Yes of age, but if you read the Cyrillic source article many of them were exempt from callup.

Rebel Yell said:

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Teslag said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Krombopulos Michael said:

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Picture is worth a thousand words.

He's always been an intel agency cutout. Not a single ounce of genuine in him as the leader of a country.

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Really? Tell us more about his history...

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I mean, staying in his country to die with his people when they and the world thought Ukraine would be dust and Zelenskyy dead in a matter of days is ballsy no matter how you cut it. I gave him 48 hours at the outset.

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No way, he's a terrible leader according to this board because he didn't immediately surrender his country to a foreign invader.

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Zelenskyy is corrupt and is a dictator.

I would caution against devoting yourself to idolizing/protecting any foreign leader, but I especially think you will be ashamed of being a proponent of Zelenskyy before this is done.

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A dictator elected with 74% of the vote? In an actual fair election unlike Russia? Interesting definition of dictator.

But he's been in office for 5 years on a 4 year term. Never mind that Putin has been in office for 25 years and poisons political rivals.

Ya'll seem to really struggle with the concept that to average Ukranian there isn't a huge difference between being governed by corrupt people in Kiev versus Moscow, and it sure as **** doesn't make a big enough difference to die for it.

Again, keep rooting on senseless death when you have zero personal investment.

Putin had no problem with Ukraine independence when the country was run by individuals sympathetic to the Kremlin. But we had to go in and state craft Poroshenko and Zelensky into office for our own personal gain. Some of you are blissfully unaware of how much blood of this war is on our hands for getting involved in a region we should have had no business in. And THEN, when a peace deal was on the table, we sent Blinken in to piss all over it.

Teslag said:

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But he's been in office for 5 years on a 4 year term. Never mind that Putin has been in office for 25 years and poisons political rivals.

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Can Hitler and Stalin BOTH be bad? Are the ideas mutually exclusive?

Teslag said:

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But he's been in office for 5 years on a 4 year term. Never mind that Putin has been in office for 25 years and poisons political rivals.

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Yep. I have to hope Trump's comments are just bluster to try and accelerate the negotiations from the Ukrainian side because if he actually believes what he posted…yikes.

Silent For Too Long said:

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Ya'll seem to really struggle with the concept that to average Ukranian there isn't a huge difference between being governed by corrupt people in Kiev versus Moscow, and it sure as **** doesn't make a big enough difference to die for it.

Again, keep rooting on senseless death when you have zero personal investment.

Putin had no problem with Ukraine independence when the country was run by individuals sympathetic to the Kremlin. But we had to go in and state craft Poroshenko and Zelensky into office for our own personal gain. Some of you are blissfully unaware of how much blood of this war is on our hands for getting involved in a region we should have had no business in. And THEN, when a peace deal was on the table, we sent Blinken in to piss all over it.

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Zelenskyy got 74% of the vote. The 1991 independence referendum got over 90%. Ukrainians don't want to be Russians. They never have.

They weren't voting on whether or not they were willing to die in a pointless war.

HTH.

The survival of your nation is not pointless. And that's what they've fought so hard.

Teslag said:

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Silent For Too Long said:

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Ya'll seem to really struggle with the concept that to average Ukranian there isn't a huge difference between being governed by corrupt people in Kiev versus Moscow, and it sure as **** doesn't make a big enough difference to die for it.

Again, keep rooting on senseless death when you have zero personal investment.

Putin had no problem with Ukraine independence when the country was run by individuals sympathetic to the Kremlin. But we had to go in and state craft Poroshenko and Zelensky into office for our own personal gain. Some of you are blissfully unaware of how much blood of this war is on our hands for getting involved in a region we should have had no business in. And THEN, when a peace deal was on the table, we sent Blinken in to piss all over it.

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Zelenskyy got 74% of the vote. The 1991 independence referendum got over 90%. Ukrainians don't want to be Russians. They never have.

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Ukraine and Russia have hated each other longer than any of us have been alive. Holodomer is one of the great travesties of the 20th century.

Teslag said:

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The survival of your nation is not pointless. And that's what they've a few fought so hard.

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Agreed. A lot of the pro Russian posters here always casually hand wave away the pure hatred many Ukrainians have for Russians. **** like that isn't forgotten.

He also campaigned and won on the promise of making peace with Russia, fyi. JD Vance has a nice statement out:

Quote:

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This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say.

For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn't have started if President Trump was in office; second, that neither Europe, nor the Biden administration, nor the Ukrainians had any pathway to victory. This was true three years ago, it was true two years ago, it was true last year, and it is true today.

And for three years, the concerns of people who were obviously right were ignored. What is Niall's actual plan for Ukraine? Another aid package? Is he aware of the reality on the ground, of the numerical advantage of the Russians, of the depleted stock of the Europeans or their even more depleted industrial base?

