Vladimir Putin and Russia

[Tom 13858]

 

 

 

[Asprilla 96]

1 hour ago, Howmanheyman said:

You could argue the far right in this country have an influence far in excess of their numbers but I find that idea more depressing than interesting.

Far right can mean anything these days

[Toonpack 6866]

Is he having a go at the Oligarch's ??

 

 

 

[Tom 13858]

He’s fucking backwards this doylem 

[Isegrim 8870]

43 minutes ago, Asprilla said:

Far right can mean anything these days

Good shout, Dougal.

 

 

[Asprilla 96]

Don’t be racist

[Dr Gloom 19826]

I was more optimistic after what John Simpson was reporting this morning too but I’m not sure this sort of talk suggests an endgame is near  

 

 

[Tom 13858]

It always surprises me how shit Vlad’s PC looks.  

[Isegrim 8870]

1 hour ago, Asprilla said:

Don’t be racist

 

[Monkeys Fist 38775]

I know “disaster fatigue” is very easy to succumb to, given the almost constant stream of atrocities we’re seeing, but this is just fucking despicable. 
 

Another war crime

[Isegrim 8870]

 

[Isegrim 8870]

 

[ewerk 26360]

I don’t see much to get worried about there. He knows that the sanctions have been designed to turn the oligarchs against him and that’s what he’s worried about happening. I’m wondering if a warning message has been sent out, hence Abramovich’s trip back to Moscow yesterday.

[Gemmill 34496]

According to the bloke that's done that translation, he's not talking about the oligarchs. Check the rest of the thread. 

[ewerk 26360]

[Monkeys Fist 38775]

24 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

 

Even though it’s clearly the response of someone who knows, deep down, that they’re losing, it’s absolutely insane that this is coming from a world leader in 2022 yet reads like a b-movie script from the 1960s. 
 

I wonder how much credence there is in the early suspicions that he’s suffering from some kind of dementia ( which doesn’t excuse him from his absolute cuntery, at all). 

[aimaad22 3472]

What this invasion has really outlined is the staggering hypocrisy on pretty much all sides. Western hypocrisy is nothing new, a few media outlets have run comparisons on the reaction to Ukraine versus Arab/Asian countries. After all a Nobel peace prize was handed out to the guy who routinely bombed Afghan weddings and schools. Every time I see a massive headline on CNN about a civilian casualty in the Ukraine, I can't help but think of the incidents of 'collateral damage' we heard about near everyday a few hours drive across the border from my home in Islamabad. 

 

And yet this time it's the 'other side' per say, whose nonchalant double standards bother me more. The representatives and public across many countries in Africa and Asia who seem to be taking glee in this 'challenge to the West'. Despite the horrendous casualties of this conflict. Shouldn't these people, having first hand witnessed what war criminals can do, be the first to jump to the defense of civilians in Ukraine? Apparently not. If we back Putin's senseless violence, then how are we any different from the people that cheered the Afghan/Iraq wars? Do the thousands of deaths in Palestine or Syria make the life of a single Ukrainian kid any less important? Absolutely fecking not is the only answer. Putin may be going up against 'the West' but does that make him any less of a madman? Simple questions a lot of people don't seem to be bothered with.

[aimaad22 3472]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-15/errant-indian-missile-nearly-led-to-pakistan-retaliatory-strike

 

Talking of double standards, if Pakistan or North Korea launched a nuclear capable missile by mistake there would be global uproar. Not a peep at this. 

[Isegrim 8870]

 

[Isegrim 8870]

 

[trophyshy 6434]

https://activegroup.com.ua/2022/03/16/survey-says-86-6-of-russians-support-the-armed-invasion-of-russia-in-other-european-countries/?fbclid=IwAR1AOwwxGkBAbVXwD7dyG-VqD8TKjsYH8CcJYEwZHPbT2b68KvB26yDUj7M

[Gemmill 34496]

One thing at a time eh, Russia? Count how many you've got left after Ukraine have finished with you. 

[ewerk 26360]

TBF if I was in Russia and someone stopped me to ask me those questions I’d probably just agree with everything they said.

[Rayvin 4964]

I don't know if anyone on here would disagree with that statement about Trump vs Bush btw, at least in terms of direct and easily visible deaths and associated wrongs.

 

When you look further into the indirect consequences though, I think the water muddies significantly. Bush was a status quo kind of guy and Trump was... well also a status quo guy, but one who was prepared to throw fuel onto the bonfire of things that the status quo doesn't care about (everything other than money).

 

Trump pulled the US back from the world stage and emboldened Putin - I'm not saying Biden is playing a blinder with this, he isn't, but Trump is the anti-globalisation figure. Anti-internationalism. It's directly aligned with Putin and his aims of bringing down the Western framework of the world order, replacing it instead with a return to imperialism and "strong men" politics. Like it or not, internationalism is the thing that provides stability and prosperity for the world. Yes it's flawed, yes it could be a hell of a lot fairer than it is, but it's better than any other alternative that is presently feasible. What Putin and Trump are putting on the table is far, far worse.

[Rayvin 4964]

Trump was a consequence of Putin's information war within our countries - he is the political personification of isolationism and anti-internationalism. He withdrew the US from several significant global organisations and most of his rhetoric was around building walls. Repairing the damage done to the US led world order takes time. Alliances were weakened, the US started to look like a far less dependable partner.

 

The shakiness of the western world order, I would argue, is an emboldening factor. And given his policies and approach to diplomacy, I would suggest that it is clear that Trump significantly contributed to this shakiness. And truthfully, sped up the wider decline of the US as a global power.