zone posted:

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776

From denazification of Ukraine to "let's try and conquer all of Europe." Any tankies at all want to weigh in on this one? I thought this was all about saving the so-called republics from the evil Ukrainians?

quote:

⚡️russian tactical aviation has become more active in the direction of Zmiynyi Island, operational command Pivden (South) speaker Nataliia Humenyuk has said.

According to her, guided bombs are occasionally dropped on the island.

This is done to pressure and intimidate civilian vessels in the Black Sea, which use the humanitarian corridor.

zone posted:

https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1700937210919309654#m

What exactly do they gain from randomly dropping bombs on Snake Island of all places? I know they're remarkably stupid but loving Christ, this sad attempt at intimidation isn't fooling anyone.

GABA ghoul posted:

They are not putting their best and brightest into these positions

EorayMel posted:

The very strong masculine Christian warriors hate locations where people told them to go gently caress themselves and cannot comprehend letting things go but if they waste weapons blowing up snake island where nobody is probably there that is better than dropping weapons on Ukrainian tank crews or Kyiv hospitals

zone posted:

https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1700937210919309654#m

What exactly do they gain from randomly dropping bombs on Snake Island of all places? I know they're remarkably stupid but loving Christ, this sad attempt at intimidation isn't fooling anyone.

The_Franz posted:

"There must be some mistake, why am I bombing an uninhabited island?"
"Drop the loving bomb!!"

EorayMel posted:

I love cheerleading dictators that plan to conquer Europe and this time everybody will be happy for it by doing it right

mobby_6kl posted:

Even better would be to hide some AA there and pop those fuckers when they show up next time

The X-man cometh posted:

Lula isn't thinking straight because Bolsonaro was close to Putin, just like Trump.

One of the biggest leftist brainworms is the idea that US foreign policy doesn't change with the party in power.

EorayMel posted:

I love cheerleading dictators that plan to conquer Europe and this time everybody will be happy for it by doing it right

Sashimi posted:

lmao that Russia is still posturing about invading the rest of Europe after the crippling losses they continue to take in Ukraine. I wonder how K2s and M1s would fare against formations of T-62 Obr. 2022...

Jasper Tin Neck posted:

A lot of countries are perfectly happy to sit on the fence and keep doing business with Russia, either because they hold a grudge against one or more of the countries backing Ukraine or because this war is happening so far away that it doesn't register.

Is it stupid, self-centred and a bit petty? Yes. Is it true? Also yes. Welcome to international relations.

Party Ape posted:

Plenty of goons seem to have confused "international relations" with "football" so I wrote a short primer that is absolutely the worst thing I've ever written but might help some goons understand why countries act the way they do.

In the top league, there are three big players: The USA Manifest Destinies, the Chinese Reeducators, and the Russian Genociders. Lately, the Russian squad has been slipping and both their players and equipment are far below what you'd expect. They'd probably face relegation if not for their nuclear arsenal — a relic from the old league rules. And of course, as the newest addition to the top tier, the Chinese team is trying to prove itself by making moves in SE Asia, leaving many teams there wary of potential takeovers.

The American MDs have a few subsidiaries: the UK Sunset Empires (who somehow got sidelined despite having nukes), the Australian "White Australia Policy's," and the oddly named Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Not all of Taiwan, because, well, the US doesn't actually give a poo poo about the people just the chips.

Since the TSMC, UK, and Australia are essentially playing for Team USA, they can freely critique Russia and China but they absolutely cannot criticise Team USA otherwise there's a risk that the US board of directors might tell their head coach he can't play with them anymore. (As an aside, Australia also has some intricate sponsorship deals with China — so mark that relationship as "It's complicated.")

But TSMC has a problem: They are very vulnerable to Chinese expansion and are banking on the US having their back. Except, most teams (including the US) are now heavily investing in their own semiconductor infrastructure, and as the US need for TSMC products drops, this protection is slowly turning into kayfabe rather than a genuine commitment for support. Even so, there's zero chance of TSMC, UK or Australia ever criticising anything the US team does because they need that support. And remember, the US recently dropped the Afghani "Women's Rights" team for not meeting expectations, leaving it vulnerable to takeover so it's not like this is a theoretical risk.

This is the first key point. Countries support the one of the big three because it's in their interests to do so and often they have no other choice.

Now consider the shaky state of Team USA — with the head coach being an 80-year-old strike breaker showing signs of dementia and the alternate being an 80-year-old lunatic showing signs of fascism (and also dementia) — it's no wonder that even the affiliate teams are getting a bit nervous. And when you start drilling down on the internal poo poo happening in places like Florida, I'm sure plenty of teams are going "maybe a religious buyout of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world would be bad".

This is the second key point: the US team has been acting really weird since it elected a black man as president and half its players went insane.

