AIBU to feel panicked about Russia bombing the UK?

Quite. Can just imagine 🤔

’There was a button, a big beautiful button. Some may say the biggest and best.
I pushed it, you see there were some naaasty people over there, possibly the worst people and we have to eradicate them.
Already I’ve had a call, such a great call, really nice call. Andy said to me ‘Donald I don’t know how you did it but you did and we are so thankful’ I told him don’t worry we always take care of things. I’ve seen the people there , bit hot, bit burned but they have been saying too from their hospital beds that they just want to thank me. It was a great bomb. I’ve made bombs great again. ‘

In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is not directly elected by the entire nation but is chosen as an MP within a single constituency, subsequently leading the political party that commands a majority in the House of Commons. Under this parliamentary system, the government of the day holds the legal authority to conduct foreign policy, deploy military forces, and allocate budgets without requiring a direct public vote or referendum for individual international crises. Proponents of this system argue it allows for decisive governance and strategic consistency, while critics frequently argue that major geopolitical commitments - especially those involving significant financial cost or military risk - should require a more explicit, direct mandate from the public.

In this day of universal smart phones and with our technology we can do better. We have an unelected PM (who was voted for by a few thousand people in one hole-in-corner constituency) thinks he has the power to drag this country into a potential war with no popular mandate. Its time we have a referendum on whether and to what extent the population of this country wish to continue to support Ukraine - a third world country on the fringes of Europe. We have enough of our own problems at home.

The way things are going I'd be more worried about trump bombing us than putin

But seriously, if putin was actually about to start a nuclear war I suspect someone close to him would stop him by whatever means necessary.

Even if he did want to die and take the world with him, those closest to him are unlikely to feel the same way.

It suits the West to push the putin danger narrative but the risk of nuclear war is very low.

War these days is fought online.

Tyrants like him only commit suicide when faced with imminent capture, like Hitler. Putin is lightyears away from that.

He's testing defences & sabre rattling that's all, if this had gone ignored then he might have escalated. But it HASN'T been ignored, we have responded proportionally every time and so have our allies. It says something that even the US have stepped up to tell him to quit it - it says that we are well protected and that any attempts to escalate will result in massive consequences. He doesn't want that.

The sabre rattling allows Putin to show others in Russia that he's not grown weak & old, that's it. The bear is growling from his cave, no more. We're safe and you and your children are safe.

This is useful.

I think he’s brutal and will use men around him as fodder which is just horrendous for them. But makes the suffering more local. Which is obviously so bad for those involved. But on the rest this post has a point.

This. Putin has gone a bit Mr Twit really it’s all about inconvenience and mind games currently.

Yes and then NATO would say they don’t want to escalate. We would just be collateral damage.

NATO would dress it up as protecting the world from ww3 and would look at non combative ways to sanction Russia. They certainly would not all pile in to attack Russia if we got bombed.

Well, what do you expect when your country butts its nose in where it doesn't belong: in everyone's business. Thank your government for making you all a target of Russian fury. And what for? Zelensky and his master, Netanyahu.

Russia has a right to defend itself if needs be.

Agree this is an excellent post and talking a lot of sense

Who's talking about him committing suicide? You are letting your mind run away with things.

Russia is financially bankrupt, they can barely keep up their assault on the Ukraine, but using bots to spread fear and anxiety online and help get a pliable idiot in the White House is much cheaper for them.

Slow day op ? 🤦‍♀️

Great post and actually helpful .

Op Putin has done what no one expected when he invaded Ukraine ! Who knows what he will.do but in the early days it helped me to remember Putin does have family I think he has a daughter in France at one point ?
So he wouldn't want to press nuclear button

However he can do other stuff to disrupt us and make life hard.

Good grief OP I'm 68 and have been hearing how Russia is going to kill me and everyone I know for........68 years.

Do you think the Russians who would have to fire the rockets want their loved ones to die - because they know very well that would be the outcome if they pressed the button.

You know when things are going badly in Russia when they start threatening. That's all they have as a weapon against the West - fear.

Putin is fucked and he knows it. His greatest threat is the people around him - and time is running out for him.

He could give orders but he has to rely on those orders being obeyed - and that's his Achilles Heel, he can't rely on them.

He’s had years to do this if part of his plan, which it obviously isn’t because he isn’t entirely delusional. Get help with the anxiety.

I thought it might help them to see how low the comparative risk to something so common was?

Of course he will attack UK, however most likely this will take the form of ongoing cyber attacks. You are not going to be bombed while having a cup of coffee.

Op log off for a bit. Stop reading the news. If something like that happens (extremely unlikely) then worrying about it won't help anyway.
Step away from the Internet for a bit, reconnect with real life.

I just don’t understand some people, pure spiteful. I always wonder what made them that way.

what @NolanChanceJustLikeTheWeatherNSoul said. So much more damage occurs over socials / internet or stealth ? attacks like the poisonings which no one can actually 'prove'.....Like guerrilla warfare, to wear you down. Cable sabotage more likely than nuke !

You’re right there. I remember all the scare mongering during the Cold War, the Americans were building bunkers full of food, they were so paranoid of the communists. They’re country is slowly breaking down, fights at the fuel stations due to shortages, the people are fed up with it. They have enough on their plate with the Ukrainian conflict.

I'm not worried, I can't control it either way so why waste head space on it.

I hope some of these posts have helped. I know anxiety can feel really difficult to cope with.

Putin has a lot to lose from starting a war with NATO. He can’t even win against Ukraine, he knows it would only wreck Russia and leave them open to opportunistic attacks from China and old Soviet nations that still harbour a grudge. He’s not suicidal and despite his dictatorial position, he would still need to get his heads of military to pass on any orders that were clearly going to result in the destruction of Russia, so they’d ALL have to be suicidal.

Working with my DD who has anxiety, I find the most effective interventions for her are the physical ones that minimize/control the physical signs of anxiety and that distract her from thinking about whatever she’s worried about. There are a whole bunch of ideas in this article: https://www.bustle.com/p/how-to-calm-down-quickly-using-these-15-expert-hacks-18003027

If you aren’t already getting help, go and see your GP and engage with treatment. There’s a lot that can help. Anxiety is a really treatable mental health condition.

You need to remember the more you click on these scary news articles the more money they make. It’s in the media’s interest to print scary click bait articles. You will notice that more responsible outlets don’t post every single threatening thing that a politician comes out with.

It also benefits the government for us to be in a constant state of anxiety as we’re more malleable that way.

If the worst happened there’s nothing you can do anyway:

No, he really is not. This is nothing but ignorant propaganda.