LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — For a month now, Russian forces have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian medical facilities [...] with at least 34 assaults — War Crimes Watch: Russia's onslaught on Ukrainian hospitals (Mar 26, 2022)
That has happened many times. Which is the good thing here. And that's why it's largely hypothetical the idea of "escalate-to-de-escalate" and the whole debate about the use of nuclear weapons is hypothetical. The use of let's say conventional ballistic missiles isn't: there in use, actually with both side in the Ukraine conflict.Mutually Assured Commitment to Chickening out? — FreeEmotion
It's not just a moral question and when all war is morally wrong, I guess total disarmament is morally correct.Is there anything "morally wrong" about total disarmament? I am missing something here. — FreeEmotion
On an unrelated note, the new narrative is hilarious. All the stalling out and counter attacks are actually part of a grand strategy.
— Count Timothy von Icarus
Not only entirely possible, but very likely. Putin's Russia has already moved a lot into the realm of Soviet style information policy and narrative.t is entirely possible that at the end (if there is an end) the Russians will declare that their goal was always whatever it is that they will have decided to settle on, and that will be it. — SophistiCat
The number of political prisoners in Russia today is nearly five times higher than it was five years ago, according to the latest report from the Memorial Human Rights Center. Activists began maintaining a list of Russian political prisoners in the late 2000s, and for a long time it was made up of a few dozen names. But this tally has increased sharply since 2015. Today, the country has 420 political prisoners and is poised to catch up to the numbers seen during the twilight years of the USSR.
I'm not Russian, nor talking to any Russians. Why would I morally condemn them? This is a discussion forum, not a socialising site. You're not 'getting to know me better' by my writing a little puff piece about all the things I like and dislike. — Isaac
Morally - People have implied (outright said in some cases) that 'the West' bears no responsibility for what's happening. I think that's morally wrong, so I oppose it. No one has said that Putin's is blameless, so there's no cause for me to write anything morally condemnatory about him. — Isaac
Strategically - Again, no one has commented to the effect that we should not take America's strategic interests seriously, so there's no cause to write anything to the effect that we should. People have, however, treated Putin as if he were a psychopath with no legitimate security interests, I think that's wrong so I oppose it. — Isaac
For people on the outside, the depth of denial, absurdity and cynicism in the official rhetoric may be difficult to fathom, but here is just one example. One of the principle justifications for the war (which cannot be called a war) was and remains the "genocide" of the Russian people in the separatist Donbass. Apparently, the public is more receptive to this narrative than to others, and so propagandists put it front and center (for example, when talking about the not-war to schoolchildren). But contrary to what one might expect, this narrative was almost entirely absent from the public sphere until about two weeks before the invasion, when suddenly it was being blasted out of every TV set. Neither actual numbers nor the record of news stories and official statements over the past several years bear it out. And yet it appears that this jarring switch went unnoticed by many. In true Orwellian fashion, a sizable number of people (according to some surveys) now believe that a genocide has been ongoing all these years. — SophistiCat
On Wednesday, a donor conference in Geneva aimed at raising funds for Yemen ended with world leaders pledging little more than a quarter of the target amount.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said he was “deeply disappointed”. “More people are in need this year in Yemen than in 2021. More lives will be lost. More children will starve … yet somehow, we will have less money to support them. World leaders must not allow this to happen.
