined it was not because NATO “expanded into” them, it’s because they wanted to join! Aren’t you capable of seeing all these people as making their own choices?
Ukraine has a long yet alternating history of good relations with Russia alongside the desire for greater integration with the west. You are just absolutely incapable of acknowledging that they made their own choice for themselves to move away from Russia. They expressed their collective will with Yushchenko in 2005, with Maidan in 2013-2014, and still to this day. Russia was perfectly fine with a neutral Ukraine as long as the Ukrainians only do what Russia wants them to do, and when they don’t (or when Georgia didn’t), they get the tanks.
Citation needed. Don’t worry, I already found one for you: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-as-a-ukrainian-im-not-surprised-by-volodymyr-zelenskys-declining/
According to KIIS, his approval rating has declined sharply, to 60%. Hardly “in the gutter”.
But wait, isn’t KIIS a biased regime source?! They were the same whose survey showed that the majority of Ukrainians support the fight against the Russian invasion. Hmm, I guess regime polls and stats agencies are only biased when they demonstrate facts that don’t support your narrative. As long as they support your pro-Russian message then you can use their data freely.
Of course it is challenging to conduct polls during wartime. Countries tend toward authoritarianism when they are at war. But unlike the invaders, Zelensky’s government was elected in free and fair elections in 2019. This election, as well as the Maidan protests in 2013, make it pretty obvious to me that Ukrainians support their independence from Russia.
The sources are Gallup and KIIS.
Let me know when you can find a source that shows the majority of Ukrainians do not support the war against Russian invasion. I’ll wait.
The source is unbiased and objective in terms of demonstrating that the majority of Ukrainians support the fight against the Russian invasion.
I don’t expect moral perfection from a country that is fighting for its survival against a more powerful aggressor. Yes, conscription is awful. Ukraine has allowed many exceptions but the alternative is to surrender their country to the real ghouls here, which is the Moscow regime that has raped and murdered innocent civilians from Bucha to Mariupol.
There would be no need for conscription if Russia had not invaded Ukraine, and conscription would end tomorrow if Russia would turn around and go home.
And here: https://news.gallup.com/poll/512258/ukrainians-stand-behind-war-effort-despite-fatigue.aspx
As a matter of fact, your article shows the conscription is unpopular, particularly among people being conscripted. It does not show that the majority of people in Ukraine do not support the fight against the Russian invasion. It was disingenuous of you to provide that article to infer otherwise.
It seems to me that the Ukrainians themselves want to fight this invasion as well.
The one thing I kinda thought the boomers who predominantly run shit would be good at was to remember what level of economic commitment is required to win a real, serious military conflict (and Afghanistan and Iraq don’t count - they were fully asymmetric conflicts). But it seems they can’t even do that.
Well Afghanistan and Iraq are really the only two wars which the boomers can be said to have “fought” in the sense of being the largest voting bloc, well represented in the administration - basically running things.
They were post-WW2 children so they weren’t really running things during Korea and Vietnam, or the Cold War generally. The two conflicts you mentioned are just about the two best examples of “Boomers’ Wars” you can find, so to say “they don’t count” is funny because it should at least illustrate why the current situation is not so surprising. They don’t know how to fight a war - they were born when their parents just won a fucking big one.
it might be Ukraine or their associates
Gotta stop you right there. Ukraine orchestrating this attack is not in the realm of possibility.
I agree with your other points, but given Putin’s track record with things like this I think it’s absolutely relevant to mention the very real likelihood that this was orchestrated by Russia and will be used to escalate. Of course you are right that time will tell. But I for one appreciate the reminder of Putin’s history in this regard and to be on guard for how this awful event and the tragic lost lives of innocent victims will be used by the Putin regime for his own nefarious purposes.
It’s not wise to underestimate the enemy. We need to stop this them as soon as possible. Time only helps them. Even with their ratshit military they can still hurt a lot of innocent people.
Maybe that’s that problem.