Comments by "Barry On" (@barryon8706) on "TLDR News EU" channel.

  1.  @yurichtube1162  Negotiations with Russia would be a mistake. When a dog keeps biting people, you don't offer it food in hopes that it'll stop.
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  2. If NATO went into conflict with Russia, how much help would Turkey or Hungary be vs. how much help would Finland and Sweden be? Turkey or Hungary's ties to Russia and willingness to play politics this way suggest that Turkey would be reluctant to join military action, and Article 5 doesn't require all member nations respond with military force, and Turkey or Hungary might consider a stern diplomatic rebuke to be enough. In Turkey's case in particular, it has territorial ambitions against Greece, another NATO member, and it's not inconceivable that NATO might be obligated to defend Greece from Turkey.
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  3. I think everybody overestimated Russia, including Russia.
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  4. The funny part of this (funny in a grim way, but funny) is that this may be giving us the best honest look at Russian casualties.
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  5. It happened because the US and Russia signed a treaty with Ukraine that promised to respect Ukraine's territory if Ukraine gave up her nukes. And Putin wants the territory of the USSR back more than he values treaties.
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  6. I wonder if Russia will allow Chechnya a vote to determine if it can secede.
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  7.  @alioshax7797  Fighting.
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  8.  @dsmj7389  Ignoring a rabid dog doesn't turn it peaceful. Ask Georgia and Crimea.
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  9.  @peterwaine923  The equipment the Russians left behind suggests that Russian troops left for reasons other than sudden feelings of generosity.
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  10. Doesn't it make more sense to hire experts in, for example, Italian politics, than to just hire someone Italian?
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  11. I thought "fag" still meant "cigarette" in British slang.
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  12. So at this point, Putin's only chances of victory are to hire Will Smith.
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  13.  @RealYunoCS  You think Ukraine invaded Russia?
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  14.  @bayraak12  It's not just capability that matters. Intent does too. I have doubts as to Turkey or Hungary's willingness to oppose Russia militarily unless they were the one invaded. To be fair, I have the same doubts about Finland or Sweden riding in guns-a-blazin' if Russia invaded Poland, given their historical isolationism. But Turkey and Hungary seem as committed to Russia as to NATO, and Russia is Europe's greatest threat. It's reasonable for every country in NATO to be there for their own benefit, but once in they can't act ONLY for their own benefit.
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  15.  @prathamsaxena9503  The U.S. is between Canada and Mexico. You can find it pretty easily on a map of North America, or on most globes. As far as the US obligations under the treaty, the US has respected Ukraine's borders and has raised the issue internationally; those fulfilled the US's treaty obligations. Ukraine wasn't required to be neutral, and after Russia annexed Crimea could hardly be expected to.
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  16. Would Chechnya be allowed to vote for independence?
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  17.  @troo_6656  They're not incompatible, but one is not required for the other, and if you want expertise then why not just go for expertise? Put it this way: if you want an expert in Italian politics, why not get an expert in Italian politics without worrying about whether or not they are Italian? If the original poster just wants non-White people they could just say they want to racially discriminate, and not try to excuse it with statistically connected but indirect factors.
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  18. How does Hungary's sanctuary laws risk the sound financial management or protections of the financial interests?
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  19.  @stefannilsson2406  The reason it's spent is the lower proportion of fissionables, not that it's less radioactive. Nuclear fuel becomes a lot more radioactive after its been in a reactor than before.
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  20. What do you call a government by lawyers? Esquirocracy?
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  21. Biden wasn't really criticized for losing in Afghanistan, but because the withdrawl was a complete mess that left people and materiel for the enemy.
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  22. I'm surprised Russia hasn't been losing more people trying to take those towns.
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  23. It's good to see Germany dispelling old stereotypes, but did they have to start with efficiency?
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  24.  @alioshax7797  Then it's a good thing I didn't say eating or breathing.
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  25. I think NATO probably needs Turkey more than it needs Finland or Sweden, even though Erdogan really isn't helping that. I admit there could easily be factors I am not aware of that might make Finland and Sweden more valuable to current NATO members than I think.
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  26. Sweden and Finland have reasons to be quiet if Russia or the USA did it, but even then we'd only be talking about Sweden and Finland's suspicions. The USA has the motive, but it would be all kinds of stupid to do. Which doesn't mean we didn't do it.
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  27. I was hoping they'd been doing better since they got rid of Vigo the Carpathian.
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  28.  @deforged  Correction - the signatories never promised to defend Crimea with anything but diplomacy.
