1. #30981
    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Fine then. Keep living in your delusional world where you think Putin will leave power and a new leader will come up who will instantly order the retreat of all Russian forces and give back Crimeea to Ukraine, and then hand over all the Russian war criminals to international courts. And all this without even being defeated like Germany in WW2.

    What wonderful world you live in.
    It's not delusional - unless Russia bow to the demands things will not be normalized.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Trump and LePen are not idiots.
    They most definitely are idiots.

  2. #30982
    Quote Originally Posted by YUPPIE View Post
    The situation in Bahkmut in my opinion just illustrates the direness (more optimistic than "hopeless") of this war and how propaganda is dangerously deceptive. For a while now, Ukrainians have been claiming Bahkmut is theirs and how they're winning...up to the last moment showing they were basically decimated.

    Now, that is not to say Russia has claimed or won Bahkmut, but as we can see in the aftermath, they have completely destroyed it and rendered it a smoking crater. If they cannot win it, they just DESTROYED ALL OF IT along with themselves in a scorched earth campaign.

    This happened despite all the tough talk of sanctions, overwhelming losses, etc. And it just illustrates my point the war for the Ukrainian military is bleaker than what propaganda will tell you, even if they're stalemating or not necessarily losing.
    Except Ukraine has not been decimated...

    And destroying Bahkmut is not an accomplishment. Do not underestimate how much western reconstruction aid is going to be injected in Ukraine once Russia has been violently shoved back to where they belong.

    A Marshal plan 2.0 is going to catapult Ukraine back up while Russia sinks ever deeper into the bottomless pit of its own creation.
    It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death

  3. #30983
    Quote Originally Posted by Gorsameth View Post
    Except Ukraine has not been decimated...
    And destroying Bahkmut is not an accomplishment.
    1) only in Bahkmut, not as a whole.

    2) no, it's not, but as the other posters have indicated, it shows Russia will utterly raze anything they can't claim. So instead of inching forward and taking land bit by bit per disproportionate losses as I said before, what if they now inch bit by bit and destroy everything like this instead?
    "Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."

  4. #30984
    Quote Originally Posted by YUPPIE View Post
    1) only in Bahkmut, not as a whole.

    2) no, it's not, but as the other posters have indicated, it shows Russia will utterly raze anything they can't claim. So instead of inching forward and taking land bit by bit per disproportionate losses as I said before, what if they now inch bit by bit and destroy everything like this instead?
    its not the taking land vs destroying it that costs disproportionate losses. its the inching forward.

    And, assuming Bahkmut has even fallen which is not something agreed on, your now not inching forward under cover of rubble in a destroyed city but across an open field.

    We told you months and months ago that Bahkmut has no actual value. Its just the ground upon Ukraine is killing thousands of Russians.
    It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death

  5. #30985
    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Like...I understand people are angry and want satisfaction and retribution, but the real world and the real world politics don't work like in fantasy. In the real world it's all about COMPROMISE.
    Yeah guys, just compromise with the people that want your people dead. It's so simple.

    Here's the compromise. Russia gets all soldiers out, Russia returns all territories back to Ukraine, Putin is executed, and pays for the rebuilding of Ukraine, and Ukraine gets to watch it happen. Anything less than that is fucking stupid and all you're doing is saying "It's okay for Russia to have done this."

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    Quote Originally Posted by YUPPIE View Post
    2) no, it's not, but as the other posters have indicated, it shows Russia will utterly raze anything they can't claim. So instead of inching forward and taking land bit by bit per disproportionate losses as I said before, what if they now inch bit by bit and destroy everything like this instead?
    "Russia will spend 400x more taking over something they didn't really need to in order to present strength" isn't really the flex you're trying to portray here. What just described shows idiocy more than anything else.

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  6. #30986
    Banned Cynical Asshole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dontrike View Post
    Yeah guys, just compromise with the people that want your people dead. It's so simple.

