[Decky]

I asked you about Russia. Have you seen any of those YouTube videos that talk about Putin's problems with manpower, equipment, economy, and public opposition to the war? I can't determine how much of that is accurate and how much is propaganda.

It is kind of taken as granted that a nation fighting the largest war since the Second World War (and a war of choice to boot) will have problems with manpower, equipment, economy, and public opposition to the war; anyone would. Hell the British armed forces can't even hit its recruitment targets in peacetime so I'm not really sure what your point is.

[Hakeer]

@Hakeer :



I am a Determinist, specifically of the Compatibilistic variety: people will freely what they are led to will.



We all do, every single one of us. Religion is hardwired into us, any system which purports to be or to have answers to questions of universal concern.




Science is about material testable facts, observed and repeatable under experimental conditions. Nothing ive said is contrary to Science properly called. The same with Logic.

You follow " Scientism", which is something quite different than Science.

If you followed Science and Logic, you would have answered me about the question of whether youd like to see a Jihadist banner in Damascus or an Azov flag in Crimea or Donetsk.

You believe every future event is predetermined by God. That is one variation of fatalism. Another one — held by pagans — is that every future event is predetermined by laws of physics. I don’t subscribe to that, either.

No particular religion is hardwired into anybody. People can obviously change religion or reject religion as a source of knowledge of reality.

Science is silent on your religion, because it is not experimentally testable. I just found it anthropologically interesting to investigate.

As far as Syria, Ukraine, etc., I support liberal democracy. The people of Ukraine freely voted to be independent. I obviously abhor having Trump president, but I honor the results of the election and work to defeat Republicans in the next election. That is how constitutional democracy is intended to work. In 2023, the CPC introduced a bill to allow Puerto Rico self-determination — statehood, independence, or something else. Of course, the Republicans will not allow a vote on the bill.

[Negotiator]

The russian argument as to why their invasion of Ukraine, the SMO, is legal under the laws of the UN can be for example be extracted from the interview Lawrow just gave to Tucker Charlson:

I've watched the whole interview, however I failed to write down the crucial timestamps. Anyway Lawrow said something to the effect that under the laws of the UN, a state is only guaranteed its borders if it operates for the interests of all its people. If a state like Ukraine systematically suppresses some of its people, as Ukraine does most thoroughly with the 30% of native russian speakers of their population, outlawing the language and the culture and in fact even the ukrainian variant of the christian religion, then these people can invoke the right of self determination and leave that state - either to form a state of their own, or joining a different country.

[Hakeer]

It is kind of taken as granted that a nation fighting the largest war since the Second World War (and a war of choice to boot) will have problems with manpower, equipment, economy, and public opposition to the war; anyone would. Hell the British armed forces can't even hit its recruitment targets in peacetime so I'm not really sure what your point is.

It is a matter of degrees. These videos on YouTube claim that the situation in Russia is now on the verge of imminent disaster. I was asking whether you have watched any of those videos and, if so, are they generally factual or mostly propaganda in your opinion?

[Decky]

The russian argument as to why their invasion of Ukraine, the SMO, is legal under the laws of the UN can be for example be extracted from the interview Lawrow just gave to Tucker Charlson:

I've watched the whole interview, however I failed to write down the crucial timestamps. Anyway Lawrow said something to the effect that under the laws of the UN, a state is only guaranteed its borders if it operates for the interests of all its people. If a state like Ukraine systematically suppresses some of its people, as Ukraine does most thoroughly with the 30% of native russian speakers of their population, outlawing the language and the culture and in fact even the ukrainian variant of the christian religion, then these people can invoke the right of self determination and leave that state - either to form a state of their own, or joining a different country.

It's the old "the west did it for Kosovo" argument again then. NATO really opened a huge can of worms for the world when we carved up Serbia.

[noemon]

It's not just self-determination in Kossovo, the self-determination argument is used by a variety of wannabe independent countries. Kossovo simply happens to be egregious because Albanians in the Serbian province of Kossovo had more civic rights than Albanians in Albania,more than Serbs in Serbia and Scots and Welsh in the UK, yet the British argued with perfidious conviction that Albanians losing their privileged veto power in the Serbian parliament(something no minority in the planet has in any country) was "genocidal suppresion of human rights" that justifies western NATO intervention against their own allies.

