Comments by "Dale Crocker" (@dalecrocker3213) on "" video.

They didn't.
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As ever, I am astounded at this ostensibly socialist channel's wholehearted support for American warmongering and imperialism.
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@StCreed To prevent the American financed Ukrainian army invading Donbass and Crimea.
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@StCreed An no socialist worthy of the name will fail to recognise that this war is the direct result of US provocation.
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@MorningtonCrescent Do some research yourself into the combined histories of Ukraine and Russia, the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the motives and consequences if the Maidan riots of 2014. And who decides these "international behavioural norms?"? America does, that's who.
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@bentels5340 Crimea was stapled on to Ukraine in 1954 as purely an administrative and logistical convenience. It only ever became a "country" because Stalin wanted an extra vote in the UN. The idea that this former Soviet Socialist Republic is a discrete entity is a romantic fallacy. It is, like Russia, an oligarchy and this war is a turf war between two sets of oligarchs. We are foolish to get caught up in it.
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@MorningtonCrescent Ukraine has transferred from being a vassal of the Soviet Union to being a vassal of the United States. Zelensky was brought into power by Kolomoisky, who owns half of downtown Cleveland and a good chunk of the US steel industry, as well as several prominent US politicians. It just galls me that turf wars between gangsters should result in the deaths of tens of thousands and the collapse of entire national economies. Gung-ho support for either one side or the other is particularly nauseating.
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We can only hope so.
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@markwelch3564 It didn't America did with a long-term strategy of weaning Ukraine away from Russia, culminating in equipping and training a large Ukrainian army with the objective of stepping up the civil war in Donbass and attempting to invade Crimea - both of which are predominantly Russian, not Ukrainian.
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@shiroamakusa8075 Russia is merely trying to recapture territory lost following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The annexations are simply technicalities, like the absurdity of calling the invasion a "special military operation". They lend a spurious legality to Russia's actions.
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@fishyfish3090 Why do wankers like you always think that someone who disagrees with you is a "bot" - whatever that is?
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@freshwaterspaceman7194 The route to peace is not gung-ho support for one side or the other, but to realise that while there may be no excuse for Russia's behaviour there are plenty of reasons for it - American provocation being high on the list.
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@octavianpopescu4776 You may well be correct, and I'm sure that Russia would not stand in the way as long as it is recognised that it needs to protect its own territorial integrity and the wishes of the people of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
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@MorningtonCrescent If Ukraine and the West had recognised the provisions of Minsk and allowed the Donbass to become an independent buffer state, and to recognise the fact that Crimea is historically and ethnically Russian, then Putin would not have been provoked. What is a "sovereign territory" anyway?
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@bentels5340 And who decides the limits and boundaries of such a territory? Are they forever engraved in stone? Modern Ukraine is the creation of Imperialist Russia and the Soviet Union. NATO expansion is seen, justifiably, as a threat to Russia which has shown no desire to expand since the collapse of the SU, but only to protect its borders, largely by the creation of small buffer states. Putin's invasion was not an act of either madness or a desire for conquest. It was a pre-emptive act designed primarily to decimate Ukraine's armed forces and thus to safeguard the Donbass republics and Crimea.
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@bentels5340 Indeed not. It got in first. Whether this was the right decision remains to be seen.
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@MorningtonCrescent I don't doubt that the referendums were cosmetic - as are most "democratic" procedures these days. The "will of the people" is just another toy to play with. The fact is that Russia feels threatened by NATO expansionism and insulted that Ukraine -with which it has a unique relationship - is being colonised by America and the EU. Undoubtedly, however, there is a strong pro-Moscow party in Donbass, which has seen considerable economic decline since being taken over by Kiev. And of course it is an area rich in mineral resources - all of which have largely been developed and exploited by Russia and Russians, incidentally.
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@MorningtonCrescent The American hegemony is not real then? Do not NATO, the Anglosphere and many vassal states simply dance to America's tune? Would this war have happened were it not for sordid relationships between certain American politicians and certain Ukrainian oligarchs, fostered of course by the CIA?
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@shiroamakusa8075 The Ukrainian army is just as much on course to being obliterated as Russia's. Which was rather the whole idea.
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@countofmontechristo6507 Weasel words.
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@markwelch3564 It was perhaps a surprising move, but we have yet to know if it was worth it in the end. I cannot believe it was simply a grandiose act or that the Kremlin has was so misinformed of the situation that it did not realise that a ground attack without prior extensive aerial bombardment would not result in heavy casualties. I can only conclude that its objective is to destroy as much of the Ukrainian army as possible in order that Donbass and Crimea are retained without being under constant threat of Ukrainian attempts to retake them. The campaigns this winter ought to decide that, I suppose, though as long as the West goes on supply weaponry the longer the war is likely to continue.
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@shiroamakusa8075 I think you could be confusing victories with military actions designed to deplete enemy forces.
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@octavianpopescu4776 As I said, the referendums were certainly cosmetic. The real point is that relatively small concessions to Russia at this point would have prevented this dreadful war. Putin has pumped billions into Crimea since 2014 and there is no doubt that it was, and is, predominantly Russian. As for the Donbass - well, being a vassal republic might be better than being a permanent warzone.
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@MorningtonCrescent I only align with the quickest route to peace which is to recognise that American ambition and greed has provoked Russia into taking such extreme measures.
