Comments by "Halfdan Ingolfsson" (@Halli50) on "DW News" channel.

  1. This red-jacketed NATO spokesperson just confirmed that NATO is a useless paper tiger - it will not stand by any of it's declared promises. As a native of a founding NATO member, I find this a chilling realization! This particular NATO spokesperson came across as a Putin advocate: Appeasing Putin is the main, possibly the only goal of NATO! Apparently, Putin has succeeded in dividing NATO...
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  2. Bild actually has a point, if China had been up front and clear about the outbreak the moment they came out of denial, the pandemic MIGHT have been handled better in e.g. Italy and the US. Chances are, however, that early transparency on behalf of China would have changed nothing at all. Criticizing China for this is one thing and probably necessary, but expecting anything more is completely unrealistic.
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  3. What is striking is that, following a go-around, the crew apparently decided ignore the standard procedure of entering a holding pattern, troubleshoot and carefully prepare for a landing with whatever problems they had mitigated to the extent possible. Instead, they attempted a rushed landing in a clean configuration, which is incomprehensible - unless they were watching the hydraulic pressure on all 3 systems bleeding off, which would soon deprive them of all flight controls... The tail section was more or less intact, so the CVR and FDR will be able to tell the real story in a couple of weeks.
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  4. The German "historical concerns" would only make sense in a direct confrontation between Germany and Russia. German support of Ukraine fighting off the Russians only serves to delay, even prevent such direct confrontation which will become inevitable if Russia is not stopped dead in Ukraine. Olaf "the Waffle" Scholtz's reticience make one wonder if he is just a chicken or if he is in some way beholden to Putin.
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  5. Every vessel entering he Baltic Sea has to pass through narrow Danish territorial channels, Storebælte and Öresund. It seem like a no-brainer to stop every suspicious vessel passing through and check their insurance and seaworthiness - apparently most of the Shadow Fleet will be unable to pass even a cursory inspection, and should not be allowed to proceed into the Baltic Sea unless all seaworthiness issues are corrected. That would put a crimp on Russian and Chinese hybrid warfare.
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  6. Watch this Chinese face carefully: This is the face of a Chinese Liar! He talks "with a forked tongue". A "face" never to be regained. China intends to follow Putin by conquering Taiwan (let's see how that goes) and then go on to further territorial conquests. Putin was premature and I believe China will also be premature in it's global conquest.
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  7. Ironic - "Turkovac" is the SECOND Covid vaccine invented by Turks! The so-called "Pfizer" vaccine was developed by Turkish emigrants to Germany, only to be taken over my 'Murican Big Pharma. Let's hope Turkey's own personal leaders (Gollum's) judgement regarding virological issues is not as hopeless as his economic judgement.
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  8. One has to wonder what it will take for the EU to kick Orban's Hungary out of the European Union.
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  9. The grievances within the US population is decades old. The difference now is the simple fact that now there are tens of millions of citizens without a job, without health insurance and, most important, without any realistic hope for a better future, given the current situation. The conditions are approaching pre-1790 France (let them eat cake!), something that led to most of the French aristocracy literally losing their heads - in a Guillotine. It is only a question of time when the elite/billionaires start losing their heads - figuratively, in a country awash with assault-style weapons, Guillotines are relics of the past, who needs them with all the guns and ammo available at your fingertips? The Billionaire Elites better make a run for it NOW! Their time is nigh, and where can they run to?
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  10. Join the EU? A silly idea - but a good beginning would be to start cutting reliance on a madcap nation like 'Murica and reinforcing trade relations with reliable and consistent partner nations, the other NATO nations being a good beginning. Europe will welcome trade with a sensible nation like Canada.
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  11. ​ @朱佳鑫-i4w  China is an East Asian country that is covertly supporting Putin's European war efforts, thus directly meddling in European affairs! What was the nationality of the vessel that "accidentally" dropped it's anchor on some undersea cables and dragged it until the cables snapped? It was CHINESE! Don't even TRY to play the innocent here!
