Current Affairs Ukraine

[FrenchDarrenBent]

I'm game like but my trigger finger is a bit of a mess tbh

I smell a draft dodger. Wasn't it your left hand that got cut?

 

[Lobster Johnson]

Also.... how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

A wood chuck could chuck no amount of wood cos a woodchuck can't chuck wood.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

 

[Yarrgh]

How much is he asking for the starlink service?

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

This should be interesting, on iPlayer now.

Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone: A series of films by Adam Curtis.

Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone

What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[tommye]

I smell a draft dodger. Wasn't it your left hand that got cut?

Right index finger.
Oh dear.
How sad.
Never mind.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

How much is he asking for the starlink service?

Only just spotted the headlines. He comes across like a big spoilt baby - re the cave sub fallout and now this.

 

[Charlie Sweet]

Regarding sanctions - sanctions are sanctions and countries are countries - big or small regardless of 'economic value'. . The world's majority, the 87% haven't sanctioned Russia.

Regarding war crimes - they are very difficult to determine when a war is going on. Making them without evidence can lead
to this happening.

Why the Ukrainian parliament dismissed Human Rights Chief ...​

https://correctiv.org › Home › Fact-checking

"Ukrainian MP Pavlo Frolov wrote in a Facebook post that Denisova had neglected her duties by not setting up humanitarian corridors or advanced prisoner exchanges. Instead, she had focused too much on graphically outlining cases of sexual violence for which she did not provide any evidence. That, according to Frolov, harmed Ukraine’s reputation".

Or this, when a war is going on.

Nayirah testimony - Wikipedia​

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Nayirah_testimony

Nayirah al-Ṣabaḥ during her testimony. It was later revealed that she was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States and that her testimony could not be verified.
The Nayirah testimony was false testimony given before the United States Congressional Human Rights Caucus on October 10, 1990, by a 15-year-old girl who was publicly identified at the time by her first name, Nayirah. The testimony was widely publicized, and was cited numerous times by United States senators and President George H. W. Bush in their rationale to support Kuwait in the Gulf War.
In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was Al-Ṣabaḥ (Arabic: نيرة الصباح) and that she was the daughter of Saud Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait public relations campaign, which was run by the American public relations firm Hill & Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government. Following this, al-Sabah's testimony has come to be regarded as a classic example of modern atrocity propaganda.[1][2]

In her testimony, Nayirah claimed that after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait she had witnessed Iraqi soldiers take babies out of incubators in a Kuwaiti hospital, take the incubators, and leave the babies to die.
Her story was initially corroborated by Amnesty International, a British NGO, which published several independent reports about the killings[3] and testimony from evacuees. Following the liberation of Kuwait, reporters were given access to the country. An ABC report found that "patients, including premature babies, did die, when many of Kuwait's nurses and doctors ... fled" but Iraqi troops "almost certainly had not stolen hospital incubators and left hundreds of Kuwaiti babies to die."[4] Amnesty International reacted by issuing a correction, with executive director John Healey subsequently accusing the Bush administration of "opportunistic manipulation of the international human rights movement".[5]

Regarding the referenda in the 4 territories was a sham? Isn't that up to them if the people living in that area call for a referendum? Like those living in Scotland? Do the Scottish people have a right to a referendum, despite the Tories saying they will not allow another one to take place? In the Good Friday Agreement there is a clause that says those living in the north eastern part of Ireland can have a referendum to cede from the UK. It was negotiated. The Unionists don't like that and would say it's a sham.

Part of a negotiated settlement for Ukraine will be about those 4 regions and what will happen to them. Maybe there will be a parting of the ways like what happened with Czechoslavakia.

Thanks for engaging but you're deflecting.

I agree countries are countries. Thank you for that. But you suggesting 87% of countries haven't sanctioned implies that sanctions lack significance. I'm saying if counties equivalent to say 70% of the world's GDV are imposing sanctions and maybe 90% of the worlds democratic countries (by economic value) that's far more relevant isn't it.

For war crimes yes of course it needs to be properly assessed after the event but in the age of modern technology the evidence already appears very strong - eg independent satellite imagery of mass graves.

On referenda my point of suggesting its a sham has nothing to do with whether or not the population wants one (questionable) its that the environment in which it is being held is not fair, open or democratic.

Please answer how can you on the one hand say its too early to judge war crimes but on the other say its perfect timing to hold such significant referenda? In the midst of a war what arguments do you both sides could offer? Indeed were the Ukrainians even offering an alternative?

Lastly - you do at least accept that Russia started all this?

 

[Yarrgh]

Only just spotted the headlines. He comes across like a big spoilt baby - re the cave sub fallout and now this.

He truly is. Totally self absorbed and seeks out controversy if it suits him or even just a whim.

Oligarchs from any country are inherently problematic as they wield so much power and influence.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Brexit is a part of Putins hybrid war on the west that has been waged since at least the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, Joey.

This is worth a read

On the Frontline of Exposing the Truth About Russia and Brexit

Four years ago, Tom Mutch thought he had the ‘scoop of the century’ blowing open Russia’s involvement in Brexit. Now, after the UK has left the European Union and Putin wages genocidal war in Ukraine, he wonders whether we are any closer to knowing the truth

bylinetimes.com

A bit more detailed if you want to download the CSIS report and findings is in the link below but the summary should give a flavour.

Mind the Gaps: Assessing Russian Influence in the United Kingdom

How have Russian influence activities shaped political discourse in the United Kingdom? How has Her Majesty’s Government responded?

www.csis.org

Coming back to this discussion,

Ukip Appeared On A Quarter Of All Question Time Shows Since May 2010, Huff Post UK Reveals

The Greens only got a look in 7% of the time

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

 

[davids]

Thanks for the answers to the questions I asked. Very informative.

He is a weapon expert.?

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

 

[tommye]

He is a weapon expert.?

Perfectly qualified to assess you and your little bot friend.


Both Grade A weapons

 

[Shevin Keedy]

What colour is the boathouse in Hereford?

Haha that's a great quote. The sequence makes me laugh though as De Niro's character is obviously using it to catch out Sean Bean's character but he negates the whole premise himself by not pronouncing Hereford correctly.