To be seriously scared

[biscuitraider]

About the situation with Russia and the US. Putin said he'll shoot down any US missiles fired at Assad forces. Are we on the verge of all out war? Please calm me down.

Meh can't really get worked up about this, it's all willy waving just like North Korea.

Putin is evil and has shown recently just how far he is willing to go. Scary times for sure but I am glad that finally the West is making a stand.

I think you should not be seriously scared no. Not from media stories, if you were in the inner sanctum of the Russian or American security forces sure, but as you've got no real intelligence to go on other than media reports that are extrapolating the facts then being seriously scared is a an over reaction.

You can't live your life like this. I would also switch off all news notifications on your iPad. If it negatively impacts you like this, then just steer clear of it.

A military type on R4 said, at lunchtime, "Missiles aren't fired by Twitter".
Something like that anyway.
It's all about pushing hard to look the big guy. Willy waving. Meanwhile diplomats will be going nuts trying to figure it all out.

If it happens it happens. It's certainly happening to those who live in Syria. Their reality is attacks of a deadly nature.

But I wouldn't worry about it.

It's probably Alaskan's who have to worry!

I go on facebook to keep in touch with relatives, that's where the news feeds pop up. I wish there was a way to stop them.

"Missiles aren't fired by Twitter"

No, but they can be fired by the biggest knob on twitter

I get it OP, I worry about this stuff too. Afterall, if everyone sat on their laurels and never engaged with this or talked about it in fear of it worrying them, we'd be in an even bigger mess.

What helps me is to get super duper well informed. Don't just read news and etc because you lose sight of the context, go and find political commentary and views from a huge range of individuals, then make your own mind up about what's happening. Podcasts are great for this. Remember the newspapers are there to attract an audience, and nothing attracts an audience like drama :) Content creators and particularly podcast broadcasters attract an audience by being accurate and a sort of an anti-news channel, so are often right on the money.

Be really conscious that both Trump and Putin have reasons right now to distract the media. Trump just got caught out in a sex scandal that is provable and not going away, and Putin just got found to have committed an act of war on British soil as well as a drop in favour in his own country as backlash.. it's a good time for a bust up for both of them.

We have bags and bags of evidence that Putin got Trump elected even though at the moment Trump is arguing that even if he did, Trump didn't know it was happening. That's fairly strongly disprovable so it's no stretch to believe Trump owes Russia his Presidency and he knows it.
He's openly admired and even fan-boyed over Putin for 10 years ffs, he idolises him.

Anyway, I think my point is there's more at play here and it's fine to worry, just worry in context and remember the poison orange goblin is politically impotent, he can't do anything on his own

France and UK are getting involved though. Trump on his own is a jerk, but those two taking it seriously are more of an issue.
It's likely to be May's Iraq war, but thankfully she is a bit more naturally cautious and has the bad example in front of her. And Macron has said he doesn't want escalation.

We really all are jumping nowadays aren't we? I wonder why.

You're totally off base thinking it was passive aggressive

It certainly came across as PA.

* Putin is a bastard but he is not that stupid. it would not be in Russia's interest to attack the west, he is a bully,allies himself with other bullies, but stands next to the teacher when the big kids come out to play.*

^^brilliant analysis

The thought of war has crossed my mind many times. But I usually end up thinking I can't control it and move my thinking more towards not believing anything an leader states!

I was joking about the Alaskan's

This is is a funny video Jimmy Kimmel asking US citizens where North Korea is.

Meh can't really get worked up about this, it's all willy waving just like North Korea.

^ this ^

I'm worried too, OP. But yes democracy is only a name, as we saw when Blair took the UK into the Iraq war against the wishes of nearly everyone, so why do they tell us about these things? There is nothing we can do.

But I really feel sorry for the Syrians. To defend them from being murdered by chemicals, they are going to murder them with bombs.

I am really concerned too, OP. Not least because - as Jeremy Bowen has repeatedly said - a mini world war has already kind of started in Syria, with various foreign powers taking military action against each other. The possibility of that escalating to a wider conflict is terrifying.

It's okay OP, ignore the patronising "helpful" comments questioning your feelings, it is okay to find this concerning.

I'm nervous too mainly because of Russia apparently denying there was even an attack. It feels like both sides may consider this the straw that broke the camel's back, depending on how it goes. I think MessyMcDoogle is very wise though and her explanation has rationalised the situation a lot for me :)

If it helps, there is a video here from a former ambassador to Syria suggesting that this is all internet and media hysteria, and that we first need to check out that this chemical attack actually happened. From another thread on the topic.

I think trump was closer to getting us blown to smithereens by Kim Jong Il than he is with Putin. Putin is getting too many people's back up at the moment - too many battles for him to win!!

Our (british) former ambassador, I should have said. Might know a bit.

I go on facebook to keep in touch with relatives, that's where the news feeds pop up. I wish there was a way to stop them

FFS,you really, really ABU if you use Facebook as your news source.

I do find it concerning, but we have been here with Russia before.

I agree with the willy waving comments though. North Korea and the US were at each other's throats until recently (sabre rattling), but have pulled back and are trying to meet up now.

Trump is in Putin's debt, whether he planned it that way or not. I think that there is always far more going on behind the scenes than can ever be admitted publicly.

Trump is a twat. As for Putin, like him or not, he isn't thick.

Idrink I don't, it's accidental.

WrongOnTheInternet

I think that's exactly why I'm worried, haven't they already decided to send air strikes etc, and I'm not even sure (obviously, as if I'd be privvy to such information) how exactly they have come to the conclusion that the attack happened, when Russia are so adamant it didn't. I think that's the danger.

The good news for me is that I am so sceptical about political leaders and their backstage collusions that I'm pretty sure nothing will really come of it.

Lived through the cold war. More worried now than I was then. Sorry. At least I considered the USSR and (Reagan's) US (the bit I lived through as someone who understood the issues) to have some shreds of rationality. I am less certain about Putin, Jong Un and Trump. I've taught International Relations BTW if that means anything.

I think it you weren't worried there would be something wrong with you, quite frankly.