Is Russia about to invade Ukraine? (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Russia continues to mass assets within range of Ukraine - though the official explanations are that they are for various exercises. United States intelligence has noted that Russian operatives in Ukraine could launch 'false flag' operations as a predicate to invasion. The West has pressed for negotiations and on Friday in Geneva, the US Sec. State Blinken will meet with the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Certainly the Russian movements evidence some plan - but what is it? Some analysts believe that Putin's grand scheme involves securing Western commitments that NATO would never expand beyond its current composition. Whether that means action in Ukraine or merely the movement of pieces on the chess board remains to be seen.

VIENNA — No one expected much progress from this past week’s diplomatic marathon to defuse the security crisis Russia has ignited in Eastern Europe by surrounding Ukraine on three sides with 100,000 troops and then, by the White House’s accounting, sending in saboteurs to create a pretext for invasion.

But as the Biden administration and NATO conduct tabletop simulations about how the next few months could unfold, they are increasingly wary of another set of options for President Vladimir V. Putin, steps that are more far-reaching than simply rolling his troops and armor over Ukraine’s border.

Mr. Putin wants to extend Russia’s sphere of influence to Eastern Europe and secure written commitments that NATO will never again enlarge. If he is frustrated in reaching that goal, some of his aides suggested on the sidelines of the negotiations last week, then he would pursue Russia’s security interests with results that would be felt acutely in Europe and the United States.

There were hints, never quite spelled out, that nuclear weapons could be shifted to places — perhaps not far from the United States coastline — that would reduce warning times after a launch to as little as five minutes, potentially igniting a confrontation with echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia Issues Subtle Threats More Far-Reaching Than a Ukraine Invasion

If the West fails to meet its security demands, Moscow could take measures like placing nuclear missiles close to the U.S. coastline, Russian officials have hinted.

www.nytimes.com

Blinken Will Meet With Russia as U.S. Pushes for More Diplomacy

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia in Geneva on Friday as the United States warns that Russia could soon attack Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

How to think about war in Ukraine

Start with the Ukrainians

snyder.substack.com

 

[MT15]

Well when I'm called a troll, an idiot, a Russian supporter, propagandist, etc constantly its hard not to be condescending sometimes. How would you respond if people were constantly insulting you? How would you respond if someone called you out constantly for how you post while they ignore their friends here doing the exact same thing.

I'm not able to respond to everyone or every post when it might be 8 to 10 different people replying to my posts. Also, if someone constantly insults me I'm probably ignoring or not replying to their post.

I've seen the pattern here over the years. If someone supports Trump or supported any of his policies they will berate you until you admit they are right about Trump. If you don't then you are on their enemies list and then it's repeated insults.

In my humble opinion, your method of posting has earned you the scorn you receive. You have called me many names over time. You do this every day that you post. You have done so in this very thread and other threads just over the last couple of days. You sure don’t like it when you get it back, though. I don’t generally disrespect someone unless I have been disrespected first, but I will apologize and try to do better.

You have a distinct view of the world, and could contribute to the board overall if you would engage forthrightly with your own opinions in your own words. It seems that you aren’t interested in an honest back and forth which is unfortunate. I know I have told you this before. The tenor of our posts doesn’t have to be the way it is. It may be I need to just stop responding.

 

[bdb13]

In my humble opinion, your method of posting has earned you the scorn you receive. You have called me many names over time. You do this every day that you post. You have done so in this very thread and other threads just over the last couple of days. You sure don’t like it when you get it back, though. I don’t generally disrespect someone unless I have been disrespected first, but I will apologize and try to do better.

You have a distinct view of the world, and could contribute to the board overall if you would engage forthrightly with your own opinions in your own words. It seems that you aren’t interested in an honest back and forth which is unfortunate. I know I have told you this before. The tenor of our posts doesn’t have to be the way it is. It may be I need to just stop responding.