Instead, he quotes from a book about George HW Bush from a different historical period and a different conflict. That's another currency of these people: reliance on irrelevant history.

President Trump is dealing with reality, which means dealing with facts. And here are some facts:
Number one, while our Western European allies' security has benefitted greatly from the generosity of the United States, they pursue domestic policies (on migration and censorship) that offend the sensibilities of most Americans and defense policies that assume continued over-reliance.

Number two, Russians have a massive numerical advantage in manpower and weapons in Ukraine, and that advantage will persist regardless of further Western aid packages. Again, the aid is *currently* flowing.

Number three, the United States retains substantial leverage over both parties to the conflict.

Number four, ending the conflict requires talking to the people involved in starting it and maintaining it.

Number five, the conflict has placed--and continues to place--stress on tools of American statecraft, from military stockpiles to sanctions (and so much else). We believe the continued conflict is bad for Russia, bad for Ukraine, and bad for Europe. But most importantly, it is bad for the United States.

Given the above facts, we must pursue peace, and we must pursue it now. President Trump ran on this, he won on this, and he is right about this. It is lazy, ahistorical nonsense to attack as "appeasement" every acknowledgment that America's interest must account for the realities of the conflict.

That interest--not moralisms or historical illiteracy--will guide President Trump's policy in the weeks to come.

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This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say.

For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn't have started if President Trump was in office;… https://t.co/xH33s6X5yf

— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 20, 2025

PlaneCrashGuy said:

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This is a solid explanation of America first. I just can't figure out why it's such a foreign concept to… Americans.

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Oh, everyone on this tread gets it. But, there are some people here that are not America first, and they want to warp the narrative in a way that furthers their agenda while sounding good to America's centrists.

The talking points don't come from the posters here, they come from a discord server run by the Marxist arm of the Democratic party, and are disseminated for broader circulation.

I like discussing issues with these people, because it helps me understand what arguments there are for a not America first agenda, and sharpens my irons. But, sometimes I wonder if F16 actually helps these guys, because we constantly point out the ch-ink in their armor, and help them refine their polished turds.

rootube said:

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nortex97 said:

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Quote:

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Ukraine is saving us.

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More hilarity. Thx.

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They are certainly saving US soldiers from sitting in a trench in Europe (not that that has ever happened before). Instead we are sending weapons that were all designed to defend against Russia most of which are likely useless in any future conflict with China. If we get in a missile, tank and artillery war with China god help us.


Think about this. Every US soldier who has been killed in action since WWII was killed by a Russian weapon (Korea, Viet Nam, every single conflict in the Middle East). Consider that when you are thinking about who our enemies are and who our allies are.

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I used to own multiple AKs, before I lost them in a tragic boating accident on Lake Conroe. They are fantastic weapons for what they are meant to do. They are not super accurate, but they almost always go boom when you pull the trigger, no matter how bad you abuse them. They are kind of like Honda engines. You can ignore maintenance, and they still last for a long time. They are kind of like Glocks, only bigger.

But, I think the argument of blaming the weapon for the crime is not going to gain much traction on F16. Swing and a miss there. Good luck next time.

Maybe. Maybe not. Gravy train is over.

Hullabaloonatic said:

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Versus f'n Donald Trump?! Is this a joke?

USAID is an independent agency that has provided humanitarian assistance around the world for more than 60 years and undergoes rigorous evaluations and audits. Specifically, there are two types of evaluations performed independently on most large USAID programs: performance evaluations and impact evaluations.

But you would believe an actual felon who has never released his tax documents, actively engaged in a crypto scam, cheated on multiple wives, known liar, and is obviously self interested in telling people things that only benefit his narrative.

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I am more likely to judge people by what they do than what they say.

You gave a great explanation of what USAID says they do. But an audit of their transaction records shows that is entirely a facade. Why don't you run over to the USAID thread and justify funding sex change surgeries in South America? USAID says one thing, and does another.

Trump 47 is not the same person as Trump 45. He has come out of a cocoon after four years, and hatched as a red white and blue murder hornet.

We are not even one month in, and illegal border crossings are the lowest than they have been in decades.

He is making good on his promises, and will have my support until that track record ends.

All of your criticisms of Trump are actually criticisms of the Democrat party, just gaslit onto Trump. Enjoy the felony argument thing while it still lasts. What Trump is accused of doing, writing down misleading things on a memo line, is 1% as bad as what USAID does.

He is not Jesus Christ. He is a boorish, self centered, narcissistic, bullying meat head, but damn it, he is fantastic at his job, and, based on his actions, he really loves America.

Where did you copy and paste that from? Come on be honest.

aggiehawg said:

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VDH from this past Sunday. Go to the 50 minute point where he lays out the parameters of what he believes Trump's peace deal will be.

