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Post by Gort on Mar 22, 2022 9:50:14 GMT 10
It is appalling that the Democratic countries of the world are too scared to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
This lack of resolve will only embolden Putin and his quest for territory will continue over the next several years.
The parallels with Hitler are strikingly similar.
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Post by Stellar on Mar 22, 2022 15:51:57 GMT 10
I totally agree. The Ukraine has largely been abandoned to their fate by the West. A megalomaniac like Putin would see that as a fear to get involved. And yes, it will embolden him.
We can only hope that someone in Russia takes him out - and that would be an economic decision.
I am so in awe of those brave Ukrainians. We should be doing more because as they say, they are fighting for the free world, not just the Ukraine. And that means a no-fly zone!
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Post by caskur on Mar 22, 2022 17:39:43 GMT 10
I cannot contribute here at the moment. I've been in hospital for a week. I've had two operations.
Sorry kids.
The west are pissweak.
Is Biden the USA MOST PETHETIC PRESIDENT EVER?
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Post by Stellar on Mar 22, 2022 20:42:32 GMT 10
Sorry to hear that Cas. Hope you're feeling much better and I wish you a speedy recovery. Take care.
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Post by Occam's Spork on Mar 23, 2022 5:33:31 GMT 10
I cannot contribute here at the moment. I've been in hospital for a week. I've had two operations. Sorry kids. The west are pissweak. Is Biden the USA MOST PETHETIC PRESIDENT EVER? Biden is incompetent. He shut down the pipeline, which made the Americans almost entirely dependent on Russian fuel, and then he goes to war with Russia. I think Trump held Putin in check, because he feared what Trump might be capable of. This war is happening because Putin doesn't fear the senile pre-dementia paedophile that currently holds office.
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Post by Gort on Mar 23, 2022 12:48:30 GMT 10
I cannot contribute here at the moment. I've been in hospital for a week. I've had two operations. Sorry kids. The west are pissweak. Is Biden the USA MOST PETHETIC PRESIDENT EVER? Wishing you a speedy recovery too Cas.
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Post by bender on Mar 23, 2022 14:59:57 GMT 10
It is appalling that the Democratic countries of the world are too scared to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine. This lack of resolve will only embolden Putin and his quest for territory will continue over the next several years. The parallels with Hitler are strikingly similar. I really think that's an unfair characterisation Gort. A No Fly Zone in this instance isn't really feasible for a few reasons. 1. The Russians certainly don't have uncontested control of the skies. US and NATO supplied SAM's along with Ukraine's own Air Defence Network is taking a pretty heavy toll of Russian Aircraft. The Ukrainian's have claimed around 100 fighter/attack aircraft downed which even if those figures were inflated by 100% (as they often are in war) still represents a large chunk of the Russian Air Power. This is shown by the Russian tactics of late of firing missiles into Ukraine whilst their aircraft are still within Russian Territory, and attack helicopters firing their unguided rockets in a ballistic trajectory (essentially wasting them) so as to remain outside the SAM envelope of Ukrainian Forces on the ground. 2. Russian Air Defence Systems such as the S400 and S500 have a range that allows them to cover nearly the entire of Ukraine from inside Russian Territory. If the US or NATO attempted to create a No Fly Zone it would by definition require them to take out those Air Defence Systems which would involve striking targets within Russia. 3. Whilst Ukraine is a large country by European standards, it is not that large. A No Fly Zone (particularly if the Russian's decided to fight back) could easily result in Allied Aircraft accidently breaching Russian Territory, which would create a very different situation to that which you have envisioned. 4. Creating a No Fly Zone would be a defacto declaration of war against the Russians. If that day arrives, it would be better if it happened at a time of our choosing rather then circumstance driving us into it. 5. Putin is clearly irrational and almost certainly unstable. He also controls the worlds largest nuclear arsenal and if we start degrading his Air Defences it is only going to heighten the fear within Russia that we could use that degraded status to launch nuclear armed bombers into Russia. That has to be taken into account because once those birds start to fly nothing is going to bring them back. Once again, I think your claim that the West is exhibiting a lack of resolve is not backed up by the facts. The world (not just NATO) has come together in a way never seen before to not only condemn Russia but to support Ukraine in all facets of their defence of their homes. The UK and USA amongst other Countries have had Special Forces trainers in Ukraine for 8 years assisting with training of their Army. Materiel Aid for the Ukrainian Defence Forces has resulted in the Ukrainian's well and truly holding their own. Indeed both US and UK Intelligence Assessments have asserted that in this conflict at this moment, Ukraine is holding a tactical advantage. Russian forces have stalled, their supply lines and logistics train is a nightmare, their soldiers morale is nosediving (there are reports of 300 soldiers from an elite Battalion refusing orders yesterday because they hadn't been fed for days) and it's become evident that both their equipment is not up to the standards the west previously believed and their command and control is certainly not up to the standards required of an Army on the road to victory. And then there are the Sanctions enacted against Russia, the Russian People and individuals close to Putin. In my opinion those are the key here. They reduce the ability of the Russians to support the war and they will certainly raise internal dissent against Putin. The only way out of this is for the Russian's to depose Putin and then blame everything on him. If we start physically attacking Russia that is only going to harden the Russian People's resolve and increase their support for Putin.
