Quote Originally Posted by outlaw
AP--you claim you have written "alot" on the Russian fascism here--then expound in more detail pray tell.
There's a search function on this site for a reason. I recommend using it.

Quote Originally Posted by outlaw
You push back on anything and everything and yet you never seem to go into extensive detail so I can tear it apart line for line
Actually - you just ignore the things I write and then claim I haven't written anything. I have asked you many questions that remain unanswered; here are some examples: (1) what's the best end-state for U.S. security, (2) how will the conflict's escalation impact the U.S.-Russian dyadic, (3) if a BUK is classified as a weapon of mass destruction, why not all air defense missiles; (4) how is Russian behavior uniquely objectionable compared to other states who act similarly (including the U.S.), especially on the subjects of commitment to treaty obligations and nuclear strategy? You also make patently false claims - like the Ukraine conflict being the first in Europe since 1945 to change national borders.

Quote Originally Posted by outlaw
you went out on a limb with the thinking about negotiations and it got cut off by Putin's ceasefire which by the way---limited fighting directly with Russian troops was just occurring.
Is that why Poroshenko is pursuing negotiations and believes that the bulk of Russian forces have withdrawn from Ukraine? Or is he a Russian stooge too? Is he not close enough to the conflict or sufficiently experienced for you to consider his assessment credible?

And yeah - the Russians do have a powerful information operations machine and they're exercising it to full effect. But that the Russians have such a tool does not mean that the Russian leadership is "irrational" - in fact, it indicates the opposite. The deliberate construction of political 'reality' that not coincidentally is favorable to one's own interests is not a uniquely Russian endeavor either.