(04-20-2022, 02:04 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote: Well, they are at least using that as their justification. They may have ulterior motives (as most nations do), but this is one of the primary goals. I think they want Crimea for strategic reasons, and they are looking to set up a buffer zone between Russia and NATO countries. Donbass as an independent nation would serve that purpose. While they are there, they are looking to destroy the infrastructure of Ukraine to make it a less desirable staging area for NATO defenses.

Crimea is definitely a needed area to hold. It will help Russia gain a lot of control and resources.

There's been some mention from the Russian side that Azov was planning to invade. If you look at the army location before the bombing started, they were near or moving towards there to reclaim the territory.

Don't buy it but they have been able to kill over 10,000 civilians without the world or Russia doing anything.

You also have polls showing NATO support was growing and weapons being moved to encroach.

Then you have the Russia is just evil side and wants to kill and enslave people.

It's probably a mix of all of them and more we don't know about yet.

(04-21-2022, 10:13 AM)HandsomeRob86 Wrote: Its surprising to me how many people try and defend Russia invading Ukraine. I got to hear the qanon version from my dad a month ago, that Russia was destroying the 'biolabs' in Ukraine, and that China might need to do the same thing in Taiwan. Seriously? People, from the US, seriously believe that Russia is invading Ukraine for Biolabs? Even after 2 months of war. No, thats [BLEEP]. Russia is invading to add territory. The knock on them prior to their invasion is they wanted a land bridge to Crimea, which just so happens to be all the territory they are still holding/fighting over. I think Russia, and us too if we're honest, thought they would roll over Ukraine. It just turned out that Russia was way less effective then thought, and Ukraine a lot more together than they seemed. I don't know why Russia needs a warm water port when their navy sucks, but they think they need it.

Also, it is interesting that the q-anon types online making posts about China needing to invade Taiwan for biolabs too. Its like they forgot all of the last 70 years of history. China wouldn't invade Taiwan cause of biolabs. If they invade its cause they want the territory and believe its part of their country. It seems to me like the conspiracy theory's are being provided by Russia/Chinese shills at this point. They will probably be right about Taiwan going back to China at somepoint. Especially with US decreasing its dependence on Taiwan's semi-conductors and trying to build our own fabrications back in the US again, it looks to me like we are setting ourselves up to let China do it in about a decade. Anyway, thats enough rant for me. Russia sucks, hope they gain nothing from this and get beat back to their borders.

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(02-24-2022, 11:13 AM)mikesez Wrote: Nothing good will come of this.
One of the repeated themes in Russian history is it doesn't matter how many soldiers are brought to the fight, it matters how many actually fight.
Best case scenario is that Russians don't actually want to die for this, and they will lose their will once Ukrainian anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons start inflicting damage. 
Worst case scenario is Russia achieves all their military objectives, and we sanction the ever loving crap out of them, but the Russians never leave and we and our allies never see any cause to ease up on the sanctions.  That leaves us and our allies having to long term plan on not having any food, wood, steel, oil, natural gas, or coal from Russia, and that leaves Russia massively militarized but with deep economic wounds.  That's basically the situation that Japan festered in for four years before they finally lashed out at Pearl Harbor.  The worst case seems more likely than the best case, unfortunately.  And the worst case will have ramifications for long beyond the time that the tanks stop rolling and the mortars stop launching.

Good call, this does seem more likely

The Biolabs are real and there are reasons the US set them up in other countries and it's not because they have great scientists. Paperwork, contracts, and money were all available online in the past.

Now Russia invading because of them is just conspiracy theory stuff. Russia did claim the US was working on weapons there to use against Russian people but that's unproven so far.

The sanctions won't do anything but move them closer to China and further show all the EU hypocrisy in still buying oil.

On the good side, it could make countries start growing their own food and making their own things again instead of just buying it from the cheapest possible place.

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