the watcher

Yes, I feel exctly the same. Both my parents were 1st generation Canadians being born in Manitoba. I had a couple of Uncles born overseas. They & their parents immigrated to our country from Europe. They both would have known their family's stories but no one asked... I never asked... & they never talked about it which was typical of my parent's generation. 

Ukraine is a democratic country. They elected their government and have been invaded several times in the past decade by the aggressors, the Russians. 
Russia thinks Ukraine belongs to them. 
Get f***ed if you're going to try to both sides this. 

The Holocaust and WWII also get pretty complicated, the more you look into them
The Allies were not innocent, and I would also include the Canadian Government in that statement
But - none of that changed the fact that Hitler needed to be shut down 

Here is an article on what Stalin did to the Ukraine.
https://www.history.com/news/ukrainian-famine-stalin
Can see why the hatred runs deep with this kind of history.

I'm Ukrainian on my Mom's side. She was fluent in Ukrainian & English & could switch back & forth mid sentence. Something I didn't truly appreciate until she was gone & I was much older.
My Uncle absolutely hated Russians. All Russians. It didn't matter who they were or where they came from. Politicians or civilians he hated them all. I found that out one day when I was a teenager & made some flippant remark to him saying something like, "Russian & Ukrainian. It all sounds the same. There's no difference". I never saw him so angry with me as he was that day & said some things that set me straight in his broken English. Enough to know to never say anything like that again.
This was a man who saw his family suffer under Stalin in the 1930's & was conscripted to fight for the Soviets in WW2. I never found out the story of how he got out & came to Canada. Eventually marrying my Mom's sister. Now, it's too late. He's gone as are my parents, uncles & aunts. I have no cousins alive to ask either. It's sad that when people are alive we don't care to ask & then questions about family history go unanswered forever. I may still have family in the Ukraine for all I know. My Mom's family came to Canada in the first decade of the 20th Century & settled near Rossburn. My Mom was born in 1912 & died in 1985. So, I'll probably never know if anyone in the Ukraine today are family. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/02/united-nations-russia-ukraine-vote

yup.  Ukraine was the graveyard for a lot of SS, Gestapo, and Wehrmacht.  There's partisan warfare in the DNA there.

One thing history teaches us is that international events are often completely unpredictable. Who would have thought that a German private pilot could have both flown right into the heart of Russia, evading all radar and then brining down the whole government? There are so many moving parts to this crisis that it is near impossible to predict the path and outcome of it.

In my mind there are 2 choices : 
1- A full on choking off of Russia financially and in  trade.  A shunning of them in any other way ( sports, culture.... ) Or as was said " Canceling them " ( I actually like that term in this instance )
or 2- NATO joins the fight. That could engulf the entire Eastern part of Europe....or more. The risk of nuclear war would probably be at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis.
Hmmmm, let's see.....Maybe " Canceling Russia " is an awesome f**king plan.

In my mind there are 2 choices : 
1- A full on choking off of Russia financially and in  trade.  A shunning of them in any other way ( sports, culture.... ) Or as was said " Canceling them " ( I actually like that term in this instance )
or 2- NATO joins the fight. That could engulf the entire Eastern part of Europe....or more. The risk of nuclear war would probably be at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis.
Hmmmm, let's see.....Maybe " Canceling Russia " is an awesome f**king plan.

Looking at this invasion from a nuts and bolts perspective......
Successful military action, these days.... requires good intelligence and a co-ordinated approach with air, mechanized, and infantry assets, good lines of communication, and a strong logistical tail (food, ammo, fuel, etc) 
The Russians have a huge advantage over Ukraine in terms of numbers of forces and equipment, but their offensive has shown a striking lack of cohesion. 
Massive convoys have run out of fuel and Russian tanks and trucks have broken down along Ukrainian highways, creating traffic jams of sitting ducks.   The infantry has not been fully utilized to protect these columns,  these convoys firing off missiles and rockets seem to take up the bulk of their activity.
More and more stories are coming out about the infantry, with a lot of these 18-19 year old conscripts, who are facing veteran Ukrainian units (border fighting), without motivation, direction and supports (shades of Afghanistan), with predictable effects on their morale.  There are even (unconfirmed) reports of some units handing over their weapons to the Ukrainians, and being allowed to just walk away
Russian air power has been mysteriously inert, so far, Ukrainian air defences have not been suppressed, yet  (huge surprise) 
Their vaunted electronic warfare asserts, have not been in evidence, either - Ukrainian Internet is still up, and communication links in-country and beyond seem to be still intact.
Russians are losing the propaganda war, bigly.....those videos of confused and despondent Russian prisoners are a absolute ten strike in that regard.  Overall, Putin's attempts to discredit Zelensky and NATO unity, have backfired in a spectacular manner.
One gets the feeling that Putin ordered this invasion, somewhat off the cuff, blindsiding some of his generals, and certainly a lot of his troops.  He was expecting a quick victory, while other countries talked about what they might do - the quick closing of ranks with NATO and the rapid response with the sanctions, etc...has come as another nasty surprise.  This offensive is costing Russia around 10-15 Billion per day, to go along with the tanking of the stock markets and rouble
Sure, the Russians have the military muscle to smash through, and take Kiev, and perhaps put a sock puppet in there and call him President.   But to what end?  Insurgent warfare with 40M Ukrainians?  A uber larger version of Afghanistan?
 

