Ray, if you can’t see that hopping in here and calling a thing a “war crime” that has lots of uncertainty around it, evidenced by a legitimate source like The Independent equivocating, then I don’t know what else to say.
I see this place as a “room” of longtime friends coming together and having a raucous conversation about any number of things. Including the occasional “slow yer role there, buddy”. That’s how I talk with my IRL friends and it’s never viewed as “jumping on me”. If I’ve overstepped the bounds of our friendship, I apologize. Honestly, though, I’m not sure that’s how this place has ever operated.
Edited to add: Gotta step into a meeting. Hit me up on PM if u want to discuss further.
At the time I posted, the press was confirming that the video showed a Russian tank (armored, tracked vehicle, whatever) rolling over a civilian car, seemingly on purpose. That’s a war crime, which is why I said it.
If it turns out not to be the case, then I was wrong about that particular incident, which means nothing in the big picture. Still, we aren’t even close to that yet as the dispute seems to be entirely Twitter-based, and the sensible warning from Waldo was about taking unverified stuff from social media - like people arguing on Twitter over the nationality of the “tank”.
And none of this is important in the midst of this crisis. People are still dying and the world remains in peril.
The really interesting thing here is Putin publicly showing the world that his powerful army maybe isn’t that impressive. The world is getting a very good look at Russia’s military and its looking weak.
“India had refrained from condemning Soviet invasion of Hungary, in 1956, Czechoslovakia, in 1968, and Afghanistan, in 1979. It did the same when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Incidentally, Ukraine had vehemently opposed India’s 1998 nuclear tests at the UN. Ukraine also voted in favour of UN Resolution 1172 that condemned the tests. Kyiv had given up its nuclear arsenal in its territory after the breakup of the Soviet Union.”
Ukrainian grandma to Russian soldier: “Put these sunflower seeds in your pocket so flowers will grow where you die”. The sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower.
It’s remarkable how Putin mirrors Hitler in his military actions. The timelines don’t match but the “union” with Belarus is somewhat analogous to the Anschluss, Crimea is somewhat analogous to the Sudetenland, and the rest of Ukraine to the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Of course this would make Poland analogous to Poland.
To be fair, it encompassed ALL forms of media, because even traditional media (especially cable news) can be very prone to getting things wrong in order to get things first.