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Quote from: DaRude on Today at 09:31:15 AM

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Quote from: DaRude on March 07, 2022, 11:41:11 PM

As to your other angle, it all comes down to perspectives or frames of reference if you wish. One side tries to frame the conflict in terms of a separate, individual localized incident where Russia out of the blue attacks small Ukraine for a land grab. Very easy to argue for Ukraine as a victim and dismiss Russia with crazy Putin as a big bad aggressor, pretty clear cut whats good and bad.

Georgia 2008, Ukraine 2014, no, it's not "individual localized", it follows the pattern of Putin attempting to resurrect a totalitarian dictatorship, collapse of which he not-so-subtly called the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.

Quote from: DaRude on March 07, 2022, 11:41:11 PM

But taking a step back and looking at a bigger picture you realize that suddenly things are not so simple, and some things don't make sense at all. Clearly by officially providing live intel and 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine makes it a proxy war for superpowers with Ukraine stuck in the middle.

How does it not "make sense at all" for Ukraine to acquire defensive capabilities after the aforementioned aggressions? Surely it makes at least some sense if you really want to step back and take a look at the whole picture and not just Putin's "interests".

Quote from: DaRude on March 07, 2022, 11:41:11 PM

Now this is where things get very nuanced, not so black and white, and now whats good and whats bad isn't so clear anymore. Just because things are complicated doesn't make Russia right, but people start thinking, and this is not the field mass media and people with agenda, want to play on.

No, it's still actually quite clear, no need to muddy the waters here. If Alice robs Bob's house and Carol's house and Carol buys a baseball bat and Alice comes back to rob Carol 8 years later, no sane person would think that this is complicated or nuanced.

After Saudis double tap a Yemen funeral with a 500 pound laser-guided bombs manufactured by the United States resulting in 155 killed, US sells $110 billion in weapons in 2017 and $350 billion over 10 years to Saudi Arabia while Saudis are still involved in the Yemeni war causing (8,672 civilians killed and 9,741 injured by coalition's airstrikes) and no one bats an eye, the war is still ongoing. Russia starts a conflict in Ukraine with 406 civilians killed and everyone looses it, Russian funds are stolen, every mass media is covering the war almost 24/7, major cities light up their buildings in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, online warriors are activated and put Ukrainian flags in the profile, and people want to start WW3 by asking NATO to start shooting down Russian planes ("no fly zone"). Clearly all due to the loss of human life and because Saudis are not a dictatorship Roll Eyes

So in your twisted world selling weapons and using weapons is the same thing?

Really? That's what you got out of this? The world of the day is Complicity.

Quote

"From March 9 to September 9, 2022, the Bank of Russia establishes the following procedure for issuing funds from foreign currency deposits or accounts of citizens: all customer funds from foreign currency accounts or deposits … the client can withdraw up to 10 thousand US dollars in cash, and the rest of the funds — in rubles at the market rate on the day of issue," the statement read.

https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-08-22/h_169c24d4b4d3933e6cd5b173bafc3db8

Looks like they're doubling down and completely locking themselves out of foreign currency. US sanctions Russian oil and gas, not much left to loose, next domino to fall is Russia switching to eating potatoes while sanctioning Nord Stream1. Guaranteed global recession at best. Ukraine is fucked, Russia is fucked, Europe is fucked. US Huh

. China is golden.