robbo203
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Quite a grim and compelling account of life as a soldier in the Ukrainian army. It’s a long read but very interesting. You do get quite a strong sense of the war weariness and cynicism among the ordinary soldiers and also their dislike of the higher-ups with their cavalier disregard of human life (echoes of World War One)
The middle sections, dealing with the phenomenon of drone warfare, are particularly disturbing. It brings home the point of how lethal these things are. Old-fashioned trenches are no protection against them, day or night. You need to burrow into the earth like a mouse to avoid being spotted. Step outside to take a leak behind a tree, and the chances are you will be spotted and despatched
It’s a picture of a world that is disintegrating in every sense of the word
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/27/please-don-t-use-my-name
After Rumania and Turkey, another NATO country practises “democracy” by banning the main opposition candidate for President from standing — France.
Perhaps Macron – or should that be, Micron – has misjudged. This could be backfire.
The Daily Fail has got it in for the guy …
Big Serge´s somewhat clinical analysis of the war.
He reckons this:
“I have never made any bones about my belief that the war in Ukraine will be resolved militarily: that is, it will be fought to its conclusion and end in the defeat of Ukraine in the east, Russian control of vast swathes of the country, and the subordination of a rump Ukraine to Russian interests.”
I sincerely hope it ends before then, and no more working class lives, on both sides, are lost in this stupid capitalist conflict
“You Know Nothing About Economics” is the title of this article….
https://vocal.media/education/you-know-nothing-about-economics
DJP,
Well, I’m not particularly interested in the opinions of the Daily Fail. I only posted a link to the article from this rag because it reproduced the results of a survey conducted by CNN that indicated that Ocasio-Cortez is the first choice among Democrats as to who best reflects the values of that disreputable entity. Presumably, that also means she would be the first choice as a Presidential candidate….
As for your point about there clearly being a greater evil in the US context my point is simply that, if so, it is equally clear that supporting the lesser evil assuredly paves the way to greater evil. We have seen this with the election of Starmer´s Anti-Labour Party which leftists in their droves supported precisely on the grounds that it was the lesser evil. Can anyone now honestly believe this appalling organisation is somehow an improvement on the Tories? I cant see the difference tbh.
As for the US, to be honest, here too is difficult to tell at times to tell which is the greater evil. Had Harris won the elections and not Trump, would we even talking about the possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, for example? I sincerely doubt it.
Yes, I agree that what Trump is doing with respect to even basic democratic rights is horrendous but that doesn’t mean you have to align yourself with the so-called Democratic Party, does it? Call it “moralism” but I would rather cut my wrists than do that if I was a worker in the US. Not that it will make much difference as we are so few in numbers but it is perfectly possible and vastly better from any possible angle that we criticise what Trump is doing from a completely independent and socialist standpoint. We may be ineffective at the moment but we would still be ineffective anyway aligning ourselves with some capitalist entity and very possibly nonexistent shortly thereafter
Nope, I say to hell with the lot of em! They deserve our uncompromising hostility
Apparently, the so-called Democratic Party is now pushing in a somewhat more left-populist direction as a counterweight to Trump´s right-populist position. It seems that pretending to be “anti-establishment” pays dividends these days given that the electors are heartily sick of the “establishment”.
Expect,then, to encounter a reinvigorated argument about why workers need to vote for the “lesser evil” as represented by such thoroughly obnoxious opportunists as Ocasio-Cortez, Harris (again) and the warmonger, Bernie Sanders.
Why people can’t just draw the simple conclusion that these people, like Starmer’s repugnant Anti-Labour Party, shouldn’t be touched with a bargepole, I just don’t know…
The so-called lesser evil invariably prepares the ground for the greater evil to later take power
The Anti-Labour government´s forthcoming measures to hit the working class even harder
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/five-dwp-benefits-payments-most-31207823
Also, more spending on military offense at the expense of foreign aid
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/extra-uk-defense-spending-help-050000860.html
I think Starmer and his allies in Europe will start a war with Russia, rather than allow Trump-Putin negotiations to finalise.I don’t think that likely at all.
Trump may say he doesn’t mind British and other troops being deployed in Ukraine, but it is not up to him. It has to be agreed by the Russians and they have flatly ruled out any NATO troops having a role as peacekeepers.
