Geopolitical Conflict News

[Sutekh]

Right, I hear you.

But you could say the same about THIS country. Everything is questionable during war, hot or cold.

(not one inch eastward. They pull babies out of incubators and fling them on the ground. He has weapons of ass destruction)

No, there are freedoms in the west which mean anything a western outlet says has a substantially higher degree of verifiability and therefore probable veracity. While it would be silly to take all media as gospel, it is absolutely not the same as Russia, as many imprisoned and dead Russians will attest - not to mention the people suffering in Ukraine right now, this conflict buoyed as it is by the unchallenged domestic propaganda in Russia.

Re : one inch eastward - that was a promise not to overthrow the east German Republic during the cold war. Putin is hard at work creating a "both sides bad" narrative using selective interpretations of history spread online

[allegate]

[mfte]

Putin Fears Poisoning and Replaces All His Staff

https://www.insideedition.com/fearin...al-staff-73847

[elevenism]

No, there are freedoms in the west which mean anything a western outlet says has a substantially higher degree of verifiability and therefore probable veracity. While it would be silly to take all media as gospel, it is absolutely not the same as Russia, as many imprisoned and dead Russians will attest - not to mention the people suffering in Ukraine right now, this conflict buoyed as it is by the unchallenged domestic propaganda in Russia.

Re : one inch eastward - that was a promise not to overthrow the east German Republic during the cold war. Putin is hard at work creating a "both sides bad" narrative using selective interpretations of history spread online

My point is that it's ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to discern what's really happening during a war.

One reason for this is the so called fog of war.

Secondly, all of these countries disseminate propaganda in times like these. Is Russia the worst actor? Of Course. I'm not arguing that.
Ukraine disseminates propaganda.
And so does the US. As a matter.of.fact, gvmt.propaganda is 100% LEGAL in the US, as of.about 10 years ago.

And back to "not one inch eastward,' Yes, it was part of German reunification talks. You're right about that. (Sec of State Baker to Gorbachev, 19...90?)
But it wasn't JUST about germany.
It was also regarding the North Atlantic Alliance: aka western imperialism.

Look, I'm. GODDAMN sure not trying to justify the actions of Putin, and I've got a REALLY great solution for ending this conflict, but I'm afraid it would.be a war crime.
And yes. We made those promises to the Soviet Union, I suppose: not Russia.

But I've been worried about this for awhile, this bear poking. I mean, hell. That's why I STARTED this thread in 2013.

The bottom line is that, again: it's hard to tell EXACTLY what's really going on during a war, or a proxy war, or a pseudo-proxy war..
It just is.
All countries have separate agendas, the four main players here have histories of propaganda, and propaganda and deception are part of war, period.

[allegate]

What's that, you want more propaganda? let's go then.

[allegro]

Clinton and GW Bush in Chicago, Kyiv’s sister city.

[MrLobster]

[allegro]

This is awesome:

[MrLobster]

This is awesome:

I had posted the original version to the "What Are You Listening to?" thread but they've since marked the video as private. It was powerful.

[allegate]

edit:

[Frozen Beach]

https://pitchfork.com/news/devo-dona...kraine-relief/
More bands should do this

[elevenism]

So, returning to the original title of this thread, day before yesterday, Zelensky said he was ready for peace talks with Russia, but if they fail, "it's gonna be motherfucking WW3 up in this bitch."
(my translation might be off slightly as i'm a bit rusty with Slavic languages, but i know he said something along those lines).
SO. i wonder: is Ukraine preparing to meet Russian demands, and this is one last ballsy statement?

That being said, i don't see Ukraine ceding a bunch of land, but it's possible.
BUT, reading between the lines, i'm PRETTY damn sure Russia insists on making a puppet state of Ukraine.
i DON'T see THAT happening.

And now, Japan is in the mix.
Eerier and eerier.

This talking, self aware turkey that's been in the news for decades was apparently trying to help broker a peace deal.
Per usual, as of today, the turkey seems to be sort of playing both sides.
Today, the turkey warned banks not to lend to banks trading liras offshore.

