Ukraine

[Bryn]

I'm cynical about any appendage of the US government being non-partisan and 100% factual. In fact during the Trump administration VoA became perhaps more politicised than ever, as this Seattle Times editorial alludes to. I've no reason to believe it has suddenly become whiter-than-white since the Biden administration ousted former Trump loyalists.

I share your mistrust of VoA. Its history is pretty dire.

[oddoneout]

I was thinking more of re-population!

One man can serve many mistresses... or wives if polygamy seems more acceptable.
Apart from that I'm sure the womenfolk can probably manage pretty well.

[eighthobstruction]

I'm cynical about any appendage of the US government being non-partisan and 100% factual. In fact during the Trump administration VoA became perhaps more politicised than ever, as this Seattle Times editorial alludes to. I've no reason to believe it has suddenly become whiter-than-white since the Biden administration ousted former Trump loyalists.

yes...#483 was a 'cut and paste' just intended to highlight it was VOA....glad to hear the Trump loyalists have been ousted....

[french frank]

I share your mistrust of VoA. Its history is pretty dire.

The link was not actually to VoA itself but to Polygraph.info which is a referenced fact-checking site owned by VoA. The article links to a variety of different sources such as Associated Press, Inform Napalm, Meduza, Vox, Takie Dela (in Russian), Daily Beast. It took a statement made by the Russian Ministry of Defence "The Russian Defense Ministry stated that only officers and contractors are participating in the military operation in Ukraine" [i.e. no conscripts] and referenced sources suggesting this was untrue. Alternatively you can believe the Russian Ministry of Defence or disbelieve both (if you think it's possible for both to be wrong at the same time).

[Jazzrook]

Chris Morris ~ 'War':

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=r3BO6GP9NMY

JR

[RichardB]

Chris Morris ~ 'War'

That was one of the first things that came to my mind two weeks ago.

[Historian]

Why have the 'friends' of Ukraine apparently failed to provide its forces with the means to sink Russian war vessels off the coast of their country?

Effective anti-shipping missiles are rather more difficult to transfer than the more portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons which have been sent to the Ukraine. The Ukrainians would also have to have a secure place to set up such missiles without being detected by Russian countermeasures and destroyed before they could be used.

[Bella Kemp]

Presumably Mr Putin knows that he has already lost this war. He may be able to install a puppet government at some stage, but having failed in his hopes for a swift victory and having murdered or displaced so many Ukrainians he will face an insurgency that will bog down his armies for decades - or until he is deposed. He is a spent force, Western liberal democracy has been strengthened. There will be weeks, or months, of horror yet, but we can now see that it is certain that the future for democracy is more secure than it has ever been.

[teamsaint]

Presumably Mr Putin knows that he has already lost this war. He may be able to install a puppet government at some stage, but having failed in his hopes for a swift victory and having murdered or displaced so many Ukrainians he will face an insurgency that will bog down his armies for decades - or until he is deposed. He is a spent force, Western liberal democracy has been strengthened. There will be weeks, or months, of horror yet, but we can now see that it is certain that the future for democracy is more secure than it has ever been.

Democracy is facing a raft of far reaching , serious challenges, many hastened by the pandemic.

https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/democracy-faces-perfect-storm-world-becomes-more-authoritarian

Whether or not Putin achieves any or all of his aims, there are big battles ahead inside democracies esp in area such as civil liberties, digital ID, digital currency, big tech censorship and so on.
And all the while China sits on the sidelines looking ever more powerful.
I fear that democracy has a hard time for some time ahead.

Back to Ukraine, and it is still hard to find any serious commentary on what his long term ambitions are. One might think that his recent offer on Crimea and the two republics would be a serious hint.

[french frank]

Back to Ukraine, and it is still hard to find any serious commentary on what his long term ambitions are. One might think that his recent offer on Crimea and the two republics would be a serious hint.

It's still difficult to interpret anything he says as reflecting 'his long-term ambitions'. He's telling his domestic audience that the special operation is designed to protect the Russian population of Donbas from persecution and to 'deNazify' the country.

In terms of dialogue with the Western powers, I was under the impression that Macron, Johnson and Biden (and Scholz?) had all had one-on-one talks with Putin and that NATO had not intervened, without there being any let-up in Russian attacks. If we see the EU talking (again) about joint defence, is that aggression on the part of the West when they should be … in dialogue?

[oddoneout]

What increasingly worries me is that I'm not convinced that Putin has much in the way of strategy/plan/ambition now. I get the feeling his original idea hasn't worked out as he intended or expected and he is just lashing out in all directions - partly because he can and possibly also from some sort of dog in manger attitude - if Russia/Putin can't have Ukraine then he'll destroy it physically so that neither can anyone else. Is he even fully rational currently?

[Dave2002]

Democracy is facing a raft of far reaching , serious challenges, many hastened by the pandemic.

https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/democracy-faces-perfect-storm-world-becomes-more-authoritarian

Whether or not Putin achieves any or all of his aims, there are big battles ahead inside democracies esp in area such as civil liberties, digital ID, digital currency, big tech censorship and so on.
And all the while China sits on the sidelines looking ever more powerful.
I fear that democracy has a hard time for some time ahead.

I tend to think that "democracy" is the best of a rather bad choice of possibilities.

[Serial_Apologist]

I tend to think that "democracy" is the best of a rather bad choice of possibilities.

Just been watching one of my old VHS tapes: "Five Steps to Tyranny" - a BBC documentary looking at how blind obedience can take root in individuals and whole communities, leading to dictatorships and ordinary people prepared to do terrible things to other ordinary people. Very instructive.

[Bryn]

Just been watching one of my old VHS tapes: "Five Steps to Tyranny" - a BBC documentary looking at how blind obedience can take root in individuals and whole communities, leading to dictatorships and ordinary people prepared to do terrible things to other ordinary people. Very instructive.

[muzzer]

Just in case nobody has already posted ‘the first casualty of war is the truth’, I do so now, and pray for all those caught up in this tragedy. And I’m agnostic by faith.