Are you interested in honest, expert analysis of the situation in Ukraine and the future of that country - 14:49 min interview?

[Lliam]

Lord knows you won't get any realistic information from mainstream media.

Col. MacGregor's short bio
http://douglasmacgregor.com/biosketch.htm

[molonski2]

Its a great post , coming from Australia it was not till I got back to Thailand that I truly started to see what was actually causing this war , if you followed mainstream Australian media , its an out and out invasion of this passivist loving Nation , yet a friend of mine ( from UK ) had explained the NATO element and why , in Australia this president of Ukraine is painted as a hero , yet it was in Thai I learnt this is far from the case , and Ukraine is not this self sufficient State , so like most things in life " a shade of grey , not black / white " we in the West are being fed a great deal of Propaganda , there are also here in Thailand record numbers of Russians who simply want to avoid the draft ( and fair enough ) , but the facts are Ukraine cannot win this War , and they are not making " inroads " as they would have us believe , the State of Ukraine in a basket case with little industry and certainly not self sufficient , this was not some " last move " by Putin not to loose power , Russia was virtually forced in --

Everyone should watch the entire clip and listen to the analysis of an American general , it all makes good sense.

[Lliam]

It's great to have a balanced perspective and not to believe everything you hear, especially when the information is partisan.
I'm friends with some honest, independent journalists who travel to war zones and report what they see and perform interviews with average people. So know quite a bit about what's been happening there over the years.
I also read books and do research on the history.

Thanks for listening to the interview. You sound bright, informed and open minded.

[molonski2]

Its a really well spent 15 odd minutes , I found neutral ground here in Thailand , and honestly I didn't understand the history and state of Ukraine , Australian media lost me during CV19 bcoz I knew that stuff just wasn't true , your journalist friends must live interesting , yet dangerous lives , and many news servers will not take a feed from someone that doesn't " tow the line " , this Ukrainian president is hanging on by a thread , I'm not confident in anything this man says.

[CALIGVLA]

I'd want to ask Liberals and Neocons this:

How much destroyed Ukraine must get until you see it's destroyed? How many lives should they lose? Isn't it enough for you?

They think their Wolfowitz Doctrine masqueraded as "anti-autocracy and pro freedom & democracy & human rights" strategy is a resounding success. Success for whom? It's not for the Ukrainian population for sure.

[Soteris]

What nonsense. First of all, there was never an alternative to complete surrender for Russia. At no point did Ukraine say it would agree to any occupied part being transferred to Russia in a peace settlement, its stated goal was always to lift the occupation on all its sovereign territories, including the separatist states and Crimea.

Any other sort of peace agreement where Russia retains land is just a fever dream of pro Russian puppets.

Secondly, Ukrainian NATO membership is Russias fault and it does not mean there is an army waiting to invade Russia. Both because there are already plenty of borders between Russia and NATO countries already and also because NATO is a defensive alliance that can't be called into an aggressive war which means it is Russia that decides if NATO invades or not.

Thirdly, they keep talking as if Russia can win, and in doing so would destroy Ukraine because they can't form a peace settlement. This is not realistic. Russia has already demonstrated that they are not strong enough to actually defeat Ukraine. Everyday that passes the advantage of Ukraine grows more and more, Russia just can't accept their loss.

Fourth, that video of Zelensky saying that NATO would have to send their sons and daughters to die is cherry picked. He was talking about what would happen if Ukraine lost and Russia continued its aggressive wars in Europe and invaded the Baltic states which are NATO members and would indeed start a war between Russia and NATO and Zelensky said this because he argues that it is in NATOs best interest that they support Ukraine to win instead which would be a true assessment.

Fifth, Russia has lost much more men and materials than Ukraine and Russia has a lower tolerance for losses than Ukraine. That means that Russia will exhaust itself quicker. Russia has already ran out of willing recruits while Ukraine does not have enough equipment and trainers to accept everyone that volunteers to them. For Ukraine to run dry on its manpower would require them to have losses in literal millions which is something Russia today can't hope to match. Furthermore, while Russia digs up older and older equipment Ukraine is replacing its old trash with newer NATO standard equipment.

Sixth, Ukraine would have won even without American support. Russia was entirely unprepared to occupy a country that resisted them like USA in Iraq and Afghanistan. They did not have a working plan for how to finish the war as resistance would always continue and force them to run away.

Seventh, "Oh noes American equipment has disappeared/been captured". First of all, the equipment sent to Ukraine is old tech. Furthermore, no one cares. If terrorists wanted American surplus equipment they could basically just go to America and buy it thanks to your 2nd amendment nonsense.

Eighth, No one cares if USA has more will to win this than Russia. This is a war between Ukraine and Russia, only they have the right to say when this is over. I am not sure if this is some sort of American narcissism or what but you dont have a say in this and if you want to know who has the more will to win this between Ukraine and Russia then the answer is simply Ukraine. By a country fucking mile. Russia can't even be compared.

Ninth, I would not talk about population collapse if I was a Russia fan. Russias demographic collapse is so bad that it is historic and the only reason we are not talking about it as much is because China is even worse. This is Russias last war, they simply will not have the population to support another even if they win.

