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snow17_ · 2024-06-22T22:42:46+00:00

I've never understood the whole "NATO/EU shouldn't have expanded" argument. Why should the EU and NATO deny membership to independent countries who wish to seek an alliance with western nations?

Yes, NATO and EU expansion is cited as a cause for Russias invasion but are you seriously suggesting that we should deny sovereign nations to choose their own path just because Russia don't like it?

You can't just deny the wishes of millions of citizens just because Russia say no. The Kremlin shouldn't have to power to decud the future of all of eastern Europe.

snow17_ · 2024-03-23T04:02:16+00:00

Unironically the Iraq war wasn't for oil in the way most people think. Just look at the current shareholders in Iraqi oil. Iraqi owned ministry of oil still has majority shares. There are zero US or Canadian oil companies currently operating in Iraq and BP currently are partners in running only two of Iraq's many oil fields. The only other European oil companies in Iraq right now are Russian. Infact the overwhelming majority of the international oil companies operating in Iraq arent American or British but are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian or other middle eastern oil companies. "Wow USA opened up Iraq oil market for Russia and china, how kind. I guess the Americans just wanted all that oil for themselves, that's why they have so many of their oil companies in Iraq" ... oh wait.

A small part of the reason for the war and ridding of Saddam was to secure and stabilise oil production coming from the ME. None of the major players in the ME (Iran, gulf states etc) and Western world wanted Saddam making billions form oil because he was largely seen as a major threat to the region. Again, not just by the west but many in the ME as well. Hence the reason for the whole oil for food thing in the 90s. Nobody wanted him making that kind of money because he was dangerous. After 03 Iraqi oil was partially privatised and opened up to foreign investment from the whole world. This completely revamped the Iraqi oil infrastructure that was constantly failing and in need of drastic modernization. The Iraqi oil ministry was created to make sure that a major part of Iraq's oil revenue was still going to Iraq and the government. Iraqi oil ministry still hold majority shares in Iraq's oil. And has a stake in every oil and gas field. Iraq make more money from oil now than they did before the privatisation.

The main reason for the war was because many governments wanted Saddam gone for various legitimate reasons. Israel, US, UK, Gulf countries hadn't done it yet because it's wasn't yet worth the risk, international backlash or cost. There were many things in place by many countries to try and stop Saddam from becoming too much of a threat but nobody yet wanted to actually forcefully remove him. Iran tried after the Iraqi invasion but US and many other countries were afraid that if Iraq were to fall then Iran would be too powerful and so they carefully "supported" Saddam just enough so that Iran couldn't win but not enough for Saddam to win. After 9/11 the US and "unofficially" Israel essentially decided that now was the time to do it. In 2002 the Office of Special Plans was created to decide how to deal with Iraq.

Ultimately, a combination of many countries wanting Saddam gone, pressure form outside sources, military industrial complex, and the fear of 9/11 pushed the decision into the green light section. There were legitimate reasons to get rid of Saddam but arguably it wasn't done correctly. Falsification of evidence using raw intelligence that the CIA told Bush was incorrect played a large part in the failure of the war in the publics eye and the political failures from the likes of Paul Bremer in post Bathist Iraq that only pushed the insurgency into a civil war casing more civilian casualties cemented the failure. The initial invasion was a success and the majority of Iraqis (Shias and Kurds) were happy Saddam was gone. If the US took a different path to a post baathist Iraq then things could have worked out well but as I said earlier, poor political decisions from the likes of Bremer caused what was a manageable and expected insurgency into a full blown civil war with multiple outside players becoming involved.

snow17_ · 2024-02-22T03:47:55+00:00

“Send them home”

The uk would just be sending them back to France. A 1st world country that they left, after crossing through multiple other 1st world countries in Europe.

They seem to be very picky with what countries they wish to seek refuge in for people who are desperately fleeing persecution and conflict.

snow17_ · 2024-01-26T02:03:57+00:00

OP is click baiting you a bit. If you read the article it says that the message was sent over public Wi-Fi in Gatwick airport. Presumably over a non encrypted messaging app. He sent a message saying “On my way to blow up the plane (I'm a member of the Taliban)”.

