I am sure every urban Russian dweller does.
Ukraine isn’t Syria or Chechnya. It isn’t isolated from the eyes of the world. There is already resistance and outside involvement which is massive levels greater than those conflicts.
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I’m not denying there isn’t a problem with both Russia and Ukraine having white supremacists. That was part of the whole pretext for Russia invading. There are also white supremacists in every other European nation and the US. They are a real problem.
But it is another thing to say that there are so many white supremacists in the US and other countries who want to fight for the Ukraine that it will later become a problem. The “some”, “may”, and “could” language of your quoted text really means nothing - at least not with out some proof that there is a large contingent of foriegn white supremacists.
In that article you linked to, it said they were mainly looking for veterans, who already would have been trained to fight and will be assets. I think if former US vets want to fight to keep Ukraine independent, and Ukraine wants them, they should be allowed to.
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Sadly, the rhetoric of the Nazis too. I’m afraid we’re going to see Westerners joining up both with the Ukrainian Azov Battalion as well as Russian militias like Wagner Group. And while the U.S. has a shameful history of monitoring and going after “pre-mature anti-fascists” I doubt they’ll apply the same effort to the returning fascists.
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I do not suggest that they shouldn’t. I’m only suggesting that hard vetting is necessary, because even our own military is struggling with exposing embedded white supremacists.
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Who else thought of this? (@ 2:32)
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Aum Shinryuko built a chemical weapons plant estimated to cost $30 million.
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I agree with the idea, and I’m glad this was done at least once elsewhere in Germany.
When I first saw it, it was by accident. I didn’t even know it was there. I just stepped out of Zoo Station and wandered around and saw that. I was 30 years old and had read the history books and knew, in my mind, war was bad. When I saw that church I knew in my guts war is terrible.
ETA: Hiroshima too, of course:
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We agree to respectfully disagree on the matter. I am unable to see the reconstruction as saving the building and the cultural importance.
For clarification, I agree with the idea of a global cultural heritage. However, in my opinion, the ruins of the Frauenkirche were exactly that.
The reconstruction, on the other hand, feels geschichtsvergessen at best, slightly revisionist most of the times, and intentional Geschichtsklitterung at worst.
I have to admit that I am not entirely sure I would feel the same if we were talking about Cologne cathedral. However, I cannot ignore my thoughts that Dresden is infested with well-meaning citizens who cannot be bothered to distance themselves from the neofascist arseholes organising ‘protest’ since 2014, but walk with them and talk like them - and that exactly this mindset is strengthened by such ‘restaurative’ work.
(Just FTR: a part of my family stems from the area.)
To me, this church, bombed in a war that we started because we chose to abandon all christian ideas, all humanism, even our own humanity, was a far more important symbol as a ruin than it is in its reconstruction.
As for Ukraine, the case will be different. But personally, I would rather not be re-building an architectural idolised past. The Ukrainians will find a way for themselves.
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Someone ask Jen if she wanted to comment on Cawthorn’s comment.
She said no, next question.
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Given how vastly the Russian military’s competence has been overrated; insiders in the Kremlin and elsewhere have got to be wondering about the competence of his personal protective staff.
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Which means easy to do for a nation. World War 1 level stuff (chlorine, phosgene, mustard gas) is easier to produce than sarin and still pretty nasty.
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Because Cawthorn is not worth more than a one word response. The traitor can go fuck himself.
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The other issue with chemical weapons, biological weapons too, is that they’re pretty not good at the job.
Also as evidenced by Aum Shinrikyo. They released a good amount of Sarin, in a subway, in a densely populated major city. And ultimately didn’t kill or seriously injure all that many people.
Tragic of course, and it’s weird example for whole host of reasons. But you tell people “nerve agent attack in down town Tokyo”. And that is not what they imagine.
In war situations chemical and biological weapons are real difficult to control. You can’t control, or even predict when they’re spread or drift over to your own forces. Contamination could block you from the very territory you’re trying to control. And when we look at the big example of their use in conventional warfare in WWI. They didn’t even do the thing they were supposed to. Gassing just didn’t break up the trench stalemate.
That’s why we mostly see them used by dictators who really don’t give a shit. On their own people, in their own territory. They only exist as terror weapons because that’s all they’re good for.
For all the moral grand standing the US pretty much abandoned their use cause they don’t work. Not because it’s horrible and wrong.
Putin might not give a shit. But he can’t really afford to accidentally gas ten thousand of his own troops, he couldn’t keep that shit from drifting back into Russian territory. And REALLY can’t risk a big cloud of death drifting into NATO territory.
I mean he accidentally novichoks Poland and that’s it.
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Madison Cawthorn, иди нахуй!
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Yes but another thing that Aum Shinryuko was an example of is just how difficult this is to actually do. Which is the complicating factor on how their attacks weren’t as deadly.
For all the effort they made fairly small amounts of some remarkably shitty Sarin and Anthrax, and never really worked out a good way to disperse either. They repeatedly injured or killed their own people. Had to start over more than once. Experts looking at their setup in the aftermath were amazed they’d produced anything.
So they also get pointed at as an example of how any serious chemical or biological weapons program basically requires a state level actor and infrastructure.
Which might not mean much for Ukraine honestly. They are a state level actor. And unlike Aum Shinrikyo they have universities, chemical plants, pharmaceutical companies and the like.
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How can you trust a guy who tried to get his co-workers killed?
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