Offside (General Discussion)

Carl Hernandez3 said:I honestly don't get what chance Putin actually missed here.
To hell with the Kyiv-based Russian regime,
Crimea, Donbas
Russia was steadily building up its reputation
Let's be real—we were all pretty thrilled when they stepped into Syria and started crushing the opposition and the leadership.
Everyone wanted them as guests in their hotels.
We loved those snarky, contrarian comments aimed at the West.
Deep down, once we moved past the British influence in the EU, we hoped Angela would bring us even closer to Russia and their resources—so we could just enjoy cheap energy without a care in the world. It felt like a win-win: the EU gets energy security, while Russia gets cash, prestige, and a seat at the table in the West.
Not to mention his takes on gender ideology and how he’d poke fun at Western achievements.
He had supporters in every single European country.
Because he’s simply a man who gets things done.
Who hasn't heard about the terrorists in the theater or how Grozny was handled—just leveling the place and installing a puppet?
Even small things, like how they organized the 2018 World Cup.
Or remember the French and their totally useless police during Euro 2016.
People gravitate toward leaders who take action, and now he's really stepped in it.
He could have achieved all of this without ever needing the tanks.
It's heavy psychology.
If he had been half as smart as his own interests required, he would have won this without firing a shot.

Well, they're getting her anyway.
The other half of them are coming in with tanks and armored vehicles.

Carl Hernandez3 said:I honestly don't get what chance Putin actually missed here.
To hell with the Kyiv-based Russian regime,
Crimea, Donbas
Russia was steadily building up its reputation
Let's be real—we were all pretty thrilled when they stepped into Syria and started crushing the opposition and the leadership.
Everyone wanted them as guests in their hotels.
We loved those snarky, contrarian comments aimed at the West.
Deep down, once we moved past the British influence in the EU, we hoped Angela would bring us even closer to Russia and their resources—so we could just enjoy cheap energy without a care in the world. It felt like a win-win: the EU gets energy security, while Russia gets cash, prestige, and a seat at the table in the West.
Not to mention his takes on gender ideology and how he’d poke fun at Western achievements.
He had supporters in every single European country.
Because he’s simply a man who gets things done.
Who hasn't heard about the terrorists in the theater or how Grozny was handled—just leveling the place and installing a puppet?
Even small things, like how they organized the 2018 World Cup.
Or remember the French and their totally useless police during Euro 2016.
People gravitate toward leaders who take action, and now he's really stepped in it.
He could have achieved all of this without ever needing the tanks.
It's heavy psychology.
If he had been half as smart as his own interests required, he would have won this without firing a shot.

He just had fans among the infantile idiots who can't see the forest for the trees.

neonfalcon16 said:Well, they're getting her anyway.
The other half of them are coming in with tanks and armored vehicles.

He didn't win a damn thing. History is going to remember him as nothing more than a bully and a tyrant—and all he's left the Russian people is a pile of ruins where a legacy used to be.
And the whole thing was just completely pointless.

The invasion of Ukraine is hands down one of the most senseless political moves in the history of running a modern state. I don't even know if it was based on bad intel or just his own warped perception—maybe some illness we don't know about, who knows...
Maybe he overestimated the Russian military or how the West would react, but this is a straight-up absolute meltdown. Everything he spent over 20 years building just collapsed like a house of cards in fifteen days.

He managed to grab all those untapped resources out in Donbas and Crimea. We’re talking billions upon billions of cubic meters of gas, not to mention the ore deposits sitting right there around Donetsk...

How can you people not see that this was literally a matter of survival for him? He isn't about to let NATO missiles parked in his own backyard, so end of story. Period.

The Ukrainians are just too good, really. But they ended up looking like naive fools, much like what happened in Georgia back in 2008.

The US doesn't actually have the guts to go toe-to-toe in a direct conflict with a nuclear superpower. They only seem to have the nerve when it comes to picking on poor folks in places like Libya, Iraq, or Afghanistan...

Just wait, you'll all be crying over Russia and the gas soon enough....

Diesel is already hitting 2.50 euros on the Autobahn in Germany... and word is it could climb as high as 3 euros...

Mercedes owners are putting their orders on hold, and Porsche is doing the exact same thing...

The West is going to feel the sting of this just as much as the Russians... everyone is in for a world of hurt here... it's not just the Russians and the Ukrainians who are going to suffer...

Oh, and by the way, where on earth did that whole COVID religion disappear to????

nimbleranger52 said:He managed to grab all those untapped resources out in Donbas and Crimea. We’re talking billions upon billions of cubic meters of gas, not to mention the ore deposits sitting right there around Donetsk...

How can you people not see that this was literally a matter of survival for him? He isn't about to let NATO missiles parked in his own backyard, so end of story. Period.

