AIBU to not want to go to war

[TemporaryPosition]

It's expensive and it hurts and it helps nothing, it just puts innocent sons, brothers, fathers, uncles and friends through the meat grinder. The only people who benefit are those who make a fortune from selling weapons and are granted contracts for reconstruction.

Haven't we learnt anything? What happened to "never again".

AIBU to really really really not want to be involved in any war?

"What makes anyone anything" - Indeed, precisely what I'm wondering about. Yet we are "something"

I don't know why you're the one calling me right wing when you're the one making the case for national identities in this way

What's your big interest in whether the UK goes to war or not if you've just 'been to the UK' ?

The history of a country plays a huge part in its culture, and Welsh history is different from English history even though the two interacted, but the perception and experience of those interactions will be different. Culture develops over time and with different histories it will develop in different ways.

Though now I know you're not from the UK I do apologise for being snippy, you can't be expected to know cultural differences in a foreign country. But I do hope you understand that is much more than just language, though language plays a big part, but many countries have more than one language but the people still feel they are connected to their country.

Can you quote me where I said that?

If you don't live in the UK, why do you care?
It would also help if you were willing to read up on history a little and find out why the Scots, Welsh and Irish feel they are culturally not English. It's a bit lazy to ask to be spoonfed information that is out there for you to look up.

But since you're clearly a Russia appeaser, challenging you is pointless.
I'd go to war to stand up to Putin. I'm female, 57 and unfit and I'd probably die in the first 5 minutes, but I'd bloody do it.

As for how Russian rule would be worse - well, here in the West we tend not to fling dissidents 'accidentally' out of windows, we tend not to legislate against the LGBT community and we don't describe the drive towards equality as 'decadence' (that was a bit of a giveaway, OP - it's terminology that was used in communist Russia to describe the West).

Ah - youve 'been to England', and by 'I live in a different country' you mean one within the UK... huge apologies to everyone for apparently conflating England and the UK.

A bit disingenuous to answer "Depends what they're offering" to that if not from the UK, then:
tobee
As Julia Hartley Brewer asked Russia apologist Tice, if Putin invaded Britain, what part of our country would you be happy to give up?

The culture of Ukraine is different to the culture of Russia. Can you educate me on the differences op, or do you see them as the same country? Why else would you be objecting to cultural identity.

Sure...we'll just ignore the multiple national emergencies directly caused by the Russian state e.g. the Salisbury poisonings, the critical incidents declared by multiple London hospitals following cyber attcks, separate cyber attacks on the banking industry and other organsiations like NGOs and thinktanks, parcel bombs .

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/russias-fsb-malign-cyber-activity-factsheet/russias-fsb-malign-activity-factsheet

https://pharma.nridigital.com/pharma_aug24/cyberattacks-_healthcare-russia-disruption

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07912lxx33o

Not to mention ongoing inteference with free and democratic elections (not just in the UK, but globally) and the theft/leaking of documents.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-exposes-attempted-russian-cyber-interference-in-politics-and-democratic-processes

These are not one-off incidents. They are part of a concerted effort to destabilise an enemy.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-estonia-baltics-sabotage-spying-kallas-62835b00fdb31f648ebe2259908ca2a1

And if you don't want to believe news sources or independent companies, perhaps you'll believe the head of MI5, who said, Russian agents had carried out, "arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness" [in the UK].

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-3036d1db-da99-49b3-9d64-272472095d4a

Russia are bigger than us. There's not much we can do about it

Of course they would, the industrial revolution urbanised all areas. You really think three quarters of the Scottish population would still be living in the West Highlands today? I really don't

Russia is a basket case economy. We shouldn't ignore that they try and undermine our democracy.

Currently travel to Russia from the UK is extremely limited. Let's keep it that way and keep those sanctions,

Salisbury actually occurred when we had a relatively good relationship with Russia. Putin doesn't care about the UK and we need to look very carefully at people advocating for them.

Yes, I think this is incorrect. United, Europe is actually stronger than the US. Obviously, the more people on our side, the better; but US policy changes do not mean that the war is over. I'm not saying that current efforts are sufficient; change needs to happen within Europe (in terms of their approach to and spending on defence) and it needs to happen fast, but we must have hope that it will and we must stop the defeatist attitude that 'it's all over for Ukraine'. It's not.

The link below contains more details on challenges and suggested solutions (like consolidating defense industries and weapons systems).

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/defence-speech-high-representativevice-president-kaja-kallas-annual-conference-european-defence_en

Exactly. Russia are already at war with us.

I don't understand the point of your remarks above, OP. You asked whether you were unreasonable to not want to go to war, and then said that nobody is imposing war on the UK. I have pointed out that we are already at war and that Russia is imposing war on us, whether we want to be at war or not. Your only response to that is to say "Russia is bigger"? What has that to do with the price of eggs?

You from Scotland @TemporaryPosition?

I don't think we need to make Russia our mortal enemy. We, as in the West, as part of the American Empire have not been innocent in this. There are tensions, yes. But surely to goodness the best way to proceed would be to de-escalate this. Ukraine have been left high and dry by being egged on as part of NATOs expansion and now the world has a new leader who isn't interested. The territory has been lost to Russia. It is not coming back. I mean some of it was already leased to Russia anyway, all of those smart remarks about what bits of the UK we would be happy to hand over, well firstly none of it is already rented out to Russia, but secondly, we've been quite happy selling them properties. Russia doesn't have the capability to take Europe. By all means yes we should stop relying on Russia to defend us. But we need to stop throwing people at this war. We can surely come to bloodless diplomatic solutions if we stop being hysterical and try. I just can't get over the lack of willingness to even try this.

Do you consider a ceasefire agreement a diplomatic solution?

We are not throwing people at this war.

Putin is throwing people at it. Ukrainians are defending their lives, livelihoods and country.

In which case how arrogant to try to tell someone who is a Welsh and lives in Wales what their culture is.

Ypu are both arrogant and ignorant. Stop telling a person who lives here what their culture is when you have no knowledge of it. Where are you from? Would you tell Belgians they were basically French?

National identity has nothing to do with being right wing. Weaponising it against people from other nations is. I really stand by my early comment that you don’t know what a cultural identity is - especially as I’ve since noticed you’ve conflated it as something you identify as.

Us?
Edit: I’ve re read. Ypu said you weren’t English and implied you lived elsewhere than the U.K. but didn’t actually say so. If you are Scottish or Irish and trying to argue Wales doesn’t have a cultural difference with England I can’t even begin to help you.

Ukraine wasn’t ’egged on’ to do anything. It was invaded and is defending itself.
And Russia has broken more than one ceasefire agreement already. Plus being bound by an international treaty to protect Ukraine, not attack it in the first place. Putin isn’t interested in a diplomatic solution. That makes things tricky, dont you think?