Tenth, Ukraine had a weak national identity before this war, which was highlighted in the shaky political situation. But wars have a tendency to forge strong nationality into people and right now Ukraine is burning with a nationalist ferver that will renew Ukraine as a nation. This is why I predict that Ukraine will grow quickly after this war to become a major European power house.

Eleventh, yes yes, there is a lot of war damage to infrastructure but you know what that means? You have the chance to rebuild better and stronger. The reconstruction of Ukraine will probably be the biggest since the end of WW2 and with similarly amazing results.

Twelfth, The American army is in terrible shape? Laughable. After pulling out of Afghanistan the American army has spent plenty of time regrouping, rearming and returning to fighting shape. It is ready to start a new war any day now. Tell me you know nothing about the US army without telling me. Truly a Muppet right there.

Thirteenth, Yepp. A good reason why USA will not give up on Ukraine is because they can use this to funnel more public money into the defense industry which goes counter to the point he made earlier about USA not going to continue this.. because they will.. because they are addicted to the money. It is also what is funding the expansion of your "surge capacity" which he bitches about.

Lastly that I will talk about. His stupid ideas of what makes a country. A country does not consist of only a single culture and people, that is absurd. If we take the UK as an example then without being too picky you can already divide them into Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English and they have their own languages and cultures. This does not mean that the UK is not a country or even weaker. He is talking complete bullshit to try justify Ukraine falling apart and Russia being given various parts and cities because "Hurr Durr its not Ukrainian and has Russian ethnic people in it". What a fucking tool.

How do you watch this trash without getting a brain aneurysm? It is incurably stupid and its clear that these people either dont know what they are talking about, or they are lying to your face due to their political or financial bias. Either way, they should be tarred and feathered for wasting my time and chased out of town.

[Agagagagaga]

What nonsense!

See how that works.

How’s the fighting going in Bakhmut by the way? I’m assuming you’re there in the trenches, fighting for freedom, right? I mean god knows you LOVE to talk about how righteous the Ukrainian cause is and cheerleading for the EXPANSION and ESCALATION of war.

But what am I saying? You’re Swedish! Of course you don’t know how to fight and instead would rather watch the blood from your couch, probably while your boyfriend rails you up your ass for the third time that day.

[Soteris]

@Agagagagaga You are missing the point where I am right and where I prove it, but I digress.

How is the fighting going in Bakhmut? Fantastic actually. I would personally have abandoned the city earlier but that is their choice. The city itself has little to no value for Ukraine beyond bleeding the Russians and bleed they have. I think Wagner is more or less combat ineffective at this point not to mention the other elite formations sent in to die from the Russians.

As the saying goes, a few more defeats like this and we will win the war.

As for cheer-leading the expansion and escalation of the war? What are you talking about? I am pursuing the quickest end to the conflict. The fact is that Russia is too weak to win, Ukraine is too patriotic to give up and both countries can sustain this level of conflict for years. The quickest way to end this war and with the least amount of casualties is to break the spine of the Russian army and make them unable to offer up organized resistance. That is literally the only way outside of random stuff like a successful revolution in Russia or Putin falling out of a window like all his political enemies.

I dont particularly care what you think since you obviously dont understand the situation.

[lightbulb27]

I applaud your post because it's the inverse of the message, and thus, the type of discussion/debate that should occur, if we actually had "news". But in a forum where decent communication could occur. That's not GAG as it will quickly fall to personal insults and disagrement, and nothing ever changes.

That said, some brief points and I'll stop.
* This man (and few others) actually has in depth experience in the military... he served in it, has contacts we don't have, trained to fight russia. Why would he be so wrong when someone outside the system (you in this case), are totally right? Do you have insight outside of the mainstream narrative? There is no free press in Ukraine by the way, so wouldn't count on those videos. To your point though... Russia is bring ground up slowly, they are not making the progress. McGregors explanation of "they don't want to go fast for risk engaging NATO", is suspect. Maybe he has... miscalculated...
* The ecological damage isn't being discussed much... other than recent articles on the farmland that will be unuseable for a decade.. unless you want high arsenic wheat along with occasional farmers blow up. It's unfortunate the left that loves "peace, harmony, and to save bees"... don't seem to be noticing any problem there. There is no attempt to negotiate, no protests. Negotiate only answer... is there some mind control going on here?
* The only solution is negotiation of end. Otherwise, the plan is to "wear out Russia", when it seems, they view this as a "must win". Maybe that works, but if they don't want to lose... ever... That means.

[lightbulb27]

* Possible justification of nuke increases. Why wouldn't they use one, if you think you have to win... and you are losing? Just use the uranium the USA gave them (under Obama/Biden/Clinton)... e. g. UUU... and blame it on them or Ukraine... kinda liike
* How the USA apparently, supposedly, likely... blew up their gas pipeline.. which Biden stated "it would be shut off" if they invaded. So USA committed an environmental and financial act of war, when we are not at war.. cutting off Germany's supply of fuel, to corner them. I can only imagine how things go if Russia sent a sub over and blew up our oil refineries.
* Your financial points are valid... it's all money, that's what most war is, but it's as sick as ever.. just becuase they are dying doesn't make ii better, just palatable for arm chair quarterbacks. Just the cost of handling all the lifetime wounded, which USA Im sure will pay large sum for, is huge.
* Maybe there was no other choice, but some people saw this coming and thought there were other options. The opinions fall along political division.