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I think that this is the strategy that works.

You give Putin a win, and he becomes legendary in Russian lore, because he kept NATO off Russia's doorstep.

You are giving Z pretty much two choices, give up the Russian occupied territory, which was stolen by a criminal enterprise, give up NATO hopes, and we will help you form a wall to keep Russia from further incursion. The alternative is you have to fight Russia on your own, and you will die.

The alternative is a world where we start down the road to WWIII.

The very best result is a peace treaty where NATO puts it in writing that any invasion of the rest of Ukraine will result in everything except nuclear war to keep Russia out.

it's amazing to see Ukraine State TV Kyiv Independent video news (likely paid for by Joe Biden USAID Funds!!)

blast Trump and interview citizens yesterday every single one of them insulting the President as a "moron" or "idiot"

these same citizens walking around KIEV and not in the military defending their country.

it's amazing how ungrateful they are!

aTmAg said:

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BusterAg said:

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aTmAg said:

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BusterAg said:

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74OA said:

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At least one Republican has found his spine.

"In a post on his X handle on Wednesday, the former Vice President told Trump that the road to peace must be built on the truth. Pence said: "Mr President, Ukraine did not 'start' this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The road to peace must be built on the truth."

PENCE

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Dude. Read the room.

Pence?

What does Dick Cheney think about the war in Ukraine?

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Pence sucks, but he is right about that particular point.

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Well Bernie Sandars voted no on aide to Ukraine, but you sure don't see me trotting out his name to defend Trump's policies.

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I have no doubt that 90% of that aid was lining democrat pockets. Reagan sent small fraction of that to Afghanistan and those goat herders used it to kick Soviet ass in only 3 years back when the Soviets were still a super power.

I do think we had an obligation to help Ukraine based on our our past agreements, but not in the way Biden did it. We should have done it in a Reagan-esq way.

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Reagan won the cold war.

I will say it again, Reagan won the cold war.

That was his objective, and he accomplished it.

Winning the cold war was what Reagan wanted to do. And Reagan won it.

You can argue all you want to about how he did it, where the money went, his huge deficit, the fact that he was about 2% as diminished as Biden was during their mutual last month is office, the one thing you can't say is that Reagan did not achieve what he set out to accomplish.

Because Reagan won the cold war.

I don't think Reagan would have won the cold war if he ran the military and foreign aid like Democrats do.

The cold war is over. We have no business mediating a border dispute among two formerly USSR countries. We learned that lesson in Vietnam.

nortex97 said:

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Yes, it all works out splendidly just like that in pattern and practice, as Mr. Stewart so eloquently laid out.

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Thank you for all this. But this discussion belongs on the USAID thread.

Don't take the bait.

JayM said:

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Agreed. Trump is showing his the job is too much to handle when he has to disparage Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians at a time when their future is in doubt.

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You would be terrible at negotiating peace deals.

Teslag said:

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Agreed. A lot of the pro Russian posters here always casually hand wave away the pure hatred many Ukrainians have for Russians. **** like that isn't forgotten.

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There are zero pro Russian posters on this board.

Stop with this silly strawman and false dichotomy homie. You are better then that.

JB99 said:

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HowdyTexasAggies said:

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You are defending an org that just got exposed for stealing taxpayers' money. You are a joke.

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USAID was the most corrupt org the US government has ever had.

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Well, maybe since Hoover. How many men in USAID employ do you think wear panties at home?

Silent For Too Long said:

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Teslag said:

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Agreed. A lot of the pro Russian posters here always casually hand wave away the pure hatred many Ukrainians have for Russians. **** like that isn't forgotten.

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There are zero pro Russian posters on this board.

Stop with this silly strawman and false dichotomy homie. You are better then that.

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There are quite a few pro Russian posters on this site.

I've never seen Trump dance to someone else's tune like this. Somehow, some way, Putin has him by the balls...

How? I do not know.

Eliminatus said:

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Rubio was also very verbal at the onset of the invasion in calling out Putin as a war criminal and those who would bend the knee to him. Quite a few receipts out there about it and quite the change in just three years. Unless he has had a very massive change of heart, he can't be happy with the task foisted on him right now.

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Putin is and was a war criminal. He is a despicable human being, and I hope the Angel of Death visits him in his bed the day after we sign a peace deal with Russia.

But, we need to get the hell out of Ukraine.

Both of these things can be true at the same time. Saying that abandoning Ukraine, if they don't come to the negotiating table, is supporting Putin and saying he is a good guy, is a classic case of a false dichotomy.

UntoldSpirit said:

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In other words, Trump sucking up to Putin makes perfect sense, given our goals.

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Trump doesn't need to suck up to Putin. He just needs to make Putin look good, and give him something that he can take back to Russia as a win.

