bickster Posted April 3 Moderator Share Posted April 3 45 minutes ago, avfc1982am said: The Cessna attack on the Oil refinery... Thats the drone factory if we're splitting hairs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Just now, bickster said: Thats the drone factory if we're splitting hairs You're stealing my moment Bicks... just pack it in. Funny, I did think the explosion was pretty crap for a refinery 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enda Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 4 hours ago, villa89 said: This times a million. It should be disbanded. The UN doesn’t exist to bring us to heaven (world peace) but to prevent us from hell (nuclear war). It does that job. I am not sure disbanding it would make the world safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto_Villan Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 2 hours ago, bickster said: Thats the drone factory if we're splitting hairs If we're splitting hairs it's actually the dormitories adjacent to the drone factory, which housed a bunch of teenaged foreign "exchange students" who were being forced to assemble the drones in the nearby factory. About a dozen of them died. It's a shame they weren't able to hit the factory itself, unfortunately. But hopefully many more of those workers will find a way to go home rather than risk being killed in future drone strikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) 22 hours ago, Enda said: The UN doesn’t exist to bring us to heaven (world peace) but to prevent us from hell (nuclear war). It does that job. I am not sure disbanding it would make the world safer. I don't really agree that UN keeps us from nuclear war. Deterrent keeps us from nuclear war. The UN is increasingly becoming the playground for authoritarian regimes, where a small minority democratic NATO and its allies are having to sit through China\Russia\Iran\South Africa and its allies soil the name of the UN by accusing democratic nations of things they're doing themselves. The only way to keep peace is in my opinion to strengthen our technological edge over 'the rest'. I think the UN-theory has been tested, and once again we're back to the point where the language of strength is the only thing Xi\Vlad\Kim and the gang understands. So long as we keep our conventional edge over the rest and have enough nukes to deter them using theirs the world will be relatively peaceful. Edited April 4 by magnkarl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 4 Moderator Share Posted April 4 57 minutes ago, magnkarl said: The UN is increasingly becoming the playground for authoritarian regimes, where a small minority democratic NATO and its allies are having to sit through China\Russia\Iran\South Africa and its allies soil the name of the UN by accusing democratic nations of things they're doing themselves. I agree with the direction of your post, but unfortunately the west (broadly) did do the things they (Russia etc) are doing now. “We” undermined the UN as much if not more than anyone else. Which doesn’t excuse Russia’s barbarism in the slightest, but it has made it impossible to get any wide consent to stop them, outside of Europe and North America plus Australasia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) 6 minutes ago, blandy said: I agree with the direction of your post, but unfortunately the west (broadly) did do the things they (Russia etc) are doing now. “We” undermined the UN as much if not more than anyone else. Which doesn’t excuse Russia’s barbarism in the slightest, but it has made it impossible to get any wide consent to stop them, outside of Europe and North America plus Australasia. I don't disagree. It just brings us back to the UN being broken. Too many 'big' powers have a veto, and if the US, China or Russia wants to they'll invade whoever they please and veto anything in the UN. The only thing stopping that is deterrence. The only thing that made the cold war the most peaceful period in history is the fact that both sides knew that they'd wipe each other out if they tried. It's time to get back the mentality of showing Russia\China\Iran\North Korea that we'll whoop their asses purely due to our democratic industrial output and technology. When Russia hopefully loses this war there might be a chance to reconfigure the UN, because as it is now it's used by blocks of countries to vote for at times quite bonkers ideas, you know like Russia or China accusing Ukraine of attacking civilians when one has invaded a sovereign nation for no reason and the other is essentially genociding a whole minority (Uighurs). Edited April 4 by magnkarl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 NATO countries invaded Iraq for failing to surrender weapons they didn't actually have. NATO countries invaded Afghanistan lookingfor Bin Laden and his terrorists who were actually hiding in Pakistan who were our allies. Turkey still occupies North Cyprus. France, Spain and the UK all occupy distant areas with debatable ownership. The UN is a political stage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 4 Moderator Share Posted April 4 20 minutes ago, magnkarl said: When Russia hopefully loses this war It's not for a moment looked like they will "lose" in the sense that Ukraine will win. It looks even less likely now than at any time - neither side wins, IMO, whatever the outcome. The 3 possibilities are Russia takes all of Ukraine - just can't see that happening. Ukraine hoofs Russia out of Ukraine - ditto, or some kind of grinding on until complete exhaustion of resources and manpower leads to a ceasefire and years of sporadic outbreaks of fighting over disputed (by one side or the other) territory. The US Republicans blocking support to Ukraine are clearly helping Russia's cause significantly, and I didn't forsee that being the case, but right now Russia is on top and inclined to throw even more meat at at it, while the US is squabbling internally and running up to an electio n and the potential re-appearance of the Russian lacky with the fake tan and the inflated ego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 41 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said: France and Spain occupy distant areas with debatable ownership. fixed that for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 4 Moderator Share Posted April 4 37 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: fixed that for you Nope, you've broken it. