Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Kaleredar]

For the first time in years.........Republicans in the US actually propose a cool law.

https://www.federaltimes.com/off-dut...ssian-vessels/





HOIST THE COLOURS MATES!

As fun as that would seem, I really don't understand how that's not a fairly straightforward act of war.

"Sure we've allowed our citizens to steal your property at gunpoint and even incentivized them to do so, but heavens no we're not at war with you!"

What is nice to see, though, is that the GOP (or at least some of them) are coming down on the side of "we don't like Russia," against Trump and co.'s initial (and long-time standing) stance on the matter.

Maybe they hope the democrats will have to publicly stand against it (because they know passing it and actually using it would effectively be a proclamation of war) or would want to see it passed and then "criticize" how Biden never used it (again, knowing that would basically be a proclamation of war)

I really doubt that the GOP likes that Biden and the democrats can reap such ample political clout from being tough on Russia (as opposed to the GOP plan of saying they are and then doing nothing,) so it wouldn't surprise me if the GOP tried to force the democrat's hands on things that sound "tough on Russia" on paper but in reality are stupid, impractical, or dangerous, just to go "look, see? Look how Biden and the democrats aren't being tough on Russia!"

[Corvus]

I was joking at the beginning that they might just bring back the good old WW2 NKDV commissars. Looking less and less like a joke.

There had been some reports that the Chechens were being used as blocking units. I don't think it's that bad yet but you never know.

[PhaelixWW]

Slightly off-topic, but it looks like a dozen ballistic missiles were fired from Iran into northern Irag near the US consulate in Erbil. No casualties reported so far.

One wonders if someone's trying to use the war in Ukraine as a distraction.

[YUPPIE]

One wonders if someone's trying to use the war in Ukraine as a distraction.

...Putin of course

[Corvus]

It's a bit of an odd one that. The US are in talks with Iran about increasing oil production so for them to fire missiles makes no sense.

Unless it is a Russian backed faction trying to undermine that and draw the US attention elsewhere

[PhaelixWW]

...Putin of course

Every time you write a response, you seem to find a new way to be wrong. Congrats.

No, Putin is not firing missiles from Iran into Iraq.

[XDurionX]

why do they need to conquer Ukraine already being shadow dictator billionaires with more wealth and power than anyone could imagine?

Rich people didn't get rich by saying: "Hey i'm comfortable now, this is enough".

[PhaelixWW]

It's a bit of an odd one that. The US are in talks with Iran about increasing oil production so for them to fire missiles makes no sense.

Unless it is a Russian backed faction trying to undermine that and draw the US attention elsewhere

That's not very likely to draw US attention anywhere, at least not seriously. I think US attention is firmly on Ukraine. It would take an awful lot more than a midnight bombing around the consulate to drag the US away from Ukraine.

[YUPPIE]

Every time you write a response, you seem to find a new way to be wrong. Congrats.

No, Putin is not firing missiles from Iran into Iraq.

Alliances.

- - - Updated - - -

Rich people didn't get rich by saying: "Hey i'm comfortable now, this is enough".

mm not helping putin's case. Makes him seem eviler

[PhaelixWW]

Alliances.

Another nonsense response.

[Kaleredar]

Slightly off-topic, but it looks like a dozen ballistic missiles were fired from Iran into northern Irag near the US consulate in Erbil. No casualties reported so far.

One wonders if someone's trying to use the war in Ukraine as a distraction.

Seeing as the US hasn't deployed any forces towards Ukraine and the sanctions placed on Russia have very few drawbacks for the average person within the US... Who, precisely, is this supposed to be distracting and how?

[PhaelixWW]

Seeing as the US hasn't deployed any forces towards Ukraine and the sanctions placed on Russia have very few drawbacks for the average person within the US... Who, precisely, is this supposed to be distracting and how?

Try reading the quote again.

[Kaleredar]

Try reading the quote again.

No, that's what I'm asking.

"Who legitimately thinks someone is distracted by the situation in Ukraine enough to make some sort of power play in the middle east?"

[PhaelixWW]

No, that's what I'm asking.

"Who legitimately thinks someone is distracted by the situation in Ukraine enough to make some sort of power play in the middle east?"

Your original statement made it sound like you were asking "who thinks the bombing in Iraq is a distraction" which is what was confusing.

But who's saying that it's a power play, specifically? I was suggesting only that it was an opportunity for Iran-backed militants to attempt to cause some damage to the US presence in the region, with less fear of reprisal, due to the overwhelming attention on the war in the Ukraine.

It's hardly a big enough (or successful enough) attack to be considered a "power play".

And it certainly wasn't Putin's troops doing it.

[Slant]

Putin met with Xi Jinping at the Olympics and attacked Ukraine shortly afterwards. At the UN Security Council meeting, China spun a bullshit narrative about wanting peace and blaming the US for the conflict. Chinese media narrative on the conflict is mostly propaganda along these lines.