 

[SaintForLife]

You do need to do a better job of following up on post. You have a pattern of dumping questionable material, and never engaging in discussion about your material. You then show up a week later to repeat this cycle.

Practically the entire board has this opinion of your behavior, are we all wrong?

I personally think you don't read half, it not most of the follow-up comments because they question your worldview. I imagine you think we are gullible sheep whose thoughts echo MSM.

You also tend to treat the board like it's a monolith of thought. This board is not a homogenous group on really any topic. MT15 can attest, we probably collective spent 10 hour of our lives debating the origins of covid on this board. You can look through the current Israel thread, and find a huge range of opinions. It's been one of the spiciest threads since the board's migration.

I also hate the MSM comments in general. Conservatives, like yourself, and yes that's what you are. It provides nothing other then to try an denigrate. I should start clapping back everytime you, or Farb make that comment with facts. The facts are: Conseratives = old, and white, Fox News = Old, and White, Fox News = MSM. You are what you hate.

I'm not following up on posts from people like you who insult me and call me dumb. You might think I'm unable to or don't want to respond to a particular post. Nope, I'm just not waisting my time on people like you and other who can't reply to my posts without insults.

I do read the replies to my post, but once again if you constantly insult me, don't expect a reply.

Anyone here who questions yall's worldview is automatically branded a troll.

That's a nice anecdote about the Covid and Isreal threads, but it's missing an important detail. If anyone here supports or supported Trump or his policies then they are considered the enemy. I never claimed yall all believed the same thing politically, but if someone doesn't fully denounce Trump here then we are constantly insulted.

I don't care if you don't like my comments about the MSM. I really don't. So when I call out the media for bias, hypocrisy, propaganda, that's just denigrating it? What do you suggest I do? Do you think the MSM is credible and not biased?

What about after reading these examples about the press?

Looking back on the coverage of Trump

<p>Seven and a half years ago, journalism began a tortured dance with Donald Trump, the man who would be the country’s forty-fifth president—first dismissing him, then embracing him as a source of ratings and clicks, then going all in on efforts to catalogue Trump as a threat to the country...

www.cjr.org

Yeah I'm aware that Fox News is part of the MSM or corporate media. I don't watch Fox News or any cable news. Local news is the only news I watch on TV.

 

[SaintForLife]

he has no intention of engaging in debate over the veracity of his sources. He repeatedly bangs the drum and then disengages as soon as someone hip checks him into the boards.

its been a pattern not only on this thread, but just about every other thread he posts in.

Greenwald WAS an award winning journalist, but now has fallen into this abyss of "MSM bad/CIA controlled" narrative that isnt really going anywhere, only to drum up clicks/views etc

The intelligence community is working 24/7 to keep this country as safe as it can possibly be, know what our adversaries ( and allies ) are doing, want to do, wish they could do etc etc. But he attempts to make them seem as some subversive outfit intent on ultimate control.

They arent.

its a tired trope he hangs his hat on repeatedly thru different topics.

If we all stop engaging this dude, his audience dwindles to 1,and he ends up talking to himself. If he truly intended on dialogue, he would have it.

But as he has shown, time and time again, he is incapable of any sort of dialogue/debate. Because he knows just how thin his argument is.

Wow, that's the 1st post I've seen from about me that didn't contain an insult. You are one of the worst with the insults and that's why I ignore your posts.

 

[SaintForLife]

In my humble opinion, your method of posting has earned you the scorn you receive. You have called me many names over time. You do this every day that you post. You have done so in this very thread and other threads just over the last couple of days. You sure don’t like it when you get it back, though. I don’t generally disrespect someone unless I have been disrespected first, but I will apologize and try to do better.

The bolded part is a lie. Why don't you pull up the names I've called you from the last few days? I'll wait.

You have a distinct view of the world, and could contribute to the board overall if you would engage forthrightly with your own opinions in your own words. It seems that you aren’t interested in an honest back and forth which is unfortunate. I know I have told you this before. The tenor of our posts doesn’t have to be the way it is. It may be I need to just stop responding.