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  12. Apparently Russian military planners have screwed up big-time: Tanks that have penetrated "enemy" territory but are now out of fuel and out of ammunition are simply sitting ducks. The teenagers manning them can only abandon them before the local Ukrainians blow them up. The question remains: This has vast economic consequences! Will the International Community eventually make Russia pay for the damage they have done! Lives lost, equipment damaged, resources obliterated. The reclamation of everythin that was damaged by Russia will HAVE to compensated for! The best bet is to have the Russian Kleptocrats do the initial payments, at least until their assets are exhausted.
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  13. True, the unprovoked war in Ukraine cannot be blamed on ALL Russians, but the fact remains that ALL Russians will be tarred with the same brush as their government. The Russian nation failed to hang on to their democracy somewhere along the line, and are now stuck with having enabled Putin, whether they liked it or not. Russia has Putin and 'Murica had Trump, Hungary has Orban and Turkey has Erdogan. One wonder where this whole mess will end.
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  14. What the entire assembly SHOULD have done was to stand up and walk away... The problem: They were probably too shocked to react in any meaningful manner! Now these serious politicians and diplomats will have had time to digest what the Vice-Clown of 'Murica said AND to formulate appropriate responses, I think tomorrow (15.feb.'25) be a bleak day for Main-Clown Trump and 'Murica as a nation on the international arena. A nation obviously led by clowns, a nation no one can take seriously. Hats off for the German Defense Minister for not hiding his disdain for the nonsense the Vice-Clown of 'Murica was spouting!
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  15. 30 years ago I personally saw the UN "in action" in a country in severe need of relief (South Sudan in late 19809 and Angola in the early 1990s). My conclusion: The UN is a useless bureaucracy that rarely, if ever, gets anything right. The individuals may mean well, but thy cannot help it: The older an organization gets, the more corrupt it becomes. The UN is currently a quagmire of corruption and should go the way of The League of Nations, i.e. be put down. Something useful can be organized in it's place, but care should be taken to ensure the reorganization of such an entity at least every 50 years.
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  16. 'Murica is failing miserably as a reliable NATO member but, fortunately, Europe is stepping into the breach. Regardless, 'Murica's image is severely tarnished among the other western nations.
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  17. I still believe that Scholz's supplication to Putin's Russia is just as suspicious as Trump's supplication at the time. Does Putin have some "compromat" to control Trump and Scholz or did he have other means of control? The stink is pervasive. It is hard to believe that the M1 Abrams is limited to kerosene only - a turbine will happily run on just about anything that produces a flame, it will be the fuel feed system that has to be adapted, from pre-heaters (cruder fuels) through pumps, fuel control units and injection nozzles. I find it hard to believe that the M1 is unable to run on diesel or, in a pinch, gasoline for some limited amount of time. The venerated PT6 turboprop aircraft engine, normally run on kerosene (Jet-A1) will happily run on AVGAS (gasoline), but the fuel pumps will need maintenance every 50 hours.
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  18. The Ukrainian MP is hardly ungrateful to the West, but she is clearly disappointed - and justifiably so. Most western leaders seem too timid and unwilling to face the fact that if Putin gains anything from this instead of paying the consequences for his actions, he (or his successors) will regroup, fix their military and be back attacking their former vassal states within a decade. The leaders of the Baltic countries certainly realize this. The Russian leaders and their military are turning out to be absolute monsters, with no regard for human life.
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  19. Chucking the Trump Chaos Regime might be a step in the right direction regarding the US's relations to it's former allies, but there is a long-term problem: Trump ascending to power in 2016 AND the fact that the 2020 elections were a close call is driving home the realization that the US is leaning heavily toward Fascism! Trump was a symptom, not the disease, and unless there are massive and structural changes in the US (unlikely under Biden) it is only a question of time until another despot comes along and manages to "Make America Alone Again".
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  20. What status do Russian-born inhabitants of the Baltic countries have there? Are they Baltic state citizens or Russian citizens? I ask because I don't know. If they are Russian citizens, not Baltic, they will turn out to be a great danger to the Baltic states, willingly or unwillingly, because Putin WILL eventually use them as an excuse to invade the Baltic countries if he is not stopped now. I think the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) should NOW start thinking about how to peacefully eliminate this problem. Have ethnic Russian Baltic citizens swear allegiance to their Baltic country or else move to Russia? That would be a rather brutal approach, but we are now watching the consequences of NOT tackling the problem now in some way right now.
