@randahl Hey what's wrong with Liechenstein? Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtesnstein, was the one to give a home and money to Curt Herzstark, inventor of the legendary Curta pocket mechanical calculator.

Before then, Curt had been forced to stop work on his calculator by the Nazis, who forced him to make precision instruments for the German army, and then threw him into Buchenwald until U.S. troops liberated it.

See? Seeeeee? Eh? Eeeeeh? Liechtenstein.

(pic Wikipedia)

@randahl

I don't know how to re-post this over to here, so I'll just repeat:

There's real "Iraq War Energy" on the front page of the Post this morning.

The attitude towards the importance of other countries;

"Zelensky doesn't hold the cards" == "The support of every other country combined is as nothing compared to the USA."

And "...not a smart strategy" was very Iraq-War editorial. Nothing about ILLEGAL or IMMORAL, just "bad strategy".

It's like calling the Mafia a "bad life strategy".

@randahl
That's a totally useless comparison of the Polish PM.

It doesn't matter how many people a country or Union has, the only thing that matters in the 'Age of the Bullies' is the actual military power.
And Europe - like it or not - is a dwarf in this regard compared to the USA.

@randahl

It really is pathetic. We could have helped Ukraine to end the war already. But, it's not too late if we act now: urgently boost military production in European countries and invest massively on defence at home and in Ukraine.

Russians losing. Let's get it through the line and help Ukraine defeat them this year.

@randahl Poland is going to be a more important player in EU in the future. Not to mention they're (still?) the third largest military power in NATO and largest in the EU.

I think it was Tusk I listened to a radio program about. He could become the next Merkel going by what that program said.

All speculation of course.

@randahl one way to muscle up is to start issuing ITAR right back at the US.

The US doesn't make all of its own weapons, and relies on Europe for a bunch of weapon components. Maybe Europe gets to start saying where the US gets to use or transfer weapons with European components.

That was kind of handwaved away while the US was a friendly ally and global hegemon. But if things are going to be fraught and transactional....

"Este es el comentario más importante que he escuchado esta semana: el primer ministro polaco Donald Tusk:

“500 millones de europeos están pidiendo a 300 millones de estadounidenses que los defiendan contra 140 millones de rusos […] Europa, si hay algo que nos falta hoy en día, no es poder económico o demográfico, sino la creencia de que somos verdaderamente una fuerza global”.

Creo que Tusk da en el blanco aquí. Esos 140 millones de rusos ya están totalmente ocupados luchando contra Ucrania, y nuestros líderes actúan como si fuéramos Liechtenstein."

@randahl

@randahl

Interesting how the recent #US behavior has resulted in a massive shift outside of the US. In a sense it has totally backfired.

#Canada is now more united than at any point in its history, and the #EU is finally waking up and stepping into its leadership role.

We can now all collectively give the big middle finger to the USA.

#cdnpoli #Canada #Europe

@randahl

Exactly, and allow themselves being bullied by a megalomaniac demented idiot…

Hope the wakeup call is there now.

@randahl
A cynic would say:
Not really 140 million russians anymore, since Putin "lost" afaik about 800.000 soldiers in Ukraine. And he is not stopping...

It's so horrible.😱😭
All this to invade Ukraine and go on a killing, torture and kidnapping spree, to erase a country and a culture. 🤬

Stay strong Ukraine ✊

@randahl Don't forget. The USA has always placed themselves in the leading position.

"European countries needn't develop nuclear weapons. We will provide the nuclear umbrella and will be central command."
Selling rocket systems that need their GPS systems.

Together with the hope/ believe in many (western) countries that Russia had become member of the international community and no longer the enemy has made us complacent.
The wake-up call is there, but getting our baring is not easy.

@randahl the 21st Century is in the nuclear age. In the nuclear age the size of one’s population does not define survivability.

To treat a conflict between nuclear powers in 2025 as if it is merely an echo of world wars from the last century is to mischaracterize the realities of now in vital ways.

"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - likely falsely attributed to Albert Einstein

@randahl

Those 140,000,000 Russians presumably include the 870,000 Russians that have fallen while invading Ukraine.