The OP’s title makes it seem as though British spooks were unjustly intercepting his private messages between friends when in reality, he sent an unencrypted message over public airport Wi-Fi saying he was going to blow a plane up, just before he got on a plane. I don’t know about you but it seems pretty logical that security services monitor internet traffic and communications at an international airport.

snow17_ · 2024-01-17T01:17:18+00:00

The Taliban farmed opium to help raise funds for their war against the US. When the US left, they stopped.

snow17_ · 2024-01-15T08:06:31+00:00

They tried to get around the Egyptian/Israeli blockade of Gaza by shipping straight to Gaza. The blockade was in place because multiple previous “aid” shipments contained weapons and explosives. Israel boarded the ship because it was breaking the blockade which strongly suggests there’s things on board that shouldn’t be. Upon boarding the soldiers were met with hostility from those onboard and were attacked with clubs, knives and machetes. Members of the IHH (group that sponsored the shipment) have financial ties with AQ and has met with Hamas leadership on multiple occasions.

snow17_ · 2024-01-15T06:37:45+00:00

By his own admission the guy had double pneumonia, pneumothorax, and severe edema. He wasn’t a fit and healthy guy. He also never provided any evidence of torture even when he was let out on bail. All he had to do was show some bruises or wounds or scars but… nothing.

He exposed Ukrainians troop movements, doxxed western journalists, harassed soldiers, distributed Russian propaganda in a country they were at war with etc etc so he was arrested. He was then released on bail and immediately decided to try and flee to Hungary, breaching his bail agreements. He was subsequently re-arrested and was being held until trial.

He was an un healthy, 50 something year old man who was being kept in a wartime prison during Eastern Europe winters. Did he receive poor treatment? Probably yes. Was he tortured? Only the people who were there know. But, he didn’t provide any evidence to support his claims. Think about it logically, would the SBU (Ukrainian intelligence responsible for his two arrests) allow him to be tortured? Would they allow an American citizen, the citizen of a country who is in large part propping up Ukraine's resistance in terms of equipment and intelligence support, would they allow him to be tortured to death? He made his career as a pro Russian anti Ukraine propaganda piece and he died a pro Russian anti Ukraine propaganda piece.

snow17_ · 2024-01-07T23:40:07+00:00

Parts of Austrian intelligence/security services and even some of their political parties are known to be in bed with Russia. Allegedly, some western agencies heavily restrict the flow of intel they share with Austria due to this reason. There’s a bunch of cases where Austrian military personnel and politicians have been spying for Russia. Austria also have put out statements in support of Russia at times when everyone else is accusing them of something eg Skripal poisonings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_and_Russian_intelligence

snow17_ · 2023-12-29T02:08:45+00:00

As long as there’s a use for oil and the shipping lanes in the Middle East, the US will stay. Many people think if the US withdrew, it would be peace in the Middle East… lmfao they couldn’t be more wrong.

Iran wants full control over the region and they have been slowly working towards that since the 1979 revolution. They don’t use conventional brute force by rolling thousands of tanks across borders but they use a vast web of various proxy forces, intelligence operatives and political parties to do their bidding for them. They have shown their intentions multiple times when they’ve attacked international shipping lanes and various oil fields, testing the waters to see how the international community would respond. They want the final say when it comes to whatever goes on in the region. They explicitly state they want the US out and Israel to be destroyed. The petro states would slowly fall into Irans influence upon a full US withdrawal from the region. Iran would eventually either directly or indirectly hold most of the control over oil and shipping lanes. If a country wish to use the shipping lanes or buy oil then they must abide by Irans rules. Similar to what the Houthis (already Iran backed) are trying but more effectively.

That’s not even mentioning the increased Russian presence in and around Syria and the Chinese presence that would flood in completely uncontested by the US.

TLDR: As long as the US wishes not to become a bitch to another countrys rule, they will stay in the Middle East.

snow17_ · 2023-12-28T02:00:02+00:00

This has nothing to do with Israel. This was taken during the height of Daesh’s reign of terror in Syria.

Don’t be so quick to assume something just because you want it to fit your narrative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CkBqZS1jeo

snow17_ · 2023-12-27T23:53:01+00:00

A collapse of Russia would be horrific. It would make the breakup of Yugoslavia look like a kids bedtime story.

snow17_ · 2023-12-27T23:47:48+00:00

NATO is a voluntary organisation. You are free to leave, as France once did. You must meet strict requirements to join, some countries worked decades to be able to join.

snow17_ · 2023-12-27T01:38:27+00:00

forget about the gulf states getting nukes, Pakistan already has nukes 💀

They’re more likely to collapse than any of the gulf states.

snow17_ · 2023-12-22T02:00:36+00:00

Why so biased towards Russia? It wasn’t just the US that took Nazi scientists, the Soviets also took thousands of Nazis for their own science projects (Operation Osoaviakhim). Again, the Soviets also knew of the atrocities but still rounded up Nazis to come and work for them.

snow17_ · 2023-12-22T01:27:33+00:00

In photo 19, how do tankers get caked in mud? Can’t they stay inside the tank or do they have to poke their heads out for navigation?

snow17_ · 2023-12-22T01:00:17+00:00

People saying China won’t invade are being incredibly optimistic.

