Quote (ofthevoid @ Apr 20 2022 07:14pm)
Well, for one I'm not Russian, I'm not even a Slav but if I was I wouldn't be ashamed. Being ashamed of who you are or who your ancestors are is pretty beta. I don't buy into that garbage woke self-flagellating bullshit, I'm not responsible for what my ancestors did, I'm responsible for what I have control over.
Secondly, it's not about wanting Russia to win because I love Russia or whatever other nonsense. It's about the fact that when you have an overwhelming strong side versus a weaker one a conflict ends very fast and does not typically drag out with tons of casualties and carnage. There are dozens of examples I can point to but lets look at a recent one. As the Syrian war was going, you basically had Assad versus the rebels and whatever countries backing them. The war was raging on for many years with no clear end in sight and hundreds of thousands dying and suffering because neither side was strong enough to tip the war. The break in the war happened when Russia helped Assad and shortly the was was over. The lesson? When one side is clearly stronger wars tend to end quicker meaning much less suffering (assuming the winners aren't some geocidal psychos). That's what happened when Russia and the Iranian militias tipped the war.
So now lets look at Ukraine. There was never a chance for Ukraine to be able to beat Russia militarily. All the western propaganda telling you everyday that it was possible, that Russia is out of bullets and on and on is pure hopium, so why the fuck did we push them into a war that anyone with even basic knowledge of geopolitics can see the outcome? Like in Syria, the writing is on the wall, so pushing the 110 featherweight into the ring arming them just enough to continue to fight with a heavyweight is not only irresponsible but borderline criminal. At the end of the day, I don't care about who remains in power in Kiev and if Russia would of gotten it's way they would of thrown out the pro-west far right nationalists and installed some pro-Russia regime. As a humanitarian in the grand scheme of things, I'm okay with Ukraine being under Russia's sphere of influence rather than have the reality we're witnessing now. So far, 50k dead(rough estimate), 5+ million displaced, whole cities razed to the ground, Ukraine not only losing the Donbass but possibly even much of the south, and the war isn't even over. We're taking the scenic, corpse littered route to the same outcome with Ukrainian lives as pawns just to hurt Russia.
I disagree. People who are descendants of Nazis should be ashamed for what their grandparents did. Americans should be ashamed for the awful stuff that we do currently. If you AREN'T ashamed then your country is likely to repeat the same thing.
I see what your problem is regarding Russia. You haven't recalibrated your understanding of the Russian military based on the current evidence. I too believed that Kiev would fall within days if Russia attacked, much like everyone else. I too believed that Chechen fighters were something to be feared. I too believed that Russia would have plans on how to properly occupy captured cities. Alas, I was wrong. Most of us were. That doesn't make Russia weak (far from it). But it does make Russia significantly weaker than we originally thought. Simply put, their ability to wage an offensive war is quite limited without seriously risking their national security. Can they go all in on Ukraine without Japan eyeing the Kuril Islands? What about South Ossetia? At some point, difficult decisions need to be made.
The biggest blow to Russian national security is that we KNOW their capabilities now. We've SEEN how they fight which is why the other countries keep sending heavier equipment. What could Russia possibly do to stop them? I suppose it should have been obvious from the beginning (the US defense budget is comparable to Russia's entire GDP) but Russia's strength from the Cold War simply blinded us.
As for Ukraine beating Russia militarily, I think you're probably right about that. Afghanistan couldn't beat us militarily either. Neither could the Vietnamese. We fucking kicked their asses. But at the end of the day, the Taliban is in charge of Afghanistan and the Communists are in charge of Vietnam. Russia doesn't have the resources to occupy East Ukraine indefinitely.