Gosh that must have been a weird experience. Does it not even show you the quotes being responded to ? I have blocked and unblocked someone one here before as it made reading the thread confusing. I think it does remove the quote replies as well now that I try to remember
And so do I disagree on most of it, but i generally like Ians posts, particularly on football, he comes across as a very educated gentleman.
Just read this; ‘If Russia puts down its arms, the war ends. If Ukraine puts down its arms, Ukraine ends.’ Quite fitting.
I think what's needed at this point is a way for Putin to back out without being emasculated. We need someone that's is seen as respectable by Putin, who can step in to mediate a withdrawal agreement - and by that I mean someone like Erdogan or Xi, as unsavoury as both those gents can be (I don't mean Bolsonaro, who is just an arse). It'll hand over a bit of power, but it may be the best, and most importantly, safest way around this situation now. And it's a position we would never have got near to without the solidity of mainly the Ukrainian people, but also NATO and the EU.
Nah, Ian is quite clearly nuts but for reasons I can't explain, I am strangely drawn to his posts. Probably because I'm intrigued by what his latest outrageous (and usually wrong) prediction will be. Some of his best work so far includes: "I am confident Jeremy will get elected", "I am confident Boris will be gone by Christmas" and "I am confident that legal proceedings will be launched against Johnson". I think he also predicted Ralph would be gone by Christmas too but I might be confusing that one with Boris. His dismissive response to Laces about special forces being in Ukraine was entertaining: "Maybe some of the people in here watched too much A -Team in their youth" and "Some of you are living in the world of Tom Clancy". This, despite Laces having some inside knowledge, was just batted away without a second thought. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-invaders-answering-Zelenskys-call-arms.html "In an exclusive interview with MailOnline commander Mamulashvili said: 'I have a very big group of Britons, around sixty travelling to Ukraine to join up with my Georgian National League unit." "Their background is former British Army and Special Forces and they are good fighters, they can be trusted to take on the Russian aggressors and most importantly win." I know he won't thank me for this but whenever I read his posts I have an image of Jacob Rees-Mogg. How funny is that?
I'd be surprised if active duty SF guys were sent to Ukraine. Thing is, that's not wholly necessary as the above indicates. There are an awful lot of ex-SF guys out there, and quite a large number even have ties to Ukraine through the diaspora. Those sorts always find a way to make it into these sorts of conflict zones, and the fact that many maintain close connections with their former employers make them excellent go-betweens and on-the-ground coordinators. Much easier to rely on them than to send a deployment of active SAS/SEALs/JTF, and with far more plausible deniability.
Seems Putin has resorted to the age old Russian tactic of numbers before strategy. Forty mile armoured column approaching Kiev.
Putin going for the jugular now. Heavier missile strikes & increased military movements from outside of Ukraine. 4 or 40 (depending on what you read) miles of armoured vehicles on way ….. all on the back of yesterday’s negotiations in Belarus. Yeah right!
I really hate this argument of Putin apologists that “it’s nato/USA’s fault for expanding.” No - that is the rambling of a crazy dictator. Putin has had ample time to incentivise and attract Ukraine back in to build a better Russia. But the truth is that his way of life is worse than European, so these Balkan nations opt for European ways of life. It is only Putin that can’t see this. In his insane world it is all stick and no carrot. He is a senile old gas station attendant and he needs to be stopped.
Where are you seeing that, Chilcs? It does seem an extraordinary number, but then it also does tally with the well-worn Russian approach of just throwing numbers at it.
I saw a tweet saying the report on Sky was a mistranslation, so I don’t know who is right to be honest. LBC also reporting it’s a 40 mile column, but they may just be copying Sky.
He’s scared democratic creep eastwards will continue into Russia. Some would say inevitable & that’s his fear.