this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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All those folks in the 50+ age group that grew up with "Russia is enemy #1" are probably cycling through waves of intense work and prolonged orgasm.
I wouldn't be surprised if one of the first things considered in strategizing any armed conflict is whether they want Russia and China to know that we have X or are capable of Y. Russia has shown their hand. If they could do more, they would have by now.
It has also taught NATO that Russia is still in the barbaric tactics mindset. Hospitals, schools, churches, shipping centers - they're all valid targets. If Russia wants a position, they'll level the entire town. That certainly changes the plans, of anyone thought they would abode by the Geneva Conventions.
The ones that haven't suddenly decided that Russia is our best friend all of a sudden for some reason that I still can't figure out. This is even considering that Russia was found to have been paying out bounties on dead American soldiers, or that they had people assassinated in the UK. Certainly it should be a disqualifier that Russia isn't a true Democracy and had Putin's political opponents jailed. Two Democracies won't directly start a conflict against each other, but that doesn't hold up between Democracies and non-Democracies.
My hope is that as Russia runs out of money and organization to fund overseas psyops, the sheen will wear off.
Same, feels like the democracies of the world really got caught with their pants down by authoritarian operatives and their LLMs on social media.
Putin will only run out of money once the price of oil nosedives.
That won't happen because Saudi Arabia has been squeezing oil output to keep the price high because they need the money for their countries transformation to a horror Show (different discussion required there) and they basically keep squeezing until the US gives them a whole lot of concessions that they don't want to...
The reason is money. Either they got paid by Putin or they've been brainwashed by someone who got paid by Putin.
The Russians have less tactics and capabilities than NATO thought. Now it is a matter of how quickly they can be overwhelmed should it come to it. Their big problem is mid level command.
And what they do have was built and developed by the Soviets.
Oh those backwards Russians, still stuck in the past, where they were just a bunch of barbarian hordes. I assume the West, by contrast, has developed a civilized kind of warfare, as befitting their superior civilized culture? That's what you're saying, right?
The civilized West would never... oh yeah they would and they did, repeatedly, and it was worse actually in e.g. Iraq. So all this "barbarism" shit is just racism with no basis in reality.
Or both sides suck and all war is bad, and no one should attack sovereign countries
Russia is still using barbaric tactics, according to the person I replied to. This implies that barbarism is typical (and backwards) of Russia, like that racist trope about barbaric Mongol hordes. It also implies that someone else (presumably NATO, which they mention) isn't using barbaric tactics, which is blatantly untrue.
I don't understand how what you wrote is a addressing my post? What's your point?
Has Russia been bombing civilian apartment buildings in Ukraine?
Please note, I am asking nothing about NATO or America. I agree, the US has committed atrocities in other countries at war. I'm asking specifically if Russia has bombed civilian apartment buildings in Ukraine.
So it's not racist to say Russia is still in a barbaric mindset, because they are bombing apartment buildings in Ukraine? Is that it? Even though the way it was phrased implies that barbarism is typical of Russia and its history, and also falsely implies NATO isn't barbaric and isn't doing the same thing, and it's a well-known racist trope?
This person's comment exhibits the common double standard of the good civilized nations vs. the uncivilized primitives bullshit, which is about the oldest racist narrative there is.
I didn't say anything about the people. Every Russian person I have met is super nice.
Governments though, they suck. Governments bomb apartment buildings full of people. These particular governments are barbaric.
I think it is important to acknowledge that both the US government and the Russian government are responsible for terrible atrocities. It is not racist to say that.
All the Russians you have met left Russia :)
While funny, I actually genuinely don't believe that an entire population of people is "bad." I've actually made a point of living in a lot of historically "bad" places, and it turns out, everyone just wants to eat good food and have a good time 😅