State Department warns Russia: Attack on Lithuania is attack on US

[Wake27]

And we can and should project force easily planet wide without paying the bill for other nations social programs, directing so much $ to defense, continuing to follow a wildly out date doctrine, and still lead the world by a margin on all fronts. My outline before would have no real impact on any of that, regardless of the whining and hand ringing those who have their hand out for the $ while literally claiming cultural, economic, and or moral superiority over us.

Example, we are focused on Euro and ME, and we literally have Iran, China, and Hezbollah running a country in a our own back yard with the largest reserves on the planet, a repressive as it gets, mass starvation, etc, and don't do jack chit, but we sent people to Syria?

One is a legit threat and NS issue to the US, the other is not.

Again, not proposing some pre WWII isolationism head in sand nonsense, but we either get the reality or we are doomed.

I think the only thing I disagree with on that is the dollar amount on defense spending. I’m not convinced that’s the underlying issue, so much as what that money is going to. I bet that by directing it more beneficial areas, we could cut some and still have a better prepared military. This country is full of pork.


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[tn1911]

So, just so I'm clear, Russia is such a humiliated joke that there is a need for a multinational military collective to protect Europe from said joke.

A collection of civilized nations who share an enormous economy thinks that way.

A shell of what was once a superpower, ran by a bunch of vodka fueled Neanderthals who can’t take risk assessments beyond where to piss once they’ve woken up each morning, not so much.

What Russia is doing right now, harassing its neighbors, that’s all it’s got. Well that and nukes... maybe.

The corruption is so rampant throughout the Russian military for all we know every last penny allocated to maintain its nukes has been spent on oligarchs yachts, Gulfstream jets, hookers and blow...

[Alpha-17]

So, just so I'm clear, Russia is such a humiliated joke that there is a need for a multinational military collective to protect Europe from said joke?

Interesting.

A big dumb bully that folds to the first kid that can match his strength is still a threat to those smaller than him. An inner-city gang is a threat to the average member of a community but isn't a terrible foe when an Army Ranger makes a stand against him.

So yeah, Russia has humiliated itself by having months of trouble and showcasing its incompetence and corruption but is still very much a threat to its neighbors, at least individually.

That probably wasn't the "gotcha!" you thought it was, was it?

They can be far less effective than expected and still be a threat.

Exactly.

[Outlander Systems]

No, it still was.

"They're a joke."
"They're not a joke."

Lol, okay.

That probably wasn't the "gotcha!" you thought it was, was it?

[alx01]

According to wikipedia, population of Baltic countries:
Latvia 1.9M (down from ~2.1m 10 years ago), 25% ethnic Russians
Lithuania 2.8M, 5% ethnic Russians
Estonia 1.3M, 24% ethnic Russians

Combined population including ethnic Russians: ~6M
Population of Moscow ~12.5M city limits, ~17M Metro area

Conclusion: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estinia don't matter size-wise, politically, or economically. They create more noise on political stage and in the news with their anti-Russian rhetoric than any other country in Europe. All they are trying to do is to involve other countries on their behalf in paranoid schemes & rhetoric (sounds familiar?). They are exactly like some Arab countries who blame all of their problems on Jews, except that they blame primarily Russians and involve EU and US in this.

Have they tried NOT to agitate and provoke Russia in the last 30-40 years? Maybe that would help to reduce tensions with Russia to some degree?


Historical reference:
All 3 Baltic countries had been ardent supporters of Nazis and were by the most part German collaborators in WWII. Percentage-wise compared to other Nazi occupied territories, all three of those countries had the highest murder rate of Jewish population. This is much higher than other official axis countries like Italy, Finland, Bulgaria.

https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/...ic-states.html

- 220,000 Jews were living in Lithuania, only 10k were saved from German concentration camps. All others murdered by Nazis and local collaborators.
- 74,000 Jews were living in Latvia, pretty much all murdered with the involvement of local collaborators
- 4,550 Jews were living in Estonia, those who did not escape to Soviet Union, all were murdered

Racists and descendants of war crime perpetrators and Nazi collaborators in those countries should keep their pie shut.

[WillBrink]

I think the only thing I disagree with on that is the dollar amount on defense spending. I’m not convinced that’s the underlying issue, so much as what that money is going to. I bet that by directing it more beneficial areas, we could cut some and still have a better prepared military. This country is full of pork.


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I think there's more to it then that, but I suspect over beers we'd agree on far more than we don't on the matter.

[Wake27]

According to wikipedia, population of Baltic countries:
Latvia 1.9M (down from ~2.1m 10 years ago), 25% ethnic Russians
Lithuania 2.8M, 5% ethnic Russians
Estonia 1.3M, 24% ethnic Russians

Combined population including ethnic Russians: ~6M
Population of Moscow ~12.5M city limits, ~17M Metro area

Conclusion: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estinia don't matter size-wise, politically, or economically. They create more noise on political stage and in the news with their anti-Russian rhetoric than any other country in Europe. All they are trying to do is to involve other countries on their behalf in paranoid schemes & rhetoric (sounds familiar?). They are exactly like some Arab countries who blame all of their problems on Jews, except that they blame primarily Russians and involve EU and US in this.

Have they tried NOT to agitate and provoke Russia in the last 30-40 years? Maybe that would help to reduce tensions with Russia to some degree?


Historical reference:
All 3 Baltic countries had been ardent supporters of Nazis and were by the most part German collaborators in WWII. Percentage-wise compared to other Nazi occupied territories, all three of those countries had the highest murder rate of Jewish population. This is much higher than other official axis countries like Italy, Finland, Bulgaria.

https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/...ic-states.html

- 220,000 Jews were living in Lithuania, only 10k were saved from German concentration camps. All others murdered by Nazis and local collaborators.
- 74,000 Jews were living in Latvia, pretty much all murdered with the involvement of local collaborators
- 4,550 Jews were living in Estonia, those who did not escape to Soviet Union, all were murdered

Racists and descendants of war crime perpetrators and Nazi collaborators in those countries should keep their pie shut.

Man, good job with all of that research. Have you been to any of these countries? Talked to anyone from any of them? Walked through the Lithuanian Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights? Know anything besides what those two links tell you?


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[Outlander Systems]

I’ve been to a Mets game, does that make me a pitcher?

Man, good job with all of that research. Have you been to any of these countries? Talked to anyone from any of them? Walked through the Lithuanian Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights? Know anything besides what those two links tell you?


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[utahjeepr]

Well damn. My grandfather was a convicted murderer. Guess I got no right to an opinion or self determination either. Sins of one's ancestors and all.

[Wake27]

I’ve been to a Mets game, does that make me a pitcher?

Of course not, but thinking you know enough to declare three entire countries irrelevant based off of a wiki page is pretty damn ignorant.

And doubling down by supporting the argument with one group of statistics, which doesn’t even directly corroborate the conclusion drawn, really highlights either the lack of ability to apply critical thought and/or the gullibility to confirmation bias.

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