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27 The Ukraine war is the most documented and filmed war in human history with more recorded information already than you will be able to watch/read if you so dedicated your entire life to it. As such, we are in a rare situation where the propaganda can't keep up with the torrential volume of independent information that is coming from anyone with an internet connection inside Ukraine.

From this, we can establish basic facts. Facts that completely contradicts what this supposed military experts says which only leaves two options. Either he is incompetent, which is possible since incompetent military leaders is more than common throughout history, or he is lying. I dont care which it is because the fact that he is objectively wrong is what is important for me rather than his motives.

Regarding the ecological damage, its terrible indeed but if my prediction holds true then Ukraine would industrialize after the war and move away from an agricultural economy anyway. They are more likely going to focus on manufacturing and resource extraction such as mining than continue to grow food at the same rate as they have been.

As for the green activism side of things, its not for us to decide when this war ends. Its up to Ukraine and Russia and both of them are hellbent on continuing this war. Ecological issues has to take a backseat to this.

You also pointed it out correctly. Russia sees this war as a "must win", and Ukraine by extension sees this war as a "must win". Negotiation as such is impossible at this stage of the conflict since there is no middle ground. It does not matter how much pressure we apply to them or how good of a negotiator you are, they are not going to agree to each others demands right now.

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27 As for the increase in the probability of nukes? Unlikely. Partially because that is a death sentence for Russia and partially because nukes would not help them conquer Ukraine anyways. People have the wrong idea of nukes, its not a "I win" button but more of a "everyone loses" button.

Of note to this conflict. Blowing up a city or two in Ukraine does not eliminate their ability to continue fighting and it does not destroy the Ukrainian desire to resist the invaders. As such, you can't use it like USA did in Japan to force Ukraine to the negotiation table. For Russia to win in Ukraine using nukes they would have to literally blow up everything. Ever major city needs to be reduced to dust simply to disrupt the Ukrainian military ability to fight and allow Russia to win. It is not realistic and would not work in reality.

Regarding the pipeline attack, there is no actual evidence that it was USA that did it. The article making that claim is first of all not consistent with the facts we have (such as making claims about the position of boats and planes that were not true when going back to look at where they actually were) and also does not provide any evidence itself. It is a baseless accusation like any other. It might be true, but we still dont have any evidence that USA did it so far.

Yes, the economic aspect is horrific but USA has been the merchant of death for a very long time now and this will probably go down in history as one of USAs most profitable ventures. People who complain about how much money USA is spending on this fail to realize how much they are getting in return.

As for seeing this coming. I have a whole "my take" on some of the causes that leads up to this conflict and I would argue that it was inevitable unless there was a drastic change in government AKA the replacement of the Putin regime and replacing it with a government willing to work with the rest of the world and focus on self improvements.

[lightbulb27]

I'll lookup your writeup.
Sure looks like we are going to fund it, with taxes and inflation... I'm not seeing it financially as a "gain" as of yet. Most wars end up being paid for by inflation in the following decades... unless there is productivity gains.
www.democracynow.org/.../bidens_fy2024_budget_proposes_tax_hikes_to_fund_social_programs_and_record_military_spending

[CALIGVLA]

#1 "First of all, there was never an alternative to complete surrender for Russia."

Except that there is. And it's called peace. The more the West escalates the war, the more territories Russia will take from Ukraine and the more Ukrainians will die.

Don't like it? Reality doesn't care about your fee-fees.

[CALIGVLA]

#2 Ukraine wasn't, isn't and won't be a sovereign country.

You can't have a sovereign country and a US official named Victoria Nuland handpicking your governors and ministers. Post-Maidan, the appointed Minister of Finances of Ukraine wasn't even a Ukrainian national, they've had to rush to give her Ukrainian citizenship. How embarrassing! This is something the West Indian Company was used to doing to its colonies, now the US government is doing to Ukraine. What sovereignty?

[CALIGVLA]

#3 Russia won't let Ukraine join NATO and keep being a hub of neonazism and anti-Russian hatred on its borders. And you'll figure this out when Ukraine runs out of men, which is not too far from happening. When it happens, the US government will blame the Ukrainians before forgetting them. Just like what happened to South Vietnam.

[CALIGVLA]

#4 The objective of the Russian military is exactly that one. To destroy the Ukrainian one beyond all repair. What more needs to happen for you to see this? Isn't Ukraine destroyed enough for your taste?

[CALIGVLA]

#5 NATO is not a defensive alliance, since there's no such thing as "military defensive alliances." Every military alliance is anti one specific country or a group of specific countries. Military alliances are not college fraternities. You'd know that if your head weren't filled with utopianism and liberal propaganda, which is unfortunately the case.

The purpose of NATO is to destroy Russia, instead we're watching the West on a downward spiral of decadence. Karma.

