Vivian Darkbloom posted:

planners usually distinguish between strikes on strategic targets to disable a country's military strength and revenge strikes that target population. so in principle, a massive nuclear strike might not destroy most urban centers. unfortunately this is wildly optimistic both with regard to target selection and the prospects for life after a nuclear conflict. i wouldn't place any bets on this map but i think the basic idea is right



the purple triangles is if the commies say gently caress you america I'm taking you with me, and just try to fry a lot of americans. the black circles are a strikes focused on military and heavy industry. those vast blankets of death in montana, north dakota, and wyoming are to destroy american ballistic missile facilities. maybe we get really lucky and the nuclear war kills under 100 million americans

super sweet best pal posted:

Realistically you'd only need to nuke DC and NYC and the rest of the country would crumble amidst the infighting.

super sweet best pal posted:

Realistically you'd only need to nuke DC and NYC and the rest of the country would crumble amidst the partying.

Shady Amish Terror posted:

I mean, some people would miss New York, let's be fair.

mazzi Chart Czar posted:

What are other questions that should/can be asked?

Fly Molo posted:

THEE ukraine

Pener Kropoopkin posted:

pissinthewind posted:

being vaporized in a nuke is far, far too easy of a way to go for the vast majority of americans

crepeface posted:

ask the Eurasia thread smythe

Smythe posted:

so whats all this about?

Smythe posted:

quote:

I wouldn't say that it is a genocide and remember that Putin is not a communist or anti-imperialist, but more so pro-Russia. When Russia's goals align with the West, he sides with them, such as how Russia sent a force to aid the illegal US occupation of Afghanistan. However, this is not usually the case and because America is so aggressive Putin often ends up in bed with genuine anti-imperialists, like Xi. Russia is an emerging imperialist power and under different circumstances would side with the other capitalist nations against China and the Global South, but I digress.

What is happening in the Donbass is not a genocide, but is still very much an attempt by Ukraine to crush the right to self-determination of the peoples of the region. In 2010, on the back of the Donbass, Viktor Yanukovych was freely elected as the president of Ukraine. Yanukovych and his party, the Party of Regions, represented the people of Ukraine's peripheral regions, such as the Donbass, Crimea, Carpathian Ruthenia, and Odessa. The politics of these regions are dominated by Ukraine's ethnic and linguistic minorities, but the central government has been controlled by actors from the nationalist stronghold of West Ukraine. Yanukovych wanted to pave an independent path for Ukraine and be on good terms with both the European Union and Russia without fully integrating with either. His main, overarching goal, however, was to form a united Ukraine and end the East-West cultural and political divide that had historically existed.

This goal would never be achieved. Sadly, by 2014, Yanukovych would be ousted in a US-backed color revolution called Euromaidan. Far-right Ukrainian nationalist elements were involved in the overthrow of the democratically-elected government. This happened after Yanukovych rejected an association agreement with the EU. After this coup, there were militant counter-protests all across Ukraine called the anti-Maidan. Anti-Maidan was a broad movement in support of the deposed president. It even included the Communist Party of Ukraine. The counter-protests were concentrated in the Russian-speaking areas in East Ukraine and along the Black Sea coast.

The most militant anti-Maidan demonstrations were in Crimea and the Donbass, where a large percentage of the population is not just Russian-speaking, but also ethnically Russian. Many people in Crimea and the Donbass still felt a deep connection to Russia, even long after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These people saw Yanukovych as their would-be savior, but, by now, he has been forced to flee to Russia. Here, the protests turned into armed insurrections when police across the country, under command of the newly installed regime in Kiev, cracked down on the anti-Maidan. Crimeans revolted against Kiev with the intention of joining the Russian Federation. When it seemed likely that Kiev's forces would violently crush Crimea, Putin intervened to protect the Crimeans. Crimea then voted in a referendum to join Russia after Russian forces occupied it. This is how Russia "annexed" Crimea, as the Western media says.

