theres no doubt this was referendum where the votes were not counted.
in the prev online-elections the newly elected president got like 3% approval rating.
Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
21–30 of 165 posts
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quoted post unavailable.
Wasn't there a post HN some time ago about how Netflix is helping to create a new, European TV culture by making shows from, e.g. Finland or Spain available in local language versions to everyone? Also I'm pretty sure European states do actually have their own militaries. Sure, they have US hardware. But then the US is using European hardware as well. So ehats yoyr point?
I'm talking about the countless US airforce bases, CIA facilities. I lived near to 2 of those here in Germany. Not because i wanted, but because they are everywhere.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#23Belarus regime being what it is, I'd not think that the referendum actually reflects people's opinion, and the result was not predetermined. OTOH I suspect that after the events of 2014 and 2022, Ukraine will remain the last country in history to willingly give up nuclear weapons. Many more countries will think about developing an deploying their own nukes, or at least staying one step away from actually producing th…
That's one of the lessons, isn't it? First the West reneged on the Nuclear deal with Iran, now Russia invaded Ukraine. All the while North Korea is just simply left alone.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quoted post unavailable.
Reminds me of this --> https://twitter.com/reckless/status/1495430376042422273
I have a friend in the UK Military Police, he has soldiers claim their "right to remain silent" and "first amendment rights" all the time. He has to patiently explain to them that they have neither.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wasn't there a post HN some time ago about how Netflix is helping to create a new, European TV culture by making shows from, e.g. Finland or Spain available in local language versions to everyone? Also I'm pretty sure European states do actually have their own militaries. Sure, they have US hardware. But then the US is using European hardware as well. So ehats yoyr point?
I'm talking about the countless US airforce bases, CIA facilities. I lived near to 2 of those here in Germany. Not because i wanted, but because they are everywhere.
I lived close to two of those as well, actually even more than two. Most of which were either closed down since or handed over to the Germans (armed forces of BND, depending on the base in question).
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#26It seems that the only option left for Putin is the "nuclear" one (no pun intended) now that the whole world is seeing that the Russian army lost its morale, and its teeth. Old equipment, young soldiers that are harder to brainwash than in the old days. It is fascinating to see for the first time in the modern age what effect modern media consumption and the internet has on a local war. While it is undeniably true th…
Your take is very surface level, its like you are looking for faults.
Assaults on massive countries are not won overnight. USA had a quick win of a month in Iraq by using shock and awe. Blowing everything up and killing any civilian who got in the way.
This created a massive insurgency, which was fine because they didn't plan on occupying only destabilising.
Russia plans on occupying, to reduce NATOs ability to out flank them over the European plane.
So it takes longer.
Secondly, the young soldiers. Its called training, they are battle hardening the next generation in a 'easy' war, for if they ever need to use them in the future.
Russia is clearly taking the slow and careful approach, he wants these people to be part of the union eventually.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#27It seems that the only option left for Putin is the "nuclear" one (no pun intended) now that the whole world is seeing that the Russian army lost its morale, and its teeth. Old equipment, young soldiers that are harder to brainwash than in the old days. It is fascinating to see for the first time in the modern age what effect modern media consumption and the internet has on a local war. While it is undeniably true th…
> It's harder to mobilise people behind a corrupt cause once blood starts flowing.
I don't know how significant it is. Dictatorships have always been feared and despised. And armies lost motivation many times in history, before the internet.
From a military perspective what I think is different this time is how (probably) US intelligence is helping Ukrainians. It seems they know any Russian move in advance in real time and I doubt such a feat could be pulled in the past.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#28Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#29It seems that the only option left for Putin is the "nuclear" one (no pun intended) now that the whole world is seeing that the Russian army lost its morale, and its teeth. Old equipment, young soldiers that are harder to brainwash than in the old days. It is fascinating to see for the first time in the modern age what effect modern media consumption and the internet has on a local war. While it is undeniably true th…
Your take is very surface level, its like you are looking for faults. Assaults on massive countries are not won overnight. USA had a quick win of a month in Iraq by using shock and awe. Blowing everything up and killing any civilian who got in the way. This created a massive insurgency, which was fine because they didn't plan on occupying only destabilising. Russia plans on occupying, to reduce NATOs ability to out f…
For a country not planning to occupy, the US lead coalition sure stayed for quite some time.
Re: Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status
#30Belarus regime being what it is, I'd not think that the referendum actually reflects people's opinion, and the result was not predetermined. OTOH I suspect that after the events of 2014 and 2022, Ukraine will remain the last country in history to willingly give up nuclear weapons. Many more countries will think about developing an deploying their own nukes, or at least staying one step away from actually producing th…
It's good to remember Ukraine never possessed operational control of them [0], so I'm not sure how much is "willingly giving up own's nuclear weapons" since they never had concrete nuclear deterrence capability, and circumstances (treaties and support from both Russia and NATO) required them to do so. Their decision has been impacting their condition ever since. But this may be the good outcome for all we may ever know, for they may have been alone otherwise.