By the way, China won't let the Western alliance expands to East Asia and Latin America wouldn't do it too if they had firepower to. Neocons/Liberal warmongers are stupidly wrong when they say that the Westphalian system doesn't apply to this century anymore.

[CALIGVLA]

#6 The idea that Russia is not strong enough to defeat Ukraine is a tour de force of wishful thinking. We're watching Ukraine get FUBAR as you talk. Your prayers won't bring Ukrainian lives nor their infrastructure back. Stop being cynical.

[CALIGVLA]

#7 If Russia were about to lose in Ukraine, you'd see Chinese troops in Ukraine the same day. You're crazy if you think China would let Russia be defeated by the Collective West and have a Western puppet government installed in there (and allow the West to encircle China and ruin their BRI project). But what can we expect from a Western supremacist like you? Cope, wishful thinking, not reason nor a hint of touch with reality of course.

[CALIGVLA]

#8 The West's defense sector is facing a big crisis due to minerals shortage, ammo supplying and dependency on China. Don't wanna believe it? Your problem.

[CALIGVLA]

#9 Europe and America are facing a population collapse and immigration won't fix it.

[CALIGVLA]

#10 The Ukrainians can't turn your liberal tears into money. The Eastern side will be reconstructed by Russia and China and by themselves with the money they'll get from their mineral resources and fertile earth. The Western side will have "democracy" and "values" for them to fill their bellies with. BlackRock doesn't care about them.

[CALIGVLA]

#11 The US military has bigger concerns right now than to dream of fighting Russia. I'll name a few: fentanyl, obesity and the woke agenda. Good luck if you think an army like that can dominate the world.

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27 The record military spending is in response to China increasing their military spending. The US military doctrine is basically to have an army that can fight its two biggest opponents at the same time so the knee-jerk reaction of either China or Russia announcing an increase in military spending is to increase the US budget too. Of course, this is not a rational response anymore either due to corruption.

For example, the Chinese increase this time was marginal where as USA is overcompensating. Its a common thing for USA and partially why the US military budget is so obese right now, but I digress. The reason why USA is benefiting from the Ukrainian spending is mostly due to its improved position as a super power and kicking Russia while its down. But since that is hard for people to quantify then ill just point out that the US military industry is still an industry. It still produces "value" technically speaking. Thus paying for it boosts the economy in a sick sort of way.

[Soteris]

@CALIGVLA
1: There can not be any peace with those who does not want peace, that is just absurd. Russia very clearly has a goal to retake most of the old soviet union by diplomacy or by force which means a number of countries have a target on their backs regardless of what we do, because its not a response to us but rather a premeditated plan by Russia.

Even if you negotiate peace with Russia and give them some land, history tells us they will just use that peace to reorganize their military for the next invasion. This is the Russian playbook. Dont like it? Reality does not care about your fee-fees.

2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl070rPB58M

Basically, you are wrong and should feel bad.

3: Russia has dick all to say about Ukraine joining NATO. It can take its complaints and stick it where the sun dont shine. As for Ukraine running out of manpower? Unlikely. They crossed a million man strong military a while ago and shows literally no signs of stopping.

4: Oh, I saw Russias attempt to destroy Ukraine. It was pathetic. Hence why Ukraine is still whole, there is still internet, they still have power and running water, the trains still run etc.. If this is the extent of the destruction Russia will visit on Ukraine then its going to take literally decades for them to be done with it and by then Ukraine has probably just rebuilt whatever they destroyed in the first place. Believe it or not, Russia is not doing that well.

[Soteris]

5: You clearly dont know what a Defensive Alliance means nor why it does not matter what the "intended enemy" is. A Defensive Alliance means that you are only agreeing to help each other if one of you are attacked by someone else and have no obligations to help if you actually attack someone. Learn some basics please, I am not a kindergarten teacher.

NATO is also the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Of course its not fucking expanding in Asia. Its on the other side of the world from the North Atlantic! The military treaties that USA has with countries like Japan is separate from NATO and the same is true of Latin America, not part of the North Atlantic.

6: Ah yes. Ukraine is getting their butts kicked in year 1 of the "1 week long special military operation". Tell me more about how Russia is sitting on their hands and not getting anything done.

7: You are delusional if you think China wants Russia to win. They are not Friends, they are "Friends". China and Russia hates each other and Russia specifically holds territory that China considers their own and China would loooove to kick down on Russia and make them their puppet. As such, China will only support Russia to prolong the war without getting USA angry. They want Russia to grind themselves down to the bone as well to make them easier to control.

[Soteris]

@CALIGVLA
8: No its not. While there are some in resources shortages due to the fucked up world economy, its by no means so severe that it will actually impact output, just the cost of it.

9: Yes and no. But the population collapse the "west" is facing is nothing compared to China and Russia. For example, the Chines population has already peeked and will reduce by half by around year 2050. That is, to put it bluntly, apocalyptic numbers. There is no coming back from that, China is ruined.

10: Get your masturbation fantasy off my post and apologize.

11: The US military is sitting around twiddling their thumbs. They have nothing to do with any of what you mentioned and they are ready to go anytime.

[CALIGVLA]

How can you say that Russia doesn't want peace, my dear Western supremacist?

