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emblem21

Major
Registered Member
F--king hell, never learned about any of this growing up. How many other skeletons are there in the Canadian closet??
All I have learnt in the last 5 years about Canada is that Trudeau is a racist cu&k and Canada basically committed native children genocide and have no moral high ground to speak of while they try to lecture China like a whiny little bit&h, heck they even kidnapped a Chinese national on behalf of the USA and made to release her by the USA while exposing the nation as a bunch of useless opportunistic cowards with no balls and Xi Jing Ping made Trudeau his bit&h at the G20 last year while he ran away like a pussy to the bed room to cry. Way to go Trudeau, now I can never take Canada seriously again and heck probably for the rest of my life, I will look at the nation in contempt and disgust
 

baykalov

Senior Member
Registered Member

The Biden administration is wrong: Time is not on Ukraine’s side

As the Ukraine war enters its second year, the Biden administration is pledging to support Kyiv for “as long as it takes.” That language is calculated to send a message of resolve to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but it’s not what Ukrainians want to hear. Though they’re fighting valiantly, Ukrainians are also suffering greatly — and they are begging the West to help them speed up the war, not settle in for an endless slog.

Just a few days before the anniversary of Putin’s unprovoked invasion last year, Biden visited Kyiv and made a rousing speech in Poland promising that the West “will never waver” in the fight for freedom and democracy. A few days earlier, Vice President Harris took the stage at the Munich Security Conference to declare America’s endless commitment to the Ukraine effort.
“The daily agony of war will persist,” she said. “But if Putin thinks he can wait us out, he is badly mistaken. Time is not on his side.”

Nearly all the Ukrainian officials I met in Munich respectfully disagree. It’s not just about weapons (although they insist that more and better weapons are badly and quickly needed). These Ukrainian officials say they’re worried that the Biden administration’s stance could undermine support for Kyiv’s strategy, which is to accelerate the war effort now and avoid a protracted stalemate.

For them, an endless war means a win for Putin and the loss of their country as they know it.
“We are very grateful for the support that is coming, but there is one phrase that makes us very concerned,” Ukrainian member of parliament Yelyzaveta Yasko told me. “Many leaders right now are saying, ‘We will support you as long as it takes.’ And we feel this phrase is quite dangerous.”

Biden’s messaging signals that the West is psychologically and politically preparing for a long war. But Yasko told me the window of opportunity for winning is closing. Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, energy production and agricultural facilities are taking a brutal toll on the economy. The Ukrainian military is incurring heavy losses.

The deepening destruction means Ukraine will become even more dependent on the West in the future and reconstruction will become exorbitantly expensive and difficult. The longer the war goes on, the less industry Ukrainian refugees will have to return to.

Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksii Honcharenko told me victory must see Ukraine emerge as a healthy democracy with a functioning economy, or it will all be for naught. This is why, he says, the war must be won this year.

“If the war goes on for several more years, and then there is victory … it will be a Pyrrhic victory,” he said.
Ukrainians are also keenly aware of the war-weariness among citizens in the United States and Europe. As Ukrainians know only too well, Putin doesn’t have to take the opinions of his citizens into account. Biden, by contrast, has a political incentive to see this conflict end sooner rather than later.

“Do you really want another forever war?” asked Honcharenko. “The war should be finished this year. That should be the message.”

Biden administration officials rightly tout the enormous amount of military aid that has been provided to Ukraine and take credit for maintaining unity among NATO allies. But the White House’s fear of escalation with Russia has hampered its willingness to give Ukraine the things that Ukraine says it needs to win the war this year.

The Ukrainians are asking for longer-range missiles, advanced drones, more air defenses and lots of tanks, as well as fighter aircraft. The Biden administration’s pattern over the past year has been to withhold the types of advanced weapons Ukrainians are asking for, fearing escalation, and then, when Putin escalates anyway, provide them later.

Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor Jr. told me the risk of Putin deciding to expand the war beyond Ukraine at this point is “very low,” given the state of Russia’s battered army.
“The delay in providing the weapons costs lives, because if we provided the weapons, that could shorten the war,” he said.

By providing Ukraine with just enough weaponry to fight to a medium-boil stalemate, the Biden approach is seen by many Ukrainians as an intentional strategy to nudge Ukraine toward negotiations. Ukrainian officials maintain that talks are possible only when Putin feels more pressure.

The first thing you will hear from any Ukrainian is “Thank you.” Ukrainians are not ungrateful or greedy — they are trying to survive. But their desperation is increasing. “As long as it takes” must not become an excuse for a lack of urgency. By next year’s anniversary, there might not be a Ukraine to save.
 

baykalov

Senior Member
Registered Member
U.S. officials are urging Zelensky to show openness to a diplomatic dialogue about ending the war, the New York Times writes. According to NYT, this is necessary to influence countries that have not joined the anti-Russian sanctions.

The newspaper calls into question the effectiveness of such negotiations, since the parties have put forward mutually unacceptable conditions for the end of the war. But the readiness for diplomacy "is largely strategic in nature."

Russia is now demonstrating its readiness for negotiations in order not to alienate the countries of the "global south", which have not joined the sanctions, but are in favor of an early end to the conflict, since they bear certain costs. Putin explains to his partners that Western sanctions have led to an increase in world food prices. And the West could solve this problem by agreeing with Moscow.

In the US, they are now afraid that "Putin may gain the upper hand" in this rhetoric. And support for more active peacekeeping efforts is growing even in the US itself, where half of those surveyed by sociologists spoke in favor of diplomacy. In Germany,figure is even highe- 58%.

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Overbom

Brigadier
Registered Member
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Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, U.S. Agency Now Says​

Energy Department’s revised assessment is based on new intelligence
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the
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most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress.

The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on
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, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office.
D5rYeFYXsAAj_9U.jpg
 

zhangjim

Junior Member
Registered Member
Mongolia has historically played Russia against China. Now that Russia and China are moving closer together, they've had to adapt.

The basic issue is... Mongolia is entirely geographically surrounded by Russia and China. Even if the US wanted to help them - and the US certainly does try, having made Mongolia a strategic partner in 2019 - geographically it is very difficult for the US to send any support in case of a conflict. Mongolia knows this.
Many times, some people are not as rational and intelligent as you think.
These Mongols have no way to deal with China except to beat the Chinese in the streets of Ulan Bator.
"Third Neighbor Policy" is the most unrealistic plan I have ever heard.
In my memory, I read an article written by a Mongolian in China, expressing his disappointment with Mongolia. It is a country that cannot extricate itself from the past glory of Genghis Khan. Wrestlers are more respected than intellectuals, greed and alcoholism are the norm.
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——This is the information provided by another person living in Mongolia.
This sentence is very interesting:
4、自疫情出现以来,中国关闭了和蒙古的货物通道,导致蒙古连个大白菜都没有了,很久以后才通过一项方案:通过集装箱消毒、转运货物到蒙古。
贪腐滋生,并且背后就是几个大人物在贪,一个集装箱到蒙古,你猜猜看多少钱?
原本货物一分不花就可以过关,现在搞了个集装箱政策,一个集装箱要五万六千块人民币!这笔钱全被几个家族分光了。
——说到这多说一句,蒙古这边就是一堆有钱的家族在弄,它当初分裂出去,也是利好几个贵族家族嘛,老百姓?那不值钱的,多生点,就跟养羊差不多。
According to him, there is huge corruption in border trade. Although it is bad for Mongolia, it does not prevent politicians from making money for themselves.

So I think the reason for those unpleasant things is simple - Mongolian politicians want more money.
 

siegecrossbow

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