Agree with the nuke rational. But the latter is disingenuous. True, freedom is not free. But if oil or influence was to be had then many times before troops were sent in and had to die. What really rubs me the wrong way is the rational for war that is touted to the public by the US leadership. Its been oftentimes dishonest and outright false. It's always "freedom" and "democracy" that was used to justify incursions and military operations when it reality it was often oil and natural resources. When it serves the US interest natural resources are used as valid justification to kill others. But when the preciousness of American life is sold to the public no foreign atrocities and human rights violations are blatant enough to justify sending in troops.1 American life does not equal a non American life and that is plain wrong and disingenuous. And the public believes it because it has been brainwashed for too long.
It seems that the over-arching argument in this thread is that Russian civilians should not be targeted with sanctions, have assets seized and whatnot, by foreign powers because they are innocent and are not a part of the invasion. What seems to be forgotten is that we have never seen an invasion like the scale we are seeing now, by a man who has the second-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and whose state-of-mind is in question. You don't poke a rabid bear with a stick, as it were, by engaging him in what he seems to be considering his own land. Therefore, in the minds of our wargame planners, this must be a war of attrition. By taking these actions to isolate Russia from the rest of the world economy, the Western world is hoping that the Russian people turn against Putin. They figure if Russia implodes from within, it would cause the least possible amount of lives lost out of all the options available. That is my take on why these heavy economic sanctions are being imposed. A rioting populace is much more dangerous to a country than an invading force trying to stop you in another land.
A dog with fleas, you just deal with carefully. A dog that bites, you deal with more carefully. But you suspect the dog became rabid, it's a gamechanger.
The US world you mean? Because the European world tries dialog even if that means Ukraine will fall. And I am pretty sure Europeans without the Americans involved would have already offered that Ukraine remain outside the EU and Nato in exchange for the full recognition of Ukraine independence.
And who tells you all those cute doggy stories? You are fully aware that Putin is twice as smart as the most intelligent government official AND US bureaucrat? Pick whomever you like. Putin runs circles around any of them. And he is clear headed, wiser, more experienced than any of them. So, your suggestion of him being not quite clear in the head is exactly the stupid underestimating the US has fallen pray to.
I guess it's also because this African nation does not have nuclear weapons, according to @Pekelo's theory. LOL The precise reason why Putin is able to invade Ukraine freely right now is because he knows the West all think like @Pekelo.
All this talk about sanctions bringing Russia down to its knees. What's the point when if it were to ever work, all the Kremlin has to do is say "Anyone who is still sanctioning us by such & such a date, will be considered as an aggressor to Russia, and we will release nuclear weapons in retaliation." What then brown cow?
Then the bluff will be called. Because having Russia hold the world hostage is unacceptable no matter what. You have this weird idea that Putin can push a button and send out nuclear weapons. He can't. There are multiple people who have to agree to do that. And not everyone is criminally insane. I already know M.W. is a Russian shill - he gave himself away when he showed that he speaks Russian. You are probably as well. Only a Putin propagandist can post such idiocy.
It is being reported - https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5240878 that one of the biggest internet ISP and colocation providers, Cogent Communications, is telling Russian Internet companies to remove their servers from their colocations within a month. The affected companies: Yandex, Rostelecom, Vympel, MegaFon and Vkontakte - the biggest Russian Internet companies. In other news: https://www.ft.com/content/8c1b2c0b-0dfc-4bdf-9203-7407aa96cb8f Canada, US and UK move to strip Russian representative of IMF board title
Why would you outright lie when I publicly denounced the invasion and Putin? What is the point to falsify and denigrate and berate others? So you are perceived as being better? By the way I don't speak nor understand a word Russian. What make you think otherwise?