It is true, if Iran gets control of the straits that will be a victory for them. A sort of "here's your consolation prize for surviving" sort of victory. We'll see what happens.

Someone else pointed out that it is well known who destroyed the Nordstream pipeline, but you rejected the facts.

I can't stand people who reject facts when they are well supported. It's anti-scientific.

Iran lost the war. Their main remaining military capability is killing civilians.

From a military standpoint, it was a resounding American victory. Whether or not Trump's goals were reached, who knows what's in his head? But that isn't a military question.

Also, I think you're dumb, because you don't write comments backed by fact.

If we're going to be clear, "capitalism" doesn't have a clear definition. It's used differently in different contexts, often with the meaning of "not communism."

It's better to use a different word. For example, you could have said, "The free market wins again" since that is what you actually meant.

So, you guess that Russia will use a nuke.

That is a hope.

If the EU switches to open source, it will be the best thing Trump has done. Literally.

At this point you might as well just link to Vladimir Rudolfovich Solovyov's podcast, because you sound just like him.

Yeah, and Iran is a good example. America can hit any location they want in Iran, any time, and there is nothing the IRGC can do about it.

Russia has always respected dead veterans. The living veterans get the gulag.

That's the problem. Beyond good and evil, the Russian system is cruel. If you are not on top, you are being abused. Ukrainians got the short end in Holodomor, and then took control of the government to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Kruschchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, even Andropov were all Ukrainian, at least partially. They didn't want to be abused. They couldn't let Beria win, he would abused them even more.

There are plenty of Ukrainian sympathizers in the Russian government, even today. If Ukraine shows they are stronger than Putin and make a serious push for control, then the government and people will support them.

The US State Department wanted a quick win. Biden said no. He was worried about nukes.

Biden told Putin, "If you invade Ukraine, we will sanction you!" And Putin said, "Sounds like a good deal to me." So here we are, Biden was better at deal making than Trump.

How do you know? Russia lost in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Syria, and Mali, and didn't use a nuke. They won't use a nuke.

Now this comment is entirely motivated reasoning. Try to see clearly. Don't drink your own koolaid.

It may not be entirely provable, but I entirely blame Bush Jr for the entire debacle. If he had been willing to work with Saddam instead of trying to invade the country, then Putin wouldn't have gone into full militaristic mode. The ideal is that we can have a world where we solve disagreements without killing each other. Russians were largely on board with that until Bush went out of his way to prove it false.

Bush lied people died, and Putin concluded that the world is still one where they need to maintain full security of their surroundings (including Ukraine).