SWIFT ban begins

[RedSun]

There is no good reason for NATO to be expanding anyway. China is a bigger threat to Taiwan yet, the US will let Taiwan be gobbled up by China. Only a matter of time.

I do not know.

A lot Americans like isolationism for many years. That is at least half of the Republicans do. But US has been involved with all global conflicts since Cold War. Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraqi War, Afghanistan War, Syrian Civil War etc. But nothing is working. How many $BB we spent each year? How many American soldiers dies? We do not even have money to fix our broken bridges.

Yet, those army generals always like wars. Politicians like to be strong. But all civilians suffered and died. We fight just for the ideology. It is empty.

 

[VicBee]

The problem is that all politicians mis-calculate. Russia clearly considers Ukraine joining NATO as its existential threat. Just like Hitler taking Poland and stationed army on its border. So the Empire struck. So NATO and Ukraine just gave Russia the reason to invade. Clearly nukes are always the threat with any existential threat. West knew that so well. This is why West does not want to fight Russians for Ukraine. It is the thread of WW III and the nuke weapons.

There is no way in hell that the Russian military would allow Putin to launch nuclear weapons for Ukraine. Existential threat is the annihilation of the Russian people by invading armies. Remember, the Russian military will exist within oligarchy, communism or democracy.

 

[terr]

I find it interesting how little is talked about the most important thing. Russia's ace-up-their-sleeve is the fact they stated they will unleash nuclear hell (prepared to use all warheads) if anyone so much as steps a foot upon Russian soil.

This kinda gives them the whole deck of cards to play with.

You're contradicting the Putin shill narrative here that NATO is an "existential" threat. If there is an assurance of nuclear hell if NATO invades Russia, then there is no "existential" threat. That's the whole point of MAD.

 

[smallfil]

I find it interesting how little is talked about the most important thing. Russia's ace-up-their-sleeve is the fact they stated they will unleash nuclear hell (prepared to use all warheads) if anyone so much as steps a foot upon Russian soil.

This kinda gives them the whole deck of cards to play with.

Russia in the nuclear drill with Belarus launched a hypersonic missile and shown on cable TV. Apparently, NATO was not watching. All this saber rattling, putting F-35 fighter jets and Apache helicopters in Estonia and Poland, if there is a miscalculation or a skirmish due to NATO plans to truck arms to Ukraine, Putin may very well fire one or more hypersonic missiles at US forces to put the fear in NATO. Then, we have World War 3. This war in Ukraine will be a picnic by comparison.

 

[RedSun]

I find it interesting how little is talked about the most important thing. Russia's ace-up-their-sleeve is the fact they stated they will unleash nuclear hell (prepared to use all warheads) if anyone so much as steps a foot upon Russian soil.

This kinda gives them the whole deck of cards to play with.

So you think this is a joke?

All those big nuclear powers are untouchable.... Biden knows it so well.

 

[VicBee]

I would not agree that this is "unprovoked". NATO has been provoking for 30 years. James Baker promised that NATO would move "not an inch..." into East Germany. Yet, what happened. H. W. Bush promised that NATO would not expand to former Warsaw Pact countries. But what do we see now??

You still live in communist Russia mentality. When Soviet Russia fell, so was the western threat. But what we found (not surprisingly to the trained) is that communist dictatorship was replaced with oligarchy dictatorship. But Russia has nothing to fear from the West, except for democracy that even its people clamor for before getting beat up by the fascists within.

 

[smallfil]

You're contradicting the Putin shill narrative here that NATO is an "existential" threat. If there is an assurance of nuclear hell if NATO invades Russia, then there is no "existential" threat. That's the whole point of MAD.

It won't be a nuclear war at the start. Probably, conventional forces attacking each other on both sides. However, if it happens, I expect Russia to fire its hypersonic missiles (non-nuclear) at NATO which would be very destructive. US has already moved F-35 fighter jets and Apache helicopters to Estonia and Poland. This won't be an easy war for the US either even with those F-35 fighter jets and Apache Helicopters.

 

[Bugenhagen]

@Bugenhagen

No, I do not support anything.

It is the history. Read that book. American author. Well known professor. Read the history too.

You speak loudly and without knowledge. Exactly what Putin wants.

That is just BS. How can all those LNG tankers pass through Suez Canal? Do you even know how LNG works?

 

[Overnight]

I find it interesting how little is talked about the most important thing. Russia's ace-up-their-sleeve is the fact they stated they will unleash nuclear hell (prepared to use all warheads) if anyone so much as steps a foot upon Russian soil.

This kinda gives them the whole deck of cards to play with.

There is 0% chance that will happen. Nuclear war? Are you insane? Putin may be, but he remembers all the cold-war drills and what would happen if geopolitics fell into that rabbit hole. Nobody wins, so you JUST DON'T DO IT.

 

[vanzandt]

But how much Russia borrows from the West. So Russian credit rating is junk. So Russia can turn it to junk and do not have to repay....

Well, Standard and Poors (and Moodys) aren't in the fixing business, they're in the business of calling things as they see them.
If they didn't downgrade them, there'd be 20 threads here with people whining about "a rigged system".
Right?
Right.
Think about it like this:
What type of umpire do you want behind home-plate?