“The people of Yemen need the same level of support and solidarity that we’ve seen for the people of Ukraine. Especially as the crisis in Europe will dramatically impact Yemenis’ access to food and fuel, making an already dire situation even worse. We need to step up now to avoid thousands more dying from hunger.” — https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/17/aid-agencies-race-food-to-ukraine-cities-kyiv-kharkiv-dnipro
To think strategically or morally about this war doesn’t require you to be Russian, nor to talk to Russians. So your question is grounded on a non-sequitur. — neomac
if you can not affect directly their choices (assumed you could just by being Russian or speaking to Russians), you could affect them indirectly by promoting western governments’ decision to support Ukrainian defense — neomac
it sounds contradictory wrt your further claim: this is a discussion forum, so we can discuss things just for the sake of discussing them. — neomac
And what are the moral principles or the moral values wrt which the West has infringed and therefore should bear responsibility for the Russian aggression of Ukraine? — neomac
if the West did something morally wrong, why isn’t the West being attacked by the Russians — neomac
That people are treating Putin as a psychopath should be welcome if it advances western strategic interests, unless of course you are against advancing Western strategic interests. Are you? — neomac
what do you mean by “legitimate security interests”? — neomac
why are you so convinced that Putin acted primarily out of security concerns? — neomac
How can a non-nuclear power as Ukraine constitue a threat for a nuclear power like Russia in the first place? — neomac
BTW if he so afraid of Russian national security why is he so quick and vocal in menacing the West to escalate to a nuclear war when nobody in the West or Ukraine is planning to attack Russia? — neomac
why did he limit his demands to the denial of NATO membership to Ukraine, and the acknowledgement of the annexation of Crimea as well as the independence of a couple of Ukrainian regions instead of going for the annexation of the whole Ukraine or at least for a pro-Russian regime change to ensure that no other competing power could turn Ukraine against Russia? — neomac
economic ties would have been sufficient to preserve peaceful relations between EU and Russia — neomac
all he’s proven with his war against Ukraine is that he’s willing to take military action if lobbying doesn’t suffice to reach his ambitious strategic goals that certainly go beyond national security concerns. — neomac
And what does it translates into, under the circumstances? What policy prescriptions do you make (or not make) as a result? — Olivier5
Switzerland is surrounded by EU countries that likely won't invade it or militarily pressure it. Why would it need it's army? Well, the argument is that we cannot know what the future brings us and once you have disbanded your deterrence, hard to get it back. Similar with nuclear weapons. If someone accepts to disarm totally the nuclear arsenal and then simply lies and others go through with it. — ssu
That has happened many times. Which is the good thing here. And that's why it's largely hypothetical the idea of "escalate-to-de-escalate". — ssu
U.S. adversaries—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and terrorist groups—will likely remain constant, but U.S. allies are liable to change, and the location of where the United States is most likely to fight wars may not match the locations where conflicts could be most dangerous to U.S. interests.
Above all, barring any radical attempt to alter the trajectory, the United States in 2030 could progressively lose the initiative to dictate strategic outcomes and to shape when and why the wars of the future occur.
whataboutism
/ˌwɒtəˈbaʊtɪz(ə)m/
nounBRITISH — Wayfarer
Minister Cavusoglu and I also discussed Turkey´s ongoing operation in Northern Syria … Turkey has legitimate security concerns … Turkey is a great power in this great region and with great power comes great responsibility… - NATO Joint press conference, 11 Oct. 2019
When someone points out that the 'Russia's war is going disastrously' narrative might not be entirely accurate — Baden
It's a long process for countries to change their views of others from "possible enemy" to friend. Now many politicians indeed can have "peacenick" ideas, but it takes a while before the militaries themselves have "peacenick" ideas.Tell me, if you and your best friend were presidents of two opposing nuclear powers, how would you approach the subject? Total disarmament? "I found president X very disarming" or would you plan for the day one or both were replaced my madmen, 'neocons' or imperialists? Would you win any elections. I don't think there will be any peacenick presidents in our future. — FreeEmotion
I follow where the evidence leads. — Baden
(Forbes) Ukraine has lost at least 74 tanks—destroyed or captured—since Russia widened its war on the country starting the night of Feb. 23.
But Ukraine has captured at least 117 Russian tanks, according to open-source-intelligence analysts who scrutinize photos and videos on social media.
In other words, the Ukrainian army might actually have more tanks now than a month ago—all without building a single brand-new tank or pulling some older vehicle out of storage.
The Russians meanwhile have captured at least 37 Ukrainian tanks—a sum inadequate to compensate for the roughly 274 tanks it is believed to have lost to all causes.
The disparity in captured tanks speaks to Russia’s lack of preparation for a high-intensity war against a determined foe. But it also speaks to the advantages any defender possesses over any attacker.
They've been pushed back from the vicinity of Kyiv, in the first successful large Ukrainian counter-offensive. — Olivier5
After that, that is to say, if they and the Ukrainians can both last that long, then either they launch general conscription, use chemical weapons, or sign a peace treaty under significant military pressure. — Olivier5
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