    Here's the compromise. Russia gets all soldiers out, Russia returns all territories back to Ukraine, Putin is executed, and pays for the rebuilding of Ukraine, and Ukraine gets to watch it happen. Anything less than that is fucking stupid and all you're doing is saying "It's okay for Russia to have done this."

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    Unfortunately we live in the real world, and not in a cartoon. So the only thing that's gonna happen is the first thing...maybe.

    So you can rage all you want, but eventually you will have to face reality. And the reality is there will be a compromise, which is very likely going to be none of the above except pulling the soldiers out, and the West will be happy to do it because that means they can once again buy shit from Russia, shit that they need, and no one actually cares that much about the victims other than using them to mak pompous public statements pretending that they care.
    Last edited by Cynical Asshole; 2023-05-21 at 03:56 PM.

  7. #30987
    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Unfortunately we live in the real world, and not in a cartoon. So the only thing that's gonna happen is the first thing...maybe.

    So you can rage all you want, but eventually you will have to face reality.
    Your "real world" sure as shit seems to be heavily biased in Russia's favor. I wonder why that is.

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  8. #30988
    Banned Cynical Asshole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dontrike View Post
    Your "real world" sure as shit seems to be heavily biased in Russia's favor. I wonder why that is.
    Because we are realists and can see the writing on the wall. If you're expecting a Nazi Germany kind of defeat for Russia, where Russia loses everything and all the guilty parties are brought justice, you are incredibly delusional.
    Last edited by Cynical Asshole; 2023-05-21 at 04:11 PM.

  9. #30989
    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Because we are realists and can see the writing on the wall.
    "We," eh? And who is this "we?"

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  10. #30990
    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Because we are realists and can see the writing on the wall. If you're expecting a Nazi Germany kind of defeat for Russia, where Russia loses everything and all the guilty parties are brought justice, you are incredibly delusional.
    Realist? Sounds more like apologist. How did you celebrate the 1-year anniversary of this 3-day special operation by the way?

  11. #30991
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    Russia spends almost a year taking a stratigically insignificant city and suddenly the pearl clutchers manifest to bemoan that Ukraine is doomed.

    At least it's a step up from folks chiming in to be smug about Russia killing civilians.

  12. #30992
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Because we are realists
    "Realists" that think a PRC invasion of Taiwan is likely let alone feasible. Okay.

    and can see the writing on the wall. If you're expecting a Nazi Germany kind of defeat for Russia, where Russia loses everything and all the guilty parties are brought justice, you are incredibly delusional.
    No one's expecting that.

    What people are predicting is an outcome similar to that of the Soviet-Afghan War wherein the invasion ultimately fails and Russia is faced with a decade of internal political strife that hamstrings its ability to conduct future endeavors of this sort.
    It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.

  13. #30993
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Unfortunately we live in the real world, and not in a cartoon. So the only thing that's gonna happen is the first thing...maybe.

    So you can rage all you want, but eventually you will have to face reality. And the reality is there will be a compromise, which is very likely going to be none of the above except pulling the soldiers out, and the West will be happy to do it because that means they can once again buy shit from Russia, shit that they need, and no one actually cares that much about the victims other than using them to mak pompous public statements pretending that they care.
    You mean, energy? The only attractive thing Russia actually has for sell? The same thing Europe quickly started to move away from and look for alternatives, due to the aggression? The same thing ruskies now have to sell for cheap to China and India?
    Last edited by Makabreska; 2023-05-21 at 05:12 PM.
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  14. #30994
    Europe didn't freeze in the past winter. What exactly is it that they sell that Europe needs at this point?

    Hoping for a cold winter while Europe wasn't ready was the only economic play that Russia had, Now its yet another year of moving further away from 'needing' Russian gas or oil.
    It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death

  15. #30995
    I do agree with the nihilistic sentiment that everyone is just exploiting the war and that Russia will face no repercussions even if they lose. If they lose, there is no doubt the world will just try to resume business as fast as possible. You can't just shun a country with land mass and resources like that. At any point as well, Putin could just go into exile with his wealth and no one would bother him ala Pol Pot. I don't know if you all have been following the stories of his Resident evil-like underground bunker labrynth complex he can fuck off to.