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9134/ Quote Between 1968 and 1973 the British Government cleared the entire Chagos Archipelago of its inhabitants in anticipation of a US military base on the biggest island, Diego Garcia. The Archipelago was made a colony, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). It subsequently became a British Overseas Territory. Two main disputes have arisen from these events. One has been between the Chagos Islanders and the British Government over the legality of their removal and whether they have a right to return. The other has been between the UK and Mauritius about sovereignty over the BIOT. For example. We might not have done it as violently as Russia, courtesy of the empire, there's obviously a legacy of "you stole this". "Those were good old the days!" if you're of a certain gammony, Brexity bent. Sort of like the Russians oblivious to what's going on in their names in Ukraine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 45 minutes ago, blandy said: Nope, you've broken it <<insert rainier wolfcastle gif here >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 On 04/04/2024 at 14:14, blandy said: It's not for a moment looked like they will "lose" in the sense that Ukraine will win. It looks even less likely now than at any time - neither side wins, IMO, whatever the outcome. The 3 possibilities are Russia takes all of Ukraine - just can't see that happening. Ukraine hoofs Russia out of Ukraine - ditto, or some kind of grinding on until complete exhaustion of resources and manpower leads to a ceasefire and years of sporadic outbreaks of fighting over disputed (by one side or the other) territory. The US Republicans blocking support to Ukraine are clearly helping Russia's cause significantly, and I didn't forsee that being the case, but right now Russia is on top and inclined to throw even more meat at at it, while the US is squabbling internally and running up to an electio n and the potential re-appearance of the Russian lacky with the fake tan and the inflated ego. Here's to the tan man not winning. If Ukraine can hold out until November and Biden wins, Ukraine might be able to make life so bitter for Putin that he has to withdraw, Chechnya\Afghanistan have both shown that Russia can be cut so many times that it has to cut its losses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 10 minutes ago, magnkarl said: Here's to the tan man not winning. If Ukraine can hold out until November and Biden wins, Ukraine might be able to make life so bitter for Putin that he has to withdraw, Chechnya\Afghanistan have both shown that Russia can be cut so many times that it has to cut its losses. Biden is in power now and can’t get funding approved. It seems likely that not a lot changes in November even if he stays in power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 5 VT Supporter Share Posted April 5 3 minutes ago, LondonLax said: Biden is in power now and can’t get funding approved. It seems likely that not a lot changes in November even if he stays in power. I guess if Trump loses again that's the end of him and The Republicans have to change tack. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 3 minutes ago, sidcow said: I guess if Trump loses again that's the end of him and The Republicans have to change tack. That’s very optimistic of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 5 VT Supporter Share Posted April 5 23 minutes ago, LondonLax said: That’s very optimistic of you You think? Political parties don't like losers. Losing twice is not going to look good for him. Plus he'll be older than Biden is now next time out and undoubtedly be up against the younger man the whole nation craves frankly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 6 minutes ago, sidcow said: You think? Political parties don't like losers. Losing twice is not going to look good for him. Plus he'll be older than Biden is now next time out and undoubtedly be up against the younger man the whole nation craves frankly. If you are talking about who runs in 4 years time then who knows but Trump and his MAGA affiliated congressmen are still going to be around in 2025 with Trump banging on about stolen presidential elections and his people in the Senate/House of Representatives blocking legislation from reaching Biden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted April 5 Administrator Share Posted April 5 There's a thread for US Politics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 BBC Quote Ukraine war: Six Russian planes destroyed by drones, says Kyiv Ukraine has carried out a drone attack against targets in southern Russia, and claims to have destroyed six Russian planes at an airbase in Rostov region. Security sources told BBC Ukrainian eight more aircraft were badly damaged, and 20 service personnel could have been killed or injured. The Morozovsk base houses Su-27 and Su-34 aircraft used on the front line in Ukraine, the sources said. There has been no word from Russia on reports of an airfield attack. The BBC has been unable to independently verify the reports. However, Russian officials said that more than 40 drones had been aimed at the region, which borders Ukraine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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