Democracy’s Fiery Ordeal: The War in Ukraine 🇺🇦

[Tiberius]

"If we don't open those ports, you're talking about a declaration of war on global food security… we're looking at a hell storm on earth”.

David Beasley, from the World Food Programme (WFP), does not pull his punches. His suggestion that Russia is deliberately blocking food exports from Odesa is something that Moscow denies, but it is undoubtedly the case that millions on tonnes of grain is stuck, waiting to be shipped around the world.

Ukraine is often called the breadbasket of Europe, but in reality it is actually the developing world that is sustained by the fertile black soil of the south of this vast land.

The WFP is responsible for feeding some of the world’s poorest people; it is a task they are finding increasingly difficult. They have tried bringing diplomatic and moral pressure to bear, but have had no luck in changing Russia’s position.

A solution to the problem may come from a somewhat unlikely source. Lithuania’s foreign minister is proposing a flotilla of ships to break the blockade of Odesa, with their security guaranteed by the countries who most need the grain.

This could mean that it was not Nato members but, for example, nations like Egypt who would take the lead.

They would essentially be challenging the Russians through peaceful passage, daring that they will not maintain their blockade. It would be a dangerous game. Add to that the threat of the sea mines that dot the approach to Odesa’s port, and you have a real gamble.

But, as David Beasley pointed out, the stakes for inaction are getting increasingly high, with the world’s poorest currently looking like the ones who will lose.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-61546571

[Tenhigh]

21 hours ago, Tiberius said:

So you watch civilians being bombed and don't feel anything either way? 

But why these specific civilians and not the myriad of civilians from other countries that were bombed in atrocities before them?  What flipped the switch for you in Ukraine?

[B-Man]

 

 

UKRAINE: Russia intensifies Donbas offensive as war enters fourth month.

 

The Ukrainian armed forces said in a Facebook update on Tuesday that Russian forces were conducting non-stop “offensive operations” in the region, adding “the enemy is exerting intense fire along the entire line of contact”.

 

The governor of Lugansk said Russia had sent thousands of troops to capture his entire region and that Severodonetsk was under massive attack, warning residents that it was too late to evacuate.

 

“At this point I will not say: get out, evacuate. Now I will say: stay in a shelter,” Sergiy Gaidai said on Telegram. “Because such a density of shelling will not allow us to calmly gather people and come for them.”

 

Residents of Bakhmut, a crucial junction that serves as a command centre for much of the Ukrainian war effort, told AFP of the aerial onslaught they had suffered.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/russia-intensifies-donbas-offensive-war-041840864.html

 

 

[Tenhigh]

23 hours ago, Niagara Bill said:

Is Trump becoming a total isolationist, or is Vladdy just a friend?

Hard to belive the GOP, who for decades believed communists were evil, could not be allowed to spread anywhere (Korea, Vietnam) and certainly not in our hemisphere (Cuba, Panama,), now support getting out of NATO and allowing spread of Communism. Wow, who is writing this bad movie. The greatest democracy the world has ever seen is moving to help dictators. 

I think this guy is wrong on NATO, it's still a valuable buffer for the US, but what communism is it that you think NATO is stopping from spreading?

[Tiberius]

1 hour ago, Tenhigh said:

But why these specific civilians and not the myriad of civilians from other countries that were bombed in atrocities before them?  What flipped the switch for you in Ukraine?

It's a successful democratic nation. I was against the Iraq War because I knew you just couldn't build a democratic nation from scratch like that. 

[ALF]

11 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

It's a successful democratic nation. I was against the Iraq War because I knew you just couldn't build a democratic nation from scratch like that. 

 

The US and NATO should not have been in Afghanistan for more then a year at the most also. The quagmire in Viet Nam taught them nothing.

[Niagara Bill]

2 hours ago, Tenhigh said:

I think this guy is wrong on NATO, it's still a valuable buffer for the US, but what communism is it that you think NATO is stopping from spreading?

Without NATO, without USA in Nato, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Moldova, Romania and others would be in the new Soviet Union thanks to Putin. 

[Tenhigh]

6 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

Without NATO, without USA in Nato, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Moldova, Romania and others would be in the new Soviet Union thanks to Putin. 

You know Russia isn't communist,  right Bill?

