“Ignore your own eyes?” Unless you’re currently in Kiev shaking hands with the Ukrainian president, yeah. Question what you see, because the war propaganda is thick. I honestly don’t understand how consumers of western media are this easily manipulated.

Narrative fails:

The “F U Russia” UK soldiers who died to a man on Snake Island?—- uh, Ukraine came out and admitted they were actually just captured.

“The Ghost of Kiev” fighter ace footage? - uh, actually that was from a video game. There was no GOK.

“Picture of a stud-ly, photogenic heroic actor/comedian/President of UK” (that you posted) leads the fight in Kiev?——NYT reports that photo came out in May of 2021 (LAST YEAR) The suggestion is most of the videos were from last year as well.

US does this all the time (sometimes for good reasons). Read “Where Men Win Glory” about the Pat Tillman cover up —- talk about a heroic SOB who’s story was buried just to cover the brass’s ass. The follow up stories to the Jessica Lynch POW incident was another story of massive propaganda.

So yeah. Don’t “trust your own eyes”, because pictures and video are insanely 1. Highly persuasive and 2. Easy to manipulate/distort.

 

Interesting I bet you where not saying that when our cities where burning down. NATO has become a joke. If the United States quit funding it it would collapse. These NATO countries have no interest in their self preservation, if they did they would meet their obligations to fund NATO. NATO is useless.

 

Had you actually READ my posts rather than merely reacted to what you wanted to disbelieve, you would understand that. What I said was that most NATO nations, especially Germany which has the highest GDP in Europe, have been dramatically underfunding their militaries for seventy years and especially since the breakup of the Soviet Union. What’s more, there has been no political will in their governments to even meet the commitments they themselves agreed upon. That is simply fact. Rather than even consider those comments, you chose to insult me as either pro-Putin, anti-American, or both, while making statements that are ridiculous on their face such as “ standing armies are uncommon” and implying anyone could throw an effective army into existence over night. Your dearth of actual military experience comes through on every one of your postings. Now the war in the Ukraine may we’ll change that - not your ignorance necessarily but the political will of. Our NATO brethren and there is some evidence that is indeed happening:

Had Germany done this even two or three years ago it might have made a difference in deterrence and may in the future, but as anyone who has ever fought in one will tell you, wars are a come-as-you-are affair, and this will make little if any difference in the fighting capacity of the Bundeswere or Luftwaffe in the short term. It is unfortunate that the scrappy little guy with truth, justice, and Democracy on his side doesn’t always win, but how do you believe the Warsaw Pact ever got incorporated into the sphere of influence of the USSR after WWII to begin with at a time when Europe was devastated and we were the only nuclear power on Earth. There are political and economic realities involved in international conflict. Rarely do they favor the scrappy little guy and NATO is NOT going to go to war with Russia to save the Ukraine. They acknowledged that when the Russians peeled off the Ukraine during the Obama administration.
And NO, absent US troops intervening which Biden has said is NOT going to happen, NATO-exUS could not defeat the Russian Army. The European armies less the US couldn’t defeat the Serb army in Yugoslavia, and they’ve gone downhill in quantity and quality since then.

That’s reality. I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it or I wouldn’t be griping about it, but that doesn’t change reality.

 

This didn’t age well.

 

And Which US President called for that?? And all he got was push back from NATO countries and elites in this country for it. Now that the big bear is knocking on doors again their in a panic.. NATO is useless everyone now knows it.

https://youtu.be/2Cm8Su-bbmw

https://youtu.be/Vpwkdmwui3k

 

Generally agree.

I'd be OK with very limited, very LO, SOF/OGA involvement on the ground... basically to acquire info or perform specific objectives which can't be had any other way. Several good reasons to keep that clandestine of course.

 

Better late than never in this case. RU cannot roll up all of eastern europe in one fell swoop, assuming he can even consolidate UK, he'll have to take months or even years to regroup and prep for the next victim.

 

Never thought he could - or would - roll up all of Eastern Europe. This attack is already triggering the sort of reaction that will make that more difficult. Armchair soldiers debate tactics. Professionals look at logistics. You and I understand that.

 

The only thing that didn't age well was that I said Russia wouldn't invade the rest of the Ukraine. A lot of people admit to getting that one wrong, in large part because, when the Brandon regime comes out and says that something will happen, it's quickly plays out to be false. Think covid/omicron and "a winter of sickness and death".

The rest of the statement holds true. Interventionist foreign policy, and leftist domestic policy have left our supplies of energy under the control of tyrants like Vladimir Putin. He still has us, and the entire west by the balls, and knows all he has to do is shoot oil to $150 and beyond and crush our economy. So far prices have backed off from that initial spike, and that's a good thing, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. As long as the hawks don't get their way and initiate WWIII by directly intervening, maybe this whole thing ends with just enough pain in energy prices that the 'green' energy fantasy is forgotten for good and we spend the upcoming years developing our production and accepting the fact that we need nuclear power. The Europeans are already learning that lesson in a big way after shutting down reactors to appease a 16 year old girl, and now are trying to be tough with Russia while begging them to not turn off the gas supply. Clown world.

 

I wonder if these harsh sanctions are exactly what Putin had hoped for. Easy to sell your citizens to all out war with the West when they’ve sanctioned your entire country into financial ruin. This has some Germany after World War I vibes.