The Ukrainians are just too good, really. But they ended up looking like naive fools, much like what happened in Georgia back in 2008.

The US doesn't actually have the guts to go toe-to-toe in a direct conflict with a nuclear superpower. They only seem to have the nerve when it comes to picking on poor folks in places like Libya, Iraq, or Afghanistan...

Just wait, you'll all be crying over Russia and the gas soon enough....

Diesel is already hitting 2.50 euros on the Autobahn in Germany... and word is it could climb as high as 3 euros...

Mercedes owners are putting their orders on hold, and Porsche is doing the exact same thing...

The West is going to feel the sting of this just as much as the Russians... everyone is in for a world of hurt here... it's not just the Russians and the Ukrainians who are going to suffer...

Oh, and by the way, where on earth did that whole COVID religion disappear to????

Does it ever get tiring, repeating such mindless arguments?
You can write a stupidity a million times over, but it remains stupid.

Is this nimbleranger52 cleaning up the mess? 🤣 🙂...

Larry Fox5 said:This whole asset freezing thing—it has absolutely nothing to do with the rule of law... especially since it wasn't an issue until suddenly it became one.
Plus, Saudi money isn't any better than Oligarchic cash, yet they let that slide without a second thought.

It wasn't an issue before their boss decided to invade another country. Even Saudi Arabia wouldn't get away with it if they suddenly invaded somewhere like Jordan... This isn't about the rule of law, nor is it about how most of these Russian oligarchs made their fortunes during what was perhaps the largest heist in history—the privatization of Russia after the collapse of the USSR. These targeted oligarchs are close to Putin. Honestly, instead of just freezing their assets, I’d prefer to see everything they own in the West seized following Tatta's moves, liquidated, and used to compensate companies hit by the war and to rebuild a devastated Ukraine.

nimblemarlin9 said:Is this nimbleranger52 cleaning up the mess? 🤣 🙂...

Issss 👋👋👋

A much bigger victory than the one we saw today in Brighton 🙏

They’re giving Anthony Jackson2 a monument.

What a gift for this gorgeous, sunny Saturday afternoon! 😍

nimbleranger52 said:He managed to grab all those untapped resources out in Donbas and Crimea. We’re talking billions upon billions of cubic meters of gas, not to mention the ore deposits sitting right there around Donetsk...

How can you people not see that this was literally a matter of survival for him? He isn't about to let NATO missiles parked in his own backyard, so end of story. Period.

The Ukrainians are just too good, really. But they ended up looking like naive fools, much like what happened in Georgia back in 2008.

The US doesn't actually have the guts to go toe-to-toe in a direct conflict with a nuclear superpower. They only seem to have the nerve when it comes to picking on poor folks in places like Libya, Iraq, or Afghanistan...

Just wait, you'll all be crying over Russia and the gas soon enough....

Diesel is already hitting 2.50 euros on the Autobahn in Germany... and word is it could climb as high as 3 euros...

Mercedes owners are putting their orders on hold, and Porsche is doing the exact same thing...

The West is going to feel the sting of this just as much as the Russians... everyone is in for a world of hurt here... it's not just the Russians and the Ukrainians who are going to suffer...

Oh, and by the way, where on earth did that whole COVID religion disappear to????

To me, it seems perfectly logical that Putin wouldn't want Ukraine in the NATO alliance. If that were truly his primary concern regarding Ukraine, he shouldn't have annexed Crimea or orchestrated and funded the secession of the Donbas regions—territories that would essentially become Russian satellites or eventually part of Russia itself. But clearly, that wasn't his main priority; he had other agendas. Up until 2013, support for joining NATO among the Ukrainian population was low, and it’s only natural that sentiment shifted after the events mentioned above. Anyone would change their stance in a similar scenario. What is absurd is that Ukraine wasn't actually close to joining the alliance at all. Ukraine joining NATO in this current context is merely a pretext; the real cause is something that has been sitting in Vladimir Putin's head for years.

Larry Fox5 said:He didn't win a damn thing. History is going to remember him as nothing more than a bully and a tyrant—and all he's left the Russian people is a pile of ruins where a legacy used to be.
And the whole thing was just completely pointless.

The invasion of Ukraine is hands down one of the most senseless political moves in the history of running a modern state. I don't even know if it was based on bad intel or just his own warped perception—maybe some illness we don't know about, who knows...
Maybe he overestimated the Russian military or how the West would react, but this is a straight-up absolute meltdown. Everything he spent over 20 years building just collapsed like a house of cards in fifteen days.