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Post by caskur on Mar 23, 2022 15:06:24 GMT 10
Sorry to hear that Cas. Hope you're feeling much better and I wish you a speedy recovery. Take care. I am worried about using up credits. I haven't got the hang of using this new mobile phone yet. I nearly died last week from a sepsis infection...
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Post by nataliesalat on Mar 23, 2022 20:40:18 GMT 10
No one here wants to be reduced to radioactive dust by Putin just because some FW demanded the Yanks play Rambo.
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Post by Gort on Mar 24, 2022 10:05:24 GMT 10
In the "old days" - all of the 1900's - the prevailing thought was to avoid killing leaders for fear of tit-for-tat death.
In the case of Putin, I think he needs to be removed.
I doubt that Russia minus Putin would continue on this current path. Despots do need to be removed IMHO.
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Post by nataliesalat on Mar 24, 2022 11:14:24 GMT 10
The Nazis responded to the Allies' targeted murder of Heydrich by destroying the Czechoslovak town of Lidice and executing its entire male population. The Allies... did not do that again.
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Post by Gort on Mar 24, 2022 11:24:58 GMT 10
It would be poetic justice if Putin suffered from a smallish dose of Novichok.
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Post by Gort on Mar 24, 2022 12:16:18 GMT 10
Worst of all worlds: The half-hearted sanctions against Russia have failedBy Ambrose Evans-Pritchard March 24, 2022 — 5.00am Russia has not defaulted on its sovereign debt after all. Nor is it likely to do so under the current sanctions regime, and as long as Europe continues to finance Vladimir Putin’s military state with purchases of gas, oil and coal. The Kremlin is already sufficiently confident to reopen the Moscow stock exchange for bond transactions. The US Treasury’s sanctions office (OFAC) has made life easier by leaving a loophole for sovereign debt repayments, concerned that there might otherwise be a Lehmanesque shock to global finance. The West’s sanctions on Russia are not having the desired effect.CREDIT:AP The uninterrupted flow of fossil revenues - at windfall prices - is enough to cover interest service costs and redemptions. Goldman Sachs even thinks that the central bank will be able to relax capital controls gradually. The rouble has not collapsed. It has stabilised after a 40 per cent devaluation, a manageable drop for a semi-autarkic economy. We are facing the failure of Western sanctions. Calibrated half-measures are not enough to change the Kremlin calculus or to dissuade Putin from a policy of attrition against civilian targets. Yes, Russia is having to sell some crude oil at a steep discount but the gap is narrowing as shippers learn to navigate the political reefs. The Kremlin is still earning almost $US100 ($133) a barrel at today’s global prices, twice the average of the last eight years. The Russian current account is in rude health. Clemens Grafe, from Goldman Sachs, expects the surplus to top $US200 billion ($268 billion) this year as imports of Western consumer goods are slashed. Russia has enough usable foreign currency to stay afloat for a long time. Western sanctions against the central bank are not proving to be the killer blow supposed at first. There are too many deliberate exemptions. Goldman’s deep-dive into the effect of sanctions ought to end all wishful thinking. The US investment bank forecasts that the Russian economy will contract by 10 per cent this year, a bad recession but not an economic breakdown. Growth will then recover to 2.4 per cent next year and 3.4 per cent in 2024 as the country adjusts. Exports will be back to 98 per cent of prior levels by early next year. If so, Putin is not going to lose sleep over this. Putin has been building a fortress economy ever since the annexation of Crimea. Net foreign funding is negligible. Total public debt is 18 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest ratios in the world. “If Russia were fully integrated into global supply chains, restrictions on imports and exports would be immediately destructive. However, Russia largely exports goods that are almost fully produced locally,” said Mr Grafe. European ministers once again grappled with a hydrocarbon embargo - the fifth package of sanctions - at an EU meeting on Monday. Again the proposals ran into resistance from Germany, with Italy and others happy to tuck in behind. We are already in late March. The winter is over and Europe will have enough gas to last deep into the late autumn. It has sufficient spare import capacity for liquefied natural gas to rebuild some of its depleted storage with shipments of LNG from the US and Qatar over the summer months. Professor Moritz Schularick, from Bonn University, said an immediate halt to all purchases of Russian gas, oil and coal would cut German GDP by 3 per cent this year and cost around €120 billion ($177 billion) but is perfectly feasible. “The world wouldn’t end,” he said. As for oil, the International Energy Agency has just cut its forecast for global demand this year by 1.3 million barrels a day (b/d). It has issued a 10-point plan for rapid cuts that could shave use by a further 2.7 million b/d without causing an economic crisis, chiefly by a string of temporary measures such as lowering speed limits by 10 km/h, car-free Sundays, and less air travel. The issue is no longer whether it can be done but whether Europe has the political courage to try. What is clear is that Western sanctions policy is the worst of all worlds. We are allowing Putin to exploit Russia’s leverage as a full-spectrum commodity superpower. The spot price for ammonia in Europe has risen sevenfold this year, deliberately pushed higher by a Kremlin ban on fertiliser exports that has no other purpose than causing maximum chaos and probably a global food shortage over the next year. It is a strategic imperative to bring this crisis to a head immediately by raising the ante. A total energy embargo would buttress the military resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces and test whether it is even possible for Putin to continue prosecuting a bungled invasion. As matters now stand, the sanctions have failed to achieve anything. It is Ukrainian resistance, and military kit provided by the Anglo-Saxon powers of NATO and frontline EU states, that have so far held the line. Core Europe has done little more than bleat on the margins.
