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

 

[donato]

strong words

Shut up, Mitt. #MUGA

 

[superchuck500]

Look at this raging idiot

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

Look at this raging idiot

What does that even mean?

 

[brandon]

What does that even mean?

Poorly executed mad lib.

 

[SamAndreas]

Look at this raging idiot

To comment I would have to upset the board's cuss filter.

 

[donato]

The first comment to him is hilarious.

 

[bdb13]

This was from Tucker Carlson on freaking Wednesday

Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington have told you it's your patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin. It's not a suggestion. It's a mandate. Anything less than hatred for Putin is treason.

Many Americans have obeyed this directive. They now dutifully hate Vladimir Putin. Maybe you're one of them. Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America's foreign policy. It's the main thing that we talk about. Entire cable channels are now devoted to it. Very soon, that hatred of Vladimir Putin could bring the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe.

Before that happens, it might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs?

Tucker Carlson: Americans have been trained to hate Putin, and will suffer because of it

Tucker Carlson reacts to the latest developments in Ukraine, and says all Americans will suffer because of Biden's policies.

www.foxnews.com

What a pathetic American existing and leading as an open apologist for Putin.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Fox's message is slowly transitioning from pro-Putin to 'Biden is weak.' I do appreciate that Marco Rubio is at least handling things objectively and not falling all over himself trying to criticize Biden like other Trump nut-huggers. Lindsey Graham is pretty neutral, too, but that's because his biggest benefactor -- Lockheed Martin -- manufactures Javelins. 'Follow the money' never stops being true.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Look at this raging idiot

Of course it would be an asshat from Louisiana

 

[Optimus Prime]

That Tucker is a piece of work

I suppose trying to echo Muhammad Ali’s famous Vietcong quote
=======================

…..“Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?” Carlson said as he then recited a rightwing tip sheet of pet causes.

“Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity?”

Just over 24 hours later, Putin effectively declared war on Ukraine.

Carlson was roundly condemned, but he wasn’t alone. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s sometime adviser turned podcast host, has praised Putin for being “anti-woke”, for not flying pride flags, and for his hostility to trans people.

Charlie Kirk, a rightwing media personality and the founder of Turning Points USA, suggested Putin felt emboldened by “energy policies that Joe Biden put forward”.

“Could it be that Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio actually might be to blame for what Vladimir Putin is doing?” Kirk asked on his eponymous internet show……..

Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin

The Fox News host has defended the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine, saying ‘Has Putin ever called me a racist?’

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

I saw a tweet from Adam Kinzinger saying that Carlson is essentially telling his audience that Putin isn’t their problem, their fellow Americans are the ones they should hate.

It’s as despicable as Tokyo Rose. More so, actually.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

As a side note it's fairly reprehensible that India -- because of its reliance on Russia -- is basically selling out the teachings of Gandhi and implicitly taking Russia's side in this.

 

[SystemShock]

As a side note it's fairly reprehensible that India -- because of its reliance on Russia -- is basically selling out the teachings of Gandhi and implicitly taking Russia's side in this.

... and hopefully this will alert the U.S. to start moving their tech out of India.

But who am Kidding...

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

 

[wardorican]

Look at this raging idiot

Millennials are 26-41.... give or take a year, depending on the source.

 

[Neworleansfan]

Look at this raging idiot

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Could it be anymore apparent that Trump and Putin use the same playbook of pitching outlandish conspiracy theories? Trump is America's Putin. I have no idea why any rational-thinking person could not realize it.

 

[UriUT]

This was published 2 days into the war and has since been removed. They assumed it would be quick and the essay was to be a victory celebration. Not surprisingly, the essay reflects what Putin was rambling before the invasion: that Ukraine wasn't really a nation. And strangely enough, the argument sounds suspiciously similar to what China can use for an invasion of Taiwan. (CNN interviewed Max Seddon and he reference this article)

A new world is being born before our eyes. Russia's military operation in Ukraine has ushered in a new era - and in three dimensions at once. And of course, in the fourth, internal Russian. Here begins a new period both in ideology and in the very model of our socio-economic system - but this is worth talking about separately a little later.

The first would always be the complex of a divided people, the complex of national humiliation - when the Russian house first lost part of its foundation (Kiev), and then was forced to come to terms with the existence of two states, not one, but two peoples. That is, either to abandon their history, agreeing with the insane versions that "only Ukraine is the real Russia," or to gnash one's teeth helplessly, remembering the times when "we lost Ukraine." Returning Ukraine, that is, turning it back to Russia, would be more and more difficult with every decade - recoding, de-Russification of Russians and inciting Ukrainian Little Russians against Russians would gain momentum.

https://archive.is/NBUIj#selection-3609.0-3617.223

use google translate if you're using chrome.