Now, let's check out the Brazilian team specifically, the "Operation Brother Sam's". They've had their run-ins with the US in the past, so let's explore what that means:

1. Swapping your head coach doesn't wipe the slate clean or rebuild trust. For instance, even if Putin "retired" tomorrow, Ukraine isn't going to throw a welcome party for the new coach.
2. Much like how the TSMC is forced to rely on the US despite it not being sustainable long term, Brazil doesn't have too many teams that will give it support against a US team who it views as increasingly unstable and which has a history of loving with them.

So given all this, I hope you can see that even though we all agree it would be best for everyone if Putin was convicted in the Hague and hanged, it's equally understandable Brazil might be hesitant to sever ties with one of the two teams that might be willing to push back against the US MD's if they are bought out by the fundamentalists.

----

Now I've written a lot of bad posts in my life but this is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever written. But I am hoping it will be worth it, if it helps even one goon understand why minor and middle powers aren't taking on a country that they might need support from in a few years time.

International politics is a complex web of obligations, opportunities, threats and promises where doing the right thing by arresting a genocidal dictator might come back to bite you in ten years time when you discover your country has enormous rare earth mineral deposits and Elon Musk convinces Trump 2.0 that the country is full of the "trans agenda" to get access to them.

Nessus posted:

So did, like, anything much change beyond "general grinding advance of Ukraine as Russia engages in boobery and clown country actions, healthily interspersed with shooting rockets into civilian areas" in the last like week, I had to actually not read as much GBS.

Party Ape posted:

Plenty of goons seem to have confused "international relations" with "football" so I wrote a short primer that is absolutely the worst thing I've ever written but might help some goons understand why countries act the way they do.

In the top league, there are three big players: The USA Manifest Destinies, the Chinese Reeducators, and the Russian Genociders. Lately, the Russian squad has been slipping and both their players and equipment are far below what you'd expect. They'd probably face relegation if not for their nuclear arsenal — a relic from the old league rules. And of course, as the newest addition to the top tier, the Chinese team is trying to prove itself by making moves in SE Asia, leaving many teams there wary of potential takeovers.

The American MDs have a few subsidiaries: the UK Sunset Empires (who somehow got sidelined despite having nukes), the Australian "White Australia Policy's," and the oddly named Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Not all of Taiwan, because, well, the US doesn't actually give a poo poo about the people just the chips.

Since the TSMC, UK, and Australia are essentially playing for Team USA, they can freely critique Russia and China but they absolutely cannot criticise Team USA otherwise there's a risk that the US board of directors might tell their head coach he can't play with them anymore. (As an aside, Australia also has some intricate sponsorship deals with China — so mark that relationship as "It's complicated.")

But TSMC has a problem: They are very vulnerable to Chinese expansion and are banking on the US having their back. Except, most teams (including the US) are now heavily investing in their own semiconductor infrastructure, and as the US need for TSMC products drops, this protection is slowly turning into kayfabe rather than a genuine commitment for support. Even so, there's zero chance of TSMC, UK or Australia ever criticising anything the US team does because they need that support. And remember, the US recently dropped the Afghani "Women's Rights" team for not meeting expectations, leaving it vulnerable to takeover so it's not like this is a theoretical risk.

This is the first key point. Countries support the one of the big three because it's in their interests to do so and often they have no other choice.

Now consider the shaky state of Team USA — with the head coach being an 80-year-old strike breaker showing signs of dementia and the alternate being an 80-year-old lunatic showing signs of fascism (and also dementia) — it's no wonder that even the affiliate teams are getting a bit nervous. And when you start drilling down on the internal poo poo happening in places like Florida, I'm sure plenty of teams are going "maybe a religious buyout of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world would be bad".

This is the second key point: the US team has been acting really weird since it elected a black man as president and half its players went insane.

Now, let's check out the Brazilian team specifically, the "Operation Brother Sam's". They've had their run-ins with the US in the past, so let's explore what that means:

1. Swapping your head coach doesn't wipe the slate clean or rebuild trust. For instance, even if Putin "retired" tomorrow, Ukraine isn't going to throw a welcome party for the new coach.
2. Much like how the TSMC is forced to rely on the US despite it not being sustainable long term, Brazil doesn't have too many teams that will give it support against a US team who it views as increasingly unstable and which has a history of loving with them.

So given all this, I hope you can see that even though we all agree it would be best for everyone if Putin was convicted in the Hague and hanged, it's equally understandable Brazil might be hesitant to sever ties with one of the two teams that might be willing to push back against the US MD's if they are bought out by the fundamentalists.

----

Now I've written a lot of bad posts in my life but this is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever written. But I am hoping it will be worth it, if it helps even one goon understand why minor and middle powers aren't taking on a country that they might need support from in a few years time.

International politics is a complex web of obligations, opportunities, threats and promises where doing the right thing by arresting a genocidal dictator might come back to bite you in ten years time when you discover your country has enormous rare earth mineral deposits and Elon Musk convinces Trump 2.0 that the country is full of the "trans agenda" to get access to them.