NATO/Ukraine are pushing the peace deal strongly, and as they see it, it is only AFTER a peace deal has been agreed that they envisage a role for NATO or European peacekeepers in Ukraine. I can’t see them openly moving into Ukraine before a peace deal in defiance of, not only Russia´s wishes, but Trump´s as well
Macron has said as much
“European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Mr Macron said in the interview published in Le Figaro”
/www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/what-we-know-about-macron-s-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal-which-he-says-the-uk-backs/ar-AA1A9Pqm
To get the Russians to agree to a peace deal in the first place and then to allow European troops in Ukraine will require a massive change of heart and attitude on the part of European powers involved. You can’t ramp up the gung ho warmongering and call on Russia to agree to a peace deal at the same time. These are contradictory goals. Besides, without American support, Europe hasn’t got the means to take on Russia or, probably, the will – particularly if it risks escalating into a nuclear exchange.
Public support for the Ukraine war is waning, anyway, and this trend is likely to continue as economic hardship kicks in (cuts in social welfare to fund increases in offense spending, the loss of relatively cheap gas from Russia, the effects of Trumponomics and tariffs etc etc). Also, Macron and Starmer are both very likely to lose and be booted out of power come the next round of elections. Here in Spain, there is significant opposition to Sanchez’s plan to increase military spending in line with NATO’s target from some partners in the ruling coalition
Remember, politicians are basically bullshitters and poseurs and while little Boy Starmer might puff his chest up and beat his little toy drum, there is not much he can do. It’s all a passing show
Looks like the Anti-Labour Starmer regime is gonna have its work cut out. Won’t be much to spend on all those jolly weapons of mass destruction (distraction?) to prolong the war in the Ukraine. This, after promising to improve the economic circumstances of British workers while making cuts in social welfare
news.sky.com/story/sir-keir-starmer-says-welfare-bill-is-indefensible-so-what-cuts-could-be-announced-13326286
I follow this thread and I’ve been astonished at the vitriol thrown at western politicians as ‘warmongers’ while Putin and his cronies have pretty much got a free pass. A casual reader could draw their own conclusions about the claim that we don’t take sides.
_____________________________Not sure that’s the case at all. The obnoxious Putin regime has been quite frequently attacked on this forum and rightly so. The problem is the dominant narrative in the part of the world we happen to be in is overwhelmingly pro-Ukrainian. Just look at the MSM every day coming out with its delusional pro-nationalist arguments in support of the Zelensky regime. If there is an apparent imbalance in the commentary on the Ukraine situation, it probably reflects these real-world circumstances
Obviously, we oppose both sides in this war and the war itself. The sooner it ends the better!
Mind you it’s not just Boy Starmer who is beating his toy war drum. So is Macron. Maybe even more so
I see it as you do—between the “peace” of Trump/Putin and the “Peace” in the European style, I prefer the former, as a socialist world cannot exist with the latter option…
Yes, I agree with that, Roberto….
Though Trump’s motives for peace are quite different from ours, at least the possibility of some kind of deal that would lead to the cessation of conflict is on the horizon. Let’s face it, that would never have happened had the Anti-Democrat Party candidate, Kamala Harris, won. That’s about the only good thing you can say about Trump – the prospect of an escalation of the war may have receded and with it the prospect of a nuclear exchange – even if that was highly unlikely in my opinion.
Interestingly, I’ve come across some more stuff on MSM about Trump going on about “de-nuclearisation”. Can’t see it happening, but still it’s better than issuing nuclear threats
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/trump-plans-to-get-rid-of-nuclear-weapons/ar-AA1Asm8O
It is left to the warmongers like the Anti-Labour Party leader, Boy Starmer, to continue beating his little toy war drum. I can’t see his posturing getting him anywhere and the cuts to social welfare spending to boost defence spending is not going to make him popular. Come the next election, this disreputable sleazy outfit could well be pushed into third place, behind Reform and the Tories. Serve the bastards right.
Of course, the Putin regime is a nasty piece of work, but all the same, better this stupid war ends now than later with yet more workers´ lives lost. In any case, the Russian military seems to be on a roll and the longer conflict goes on, the more territory it will take. Not that socialists give a fig about national sovereignty either way
