We were in Finland the last two days and our Finnish tour guide was guarded in her comments regarding Putin and Ukraine. But the history that Finland has with Russia makes them very leary of Putin's intentions with the invasion of Ukraine. She pointed out that the two largest immigrant populations into Finland since the Ukraine invasion started are #1) Russians who can't come in directly from Russia but flee Russia through Turkey and then fly to Helsinki and 2) Ukranian refugees.
Russia continues their long tradition of being a "Bully" to it's neigbors. How do you deal with persistent Bullys? You knock their damn teeth out. Put Finland in charge, they know how to knock the bullys teeth out. (LMAO at you DD)
Just when I thought we’d go a whole week without American chicanery, somewhere in the world, there’s a coup in Bolivia.
Lol! Putin wants Ukraine to join NATO? Who knew... Question: do you know any history besides Hitler and WW II? Bc your knowledge base seems rather Ltd. to Der Fuerer. Perhaps it's just an obsession.. But hey, do gone on Rambo. I have very little skin in the game. Whether Ukraine becomes part of Russia, or limps into the next decade independent but with a sterile population of like 5 million old ppl, and broke, prolly won't effect me in the slightest, as long as Russia keeps its antics east of NATO. (...which begs the question, why pay for NATO membership, if the benys of being a member are gratuitously extended to non members?)
When I call it meager, it's been mostly as a jab at Putin's and Russia's impotence. 2+ years for half of the FLA peninsula, still stuck in the mud... I'm not impressed, much less es'kurd. It's a joke. Now from Ukraine's perspective, I'm thinkn stop the bleeding is a worthy consideration. Join NATO, never have to deal with Russia again. ...or keep killing their own population and economy, over that sliver.... IMHO--and in the real world--reasonable minds may disagree. Alas, this is da snowglobe, where opinions outside of the approved orthodoxy get you branded as a 'MAGAt', 'MAGA traitor,' 'Little Neville', cowardly, appeaser, 'ignorant ', and surely more that elude me now... I love this place! Cain't get enuff! Lol!
I think you’re answering your own question as to why NATO is vested in supporting a non-member. Look at the borders. Poland is right there. There’s a reason why Sweden and Finland dropped their historical neutrality. There have been numerous intelligence leaks sharing Russia’s plans to expand beyond Ukraine. Stop Russia now, without NATO direct participation, and War is avoided. At least that’s the concept as I understand it.
No, but you don't get any deal done, if you don't negotiate. No one's talking, because everyone wants to teach Hitler a lesson. (Dude's been dead for decades).
Btw, as a follow up--how about yall stop comparing Putin to Hitler and comparing Putin to UKR to Hitler to Poland, then I wouldn't feel so impelled to point out how 2+ years to conquer 1/2 the width of the FLA peninsula and STILL stuck in the mud is *MEAGER AF* compared to steam rolling through Poland in 2 days. What say?
Wouldya' look at that... why i was corrected just last week (perhaps earlier this week?) for suggesting scorched earth... Why that video seems to suggest rather suspiciously, scorched earth to me.... AND desperation, not patience. And by desperation, I mean Putin. Destroying the object of conquest, as opposed to trying strangle the ppl into submission in order to enjoy the fruits of conquest... Dude's straight up primed (read: desperate<---another assertion I was mocked for daring to sugget) for a deal to be done with this catastrophic failure. Alas, the ghosts of yesteryear have been resurrected, and Der Fuerher shall be made to bow down to U(nconditional) S(urrender) Grant, by the gods! ...if it takes every last drop of Urkranian blood, every bullet, missile, bomb, tank, plane and sub NATO has to spare...hell, even a couple hundy nukes for good measure... World's been dreaming of mushroom clouds since Nagasaki.... ...it's nigh time that we have us a cosmic fireworks show for the (end of) ages!
I have another REALLY GOOD REASON ajoe - The international and world community recognize Ukraine as an independent country. The UN recognizes Ukraine as an independent country, International LAW must take precedent, or does the world community not count and Russia can do whatever they damn well please? Stop Russia now, without NATO direct participation, and War is avoided. N Korea is sending advisers. The quid pro quo is now France, USA and the Baltic States are considering doing the same. I fear that further escalation is inevitable. The Piss-ten apologists on this board are actually ignorant enough to post their drivel of: "Well it was Russia's once" "Well we got away with this behavior in Georgia, Syria, Central Africa and Crimea, shouldn't the West just look away again? "Well if you don't give us what we want, we will nuke the West and end human Civilization. The bully will not stop until forced to, time for NATO to pull out the brass knuckles and whip the Putin dog unto DEATH!
From every analytical angle of the war, when we look honestly, we see the Russians in ascendancy in terms of troops and deployed equipment, while Ukraine is on the decline. The math doesn’t work anymore.
Your "meager" "sliver" of land in Ukraine contains $12 trillion in minerals. This might be the largest heist in the history of mankind. Imagine how much weaponry that will buy. While you are busy pinching pennies to "cure" the U.S. budget deficit, Russia will be building the world's largest and most advanced army and selling advanced weapons to any country willing to point them at the United States. With all due respect, there is a good chance that your foolishness and cowardice will result in mass destruction within the U.S. There are plenty of nations willing to carry out the next 9-11, including Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and many others. They just need someone to provide them with the right weapons. A wealthy Russia could do just that. We will spend decades playing whack-a-mole with the little terrorist states and organizations, spending ourselves into bankruptcy. The first 9-11 was hugely expensive for the U.S.--can you imagine a 9-11-scale attack every few years? You are giving Russia what it needs to make that happen. History was not kind to the American cowards in 1940, and it will not be kind to the American cowards in 2024. Your position requires you to think the same about Russia as a marauding barbarian state as you do about European states. Any country in modern-day Europe would be happy to negotiate for peace and keep the gains that they already got, and give up hope of taking over the entire country, wouldn't they? The key difference is that no country in modern-day Europe would have invaded their neighbor in the first place. So pretending a nation of marauding barbarians is the same as a civilized country is a mistake of the most serious order, leading to foolish and disastrous conclusions. At some point, you need to evaluate what kind of nation attacks its neighbor under the flimsiest of excuses, opens torture centers, steals washing machines (or anything not tied down), and targets schools, hospitals, apartments, and energy infrastructure for missile attacks. An intelligent person would conclude that this is not a civilized country. You cannot negotiate with an uncivilized country. Their word means nothing. They only understand win or lose.
Why so blatantly deceitful? The sliver Russia currently occupies, absolutely does not contain 12 trillion dollars in minerals--that would be the whole of Ukraine. The sliver covers very little of Ukraine's natural resources. Hence if a peace were forged today as I have long suggested is there for the taking, Russia would not get much of those resources. Very interesting that you would resort to such blatant deceit. Like you're desperate or something... hmmmmm...
Not all of the minerals are located in the eastern part of the country, obviously. But a lot of them are. Look at the list below and see if any of these names seem familiar for any reason. Like they may have come up in news reports in the last two years and four months for any reason. What do three of these places have in common geographically? Hmmm . . . THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF UKRAINE - Tierra y Tecnología We'll just chalk this up to blatant ignorance on your part.
Was Iraq an UN recognized independent country when we invaded in 2003? Geopolitics is more nuanced than some silly international laws made up by the powerful to constrain the weak and ignored by the powerful at will with no consequences.