Party Ape posted:

Now I've written a lot of bad posts in my life but this is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever written.

steinrokkan posted:

"To scare off the ships!"
"How is bombing an island going to do that?"
"Well we can't let them know that we aren't able to hit a ship, but if we get lucky, we may actually score a hit on an island from time to time... which is kinda like a ship if you think about it"

Vampire Panties posted:

that is a 22lb chunk of depleted uranium that when fired is moving 25% faster than a bullet from a hunting rifle. You don't use that for infantry, but it will make a very precise hole in up to 800mm (!!!) of RHA.



Thats the duder that would make me pack it up and call it a day.

Party Ape posted:

Plenty of goons seem to have confused "international relations" with "football" so I wrote a short primer that is absolutely the worst thing I've ever written but might help some goons understand why countries act the way they do.

In the top league, there are three big players: The USA Manifest Destinies, the Chinese Reeducators, and the Russian Genociders. Lately, the Russian squad has been slipping and both their players and equipment are far below what you'd expect. They'd probably face relegation if not for their nuclear arsenal — a relic from the old league rules. And of course, as the newest addition to the top tier, the Chinese team is trying to prove itself by making moves in SE Asia, leaving many teams there wary of potential takeovers.

The American MDs have a few subsidiaries: the UK Sunset Empires (who somehow got sidelined despite having nukes), the Australian "White Australia Policy's," and the oddly named Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Not all of Taiwan, because, well, the US doesn't actually give a poo poo about the people just the chips.

Since the TSMC, UK, and Australia are essentially playing for Team USA, they can freely critique Russia and China but they absolutely cannot criticise Team USA otherwise there's a risk that the US board of directors might tell their head coach he can't play with them anymore. (As an aside, Australia also has some intricate sponsorship deals with China — so mark that relationship as "It's complicated.")

But TSMC has a problem: They are very vulnerable to Chinese expansion and are banking on the US having their back. Except, most teams (including the US) are now heavily investing in their own semiconductor infrastructure, and as the US need for TSMC products drops, this protection is slowly turning into kayfabe rather than a genuine commitment for support. Even so, there's zero chance of TSMC, UK or Australia ever criticising anything the US team does because they need that support. And remember, the US recently dropped the Afghani "Women's Rights" team for not meeting expectations, leaving it vulnerable to takeover so it's not like this is a theoretical risk.

This is the first key point. Countries support the one of the big three because it's in their interests to do so and often they have no other choice.

Now consider the shaky state of Team USA — with the head coach being an 80-year-old strike breaker showing signs of dementia and the alternate being an 80-year-old lunatic showing signs of fascism (and also dementia) — it's no wonder that even the affiliate teams are getting a bit nervous. And when you start drilling down on the internal poo poo happening in places like Florida, I'm sure plenty of teams are going "maybe a religious buyout of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world would be bad".

This is the second key point: the US team has been acting really weird since it elected a black man as president and half its players went insane.

Now, let's check out the Brazilian team specifically, the "Operation Brother Sam's". They've had their run-ins with the US in the past, so let's explore what that means:

1. Swapping your head coach doesn't wipe the slate clean or rebuild trust. For instance, even if Putin "retired" tomorrow, Ukraine isn't going to throw a welcome party for the new coach.
2. Much like how the TSMC is forced to rely on the US despite it not being sustainable long term, Brazil doesn't have too many teams that will give it support against a US team who it views as increasingly unstable and which has a history of loving with them.

So given all this, I hope you can see that even though we all agree it would be best for everyone if Putin was convicted in the Hague and hanged, it's equally understandable Brazil might be hesitant to sever ties with one of the two teams that might be willing to push back against the US MD's if they are bought out by the fundamentalists.

----

Now I've written a lot of bad posts in my life but this is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever written. But I am hoping it will be worth it, if it helps even one goon understand why minor and middle powers aren't taking on a country that they might need support from in a few years time.

International politics is a complex web of obligations, opportunities, threats and promises where doing the right thing by arresting a genocidal dictator might come back to bite you in ten years time when you discover your country has enormous rare earth mineral deposits and Elon Musk convinces Trump 2.0 that the country is full of the "trans agenda" to get access to them.

Dwesa posted:

soldiers forgot to peel the foil off the optics?

Sammus posted:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgn1nhUEgo8

Party Ape posted:

Plenty of goons seem to have confused "international relations" with "football" so I wrote a short primer that is absolutely the worst thing I've ever written...

HonorableTB posted:

btw the reason ukraine is able to advance on the donetsk airport is because they trolled russians into revealing their positions when they released the giant ukrainian flag over donetsk using balloons, according to the head of the avdiivka military administration. the russians opened fire on the flag and got HIMARS'd

Drone_Fragger posted:

*drunk russian diplomat bursts out of a dumpster and smashes through window into thread waving a dossier written by germany in WW1* USING TANK SHOTGUN ROUNDS IS A WARCRIME AGAINST THE GENEVA CONVENTION!!!!!

HonorableTB posted:

Sedgr posted:

I kinda like reading people's various weird ways of explaining things. More perspectives are welcome as far as I'm concerned and the writing quality of the GBS Ukraine thread isn't exactly a tough bar to pass.

Putin is a real piece of poo poo.