I disagree; this was clearly premeditated. A man like that doesn't jump into a war without running the numbers at least fifty times and, more importantly, planning out every single detail.
All this talk about him miscalculating his own strength or underestimating their army is just media spin to manage the chaos. He wanted total isolation. He wanted sanctions; he even wanted his entire nation canceled. That was the goal. There’s no reason to feel sorry for him, nor even for the common people, since they generally support the invasion... One thing is certain: we are witnessing a radical shift on the world stage.

I'll leave you with this: Am I the only one here who thinks the Russian occupiers will rebuild all those destroyed cities before our own folks even fix up Petrinja and the surrounding areas?

Joseph Clark37 said:It wasn't an issue before their boss decided to invade another country. Even Saudi Arabia wouldn't get away with it if they suddenly invaded somewhere like Jordan... This isn't about the rule of law, nor is it about how most of these Russian oligarchs made their fortunes during what was perhaps the largest heist in history—the privatization of Russia after the collapse of the USSR. These targeted oligarchs are close to Putin. Honestly, instead of just freezing their assets, I’d prefer to see everything they own in the West seized following Tatta's moves, liquidated, and used to compensate companies hit by the war and to rebuild a devastated Ukraine.

Maybe they got that cash through some shady conversion or straight-up robbery—whatever—but that's just how things work in Russian society and their "rule of law"... We can't ignore the fact that these Oligarchs were already filthy rich long before Putin even took power, so saying they're all in cahoots with his regime to build their fortunes is a stretch. Otherwise, it makes it look like they froze his assets just because he was on good terms with Putin for a minute... ridiculous.

Maybe so, but you need the context of the timing—it’s crucial. It’s not like he was just hopping on a plane to Moscow right now to give Putin his blessing for this attack. Besides, the whole world has had a specific way of communicating and trading with him until now. We have to look at the last 22 years, not just the last three weeks...

Joseph Clark37 said:It wasn't an issue before their boss decided to invade another country. Even Saudi Arabia wouldn't get away with it if they suddenly invaded somewhere like Jordan... This isn't about the rule of law, nor is it about how most of these Russian oligarchs made their fortunes during what was perhaps the largest heist in history—the privatization of Russia after the collapse of the USSR. These targeted oligarchs are close to Putin. Honestly, instead of just freezing their assets, I’d prefer to see everything they own in the West seized following Tatta's moves, liquidated, and used to compensate companies hit by the war and to rebuild a devastated Ukraine.

That’s just straight-up Bolshevik communist tactics—you end up acting exactly like the people you claim to be fighting against... ridiculous.

I don't think they will, because even if this wraps up, they aren't staying for all of Ukraine... they'll just rebuild those two occupied regions and whatever else they decide to annex, then pull back, leaving the shattered Ukrainian parts as a burden for the West to deal with.

Sure, everything happening now and all the fallout from this war—both on the battlefield and in the markets—was supposedly predicted and calculated by Putin in advance...

My ass.

There isn't a single person on this planet smart or wise enough to foresee every single detail, let alone most of the short-term and long-term consequences of a war played out on the global stage.

If Vladimir Putin actually had that kind of foresight, he wouldn't have kicked this conflict off the way he did. You're overestimating these leaders and their inner circles, who are more than capable of making massive mistakes...

neonfalcon16 said:I disagree; this was clearly premeditated. A man like that doesn't jump into a war without running the numbers at least fifty times and, more importantly, planning out every single detail.
All this talk about him miscalculating his own strength or underestimating their army is just media spin to manage the chaos. He wanted total isolation. He wanted sanctions; he even wanted his entire nation canceled. That was the goal. There’s no reason to feel sorry for him, nor even for the common people, since they generally support the invasion... One thing is certain: we are witnessing a radical shift on the world stage.

I'll leave you with this: Am I the only one here who thinks the Russian occupiers will rebuild all those destroyed cities before our own folks even fix up Petrinja and the surrounding areas?

Why on earth would you think that's what he wanted? I honestly don't see any real added value in that logic...

Political absolutism was already his bread and butter. He literally changed the Constitution just so he could rule the country for life. Any actual political opposition in Russia was basically non-existent anyway. Between the wars in Syria and Libya, he positioned himself as a major player on the world stage. He even built direct pipelines to Western Europe so he could line his pockets for the next decade while playing god with everyone else's wishes.
And don't even get me started on how much leverage he gained over those European populists and their parties.

Now, he’s gone and thrown all of that away with this war. If he actually planned this attack out like you're claiming, then why the hell would he spend the last 15 years pouring resources into everything I just mentioned? It makes zero sense, right?

Larry Fox5 said:Maybe they got that cash through some shady conversion or straight-up robbery—whatever—but that's just how things work in Russian society and their "rule of law"... We can't ignore the fact that these Oligarchs were already filthy rich long before Putin even took power, so saying they're all in cahoots with his regime to build their fortunes is a stretch. Otherwise, it makes it look like they froze his assets just because he was on good terms with Putin for a minute... ridiculous.

