How Odd Is Putin's Russia?

[Heyo]

Biden hasn't carried out an unprovoked attack against a democratic nation nor is he responsible for any war crimes or violation of human rights. He also hasn't jailed, poisoned, or "disappeared" any political critics/rivals. Why embarrass yourself by making such ridiculous comparisons that no intelligent person would ever take seriously?

At least Biden didn't start a new war as President. But saying he isn't responsible for any war crimes or violations of human rights is a lie. He voted for the Iraq war, he hasn't closed Guantanamo yet and he didn't exactly work hard against it.
Putin is the Monster of the Week because his immoral actions are the latest to occur in the news. Give Biden the chance and next weeks monster may be him.

 

[Aupmanyav]

How is a self-defensive measure "provocation"? Do women "provoke" rapists by carrying mace?

You did not answer to what I had written after the first sentence and changed the topic.

 

[Aupmanyav]

One has a problematic history (e.g., voting for the Iraq War) but is otherwise currently restrained and not aggressive (so far, at least); the other is a bona fide war criminal and expansionist dictator who has repeatedly threatened to use nukes in a reckless and irresponsible manner.

Adding countries to NATO is a provocation to Russia. It was, as someone mentioned, promised that NATO will not expand in East.

 

[SalixIncendium]

**MOVED TO POLITICAL DEBATES**​

 

[Twilight Hue]

Biden hasn't carried out an unprovoked attack against a democratic nation nor is he responsible for any war crimes or violation of human rights. He also hasn't jailed, poisoned, or "disappeared" any political critics/rivals. Why embarrass yourself by making such ridiculous comparisons that no intelligent person would ever take seriously?

Ask the common Afghanistan citizen what they think.

 

[Twilight Hue]

At least Biden didn't start a new war as President. But saying he isn't responsible for any war crimes or violations of human rights is a lie. He voted for the Iraq war, he hasn't closed Guantanamo yet and he didn't exactly work hard against it.
Putin is the Monster of the Week because his immoral actions are the latest to occur in the news. Give Biden the chance and next weeks monster may be him.

Biden already is responsible for destroying the lives of many Afghanistans. He left them to the terrorists to do with them however they pleased.

 

[Heyo]

Biden already is responsible for destroying the lives of many Afghanistans. He left them to the terrorists to do with them however they pleased.

That's a thing I don't hold against Biden. Trump brokered the deal with the Taliban and Biden managed to get a one time delay. Trying to delay further could have resulted in attacks on US troops. And even with temporary bad outcomes, in the long run it is always better not to occupy another country.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yuk were they actually playing that, or was it just overlayed on the video?

I'm pretty sure that the Imperial March
was added by the youtuber.

 

[Revoltingest]

Actually Putin walks like that from the KGB days where he carried a submachine gun for which one arm was kept at the ready as he walked.

That from what I hear about it.

He's likely always armed wherever he goes I suspect, albiet it's probably a pistol now.

Still, I gotta admit the Putin walk is pretty cool.

Darth Vader or otherwise.

That's a popular theory....prolly one that Putin spread.
But I know many people who carried & still carry guns.
No one...not one walks with such a strange gait.
Some infirmity is more likely.

 

[Revoltingest]

The U.S. under Biden is probably at its most timid since at least 1991. He even withdrew arguably prematurely from Afghanistan.

Regarding Afghanistan, don't confuse timidity with recognizing
reality, & abandoning a lost cause. Biden did what needed
to be done.
2 decades ago, we went there to fix that ****hole country.
A decade ago, Obama promised to exit. He stayed & surged.
Trump had a schedule to get us out. But he stayed.
Everyone thought the Afghan government could resist the
Taliban if we left. Its rapid collapse was a complete surprise.
Would another 20 years finally fix people who wouldn't even
defend their own country? Nah. But even if it would work,
would it be worth the cost? Nah.

It's a common criticism that people died because we left.
But had we stayed, it would be a common criticism that
people continue dying because we won't leave.
Don't criticize choosing one option without considering the
consequences of the other.

 

[Revoltingest]

America is a very odd place.

Did you watch the video?
Or is it about whataboutism to defend Putin?

It seems that on RF, any criticism of Putin or Russia
immediately deflects to sins of Ameristan. Does this
hatred run so deep that even the invasion of Ukraine,
the slaughter of civilians, the bombing of homes is
defended thus?

