I'm sorry, this just reads as a bunch of Russian propaganda. Russia, with Putin, have been bad actors since he came to power. Otherwise he never would have taken over the media, as he did early on.
How much can you trust about what you read/hear about Putin, when it comes from the same media that lies so much, and is using Russia as the "boogyman". Whenever I've listened to him speak, he seems very intelligent and rational. He's probably no angel, but I'm not Russian and don't care much about Putin. I don't want WW3. There seems to be this "let's get Putin" mania underneath it all, all other considerations out the window.
Nobody is attacking Russia. Putin has invaded his neighbors numerous times. He has turned Russia into an autocracy. A dictatorship. Refusing to let a dictator do whatever he wants outside his borders is not going after him. It is setting limits. I'm not going to support allowing Putin to rule the world because otherwise he'll throw a fit and threaten to start WW3. The world knows what the situation in Russia is. Putin is not going to destroy the whole world because he doesn't get what he wants. If Putin launches nukes outside of his borders he knows that will spell an end of his rule. If they push it that will spell an end for Russia. If Russia is ended Putin is going to want someplace to go that isn't glowing. The US doesn't need nukes to handle Russia. Nato doesn't need nukes. We've already seen their military can't handle us. It would be an absolute annihilation. The world isn't concerned about the US overreacting and launching nukes on Russia. The only way we need to do that is if Russia started an all-out nuclear war with the US by targeting multiple American cities. Nobody wants that. Putin doesn't want that. And he can't have all of Europe. He can't keep invading his neighbors. Especially not neighbors that we have peace treaties with. No, I don't feel sorry for Putin. No I don't have any respect for him. No I don't trust a word that he says. I have formed my opinion because I learned media literacy. I'm critical of what I read and I verify it.
After Trump got shot through the ear, a lot of people woke up. (at least temporarily). In that moment, all the rhetoric and talk became "real" and people had to confront what a new world might be like where we have to factions offing our political leaders. I think it did shift our "overton window". A similar slap in the face is coming, only it'll be too late to pull back.
Lol. Trump is lucky somebody else hasn't taken a shot at him before now. Nobody is honestly surprised that happened. And even that was apparently a wacko Republican. You are arguing that we allow Putin and other authoritarians (like Trump wishes he was) to control the world out of fear. Fuck that.
Ponds are the new windows! North Korean Envoy 'Drowned' in Moscow Pond: Reports https://www.newsweek.com/kim-geum-chol-north-korea-russia-drowned-dead-moscow-1925641
Very well laid out. And all of that is true and verifiable. If you can read that and still support Trump then you support Putin controlling the United States the way he controls Belarus.
Putin is leading Russia into a demographic catastrophe ‘Moscow can always find more men’, one hears people say, justifying Western inaction. It is simply not true Lies, damned lies, and statistics. If anyone knows how to falsify figures to bolster weak causes, it is the Kremlin. From Stalin’s manipulation of Soviet productivity statistics during his Five Year Plans, to Khrushchev’s exaggeration in the Cold War of his missile numbers, no entity has proved as effective at fabricating facts to demoralise, unsettle and outmanoeuvre opponents. Today, in a similar manner, Putin points at Russia’s 144 million citizens and argues, through his propaganda mouthpieces, that it is “impossible” for Kyiv to win his war, given Ukraine’s population is a paltry 37 million. By this logic, figures released by British intelligence this week – that Russia lost more than 70,000 troops in the past two months, averaging daily conflict highs of 1,262 and 1,163 in May and June – become irrelevant. “Russia can always find more men”, one hears people say, justifying Western inaction. Except it can’t. Raised on documentaries about the “unstoppable” Russian bear – capable of tearing its way through Eastern Europe, as it did in the Second World War – we forget that this is not possible in modern Russia. Nor is it even desirable for Moscow. For one, while Putin has conducted several large-scale mobilisations, he remains cautious both in terms of the numbers of men he recruits and where they come from, prioritising conscripting in poorer communities far away from the power centres of Moscow and St Petersburg; often marginalised ethnic minorities. Already, some of these communities have given all they can, with reports of entire generations of men being wiped out in some towns and villages, triggering widespread, if localised (for now), protests. Moscow’s caution in this regard means it is obliged to empty prisons, exonerating murderers and rapists so they can serve in the Russian army or mercenary outfits like Wagner. Again, this resource is not infinite: numbers are now said to be so low that Moscow is turning to women’s prisons. Given that, by design, women only make up 4 per cent of the Russian army, this is extremely telling. But these are still relatively minor impediments when considered against broader trends. Russia’s fighting age population, at 14 million, is not gargantuan. With many not eligible or undesirable for recruitment for geographic reasons, the number shrinks further. Many of Russia’s young fled after the full-scale invasion: an estimated 300,000 by mid-March 2022, 500,000 by the end of August, and an additional 400,000 by early October. Estimates put the current number of the departed at over a million. Then there’s the fact that the full-scale invasion deepened Russia’s demographic crisis. Deaths have outnumbered births in the country since 2000. That – two and half years into the full-scale invasion – as many as 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded is indicative of the scale of the catastrophe. I could go on. Russia is not as powerful as the Soviet Union: approximately half of the Soviet population came from what today are non-Russian countries – and even then, twice as powerful in numerical terms, it lost its war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. That conflict underscores that army size is only part of the equation. Indeed, many of the vital components necessary to win wars – like military adaptability and modern tech – work in Kyiv’s favour. That’s before one considers its will to survive as a free nation. And one cannot put a figure on that. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/15/putin-is-leading-russia-into-a-demographic-catastrophe/
Report of the first batch of F-16s have arrived in Ukraine. Number unknown, but believed to be a small batch. Also, it is unclear how combat ready the pilots are trained. Expect limited results for now.
Since the end of February, both sides have gained land. Ukraine has gained land in the north. Russia has gained land in the south. Overall, Russia has gained more land than Ukraine. A 0.010% of Ukraine land. At a huge cost in both personnel and equipment.
Literally the only reason conservatives don't give a shit about Russian aggression and autocracy is because Putin's rule represents what they want to achieve. An oligarchy class that is above the law? Check. Persecuting the queers? Check. Writing trans people out of legal existence? Michael Knowles can barely contain himself. Outlawing abortion? Already on its way. A figurehead that is infallible and can punish his political enemies without fear of reprisal? Thanks for that one, Supreme Court. If Putin were a normal neolib, no conservative on earth would be holding water for him and pretending it's because they're antiwar.
Wow, now you're going to pretend that never happened? You can time travel back to this thread and see how most of you thought Ukraine was winning.