Turkey jokes aside, this financial warfare is a trip. It's obviously horrifying, but it's also interesting to watch.

[ickyvicky]

Last night they were saying Belarus is looking to join Ukraine in fighting.

[allegate]

Belarus, you say?

Jan. 6 suspect who fled U.S. granted refugee status by Belarus

Well I hope he appreciates what he just got himself into.

[elevenism]

Last night they were saying Belarus is looking to join Ukraine in fighting.

Yeah I heard some speculation in that direction on CNN XM, on the way to my doctor's appointment.

Also heard more talk of the possibility of Putin using chemical weapons, as well as speculation of a Russian missile being shot into Poland.

What will be the final straw?

[Alexandros]

Last night they were saying Belarus is looking to join Ukraine in fighting.

Who actually said that, it makes absolutely no sense. The Belarusian government is fully cooperative with Putin and facilitated the invasion of Ukraine. In what dimension do they suddenly turn against Russia?

[fillow]

Yeah that Belarus quote doesn't make any sense.

1. Lukashenko fully supports Putin, but he's a fucking coward. The truth is that Belarusian regular army is a complete joke with 0 fighting experience (unlike Russia who had Chechnya, Syria, Georgia and some other experience) and any forces that may cross the border will be annihilated in 0.0005 seconds by Ukrainians. Morale in the army is also very low and no one wants to fight against Ukrainians for no reason. Lukashenko really expected Putin to reach and capture Kiev in 4-5 days as was originally planned, and only then he would've sent troops just to make it look (to Putin) that he helped. He's not gonna do that now.

2. Belarusian people do actually fight in Ukraine, as volunteers, against Russia. These volunteers are for the most part people who fled abroad after 2020 protests to avoid prison sentences (that's hundreds of people).

[ickyvicky]

Sorry about that, I totally misread the headline. They were saying they could join the war in Ukraine WITH Russia.

My bad.

[elevenism]

Who actually said that, it makes absolutely no sense. The Belarusian government is fully cooperative with Putin and facilitated the invasion of Ukraine. In what dimension do they suddenly turn against Russia?

I think @ickyvicky likely misunderstood.

Like I said, I heard, on CNN radio, of the possibility of Belarusian attacks AGAINST Ukraine.

[elevenism]

@fillow do you think there might be Russian dissidents fighting on the Ukrainian side? I know a LOT of people in that region have family spread out across several countries, and many people have conflicting ideologies.

[Erneuert]

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work...e32254866262b5

Vladimir Putin, plagued by thyroid cancer rumours, is ‘constantly’ accompanied by doctors
Chilling new clues have stoked speculation that Vladimir Putin may be suffering from thyroid cancer or Parkinson’s disease.

[MrLobster]

So yeah... all those war crimes and other genocidal activities as the Russians were routed is fucking tragic. Russia needs a time out from the "polite" world.

[MrLobster]

[elevenism]

I watched Andrew Callaghan (All Gas No Brakes, Channel Five) do a documentary on the People's Convoy in the US.

And what's utterly horrifying is that a LOT of these Trump people think that Putin is in the right. He's runnin' off pedos and Nazis (the Nazi bit is more than a little ironic).

[richardp]

Holy shit this is like some Curb Your Enthusiasm level hilarity.

[allegate]

[elevenism]

To be fair, in a country where speaking out against the actions of the Kremlin is grounds for imprisonment, AND, the information diet is strictly controlled, well, yeah.

[thelastdisciple]

It's amazing how indistinguishable the behaviour of these Russian stooges are from the GOP in the U.S.

[fillow]

Proud of my people here:

The Belarusian railway workers who helped thwart Russia’s attack on Kyiv

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...oteurs-russia/

[allegate]

Russian army ‘lose entire battalion’ trying to cross Ukraine bridge

The images show smoke emanating from the half-sunken bridge with destroyed armoured vehicles lying on the shores of the Siverskyi Donets river, running west to east between Russian rebels-controlled provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

anyone else hear Benny Hill music every time you read a story about the Russian Army?