Vladimir Putin has officially declared war on Ukraine

I am watching both CNN and the Arabic news. Coverage is somewhat different. The Arabic channel is showing actual shelling and bombing of what might be some civilian areas. Looks like full on conflict from both sides. It is just frightening to watch.

First, let me say that my heart goes out to all of the Peas who have loved ones serving in the military and might be or have been deployed. Having served in the Air Force myself, it's what we do...go where we are needed. But we leave those behind that carry the worry. My thoughts will be with you and your families and hope that this calms quickly and your loved ones are out of harms way.

Second, the sick f£%&s that are praising Putin or giving him support...they talk like they have big balls and all, but I guarantee you that when war comes knocking on their door...they will be the first to shit their pants. I see them as nothing but weak "keyboard warriors" who don't have an ounce of courage in their little finger!

Lastly, I understand the measured response from the world leaders. Once other countries and especially the big ones like the US and the UK step boots on the ground, this becomes WWIII. This MUST be avoided at ALL costs. And it is that which I think Putin knows. I am only guessing, but I do think Putin figures he can push it all the way to the edge because he KNOWS that a full on conflict is the last thing his adversaries want.

I am watching both CNN and the Arabic news. Coverage is somewhat different. The Arabic channel is showing actual shelling and bombing of what might be some civilian areas. Looks like full on conflict from both sides. It is just frightening to watch.

First, let me say that my heart goes out to all of the Peas who have loved ones serving in the military and might be or have been deployed. Having served in the Air Force myself, it's what we do...go where we are needed. But we leave those behind that carry the worry. My thoughts will be with you and your families and hope that this calms quickly and your loved ones are out of harms way.

Second, the sick f£%&s that are praising Putin or giving him support...they talk like they have big balls and all, but I guarantee you that when war comes knocking on their door...they will be the first to shit their pants. I see them as nothing but weak "keyboard warriors" who don't have an ounce of courage in their little finger!

Lastly, I understand the measured response from the world leaders. Once other countries and especially the big ones like the US and the UK step boots on the ground, this becomes WWIII. This MUST be avoided at ALL costs. And it is that which I think Putin knows. I am only guessing, but I do think Putin figures he can push it all the way to the edge because he KNOWS that a full on conflict is the last thing his adversaries want.

As a European, I was ready to jump in here and get active but reading these first four pages, I'm just going to nope out of here. I'm getting flashbacks of Americans "teaching" me about the world wars and it's not helping. I'm pissed right now. And the German leadership can fuck right off for yet again not wanting to untangle their little tech hand from Russian's energy hand. It's time for them to understand the implications of the current climate crisis, reverse the extremely negative press and reputation of nuclear power for a few decades until we find a better solution instead of playing dangerous games for Russian gas. This is a Trojan horse they keep letting back into the fort over and over again. There won't be peace even when eventually Putin backs down, period. This is a strategic management game but you can't keep thinking about that one energy source as your end goal 'cause it fucks everything up and you lose again, and again, and again.

The son of a friend of a friend has been deployed to Ukraine.

I’d like to hear more from your perspective, but I understand why you’d rather not. 

I’d like to hear more from your perspective, but I understand why you’d rather not. 

The crazy thing is that they all fall for the BS that the leaders are Christian, just like them. Trump and Putin aren't actually believers - they just see the church as something to be used for their own purposes.

How many of the American white Christian nationalists know much about Russia, other than "they don't like LGBTQ people"? How many of them know anything at all about the Russian Orthodox church? How many of them know about the massive number of non-white people who live in Russia? Very, very few...I'd love to see one of these Evangelical Christians attend a Russian Orthodox church - their heads would explode at all of the things they would consider non-Christian. They don't like the Catholic church - the saints, the icons, the crossing one's self, the fast days, confession, etc - Put that on steroids and you'll have the Orthodox church.

Ukrainians all over Europe (Poland in particular) are returning to Ukraine to fight. Civilians are armed and have been undergoing training on the weekends. Their military is fighting back. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening. Keep in mind that anything shared on the media can be traced and used against them, so it's also a security issue.

You don't want me in here. Too many US military Peas. I'm going to start bitching about the US needing to never have made a longstanding military stronghold in Europe and let Europe deal with its issues. You don't want me saying it was opportunism first and foremost. You don't want me drawing an immediate parallel between the line the US were looking to create with undisclosed nuclear weapons on military basis from the Netherlands to Italy (unfortunately, De Gaulle kicked them out of France and that created a breach) and how Putin is forming his own line from Russia to the Balkans through Ukraine. You don't want me to go there. You'll be pissed. I'm already pissed. Everybody's going to be pissed. I mean, it's very European but I am not engaging in this discussion here. It's a way too US-biased environment. The US have contributed significantly to the current situation.

Not only that, but I'm the dissenting French voice who looks at all of this with a lot of cynicism. Germany's dependence on the US and Russia is causing major problems for the EU to move along. And guess who doesn't want this to change? The US (yes!) and Russia. It's no freakin' random act of German-ness that Germany is n°1 of Europe despite ya know, the two world wars less than a century away. *deep breath* And I actually like Germans as a whole, Americans too. But in terms of geopolitical opportunism and fuck-the-rest-over-Europe-over-ism, I'm not happy at all and kind of tired of being dependent of these nations' own interests to know what the fuck kind of situation I'm going to wake up to tomorrow. I do NOT want anyone trying to play lil teacher at me and telling me ALL the great things the US have done. I really fuckin' don't. Not in the mood for another moralising I-helped-you-ungrateful-Frenchie lesson. JUST NOT AT ALL. Pas du tout.

In many ways, the Ukraine situation today is kind of the US and Germany's problem. But I don't trust either to give it a happy resolution. So, now what? People in Ukraine suffer. Yet again.

You want to read a decent coverage of the situation? Read politico.eu, not.com. I disagree at times with their analyses or opinion pieces but it's at least a good central hub for what's going on in Europe. Whatever happens over the next few weeks and months, the "resolution" to the war conflict at hand will never be one that is good. It'll be a temporary bandage on a way deper and heavily infected wound. Whatever the outcome, Ukraine's coming out of this even weaker and less supported, period. They lose immediately. We continue losing long term. It's not good. How we got there, we'll not actually really get out of this situation. We'll just slap some okay-okay-okaaay on top of it and Putin will come out of stronger and greater. We're just puppets in the US/Russia/China game without actual independence or sovereignty. But who's willing to change the balance and let Europe build up its own defenses properly?... Without them, we have no room to move actively as a block, period. If you're not a European, you won't fully grasp this or how frustrating it is to be in the puppet position. Trust me, you don't.

Surely you can’t be serious. I’m not going to rehash the past 2 years but to say investigations have proven this to be false. I know it’s difficult to lose but he said the same lies about the 2016 election until he won. 

Surely you can’t be serious. I’m not going to rehash the past 2 years but to say investigations have proven this to be false. I know it’s difficult to lose but he said the same lies about the 2016 election until he won.