Belarus being Belarus
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BigZ
Well-Known Member
I have a pact with Lukashenko. He doesn't tell me how to fly the airplanes, I don't tell him how to run a country. PS Only transited few times, never been for a long time. Some hate it there and now mostly are over here, some love it and swear by it over how Ukraine and Russia are. Don't have the %.
That's great, until you try to answer two questions
1. Why in the actual eff would he do that, considering how subsidized the Baltic states were during the union times and
2. Try to remember the last time Russia actually started the crap in the west.
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
your affinity for dictators is fascinating
BigZ
Well-Known Member
Nah, I just don't care.
Dude co-organized an app channel that riled up a bunch of ppl and put them on the street against the government forces.
Over there he's looking at 15 yrs locked up for that. NATO states would never give him to Belarus, hence the creativity.
zmiller4
Well-Known Member
The fact that you seem to think this like a “hmmm, whatever” situation is bizarre.
He’s a damn dictator. And just used a military aircraft to force down a civilian aircraft. The heck man...
You’ve got to be kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
Ukraine seems to ring a bell...
BigZ
Well-Known Member
There's a much bigger problem with the people over here easily manipulated into supporting/opposing whichever BS a finger is pointed at.
Lately there's been a whole bunch of riots of equal popularity among the local population in various countries. Media divides them into good/bad depending on how the objective aligns with the US policy. US policy. Someone else's country. I don't do that anymore. Did 17 odd years ago, don't think it was a right thing to do. Started thinking I'm doing a good thing, then it just paid the bills, now wouldn't do it for money. Same with the military - used to be borderline heartbroken I didn't get to go fly a Sukhoi, now I'll actively discourage my kids from any military in the world. Unless evil alien invasion - then I'll see you at the front of the volunteer line.
He is a dictator. So happens, a dictator that managed to prevent a whole bunch of nastiness that befell the rest of the ex-USSR countries and still manages to maneuver between the east and the west. Give the man some credit.
As for the dog and pony show - like I said, the west would never give the guy up, so they got the guy like that. I'm sure Ryanair will be compensated for the inconvenience, there will be sanctions and the dude flipped off the west, encouraging the people that support him. Not my circus, not my monkeys to judge.
Here's a list for your convenience
List of wars involving Russia - Wikipedia
Tell me.
BigZ
Well-Known Member
I'm from the part of what used to be a country where Russia's support is hugely appreciated.
Wrote numerous words about how things came to be that way over there on this forum, see no reason to repeat myself.
I must say that I appreciate getting your perspective in this area.There's a much bigger problem with the people over here easily manipulated into supporting/opposing whichever BS a finger is pointed at.
Lately there's been a whole bunch of riots of equal popularity among the local population in various countries. Media divides them into good/bad depending on how the objective aligns with the US policy. US policy. Someone else's country. I don't do that anymore. Did 17 odd years ago, don't think it was a right thing to do. Started thinking I'm doing a good thing, then it just paid the bills, now wouldn't do it for money. Same with the military - used to be borderline heartbroken I didn't get to go fly a Sukhoi, now I'll actively discourage my kids from any military in the world. Unless evil alien invasion - then I'll see you at the front of the volunteer line.
He is a dictator. So happens, a dictator that managed to prevent a whole bunch of nastiness that befell the rest of the ex-USSR countries and still manages to maneuver between the east and the west. Give the man some credit.
As for the dog and pony show - like I said, the west would never give the guy up, so they got the guy like that. I'm sure Ryanair will be compensated for the inconvenience, there will be sanctions and the dude flipped off the west, encouraging the people that support him. Not my circus, not my monkeys to judge.
Here's a list for your convenience
List of wars involving Russia - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Tell me.
I don’t feel like I’ve done enough serious thinking on my own to be able to make a judgement on the topic, but I very much appreciate alternative perspectives in conversations like these...
Ditto my previous post...
BigZ
Well-Known Member
Here's a fascinating "read between the lines" read for a similar issue in 2016 that somehow didn't cause any outrage due to being aligned with the policy
en.interfax.com.ua
And the SBU "We would never!"
Point being, it's like normal ops over there, except only 50% causes the outrage
Ukraine returns passenger jet en route to Minsk back to Kyiv airport under threat of scrambling fighters
Ukrainian authorities forced a Belavia passenger jet en route from Kyiv to Minsk to return to the Zhuliany airport in Kyiv under the threat of scrambling fighters, Belavia said in a statement.
en.interfax.com.ua
And the SBU "We would never!"
Point being, it's like normal ops over there, except only 50% causes the outrage
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Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
I think it would behoove everyone, everywhere to be just a little bit more uncertain as to just exactly what is going on in the "Great Game" (or the "Stately Quadrille", as they used to call it). I think the US is *usually* on the less-wrong side in these things, but you can be sure that nothing is ever as black and white as any particular nation-state wishes to portray it, including ours.
I grant that this isn't a particularly good example of this phenomenon, as it's pretty obviously playing a little dirty pool to capture a guy whose crime appears to be saying stuff the gummint doesn't like, but the broader point remains.
I grant that this isn't a particularly good example of this phenomenon, as it's pretty obviously playing a little dirty pool to capture a guy whose crime appears to be saying stuff the gummint doesn't like, but the broader point remains.
Agree on the “broader point”.
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Here's a list for your convenience
Tell me.List of wars involving Russia - Wikipedia
you’re aware the last entry says “2017-present” right?
BigZ
Well-Known Member
Are we looking at different things?
Last two I'm showing are
Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present)
And
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War (2015–present)
As a reminder, the question was:
Try to remember the last time Russia actually started the crap in the west.
Sooo?
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
ok, then I guess I just don’t understand the point of the question. Like are you asking when was the last time Russia started military action against NATO? About as long ago as the last time NATO started military action against Russia.
Stone Cold
Well-Known Member
I see the Russian troll is trolling again.
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
That's kind of what I'm on about, though. BigZ is a real person or I'll eat my hat. Like he's not sitting in some server farm in Kaliningrad "poisoning our Democracy" for the hell of it like some evil cartoon character. Let's say, I dunno, Boris Badenov. And viewing the inputs of real people, however wrong you think they are, through the lens of this sort of geopolitical hostility isn't existing in the real world, and it isn't helpful. This is the sort of thing we *all* have to stop doing, or it's going to be just more of the same, over and over again, forever.
Skåning
Well-Known Member
That's like saying, "oh yeah Hitler was bad and all...but he made the autobahn!" A dictator is a dictator
Minuteman
I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING!
I mean, say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism. At least it's an ethos.