Ukraine: The End Game

[Desk trauma]

When Orthodox Christians are described as "infidels," it is perhaps time for the moderators to decide an appropriate course of action.

Cant' be saying harsh things about war criminals, that's just uncalled for.

 

[Homeowner]

When Orthodox Christians are described as "infidels," it is perhaps time for the moderators to decide an appropriate course of action.

He described Russians as infidels not Orthodox Christians. Only about 40% of Russians are Orthodox Christians.

Anyway funny definition of infidel (first one with google)

1. An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.
2. One who has no religious beliefs.
3. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

1. We can safely say that lots of Russian are infidels with respect to either Christianity or Islam and bunch of other religions.
2. There are undoubtedly some Russians with no religious beliefs
3. There are certainly Russians who doubt or reject a particular doctrine, system or principle

Seems he is pretty much head on with his assessment.What would the moderation be based on in this case ?

 

[mindlight]

Just like people paid to the cost of war to get rid of The Third Reich. You can't unfortunately always choose what is best for you personally on short term and expect it to work out.

France and UK were silent when Germany broke treaties to rearm itself because cost of new war would have been too high and unpopular. They did nothing when Germany remilitarized Rhineland for same reasons, they chose appeasement when recently rearmed Germany demanded pieces of Czechoslovakia.

Every time Hitler grew more confident that Western powers would not do anything, every time he had new demands and new reasoning for his conquests. Until the war become inevitable and the price everyone would pay dwarfed anything that would have been necessary to pay if they had acted sooner.

Not to be obvious but it is easy to lament only the cost of war if you live in Canada. Those living in vicinity of Russia it is not just a matter of paying more for your groceries or electricity. It is the knowledge that one fine day some modern day Tsar can just declare you are all nazis and as it happens Russian armed forces on their spring training operation are luckily in hand to denazify your nation after which just and legal referendum will be held where people have a chance to join the loving embrace of Mother Russia with estimated 99,98 % of happy voters willing to do so.

How much are people being denazified willing to pay then ? Answer is just about anything but it is already too late.

The British sentiment was that Germany had been unfairly penalized by Versailles, so the reoccupation of the Rhineland was relatively uncontroversial and the true evil of the Nazi regime had not yet been revealed.

Chamberlain is accused of being the arch appeaser and clearly, British foreign policy has been averse to 'appeasement' ever since him but people forget that he significantly raised defense spending during his time in office and especially the RAF spending anticipating Hitler's later air war against Britain. So while he talked about peace in our time that is not what he was doing in the background.

We agree that the cost of this war to the West is a necessary expense. Now it is Germany's turn to do some responsible rearming. Latest reports indicate that in some ammunition categories it has less than a day's supply and that key components of its munitions industry are actually made in China!!!

 

[Homeowner]

Now it is Germany's turn to do some responsible rearming.

It is happening but there are ....issues

 

[mindlight]

He described Russians as infidels not Orthodox Christians. Only about 40% of Russians are Orthodox Christians.

Anyway funny definition of infidel (first one with google)

1. An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.
2. One who has no religious beliefs.
3. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

1. We can safely say that lots of Russian are infidels with respect to either Christianity or Islam and bunch of other religions.
2. There are undoubtedly some Russians with no religious beliefs
3. There are certainly Russians who doubt or reject a particular doctrine, system or principle

Seems he is pretty much head on with his assessment.What would the moderation be based on in this case ?

You seem to be quoting Wikipedia here which is not very reliable when it comes to anything relating to Christianity.
The true % is nearer 70% regarding self-identification and much lower in terms of real conviction. Russians hardly go to church and are mainly biblically illiterate.

Almost 70% of Russians identify as Orthodox Christians, 19% of them observe Lent - poll

interfax.com

The fact that Putin panders to Russian Orthodoxy and Kirill's significance as his altar boy indicates that the Russian people self-identify as Orthodox and justifications need phrasing against this background.

