Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Octavian]

Hate to break the news to you but it is categorised as aggressive imperialist expansionism by everyone who is not a Putin apologist.

The like we haven’t seen by a major state in Europe since the 1940s. Putin’s head is still in the 1940s.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I know West Ham got knocked out of the FA cup, and are behind the rags in the league, but do you really want to risk WW3 over it?

I think the possible potential of Europe's largest nuclear plant being blown up is a reason to enforce a no fly zone

 

[andyhinch]

so Russia could drop a bomb on a nuclear plant and we still won't enforce a no fly zone

They won’t, there is no upside to doing it.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Hate to break the news to you but it is categorised as aggressive imperialist expansionism by everyone who is not a Putin apologist.

Not everyone obviously.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

so Russia could drop a bomb on a nuclear plant and we still won't enforce a no fly zone

If a no fly zone is put in place who will enforce it and what will happen if Russia fly jets over, will someone shoot it out of the sky, if so who and what do you think the consequences will be.

 

[Gremlin]

so Russia could drop a bomb on a nuclear plant and we still won't enforce a no fly zone

Been said a few times but most of the damage inflicted by the Russians (including to the nuclear plant) comes from artillery and ground-launched missiles and a no-fly zone does the square root of f-all to stop them. Hence you would be risking a wider conflict for very little actual relief and advantage for the Ukrainians. The only way to stop them would be to carry out ground attack missions and that is not a no-fly zone, it is joining a war.

 

[Octavian]

Not everyone obviously.

What is it then?

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

So with the benefit of hindsight NATO should have been wound down in the 90s? Have you been smoking spice this morning?

If you don't like it report it to the mods or mi5/6 if it really troubles you but yes, NATO should have been wound down/repurposed or at least reviewed and rebranded to account for the diminished and retreating threat of the Warsaw pact.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

What is it then?

What's what?

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

I think the possible potential of Europe's largest nuclear plant being blown up is a reason to enforce a no fly zone

To stop it blowing up?

 

[blueinsa]

The issue here (and I don't actually include you in this) is that some posters are actually giving some justification to Putin's actions through saying they are just trying to understand him.

They see this catastrophe as an opportunity for their world view to come to fruition and if a few thousand innocent lives are lost along the way then it's a price worth paying for them.

Some are so invested in fighting the phoney class war that rages in their heads, the Tories, capitalism and their real enemy, Israel, so any opportunity, even if it means siding with a **** like Putin essentially can’t be passed up.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Russia's Interfax news agency says that the BBC has been blocked in the country.

Also blocked is the US-state funded Voice Of America, the Latvia-based Meduza, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Germany's state-broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

It comes after RT and Sputnik were effectively taken off air in Europe and the UK as part of EU sanctions.

 

[Octavian]

What's what?

What Putin is doing?

 

[Kippaxpete]

Sadly, it’s a lot easier than you’d imagine. I’d imagine that 3 weeks ago, many of the Russian army were reasonably normal men. I’d also imagine that now, many have turned into inhumane raping machines. I suspect the line between good and evil is a lot narrower than we’d all hope and believe it or be.

Nazi Germany says hello.

 

[Octavian]

Russia's Interfax news agency says that the BBC has been blocked in the country.

Also blocked is the US-state funded Voice Of America, the Latvia-based Meduza, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Germany's state-broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

It comes after RT and Sputnik were effectively taken off air in Europe and the UK as part of EU sanctions.

And up goes the curtain

 

[andyhinch]

I think the possible potential of Europe's largest nuclear plant being blown up is a reason to enforce a no fly zone

From what I’m seeing they’re now in control of it, if so they don’t need to drop a bomb on it to blow it up so I’m not sure how a no fly zone helps, as I’ve said, there’s no upside for Russia blowing it up.

 

[Metal Biker]

Rascal, think of what NATO expansionism actually means. I know what you think it means, you think it means joining an extension of the sphere of influence of the US and its foreign policy goals but that is not true at all because that is not the NATO purpose. The most famous example of this is NATO did not go into Iraq because there was no UN security resolution for Iraq and so the US had to create a coalition of its own.

Iraq proves that the US is capable of acting unilaterally anyway so NATO is irrelevant to US foreign policy goals. If anything NATO does not serve the US at all because it contributes FAR more to its budget than anyone else and there is no primary purpose in NATO but defence and the US is very capable of defending itself alone anyway.

Put yourself in the shoes of Ukrainians, Finnish, Lithuanians, Romanians, Georgians, Moldovans, Estonians (the list goes on). Why do you think these countries see themselves better fitted joining the EU or even aligning with the US? You have to forget NATO expansion as though NATO is an evil bully and start thinking of what the people of these countries want. No-one is forcing them to join NATO or the EU, they want to!

I won't even entertain the chat around NATO and capitalism because NATO is not an economic entity so there is just no relevance. This logic doesn't even make any sense because the Nordic countries want to join NATO and Denmark/Norway/Iceland were founding members yet they're all social democracies. Portugal is a NATO country and Portugal has a socialist government.... How many are leaving NATO as a result of this 'attack' on their economic systems? Surprise, surprise, none.

To these apologists, NATO, Capitalism, the US, Western Ideology all go hand in hand.

wOrKeRs Of ThE wErLd UnTie!

 

[Cheesy]

If you don't like it report it to the mods or mi5/6 if it really troubles you but yes, NATO should have been wound down/repurposed or at least reviewed and rebranded to account for the diminished and retreating threat of the Warsaw pact.

Oh yeah, that's exactly how things have panned out.

 

[mcfcinprague]

Brilliant, mate. This is the kind of stuff we should all be doing but I’m afraid us over here are left to donate funds, clothes, food, etc, for export because our borders are basically shut unless Ukrainians have ties to the country.

We're just very fortunate that we live here in Sandbach and have the house in Czechia that we only visit once or twice a year when me and Mrs P go to see her mother, hence why we put it out for rental. Very very few are in this position.

As long as we all try to do what we can, a little can mean an awful lot to people who have lost everything, something most of us will never experience, thankfully.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

What Putin is doing?

Invading Ukraine I think.