Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Octavian]

Doesn't always work though. Even if you share the same ideals, the desire to be the one in charge can be strong. Someone always thinks they can do it better than you and if they see any weakness in you then you are vulnerable

Dictatorships always fail, without question, if there is one man in charge and ruling.

 

[Northblue]

The same Galloway who tweeted:

“Y’all said #Russia was about to invade #Ukraine. I told you it wasn’t. You were wrong. I was right. Again. Show some bloody humility. Especially if they’re not even paying you to act like an idiot.”

His Twitter feed is insane at the moment

 

[Chris in London]

Warheads and delivery are two different things. 6000+ warheads, most are in storage but a chunk are also tactical nukes mate. There are some studies on causality rates but honestly I don’t want to find out if the are accurate or not. I think I read they have a 90% confidence level so actuals might be a lot worse. US also have 400 or so ICBMs. I think Russian warheads are slightly more bangy though.

Back in the 80s the world had about 60,000 warheads facing each other and I think that influences our thought process of mutual destruction, nuclear winter and apocalyptic outcomes - it’s not these days but it’s pretty dire so best we just keep them for knocking out an asteroid and all kiss and make up.

On the other hand, the scientific studies that took place at around the time of the Threads broadcast and similar indicated that it would take less than 1% of the global stockpile to generate a devastating nuclear winter. If the Russians have only 10% of the arsenal they possessed in the 80s it still wouldn't take a huge proportion to end life as we know it in the northern hemisphere.

Which is possibly the safest guarantee, because even a widescale nuclear exchange limited to Europe would also have a devastating effect on China. They might well have had a word on that front.

 

[MCFC1993]

The Russians have now apparently blamed the words of Liz Truss for issuing the heightened state of nuclear readiness.
I am not in any way trying to politicise but If this is indeed true then surely there’s an opportunity to de-escalate?

The Russian government will try to blame anyone and everyone for this mess but it's nobody elses but their own. They invaded a sovereign state with the intention of eradicating it, something that hasn't happened in Europe since world war 2, then as a war tactic raised their nuclear readiness without provocation.

I can't stand Liz Truss, I can't stand Boris Johnson and I can't stand this Tory government but Ukraine being invaded and Russia raising it's nuclear readiness isn't on them.

 

[domalino]

His Twitter feed is insane at the moment

Yeah I just looked and it's nuts. He used to be relatively mainstream, definitely gone off the deep end.

 

[Octavian]

His Twitter feed is insane at the moment

There’s a very sinister alliance with the far left and Russia which I can only think is born out of some nostalgia because that’s where the motherland of the Soviet Union originated and they hate the West.

Chris Williamson is the latest to come out and attack NATO rather than Russia.

It’s bizarre alright as Russia hasn’t been communist since 1991 and I thought they hated imperialism.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

But you have - you dominate every thread in the forum with it - why not keep it in the specific threads to do with the torys and Johnson?

Forgive some posters on here for thinking that the events in Ukraine at this time deserve some focus and would prefer not to have to wade through your obsession-driven distractions

This - at this time - I would suggest, is more important to people that visit this thread than your personal campaign

So we aren’t able to question our response to this?

 

[Northblue]

Even then the paranoia kicks in and they all begin to distrust eachother, it's easy to fall in line during their good times, soon as shit hits the fan all that trust disappears.

Also there’s got to be one or two in there with ambitions of their own and see weakness in putin as an opportunity?

 

[BobKowalski]

I understand their historical reluctance for militarization, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay your way for the defence of your “largest economy in Europe,” even if it doesn’t mean spending that money on German troops in Germany.

Don’t disagree, but it was always going to take some existential threat for Germany to shake off ‘the long and dark shadow of its own past’.

And, to an extent, there are European countries who will have a twinge of unease at the idea of a more assertive Germany. History runs deep.

Looking past Ukraine for the moment, Putin, or a more aggressive Russia under different leadership, will fuel European cooperation in the area of defence and the EU will add a defensive competence alongside trade, with Germany and it’s manufacturing strength at the heart of it. I can also see NATO and the EU becoming more interchangeable, with membership of one becoming almost a de facto membership of the other.

Ironically, Brexit will help as the UK has ceased to be an effective brake on greater union. After Covid, the EU started raising funds in its own name for the first time. Now the EU is going to be delivering arms and aircraft for the first time. Events are pushing the EU towards greater cooperation, while at the same time the main opponent of a greater union is absent.

Brexit, Covid and Russia reshaping the European map in the space of 5 years.

 

[Nethermoor]

Some pretty horrendous pictures coming out of Kharkiv right now.

Russian MRL attacking civilian areas. Video of a car with human remains burnt beyond reasonable recognition. A video of a poor lady who's lost her leg.