They absolutely want peace. Just recognize their annexation of Donbass, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, and problem solved! That peace would be better for the Ukrainians than no peace.

I'm telling you... The more the West escalates, the more territory Russia will take. That's a logical move if you ask me.

"Was this land part of the former Soviet Bloc? Does it share a border with Russia? Does it have an ethnic Russian minority? Does the West install a puppet government in there? Let's take it!"

That's how things work in the real world, little one.

And don't tell me that you, a rabid liberal, believe in "borders" and care about "sovereignty" because that doesn't wash!

We both know that you don't give a shit about borders and sovereignty, or else you wouldn't be a liberal. You wouldn't support mass immigration (I'm assuming you do). You wouldn't support the US military as a de facto global police. You wouldn't support the union between the US government plus the EU as a de facto global government. You wouldn't support the EU transnationalism.

Now do you wanna tell me you care about "man-made concepts like borders and sovereignty"?

Lol!!!

[CALIGVLA]

What do you know about history, little one?

Aren't you too busy watching Marvel and liberal trollolo on You Tube to even bother studying history?

[CALIGVLA]

How am I wrong and why should I feel bad?

Am I wrong for telling you how things are made in geopolitics?

Should I feel bad for pointing out your intellectual ineptitude?

[CALIGVLA]

Ukraine shares a border with Russia.

Or at least shared, we don't know if Ukraine will keep existing as a country over the next few years.

Ukraine can't simply join an anti-Russian military alliance, that's mad. Every military power wouldn't let its neighbor join an enemy alliance. Remember Cuba 1962? Or your did you history start in 2022?

Again I ask you, how much of the Ukrainian territory should be destroyed and how many of them should perish for you to see that it's been destroyed and they're perishing?

How much is enough for you?

[CALIGVLA]

I know that you aren't a kindergarten teacher. You're beneath that. You don't have the intellectual skills for that, so you don't need to tell me that.

Repeating: there's no such thing as a military "defensive" alliance. Every military alliance aims at destroying a rival country, or else they would be a college fraternity, a boy scouts club whatever, but not a military alliance.

For NATO, it's objective is to "contain" Russia. If you don't know this, you shouldn't be even talking about this subject.

[CALIGVLA]

"NATO is also the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

Semantics. NATO absolutely can expand to East Asia and use some subterfuge to let Japan, South Korea and the Philippines join it. "Oh, the Chinese aggressiveness!"

Yes! They're reacting to our attempt to ENCIRCLE them and cut their access to the sea that surrounds them... Who could've imagine that!

I'm sure that the US government can heat up some propaganda from its Yellow Peril manuals.

[CALIGVLA]

The US had been in Afghanistan and Iraq for 20 years... Do you have any doubt that Iraq and Afghanistan were destroyed?

[CALIGVLA]

You're absolutely delusional and accuse me of being delusional! #Schizophrenia

China and Russia were enemies in the 1960s. Were. The US foreign policy under Kissinger at that time managed to drive a wedge between them.

But we are not in the 1960s anymore. That train has left the station. They are all aware of the Wolfowitz Doctrine and US global domination plans (which some people call "US hegemony").

Not only China and Russia, but also Iran, Saudi Arabia and India.

They've had enough of the US hegemony. The US hegemonic ambitions united them against the West.

And there's nothing you can do about it besides find a cozy place for you to cry.

[CALIGVLA]

"While there are some in resources shortages"

Tell the Raytheon's CEO that. You think you know better than him, right? LOL!!!

[CALIGVLA]

China has a higher fertility rate than Europe at least since the 1940s. Cope harder.

Europe is old and in a process of deindustrialization.

The US is on the verge of civil war or, at the best case scenatio, becoming a bigger Colombia with nukes.

That's not the future you wanted, but that's the future you'll get.

[KrakenAttackin]

@Soteris. That's a lot of words for total clueless gibberish.

[Lliam]

@KrakenAttackin. ROFL 🎯

[Soteris]

@KrakenAttackin That is very few words from an idiot with a crayon.

[Soteris]

@CALIGVLA How can I say that the warmongerer who keeps declaring war wants peace? Especially when said country has had multiple examples of using peace as a military pause to continue their invasion later in the last 50 years. News flash: Russia invaded Ukraine and they did so for a reason. If they do not achieve their objective they will just declare war again and their objective is the annexation of Ukraine and the preparation of annexing Moldova. And you give crap to me about not understanding geopolitics? Sit down kid.

Also I love how you say "Just give them all the land and conditions they want and you will have peace! Its just that easy!"

Really? Why should Ukraine have to give up on their own sovereign territory? It is Russia that should fuck off and if nothing else also pay war reparations for the pain and destruction they caused. Russia has not earned nor are they entitled to shit all. You dont get prizes for losing a war.

You communist asslickers also fail to realize something, this is not the "west" waging war. We dont get to decide anything on the Ukrainian side, its them that decides to fight and when they want to surrender. The only thing I decide is if they do so in shiny NATO equipment or not, which I will personally make sure to petition my government to keep sending forever.