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  29. You might look to insulating your pipes where you can, and draining them if possible and necessary.
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  30. Because accidents happen and usually don't lead to wars. The Spanish-American War being a possible exception.
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  31.  @randydrew66  It means an attack on one is considered an attack on all. Accidental missile strikes need not be considered an attack. Also, article 5 doesn't actually require an armed response, just "such action as [the member state] deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." So if a member of NATO doesn't consider armed force necessary, they could just write a strongly-worded letter and be done with it.
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  32.  @randydrew66  Not the nation attacked -- every member nation decides how they react to an attack on another. They have to do something, but maybe not force. So if Russia invades Poland, France could say, "We're going to protest and stage mass die-ins under the Eiffel Tower until Russia surrenders," and the US could decide, "Time to send in all the nukes at Putin personally."
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  33.  @randydrew66  Because they probably will attack in defense of a member, if it's in Europe or North America, if that member hasn't initiated it. If Poland decided to invade Belarus and Russia responded in Belarus's defense, NATO would probably do little more than it has for Ukraine. But if Russia tried to annex Poland it'd probably be WW3.
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  34.  @randydrew66  Russia does have reason not to use nukes; they're not the only ones who have nukes. Russia may have more nukes than anyone else, but a lot of nations have enough nukes to run Russia into The Area Formerly Known as Russia. Russia can lose in Ukraine without using nukes, too. It lost in Afghanistan without nuking anyone. So did the U.S.
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  35.  @randydrew66  Ukraine isn't vital to Russia. And, again, Russia having more nukes doesn't mean much. Say you shoot me with 20 guns and I shoot you with 12. We're both pretty dead regardless, right?
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  36.  @randydrew66  Taiwan isn't that important to China, either. China has survived without Taiwan for decades and will continue to do so. China just doesn't have the dollar reserves to tank the dollar. The US ran a $1 trillion deficit already just last year. And if the US just canceled all debts to China, it'd probably end up better off than before. And many countries have reserves in dollars -- it's the de facto standard global reserve currency. So almost everyone take s a hit.
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  37.  @randydrew66  Almost no other country uses the dollar as their currency. They have reserves of the dollar.
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  38.  @randydrew66  You just keep reaching for that win.😃
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  39.  @randydrew66  If you say so.
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  40. Makes me think Brittney Griner got off a lot more easier than I thought.
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  41.  @ashleylittle6776  "mainly" is not the same as "all".
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  42. We could try Agression, but skate punk only goes so far on the international stage.
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  43. This might be a smart strategic move on their part. How will Ukraine treat ethnic Russians who remain behind in Kherson? If there's any sign of payback against ethnic Russians in general --- which I think is a real possibility -- Ukraine might lose the western support that it relies on.
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  44. I've seen a bit of back and forth about how much impact (no pun intended) the HIMARS has had. Perhaps we're going to get a more definitive answer.
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  45. Taiwan is part of China, but has never been part of the People's Republic of China. You might as well say that mainland China should be recognized as part of the Republic of China.
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  46. If Ukraine can hit airbases that far into Russia then the supply lines feeding Crimea might be interruptable -- depending on the accuracy of the weapons. An airfield is a bigger target than a bridge or a set of railroad tracks.
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  47. What are the odds that Ukraine was going to pay this money? And if your title were true, what are the odds that Russia would pay it?
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  48. Climate change can be real while still being used as a tool for social and economic change. Look at the "Green New Deal," which pushed for generally leftist goals outside of ecological aims.
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  49. Is this going to make FInland and Sweden reconsider NATO membership?
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  50. Regarding Crimea: say Mexico took California. And at the time, California was ethnically mostly Mexican (and that Mexican was an ethnicity). Then a lot of people who weren't ethnically Mexican moved out. How much blood and treasure do you expend to re-take California? and what do you do with it if you get it?
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  51.  @Aspeer1971  That's a good way to see it, but it might not be the way the inhabitants of Crimea see it.
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  52.  @richardschipper5989  What was Russia's motive? The USA's motive would have been to give Russia less natural gas leverage.
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  53.  @RealYunoCS  So any former USSR territory that doesn't belong to Russia is an invasion?
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  54.  @_blank-_  Ukraine was in a civil war, yes. And NATO intervened in Yugoslavia, after the Serbians started ethnic cleansing. And even then, they ddin't make Kosovo part of any other country.
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  55. The country or the state?
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  56. Can we get them to leave America?
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  57. Putin does or thinks he does. But he's comparing WW3 to a humiliating defeat in Ukraine, and we don't know which he thinks is worse.