China and Russia are 100% in cahoots with one another, which is probably why we are having this weird hands-off approach with a military intervention with Ukraine. India and UAE abstaining from voting was also telling, but relatively less concerning.

Thing about people like that is, they'll happily lie to each other as long as it's opportune. But as soon as Russia becomes a liability, China will drop them faster than a hot potatoe.

- - - Updated - - -

China is also pissed that Putin started this when the Olympics were still ongoing. India abstaining is because of their view of being the leader of non aligned nations (and they rely on Russia for some things) where they don't like to be seen as taking a side in squabbles between the west and Moscow.

Gotta say, considering India's position, it's probably the smartest one to have to this point.

[PhaelixWW]

Unconfirmed reports (but backed up by video) that the attack was 6 Fateh-110 ballistic missiles launched from Iran's Khasabad military base.

Sunday’s reported attacks come three days after two Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members were reportedly killed in Syria in an Israeli airstrike. While smaller rocket and mortar strikes by Iran-backed proxies in Iraq and Syria, as well as suicide drone attacks, have become more common since the 2020 missile attack, ballistic missiles have not been used since.

Their reported launch from Iranian territory outside Tabriz would further represent a dramatic escalation, one that would likely warrant U.S. retaliation. The U.S. did not retaliate after the January 2020 missile attack and while dozens of soldiers were reportedly injured, no one was killed.

The attack also comes as the U.S., Iran, and other nations, continue talks in Vienna regarding the Iranian nuclear program in search of a new deal after the U.S. withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018.

The targeting is what is key here. If Iran targeted something under construction or an area where nobody should be, the messaging is focused on displaying/reminding/signaling the capability and the will to use it. Russia is also close to Iran. This is a very convenient distraction, although that is just conjecture. If this target area was a place where people usually are, along with other operational capabilities, the intent changes. Regardless it is a major escalation, but maybe not one worth meeting at this time considering everything else going on in the world.

[Slant]

Slightly off-topic, but it looks like a dozen ballistic missiles were fired from Iran into northern Irag near the US consulate in Erbil. No casualties reported so far.

One wonders if someone's trying to use the war in Ukraine as a distraction.

People must realise that the US Government, or any Government really, is not a 3 year old toddle that you can distract from the needle by waving sock puppets around... surely nobody can be as dumb as that.

[PhaelixWW]

People must realise that the US Government, or any Government really, is not a 3 year old toddle that you can distract from the needle by waving sock puppets around... surely nobody can be as dumb as that.

Jesus fuck. Does nobody understand politics?

"Distraction" in this context is not literal distraction, where they just don't notice the damn thing. Distraction in political context is where they choose to downplay the incident and not respond because they don't want to escalate on a second vector while they're already engaged in preventing getting embroiled in a war with Russia.

That's not to say that the US would successfully be distracted enough to not respond, but the possibility certainly might have played into Iran's decision-making process.

Also, the fact that no US facilities were hit (at least that have been admitted so far) makes this a bit of an odd incident, especially with everything else.

The last attack of this nature occurred after Trump killed Soleimani, though that one resulted in some non-fatal casualties on the US side.

[Lanrefni]

People must realise that the US Government, or any Government really, is not a 3 year old toddle that you can distract from the needle by waving sock puppets around... surely nobody can be as dumb as that.

Have you seen the Republican party lately?! So far as can be seen there is no level of dumb they can't sink to.

[Zaydin]

People keep citing "world war 3," but to me that implies multiple countries fighting other countries, fought on multiple fronts, not "the whole world versus Russia and one or two of its puppet states." I really doubt China would throw their lot in with Russia when effectively staying neutral and selling to both sides is so lucrative, and they have very, very little to gain from actually siding with Russia.

The sort of escalation of rhetoric, I think, comes from the potential nuclear aspect of it, which I think is really why countries aren't doing more. They don't fear Russia's conventional military forces at all, they fear ICBMs.

You know what I mean. Putin has to know that he can't take Ukraine and NATO on at the same time when his army is already struggling to take on the Ukrainian military despite outnumbering them.

Any 'gains' he makes in Ukraine would be erased if he ended up dragging NATO into the war because you know his massed troops in Ukraine would be at the top of the target lists for NATO airstrikes and drone strikes. Any ships he has in the Black Sea would likely be goners, too, being well within range of land-based aircraft that could swarm them with Harpoons or whatever anti-shipping missiles NATO countries use.

If Russia was the one who shot first I would have a hard time seeing any of their nominal 'allies' rushing to help Russia out, particularly China. They are already playing a balancing act with Russia right now as it is; if Russia started shooting at NATO I doubt China would want to get involved. About the only country I could see that MIGHT help Russia is Belarus and that's because Lukashenko is Putins bitch.