Boris, Putin & China

[newfhouse]

Labour realistically cannot continue its attrition against Boris and the Tories

Is that what’s happening? Has anyone told Starmer? I thought most of the attrition was coming from the Tories themselves.

 

[Rusty Nails]

None of this is remotely like the Falklands/Malvinas, so I don't see there's much political capital to be gained.

I can't see the USA sending troops to Ukraine & therefore the UK won't. Putin can't afford a long drawn-out conflict, but he might try to detach the Russian-majority parts of Ukraine by stealth. But also, if he wants to sell more oil he needs to present Russia as a reliable supplier.

Whether China is ready for a major military offensive is another matter. It's probably a red herring at the moment.

He has form for this already in Crimea, and I think this is the more likely long term aim.

Boris is an unscrupulous, awful leader, but compared to Putin he is just kindergarten level.

 

[Ian H]

He has form for this already in Crimea, and I think this is the more likely long term aim.

Boris is an unscrupulous, awful leader, but compared to Putin he is just kindergarten level.

To be fair, Putin's doing nothing much worse than the US has been doing in South America for decades.

 

[Moodyman]

They will care when Putin turns off the gas or hikes prices or both

Britain buys very little Russian gas. The EU on the other hand, buy lots so have more to lose. Yet, they've been far more measured with Joseph Borrell today saying they (EU) will not be "dramatising" current events by withdrawing embassy staff.

 

[Moodyman]

To be fair, Putin's doing nothing much worse than the US has been doing in South America for decades.

Valid point, but there is more to it.

Ukraine is a very sore point for the Russians. Russian identity and history is closely intertwined with Ukraine to he point that Ukraine is seen as the spiritual birthplace of Russia.

 

[Rusty Nails]

To be fair, Putin's doing nothing much worse than the US has been doing in South America for decades.

Damning with faint praise. At least you agree that taking possession of part of a country and sending 100k+ troops to the border is a bit, but not much, worse than the US did in South America. After all, it's not as if Russia has a history of invading and controlling other neighbouring countries just decades ago.

None of this means that I think that Johnson is just exacerbating things by talking tough over Russia in order to deflect from his domestic woes.

 

[cookiemonster]

Damning with faint praise. At least you agree that taking possession of part of a country and sending 100k+ troops to the border is a bit, but not much, worse than the US did in South America. After all, it's not as if Russia has a history of invading and controlling other neighbouring countries just decades ago.

None of this means that I think that Johnson is just exacerbating things by talking tough over Russia in order to deflect from his domestic woes.

I think the people of South, and Central America, would disagree with you on that.

Several hundred thousand dead under the guise of 'anti-communism.'

 

[Unkraut]

Several hundred thousand dead under the guise of 'anti-communism.'

John Pilger claims a figure of around 10 million deaths caused by US military interventions since WW2.

Regarding Russia at the moment, you might wonder why if there is such a threat to the West from a resurgent military capability that Johnson's govt wants to further reduce the British Army to a size just under 2 1/2 times that of Belgium.

I can't but think of Bismarck's saying when going to war to achieve unification that if the British Army intervened on the continent he would have it arrested. Of course in the current 'crisis' it is not just Britain, but this militates (as it were) against Johnson's philosophy and much of his party is that Britain is at her strongest when alone.

 

[cookiemonster]

John Pilger claims a figure of around 10 million deaths caused by US military interventions since WW2.

Regarding Russia at the moment, you might wonder why if there is such a threat to the West from a resurgent military capability that Johnson's govt wants to further reduce the British Army to a size just under 2 1/2 times that of Belgium.

I can't but think of Bismarck's saying when going to war to achieve unification that if the British Army intervened on the continent he would have it arrested. Of course in the current 'crisis' it is not just Britain, but this militates (as it were) against Johnson's philosophy and much of his party is that Britain is at her strongest when alone.

I should've made this a bit clearer in my post, I was talking about C and S America.

Yes, millions worldwide. 650,000 in Indonesia to start with when Suharto took over.