Also, I got a list of people here who would laugh their asses off at you claiming I am a supporter of literally anything American. I mean, I do spend like 98% of my time here telling Americans why their country sucks after all.

I am also confused what makes you think immigration and sovereignty is somehow conflicting. Personally, I just chalk it up to you being an idiot and move on with my life.

[Soteris]

@CALIGVLA As for what I know of history? A fair bit. By no means an historian but as a hobbyist I have general knowledge over most of human history. Not sure why that is relevant here though.

I dont care if Ukraine shares borders with Russia. Does not give Russia any right to interfere in Ukraine. That is what being sovereign means. Russia can shove its complaints where the sun dont shine as I have said before. Ukraine has full right to join whatever alliance they want. Just like other countries on Russias border who already joined NATO.

As for how much of Ukraine has to be destroyed before Russia surrenders? That is entirely up to Russia to decide alongside Ukraine. Russia can go home any day and Ukraine can decide to keep fighting forever.

As for NATO and Asia.. You do know that USA has military alliances outside of NATO right? NATO is specifically for the theater in the North Atlantic AKA Europe. When dealing with Asia there are other alliances in place.

And again, not sure how many times I have to re-iterate this but just because countries surrounding you does things you dont like does not mean you have the right to attack them. They are not forced to be nice to you just because you are China or Russia.

Regarding resources? The military obviously gets first pick so the equipment will always flow.

And last but not least.. Chinas birth rate:
en.wikipedia.org/.../...amid_from_2023_to_2100.gif

Depopulation go BRRRRR

[Lliam]

@Soteris. God you're dumb. You obviously know NOTHING about what led up to this.

[Soteris]

I wrote a mytake on it actually. So yeah, I know far more than you.

[Lliam]

@Soteris. Oo, a MYTake! 🤣🤣🤣 More imbecilic blathering?
Actually that comment proves that you are even dumber than I thought, which is really impressive.
Do you just drink vodka and watch TV all day?

[Soteris]

Better than you.

[lightbulb27]

I haven't read your take yet...
Russian Invasion; The hows and the whys. ↗
Prior to my reading... what are your credentials vs a dcorated USA military commander, trained to fight against Russia, is inside the system. Help me understand how your view is far superior to his and he is a total buffoon?

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27 I like history, politics and geopolitics as an amateur. While I am nowhere near the knowledge of an expert I can at least recognize someone who is clearly wrong on these topics. It is also important that the lead-up to this war has nothing to do with the knowledge required for a decorated military commander to fight a war and has more to do with things like history, geography and politics.

As for discrediting Col. MacGregor, he is a controversial figure with a long history of racism, corruption and using his credentials to lie to the public. You can say whatever you want about his military career but he has clearly shown himself to be unreliable on certain topics such as his hatred and conspiracy theories of Jews, his connections to Russia and clear bias for their propaganda and again his racism.

Again, I did not want to attack the person himself because I both find it unnecessary to prove him wrong in this situation and not my problem in general but if you keep relying on his authority over my rational arguments and evidence then I am forced to point out how much of a liability he is here.

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27
So here are some examples of him being a russian tool:
euromaidanpress.com/.../

He has also a well-known track record of being wrong regarding military matters in Ukraine such as this from Wikipedia:
"Macgregor appeared on three Fox News programs in February and early March to speak in support of Russia's actions. Three days after the war began, he said "The battle in eastern Ukraine is really almost over," and predicted "If [Ukraine] don't surrender in the next 24 hours, I suspect Russia will ultimately annihilate them." Macgregor said he believed Russia should be allowed to seize whatever parts of Ukraine it wanted. In his second appearance, he revised his prediction: "The first five days Russian forces I think frankly were too gentle. They've now corrected that. So, I would say another 10 days this should be completely over... I think the most heroic thing he could do right now is come to terms with reality. Neutralize Ukraine." After one of his appearances, Macgregor's comments were characterized by veteran Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin as "distorting" and "appeasement" and that he was being an "apologist" for Putin."

You can also read more nonsense of his on his Wikipedia page with citations.

Point is, he is the opposite of a reliable source on this specific topic.

[CALIGVLA]

Boy, I told you how to achieve peace in the war, what caused the war, why the West is gonna lose... And what's your answer?

You repeat the same talking points over and over!

"How can I say that the warmongerer who keeps declaring war wants peace?"

Sign the fucking peace accord, I told you how in my previous posts.

"Especially when said country has had multiple examples of using peace as a military pause to continue their invasion later in the last 50 years."

You're peddling anti-Russian, nazi propaganda. STFU.

"Russia invaded Ukraine and they did so for a reason."

They were clear they wouldn't accept NATO in Ukraine. Your neocons thought Putin was joking. Now Ukrainian lives are being lost due to your recklessness and lack of character.

"If they do not achieve their objective they will just declare war again and their objective is the annexation of Ukraine and the preparation of annexing Moldova."

The more instability and chaos the West spreads on Russian borders, the more the West escalates, the more aggressive Russia will become and the more territory they will take by force. Don't like it? Grin and bear it.

[CALIGVLA]

"And you give crap to me about not understanding geopolitics? Sit down kid."

