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Comment by baq | Hacker News Reader

Russia is past the point of no return. There can be no negotiations as long as Ukraine is still standing. Putin went all in and will get culled when the odds of failure are deemed too great by the court. His successor must be worse than him, as all the better ones have been eliminated already.

It’s a certified shit show and the only thing preventing conventional war in all of Eastern Europe right now is NATO. Economic war (and cyber and psyops) is what’s left, so that’s what they’re fighting with. Looks like they ran out of stuff to steal from their own citizens, so had to start looking outwards.

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>It’s a certified shit show and the only thing preventing conventional war in all of Eastern Europe right now is NATO.

The two things that caused this war are:

1) NATO the "defensive" alliance tearing libya to shreds like a rabid dog, basically for sport. This signaled the start of Putin's paranoia.

2) NATO putting Ukraine on the path to membership and refusing to back off.

Joining a gang is dangerous. Ukraine paid dearly for trying to join ours.

1) NATO took it's action in Libya due to UN Security Council resolution 1973. First several NATO members (and non-members like UAE and Qatar) were attacked to implement the UNSC resolution. A couple weeks later, NATO took over as a coordinating body of the military forces. Some members (like Germany) declined to participate at all.

2) NATO never put Ukraine on the path to membership, although as a result of this invasion they're changing their mind.

Sorry, just noticed the bad typing. The several NATO countries, Qatar and the UAE attacked Libya. They never were attacked

1) 1973 was about a no fly zone to protect civilians. NATO decided to upgrade that to regime change, committing war crimes in the process. The country never recovered and the status of NATO as a primarily offensive alliance dedicated to destroying countries we dont like was sealed.

2) This is what NATO itself said at the 2021 summit. It was crystal clear about its intention to continue the admission process for Ukraine.

1) Sure, the Security Council provided the figleaf for the rape of Libya and its descent into a failed state. That doesn't excuse the activity, rather it undermines the legitimacy of the Security Council.

2) Please, don't embarrass yourself. Ukraine was explicitly on the path to NATO membership (as of 2008), and the place was crawling with NATO trainers and advisors.

NATO probably won't exist in a decade. The US is not that committed to European security, and nobody else is worth a spit.

Yeah, it's all NATO's fault and has nothing to do with Putin's irrational aggression.

Ukraine is a sovereign nation they are free to join any alliance they want.

If Russia cannot handle its neighbours making decisions as a sovereign nation, then thats there problem.

They are sovereign. Just as a kid in South Central is a free individual who can join any street gang they want for protection. This too is sometimes a death sentence, as the gang they try to join for protection uses them as cannon fodder.

It's possible Russia would have accepted their membership if NATO hadnt underscored its status as an offensive alliance with the destruction of Libya in 2011. Sadly this confirmed the reality to every Russian that NATO is an imperial threat.

If Russia cannot help itself but invade any neighbour that goes against its wishes then Russia needs to not have a military anymore its that simple.

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