But as with all so-called Christian nations, the real test of true faith is how many believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. 1 Cor. 15:14

The UK comes in at about 40+% all forms of this
USA 66%

I cannot find any statistics from Russia or Ukraine which is worrying because it testifies to the biblical illiteracy of these countries. This is after all the key test of whether someone is a Christian at all.

 

[Homeowner]

The fact that Putin panders to Russian Orthodoxy and Kirill's significance as his altar boy indicates that the Russian people self-identify as Orthodox and justifications need phrasing against this background.

Might be more accurate to say that Russian Orthodox Church led by Kirill panders to Putin since clearly his is the prevailing vision.

Of course Kirill is just another corrupt siloviki in priestly garments to help control the population. We have seen his excesses.

Patriarch Kirill says dying in war against Ukraine "cleanses away all sins"

"UKRAINSKA PRAVDA" - SUNDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2022, 19:41 Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has said in his Sunday sermon that "sacrifice in the course of carrying out your military duty cleanses away all sins.

news.yahoo.com

his corruption

Patriarch's Swiss Watch Does Disappearing Act

Patriarch Kirill's expensive watch is causing yet another headache for the Russian Orthodox Church.

www.rferl.org

and his Disney version

 

[mindlight]

It is happening but there are ....issues

Well, that was rather depressing and really a worst-case death spiral version. I just have to hope that somehow this crisis will lead to some actual genuine reforms. If this analysis is true Germany is "foched!!!"

Interesting history of the German army. Yes, there was a peace dividend that Germany cached in on heavily after reunification but at the expense of efficiency, capability, and its military-industrial complex. The current dysfunctional military compares badly to France which spends less on the military yet has expeditionary capabilities, a navy, a higher operational tempo, and a nuclear deterrent.
Right now the Bundeswehr is a joke and an embarrassment from the perspective of the proud pre-WW1 history.

Bureaucracy, litigation culture, lack of long-term vision and commitment, a sabotaged political culture that does not facilitate long-term military planning or a war-fighting force, unpredictable defense budgets, and inept political leadership are all factors.

Germany has a capable industrial sector, a large population, a large budget, and troops that when equipped can perform. But it is not performing right now

Selling to the German military is so complicated that its military industries mainly survive off exports. Staff retention is a major issue and the loss of knowledge is associated with lost people.

Procurement and organizational logistics need to be fixed. The expenditure that gets wasted does not contribute to force readiness and is not spent on new stuff. There is a large miscellaneous category,
Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik, and Nutzung des Bundeswehr are awful, and their history is one of failure. The story of the testing of helmets already in use in the US military was a travesty. The Gorch Fock fock up a joke. €135m for a sailing training ship!!! Spending fortunes to maintain obsolescent equipment rather than buying new stuff, buying rifles that cannot shoot straight.

The €100 billion seems to be a one-off at the moment not a part of a long-term proper revamping of German military expenditure levels to the NATO 2% requirement. There is no incentive here for German industry to gear up for expected orders and sustained investment, so money is going to be wasted without genuine reform.

A ministry coordinating long-term strategy and procurement makes a lot of sense as well as massive cuts in red tape litigation and over-customization of specifications. Germany needs a military that can defend weaker countries, or indeed supply them as in the case of Ukraine and indeed itself, and not one that is almost intentionally dysfunctional as now. Given Germany's demographic, and its economic weight inside the EU Germany should be pulling its weight on military stuff also.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Ukraine can only decide to do anything as long as the US and its allies continue to pour money into its coffers and with FTX no longer there ( perhaps as a money launderer?) giving money to Democratic Party campaigns that might no longer be as high a priority for the Biden administration.

That's a nice little conspiracy theory you have there. I'd sure hate for reality to puncture it.

 

[Paulos23]

Im honestly surprised the West still cares about it. I thought for sure if it didn't end quickly in Ukraine's favor that the West would lose interest and move on to the next shiny crisis.

There are enough people that remember the lessons of WWII to keep supporting Ukraine, especialy in Europe. It is clear where this goes if Russia takes Ukraine.