What I know about international relations you don't know about masturbation, @Soteris, which is the activity to which you dedicate your time the most.

"Why should Ukraine have to give up on their own sovereign territory?"

To achieve peace. And stop pretending you, a Liberal, care about sovereignty.

YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SOVEREIGNTY!

Or else, you wouldn't be a Liberal. Liberalism and nation state are mutually exclusive concepts.

"You dont get prizes for losing a war."

Glad you recognize that.

[CALIGVLA]

"We dont get to decide anything on the Ukrainian side"

Ukraine is a US colony. The US establishment treats Ukraine the same way the West Indian Company treated its colonies. Victoria Nuland, a US official, handpicked a good sum people who should be in charge of the Ukrainian state. Their Minister of Finances was appointed by Washington without even being a Ukrainian citizen. Ukrainian politicians rely on US advisors, which have the same role the "emissaries" had in the West Indian Company.

Where's the Ukrainian sovereignty?

[Lliam]

@CALIGVLA. Well said.

[CALIGVLA]

"I mean, I do spend like 98% of my time here telling Americans why their country sucks after all."

That shows how much of a coward you are. You kneel before a country that sucks according to yourself.

"I am also confused what makes you think immigration and sovereignty is somehow conflicting."

Only in your world of liberal propaganda plus intellectual ineptitude plus batshit utopianism sovereignty and mass migration are not mutually exclusive concepts.

Do you live in an alternate reality?

Do you consume heavy drugs?

[Soteris]

@CALIGVLA Yes, I will repeat the same things over and over if I believe them to be the truth. Its not like I will grow bored of being correct and try making shit up just to entertain myself.

It also makes me laugh that you think that A: Russia wants peace and B: that they would honor a peace accord. They would just use it to their advantage and invade again later. Like they always do. I would be an idiot to trust the Russians "Good" intentions.

Again, this is not some sort of stupid "Nazi propaganda" or whatever, its historical fact that they keep repeating over and over again. Take the two wars in Chechen for example. Russia lost so badly they had to pull back and sue for "peace" which surprise surprise was just there to allow Russia to rebuild their forces to complete their invasion 3 years later.

They also do this same trick on a smaller scale such as requesting ceasefire whenever they start to become overwhelmed and use it to prepare and plan a new offensive while pretending to come to the negotiating table to "find a path to peace". They lie, always. They will constantly try to abuse the trust the others put in them for military benefit such as when they poisoned the Ukrainian negotiation team at the start of this war or when they agreed to open up a path for refugees during the siege of Mariupol only to intentionally target them when they left. Never trust Russia. Ever.

I also knew Russia wanted to invade Ukraine before the war. I also thought they would not. Why? Because I knew Russia was weak and would not be able to do it with their current forces so invading Ukraine would be a huge mistake. I guess I just did not factor in how stupid Russia was to try do it anyway.

You keep asking me to appease the Russians as they take more and more. No. Fuck that. We do not negotiate with terrorists or Hitler and his wannabe's. No fucking appeasement.

[CALIGVLA]

"As for what I know of history?"

You don't know even what you ate for lunch.

"A fair bit. By no means an historian but as a hobbyist I have general knowledge over most of human history."

Reddit is not "most of human history."

"Not sure why that is relevant here though."

It's not. You're an absolutely irrelevant being indeed.

"Does not give Russia any right to interfere in Ukraine."

But that how it is in international relations. You like it or not. The US would never let Mexico become their "Ukraine." Right now the US Senate is discussing invading Mexico. But that's okay, right? The West has a mandate to do interfere everywhere!

"That is what being sovereign means."

If you were serious about defending sovereignty, you wouldn't be a liberal.

"Russia can shove its complaints where the sun dont shine as I have said before."

Wow! How edgy you're, kiddo!

Your words are so *POWERFUL* that they can bring back all the young Ukrainian men from the dead, right?

"Ukraine has full right to join whatever alliance they want."

Not how it works in geopolitics, liberal. You know it yourself, but since you lack character, you pretend that joining military alliances and hosting fireign weapons don't have consequences. Remember Cuba 1962? Solomon Islands this year?

[lightbulb27]

I've said before as well, I question some of what he is saying, it's too one sided, too confident. This is where the "he's a russian asset" comes from. People are biased... find someone not biased in media, good luck. Wiki challenging him is good... but it's... quite negative towards him, so I question whom is writing that... sure as heck didn't write it himself. Whomever wrote it, didn't like Trump/MacGregor... he's cast as a racist, immigration phobe, etc... Always know your authors... which are not listed. Clearly written by left.

Here's some supporting evidence of what you stated, via "the YoungTurks"... Left leaning, and thus challenging views...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puTGnvN0mVQ

Want better media and dialog, have the contracted guests of media show up on opposing media outlets... we should all demand that... where their statements and ideas can be challenged. Some of the young turks points are political, let him argue with them. MacGregor is thinking in a way they don't understand, these people... I wouldn't put them in a tank to protect my interests... it's disconnect in communication. But it's legit to challenge him...
Quite a few points he makes in my view, are correct, at least in part.
Peace!
Again, there used to be some middle ground. That is very hard to find anymore...

