191–200 of 201 posts
The actual title of this article could be "MasterCard complies with the law".
True. That part is beyond what's required by law, right? It also promised to contribute a $2 million for humanitarian relief.
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NATO was defending the USA in Afghanistan. The 9/11 attacks were carried out by a terrorist organization sponsored by the government of Afghanistan. The alliance specifically invoked Article 5 the day after the attack.
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I agree with almost everything but Russia GDP is a trillion less than the italian one
That's fair in the context of businesses, but since we're also talking about a war context: I've seen people point out that when discussing the conflict, it makes more sense to use PPP adjusted GDP. The rationale is that for a lot of stuff needed for state security, the production is done internally, and thus the currency exchange rates don't matter as much. (This is particularly true for Russia, since they build a l…
Anecdotally: Russian outdoor equipment has gotten seriously acceptable in the past few years, and that's not a bad proxy for their military gear. Laugh all you want, but ten years ago, I wouldn't have trusted Ivan to build a tent that didn't (a) weigh several tons; and (b) fall over in a light breeze.
Looking at the gear they're fielding, they're maybe a generation behind NATO on everything except NVOs (the US is 2-3 generations ahead there), and the Russian military has massively more inland combat experience than anybody else in Europe save the French, and likely as much UW/FID experience as the US. Difficult to assess where Russia lies in terms of training and tactics given all the noise, but they appear to be far more competent than I expected.
People are seriously underestimating what Russia can bring to the table, sort of like how folks laughed at the strides made by Chinese manufacturers.
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I thought he was cold and calculating until he attacked Ukraine. This looks downright ham-handed and heedless compared to the maneuvering of the decades leading up to now. He's made a damned fool of himself, if you ask me.
They waited 8 years for the Minsk accord to be implemented while ethnic Russians are dying and being displaced. When the Berlin wall was removed they were assured NATO will not arrive on their borders, that was decades ago. Ukraine in NATO was the redline it was communicated for how many years now. Before the invasion Zelensky wanted a nuclear weapon for deterrence and the German foreign minister said the accord it's…
One does not avoid a war by starting a war
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I don’t get comments like these. Does Putin strike you as an overly emotional guy who gets frustrated easily? My take is that he is cold and calculating. Not one I’d take lightly.
Like so many others have mentioned here, he isn't the same persona he used to be (if he ever truly was). Dangerous ofcourse, but a mastermind he isn't.
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They waited 8 years for the Minsk accord to be implemented while ethnic Russians are dying and being displaced. When the Berlin wall was removed they were assured NATO will not arrive on their borders, that was decades ago. Ukraine in NATO was the redline it was communicated for how many years now. Before the invasion Zelensky wanted a nuclear weapon for deterrence and the German foreign minister said the accord it's…
> Before the invasion Zelensky wanted a nuclear weapon for deterrence and the German foreign minister said the accord it's signed was not legally binding giving a go signal that yes you can develop your own nuclear weapon. The west just don't care and wanted war because it will benefit them. One does not avoid a war by starting a war
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They waited 8 years for the Minsk accord to be implemented while ethnic Russians are dying and being displaced. When the Berlin wall was removed they were assured NATO will not arrive on their borders, that was decades ago. Ukraine in NATO was the redline it was communicated for how many years now. Before the invasion Zelensky wanted a nuclear weapon for deterrence and the German foreign minister said the accord it's…
Russia already annexed Crimea, a Ukranian territory, so this is not a convincing argument.
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"Can't translate this." - typically useful error message from Google.
Just copy/paste text. But overall idea .. "russia is restoring russian world by combining together russian people: greatrussian (russians), small russians (ukranians) and whiterussians... putin took upon himself historic mission of finally solving ukranian question... .. with each year it would have been harder and harder to bring ukraine back to russia... it doesn't means that ukraine as state dissappear but it rech…
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Just copy/paste text. But overall idea .. "russia is restoring russian world by combining together russian people: greatrussian (russians), small russians (ukranians) and whiterussians... putin took upon himself historic mission of finally solving ukranian question... .. with each year it would have been harder and harder to bring ukraine back to russia... it doesn't means that ukraine as state dissappear but it rech…
Yes; that sounds similar in some ways to Fiona Hill's take on it at https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/28/world-war-... .
kinda brings up a phrase that was thrown by some russian official or tv person a few years ago: "what's the need in the world that doesn't have russia in it"