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  21. All this bruhaha about future events are drowning out the major CURRENT issues: Turkey has proven itself to be an unreliable and untrustworthy partner of the Western nations - or rather, ERDOGAN is now a "leader" that his allies cannot trust, a mini-dictator that has no future in the European context. That, however, pales in comparison to Hungary's Orban! Is he a Putin puppet or just a blatant extortionist? Either way, his credibility is now in the gutter.
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  22. Sadly the 'Murican Media as well as the 'Murican Public has the attention span of a Gnat. The result of a trial in this case will not be clear for at least more than a year. Fortunately there are at least two more investigations into far more serious crimes that are well along, and hopefully both indictments and specially the trials in those cases will be more expedient.
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  23. Being ignorant in military matters (but not technical stuff) my understanding is that the tricky part about the British cruise missiles, seeing that they are air-launched, would be to adapt them to being launched from Russian-built aircraft. Providing/updating targeting information to the missiles, not to mention the hard point attachment must have been a challenge, but the Ukrainians have proved a long time ago that they are wizards at such challenges - especially in wartime when bureaucratic issues can simply be ignored. If it works, go for it! Just consider the use they have made of everyday, ordinary commercial quad-copter drones! I would be VERY surprised if some Ukrainian pilots have not already been training on various western fighters (F16, Euro-Fighter, Rafael etc.) for the inevitable eventuality that these aircraft will be made available to Ukraine.
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  24.  @specialK319319 , you are not the only one to be biased. I think almost the entire West is rooting for Ukraine!
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  25. True or not, this makes some sense, at least regarding motive. If true and if this was actually done using a small yacht, there was probably a lot of improvisation and ingenuity involved.
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  26. While the security problems with Europe's dependence on Russian gas are clear, it has not been clear why the 'Muricans (of all interested entities) are losing their marbles over Nordstream 2. One would think that would be a worry for Germany, not 'Murica. Has there perhaps been a business issue, would the US be wanting to sell LNG to Europe? Well, this discussion is moot now, anyway. The hazards of becoming dependent on Putin's Russia for just about ANYTHING has now become crystal clear.
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  27. Isn't Davos a meeting of the greediest and richest people in the world? Why should we take anything coming from it seriously?
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  28. As a retired airline pilot, I am astounded that Russia has the cheek to fly unannounced into international airspace, without a flight plan and transponders turned off. They are a grave danger to international air traffic everywhere and should be treated as a terrorist act by a terrorist nation - Russia! Given recent developments, such illegal flights could plausibly be either forced to land and confiscated or, alternatively, be simply shot down! Russia has become a global threat and should be dealt with as such. The NATO nations may be woefully unprepared for WW3, but plucky little Ukraine has already staggered the previously assumed-to-be-mighty Russia! Putin's Russia is already on it's hind feet, mainly due to it's inbred corruption, and there is no doubt which side will be quicker to ramp up military production when politicians finally face the fact that Putin actually sowed the seeds for WW3 in 2014, and arrogantly assumed he had the EU by it's "energy needs" balls in 2022. The whole thing has now exploded in his face, and it is up to Putin and Russia to call off WW3 - or bring it on to it's full conclusion, with Russia's abject defeat and total isolation. Even crazed Putin must realize that he cannot prevail against virtually the entire developed world!
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  29.  @mariaeriksson1635 , there are no doubt a number of other countries that are willing and able and willing to do this.
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  30. A relatively new vessel, registered/owned by Bulgaria? Initial evidence screams "guilty"! The EU has to nail Bulgarian officials to the wall and issue warrants for the owners of the vessel - not to mention confiscating the vessel as insurance against the damage caused by their sabotage. The main export of Bulgaria has always been organized crime as left behind by the USSR. The EU would be criminally negligent not factoring in the destructive intent of chronically corrupt countries like Hungary and Bulgaria.
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  31. The only time the "one for all" NATO decree was invoked was when puny 'Murica got a bloody nose - and the other NATO nations did their duty. 'Murica is clearly stating that they will NOT honor their obligations, so the obvious next step is for all the former NATO allied nations to close down any and all 'Murican military bases in Europe.
