Recent comments in /f/worldnews

Postcocious t1_j6nvyku wrote

>How could Russia do that, exactly, in a newly independent country?

The same way they do in every other country: inserting agents, propaganda, misinformation, sabotaging (and sometimes murdering) people who disagree with them.

All that is especially easy in a newly independent country, where political structures and norms are not well established.

Doubly so when many people speak Russian and/or are sympathetic.

Crimea being newly independent made them more vulnerable to outside influences, not less.

>Coups aren't exactly political.

Parliamentary votes aren't coups.

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Ramboxious t1_j6nvmof wrote

>Again, what would they be, and why wouldn't Zelensky just say no to everything? Why would Putin willingly give up his leverage for nothing?

The point is that both parties set up pre-conditions for diplomatic negotiations, which the other party is not willing to meet, hence the military conflict. However, Russia, as the aggressor, is the only party that wants to continue the conflict, and has no justifiable reason to be in the conflict, so it is their responsibility to end the war if they want to negotiate.

Ukraine can't do that if they want to maintain their sovereignty, Russia can do that while maintaining their sovereignty.

>It can quickly become an unpopular quagmire, for example.

How would it be an unpopular quagmire? Support for Ukraine is at an all time high, and vice versa for Russia, especially in Europe. NATO troops in Ukraine would help out a great deal in kicking out Russians out of Ukraine, judging by the pace that Ukrainians were able to retrieve territory.

The reason that NATO troops aren't in Ukraine is that they don't want to potentially trigger MAD, that's it.

>The point was that MAD doesn't give you peace of mind. Or any kind of certainty.

Exactly, that's why NATO doesn't want to attack Russia, because they don't want to risk the chance of triggering MAD.

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Old_comfy_shoes t1_j6nv5nc wrote

I personally find bidens response deliberate, and intriguing.

He made no explanations, and was very short and said "no".

And that could sometimes means he is deliberately answering the specific question precisely.

Iow, it could be possible the US is sending new f-16 to Poland and Poland is sending old ones to Ukraine, for example. I'm not saying that I think this is happening, but sometimes precise short answers can be for reasons like that.

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frostygrin t1_j6nuroy wrote

> In December 1991, Ukraine held a referendum and Ukrainians voted for independence. This essentially marked the end of the Soviet Union.

I said as much - it was a choice between independent Ukraine and the Soviet Union, not a choice between independent Russia and independent Ukraine. Then Ukraine stripped the autonomous status.

> True, but only half the story. Russia was working just as hard to suppress pro-Ukraine sentiment. You forgot that part.

Haven't seen any sources. How could Russia do that, exactly, in a newly independent country?

> Ukraine won that battle by political means (the pro-Ukraine parliament ousted the pro-Russian president).

Coups aren't exactly political.

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almostthere69420 t1_j6nuhr1 wrote

When the collective world walks away from the Olympics because of Russia they will find out.

They can have new Olympics with only Iran, China, Korea, Russia

Or they can have actual Olympics, without Russia, because nobody gives a fuck about Russia👌 they made their bed and now they can deal with the consequences for decades and decades to come

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Seeking-Something-3 t1_j6nugaq wrote

Oh right, those evil starving children. How dare they make Murica mad. Forgive me, genius. Oh, and those trillions mostly went to American corporations. Jackass.

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HootblackDesiato t1_j6ntudt wrote

Any aircraft sold by the US to foreign governments can be "dumbed down" in capability and many are. That certainly includes the nuclear carry capability.

Regardless, I think this position has more to do with the difficulty of long-term logistics support than aircraft capability. While it is possible (and not uncommon) for F-16 units to deploy far from their home bases, long-term support is expensive and complex, and requires a ton of training for maintenance and support engineers.

When you read about a tank system or anti-aircraft missile system needing lots of training, with a fighter aircraft multiply that need by an order of magnitude. It's not that it can't be done, it's just complex and expensive, far beyond the cost of the aircraft itself.

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