Meanwhile, in the Donbass, similar uprisings had occurred, but the people of the Donbass did not seek to join Russia. Instead, many proposed a federalization of what was left of Ukraine, giving its diverse regions much-needed autonomy. Luhansk and Donetsk rebels declared independence from Ukraine as people's republics, though they are not communist, despite there being a strong leftist component. Russia started indirectly and then later more directly supporting the Ukrainian rebels, which is why they have been called "pro-Russian." The rebellion has now been in stalemate with the people living in Luhansk and Donetsk lacking many basic supplies and amenities because of the Ukrainian attack on them. This is the situation Putin is probably referring to.

R. Guyovich posted:

the reality is if you nuked those city centers you'd be missing your real targets, the people out in the suburbs

but it was too easy a layup not to make the joke

crepeface posted:

there was a ceasefire on negotiated terms (Minsk) which Russia accused Ukraine of not following. zelensky tried to play up the tensions for more NATO/US aid and also to look tough (said poo poo like taking back Crimea, saying Minsk was dead etc)

yesterday Putin called his bluff and recognized Luhansk and Donetsk and sent in peacekeeping troops at their request after artillery fire was exchanged, presumably between the separatists and the Azov battalion (Nazis) who Zelensky has very little control over.

Flavahbeast posted:

https://twitter.com/francska1/status/1495474850458226689

ram dass in hell posted:

It's a joke, it is a forums meme from d&d jerking off about the iraq war in 2003 hth

mazzi Chart Czar posted:

Huhn, glad I didn't get it.

Flavahbeast posted:

I think it's clear recognizing them on the 22nd and sending in troops was planned well in advance

the renewed shellings and busing thousands of Luhansk residents to Rostov were just part of the manufactured crisis. The evacuation orders were pre-recorded on the 16th, then the worst night of shelling in years (in terms of shells fired, there were actually few injuries compared to earlier flareups) happened on the 17th, then the evacuation orders were given on the 18th. It was all part of selling the war

F Stop Fitzgerald posted:

it must own to be a nato freak right now. this is what its all about

Lastgirl posted:

it's peak neolib/neocon mentality to justify atrocities because of minimizing a boogey man potential, and everything that was listed as a parameter to contain it professionally and credibly with the full force of the government is not only asinine but completely loving deranged~

oh and they were wrong every step of the way and yet they continue to do the same poo poo with some kind of lauded authority and some wealth of credibility scraped up as if it never happened and they're counting on it. All the checkboxes will be perfectly checked, the plans will be perfectly executed, and victory assured and democracy is saved again, all thanks to some dipshit mashing his favorite political action figures together.

It's a copypasta for that idiot fucker with a perma egg on their face with their smug self assuredness manifesting a checklist that will own them for end of time because they still got to blurb this poo poo off at the expense of an actual human cost.

mazzi Chart Czar posted:

Ohh. That guy sounds like a piece of poo poo, and that thread/forum sounds just as lovely for not mocking the gently caress out of him.

I give paw parole and C-spam more credit than that. I thought, "Oh poo poo, he's sticking his fuken neck out with some binary yes or no answers."

I read it like, one-of-those C-spam, hive mind kind of things.
Kind of like how the Covid thread asked everybody for their estimates of how many people would die by a date, and the average answer ended up being scarily close.

Harry Potter on Ice posted:

But that's what people are making fun of

mazzi Chart Czar posted:

Meant like people in dnd didn't do their due diligence to mock the gently caress out him in 2003.

ram dass in hell posted:

Lol dude. Not only did they not mock it. In 2003 they all filled out his lovely little questionnaire with their own predictions of how the imperial conquest bloodbath would go. dozens if not hundreds of them posted their own little cringe george w bush warmongering fanfic

420 Gank Mid posted:

russia has enough soldier to zerg rush though. I think the best case scenario is russia gets worked over so bad they lose the appetite to take poland after.

Pener Kropoopkin posted:

The Russians would have to be morons not to plan for this contingency. We've had months of opportunities to avoid this outcome through good faith negotiations, but instead we refused to deny Ukraine's candidacy for a NATO membership MAP and Zelensky refused to observe Minsk. So this is the result of thinking we never have to negotiate for anything.