Is an armed citizen a soldier ?

We can quibble back and forth over the distinctions between, soldier, Civilian, freedom fighter, mercenary and terrorist forever. Often the difference depends on which side you are on.

Whatever: I think there is no doubt that the Russian invaders have been brutal towards woman and children. The semantics of genocide, ethnic cleansing and de-Nazification do not help the Russian point of view on the world stage.

That's the exact opposite of what I said. Originally Posted by HedonistForever

Don't get so reactionary.

I wasn't suggesting for a minute that's what you were saying. My point was, and is, that the discussion about the Russian invasion (or any other country invading another) should have absolutely nothing to do with its alleged domestic corruption. Primarily, IMO, because that would "authorize" the invasion of just about all, if not all, the countries in the World..... especially including our own....the U.S.A.

What's the Biblical saying?

John 8:7 7 " Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

There are a lot of folks who need to put down their stones.

Ukraine hasn't asked us for troops, only weapons. They set the boundaries of the areas they want us in, not Russia. It's not like Cuba. We aren't putting nukes there.
The article the link led to was full of quotes with no sources or context, a timeline that jumped all over the place, claims of evidence never shown or explained, and was on a website that is
"Overall, we rate The Daily Expose a Tin-Foil Hat Conspiracy and Quackery level Pseudoscience website".
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-daily-expose/

I won't post the whole article. Just enough to trigger the TL;DR trip level of the empty bottle-class trolls we have rattling around here. It is a long and informative read - IMHO.

Manufactured Crisis: CIA trained the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and has chosen Ukraine as birthplace of new “Global White Supremacist” Terror Threat Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

How any of the American Left throw the word “NAZI” around when somebody is agrees with their Progressive/Socialist agenda.

I guess Putin learned well. Just throw the word “NAZI” at the Ukrainians and everybody reals in horror.

The Azov Battalion might not fit into our definition of what a soldiers conduct should be, but or thing is fact.

They fight. Originally Posted by Jackie S

Yes, Putin does sound like an American democrat...or is it an American democrat sounds like Putin?

How any of the American Left throw the word “NAZI” around when somebody is agrees with their Progressive/Socialist agenda.

I guess Putin learned well. Just throw the word “NAZI” at the Ukrainians and everybody reals in horror.

The Azov Battalion might not fit into our definition of what a soldiers conduct should be, but or thing is fact.

They fight. Originally Posted by Jackie S

Respectfully, Jackie.
Search Azov on youtube and spend a few minutes watching the videos.
The Azov battalion really are Neo-Nazis.
For the US, WW2 is largely something that happened ' over there'. For Russians , the experience , and the memory, are much different.

https://usrussiarelations.org/6/myth...-ii-experience

The Azov Battalion might not fit into our definition of what a soldiers conduct should be, but or thing is fact.

They fight. Originally Posted by Jackie S

They don't meet any Geneva convention definition of what their conduct should be.

Based on your definition, Bin Laden, KSM, and the rest al Al Queda were good soldiers too...

Principles. You either have them and stand by them, or you don't have any...

They are not Neo Nazi’s.

They are radical Ukrainians.

They are not Neo Nazi’s.

They are radical Ukrainians. Originally Posted by Jackie S

They are using Nazi symbolism.

https://www.opindia.com/2022/03/nato...etes-it-later/

They are not Neo Nazi’s.

They are radical Ukrainians. Originally Posted by Jackie S

And the Nazi's were just radical Germans...

And the German Nazis fought the Russians....what's the fuss about?

And the U.S. provided support and assistance to the Russians.



Let's see .... FDR was a Democrat, right?

We were aligned with China against Japan during that time and Ho Chi Minh was an ally of the U.S. who resisted the Japanese who were attempting to traverse the "Southern route" to India and beyond to hook up with the German (Nazis)! "Our friend today may be our foe tomorrow, and vice versa."

And the German Nazis fought the Russians....what's the fuss about? Originally Posted by LexusLover

And don't forget before that... The Nazis and the Bolsheviks were best buddies. They signed a Ribbentrop- Molotov pact and divided up Poland.

You can't trust the Ruskies, or the Germans... and the Ukraine was Russia at the time...

And the German Nazis fought the Russians....what's the fuss about?

And the U.S. provided support and assistance to the Russians.



Let's see .... FDR was a Democrat, right? Originally Posted by LexusLover

For the last several years Western media has done stories about the Azov battalion and the resurgence of Nazism which it has denied now that Putin is fighting it.
Note how the west is making a big fuss over Putin in the media but, other then a token amount of weapons for show, is not really confronting Russia. And weapons manufacturers make money off of what we are sending. Last numbers I saw was contributing 1.3 Billon for weapons but still spending 37 Billion on Russian gas and oil.
This is what I alluded to earlier about Russia doing the dirty work. Both sides want Azov neutralized but, the West couldn't actively get involved.
One interesting side bar of this whole show is Poland and Hungary maneuvering to get the borders pushed back and reclaiming parts of Western Ukraine that used to be part of their countries.

And don't forget before that... The Nazis and the Bolsheviks were best buddies. They signed a Ribbentrop- Molotov pact and divided up Poland.

You can't trust the Ruskies, or the Germans... and the Ukraine was Russia at the time... Originally Posted by texassapper

My Grandpa was Latvian and Grandma was Russian. Grandma had to escape Russia during the Bolshevik revolution and wound up in Riga where she died during German occupation in 1942.
Grandpa got the kids out to Germany in the middle of the night when Russia took the Baltics in 1944.
The big countries always make deals over the little countries.
I suspect Putin will wind up with the eastern part of Ukraine along with the ports and natural gas fields.
Wouldn't be surprised if Poland and Hungary reclaimed some of their old territory in the deal.
Reviewing the political ping pong of Ukrainian politics over the last ten years may be helpful. More stability would be preferred by Eastern Europe as well as Russia.

I finally figured it out! The whole invasion is staged by Antifa. None of it is real.

You think Poland wouldn't want that yellow bit back ?
Not to mention the Hungarians and Romanians.