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  58. I'm surprised they didn't do this in the winter, tbh. Europe should have been on this before the invasion. I don't know what they could do now to prevent a lot of loss of life come January if Russia turned off the taps, except to do whatever Russia ordered them to.
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  59. Crimea was indeed Ukrainian. Maybe do a quick Wikipedia search next time before making a fool of yourself.
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  60.  @grahamebell4593  You said Crimea was never part of Ukraine, and for a while it was. Were you mistaken, or were you lying?
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  61. Reagan was a skilled actor, and for that picture he was doing his Nixon impersonation.
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  62. What other than heating is natural gas condumed for? The U.S. probably can't ship enough natgas to Europe to make up for what Russia would export, but if, for example, natgas was used to make steel, the U.S. might be able to ship the steel.
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  63.  @olsenfernandes3634  A dictator with support from those millions.
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  64. I think Russia is culturally expansionist, and the smaller, poorer, and less powerful Russia is, the better for the rest of the world. As far as the nuclear weapons go, that's a definite issue, but it also is an opportunity to reduce Russia's stockpile; they're not safe in, say, Iranian hands, but Russian hands are less than ideal as well. That said, security gaurantees of some sort aren't a bad thing. It's not that Russia needs them because Russia has a huge number of nuclear weapons and delivery devices, but the perception could lead to a more stable arrangement.
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  65.  @chuapg1518  You might be right. Though that one failed because Russia invaded, and I don't know of any countries itching to invade Russia. Of course Russia might not see it that way. But we're talking about circumstances where Russia is on the ropes and nukes are going to go missing. If they'd sell some nukes then they might trade them for promises as much as for money.
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  66. I'd attack north again. Russia probably expects an attack near Kherson. But I don't even do this for a hobby, so...
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  67. I've always been skeptical of the idea that getting the nations closer together will prevent wars. I'd say the nastiest war the U.S. fought was the civil war.
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  68.  @siddhartacrowley8759  How many wars have there been in western Europe outside the EU in that time?
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  69.  @DarkHarlequin  That's fair. But not having had wars in 70 years isn't much evidence unless a parallel situation has had wars in that time, and where's the parallel situation? Eastern Europe? North America, where Canada, the U.S., and Mexico haven't fought a war in 70 years?
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  70.  @DarkHarlequin  But that gets back to my original point. People think that political unions prevent wars, but civil wars indicate otherwise.
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  71. I'd be worried if it were a reputable source instead of the Washington Post.
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  72. Ukraine should air-drop vodka over the new Russian troops.
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  73. Let Ukraine hit Russian infrastructure similarly or pressure Ukraine for negotiations with the idea that Ukaine enters NATO and Russia stays sanctioned but there's a cease-fire at current borders.
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  74. If the Russian stall is because of Russian infighting, it might cause the infighting to stop.
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  75. I might retire there.
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  76. The breakup of Serbia was NATO forcing Serbia to let regions leave by bombing Serbia. If I were Serbian, I wouldn't trust NATO either.
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  77. Nuclear is scary, and a lot of politicians are happy to use that to grandstand. Look at all the foods labeled "GMO-free".
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  78. It's Christmas at ground zero / the button has been pressed / The radio just let us know / That this is not a test
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  79. I think this is just so Ukraine has to work harder to defend the northern border as well.
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  80. We should give tactical nukes to Ukraine now. Russia promised to respect Ukraine's territory in exchange for Ukraine giving up nukes. Ukraine gave up their nukes. Russia invaded. Let's restore the status to what it was before Russia lyingly signed the treaty, and let Ukraine decide when to nuke Russia and what cities to nuke.
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  81.  @moritamikamikara3879  The question wasn't that long!
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  82. They were warned about this dependency on Russia for energy. But to be fair nobody warned them that the Green party would be forcing Germany into burning coal. 🤣
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  83. People offering Russian mail-order brides might be in favor of this. Russia's male:female imbalance may be getting more imbalanced.
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  84. It looks like it's winning, though slowly. That depends on casualty figures that are unreliable, but that Russia is advancing suggests that the casualties are not ridiculously uneven, and Russia just has a lot more people to expend. Hopefully incoming NATO materiel can make a difference; Ukraine's been pretty clever about using small numbers of superior equipment.
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  85. I don't know that Russia's apparent lack of progress in Bakhmut is a positive for getting into Crimea. Show many of the same conditions making it rough for Russia to advance apply to Ukrainian progress? I don't know. The Wagner group no longer taking losses into account must feel less than great for their own troops, though...
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