Likewise, I suppose no one forced President Kennedy to take military action against his neighbor Cuba in October of 1962 -- it was Kennedy's choice, so it would have been Kennedy's war had Khrushchev not backed down?Your post above reminds me of a Tucker Carlson screed.
No one forced Putin to invade his neighbor Ukraine.
Putin's choice, Putin's War.
Put the crack pipe down and back slowly away.Likewise, I suppose no one forced President Kennedy to take military action against his neighbor Cuba in October of 1962 -- it was Kennedy's choice, so it would have been Kennedy's war had Khrushchev not backed down?
Nothing dumbs one down like ideology, left or right.
Many on the left ideologically hate Russia, because they abandoned the left's pet socialism with the fall of the USSR, in deference to a Mafia-like capitalism. Many on the right are pretending to hate Russia, simply to present Biden as weak for not doing more to help "poor" Ukraine, though Biden's hands are tied by Putin's understandable genuine threat of launching nuclear weapons should NATO nations continue interfering.
While dumb bunnies continue to play politics as usual, we move ever closer to nuclear planetary annihilation, as it's crystal clear that if the invasion dogs down too much .. or if economic sanctions cripple Russia .. Putin will most definitely launch nuclear ballistic missiles. If there's one thing we've learned about Putin in his making of threats, it's that he does not bluff.
I recall how scared so many of us were in October of 1962 when President Kennedy confronted Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's attempted deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy let the Soviets know with a naval "quarantine" against Cuba that under no circumstances would he allow the USSR to deploy nuclear warheads that close to Washington, D.C. Had Khrushchev not backed down, it would have meant war, likely nuclear war.
Today, President Putin saw the specter of likely soon-to-be NATO Ukraine harboring NATO forces, including nuclear and anti-nuclear missiles on their border with Russia, deployed way too close to Moscow. He warned Ukraine, but Ukrainian President Zelenskyy continued stating publicly that he wanted Ukraine to join NATO, which most of the country supported. President Putin was not going to wait for Ukraine to be part of NATO when any action he took against Ukraine to prevent missile deployment so visibly close to Moscow would require NATO nations to join in defense of Ukraine, in what would likely become an all-out nuclear war. So he took the only non-nuclear option he believed could deter NATO from accepting Ukraine: neutralize Ukraine's military so that NATO would not want to deploy missiles there, as without a Ukrainian military presence, there would be no security for the NATO missiles. Tragically, the ground war Putin was resigned to employ is destroying Ukraine, because unlike Khrushchev, Zelenskyy did not back down.
There are no good guys and bad guys here, despite what media conspiracy theory and propaganda may be telling us. There are just people, and their leaders, who do not want nuclear missiles positioned so visibly close to their capitols and their home, which perhaps implies nations still lack an adequate form of quick defense against a close proximity nuclear attack. In this long drawn out game of global chess, the thought of someone actually gaining a decisive advantage is terrifying, and greatly frowned upon by the world's "arbiters". Sadly, Russia's taking of Crimea in 2014 for the sake of a Black Sea naval base contributed to the consensus in Ukraine that they needed NATO for protection. And here we are.
I do not know how today's polemic conflict-oriented leaders are going to be able to restore even a tiny degree of peace and security now. Indeed, I find myself spending more time making peace with my Maker, apprehensive that I and all those I love might suddenly soon get vaporized. Russia will not let Ukraine have a military from this point forward. And though there are many screams of terror and allegations leveled at President Putin as being a monster and to withdraw from Ukraine immediately, I can hardly hear any calls for ending the causative nuclear missile standoff between the superpowers, to turn all nuclear weapons over to U.N. security control, dismantling them, keeping only enough to ward off a pending asteroid collision.
War, as they say, is hell. My heart goes out to all the people of Ukraine and to Russian military personnel and their families, the sacrificial Pawns in this horrific attempt to retain nuclear balance. But nuclear war would end all life, and reduce our entire planet to a cinder. To think such a balance can be maintained indefinitely is sheer folly. Thankfully the U.S. and NATO have kept ground personnel out of Ukraine, as Putin's threats to launch to prevent opposing pieces from getting too close to his King cannot be reasonably considered idle.
Let us all hope that we will learn a lesson from this conflict, that any escalation by either side will be tragically deadly for the entire world, that we must do all we can, not foolishly to maintain dynamic tension with each player's pieces poised to annihilate the other, but instead simply to do what we must do very soon before it's too late: wipe all the pieces off the board, and end this terrible, terrible game of mutual assured destruction.
Rubbish. Raw garbage.There are no good guys and bad guys here, despite what media conspiracy theory and propaganda may be telling us.
Likewise, I suppose no one forced President Kennedy to take military action against his neighbor Cuba in October of 1962 -- it was Kennedy's choice, so it would have been Kennedy's war had Khrushchev not backed down?
Nothing dumbs one down like ideology, left or right.
Many on the left ideologically hate Russia, because they abandoned the left's pet socialism with the fall of the USSR, in deference to a Mafia-like capitalism. Many on the right are pretending to hate Russia, simply to present Biden as weak for not doing more to help "poor" Ukraine, though Biden's hands are tied by Putin's understandable genuine threat of launching nuclear weapons should NATO nations continue interfering.
