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The actions taken, the war and the death, was the decision of one man alone, and it came as a surprise to the common folk who are now asked to die in a foreign land.
That's a nice story, but none of it is true. I can tell you started geopolitics on February 24th.
John Mearsheimer is one of the most respected experts in the field of international relations. This video is from 2015.
I can't link the compilation video where other experts explain for years that US policy would lead to war with Russia. Video is called "US/NATO Provoked Ukraine War Say Most Experts On Russia".
This is a video from Alexey Arestovych. He is an advisor to Zelensky. He explains exactly what the plan is in Ukraine back in 2019. Watch from ~7 minutes.
At the very end he says... "In this conflict we will be very actively supported by the west - with weapons, equipment, assistance, new sanctions against Russia, and the quite possible introduction of a NATO contingent, a no-fly zone, etc. We won't lose, and that's good."
This is his wikipedia page. They knew war was coming. They wanted it.
Congrats. I figured out early on it's just too tiring to respond to Russian and china bots.
No one here thinks I'm a Chinese or Russian bot. I've actually shared enough information on this forum over the years that if you pulled it together you could find my house. I'm home almost every day if you want to stop by and explain why I'm wrong.
Sure. Because I'm confused by what you mean by "dying". I assume you mean demographics? That way, sure. But it is also dying economically. There are no airlines flying, no cars being produced, and most imports have stopped completely. It will take a long time to choke the beast, but it will some day wither and become permanently impoverished.
It is obvious that you have no idea why Russia invaded. There is no going back. If Russia loses, Russia will be destroyed. I don't care "why" Russia invaded. Russia will be destroyed by sanctions, not war. No matter how the Ukrainian question comes out, Russia will lose. Hopefully, they will lose so badly that they will never be able to field an army or navy again.
Sanctions have always failed. Name one country where sanctions succeeded in anything other than creating more enemies and causing future wars. Most of the world refuses to sanction Russia or to obey American sanctions. The only thing that is happening is Russian energy is being rerouted from Europe to Asia. I just named 3! Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea. Three countries that could not possible field an army or invade a neighbor and all because of sanctions.
Russian oil is, indeed, being rerouted to Asia where is must be sold at a great discount, currently at around $60/barrel. But Russia did not acquire and deliver that oil for free. The current production price for oil is thought to be around $50.
Europe will never again buy Russian oil. So how smart were the Russians to create that mess?
The regime of thugs and sociopaths that calls itself Russia must be brought to its knees now, or the world must put up with them forever. Something is terribly terribly wrong with a country who uses fuel and food as an international weapon and threatens nuclear deterrent against any who dare to oppose them.
It is foolish to even consider acquiescing to the Russian demand that it be allowed to bully anyone it chooses. Hopefully, world leaders are smarter than that.
John Mearsheime was mentioned above, but that video was much too long; no one is going to watch it.
In this video he addresses people like me who believe sanctions will be effective eventually and believe Russia will simply cease being aggressive because they can no longer put together and pay an army. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDiZ...b_channel=CGTN
It will take a long time to choke the beast, but it will some day wither and become permanently impoverished.
Russia has massive natural resources, is one of the largest exporters in the world, every BRICS member is perfectly happy to trade with Russia, and combined BRICS represents more than half the world's population. The Saudis are making deals with China and Russia, Iran and Syria are already Russia's ally, so is Venezuela. The United States is trying to push global-warming, which would make oil worthless, so every oil-exporting country essentially sees us as an enemy. The Saudis only tolerate us because they need our weapons to genocide the Houthis.
Europe is about to go bankrupt buying natural gas for 4x the price. German industry will no longer be subsidized by cheap energy, giving China an even greater competitive-advantage in manufacturing. Once the Power of Siberia gas pipelines are finished, China will be able to buy Russian natural gas for much cheaper than the LNG it imports from Australia.
You're confused if you think Russia/China is playing a bad hand. The main problem for Russia and China is that they would get BTFO by the US Navy, and all trade from China would stop. The United States could effectively blockade the entire South China Sea, the Malacca Strait, the Strat of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, Gibraltar, etc.
America wants to provoke China into a war over Taiwan, impose sanctions, then have our proxies seize Chinese ships to start a regional war, where we support whoever is willing to fight the Chinese Army, while China goes bankrupt and starves.
As long as China remains uninvolved in this war, the west will lose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Listener2307
I just named 3! Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea. Three countries that could not possible field an army or invade a neighbor and all because of sanctions.
North Korea would literally crush South Korea in a week if we pulled our forces out(if South Korea fought at all). I don't recall Cuba ever wanting to invade their neighbor? That wasn't what the sanctions were about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Listener2307
Europe will never again buy Russian oil. So how smart were the Russians to create that mess?
Why wouldn't Europe buy Russian oil again? They bought Russian energy throughout the Cold War. Also, the Russians didn't create this mess. America did. Even the pope blames the war on America. Only absolute morons believe Putin just woke up one morning and decided to invade Ukraine.
"We are facing the creation of a climate of fear in Ukrainian society, aggressive rhetoric, indulging neo-Nazis and militarizing the country. Along with that we are witnessing not just complete dependence but direct external control, including the supervision of the Ukrainian authorities, security services and armed forces by foreign advisers, military “development” of the territory of Ukraine and deployment of NATO infrastructure. It is no coincidence that the aforementioned flagrant law on “indigenous peoples” was adopted under the cover of large-scale NATO exercises in Ukraine.
This is also a disguise for the takeover of the rest of the Ukrainian economy and the exploitation of its natural resources. The sale of agricultural land is not far off, and it is obvious who will buy it up. From time to time, Ukraine is indeed given financial resources and loans, but under their own conditions and pursuing their own interests, with preferences and benefits for Western companies. By the way, who will pay these debts back? Apparently, it is assumed that this will have to be done not only by today's generation of Ukrainians but also by their children, grandchildren and probably great-grandchildren.
The Western authors of the anti-Russia project set up the Ukrainian political system in such a way that presidents, members of parliament and ministers would change but the attitude of separation from and enmity with Russia would remain. Reaching peace was the main election slogan of the incumbent president. He came to power with this. The promises turned out to be lies. Nothing has changed. And in some ways the situation in Ukraine and around Donbas has even degenerated.
In the anti-Russia project, there is no place either for a sovereign Ukraine or for the political forces that are trying to defend its real independence. Those who talk about reconciliation in Ukrainian society, about dialogue, about finding a way out of the current impasse are labelled as “pro-Russian” agents.
Again, for many people in Ukraine, the anti-Russia project is simply unacceptable. And there are millions of such people. But they are not allowed to raise their heads. They have had their legal opportunity to defend their point of view in fact taken away from them. They are intimidated, driven underground. Not only are they persecuted for their convictions, for the spoken word, for the open expression of their position, but they are also killed. Murderers, as a rule, go unpunished.
Today, the “right” patriot of Ukraine is only the one who hates Russia. Moreover, the entire Ukrainian statehood, as we understand it, is proposed to be further built exclusively on this idea. Hate and anger, as world history has repeatedly proved this, are a very shaky foundation for sovereignty, fraught with many serious risks and dire consequences.
All the subterfuges associated with the anti-Russia project are clear to us. And we will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia. And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country.
Russia is open to dialogue with Ukraine and ready to discuss the most complex issues. But it is important for us to understand that our partner is defending its national interests but not serving someone else's, and is not a tool in someone else's hands to fight against us.
We respect the Ukrainian language and traditions. We respect Ukrainians' desire to see their country free, safe and prosperous."
Congrats. I figured out early on it's just too tiring to respond to Russian and china bots.
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