Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I am sorry, but how is this the top comment on thejournal. I have never met an Irish person in real life who speaks like that

We are not allowed to send text-messages without a number. People realised the chaos if this was the case. It seems to me that a lot of social media’s problems could be solved with identification of an individual. I cannot go on the street , espousing heinous views or committing crime in a complete clandestine number. We need a robust passport system for travelling. I cannot understand why we do not need the same process and identification for posting.

For all anybody knows, I could be writing this from the end of the world, with a nefarious political agenda. Or I could be some random Irish person, writing this from my place in Dublin. Truth is, there is no way to tell. That is a problem. There is no way to accurately assess my motivation behind such an opinion

I don't buy the west as being the "better devil". I think there is plenty of evidence to show they are dragging the world into a bad place. You only have to look at how America's society is being pulled apart at the seams, to see that their vision of the future is not working. Yet we are too arrogant to see our own faults in the west.

I do think Putin has some altruistic goals for his own country and the wider region. But he obviously has to wade through an ocean of corruption to get anything done in the post soviet Russia and wider a field. As a result, he is far from squeaky clean himself. He does recognize the real face of the west, however, which gives him a unique vantage point as an outsider looking in. I think he learns from western mistakes, probably better than any other leader around currently.

they expressed interest in joining NATO in the 90's (along with the EU).

They made formal notification of intent to join in 2002.

Everyone on the Russian side like to gloss over these facts and try to make out this is just a new development pushed by the US.

Proclaim to be Irish , enjoy freedom and independence , democracy , freedom of speech ,

Then declare Ukraine or other Sovereign states have not the right to the same freedoms and choices,

It's like they want the Ukrainians to be punished for wanting away from Russia

Sorry but that's a bit of a bad strawman. There's a lot of mental gymnastics going on here I've noticed.

Russia has invaded Georgia and Ukraine (by proxy). Moscow has demonstrated beyond any doubt it has aggressive designs for Ukraine, no one can deny that. However if Ukraine joins NATO then it will become much more difficult for Putin to implement those aggressive designs on the country. Therefore he is threatening to invade Ukraine, a sovereign nation (in irony you can't invent). Because it wants to join a defensive pact that has never attacked Russia.

It's amazing to see individuals not just avoid criticising Putin over this but using all sorts of dodgy reasoning to actually validate it.

I remember when NATO unilaterally bombed Serbia, then later recognized the independence of "Kosovo", a small break away region.

That undermined rules based international order and has set the precedent for Georgia and Ukraine.

I have sympathy for the Ukrainian people who are stuck in the middle of this tug-of-war. But not the leadership who brought their nation to this point in history.

You cannot expect Russia to just sit back forever, and accept US domination in their back yard.

The Russians take "not one inch eastward" as their rightful justification for protecting their region. America are not a force for good in the world, so I don't really see why anyone would be pushing for greater US interference in Eastern Europe.

If you want peace in your region, a good rule of thumb is to get rid of the yanks. That's an excellent starting point pretty much anywhere in the world. Their foreign interventions have been an unmitigated disaster for many decades now. Putin is trying his best to play his part in booting them out the door, but the big fat glutinous yanks are not the easiest bunch to shift.... we all need to play our part in telling them to get lost, and mind their own business.

Sorry if I laid it on a bit thick there, with some of you yank ar$e lickers and BidenBots. 🤣

My shower broke down this morning. Damn Americans. It’s their fault. It was sold to me by a company that does most of its trade with America. America should have made tougher regulations to prevent them manufacturing and selling me crappy equipment. I had to work overtime last week. Damn Americans! It’s their fault, promoting the capitalist environment. My partner upset me by forgetting Valentine’s. Damn Americans! It’s their fault! They peddled an arbitrary commercial holiday. If it wasn’t for them it wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t be upset! Damn America indeed

@BluePlanet I remember when NATO unilaterally bombed Serbia, then later recognized the independence of "Kosovo", a small break away region.

Did they just randomly decide to bomb them or was there something else going on ....????

Besides isn't putin currently in the middle of trying to destabilise the situation in Serbia

certain people are attracted to the notion of authoritarian figures. They have a romanticised notion of one voice and no dissent. They imagine that cohesion will follow. There will be a benevolent leader, driving the country forward. Problem is that absolute power corrupts. That one person leading the country will set their agenda to suit their needs. Democracy is the worst of all systems if you exclude the rest.

So many people consistently self-sabotage. The very people who are getting an education for their kids, attending a hospital, being allowed to bitch about the government on Boards, feed their family and travel freely will extol the virtues of a dictatorship.

Did we get the list of big bad weapons the Russians were planning to park in Ukraine at all ?????