Russia also has the Minsk treaties explicitly recognising the Donbass as constitutionally separate from the rest of Ukraine, as a place where Russian, not Ukranian ought to be the primary administration/education/signposted language. Ukraine, US, Europe have already signed this document twice and that is they have already signed the rights to Donbass away to Russia.
They tried to trick Putin with this document as Macron and Merkel informed us that they only signed this document to buy time to arm Ukraine.

They are not even hiding it and never did.

It can easily be said that Russia has the most valid argument international politics has seen since Serbia and in an objective international court of law, she would of course be legally justified to invade, occupy and annex the Donbass and Crimea based on Minsk and the conditions contained therein. No other international conflict going around has as much legal and moral clarity as this one.

[litwin]

The russian argument as to why their invasion of Ukraine, the SMO, is legal under the laws of the UN can be for example be extracted from the interview Lawrow just gave to Tucker Charlson:

I've watched the whole interview, however I failed to write down the crucial timestamps. Anyway Lawrow said something to the effect that under the laws of the UN, a state is only guaranteed its borders if it operates for the interests of all its people. If a state like Ukraine systematically suppresses some of its people, as Ukraine does most thoroughly with the 30% of native russian speakers of their population, outlawing the language and the culture and in fact even the ukrainian variant of the christian religion, then these people can invoke the right of self determination and leave that state - either to form a state of their own, or joining a different country.

Israeli aviation have struck Assad chemical weapons depots 8) Ukraine has saved "Syrian" sunni arabs by depleting Moscow imperialists .

One for sure , Israel/Ukraine are 2 biggest winner from this situation !

https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/18 ... 4040439292

[annatar1914]

You believe every future event is predetermined by God. That is one variation of fatalism. Another one — held by pagans — is that every future event is predetermined by laws of physics. I don’t subscribe to that, either.

No particular religion is hardwired into anybody. People can obviously change religion or reject religion as a source of knowledge of reality.

Science is silent on your religion, because it is not experimentally testable. I just found it anthropologically interesting to investigate.

As far as Syria, Ukraine, etc., I support liberal democracy. The people of Ukraine freely voted to be independent. I obviously abhor having Trump president, but I honor the results of the election and work to defeat Republicans in the next election. That is how constitutional democracy is intended to work. In 2023, the CPC introduced a bill to allow Puerto Rico self-determination — statehood, independence, or something else. Of course, the Republicans will not allow a vote on the bill.

@Hakeer :

I disagree with everything you've said but especially your doctrinaire assumptions about " science" and " anthropology". But, that is outside the scope of this thread.

However it goes a very long way towards explaining why you're going to be very wrong about a very many things, soon.

[Rugoz]

They tried to trick Putin with this document as Macron and Merkel informed us that they only signed this document to buy time to arm Ukraine.

I REALLY wish they would done that, to give Ukraine the means to expel the Russian agitators, mercenaries and gangsters once and for all from Ukrainian territory. As was the duty of every country on this planet.

Unfortunately, Trump was the first the give weapons to Ukraine. Go figure.

[litwin]

Amen to that, if there is indeed to be any justice in the world for decades to come.America’s failures in Afghanistan and Iraq have woken up the west to the futility of using extreme violence in service of political ends. Hopefully Russia will suffer the same fate so that the next Putin or Bush wannabe will feel it. That will save the lives of millions of potential victims of imperialism. Taiwan, I’m looking at you.

its a leftist /global south-Moscow imperial myth , Afghanistan and Iraq are US/Free World victories (strategically, in long run ) . if you want to see failures , read this :
Large numbers of Assad soldiers are defecting in southern Syria to the Druze rebels.


https://x.com/i/status/1865131467753316441

[Hakeer]

@Hakeer :

I disagree with everything you've said but especially your doctrinaire assumptions about " science" and " anthropology". But, that is outside the scope of this thread.

However it goes a very long way towards explaining why you're going to be very wrong about a very many things, soon.

You know more about religion than I do. I know more about science and anthropology than you do. That was my profession for many years.