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@octavianpopescu4776 I don't think you're right. Georgia is surely more Russian than Ukrainian, certainly in terms of ethnicity and historical precedent. I imagine the people are divided on which set of gangsters treats them best, but the annexation went off with hardly a shot being fired and whatever the area's present condition I would imagine it is preferable to playing host to a violent and bloody invasion. Putin is getting old and his regime cannot last forever. Ten years in limbo is better than ten years in a state of constant warfare. He has been content with the compromises reached in Georgia and Chechnya where, curiously enough, the death and bloodshed involved did not excite the passions in the West as much as the present conflict has. I wonder why?
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@countofmontechristo6507 War trumps weasel words - or fine legal phrases for that matter.
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@markwelch3564 Yet both Putin and Lavrov seem highly intelligent and practical men. Their generals may be a bit loopy, but then most generals are. I would certainly imagine that Putin has overestimated the effectiveness of his army and underestimated the support given to Ukraine, but Russia is notoriously extravagant with men and materiel in warfare and it remains to be seen whether or not any such miscalculations will result in defeat. I tend to think not.
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@countofmontechristo6507 Don't put words in my mouth. I'm not saying might makes right, merely that the exercise of military power puts treaties on the back burner. If treaties work, then they are abided by. If they don't work they are disputed and if their inadequacies cannot be overcome by negotiation then violent interaction is the frequent outcome. The Russia which entered into these agreements is not the Russia of today. The country of Ukraine was never a country before it became a Soviet Socialist republic. The UN is not God. Opportunities for peaceful resolution were twice agreed at Minsk but were ignored. These facts are far more important than quoting documents which have clearly failed in their purpose.
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@octavianpopescu4776 I rather thought it might have been because America did not have the financial interests in Georgia and Chechnya that it has in Ukraine, to say nothing of the fact that the wars there coincide with a rather distracting financial crisis in the West.
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@octavianpopescu4776 I still think we're looking and two old dogs fighting over a bone. One was growling and the other took a bite. You're entirely right of course, guns will have to settle it now but I very much fear that the West will think it worthwhile to continue arming Ukraine in order to capture Crimea and Donbass. This would be a disaster. I really believe Russia will start making peaceful overtures soon, and they should not be ignored.
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@countofmontechristo6507 If a treaty is designed to avoid war then the UN Charter isn't exactly working, is it? History is littered with failed and broken treaties. Russia may be acting foolishly but on the other hand it may well be acting in the interests of self-preservation and have a somewhat different view of the future shape of the world than one which involves the continued supremacy of America.
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@octavianpopescu4776 Oh dear, these analogies always get out of hand. I'm sure though that the Russian dog would be content with just a couple of bits of the bone. He is old and his teeth are worn. Crimea and Donbass would appease Russia's injured ego and prevent further bloodshed without, surely, a great deal of suffering for the respective populations?
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@countofmontechristo6507 While tens of thousands die in the process. Clever that.
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@countofmontechristo6507 This is an utterly false analogy. Hitler was a relatively young man, democratically elected to power on the understanding that he would take steps to overcome the humiliation of Germany's defeat in the Great War, which he immediately proceeded to do as soon as he had created one of the strongest war machines the world has ever seen. Putin is 70 and has ruled for two decades without showing the slightest signs of any territorial ambitions other than preventing neighbouring territories becoming outposts of his enemies. Crimea is Russian historically and ethnically. Donbass has a majority Russian population, and all Putin ever wanted was that it should be recognised as two independent republics which would trade with Russia and act as a buffer against an increasingly westernised Ukraine. If these relatively modest requirement had been met we wouldn't be in this mess. Russia is in no position to conquer the world and Putin knows it.
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@octavianpopescu4776 Resentment of the undoubted horrors inflicted by Communist Russia both in war and in peace is understandable. Surely though the Russian Federation is an entirely different animal? The people may be much the same and there are those among them who will behave vilely if given the chance. The trick is not to give them the chance and by provoking Russian into this war that is exactly what the West has done. In Donbass the Ukrainians committed many attested war crimes against separatists. The Ukrainian police force and prison service is no better than Russia's when it comes to torture and cruelty. In the present war those who have collaborated with the Russians are, I am sure, being punished very severely. What we owe it to ourselves to do is to prevent the circumstances which allow these horrors to occur. A reasoned peace is possible. Ukraine and Russia are near exhaustion. Why must we continue to stoke the fire?
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@countofmontechristo6507 You still haven't explained why Putin has waited this long to launch his bid for world domination, nor why the Russian army isn't exactly eating up everything in its path. And Putin is on record as saying that while it would be a glorious thing if Russia could reclaim its dominance and prestige it is just not a practical proposition. Which clearly it is not. The only real similarity is that the Treaty of Versailles, like the various agreements by which the Soviet Union was dismantled, did not entirely and accurately reflect the true situation and was the indirect cause of a later conflict.
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@countofmontechristo6507 It has already done so. Ukraine is in fact occupying parts of Russia - in Russia's eyes, at least.
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@countofmontechristo6507 There is no rhyme. Apples are not oranges or tennis balls.
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Why not? All he wants is Crimea and Donbass and the chances are is that what he'll get - having destroyed nine-tenths of the Ukrainian military in the process.
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Nonsense. The after-effects of this war will last for decades.
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Very well said - even though you are talking to ignorant children.
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@evilmiera It never wanted Kherson, other than to drain Ukrainian resources. It only wants Donbass and Crimea.
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