    Besides the aforementioned Trump and Le Pen already in Putin's pocket, look at Hungary and Orban right now trying to impede Ukraine.
    "Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."

  16. #30996
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiac View Post
    "Realists" that think a PRC invasion of Taiwan is likely let alone feasible. Okay.



    No one's expecting that.
    Yeah, I didn't go too much in depth on that but any invasion of Taiwain is a couple decades away at least. China simply does not have the necessary logistics to assault a well defended island, let alone the potential domino effect of dragging the US along the ride which would be absolutely catastrophic for a vast multitudes of reasons. I don't think the CCP needed to watch the Russians fail at everything to know about those facts, even if the invasion did likely reinforce existing hesitations on the matter.
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  17. #30997
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cynical Asshole View Post
    Because we are realists and can see the writing on the wall. If you're expecting a Nazi Germany kind of defeat for Russia, where Russia loses everything and all the guilty parties are brought justice, you are incredibly delusional.
    No.

    I expect a continuously worsening internal and international situation for Russia, their regional power to be ceded to China as they are increasingly vassalized to suit chinas interests. NATO will continue to grow in strength in Europe as Russia slides into increased geopolitical obscurity.

    Internally they will continue to fall behind on technological and economic development as they become a glorified gas station of increasing obscurity as Europe continues to extricate its need to be reliant upon them. It will take decades for Russia to catch back up to where they once were, and by that time the rest of the world will have left them far behind. Their abilities to innovate have been sunk for the foreseeable future by the brain drain that has occurred in Russia through the millions of people fleeing and hundreds of thousands sent to die for nothing, not to mention the corporations who have severed ties with Russia.

    THAT is the realistic future for Russia.
    “Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
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    Kaleredar is right...
    Words to live by.

  18. #30998
    Quote Originally Posted by YUPPIE View Post
    I do agree with the nihilistic sentiment that everyone is just exploiting the war and that Russia will face no repercussions even if they lose. If they lose, there is no doubt the world will just try to resume business as fast as possible. You can't just shun a country with land mass and resources like that. At any point as well, Putin could just go into exile with his wealth and no one would bother him ala Pol Pot. I don't know if you all have been following the stories of his Resident evil-like underground bunker labrynth complex he can fuck off to.

    Besides the aforementioned Trump and Le Pen already in Putin's pocket, look at Hungary and Orban right now trying to impede Ukraine.
    No he can't. He has amassed his fortune by stealing from thieves. What makes you think that the other thieves won't simply cap his ass and take back what they originally stole from someone else?

  19. #30999
    Elemental Lord Makabreska's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kaleredar View Post
    No.I expect a continuously worsening internal and international situation for Russia, their regional power to be ceded to China as they are increasingly vassalized to suit chinas interests. NATO will continue to grow in strength in Europe as Russia slides into increased geopolitical obscurity.
    This is already happening. Two days ago we had a China-Central Asia Summit, where Xi met with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. All ex-soviet countries that were believed to still be under Russian sphere of influence. China wants to strengthen ties invest heavily into these countries.
    Sometimes, the light of the moon is a key to other spaces. I've found a place where, for a night or two, the streets curve in unfamiliar ways. If I walk here, I might find insight, or I might be touched by madness.

  20. #31000
    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    What makes you think that the other thieves won't simply cap his ass and take back what they originally stole from someone else?
    "if you kill me, you'll never know where the troves of trillions I've stashed away are."

    Basically. It's pretty clear his security personnel is at least in on this pie, hence why he's still alive.
    "Truth...justice, honor, freedom! Vain indulgences, every one(...) I know what I want, and I take it. I take advantage of whatever I can, and discard that which I cannot. There is no room for sentiment or guilt."

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