I'm interested in an honest back and forth with people who don't insult me every post, but most of yall are incapable of that. You constantly lecture me on things that you do yourself.

 

[SaintForLife]

I'll certainly concede I've seen people go after you and level insults I find to be unnecessary and/or inappropriate.. but it also doesn't just happen in a vacuum imo and as the saying goes, styles make fights and you're a brawler as well (also just saying, I truly have difficulty a lot of the time following your posts that contain Tweets.. it's just hard for me to piece together when it's a snippet from this here in this Tweet, snippet from this in another one).

What about when others post multiple tweets in a post?

You can disagree, but I feel that I am respectful towards you by-and-large. I know I've had a post or two that were less so and I'll apologize for that now because I don't like operating like that and can admit when I'm wrong but the posts in here of mine I'm thinking about weren't personally disrespectful towards you and were just expressive of my thoughts on everything.

I agree you are very respectful and easy to have a conversation or debate with. I think we've all had some occasional posts we wish we could take back.

Personally everything for me changed with Trump post-election 2020. Didn't like him before obviously but I found most everything that transpired there to be horrific on an entirely different level. I know you disagree with the characterization, but the man facilitated a terrorist attack in his attempt to stay in power and that's just so different than anything else I've ever seen.

That's fine if you have that opinion, but I don't hate you and think you are evil for feeling that way as some people here do(not you) for conservatives or Trump supporters.

I don't like what Trump did after the election and he definitely riled up his supporters, but as yall know I don't think it's was an insurrection.

Everything changed for me when Hillary(we didn't know it was her at the time) created the Trump Russia collusion narrative and the corrupt FBI, CIA, the media and Democrats helped advance that narrative. The establishment was horrified that the populist Trump would upset their foreign policy, forever wars and enriching the military industrial complex. They knew they had to get him removed by any means necessary to make sure he didn't threaten their hegemony.

Look at what they are doing now. They want to jail Trump because they are afraid he will win again. That's banana republic kind of shirt.

Is Trump corrupt? I'm sure he is in some form, but most politicians are corrupt. But if he stops the forever war movement, secures the border, improves the economy, prevents the government from censoring social media I don't really give a shirt what he says, who he insults, or what he does as long as he's not breaking any laws.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

The bolded part is a lie. Why don't you pull up the names I've called you from the last few days? I'll wait.


I'm interested in an honest back and forth with people who don't insult me every post, but most of yall are incapable of that. You constantly lecture me on things that you do yourself.

I disagree. I've seen people engage you in honest discussion- hell, I've done it myself, and you never follow through. I know you get a lot of replies from people and you say that it's constant lectures, yet when you have the chance to follow through, you don't. When you engage, it's almost exclusively giving back what you think you are getting (whether accurate or not).

 

[cuddlemonkey]

What about when others post multiple tweets in a post?

I agree you are very respectful and easy to have a conversation or debate with. I think we've all had some occasional posts we wish we could take back.

That's fine if you have that opinion, but I don't hate you and think you are evil for feeling that way as some people here do(not you) for conservatives or Trump supporters.

I don't like what Trump did after the election and he definitely riled up his supporters, but as yall know I don't think it's was an insurrection.

Everything changed for me when Hillary(we didn't know it was her at the time) created the Trump Russia collusion narrative and the corrupt FBI, CIA, the media and Democrats helped advance that narrative. The establishment was horrified that the populist Trump would upset their foreign policy, forever wars and enriching the military industrial complex. They knew they had to get him removed by any means necessary to make sure he didn't threaten their hegemony.

Look at what they are doing now. They want to jail Trump because they are afraid he will win again. That's banana republic kind of shirt.