Maybe so, but you need the context of the timing—it’s crucial. It’s not like he was just hopping on a plane to Moscow right now to give Putin his blessing for this attack. Besides, the whole world has had a specific way of communicating and trading with him until now. We have to look at the last 22 years, not just the last three weeks...

That’s just straight-up Bolshevik communist tactics—you end up acting exactly like the people you claim to be fighting against... ridiculous.

Many of today's oligarchs reached their positions of wealth and influence before Putin; some arrived with him, but nearly all of them saw further ascent during his reign. In Russia, once you reach a certain level of investment and business, you can't do anything without patronage and cooperation from the Tsar. What happened in the past doesn't matter anymore; this is now a war between Russia and the West. A war that, so far, is fought primarily on an economic level, by arming Ukraine, and indirectly on the battlefield...

Larry Fox5 said:Maybe they got that cash through some shady conversion or straight-up robbery—whatever—but that's just how things work in Russian society and their "rule of law"... We can't ignore the fact that these Oligarchs were already filthy rich long before Putin even took power, so saying they're all in cahoots with his regime to build their fortunes is a stretch. Otherwise, it makes it look like they froze his assets just because he was on good terms with Putin for a minute... ridiculous.

Maybe so, but you need the context of the timing—it’s crucial. It’s not like he was just hopping on a plane to Moscow right now to give Putin his blessing for this attack. Besides, the whole world has had a specific way of communicating and trading with him until now. We have to look at the last 22 years, not just the last three weeks...

That’s just straight-up Bolshevik communist tactics—you end up acting exactly like the people you claim to be fighting against... ridiculous.

Those scarecrow labels are completely irrelevant. I'll say it again: this is war, and you choose whatever means necessary during wartime to defeat the enemy. The goal of sanctions against the oligarchs is to force those who hold power in Russia to pressure for an end to the war. Won't succeed? You lose your assets. Violating their rights? Yes. But they aren't the first or last to face that during a war. Does that make me any better than those who are, one way or another, part of the system that launched an invasion on another country and is killing civilians? It's just your opinion, and I don't share it...

Larry Fox5, everything is explained right here ☕

Larry Fox5 said:Why on earth would you think that's what he wanted? I honestly don't see any real added value in that logic...

Political absolutism was already his bread and butter. He literally changed the Constitution just so he could rule the country for life. Any actual political opposition in Russia was basically non-existent anyway. Between the wars in Syria and Libya, he positioned himself as a major player on the world stage. He even built direct pipelines to Western Europe so he could line his pockets for the next decade while playing god with everyone else's wishes.
And don't even get me started on how much leverage he gained over those European populists and their parties.

Now, he’s gone and thrown all of that away with this war. If he actually planned this attack out like you're claiming, then why the hell would he spend the last 15 years pouring resources into everything I just mentioned? It makes zero sense, right?

He was explicitly against NATO having a presence on his own borders. He might have been able to swallow up the small Baltic states or that one enclave surrounded by them, but he simply couldn't handle such a massive frontier. That is precisely why he was willing to pay any price. And now, we are watching him pay it. He was fully aware of what this meant—of the chaos it would trigger on the global stage and the fallout that would follow. This isn't some tiny nation, and they aren't some group of naive amateurs in high positions trading favors for clout. They have a script, and they are sticking to it. Fine, let him go trade energy deals with China.

Jacob Price95 said:Larry Fox5, everything is explained right here ☕

He sounds so convincing that I’m positive he isn't even trolling—he actually believes his own nonsense. It’s always fascinated me how the brain can just construct an entire parallel reality like that...

But honestly, he's just like Miroljub Petrovica. You could listen to them for hours and they're more potent than any drug out there.

neonfalcon16 said:He was explicitly against NATO having a presence on his own borders. He might have been able to swallow up the small Baltic states or that one enclave surrounded by them, but he simply couldn't handle such a massive frontier. That is precisely why he was willing to pay any price. And now, we are watching him pay it. He was fully aware of what this meant—of the chaos it would trigger on the global stage and the fallout that would follow. This isn't some tiny nation, and they aren't some group of naive amateurs in high positions trading favors for clout. They have a script, and they are sticking to it. Fine, let him go trade energy deals with China.

Russia has been bordering NATO—meaning the US—since the moment NATO was even a thing. Why wasn't that an issue before? And why is it suddenly such a problem now that Finland, which shares the longest border with Russia, is joining NATO? They weren't even close to joining back in the day compared to where we are now.
He basically shoved Finland straight into the arms of NATO—but honestly, he did way more than that. He's the reason Europe is gearing up for massive rearmament, and we're talking about scales at least 15 times larger than anything the Russians are doing...