While dumb bunnies continue to play politics as usual, we move ever closer to nuclear planetary annihilation, as it's crystal clear that if the invasion dogs down too much .. or if economic sanctions cripple Russia .. Putin will most definitely launch nuclear ballistic missiles. If there's one thing we've learned about Putin in his making of threats, it's that he does not bluff.
Rubbish. Raw garbage.
I recall in 1987 when I lied down in front of a bus carrying workers to the nuclear test site in Mercury, Nevada. We were more active then. Time has passed. I can't help but wonder if a numbness reaction to the lingering horrific thought of being vaporized in a nuclear war has set in and partially contributed to that indifference.I share you concerns and would add that when I was younger there was a much stronger activism against the existence of nuclear weapons. There is an unhealthy indifference that has taken over and it doesn't bode well.
The jingoists must be challenged and their wreckless advocations for escalations denounced but in the frenzy surrounding this war, the tictok war in many ways, dissenting voices are lost in the cries for war.
Your post above reminds me of a Tucker Carlson screed.
No one forced Putin to invade his neighbor Ukraine.
Putin's choice, Putin's War.
I recall in 1987 when I lied down in front of a bus carrying workers to the nuclear test site in Mercury, Nevada. We were more active then. Time has passed. I can't help but wonder if a numbness reaction to the lingering horrific thought of being vaporized in a nuclear war has set in and partially contributed to that indifference.
Yes, the downside of this war being brought to us through social media means that most come to sympathize with those taking the brunt of it and direct their anger at the side inflicting the horrible damage. But that doesn't mean those winning are the bad guys.
Calls for more war efforts against Russia will only hasten the terrible inevitable of nuclear annihilation.
This could all end now if Zelenskyy would follow through on what he admitted to a French newspaper roughly a week ago that maybe it was a bad idea for him to insist on Ukraine being a NATO member. Considering it was his in effect nuclear threat against Russia that thereby started the invasion, he would do well to accede to all of Putin's surrender demands. The longer this war lingers, the greater the chances Putin will eventually launch.
Likewise, I suppose no one forced President Kennedy to take military action against his neighbor Cuba in October of 1962 -- it was Kennedy's choice, so it would have been Kennedy's war had Khrushchev not backed down?
Did you even read the post?
I could say the same for youWho are you?
I could say the same for you
This is the Russia/Ukraine/Belarus forum
If you want to bitch about JFK, do so in the appropriate forum plz.
I recall in 1987 when I lied down in front of a bus carrying workers to the nuclear test site in Mercury, Nevada. We were more active then. Time has passed. I can't help but wonder if a numbness reaction to the lingering horrific thought of being vaporized in a nuclear war has set in and partially contributed to that indifference.
Yes, the downside of this war being brought to us through social media means that most come to sympathize with those taking the brunt of it and direct their anger at the side inflicting the horrible damage. But that doesn't mean those winning are the bad guys.
Calls for more war efforts against Russia will only hasten the terrible inevitable of nuclear annihilation.
This could all end now if Zelenskyy would follow through on what he admitted to a French newspaper roughly a week ago that maybe it was a bad idea for him to insist on Ukraine being a NATO member. Considering it was his in effect nuclear threat against Russia that thereby started the invasion, he would do well to accede to all of Putin's surrender demands. The longer this war lingers, the greater the chances Putin will eventually launch.
If nuclear annihilation is the inevitable result of standing up to Putin in Ukraine, then it will be the inevitable result of standing up to him in Poland... or Lithuania or Estonia or Latvia... likewise, it will be the inevitable result of standing up to him in Germany or France. Pretty much anywhere Putin chooses to rattle his nuclear saber in the future.
If that's the case, just as well to get it over with now rather than go through all of that trouble.
Regardless of where you come down on this conflict - whether you're pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian - there's clearly an aggressor here... and it's equally clear there is only one side rattling the nuclear saber. No matter how you cut it, I think we all can agree that that in itself was the most utterly irresponsible single action taken since the Second World War. Even more irresponsible than Khrushchev putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. Even he didn't come out and threaten to actually use them.
Once you take that step, then you may not have actually crossed the bridge to war, but you're definitely on it. Deterrence depends on your credibility....if you make the threat and don't follow through, then your credibility is shot. If you do follow through, then the wolf comes for all of us. And it's Putin who has put himself in that corner.
Khrushchev's decision to give Cuba missiles was a response to the US decision to put missiles in Turkey and yet you hold him as being " irresponsible " ? lol
You sound like you have nothing to live for
I could say the same for you
Previously posted:This could all end now if Zelenskyy would follow through on what he admitted to a French newspaper roughly a week ago that maybe it was a bad idea for him to insist on Ukraine being a NATO member. Considering it was his in effect nuclear threat against Russia that thereby started the invasion, he would do well to accede to all of Putin's surrender demands. The longer this war lingers, the greater the chances Putin will eventually launch.
Previously posted:
...no one wants/wanted to 'invade' Russia. ...The NATO thing is an outdated whine, an excuse.
You're still going with the false equivalency of Russia having real concerns about the USG/NATO and 'wanted to invade Russia.'
And you're bothered because others haven't joined the false dominant narrative: that Russia functions in a geopolitical vacuum.
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