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You being unable to trust the government is not evidence of wrongdoing. The military has never had to share its intelligence with civilians and it's not going

You being unable to trust the government is not evidence of wrongdoing. The military has never had to share its intelligence with civilians and it's not going to start now just to ease your mind. Literally nobody is demanding Ukraine prove its targets are actually part of the Russian military before striking them.

AlecSchueler 11mo ago
Historically we get the assurance at least from other branches of government and understand that various oversights are in place, not just whims of the executive.
rurp 11mo ago
This simply isn't true. Getting the populace on board is a standard and important part of democracies initiating military action. Bush and his team spent endless amounts of time briefing Congress and the public on their justifications for the Iraq war for example. Ukraine has gone to extensive lengths to only target military and, more recently, energy infrastructure in Russia. They aren't blowing up random civilian vehicles or ships, and have a clear incentive to show that they aren't doing that. Fighting drug smuggling is a flimsy pretext for why the US is blowing up random ships, although it's apparently one some people are willing to believe. Take the same actions but change up the countries and the reactions would be very different. This is about Trump doing yet another tough guy show of force against a much weaker country he feels safe enough bullying.
- 20after4 11mo ago
  > Bush and his team spent endless amounts of time briefing Congress and the public on their justifications for the Iraq war Correction: they spent endless amounts of time lying to congress and the UN about their concocted, pretextual justification for the Iraq war.
  - JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
    > Correction: they spent endless amounts of time lying to congress and the UN about their concocted, pretextual justification for the Iraq war One, legitimately unclear to what degree Bush et al believed the nonsense. Two, they bothered to engage. That's OP's point.
- senderista 11mo ago
  Uh, Ukraine (GUR) deliberately blew up a random civilian who was unwittingly transporting explosives for them across the Kerch Bridge. As well as whoever happened to be nearby (fortunately it was early morning so traffic was light). They also randomly shell residential areas in the Belgorod region and Donetsk city using low-accuracy tube artillery and Grad rockets (including cluster munitions and butterfly mines). The fact that Russia is guilty of much worse does not mean these are not war crimes.
  - op00to 11mo ago
    He was a horrible drug smuggler. I heard the government said so.
- polski-g 11mo ago
  71% of Americans support the boat strikes. It is one of the most popular military actions the US has ever taken. The populace is very much already on board. https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-september-2025/ https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-september-2025/
  - AlecSchueler 11mo ago
    It's sad that the most popular military action is the least justified. Maybe they realised that attempts to justify these things only broaden the surface area for criticism.
lazyasciiart 11mo ago
Among other differences, Ukraine is at war with Russia.
metabagel 11mo ago
We shouldn't be in this situation asking these questions. Any questionable boats should be detained and boarded per the last several hundred years or so of maritime law.

AlecSchueler 11mo ago

Historically we get the assurance at least from other branches of government and understand that various oversights are in place, not just whims of the executive.

rurp 11mo ago

This simply isn't true. Getting the populace on board is a standard and important part of democracies initiating military action. Bush and his team spent endless amounts of time briefing Congress and the public on their justifications for the Iraq war for example. Ukraine has gone to extensive lengths to only target military and, more recently, energy infrastructure in Russia. They aren't blowing up random civilian vehicles or ships, and have a clear incentive to show that they aren't doing that. Fighting drug smuggling is a flimsy pretext for why the US is blowing up random ships, although it's apparently one some people are willing to believe. Take the same actions but change up the countries and the reactions would be very different. This is about Trump doing yet another tough guy show of force against a much weaker country he feels safe enough bullying.

20after4 11mo ago
> Bush and his team spent endless amounts of time briefing Congress and the public on their justifications for the Iraq war Correction: they spent endless amounts of time lying to congress and the UN about their concocted, pretextual justification for the Iraq war.
- JumpCrisscross 11mo ago
  > Correction: they spent endless amounts of time lying to congress and the UN about their concocted, pretextual justification for the Iraq war One, legitimately unclear to what degree Bush et al believed the nonsense. Two, they bothered to engage. That's OP's point.
senderista 11mo ago
Uh, Ukraine (GUR) deliberately blew up a random civilian who was unwittingly transporting explosives for them across the Kerch Bridge. As well as whoever happened to be nearby (fortunately it was early morning so traffic was light). They also randomly shell residential areas in the Belgorod region and Donetsk city using low-accuracy tube artillery and Grad rockets (including cluster munitions and butterfly mines). The fact that Russia is guilty of much worse does not mean these are not war crimes.
- op00to 11mo ago
  He was a horrible drug smuggler. I heard the government said so.
polski-g 11mo ago
71% of Americans support the boat strikes. It is one of the most popular military actions the US has ever taken. The populace is very much already on board. https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-september-2025/ https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-september-2025/
- AlecSchueler 11mo ago
  It's sad that the most popular military action is the least justified. Maybe they realised that attempts to justify these things only broaden the surface area for criticism.

lazyasciiart 11mo ago

Among other differences, Ukraine is at war with Russia.

metabagel 11mo ago

We shouldn't be in this situation asking these questions. Any questionable boats should be detained and boarded per the last several hundred years or so of maritime law.