Utter utter nonsense. The Baltic states were banging on the door pleading to be let in, why do you think that was? If you’re saying they and other parts of Eastern Europe just need to suck it up, abandon any pretence of self determination and learn to live...
After years of craven appeasement (for instance wtf was RT ever doing on West TV screens, it’s not a new channel and it’s staff aren’t journalists, it’s the propaganda arm of a dictatorship) now that there’s finally been steps taken that may actually ...
This is true, but the appeasement applies to a lot more than just NATO membership and I don’t think anyone comes out looking too good. Germany have been pathetic regarding Russian gas, Britain has shamefully turned a blind eye over oligarchs money. One ...
What exactly is your point, that our case rate or death will catch up with the US or UK? Because if it’s not (and there’s no credible evidence to suggest it will) then we’re still doing waaaay better than most other countries.
I would love to see Chomsky sit down with someone from Baltic states and ask ‘Why is NATO expanding to the borders of Russia’ as they’d be able to give a simple answer as to why they were banging on the door, pleading to be let in. Chomsky fails to mention...
You can see a version of it any time you like on Fox, but then admitting similarities between the so called ‘anti imperialist’ left and US nationalist right on Putin and Russia is somewhat inconvenient isn’t it.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/26/the-world-shuns-pariah-putin?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Maybe as horrendous as this is for Ukraine that it proves to be the moment when appeasement finally ends. No serious person can pretend any longer that all ...
So if Russia was a state that was democratic, respected human rights and the rule of law, had a free press, we’d be where we are today? seriously? That’s just an argument for ‘we should appease tryrants for balance and screw whoever gets trampled under ...
Ok, for sake of argument let’s assume it did. Are you saying James Baker had the authority to override the aspirations of millions of people for all time? Are you saying that all those Eastern European nations only joined NATO under duress and had this ...
Absolutely. If Russia was a democracy with a free press, respected human rights and the rule of law, didn’t murder and jail dissidents, kill journalists etc etc, does anyone seriously think we’d be hearing anything about NATO being a ‘threat’?
No it doesn’t, but it would make claims they’re essentially a bunch of neo Nazis somewhat lacking in credibility.
I understand that, but it’s important to note that many of the people criticising you or essentially defending Putin aren’t doing so over any issue whether what you propose ‘works’ they have entirely different concepts of ideal ends, both over this and ...
So just so we’re clear, you see both NATO’s actions Kosovo and Russia’s in Ukraine as ‘invasions’ and morally equivalent? I’m not try to put words in your mouth just seeing if we can tease something coherent out of your anti Western ramblings, but because ...
So are great powers allowed a ‘sphere of influence’ and to crush the aspirations of those within it or not? The problem with your whataboutery is it makes your argument even more confusing.
Being a Putin apologist is left wing? Maybe someone should tell Trump and the crown at American Conservative.
No, but given you’re saying Ukraine should and that they should also surrender I presumed you had some concept of Putin’s actual agenda and a coherent argument. Apologies if I was mistaken.
Aside from empathetic words can you give some concrete examples of what she could and should have done, given that mandates we’re considered correct and appropriate and aside from those who who medically couldn’t anyone unvaccinated was in that position by...
Ah bless. One of the reasons I’m so keen on the idea of free speech is you get the entertainment of lots of unintentional comedy. Yes of course, our public health measures are just like 1930s Germany. I well remember reading about the anti Nazi protest ...
But as Roy Hattersley said to a young Tony Blair after the later claimed he was only interested in ‘what works’, you have to decide what works means and work for whom? I get the desire to be non ideological, but ‘works’ requires assumptions about ...
Ah yes, the Met’s kettling is equivalent to what the Russian authorities do those who oppose Putin and it’s scared the people of Britain into not expressing opposition to their government for fear of the kettling. Brilliant argument, got me!
Where exactly are you going with this, that in the recent past the Ukrainian government committed genocide and then threatened another on ethnic Russians in East Ukraine? Your attempts a moral equivalence seem somewhat fundamentally flawed.
Given it’s patently obvious why those states wanted to join NATO, it’s a bit rich for some to then turn around and blame that for the reasons their fears proved prophetic. My view is it’s only ‘wrong headed’ if you think that dictators should be appeased ...
That’s always been my point about those who from day 1 talked about the harm from the restrictions given that people die from things all the time. In the abstract I could understand the argument, in a desire to save life’s we could have done more harm. ...
Oh yeah, I was merely saying I’d already seen an improvement. Obviously things could be far better and if there a ‘positive’ to come from all this it may be that. I agree about managers often being the worst. Requires further up the chain to send them home...
Hilarious, you make it sound like NATO expansion was forced on unwilling states for imperial purposes. Why on earth might these countries have been keen to join NATO of their own free will? Nope, can’t possibly think of a reason. https://amp.theguardian....
Should the Baltic states also recognise Russia’s ‘strategic interests to protect’. https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/lithuania-is-safer-with-nato-mr-corbyn Given we’re going down the route telling countries they should given up their rights to ...
These kinds of views are deemed inconvenient so best pretend they don’t exist or should be overrided https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/lithuania-is-safer-with-nato-mr-corbyn
Whataboutery isn’t an answer… But nice try.
“My real issue with that particular viewpoint is that it completely ignores the right for states and populations to self-determination.” Absolutely. It’s been interesting to me for some the level of alignment between the so ‘anti imperialist’ left and ...
There’s a difference between what he would actually believe and what he’d ever be prepared to admit publicly. The whole line rests on taking Putin’s statements at face value and claiming everyone else should do the same. The moment you acknowledge the ...
I think even pre COVID there’d started to be a shift on that, from what I remember when I started my working life.
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