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  32. Erdogan is trying to use the Sweden/Finland NATO application for his own petty and dictatorial gain regarding the Kurds. Sweden and Finland can easily reciprocate by promising to block Turkey's EU application, primarily due to Erdogan's suppression of genuine democracy in Turkey. But, bottom line: The UK has already assured defensive support for Sweden during the no-brainer application process. If the other main nations (The US, Germany, France etc.) were to promise the same guarantees, Erdogan's shenanigans would be moot, anyway. While NATO is stuck in a rut regarding this issue, the EU is unlikely to tolerate dictatorial countries like Erdogan's Turkey and Orban's Hungary. The EU probably has no issue with the NATIONS of Turkey and Hungary, it's just the current regimes that have no future within an alliance like the EU and NATO.
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  33. Macron already put forward a plan regarding the MAD situation: Seeing that European nuclear weapons are not long-range standoff (not counting the UK submarines), they should all be moved much closer to Russia, to Germany or Poland, not to mention the Baltics. That way, Putin's constant nuclear sabre-rattling is countered: If Putin does ANYTHING with his nuclear weapons, Russia is toast - without the useless 'Muricans being involved at all! Who needs 2000 megaton nukes when just 5 small ones (kiloton range) will do the job?
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  34. Isn't this a case of "Good riddance to bad rubbish"?
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  35. By now we all know what a "Russian Training Mission" is all about. Best to blow it out of the water before it can fire a single missile, preferably before it gets anywhere near the Mediterranean.
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  36. I am convinced that Olaf Scholtz is like Trump: He is either a Putin-wannabe OR Putin has some serious "compromat" on both of them. If Scholtz is giving in recently, it is likely because he would otherwise be pissing into tornado-level wind that would only get him wet with his own piss. Only time will tell if I am wrong or if Scholtz (and Trump) were Putin "assets".
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  37. Watching the atrocities committed by the Russians in Ukraine makes it very easy to start hating ANYTHING Russian, even ordinary Russians that are innocent of all this. Anything Russian will be tainted by this for decades to come.
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  38. Minimum washing temperature of 60°C? Here I thought that if you wash your homemade, inefficient mask it was the detergent (soap) that killed any potential virus contamination, not the heat. If washing your hands for >20 seconds is sufficient to kill most viruses, one would think that a washing machine cycle of >30 minutes would do the same job, regardless of the temperature. After all, you are supposedly practicing perfect virus hygiene by washing your hands thoroughly for more than 20 seconds, using water between 20-40°C (60°C would scald you!).
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  39. There is no way around it: 'Murica has been an increasingly unreliable partner for decades, and what happened after Trump came to power in 2016 took it to another level. The NATO nations simply have to prepare to go without 'Murica within the next 4 years, and the western world will never be the same. Even worse: Germany has also been dragging it's feet, and it looks as even if Putin's Ukraine gambit blew up in his face and NATO is stronger than ever, Putin still appears to be in a position to drive a wedge between the NATO countries after all - by using Trump, his overt operative.
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  40. Western politicians are slowly beginning to admit that their support to Ukraine has been barely sufficient to prevent defeat, something like "as little as possible, as late as we can get away with". They seem to be starting to realize that if the West does not properly and timely support Ukraine to WIN this fight and totally repel Putin's Russia, they will have to do a "Take 2" within a decade, this time against a reorganized, less corrupt and stronger Russian military. Defeating, repealing and humiliating Putin's Russia now is the cost-effective option, having to fight a full-blown WW3 in a decade will be infinitely more costly.
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  41. The Ukrainians have already shown that they take to new and complex western weapon systems like fish to water. Those that trot out the "too complicated for the Ukrainians" card are pissing into the wind and can, in fact, be suspected of pulling Putin's wagon. A quiet look into their finances is quite likely to turn up some Russian money... On the flip side, Ukraine suffers from being a former Soviet state - rampant corruption that was still going strong even after Yanukovych, the last Putin Puppet was deposed. Corruption is a generation-spanning problem and whoever becomes the leader of Ukraine after the war will have his/her job cut out: To join the EU, at least the most overt corruption must be rooted out. As for the more covert corruption, the EU itself is the leader of THAT particular game.
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  42. Apparently US voters are like a herd of sheep: Mindless, ignorant, apprehensive and always on the verge of stampeding at the least provocation.
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