Is Trump corrupt? I'm sure he is in some form, but most politicians are corrupt. But if he stops the forever war movement, secures the border, improves the economy, prevents the government from censoring social media I don't really give a shirt what he says, who he insults, or what he does as long as he's not breaking any laws.

He is credibly accused of breaking laws, though, and you are excusing it as an effort to jail him because of the fear that he will win the 2024 election. The evidence appears strong. Are you willing to let these cases play out or are you going to stick to your opinion that this is just some banana republic bullshirt?

 

[MT15]

Only a CIA simp would think that any criticism of US foreign policy is Russian propaganda.

This was from yesterday. You said the above and tied it to me by saying something you think I believe. You have said that I support all wars, you have said that I support any number of things you think are bad, even though I have never said any of the things you say I have.

 

[SaintForLife]

I disagree. I've seen people engage you in honest discussion- hell, I've done it myself, and you never follow through. I know you get a lot of replies from people and you say that it's constant lectures, yet when you have the chance to follow through, you don't. When you engage, it's almost exclusively giving back what you think you are getting (whether accurate or not).

Never? That's not true. There are many factors. It could be I didnt respond because it's someone who constantly insults me, I was responding the multiple people, I didn't post for days or a week, I've said about as much as I can or want to(like this current subject), someone had moved the goalposts past the original discussion, someone is playing semantic games, lecturing me, etc.

FYI I've said about as much as I can on this subject.

 

[SaintForLife]

This was from yesterday. You said the above and tied it to me by saying something you think I believe. You have said that I support all wars, you have said that I support any number of things you think are bad, even though I have never said any of the things you say I have.

Did I call you a CIA simp? Didn't you say that you didn't think anyone who questions any foreign policy is Russian propaganda?

 

[bdb13]

That's fine if you have that opinion, but I don't hate you and think you are evil for feeling that way as some people here do(not you) for conservatives or Trump supporters.

I don't like what Trump did after the election and he definitely riled up his supporters, but as yall know I don't think it's was an insurrection.

Everything changed for me when Hillary(we didn't know it was her at the time) created the Trump Russia collusion narrative and the corrupt FBI, CIA, the media and Democrats helped advance that narrative. The establishment was horrified that the populist Trump would upset their foreign policy, forever wars and enriching the military industrial complex. They knew they had to get him removed by any means necessary to make sure he didn't threaten their hegemony.

Look at what they are doing now. They want to jail Trump because they are afraid he will win again. That's banana republic kind of shirt.

Is Trump corrupt? I'm sure he is in some form, but most politicians are corrupt. But if he stops the forever war movement, secures the border, improves the economy, prevents the government from censoring social media I don't really give a shirt what he says, who he insults, or what he does as long as he's not breaking any laws.

I wouldn't argue there's not a political aspect to it all, of course there is, but I feel you don't give close to proper credit to the severity of Trump's actions in this regard (I don't understand why you don't view it as an insurrection, for instance. I truly don't understand that - not everyone involved but by definition that's what many intended and Trump clearly was OK with seeing if he could take advantage).

I don't believe it's indicative of us living in a banana republic to attempt to hold Trump accountable for attempting to overthrow the system by preventing the lawfully elected administration from taking the office from him. If you can't go after him for that then I'm not sure what would qualify.

 

[MT15]

Did I call you a CIA simp? Didn't you say that you didn't think anyone who questions any foreign policy is Russian propaganda?

Nope never said that (ignoring your double negative because I think it’s in error). And yes, you did call me a CIA simp. I replied and you ignored the reply.

 

[SaintForLife]

He is credibly accused of breaking laws, though, and you are excusing it as an effort to jail him because of the fear that he will win the 2024 election. The evidence appears strong. Are you willing to let these cases play out or are you going to stick to your opinion that this is just some banana republic bullshirt?

Which laws are you referring to specifically? The classified documents case? What happened to the special counsel investigating Biden's classified documents problem? We haven't heard much at all about him or the case? I'm guessing he won't even get a slap on the wrist.