 

[pearl]

I'm not sure what song they would play. Of course, we play "Hail to the Chief" in the U.S.

Loved that movie. Notice, seemingly bumbling, they won.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Russia Hits Ukraine Capital Kyiv With Long-Range Weapons After Flagship Sunk: 10 Facts
If Ukraine wanted peace, it should not have done that.

 

[Estro Felino]

Regarding Afghanistan, don't confuse timidity with recognizing
reality, & giving up on a lost cause. Biden just did what needed
to be done.
2 decades ago, we went there to fix that ****hole country.
A decade ago, Obama promised to exit. He stayed & surged.
Trump had a schedule to get us out. But he stayed.
Everyone thought the Afghan government could resist the
Taliban if we left. It's rapid collapse was a complete surprise.
Would another 20 years finally fix people who wouldn't even
defend their own country? Nah. But even if it would work,
would it be worth the cost? Nah.

I agree.

 

[Revoltingest]

I agree.

Agreeing with me is such a
winning view, hence the frubal.

 

[Heyo]

That's a popular theory....prolly one that Putin spread.
But I know many people who carried & still carry guns.
No one...not one walks with such a strange gait.
Some infirmity is more likely.

Then he would have had that infirmity for years. It's nothing new.
What's new is that he's acting irrational and seems to be badly informed. There are also people who have analysed videos and it seems he may hide tremors in both his legs and right hand.

 

[Revoltingest]

Russia Hits Ukraine Capital Kyiv With Long-Range Weapons After Flagship Sunk: 10 Facts
If Ukraine wanted peace, it should not have done that.

Self defense is always such an immoral thing, eh.
When attacked, tis best to avoid violence...just give up,
submit to aggression, & give up property & freedom.
Just who do those silly Ukrainians think they are,
denying Putin what he desires?

 

[lukethethird]

I addressed this in my previous response: the subject is the U.S. under Biden, not under previous administrations. I don't think the U.S. is currently the same as Putin's Russia in terms of military aggression and violent threat to other countries.

My posts contain extensive criticism of U.S. foreign policy and military adventurism, but under Biden's leadership, there hasn't been any military aggression on other countries by the U.S.

I don't know what is worse, Putin invading Ukraine or Biden's escalation of the situation by sending billions of dollars worth of arms to Ukraine to fight a proxy war wherein Ukraine is the sacrificial lamb.

 

[metis]

No more than Biden's USA.

Nonsense, as that's a "false equivalency".

 

[Stevicus]

Regarding Afghanistan, don't confuse timidity with recognizing
reality, & abandoning a lost cause. Biden did what needed
to be done.
2 decades ago, we went there to fix that ****hole country.

No, we didn't go there to fix the country. We went there to get Osama Bin Laden as our pound of flesh for 9/11. It turned out he was in Pakistan, which is where they got him. Once he was gone, there was no longer any reason for the U.S. to remain in Afghanistan, based on the original pretext of that mission.

We could have (and should have) pulled out right then and there, and there would have been no loss of face and no perceptions of timidity in doing so.

It was because we stayed. That was the mistake, just like maintaining NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall was also a mistake.

A decade ago, Obama promised to exit. He stayed & surged.
Trump had a schedule to get us out. But he stayed.
Everyone thought the Afghan government could resist the
Taliban if we left. Its rapid collapse was a complete surprise.

It was a complete surprise to those of us in the United States who were being fed misinformation about what we were doing there and what was going on in that country. It should not have been a surprise to Biden or the US military/intel leadership, who were in the best position to know what was going on, since they were the ones there in Afghanistan. If it was a surprise to them, then that's a testament to their incompetence and ignorance.

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when people try to pretend to know what they're doing when they really don't. Our government is famous for that, leading us from one disaster to the next, all the while saying "Trust us, we're government experts, we know what we're doing."

Would another 20 years finally fix people who wouldn't even
defend their own country? Nah. But even if it would work,
would it be worth the cost? Nah.

It's a common criticism that people died because we left.
But had we stayed, it would be a common criticism that
people continue dying because we won't leave.
Don't criticize choosing one option without considering the
consequences of the other.

That's not the common criticism. The common criticism is hypocrisy, mendacity, incompetence, and widespread ignorance of the outside world. If we truly made an honest effort to do good and failed, there might still be criticism, but the public would be more forgiving. But it's when they lie and try to BS their way through things - that's when the criticism becomes more severe and harsh.