264
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

I do appreciate sources, but you should know better by now that the majority of these points have been thoroughly debunked.

Instead of meandering on this wild goose-chase, why don't you just respond with the two most relevant things:

(1) You said yourself, "Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine, no question, but--"

NO BUTS. That's IT. Russia is IN THE WRONG.

(2) How do you ensure a tyrant doesn't regroup under a ceasefire and strike again after he gained a prize? In what realm do you believe dictators just suddenly stop without being smacked down? Did Hitler stop after he got Poland?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

NO BUTS. That's IT. Russia is IN THE WRONG.

No argument from me. I wasn't condoning the Russian invasion so much as explaining what Russia's grievances were.

How do you ensure a tyrant doesn't regroup under a ceasefire and strike again after he gained a prize?

It was not Putin's intention to stay in Ukraine for long and the war has proven to be very costly. What he really wanted was to show the world that he would stand up to what he saw as the bullying of NATO, the EU, and the US.

A diplomatic solution that would have given Putin a chance to save face while also ensuring a ceasefire would have likely been enough for him, since he knew that Russia didn't have the military strength to beat NATO and Euro forces in an outright ground war. This, incidentally, is why I don't buy the direct comparison to Hitler, who actually had both the will and the military / economic might to take over Europe.

As to the very reasonable question of how: One suggestion I remember liking the sound of was the idea to establish a de-militarized zone along the Russian-Ukrainian border in the contested Donetsk-Luhansk region under the joint supervision of Kiyv, Moscow and the European Union.

Either way, I'm not saying it would have definitely worked out, but it seemed to me that not enough effort was given to trying to find a relatively peaceful alternative to a war that was always going to last years and costs tens of thousands of lives.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Thanks for the response. As a hypothetical: If we could go back in time, was there ever a point you believe the world or specific nations should've reached out to Hitler to negotiate a ceasefire and to let him have whatever piece of land he gained at that point in time? What are the long-term consequences of permitting such blitzes for territorial control only to be slapped on the wrist and permitting said tyrant to remain in power?

The problem with peace is that it's not without precedent; and that precedent is to say, "the bully gets rewarded." Ultimately, isn't it the victim who has every right to decide how much they're willing to bleed to fight back against the bully? Hence why every voice from NATO has been, "it's up to Ukraine to decide for how long they wish to continue this war."

At this point I don't believe Ukraine is desperate enough to take that bargain. I think they know the wind is in their sails. I also think both sides are holding their breath and long-term decision-making based on the outcome of the US Presidential election. If things somehow went very south for Ukraine and they were at risk of losing significantly more territory (not a +1% gain) and Trump gets reelected and the alliance fragments, then perhaps they'd try to negotiate such a DMZ on the condition that they also get into NATO to ensure Russia will not re-arm and attack refreshed.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Again, while there are definitely some parallels between Putin's annexation of Crimea and Hitler's of the Sudetenland, there are also plenty of differences that make a direct comparison complicated and not altogether helpful. Hitler's goals were obviously more wide-ranging, proactive, and expansionist, whereas Putin's were much more localized and reactive to a perceived threat. A diplomatic solution didn't work with Hitler but it might have for Putin.

I understand and sympathize with Ukrainians who want to fight to the bitter end, but how much longer will that take? How many more lives will be lost? Is a military victory even likely?

With Ukraine recently being given access to long-range US missiles with which they have conducted strikes within Russian territory, the war seems to be gradually escalating with neither side willing to back down.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
264 points (99.3% liked)

World News

37468 readers
1632 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS