Putin's invasion of Ukraine

Discussion in 'World Events' started by Saint, Jan 20, 2022.

  1. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    Btw any Rambo wannabes thinking joining Ukraine fight,note that Russia treats foreign merc as terrorists and already killed 35 of them in morning raid.

     
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  3. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    I read that mercenaries are being offered 2000 dollars a day to come and exercise their skill-sets in Ukraine plus bonuses
    ok
    bonuses for what, exactly?
     
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  5. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    For risking likely death.
     
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  7. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Be that as it may, the spectacle of a cheap propagandist humiliating himself is one of the unpleasantries we really don't need around here.

    Really, if you're so much better informed than others, maybe you could write a post that doesn't sound like a petulant fanboy cheering pro wrestling infamy. Maybe we get to see Puti-toots in spangly briefs and boots before this is over.
     
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  8. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    Do you ever get tired of posting obvious propaganda?
     
  9. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Wow, being a mercenary is almost as dangerous as being a Russian general in Ukraine!

    Of course, the most dangerous thing to be right now is someone in Russia who speaks their mind. Putin has said he will find and destroy any Russian who does not support the invasion. "The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like an insect in their mouth onto the pavement" he told Russian TV a few days ago. It is interesting that about the only Russians we've seen openly supporting Ukraine are the Russian astronauts on the ISS, presumably because Putin's assassins would have trouble reaching them there.
     
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  10. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    doofus
    I had previously posted that Volodymyr Zelenskyy
    was a fool
    Perhaps: I was too kind
    Ukraine's powerful and a tad paranoid neighbor requested that Ukraine be neutral
    and the doofus responded
    Ukraine will join NATO
    Ukraine's powerful and a tad paranoid neighbor requested that Ukraine recognize that Crimea is part of Russia
    and the doofus responded
    We will retake Crimea

    jeez
    what in hell is wrong with this doofus
    Did his outsized ego and o'er weening pride speak when the fool should have remained silent?
    and, look what his idiocy has wrought
    Thousands dead, and billions in damage

    what a joke
    The damned fool should have stuck to comedy

    If the bear does not leave him with a rump Ukraine, he will have found luck that he does not deserve.
     
  11. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    It must really burn your ass that Zelensky is . . . not losing against Putin.

    Perhaps he will be murdered in a few days, and you can celebrate?
     
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  12. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    Given that the suits would have been made long before the conflict began, I really do think it is "fake news" that they are openly supporting Ukraine, unless they have explicitly said so? i.e. with regard the spacesuits, sometimes yellow really is just yellow.

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  13. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    Your right because it was zelensky that ordered the Russian military to invade, oh wait. You are just as much of a propagandist as scorpius. I'm sorry people didn't cave to your idol putin
     
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  14. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Thanx pj
    You can stop there
     
  15. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    They have (wisely) said very little.

    A second theory I heard about this was more likely - that Putin assumed that Ukraine would be defeated by the time of the launch, so had the suits made as an 'in your face' thing for the Ukrainans. Then in the preparations for launch they forgot about the suits.

    Oops.
     
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  16. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    Well, seems the BBC (or someone else and reported by BBC) might have uncovered the true casualty numbers incurred by the Russians thus far: a pro-Kremlin newspaper inadvertently (it seems) published the numbers in an online article before removing the article a few minutes later, then claiming the info was wrong and the result of a hack (with a full explanation due later). Sounds like ass covering to me to blame a hack.

    Anyhoo, the numbers published were almost 10k deaths, and over 16k wounded. If true, they're somewhat more than even the US had been estimating (c.7k, I think), but not as high as Ukraine were saying (as many as 15k).

    Otherwise Russia hasn't given any numbers since the 498 it gave on 2 March.
     
  17. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    What Is It Good For?

    The utter mystery of the Russian war against Ukraine is why. People have many political arguments to describe and justify the Russian cause, but that is not quite what the question means. Whether the Jewish guy in the Ukranian President's office is a Nazi or not is its own question, but does not explain the thoroughly disorganized Russian offensive, nor basic failure to attend the fundamental concepts of modern combined arms warfare.