He needs to show Putin respect in the public arena, so that he can be a Russian hero, and continue to quietly bloody his nose as often as possible.

Nobody gets 75 - 90% of the vote in a fair election in a democracy

nortex97 said:

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Yes, it all works out splendidly just like that in pattern and practice, as Mr. Stewart so eloquently laid out.

I can’t believe this is real

Millions of US Taxpayer dollars are being sent by USAID to a British Politician turned Yale Professors wife’s NGO called ‘Turquoise Mountain Foundation’

“The Turquoise Mountain Foundation exists to teach Afghani peasants about degenerate modern art” pic.twitter.com/0jG2WCH9va

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 18, 2025

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You're going to make me do your homework for you? Pro tip: if your news source is twitter, you're being deliberately misinformed.

This whole thing is a soup of non sense, so i'll try to untangle the brain worm that twitter dropped in your mind.

Quote:

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"The Turqoise Mountain Foundation exists to teach Afghani peasants about degenerate modern art"

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A 10 second google search can take you to the original USAID Fact Sheet for the Turquoise Mountain Foundation (here). The contract, which was granted well before Rory Stewart even met Shoshana Stewart (she was married to someone else), in 2008. She has been the CEO of the charity organization for almost 20 years and the objectives of the project was to provide education and training, economic opportunities, and livelihoods for Afghans. Specifically, 1) build economic and trade opportunities for Afghans through the economic, social and cultural regeneration of Murad Khane, a traditional commercial and craft neighborhood in the center of Kabul's Old City; 2) provide traditional craft education through the Turquoise Mountain Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture; 3) develop a market for Afghan crafts domestically and internationally through business mentoring, marketing and sales support. The list of accomplishments:

• Established an internationally recognized brand, profiled in over 100 international publications, that sold almost $3 million worth of Afghan crafts to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East
• Enhanced Afghanistan's reputation as a source of high-quality products
• Provided direct education, employment and healthcare services to 64,246 Afghans, and indirectly reached approximately over 300,000 beneficiaries
• Provided supplementary educationincluding art and language classes to a total of 122 children (68 boys and 54 girls) between the ages of five and 14
• Graduated 144 students (107 male and 37 female) from the Turquoise Mountain Institute over four years, of whom 24 percent owned their own craft businesses, 52 percent worked in craft-related employment, 13 percent were pursuing further studies, and 11 percent were not in formal employment

Just read the list of accomplishments and tell me why none of these were mentioned? Perhaps it doesn't fit the narrative?

This also had the intended objective of westernizing Afghani citizens (a worthwhile objective, no?). That 30 second clip regarding the 'toilet art' was snipped from a 2015 documentary "Bitter Lake." While absurd on its face, you can google Marcel Duchamp and see the intended purpose of the exhibit (which was in the early 1900s) was intended to be farcical. Out of context, it simply looks bizarre, but when teaching history of western art, the "Fountain" is historically relevant because of the explicit absurdity. It's just a single touchstone however. That twitter clip, implying the entire purpose of the project is to teach 'toilet art' to Afghani peasants (a crude pejorative meant to 'other' these people) is simply a lie.

Stop getting your news from twitter. Possess just the slightest amount of skepticism and do even a miniscule amount of fact checking before sharing stuff like this. Musk and Trump are firing off lie after lie after lie and you can't simply accept them at face value.

Teslag said:

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But he's been in office for 5 years on a 4 year term. Never mind that Putin has been in office for 25 years and poisons political rivals.

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They can both be dictators and are. I don't know what is going on unless Trump just wants to beat Ukraine down to accept the deal.

john_football said:

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It becomes easy to spot posters who spend their time on forums where the Russians have achieved information dominance. There are a few here who I would not be surprised to learn are actually working Moscow hours.

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Dems accusing their enemies of what they are doing. This is something new, right? LOL

I love how Reagan and LIV have all of the sudden popped into the mouths of the likes of E and all their socks.

Go back to your discord server and try again.

Sid Farkas said:

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I've never seen Trump dance to someone else's tune like this. Somehow, some way, Putin has him by the balls...

How? I do not know.

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Well, we know that at least some of it is financial. Eric Trump's dumb ass said so in 2014.

Silent For Too Long said:

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Teslag said:

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Agreed. A lot of the pro Russian posters here always casually hand wave away the pure hatred many Ukrainians have for Russians. **** like that isn't forgotten.

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There are zero pro Russian posters on this board.

Stop with this silly strawman and false dichotomy homie. You are better then that.

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There's literally posters here that have said they hope to see Russia win.

There's also this thread literally titled "I'm pulling for Russia" with 118 blue stars

https://texags.com/forums/16/topics/3375863

You also don't get to call us names (pro war, fanbois, war cheerleaders, etc) and then demand we refrain.