version

Well-known member
i checked in to see what nick land makes of the situation

"More than a century after Europe descended into the carnage of the First World War, the lights of peace and progress are going out again." -- Trouble is, the lights of peace and progress were a gay disco.
He's almost beyond parody at this point.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
I may even say totally confused. And I'd say the crux of my confusion is a lack of clarity regarding the nature of NATO and its history with Russia.

Also I'm unclear on what the direct effects, yet alone what 2nd and 3rd degree effects, cutting Russia out of SWIFT would have. And why have previous sanctions ostensibly failed in deterring this kind of "naked" aggression?
Nutshell: NATO obv made lots of sense during Cold War as counter to Warsaw Bloc. After Cold War ended, NATO gradually expanded east. Russian leadership always hated it - even Yeltsin blew up @ Clinton multiple times over it - but couldn't do much bc Russia was such a mess, and also they were bought off with electoral and economic support. Ukraine + Georgia were a kind of a red line that everyone tacitly agreed not to cross, then in 08 GW Bush unilaterally was like "let's make Ukraine + Georgia part of NATO". Russia now in better position, promptly invaded more or less to deter former Soviet republics from joining NATO. Then a decade plus of subversion, annexation, proxy warfare, etc in Ukraine, and here we are.

What I don't understand at all is actual invasion. Gradual annexation strategy was working out great, low risk solid reward. This is madness. All I can think is, from what I've read at least, Russia may not have the military industrial capacity to project force like this in 5-10 years, so go now if you're going to go, create new client state buffer w/West. And/or maybe Putin just losing it. Gonna drive all fence-sitters directly into arms of NATO/West ASAP, wreck Russian economy, etc.
 
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padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Like, I'm certainly no apologist - Putin + his cronies are fucking terrible, Russia historically has always just another shitty empire, and this war is insane and awful - but the general drift shouldn't be surprising. Russian anger at this predates Putin. Don't put the boot into your defeated enemy like we did in the 90s unless you're willing to reap the consequences. It was hubris, like many (most?) elements of the Pax Americana and the end of history were, and hubris usually ends poorly - tho here, unfortunately, those who actually made the decisions are not the same people paying for them now.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
It's like people are forever shocked when humbled foes loss that humility once they're back on their feet. every time, like it's some new development in human affairs.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I've seen a lot of mentions GWB's overtures towards Georgia and Ukraine in the last week, but the fact remains that they didn't join NATO. In fact the Baltic states are the only ex-Soviet countries that have signed up.
 

droid

Well-known member
It is beginning to look like this was a huge miscalculation, not just strategically and politically, but in terms of capability. The Russians are sacrificing some of their best troops in doomed airborne and amphibious assaults without fire support, going against years of military doctrine. Armoured columns lost and running out of fuel in the countryside, soldiers stealing and begging for food only 48 hours into the campaign, dazed conscripts apparently thinking they were on training maneuvers. Lack of logistical support preventing them for committing large numbers of troops for major assaults. Inability to control airspace and failure to knock out command and control. More widely, we have unprecedented political resistance at home, a major kicking diplomatically with an unusually united international community, disastrous PR campaign, even the cyber threat seems dulled. This was not well planned, despite years of anticipation and months of direct preparation.

If they don't make significant progress or change tactics soon the offensive will collapse. Presumably Putin will revert to Grozny at some point and start carpet bombing the cities.
 

Leo

Well-known member
Putin’s miscalculation: The president has misread not only Ukrainians, but also Russians

When the West left Afghanistan last year, the speed and success of the Taliban takeover of the country would have delighted Putin. The capitulation of the U.S., the impotence of Europe, and the relative ease with which the militants took control of the Afghan capital within days of the Western retreat made Ukraine seem a tantalizing prospect.

Perhaps Putin thought he’d roll into Kyiv the way the Taliban rolled into Kabul, meeting scant resistance from Ukrainians. He seems to have expected to be welcomed in by Russian-speaking Ukrainians as nostalgic for the Soviet heydays as he is. It seems Putin expected Ukrainians to lay down their arms, and for their pro-Western and NATO President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to flee, making space for one of Moscow’s allies. The Kremlin could roll its tanks back to Russia, taking a sizeable chunk of Ukraine with them, and Putin could declare his bogus “peacekeeping” mission over after a few days. He would take some limited casualties, some painful but not devastating sanctions, and then it would be back to business as usual.

And perhaps if Putin had tried this maneuver during the Ukrainian presidencies of his ally Viktor Yanukovych, or of “chocolate king” billionaire Petro Poroshenko, he might have been able to roll into Kyiv the way the Taliban took Kabul last year.
But Putin underestimated Ukraine. The country’s troops have resisted hard and have largely held their cities against a Russian attempt at blitzkrieg. Kyiv claims that its experienced, motivated soldiers have killed thousands of Russians, downed enemy planes and destroyed hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks.

So, Putin expected Afghanistan in 2021. But he got Afghanistan in 1979. Ukrainians aren’t rolling over or welcoming back an old friend. They, and their president, are digging in for war. Their army is fighting hard. Harsh Western sanctions are targeting Putin and all his oligarch buddies, who were content to keep him in power while it filled their coffers, but who now stand to lose billions.
 

wektor

Well-known member
Just wondering how harsh are the sanctions actually?
Been getting mixed info on that with various western countries pulling out.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Just wondering how harsh are the sanctions actually?
Been getting mixed info on that with various western countries pulling out.
I gather the UK's are about as effective as being slapped in the face with a paper napkin.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Just wondering how harsh are the sanctions actually?
Been getting mixed info on that with various western countries pulling out.
The ones under consideration by US and the ones jointly by US/NATO seem quite harsh, harsh enough to even have a recoil in western economies. The big one was the threat to cut Russia out of SWIFT, which apparently some European nations are against because of the collateral damage. There was also another one US alone could do, and it had something to do with preventing payments from Russian banks and entities from ultimately clearing through US payment systems, but I really don't know how that would work.

I'm hoping US/NATO will manage to focus the sanctions just on Putin's circle, but the damage will probably trickle down.

And also Putin said a while back that if Russia got cut out of SWIFT, it would be interpreted as a declaration of war.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
I don;'t get access to this article, but there may be good details as to how a SWIFT exclusion could be approved by European nations.

 

wektor

Well-known member
The ones under consideration by US and the ones jointly by US/NATO seem quite harsh, harsh enough to even have a recoil in western economies. The big one was the threat to cut Russia out of SWIFT, which apparently some European nations are against because of the collateral damage. There was also another one US alone could do, and it had something to do with preventing payments from Russian banks and entities from ultimately clearing through US payment systems, but I really don't know how that would work.

I'm hoping US/NATO will manage to focus the sanctions just on Putin's circle, but the damage will probably trickle down.

And also Putin said a while back that if Russia got cut out of SWIFT, it would be interpreted as a declaration of war.
Yeah those are the ones I have heard about, my question is, has anything been implemented already apart from some companies blocking their websites in Russia? ie. Pornhub
 
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