[Soteris]

@lightbulb27 First of all, you can see who edits wikipedia pages. The history of all the edits and the different versions is kept in history that anyone can go back to review at any time as well as who it was that made that edit or addition. But that is sort of irrelevant, Wikipedia has rules for how articles on people like this is supposed to be written. It limits what you can write about and say about someone, especially without providing evidence for it.

In other words, when Wikipedia is heavily biased towards someone well known it is usually because they have the sources to back that up. Which they do in this case, as Macgregor has had multiple media appearances over many years that all correlate with each other and paints this picture of him.

And again, his track record regarding this invasion even if we just limit ourselves to his military predictions has been incredibly wrong where as I have personally had a much better track record on predicting what will happen. Credentials or not, I have displayed a better understanding of this war than he does.

[Leopard23]

The US knew Russia would invade. They prepared and baited the trap and Russia walked into it. The US government has known how weak the Russian military is for years. Russia is going to be made to bleed and their economy pushed until it breaks. Putin can't get out of Ukraine with he and Russia looking weak to the rest of the world and he can't win In Ukraine with the US supply weapons and supporting the Ukraine state. There's blood in the water and Russia's neighbours will take advantage seeing their weakness.

Think about the average Russian conscript sent to fight a war he doesn't believe in, risking his life for nothing, getting paid little, his family left to fend for themselves with no money and he comes up against Ukrainian soldiers that he's been told are a weak military and they are are wearing body armor with kevlar helmets, good boots, proper military rations carrying one of the various nato assault rifles with an acog sight while he has no body armor, a ww2 tin helmet and a 1970s AK if he's lucky. He's seen the Russian military be routed in the field and the cost in men and armor, he wonders where the Russian airforce is. When he goes home he will tell of how Putin sent him to fight a war for nothing and how putin lead Russia to it's biggest defeat in 100 years and this will weaken Putin back home, maybe get him dragged through the streets like Gaddaffi.

[19magic]

I studied a bit of the ww2 and from what I understood is Ukraine pm is following a lot of Churchill tactics and Putin is following a lot of the original Hitler tactics (before he tried to get UK to be his friends and f**ked up with Russia). I'll try to get round to it as have found some of it interesting. But while it's obvious Ukraine will never win the war they have put up a good fight and we're all subsidising them as they're the bottle neck to Russia. It'll be many years before the leaders of Russia have the money and weaponry to start another war.

[RMorus]

That is total nonsense.

Lord also knows: You won't get any real information if you don't really think for yourself. Whether you believe mass media or alternative media does not matter at all.

And here the truth. Enjoy.

That this quote was taken out of the context was clear to me immediately even without any check. Because no one would ever say that as a politician in such a situation. To not see it is level 50 of media-trust. And yeah. No matter what media you trust. You'll be had.

And here is the second part of truth from an _anti fascist_

That the latter speaks the truth is obvious. Cause his words indulge both sides and offer facts that are not seen gladly by any of them.

That kind of information you can rely upon. Not that either propagandistic or rightout stupid garbage. No better than mass media, just from another pole of bias.

[RMorus]

"Https://edition. cnn. com/2023/03/02/politics/fact-check-zelensky-americans-fighting-ukraine-video/index. html"

"Https://www. rosalux. de/en/news/id/50026/russia-is-giving-carte-blanche-to-the-far-right"

(Change "H" to "h" in both)

[Sevenpointfive]

how are you given over $50 billion dollars and not win a war? analyze that

[Lliam]

Right? If the U. S. decided to invade Nicaragua and someone gave $50 billion + arms to that country, would it win against the U. S? I don't think so.

[Leopard23]

$50 billion is nothing, Ukraine's GDP before the war was $200 billion, really $50 billion is keeping the lights on. The US has plenty of arms that are basically surplus and being replaced anyway. 80,000 sets of body armor and kevlar from the war on terror.

[Sevenpointfive]

i don't that's a fair comparison

[Leopard23]

You've Russian soldiers running around with mosin nagants from ww1 and SKS rifles as there are so few AKs. When I was in Iraq I had an AK under my bunk as they were so common

[Lliam]

@Leopard23. Where did you get that info about Russian soldiers?

[Sevenpointfive]

@Leopard23 yeah and they gave the ukraine all of that on top of money

[Leopard23]

Yeah $50 billion is just enough to keep the lights on and not much when you include inflation

[Daniela1982]

I don't give a rat's ass. Only that my tax money is going there.

[KrakenAttackin]

The only good thing about this war is that it's wearing down the Russians and might give them pause before they decide to attack a neighbor again.

[Leopard23]

It's amazing when you think about it. The country that between 1948-2023 produced possibly 60 million AK47 variants, the most prolific assault rifle on the planet is struggling to arm and equip its army with them. Imagine if the US army had to arm troops with the m1913

[KrakenAttackin]

@Soteris. On a side note, I triple -dog-dare you to come to the U. S. and remark about the "Second Amendment nonsense". Yeah, that will go over well.

[Soteris]

Been there, done that. Have not been on this comment section though which is the weird part.

[AngryCarl2]

No one is honest about Ukraine, because no one is neutral.