Quote (thundercock @ May 24 2022 07:42am)

It sure will. However, opportunities like this are extraordinarily rare and we must strike while the iron is hot. If we all play our cards correctly, we will secure a rich and prosperous future for our great-grandchildren. We can remove Russia as a threat once and for all and then we can focus on isolating China.

You constantly fantasize about keeping the third world subservient to Europeans. Don't bitch out now.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ May 24 2022 08:21am)

I do? :o


Anyway... look, I would be open to the idea of energy embargos if they were actually effective at ending this war, but they are not. Germany, France, the whole EU is working day and night at reducing their dependence on Russian energy. Cutting ties with Russia will happen anyway, but delaying it for another 6-12 months (crude oil) and 12-30 months (natural gas), respectively, will spare us a ton of economic pain/wealth loss while not affecting the war in Ukraine all that much. Russia's decline is sealed anyway, they're destined to become China's bitch - and that's not just my opinion, even some Russian pundits have echoed this prediction.

Quote (JohnnyMcCoy @ May 24 2022 05:11am)

orders from washington and the WEF: no treaty, fight to the last man ^_^

https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1528947856979140608?t=UfNbcHOEr05JDXuqcgaXvQ&s=19

Quote (thundercock @ May 23 2022 11:19pm)

You're not anti-war though lol.

We're not comparing Russia with Nazi Germany in this scenario though. We're applying YOUR foreign policy views to another point in history. We can avoid WW2 if you want though. What about the Revolutionary War? Should America have let the British crush the rebellion given that Canada turned out alright?

I'm actually with you on that one. We call those people "Chreasters" where I'm from. Being around Filipinos, Hispanics, Vietnamese, etc. on a weekly basis made me realize that being a minority really isn't that bad and white people just need to accept the inevitable demographic change. Having said that, we live in a secular society and the rest of the world doesn't abide by the rules of Christ. We would cease to exist if we constantly turned the other cheek. The world is a dark place and sometimes, we need to get dirty. It's better to just go to confession and ask for forgiveness.

Quote (ofthevoid @ 24 May 2022 20:59)

Is there a point to make these nonsensical comparison to past wars or is it some lame attempt at a gotcha? I am anti-war, have been for the entirety of my adult life. I haven't supported or rationalized a single US war.

I don't expect the secular world, the secular government, etc to turn the other cheek. That has never happened. I do expect Christians though to at least try and promote pacifism, non-interventionism, not looking to escalate but de-escalate.

Quote (Hamsterbaby @ 24 May 2022 13:10)

too many warmongering people on this political forum using their "moral eminence" to promote war.
Our French friend just made a new poll promoting Biden's policy of triggering China and Taiwan into war.

Quote (Saucisson6000 @ 24 May 2022 21:19)

Democracy is not for everyone, but democracies are supporting each others !

https://i.f1g.fr/media/cms/592x336_cropupscale/2022/04/19/2bede09479e8072f124802c4d707524979796ee410a7ef1348e93946d2c3e2f4.jpg

Quote

Russia's foreign minister and its ambassador to the United States have both signaled that Russia's debacle in Ukraine could lead to a nuclear strike. By claiming that Russia is readying its weapons, by warning of a "serious" risk of nuclear escalation and by declaring "there are few rules left," they purposefully rattled the ultimate saber. Vladimir Putin himself has noted that he has weapons his opponents do not and that he will "use them, if needed." Even the CIA director, William Burns, has warned of the possibility that Putin could use a tactical nuclear weapon, even if there is no "practical evidence" right now to suggest it is imminent. Nevertheless, we should be prepared; the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has argued that we should give the threat consideration.

We should imagine the unimaginable, specifically how we would respond militarily and economically to such a seismic shift in the global geopolitical terrain.

President Joe Biden is right not to have elevated our nuclear DEFCON level. Nor has the administration's rhetoric stooped to Putin's bait. In 2012, I noted that Russia was the biggest geopolitical adversary to the U.S., and it clearly remains a source of great concern to both Republicans and Democrats. Given the magnitude of consequence of a nuclear strike, our potential options merit thought, by our leaders and by American citizens alike.

By invading Ukraine, Putin has already proved that he is capable of illogical and self-defeating decisions. If he loses in Ukraine, he not only will have failed to achieve his life's ambition to reverse what he sees as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century — the collapse of the Soviet Union — but he will also have permanently diminished Russia as a great power and reinvigorated its adversaries. It is possible that Putin could face significant internal challenges to his leadership. In such a circumstance, he may be able to convince himself that the U.S. and the West are the reason he invaded Ukraine and that the propaganda he has deployed to justify this immoral invasion was true from the beginning.

Some will conclude that to avoid provoking Russia — and thus avoid the prospect of a possible Russian nuclear strike — we should preemptively restrain Ukraine from routing the Russian military. We could limit the weapons we send, hold back on intelligence and pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to settle. I disagree; free nations must continue to support Ukrainians' brave and necessary defense of their country. Failing to continue to support Ukraine would be like paying the cannibal to eat us last. If Putin, or any other nuclear power, can invade and subjugate with near impunity, then Ukraine would be only the first of such conquests. Inevitably, our friends and allies would be devoured by brazen, authoritarian nuclear powers, the implications of which would drastically alter the world order.

The right answer is to continue to give Ukraine all the support it needs to defend itself and to win. Its military successes may force Putin to exit Ukraine or to agree to a cease-fire acceptable to the Ukrainian people. Perhaps his control of Russian media would enable him to spin a loss into a face-saving narrative at home. These are the outcomes he would be smart to take. But if a cornered and delusional Putin were to instead use a nuclear weapon — whether via a tactical strike or by weaponizing one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants — we would have several options.

There are some who would argue for a nuclear response. But there is a wide range of options, and they need not be mutually exclusive. For example, NATO could engage in Ukraine, potentially obliterating Russia's struggling military. Further, we could confront China and every other nation with a choice much like that George W. Bush gave the world after Sept. 11: You are either with us, or you are with Russia — you cannot be with both.

Russia's use of a nuclear weapon would unarguably be a redefining, reorienting geopolitical event. Any nation that chose to retain ties with Russia after such an outrage would itself also become a global pariah. Some or all of its economy would be severed from that of the U.S. and our allies. Today, the West represents over half of the global GDP. Separating any nation from our combined economies could devastate it. The impact on Western economies could be significant, but the impact on the economies of Russia and its fellow travelers would be much worse. It could ultimately be economic Armageddon, but that is far preferable to nuclear Armageddon.

Together with our key NATO allies, we should develop and evaluate a broad range of options. I presume the president and the administration are already engaged in such a process. The potential responses to an act so heinous and geopolitically disorienting as a nuclear strike must be optimally designed and have the support of our NATO allies. Putin and his enablers should have no doubt that our answer to such depravity would be devastating.