Rule of law requires full disclosure. An arguement can be made that the wealth belongs to the people of Russia which will owe reparations to Ukraine, in a world of just rules and laws that they sought shelter in.
I had a big, long reply to this...but then I realized some folks will just always think the US is bad & should just shut up in general. No reasoning with that.
I’m aware, and largely agree. I might quibble about degree. Middle Americans not caring about these higher rungs is a glaring Muricacentric issue since they also don’t struggle for basics, largely (and I’m a coalfield hillbilly, relatively speaking a disenfranchised group—but the “relatively” in that statement is saying a mouthful.) Even now I’m a teacher. I’m not living large, although I am also not chasing calories. But I am aware of every dollar in and out. There was a time when I didn’t even check my pay. No need. If I became aware of a discrepancy, I’d sic my accountant on it. I no longer have an accountant (other than “hey, buddy…”) Americans are at the lower rungs by bubble-comparison only. Righties here like to point out that our plebeians are doing quite well compared to, say, Ukraine’s. And they’re correct. I don’t disagree in a vacuum. And that was my qualifier about how I’ll continue to beeyatch about my own state. Appalachian coal miners having it good compared to Chinese coal miners ain’t good enough. But even then, the comparison ultimately ends on you are an American, and not the Other. The ancillary benefits are indeed real. So don’t become China.
Google bit me and so I apologize. When I typed in "UN approval for Afghanistan invasion", I got this : United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 - Wikipedia But those are for UN being IN Afghanistan along with the US. There's attached resolutions from before 2001 that are in there. It doesn't look like for the actual war there was a resolution. I'll add that caveat to my reply. Edit - a link for Iraq. Obviously this was debunked later but at the time.... United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War - Wikipedia
Tucker himself (and everyone feel free to insert a leftie instead) is quite the luxury. Never had a value-adding job, zero qualifications to shape any policy whatsoever, and yet literally advised a president and now barks out marching orders to millions. This cat is demonstrably useless, yet essential. He also feels untouchable, because he was ordained to be. He may believe that he will never feel the boot, and because this boot is in slow motion, he’s likely right. But it is coming. Tucker Jr may not escape the new flow chart.
It's ok to be critical of your country when it does bad things. Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine, I've been thinking a lot about ours of Iraq because there are some obvious parallels. Yet another cost of that war for us -- loss of moral high ground. We can be better.
Not sure if this has been posted : I agree. While you can certainly draw significant differences, at the end of the day we violated international law and invaded a country for explicit reasons that were just not true. In addition it’s hard to deny other geopolitical reasons for doing it. Some thought it would be like planting a democratic flower in the Middle East. Others saw it as an opportunity to create an oil rich client state. Add to it decades of manipulation in the region for purely self interest reasons. So yes our moral purity is a bit tainted.
I’m as against Iraq as anyone, but that is as far off a comparison as it gets. While that was an unnecessary invasion, based on a pack of lies, at least it was going after a brutal dictator… who himself had ideas and already demonstrated a willingness to attack sovereign countries. Hardly the same as going after a democratically elected govt and INTENTIONALLY bombarding civilian areas as Russia is doing. A country that was literally zero threat to them. But no doubt Iraq cost the U.S. some of the moral high ground. Iraq was no threat to us, and should have been of no consequence, but W and his cronies wanted that 2nd war. Trillions of dollars. Thousands of American lives. Countless Iraqi lives. It basically set the stage for ISIS and everything that came after in the ME. It was the folly of this century, at least for us. We can only hope Russia’s folly weakens them to the point they are forced to (eventually) change.
This discussion on war crimes is pointless. Who has the jurisdiction to go to Russia get these 'people.' Its not like The Batman is going to strap himself to the dude with a ballon and have a jet grab them from a 30 story highrise.
Law and order. You realize they do actually sometimes nab these war criminals?(I guess when they are stupid enough to try traveling later on down the road). But as they can be convicted in abstentia, you still need to go through the process to get it on record regardless of the likelihood of taking them in. This applies to anyone identified committing war crimes, not just the top of their govt ordering them, the people on the ground. It’s highly unlikely to get Putin alive. He might not leave the country again unless to China or somewhere he knows is extremely safe territory for him. Hard to see him welcome anywhere in Europe.
I was against the Iraq war from day 1, but we also gave Iraq a democracy and then left. Putin will do neither.
My brother was in Fallujah in the real deal. 30 cal gunner, mentor shot through the neck on day three. As hard right as it gets. And he’ll tell you today that the ROI frustrated him to no end, not being allowed to shoot at (in his opinion) clear threats. Kids muling ammo, guys hiding in off limits buildings like schools and hospitals, literal human shields. For good or bad given what war is, the priority was civilian safety (a cynic might say PR, and I would likely agree.) There is no shortage of horrific outcomes in Iraq, and not all were incidental. But if you think American force rolling into your town may as well be Russians, I doubt your perspective.
Russia is WAY too big of a country to blockade. The only part that could be blockaded would be the Black Sea.
All of this talk of “war crimes” is silly. I hope everyone here realizes that war crimes are something to which only losers must submit. Russia, while struggling, is not losing. Without direct foreign intervention, however one feels about it, Russia is going to win. Winners decide who the “war criminals” are.
Not remotely true. Russia’s access to the sea is relatively limited given the mount of months per year many of their ports are usable. You correctly point out that the Black Sea (their most important sea line of communication) could be blockaded. Also true is that the Baltic Sea is easy to blockade. Cutting off Vladivostok cuts off most of their Pacific trade. That leaves Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the far north, both of which only need to be blockaded for part of the year. Now all of that said, even a perfect blockade, including minor ports in the Pacific I haven’t mentioned, would mean nothing if Russia can continue trade through China, which they would.
Never said what we did in Iraq was anywhere near as bad as what Putin is doing in Ukraine. We had far more justification for it. Iraq was a hostile dictatorship, bad to its people and bad to its neighbors. But we did trump up and manipulate some intelligence to justify a predetermined goal. It was a huge mistake and it damaged our integrity.
They agreed on a ceasefire temporarily to allow evacuations and humanitarian aid: Cnn live: "Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced it would stop bombarding Mariupol and Volnovakha to allow for civilians to safely flee their homes, adding, "Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed with the Ukrainian side."-- --but they had to pause because, surprise, the Russians were violating the ceasefire agreement. Cnn live "Ukrainian authorities postpone civilian evacuations from Mariupol, accusing Russia of breaching agreed pause in hostilities From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv Ukrainian authorities have put plans to evacuate civilians from the Mariupol region on hold, citing Russian violations of an agreed pause in hostilities. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, tweeted at 12:45 p.m. local time (5:45 a.m. ET) on his Twitter account "EVACUATION OF PEACEFUL POPULATION FROM MARIUPOL POSTPONED!" A short time earlier, Iryna Vereshchuk, the Ukrainian Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, said that Russian forces appeared to be making use of the halt in fighting that was agreed in order to allow the evacuation of civilians to move their own troops forward."
You're right to an extent. My take on it is he can be tried in absentia. His supporters, including those here in the US, will have to justify idolizing not just Putin the authoritarian, but Putin the war criminal. Maybe, slim maybe, it changes the opinions of someone in his circle/Russia and they go after him. They can also bring charges against those carrying out the attacks & they're more reachable in Ukraine/Belarus.