    Here are two utterly ridiculous theses:

    Russia is simply throwing the world into chaos in order to jockey for position as circumstances settle — This is a thesis of the sort that generally shouldn't be uttered, except that the world might have already seen examples. A capitalistic notion would suggest that throwing the economy into disarray might inflict a net value loss for society's most wealthy, but it is possible to reconsolidate and actually increase one's proportionate share of the wealth; e.g., the "one percent", after a financial crisis, will possess either greater or lesser proportionate share of the economy. Russian international influence has in recent years relied on a poor clown's farcical imitation of other nations having a bad day. The United States, for instance, can screw up pretty monumentally, but we have yet to invade Canada in order to secure our Mexican border. It's unclear what prestige Russia can actually gain by unsettling geopolitics, but maybe the resettling of others' prestige will make Russia look less deficient.

    The loss of so much Russian military equipment will spur the domestic economy as the defense sector rebuilds — Pro: Many political theses include or even require that building the military also builds domestic economy. Con: It seems hard to justify spending that much life and prestige in order to warrant reoutfitting.​

    What? I told you they were ridiculous. Even amid predictable chatter that Putin isn't as sharp as he used to be, it seems impossible that he is so mentally wrecked. But this war is a failed justification, failed invasion, and now settles into desperate siege and pogrom that reeks strangely of a beggar's appeal for apocalypse.

    Nothing about the fact of this war, nor its course, makes any sense. It's not even like a movie; fiction at least pretends to make sense, even when it's avant garde and pretends it doesn't.
     
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  18. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    A lot of people talk of Russian paranoia as if it can not be a real problem... yet evidence suggests that a high level of paranoia towards the West exists in the Russian leadership. Paranoia by definition rarely makes sense.
    Dictators by virtue of their means to power are inevitably paranoid.
     
  19. geordief Valued Senior Member

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    Can paranoia and "believing your own hype" be synonymous ?

    I used to think Kremlinology was complicated.

    Is Putin afraid of becoming Ceasescu or Gadaffi?

    Who will take him in if that seems on the cards?Xi?

    Will he play the tac nukes to prevent that outcome?Will that even work?
     
  20. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    Absolutely and let us not forget significant confirmation bias when assessing a situation.
    eg. Putin reads news hype about a couple of dozen ultra right wing Neo-Nazi's being integrated into Ukraine military and infers significant threat to Russia.
    or reads about liberal attitudes to LGBT issues or... and so on...
    or remembers NATO from the cold war etc...
    The scary thing is when dealing with someone as paranoid as he is, anything is possible..and one can only hope he has systems and checks in place that prevent paranoia from impulsively pushing that button.
    In this sense Trump and Putin are next of kin.

    Fearing potentials, fear driven speculation transformed into a near certainty, conspiracy theorism in it's self deceptive form.

    I am confident that the top brass in the USA/NATO military are well aware of how sensitive Putin has to be handled, hence the necessary reluctance to overly interfere militarily in Ukraine but perhaps in the end Putin will given them no choice but to interfere. I certainly hope this never occurs of course.
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2022
  21. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    No. Paranoia is all about the feeling of being threatened without the evidence to support that feeling. "Believing your own hype" is a matter of ego, confidence, etc. It's dangerous if coupled with delusion, where the "hype" is at odds with reality, rather than just an exaggeration. It may even fuel one's paranoia, but they're not the same at all.
    So no, they could not be synonymous.

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  22. CptBork Valued Senior Member

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    BTW any Rambo wannabes in Russia thinking of setting foot in Ukraine: don’t try it, the capability isn’t found in your blood. Your IQ’s are too low to handle anything other than loading ammunition into trucks for the Ukrainians to take. You can’t even build basic working aircraft without selling stolen oil for Western parts and technical instructions.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2022
  23. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    12,452
    Of course it makes sense, so long as you allow for the fact that people screw up and behave irrationally. Putin has monumentally screwed up, having misjudged:
    - the reaction of Ukraine,
    - the capability of his army and
    - the response of the western world.

    So forget the ridiculous theses. It's a screw up by Putin, that's all. Not uncommon for a leader who has eliminated all dissent from among his advisers.

    The problem is guessing what will he try in order to unscrew up the screw up and trying to lead him - or others in Russia - to decide to call a halt.
     
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