Quote (DizzyBusiness @ 8 Feb 2023 20:09)
What are you arguing against exactly?
You were implying that Afghanistan being an abject failure means that supporting Ukraine was a mistake, or a doomed effort.
Quote (DizzyBusiness @ 8 Feb 2023 20:24)
This was the statement from Putin on why they invaded. It's about 28 mins I believe. If you are genuinely interested in why, watch the whole thing. Then read Putins very long article explaining his thinking towards Ukraine. I can get a link if you want but should come up if you search "putin Ukraine article" there is a version on the kremlin website.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_conducting_a_special_military_operationThanks, but to be honest, I'm not really in the mood to listen to a 28 minute long Putin speech. Since you apparently listened to the full speech and remember it well, could you give me a quick tldr? Doesn't have to be high effort, just some quick bullet points.
Quote (Hamsterbaby @ 8 Feb 2023 20:10)
If you are willing to reason with and willing to have a civil conversation, of course i know you will can i answer your question ?
Yes, please!
It's always valuable to get different perspectives since no one is immune to his own biases, particularly when it comes to such a contentious issue.
Quote (bogie160 @ 8 Feb 2023 21:06)
You say this, and then you turn around and ask what's escalatory about certain elements of the Western response in Ukraine.
For Russia to accept the loss of Crimea, it would have to be militarily and politically broken. In the event that that proves likely, the regime will in all likelihood employ tactical nuclear weapons in response, something which the West is wholly unprepared for. Western leaders are not willing to trade a handful of Ukrainian city centers for Paris, Berlin, and Washington. And because Crimea is firmly considered (even by many Russian liberals) to be Russian territory, it would give the government every excuse to fully mobilize, something elements of the nationalist right are already calling for. That would be a disaster for Ukraine, because the West is wholly unwilling to mobilize in response. Ukraine does not possess the reserves of manpower to fight Russia on equal footing. And without mobilization, the costs and logistics of funding a full-on war in Ukraine would be prohibitively expensive for NATO. The military industrial complex in the United States isn't set-up to support war-time footing.
Crimea is clearly a red line for Russia. I think the most interesting and relevant question is how they'd react if Ukraine was threatening to take back the land bridge between the Russia-controlled parts of the Donbass and Crimea. At the moment, Ukraine can of course be glad if they're able to hold off the Russian offensive in the Donbass. But if they succeed with that and are able to mount a counteroffensive in the summer, the region around Melitopol and Berdiansk seems like the obvious weak spot of the Russian line.