very Good article about German sea change due to putinvasion

"Each one of these decisions represents something of an earthquake. Taken together, they are a political cataclysm that no one saw coming—not from a novice chancellor known for his caution, not from a coalition of German parties with pacifist roots, and certainly not from a government led by the Social Democrats, with their history of close ties to Russia."

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/03/germany-putin-ukraine-invasion/623322/

For anyone wishing to support Ukraine, the federal government is matching all donations to Ukraine dollar for dollar:  
 Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal

Either he faces a Judge in the Hague, or he faces Satan in Hell
 

I think it's really hard for most people in Canada and many other countries  to understand just how big , powerful, extreme  and frankly delusional  that segment of the US population is. We saw that a bit in the pandemic. I view them as no different than  the radical segment of Muslims dreaming of their virgins as they strap on a bomb.. Nutters all.

I think it's really hard for most people in Canada and many other countries  to understand just how big , powerful, extreme  and frankly delusional  that segment of the US population is. We saw that a bit in the pandemic. I view them as no different than  the radical segment of Muslims dreaming of their virgins as they strap on a bomb.. Nutters all.

I think it's really hard for most people in Canada and many other countries  to understand just how big , powerful, extreme  and frankly delusional  that segment of the US population is. We saw that a bit in the pandemic. I view them as no different than  the radical segment of Muslims dreaming of their virgins as they strap on a bomb.. Nutters all.

I think it's really hard for most people in Canada and many other countries  to understand just how big , powerful, extreme  and frankly delusional  that segment of the US population is. We saw that a bit in the pandemic. I view them as no different than  the radical segment of Muslims dreaming of their virgins as they strap on a bomb.. Nutters all.

The American rollover of Iraqi forces was only the first battle. They moved on to Afghanistan and became mired in two wars without an exit plan, and slunk out of Afghanistan defeated. They are still taking casualties in Iraq and remain bunkered in their fortresses, paying out billions to mercenaries to fight their battles. Ukraine is far from defeated, at least at this point. 

Putin's mindset will not allow him to countenance any defeat. If he or his generals decide that Ukraine is not worth the price they are paying, and decide to withdraw, the probability is that he will try to cripple it on his way out. This will involve destroying as much of the infrastructure and military as possible. There have been overt attacks on civilian targets already, so Russia has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity already. The scenario is different, but resistance in both Viet Nam and Afghanistan defeated much larger forces, and Russia was driven out of Afghanistan as well. The reasons for the US and Russian defeats were: the support of the great majority of inhabitants for the resistance and foreign supply of weapons to the local fighters. 

Putin bet the farm on the rest of the world not caring and Ukraine just rolling over. Now that those things haven't happened I wonder just how crazy he actually is... will he slink away with his tail tucked or double down on a mistake...

Surrender would mean the end of Ukraine for decades and a strengthening of Putin's power in Europe and Asia. Putin wants nothing less than a complete dissolution of Ukrainian self-government and the killing or imprisonment of all opposition there. This is essentially a replay of the Spanish "civil war" where a massively equipped, Nazi-backed force took on democratic inferior forces supported by the international community. The lack of strong response by democratic nations fueled Nazi confidence and led directly to World War 2.
 

What chance did Britain have against Germany after the fall of Europe ? What chance did Vietnam have against the might of the USA ? What chance did the Afghans have against Russia ? What chance did the Taliban have against the combined force they faced. It has happened many , many times. It takes good leadership and a good battle plan. The Ukraine is already winning the non battlefield war. In today's small world that is extremely important. 
If the Ukraine surrenders it will be the end of the Ukraine for the foreseeable future.

What chance did Britain have against Germany after the fall of Europe ? What chance did Vietnam have against the might of the USA ? What chance did the Afghans have against Russia ? What chance did the Taliban have against the combined force they faced. It has happened many , many times. It takes good leadership and a good battle plan. The Ukraine is already winning the non battlefield war. In today's small world that is extremely important. 
If the Ukraine surrenders it will be the end of the Ukraine for the foreseeable future.