Russian invasion of Ukraine

paulchapo said:
Surely some people at the top must be thinking fuck this it's insane.
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Insane from the point of view of them facing total ostracization by the west? Yes, perhaps.

But you have to remember, we get an entirely west-oriented slant on things, over here.

The other side of the coin is Russians worrying about the declining size of Russia and it's ever diminishing influence. What if Ukraine were to join NATO and then wanted to take Crimea back? Russia would be powerless to stop that, short of starting WW3. Acting as they have, they probably get to have Ukraine back and to have eliminated that threat. I wonder if most Russians are actually supportive in principle?

Anyway, I am 50-50 as to whether Putin will get away with it. If pushed, I am leaning towards believing he will.
 
west didsblue said:
Not sure why we need to forget anything. Dealing with the consequences of a war in eastern Europe is the top priority. Having competent leadership in this country that is equipped to make the right decisions about our response is part of that priority.
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And cheese and wine plays such a huge part in that? FFS.
 
mexico1970 said:
When I served in the BAOR it was common knowledge that if it kicked off we had a 26 minute life expectancy, couldn't even get down to the NAAFI in time for a pint with that timeframe.
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Let’s face it, all Russia had to do was invade on a Saturday night, they’d have got to Zeebrugge before BAOR had even attempted to sober up on a weekend!
 
twosips said:
Yeah that's fantastic, and you sorta wish the world leaders would read it. Hopefully they go down this route. Not confident they will though.
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It's probably a bit too late and China will gladly take their money and help them out. Also if you stick a rat in a corner it will fight its way out and Putin has already proved he's nuts.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
I watched a documentary about war a while back and there was a US army general on it who said something like; “In times of war the lives of men don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the military objective. If people have to die in order to achieve that objective, it doesn’t matter as long as the objective is met. Even when the army needs food, it doesn’t matter if they have to take it from the mouths of someone else who’ll die to give it up as long as the army achieves its objective. Even if thousands have to die on the front line in order for a small few to break the opposition line, it doesn’t matter as long as that line is broken at some point if that’s the objective.”

Hearing him say that just makes you realise that we are nothing, each of us as individuals mean nothing to the wider scope of war and the objectives of war.

To Putin, or any other world leader or military leader, the lives of men like those captured in that Twitter post don’t matter. It doesn’t matter to them whether they’re killed or captured or sent back, all that matters is the objective being met. They are literally cannon fodder.
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I realised at work a long time ago that I was just a number on a spreadsheet, but these poor young lads wouldn’t even register on a spreadsheet.
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
I've got all the respect in the world for those who sign up to join the military as a career choice...but it's not for me.

Maybe as an officer, Blackadder style, but even he dies in the end (plot spoiler).
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I know a fair few who joined the army. Have to say around half of them are probably the most dislikable people have ever met, both before, during and after service. Not convinced they joined the army for Queen and country. Rather, it was the only occupation where they would have the opportunity to carry out their desires....physically hurting people or even killing. Think a fair few people who joined the police had the same attitude. Of course, I am not talking all, or even the majority, all police and armed services personnel.
 
Chris B said:
A lot of people seem keen to make this point but I wonder how relevant it is. We happily talk about the UK, the Netherlands, and the US without delegitimising their existence as sovereign states.

I think one of the African nations uniquely officially has ‘The’ at the start of its title in a territorial sense (referring to the river). Can’t remember which one, The Gambia, The Congo, maybe.

Many other nations proudly have ‘The’ at the beginning in their official names, although generally in a non-territorial sense. Our own ‘The United Kingdom of…’ and various others: ‘The people’s democratic…’ etc.
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Ukraine nationals HATE it being called THE Ukraine.
They consider it terribly disrespectful.
My daughter in law is second generation Ukrainian and gets very annoyed.
So your opinion is irrelevant.
 
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