As what I said in the quote you reference above is just another way of saying "What I have said is that there is a time to do it, and a time when not to" you are confirming, rather succinctly, my contention that you write incomprehensible nonsense on occasions.

That the war is undeclared doesn't matter. Putin believes it exists, and we are doing all we can to restrain his ambitions. We need, in my view, to behave as though we are at war, and do everything we can not to provide succour to our enemy.

That anyone, Farage included, has previously argued against Nato expansion is a perfectly legitimate political action. His view clearly wasn't accepted, and my views on him making them now are exactly the same as they are on you. He is the Tucker Carlson of the UK TV scene. Being controversial for impact and ratings, and seemingly not caring at all how his words might be used by Putin. His mate, Trump, was supported by Putin. I wonder why that was?

No-one has "poked the bear"! That's the reasoning of the appeaser. We have been building fences to stop the bear coming into our territory and taking it over. We have no plans at all to try to take any of its.

The level of sympathy for Putin that is detectable in the underlying reasoning in the arguments proposed by yourself, and indeed by Farage, is quite appalling at a time when such things should be kept under wraps, and re-examined when it's all over.

There will be lessons to be learned. There always are. Right now, there is only one objective. Which is to stop this evil man from gaining more than an inch than is necessary for the suffering to stop. The second objective will be to ensure it never happens again and only allow Russia back into the family of nations if it provides bankable guarantees.

I am perfectly content that opposing strategies for how to solve this situation be debated. Who knows, a few nuggets of wisdom might emerge.

What I object to is the pointless analysis of why we got here and the playing of a political blame game. Those who claim things would always be so much better if only they had been in power, generally, like Farage, never have been. Con men abound everywhere. Including in politics and TV stations seeking to be different.

Being "western" means holding common standards of decency, honesty and compassion. Freedom of speech is a very important part of that, but along with every other of our rights it is matched by a responsibility. In this case, that requires us not to speak irresponsibly.

Making statements that could be used by our enemy is irresponsible.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Interesting take. The author describes the invasion tactics used then goes on to speculate about likely outcomes. As the war progresses, much like a game of chess, the possible outcomes diminish over time. Putin is running out of options, while most European countries are under massively increased economic stress.

The thing that strikes me, is that Putin is still being allowed to dictate the situation, while the West sits back and runs down the clock.

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (09 May 2022 4.40am)

"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

Putin to give speech today.

Can’t help but feel it’s going to be spun beyond any logical reason and probably has been for the last few weeks. I can’t imagine anything he does say will remotely mirror either reality or transparency but will be interesting nonetheless.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Yes I agree Badger that's my concern too.

That's another thing that bothers me massively is this is nothing like WW2, where many ordinary Russians lost their lives in ridiculous numbers, as that was ultimately a noble and necessary cause.

Putin is undoubtedly going to attempt to exploit that emotion in order to rally his country and subjects to once again lay down their lives for something they are already, but will go down in history as, being on the wrong side of.

Edited by Nicholas91 (09 May 2022 7.52am)

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Personally I'd consider fighting for Stalin over Hitler as choosing between mass murderers.

Many Russians defected and many were forced into fighting or got the bullet.

The destruction Hitler unleased onto Russia was Gengis Khan like, though Stalin himself had no issues doing that internally himself.

In a sense the need to see light and dark between two opposing sides is a human need still alive in this war today. As Orwell found out in the Spanish war the truth is often far more grey.

It comes down to what you regard as the lesser evil.

Edited by Stirlingsays (09 May 2022 9.25am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Melitopol - currently under Russian military occupation.

Attachment: IMG_1577.MOV (8,128.69Kb)