The willingness of European nations to welcome refugees is marvellous but what is most needed is to confront the cause of this vast human convulsion.Telegraph, London www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/worst-of-all-worlds-the-half-hearted-sanctions-against-russia-have-failed-20220323-p5a6zm.html
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Post by bender on Mar 24, 2022 14:57:13 GMT 10
I don't know how anyone, less then 4 weeks after the Sanctions were announced could possibly claim that the sanctions aren't working. It's utterly ridiculous to believe that they would have an instantaneous effect on Putin. He's committed his country to war to essentially restore Russia to his own idea of greatness, turning his invasion force around and calling off the war the moment that the West raises an angry voice is not going to make him change his mind.
They are already biting. The media is showing massive lines of people trying to buy essential items like sugar and buckwheat. Putin's been forced to announce this weird (and according to reports utterly unworkable) plan to only accept Roubles in exchange for the delivery of oil and gas shipments. The financial cost to Russia will weaken its ability to wage war on Ukraine, the disruption to the Russian supply chain will similarly weaken their military capabilities. Sanctions are probably the most effective way of bringing Russians together to depose or overthrow Putin.
But to expect that Sanctions will immediately cause Putin to swallow his pride is just silly.
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Post by bender on Mar 24, 2022 15:37:29 GMT 10
This is one of the best assessments I've seen about where the War is at the moment and where things appear to be going.
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Post by Stellar on Mar 24, 2022 15:51:59 GMT 10
Sorry to hear that Cas. Hope you're feeling much better and I wish you a speedy recovery. Take care. I am worried about using up credits. I haven't got the hang of using this new mobile phone yet. I nearly died last week from a sepsis infection... Sepsis is a real worry! It's truly frightening! Looks like you were able to get over it - and that's very lucky as many suffer terribly with amputations if it can't be controlled.
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Post by caskur on Mar 24, 2022 18:09:30 GMT 10
I am going through wound therapy and it isn't pretty. Sigh, I very low spirited ATM.
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Post by matte on Mar 24, 2022 21:28:59 GMT 10
I have been suspended from Facebook for posting a reply on a news page praising the women of Ukraine who are arming themselves and killing the Russian invaders.
All I said is I hope they slaughter them.
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Post by Stellar on Mar 25, 2022 7:50:23 GMT 10
I am going through wound therapy and it isn't pretty. So, I very low spirited ATM. Wound management was my specialty but I never had patients with sepsis. Anyone with sepsis is always treated in hospital because it is so life threatening. You are truly fortunate to come through this.
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Post by caskur on Mar 25, 2022 11:07:42 GMT 10
I am going through wound therapy and it isn't pretty. Sigh, I very low spirited ATM.
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Post by nataliesalat on Mar 25, 2022 14:01:50 GMT 10
How Biden thinks Putin sees him: How Putin actually sees Biden:
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Post by caskur on Mar 26, 2022 11:30:21 GMT 10
OMG Ponto! You're trying to justify this war on the Ukraine! An independent and sovereign state. Evil incarnate - Your heroes. Today the Ukraine. Tomorrow the world! Apparently when you are a communist, blowing up children is allowed if it promotes the left wing narrative. Now we can see how low the alt left are prepared to sink.
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Post by bender on Mar 26, 2022 11:59:33 GMT 10
Putin has been on State TV complaining about cancel culture whilst the Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that they've achieved their core objective of securing the areas of the Donbas (that were already under their control before they launched their invasion).
The Russians have released an updated accounting of their casualties and losses, claiming about 1,400 dead and about 3,700 wounded. This is far less then the 6,000-10,000 estimates by Western Intelligence Agencies of Russian soldiers killed.
Ukraine has announced that they currently posses more Tanks and Armoured Vehicles now then when the Invasion started thanks to the Russian tendency to abandon their equipment
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Post by Stellar on Mar 26, 2022 12:54:32 GMT 10
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Post by nataliesalat on Mar 26, 2022 14:38:07 GMT 10
Biden's attitude towards the Russians:
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