Russian Foreign Policy
- Thread starter Purple
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This is equivocating in the face of dead children and you should be ashamed.
For me the first place to look, if not draw a line is at the actions of 'our side'. It is easy to see the mote in the eye of the other.
The attack on Iraq was launched by The US, the UK, Australia and Poland. These are countries with which we have much in common, where our young people travel to live and work. Whose politicians often boast of their Irish Heritage. We allowed US planes to refuel in Shannon on their way to bomb Iraq.
These are 'our side' in a way that Russia is not. Calling out the abominations off Russia is easy, but hypocritical from a country that didn't protest when our side was bombing civilians.
But hey lets join NATO
Baby boomer
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Absolutely not. I doubt if there ever has been a war that didn't result in dead children. That doesn't mean that all wars are equally moral/immoral because they (almost inevitably) kill children. There is a world of difference between the deliberate targeting of civilians that we've seen from Russia in recent weeks, and drone strikes on military targets that may also - as an unintended effect - kill small numbers of civilians.
One approach seeks to maximize civilian casualties as a deliberate, intimidatory tactic of war. The other seeks to minimize civilian casualties. (Admittedly, perhaps with an eye on PR but still a huge difference.)
The Allies killed 60,000 French civilians during the Second World War. They were not targeting civilians. If they were targeting civilians then the 600,000 tonnes of bombs they dropped would have been dropped on different targets.
American Friendly Fire killed more British troops during the First Gulf War than the Iraqis did. That was not the intention of the Americans. The net effect was almost certainly fewer British deaths as Americas overwhelming firepower shortened the war considerably.
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They were not bombing civilians. Civilians were killed when they were bombing other primary targets.
There were certainly incidents where civilians were killed by accident. The Haska Meyna incident in 2008 in which 3 American bombs killed 47 members of a wedding party, including the bride and a large number of children, sticks in my memory.
Certainly, the impotent are pure.
Remember at the start of this war putin tried to justify it by saying that ukraine was not a real nation and was really part of russia. He blamed the bolsheviks and Lenin for giving ukraine statehood . In fact he blamed a lot of things that he didn't like on the communists. However what he seemed to overlook is how would this dissing of Lenin and communism be received in China.
I doubt the Chinese are too impressed with that seen as communism and Lenin are still the basis of the Chinese system . Didn't they used to have the infamous communist banners featuring Mao, marx and Lenin?
Putin so consumed in his imperialist justification never thought about that
I doubt the Chinese are too impressed with that seen as communism and Lenin are still the basis of the Chinese system . Didn't they used to have the infamous communist banners featuring Mao, marx and Lenin?
Putin so consumed in his imperialist justification never thought about that
More sobering analysis of the military situation from Tom Clonan in the Journal.
All hinges on the upcoming battles in the east.
www.thejournal.ie
All hinges on the upcoming battles in the east.
Tom Clonan: Russia has pivoted to regenerate a major offensive on the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts
Security analyst Tom Clonan writes about how the Russian forces have taken out their frustrations on the civilian population.
www.thejournal.ie
The U.S. has given #Ukraine 7,000 Javelin ATGMs in recent months -- which is 1/3 of the entire American stock & will take 1+yr to replace. Also 2,000 Stingers -- 1/4 of the U.S. inventory, which'll take 5yrs to replace. Is this supply sustainable?
Baby boomer
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Surely production can be ramped up rapidly. It must have occurred to both the military, and their suppliers, that a war would deplete stocks and that urgent replacements would be required.
Every precision engineering company and PCB manufacturer in the world is extremely busy, raw materials are in short supply and international supply chains are still severely disrupted since Covid. The US can commandeer whatever resources they need internally in times of war but they aren't at war. I'm sure they can ramp up production but it won't be easy or fast.
Yes but let's hope it doesn't get stuck in bureaucratic \ supply chain limbo
Pentagon scrambles to replenish weapons stocks sent to Ukraine
Lawmakers want the U.S. to make more missiles, but companies will wait until they have contracts before cranking up production.
www.politico.com
A supplier is not going to drop existing customers with whom they have long term relationship and revenue streams in order to facilitate one-off orders. Not only would it be bad business but it would be unethical.Yes but let's hope it doesn't get stuck in bureaucratic \ supply chain limbo
Pentagon scrambles to replenish weapons stocks sent to Ukraine
Lawmakers want the U.S. to make more missiles, but companies will wait until they have contracts before cranking up production.
and guess where a lot of standard components (such as chips) are made, China !
All the big US defence contractors manufacture their own components. For 'sensitive' military equipment, suppliers must use accredited foundries, all of which are on-shore in the US.
Baby boomer
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Unfortunately they rely on a vast web of subcontractors who also supply industrial, medical and consumer customers. As they are currently operating at capacity then it will mean less medical equipment or other products being manufactured.
Zelenskyy's tweet today. For a neutrality denier this a hard watch. We have weapons and ammunition expiring. It's like having a neighbour go through a famine and we are watching our food reserve slowly go bad.
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Yes, but we've taken in a few Ukrainians, just look at all the feel-good "sure aren't we great and sure making tea is just the same as fighting or giving them what they actually need" stories on RTE.
It's usually only the teachers who have to tell everyone how great they are all the time but now it's becoming a national pastime. Maybe if we congratulate ourselves loudly enough we won't hear the voice in the back of our mind pointing out our hypocrisy and moral vacuousness.
Other countries are sending their weapons and taking in vast amounts of refugees. We're moaning about the government not giving us sweeties to insulate us from the economic effects of a war between totalitarianism and freedom which is being fought on our doorstep.