3 ms·
Of course, they are writing good things about deceased. But what kind of good things? Mentioning 15,000 killed in Afghanistan is quite daring at this time. I
by NoPie 4y ago
Of course, they are writing good things about deceased. But what kind of good things?
Mentioning 15,000 killed in Afghanistan is quite daring at this time.
I remember Afghanistan very well because I lived in the Soviet Union at that time. Every mother was worried that her son could be sent to Afghanistan and die there. But now about three times more Russians have been killed in Ukraine (and population of Russia is about half of the population of the Soviet Union at that time). Comparatively the death rate is 6 times greater in this unwinnable war.
Whatever were Gorbachev's aims, he gets credit for stopping this blood-bath. I wonder if there will be another leader emerging in Russia who will stop the pointless war in Ukraine?
- thriftwy 4y agoThe population of Crimea, which is a part of Russian Federation that Ukraine does not acknowledge, is around 2,5M which is ~150 times greater than Soviet loss of life in Afghanistan. I'm not sure what is the way out of "pointless war in Ukraine" that would resolve this specific question, at the very least.
- NoPie 4y agoLoss? People changing countries is not loss of lives. Not even remotely so. The way out is very simple – the war can be stopped in the same way as in Afghanistan.
- thriftwy 4y agoIn Afghanistan, Soviet Union has left behind an allied secular government which would outlive the USSR by a few years. It was not like the American disengagement with people falling off planes. If people changing countries is not a big deal, why does not Ukraine admit the loss of territories it does not control since 2014? Until that happens, or Russia is defeated militarily, I see no grounds in expecting the war to stop. Ceasefires are possible but those won't last forever either.
- trasz 4y ago>If people changing countries is not a big deal, why does not Ukraine admit the loss of territories it does not control since 2014? Because we know what Russians do to civilians. Hundred thousand victims in Mariupol didn’t murder themselves. And yes, this means the war won’t end until at least couple of thousands young people from Moscow and Petersburg return home in pieces. Which means they need to get to the front first - for now the Russians fighting are ethnic minorities from Moscow’s colonies - and this means the sooner the draft starts the better. They are starting to enroll the homeless, which is a good sign.
- NoPie 4y agoWhy don't Russia admit that if Russia had not started the war in 2014, countless people in those territories and beyond would not been killed? The only way to end this conflict peacefully is for Russia to retreat.
- thriftwy 4y agoThe first part of your claim might as well be true. But the second one isn't. Russia has large number of Russian citizens there now, and is not leaving them behind. I don't see that happening. Ukraine does not want to leave their citizens behind either. So it seems that the conflict is not ending peacefully. Maybe it's not ending at all. Think Kashmir.
- NoPie 4y agoRussia does not only leave their own people behind but actively send more to die. Of course, there will be some limit how far they can go. It is expected that at some point there will be a new leader who will intervene and stop these senseless killings of their own people.
- thriftwy 4y agoA new leader whose first action is to lose a war? I wonder how long he gets to live. When you just stop the military action it is called a "ceasefire" and requires agreement of both sides. We might see that eventually. Just leaving the land (and people) that, as you have said, people has died for, and doing that for nothing - I don't see how that could be popular. I also fail to see how it may be a good bargaining point. When you give anything in advance you have less stuff to bargain with.