4 ms·

Well now it would be rude to not try. In the spirit of "those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable," and all.

mc32 6y ago
It looks like he is looking for an excuse to invite non NATO troops into his country. That non-NATO entity has already signaled it’s ready to send troops if asked.[1] When your dictatorship is in trouble, who’re you gonna call? Right now the answer lies west of the Ural Mountains. [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/belarus-president-putin-ready-ensure-security-200815183314584.html https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/belarus-president-put...
- treis 6y ago
  Seems like Ukraine 2, electric boogaloo.
- runawaybottle 6y ago
  A total repeat of Syria. Russia backed Assad, just need this guy to start gassing his people too.
  - sam_lowry_ 6y ago
    I lived in Belarus between 1989 and 1999, I still have the Belarusian passport and I vote. Syria is different. The population of Belarus is fairly uniform, mostly urban and well educated. They are unbelievably peaceful. Just look at the pictures of the protests. No car was burned, no window smashed in 8 days by the protesters. The only people damaging property, beating and killing others were riot police and special forces, and they were bred in the spirit of violence for years. I am still afraid that once peaceful crowds learn the true fate of those missing, they will storm the prisons with bare hands and die by hundreds.
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      You can only push a population so far before they rationally decide that it’s now “do or die” and mean that literally.
- phone8675309 6y ago
  > When your dictatorship is in trouble, who’re you gonna call? Right now the answer lies west of the Ural Mountains. Let's not pretend that West of the Ural Mountains has a monopoly on supporting repressive dictators. There's a group in power east of the Mississippi that has a long history of doing so as well. Before anyone tries to say this is a tu quoque - look at your life and the decisions that you've made in it to say that supporting even a single repressive dictatorship is okay.
- smsm42 6y ago
  That would be pretty much the end of his dictatorship - you can't be a dictator where you are 100% dependent on somebody else's troops. He could still be a pro-forma ruler but everybody would know he's just a sock puppet now. It would be de-facto Anschluss. Which Putin has been dreaming about for ages, so he's of course more than willing.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  He is smart enough to know that western powers would never intervene. Putin actually profits from a weak Lukashenko because he can fortify the position of Russia in Belarus, which still is a pretty bad dictatorship, worse than Russia itself as a "Soviet Socialist Republic". Putin knows that Lukashenko pretty much has to do everything he asks for. I think Lukashenko wants to provoke here to either legitimize his crackdown or wants Russia getting involved in a war against "terrorism".
Bootwizard 6y ago
I feel like the US isn't far from this if Trump gets reelected in November

mc32 6y ago

It looks like he is looking for an excuse to invite non NATO troops into his country. That non-NATO entity has already signaled it’s ready to send troops if asked.[1] When your dictatorship is in trouble, who’re you gonna call? Right now the answer lies west of the Ural Mountains. [1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/belarus-president-putin-ready-ensure-security-200815183314584.html https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/belarus-president-put...

treis 6y ago
Seems like Ukraine 2, electric boogaloo.
runawaybottle 6y ago
A total repeat of Syria. Russia backed Assad, just need this guy to start gassing his people too.
- sam_lowry_ 6y ago
  I lived in Belarus between 1989 and 1999, I still have the Belarusian passport and I vote. Syria is different. The population of Belarus is fairly uniform, mostly urban and well educated. They are unbelievably peaceful. Just look at the pictures of the protests. No car was burned, no window smashed in 8 days by the protesters. The only people damaging property, beating and killing others were riot police and special forces, and they were bred in the spirit of violence for years. I am still afraid that once peaceful crowds learn the true fate of those missing, they will storm the prisons with bare hands and die by hundreds.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    You can only push a population so far before they rationally decide that it’s now “do or die” and mean that literally.
phone8675309 6y ago
> When your dictatorship is in trouble, who’re you gonna call? Right now the answer lies west of the Ural Mountains. Let's not pretend that West of the Ural Mountains has a monopoly on supporting repressive dictators. There's a group in power east of the Mississippi that has a long history of doing so as well. Before anyone tries to say this is a tu quoque - look at your life and the decisions that you've made in it to say that supporting even a single repressive dictatorship is okay.
smsm42 6y ago
That would be pretty much the end of his dictatorship - you can't be a dictator where you are 100% dependent on somebody else's troops. He could still be a pro-forma ruler but everybody would know he's just a sock puppet now. It would be de-facto Anschluss. Which Putin has been dreaming about for ages, so he's of course more than willing.
raxxorrax 6y ago
He is smart enough to know that western powers would never intervene. Putin actually profits from a weak Lukashenko because he can fortify the position of Russia in Belarus, which still is a pretty bad dictatorship, worse than Russia itself as a "Soviet Socialist Republic". Putin knows that Lukashenko pretty much has to do everything he asks for. I think Lukashenko wants to provoke here to either legitimize his crackdown or wants Russia getting involved in a war against "terrorism".

Bootwizard 6y ago

I feel like the US isn't far from this if Trump gets reelected in November