Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Any sign of the homophobic posts or are you happy to be a liar?

Ah, does a discussion on hypocrisy among the imperial powers upset you, I'm sorry if the real world intrudes on your carefully constructed alternative reality.

are you saying That the hack on the HSE was a hacker group in russia or russia the state that was responsible for the hack?

Kyrgyzstan vs Tajikistan both countries are former Soviet union States and both host Russian bases , similarly to Chechens they are both Muslim majority ,

Both countries border guards exchanged fire yesterday afternoon and evening after Kyrgyzstan citizens blocked a road which escalated to gunfire between border guards , leaving up to 9 dead , these also were involved in several skirmishes last year too leaving 50 dead , both countries are part of new russian security alliance , which Putin was dispatching to Kazakhstan recently ,

the mighty cso seems to be a total shambles being promoted by putin as hammer to put down protests in other countries.

(1) Clint Eastwood??? Nope. He had nothing to do with it. If you had done even a little research, you would have known that. It was in fact based on a true story, The Conscientious Objector, by Terry Benedict. The story of Pfc. Desmond T Dross, Seventh Day Adventist Christian who was a pacifist, and refused to Bear arms. It won many awards, in every department. I introduced it into the conversation concerning the Hiroshima / Nagasaki atomic bombing. Now, I suggest that before continuing this conversation, you take the time to watch it.

(2) No, I never said you ( or any one else either ) cannot have an opinion based on research etc, unless they have actually been in that Country etc. I said ( and still maintain ) that a person who has been physically in that place, is better placed to have a correct view of what transpired. Personally, I've been in places where "Events" happened, and I knew first hand what transpired, yet news reports painted a different picture, including conflicting reports.

(3) I've already answered this for you, but here it is again.....The Invasion started in 2014, and is ongoing with 14'000 dead so far ( inc friends of mine ), but the real question now is :- When will it end?

I'm not going to pretend I read through the entire thread since I last posted, but if the US invasion of Iraq was brought up it is not entirely irrelevant. It highlights how the US and it's allies in the EU and NATO are entirely willing to violate the national sovereignty of countries when it suits its own interests - even if it ultimately doesn't. Hence why people - including myself - are justifiably cynical about the US and NATO trying to construct a casus belli against Russia based on the sacred borders of Ukraine.

The reality is "the West" (really the US) has set precedents by its interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. Even the violent overthrow of the Ukrainian government in 2014 can be read as a January 6th type coup against "our democracy". If Russian policy in Chechnya, Georgia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan is fair game for criticism then certainly US/EU/NATO policy in third countries is fair game. Lets face it, we live in a world where Israel can orchestrate the assassination of an Iranian scientist, the US can assassinate an Iranian general and drone strike an innocent Afghan family including children. No one is held accountable for those state sponsored murders. Because right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. That was true 2,500 years ago and it is true now. The real dispute between the US and Russia is that the US believes it is strong and Russia is weak. Whereas Russia - rightly or wrongly - does not accept it is weak and must accept the rule of the US.

Russia has an interest in Ukraine. They exercise that interest. Let us all grow up and recognise the way the world works.

Patnor, which dick and harry are you referring to ? or is it to me? If so, then spit it out like a man, and say so. If it is, are you insinuating that all my experience / opinions only comes from holidays and watching movies....are you sure you are not describing your self patnor??? Do your holidays last 1, 2 or even 3 year's? Where do you take your "holidays" patnor? same places as I do? Syria? Afghanistan? Darfur? do tell? I'd love to share experiences with you.

As for the name calling, if you are referring to some of my reply's to MFPM, bear in mind that he was the one who introduced such derogatory terms as "Lad" " Thin Skinned" etc, And you are right about when people fail, they go straight to insults and name calling. You have just described MFPM.

I am literally quoting from the Ukrainian president:

"Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West not to create panic amid the build-up of Russian troops on his country's borders.

He told reporters that warnings of an imminent invasion were putting Ukraine's economy at risk."

"There are signals even from respected leaders of states, they just say that tomorrow there will be war. This is panic - how much does it cost for our state?" he told the press conference in Kyiv.

We live in a world where the country apparently threatened by Russian invasion believes the reports of Russian invasion are more of a threat to their country than any real Russian invasion.

Honestly - I get it. You lads hate Putin. You hate Russia. Okay. But don't pretend the warmongering against Putin/Russia is motivated by some high minded belief in Ukraine's sacred borders. Whoever wins between Russia and NATO, Ukraine loses.

@Zelensky is trying to calm the economy.

And he's right ,but also look at a lot of media currently in Ukraine , there interviewing ordinary people going to work and college everyone is pretty relaxed about the situation they are currently facing ,I haven't seen or heard from anyone currently living in Ukraine Saying they want to join Russia ,

Putin and people on here are claiming this is about nato troops and weapons on his porch ,

He's not getting worried about nato because he doesn't want a war , especially one against nato , look at the Russian military losses in Ukraine it's at 8000-10,000 similar to the Ukrainian losses ,at the same time putin had all military losses on foreign soil top secret classified , including Ukraine , Syria and Libya and elsewhere,so he can sit in Moscow and say no Russians have been killed in fighting ,

The first Russian soldiers killed in Syria were chalked down to suicides not in combat despite getting blown up by anti Assad forces ,

In Chechnya they lost over 120,000 soldiers in the two wars, according to Moscow their memorial states only 4000 lost in the two wars , Afghanistan they suffered even heavier losses including over 300 aircraft and crew's ,

So imagine a war against well trained and equipped countries with combined forces I reckon the Russian losses would be staggering , especially in Europe and the Balkans , being Iraq and Afghanistan has has been brought up by others ,what's Americas losses over 20 years in combat ,it's not even close to what Russia lost in fairly short localised conflicts bar Afghanistan

Russian losses in recent conflicts have been high. I read that 75% of Soviet personnel sent there ended up in hospital at some point.

In Ukraine they were using freezer trucks to transport the dead to be dumped in unmarked graves.

Families were told sons and fathers had been sent over seas on secret missions to protect Russia , when in fact they were killed ukraine ,

Putin has made a serious error of judgement this time. Biden had a name when he was in the Senate for being a formidable deal maker. He has shown his skills again. He has Putin all over the place.

Putin amassed an army on the Ukrainian border. He taught with his control of gas he could neutralise, Europe and force his terms on Ukraine. His demand that neither Sweden or Finland could join NATO was an attack on there sovereignity. Neither accepted that.

He united NATO behind Biden. Biden then caught Putin off guard. He went on the offensive. Putin had being hinting about an invasion since autumn. So Biden got Boris to confirm it and went on the offensive. Suddenly instead of Putin dictating events it was Biden dictating events. His counter bluff of putting his Navy on excerises off Ireland as a way of pointing to what he taught was a back door to attack Europe was laughable.

The French and UK airforce will patrol the Atlantic with a few nuclear powered subs as well. The US and Denmark have parked a few fighter jets in Estonia. They activated the 60k rapid response unit and probably have them on the Russian border at this stage

Check mate.

So now if Putin farts he not sure what will happen. If he pull back troops he is humiliated and will lose a lot of political kudos both internally and externally. If he attacks the weakness of the Russian economy will visible it's dependance on energy sale to Europe. While 650 million in Foreign reserves seems huge it's only about 4.5k/ head of population in Russia.

Putin has been squandering the wealth from energy sales. He cannot afford a long drawn out standoff. He cannot afford to invade and he cannot afford to back down.

Joe Biden is no Donald Trump or Barack Obama. That is the mistake Putin made. He follows the Roosevelt stragety '' walk softly and carry a big stick''.