It is hard to be wrong about a subject upon which you have no firm prediction. I have said that the outcome of this war is yet to be determined. Even if it happens to go your way, that doesn’t prove the outcome was predetermined by God.

[Yaqum]

Its a leftist / global south-Moscow imperial myth, Afghanistan and Iraq are US/Free World victories (strategically, in long run ). If you want to see failures, read this : Large numbers of Assad soldiers are defecting in southern Syria to the Druze rebels.

Litwin old chum, it isn’t necessary to defend every American policy as a knee-jerk reaction. If you really want western liberal values to prevail, then we must be able to critique democracies, as is apposite to a liberal thinking or progressive mind. The Taliban are still in power, and too much blood was spilt in Iraq in order to topple Saddam. They were failures. The west can do better next time.

And yes, Assad’s forces are on the run, and I’m following the situation in cautious anticipation. I just hope that what comes after won’t be worse.

[Decky]

Litwin old chum, it isn’t necessary to defend every American policy as a knee-jerk reaction. If you really want western liberal values to prevail, then we must be able to critique democracies, as is apposite to a liberal thinking or progressive mind. The Taliban are still in power, and too much blood was spilt in Iraq in order to topple Saddam. They were failures. The west can do better next time.

And yes, Assad’s forces are on the run, and I’m following the situation in cautious anticipation. I just hope that what comes after won’t be worse.

How could it not be worse? The jihadists are not going to be a better government than the Ba'athists, look what happened after the west toppled Gadaffi so they could give Lybia to the jihadists, they have open air slave markets. The number of people cheerleading for a new ISISlike government in Syria mystifies me, it truly does.

[litwin]

[litwin]

Litwin old chum, it isn’t necessary to defend every American policy as a knee-jerk reaction. If you really want western liberal values to prevail, then we must be able to critique democracies, as is apposite to a liberal thinking or progressive mind. The Taliban are still in power, and too much blood was spilt in Iraq in order to topple Saddam. They were failures. The west can do better next time.

And yes, Assad’s forces are on the run, and I’m following the situation in cautious anticipation. I just hope that what comes after won’t be worse.

1) 75 % Pashtuns live in the cites today, demography : 4.2 (50% down) per woman, etc.
2) yes, which is a normal thing for " Iraq" , " Iraq" is a typical MENA country today , so why USA haters /so called Global South .
3) we won again . Assad´s empire was long gone if it weren't for Iran and Moscow empires.

[annatar1914]

How could it not be worse? The jihadists are not going to be a better government than the Ba'athists, look what happened after the west toppled Gadaffi so they could give Lybia to the jihadists, they have open air slave markets. The number of people cheerleading for a new ISISlike government in Syria mystifies me, it truly does.

@Decky :

Its because the specific people in question ARE Fascists/Islamofascists, the rest are self hating Liberal dupes, whose tendency is towards self destructive existential nihilism anyway given the anomie of modern civilization.

[litwin]

Moscow horde´s war record :-
1856 defeated by Britain and France
1905 defeated by Japan
1917 defeated by Germany
1920 defeated by Poland, Finland, Estonia and all Baltic states
1939 defeated by Finland
1969 defeated by China
1989 defeated by Afghanistan
1989 defeated in the Cold War.
1996 defeated by Chechnya
2022 defeated by Ukraine
2024 defeated in Syria

WW2 won USA/Britain , meanwhile Stalin's officers were shot or sent to the Gulags. Millions went to the Gulags, including Solzhenitsyn
Moscow's only victories come from invading smaller countries :-
a) Hungary 1956
b) Czechoslovakia 1968
c) Moldova 1992
d) Georgia 2008

[litwin]

@Decky :

Its because the specific people in question ARE Fascists/Islamofascists, the rest are self hating Liberal dupes, whose tendency is towards self destructive existential nihilism anyway given the anomie of modern civilization.

Moscow-Iranian imperialistic propaganda .

the reality ;

[litwin]

i need a ride not ammo
~ Assad

[Rich]

Moscow horde´s war record :-
1856 defeated by Britain and France
1905 defeated by Japan
1917 defeated by Germany

Why are the Liberals so stupid? In all three of these cases the government was based in St Petersburg not Moscow.