If Biden or Trump broke the law with the classified documents(or anything else) I have no problem with them being prosecuted, but the law has to be applied evenly. But we all know the cases will be handled differently. The Hunter Biden case is an example of that. If you support the establishment then you either won't be prosecuted or just slap on the wrist. If you oppose the establishment then the legal system will try to destroy you.

Are you seriously going to claim that none of the charges against Trump are politically motivated? Why do they insist on having multiple trials right in the most important part of the campaign?

Why won't Jack Smith give the Trump team enough time to review all the material related to the cade? Didn't Jack Smith make the ridiculous claim that the public had a right to a speedy trial? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not a real thing and it's actually the defendant has a right to a speedy trial.

Why did the NY Attorney General run her campaign on indicting Trump?

Why are democrats trying to get Trump removed from the ballot? Why wouldn't they just try to defeat him at the ballot box? Maybe because they see Biden as vulnerable and it being a real possibility that Trump wins?

 

[SaintForLife]

Nope never said that (ignoring your double negative because I think it’s in error). And yes, you did call me a CIA simp. I replied and you ignored the reply.

We can all read the posts. That's not true. I said anyone who believes any criticism of US foreign policy is Russian propaganda is a CIA simp. You said you don't believe that so it doesn't apply to you.

 

[efil4]

Wow, that's the 1st post I've seen from about me that didn't contain an insult. You are one of the worst with the insults and that's why I ignore your posts.

because i wasnt answering you directly.

ive pretty much stopped that brand of entertainment. Others can attempt to try and break your circular logic, but i have so many better things to do with my time than waste it on a guy who gets his news from twitter/tigerdroppings or whatever email news subscription you belong to.

Someone of your age has such a lack of critical thinking that you post twitter/links with NO caption, NO explanation- just the links. And then a flurry of folks reply, comment and attempt to engage and you return 5 days later with MORE Tweets/links

rinse and repeat.

You arent as "in tune" as you think you are and imo, a waste of time to engage at this point. Ill lurk to see what others are saying and engaging you with but going forward its abundantly clear to me your modus operandi.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Never? That's not true. There are many factors. It could be I didnt respond because it's someone who constantly insults me, I was responding the multiple people, I didn't post for days or a week, I've said about as much as I can or want to(like this current subject), someone had moved the goalposts past the original discussion, someone is playing semantic games, lecturing me, etc.

FYI I've said about as much as I can on this subject.

It is in my experience. For example, we were having what I thought was a reasonable and agreeable discussion in this thread a few weeks ago and when I asked you a question to find common ground as well as clarify my position, you stopped responding, but you kept on going with adversarial replies to others.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Which laws are you referring to specifically? The classified documents case? What happened to the special counsel investigating Biden's classified documents problem? We haven't heard much at all about him or the case? I'm guessing he won't even get a slap on the wrist.

If Biden or Trump broke the law with the classified documents(or anything else) I have no problem with them being prosecuted, but the law has to be applied evenly. But we all know the cases will be handled differently. The Hunter Biden case is an example of that. If you support the establishment then you either won't be prosecuted or just slap on the wrist. If you oppose the establishment then the legal system will try to destroy you.

Are you seriously going to claim that none of the charges against Trump are politically motivated? Why do they insist on having multiple trials right in the most important part of the campaign?

Why won't Jack Smith give the Trump team enough time to review all the material related to the cade? Didn't Jack Smith make the ridiculous claim that the public had a right to a speedy trial? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not a real thing and it's actually the defendant has a right to a speedy trial.

Why did the NY Attorney General run her campaign on indicting Trump?

Why are democrats trying to get Trump removed from the ballot? Why wouldn't they just try to defeat him at the ballot box? Maybe because they see Biden as vulnerable and it being a real possibility that Trump wins?

This is a prime example of the issue people have including myself). I asked you for your stance on something, and you responded with a vague false equivalency sandwiched between a dozen questions.