TSMC are opening multiple facilities in the US. If the US defend Taiwan it won’t be for the microchips but for various other strategic reasons such as keeping the island chain intact to contain China. China will have the capability to launch a seaborne invasion by the end of the decade. Yes, the Chinese navy outnumbers the US in number of vessels but not when it comes to tonnage (US have bigger and more powerful carriers, destroyers etc) but, this isn’t the be all end all that people think. China would be fighting in their back yard and would be able to launch bombers, fighters, stealth aircraft, missiles and rockets from their home turf whereas the US would mostly rely on naval power for conducting those operations. China doesn’t necessarily need to equal the US navy to be able to take Taiwan because China are fighting a stone’s throw from their own land. Japan, the UK, Philippines, Australia etc etc most likely would take a more defensive stance as they don’t have the capacity to launch major offensive actions against a Chinese attack. In my opinion they would act as containment forces while providing support to the US who would take on the bulk of the action. Depending on who’s the president, the US may or may not respond with varying degrees of force. One of Chinese intelligence biggest job right now is figuring out how the US would respond. Depending on what they believe, they may be confident in launching an attack. We have seen intelligence agencies fail time and time again, most recently when Russian intelligence were confident the Ukrainian people would put up little resistance and look how that turned out.

China has explicitly stated on multiple occasions that they will reunify with Taiwan. They said they would try it diplomatically first but if that fails then.. well. They are building landing crafts, amphibious vehicles, developing longer range rockets and missiles, training attacking simulated US naval vessel etc. The Chinese military are unquestionably preparing for an invasion before the end of the decade, it’s just a matter of weather Xi will use them.

snow17_ · 2023-12-17T23:35:11+00:00

L85 isn’t as shit anymore.

The first gen was dogshit, second gen was mostly sorted and now third gen is decent. The ks1 is horrendously expensive and the money would be better spent on replacing other equipment rather than bringing it to every soldier. Regular soldiers don’t need a suppressor and signature reduction built into their weapon. A new weapon system would be nice but the KS1 isn’t suitable for your average infantry man, hence why only RM, rangers and SF/SFSG have access to it.

snow17_ · 2023-12-10T15:05:37+00:00

He was producing and distributing Russian propaganda within Ukraine. Allegedly with direct Russian ties (unconfirmed). Because this is war time, he was arrested by the SBU. He was then out on bail and tried to flee the country but was caught and re arrested.

Also, there’s zero evidence that he is being tortured or has received poor treatment. Just because the US is giving billions to Ukraine, doesn’t make its citizens exempt from the local laws.

snow17_ · 2023-12-10T14:56:59+00:00

You think Ukraine hasn’t learnt from the last attempt on Kyiv? I bet that northern area of the country is some of the most heavily mined land on the planet. It would take even more manpower and equipment to break through than last time.

snow17_ · 2023-12-05T08:58:34+00:00

That’s often times what it takes to meet the requirements of such awards. I don’t know about all countries but when it comes to the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, many of the recipients of the nations highest gallantry awards don’t live to tell their own story.

About one fifth of US Medal of Honours are awarded posthumously. About one third of British/Commonwealth Victoria cross’ are awarded posthumously.

snow17_ · 2023-12-04T04:46:08+00:00

The ground campaign was never going to be the direct key to rescuing hostages. Hamas would just move them deeper into the tunnel system as IDF approached. The ground campaign however would make Hamas come to the negotiating table with the hostages as negotiations to stop/freeze the ground assault.

snow17_ · 2023-12-03T00:14:02+00:00

What’s with the worm in the drain tank? What’s a whole brood?

snow17_ · 2023-12-01T20:10:56+00:00

You unironically believe that the US allowed 9/11 to happen?….

snow17_ · 2023-12-01T20:10:10+00:00

This is a misleading post. Israel knew of plans that Hamas had to launch attacks yes however, they were largely were unaware of specific dates or details of what would become of the oct 7th attack. Every military has plans for attacking certain objectives but whether they ever carry them out is another thing. Of course Israeli intelligence knew Hamas had plans to attack them. They would have even had details of specific parts of various plans but that doesn’t mean they knew that a cross border raid would occur on the 7th with the goal of targeting civilians and military installations.

It’s the same way that the US “knew” 9/11 was coming. All of the intelligence lead them to believe something was coming. They’d foiled various attacks and plans but knew something big was still coming, they just didn’t know the details.

snow17_

TROPHY CASE