1 hour ago, Tiberius said:

It's a successful democratic nation. I was against the Iraq War because I knew you just couldn't build a democratic nation from scratch like that. 

Whya aren't you freaking out about the decline in democracy in Africa?

[Tiberius]

12 minutes ago, Tenhigh said:

You know Russia isn't communist,  right Bill?

Whya aren't you freaking out about the decline in democracy in Africa?

Are you just fishing for something? Are you upset we are helping a country that Putin is trying to bulldoze? 

 

What is your point? 

[Tenhigh]

38 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Are you just fishing for something? Are you upset we are helping a country that Putin is trying to bulldoze? 

 

What is your point? 

I guess it's that I don't get how you got to where you are as part of this most recent invasion.  

[Niagara Bill]

1 hour ago, Tenhigh said:

You know Russia isn't communist,  right Bill?

Whya aren't you freaking out about the decline in democracy in Africa?

Yes, Russia is communist...dictatorship. What the Kremlin is just an old boys club. Part of Russia has climbed out of control for sure, to allow friends of the party to get rich, even parts of China's  economy does not appear communist, but is control by CCP.

 

As far as I am concerned Africa can stay and fight for themselves. Our climate cannot withstand another emerging industrial economy that ignores pollution like we have seen here, China, India, Russia etc. 

They need to develope agriculture before they industrialized.

Cow farts are better than coal smoke.😁

 

[Tenhigh]

2 hours ago, Niagara Bill said:

Yes, Russia is communist...dictatorship. What the Kremlin is just an old boys club. Part of Russia has climbed out of control for sure, to allow friends of the party to get rich, even parts of China's  economy does not appear communist, but is control by CCP.

 

As far as I am concerned Africa can stay and fight for themselves. Our climate cannot withstand another emerging industrial economy that ignores pollution like we have seen here, China, India, Russia etc. 

They need to develope agriculture before they industrialized.

Cow farts are better than coal smoke.😁

 

I don't think that means what you think it means.    It's a dictatorship in all but name, but there isn't much communist about it.  

[Niagara Bill]

12 minutes ago, Tenhigh said:

I don't think that means what you think it means.    It's a dictatorship in all but name, but there isn't much communist about it.  

I disagree....but that and 12.50 will get you a glass of wine. 

[Tenhigh]

2 hours ago, Niagara Bill said:

I disagree....but that and 12.50 will get you a glass of wine. 

What is communist about Putin's Russia?

[L Ron Burgundy]

3 hours ago, Niagara Bill said:

I disagree....but that and 12.50 will get you a glass of wine. 

It's not communist.  It's a dictatorship under the guise of a constitutional republic.  I think people are getting caught up with them wanting their Soviet Era land back and thinking their government's system is the same.    

[Niagara Bill]

1 hour ago, Tenhigh said:

What is communist about Putin's Russia?

Now we are debating the obvious. A waste of time, sorry. 

If you love Putin...well

If not, it matters little what you call him. 

People who live in Russia know the communists run the place. I have no further interest in wasting energy on this debate with you.

51 minutes ago, L Ron Burgundy said:

It's not communist.  It's a dictatorship under the guise of a constitutional republic.  I think people are getting caught up with them wanting their Soviet Era land back and thinking their government's system is the same.    

Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Chablis, Chardonnay...

[Tenhigh]

39 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

Now we are debating the obvious. A waste of time, sorry. 

If you love Putin...well

If not, it matters little what you call him. 

People who live in Russia know the communists run the place. I have no further interest in wasting energy on this debate with you.

Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Chablis, Chardonnay...

Lol, you are a dipshlt Canadian, but I like you Bill.

[Tiberius]

 

[Coffeesforclosers]

Russia had a good week.  They're through Ukrainian defenses in two places. The Ukrainians are withdrawing to new lines to prevent an encirclement of their forces in the Donbass.

 

It looks likes three months of generals getting fired and battlefield losses finally put decent Russian officers in charge.  A shame really.  They're taking Ukraine seriously, acting according to established doctrine, and leveraging their advantage in artillery firepower.  

 

What worries me the most about this is that i don't think ukraine has the artillery or ammo supply to go over to the offensive.  Especially if Russia digs in deep.  They can try to make up for it in weight of numbers and careful planning.  But casualties will increase as a result.

[B-Man]

 

 

Only "Putin Lovers" would want this.