• ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
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    7 months ago

    I hate Putin and any Russian war sympathizer as much as the next guy, but…

    My grandfather got a white phosphorus burn during WW2. He told me it was the most terrible pain he ever felt in his entire life, you can’t extinguish it, and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. I heard the same kind of stories from people who got napalm burns in Vietnam.

    I’m pretty sure thermite munitions are in the same category of basically inhumane weapons regardless of the circumstances, right up there with NBCs, mines, napalm and white phosphorus, and I can’t say I fully side with the Ukrainians on this one. I mean I understand why they do it, but I also remember my grandfather’s leg and the horror of what he told me.

      • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        As an American, I gotta say, this is probably a sentiment we ourselves shouldn’t be getting behind. War crimes are committed in our name with our weapons every single day.

        • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          No, I definitely think we should be getting behind this sentiment. The US’ invasion of Vietnam was the same brand of bullshit that Russia is doing to Ukraine, and the Vietnamese had every right to do what it took to US troops to defend their homeland. The illegal invasion of Iraq caused the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands and was perpetrated knowing that its premise was objectively false. The US right now is militarily supporting genocide in Gaza.

            • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy of your fever dream geopolitical fanfiction to understand how the war comes to the US, so I don’t feel comfortable answering yet.

              • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                History is littered with fallen empires.

                Assume Russia, China, and others decide to make war on the US and attack our country directly.

                What is your thought process going to be on war crimes and chemical weapons?

                • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Did a writer’s position come open at Bethesda and you’re canvassing people for material to use in the interview?

        • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Do you put “sitting in the comfort of the first world trying to be the moral arbiter of a people desperately defending themselves from a fascist war of extermination” as one of your hobbies on your dating profile?

          Edit: This reply was so ridiculous that I actually completely forgot to mention that this isn’t a war crime under international law.

          • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I mean, our money is funding this war instead of our own health care, so yeah, I think our people have every right to criticize if they want to.

            And besides, it wasn’t that long ago that people were saying these same things about Iraq and Afghanistan, and we later learned our money was grossly misused and corruption rampant.

            Stories have already circulated about corruption in the Zelensky government.

            • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Wow, stories have circulated you say? /s

              Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, which were immoral American misadventures, this is a Russian misadventure, and supporting the Ukrainians is pushing back against aggression.

          • skye@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            It’s also a war crime if it’s a weapon inflicting excessively injurious or having indiscriminate effects. Like flamethrowers, landmines and blinding lased weapons.

            All of these weapons are banned under Geneva Convention, and by using them in a war you would be committing a war crime

            • Vilian@lemmy.ca
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              7 months ago

              Are you being stupid because you’re just that stupid or Russia is paying you to be stupid?, at least the money is a good excuse

              • skye@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Why are you so pressed? What part of what I said is somehow in support of Russia?

                Do you then not think that U.S. using Agent Orange wouldnt count as a war crime? or any flamethrower use in WW1? or White Phosphorus?

                What would using a banned weapon during war be called if not a war crime?

                Clearly these weapons are banned because they are overly cruel, meaning it gets the job too well done.

                Last time I checked if someone used banned substances that counts as a crime. And if someone were to break the same rules for war, it would qualify as a crime during wartime (war crime for short).

                But no you just think that every hint of criticism against anyone good means that you’re against that fully? Have you heard of the word ‘nuance’ before?

        • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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          7 months ago

          Not alone, it isn’t, but there’s much more to take into account. Russia’s invasion was illegal to begin with, and they have committed numerous war crimes along the way. Most importantly (to me), Ukraine isn’t using this to attack, but as defense on their own soil.

          These factors, along with others, make it a morally complex issue. Honestly, I don’t know where I stand.

        • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Breaking news: fascist oligarch produces paper-thin lies to justify a war of aggression. Local Lemmy user learns what a firehose of falsehoods is. This and more news coming up at 11.

    • hoch@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      After seeing countless attacks on Ukrainian civilians, I really don’t care what happens to the invading forces anymore. Remove them from Ukrainian territory however you want, I really don’t care.

    • nandeEbisu@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It does sound borderline war crime, but then again the US buried thousands of Iraqi soldiers alive in the first gulf war, but our lawyers also did the mental gymnastics to justify it not being one beforehand so presumably they have some justification so its just barely legal. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-12-mn-2959-story.html

      That being said, its not like Russia is being super careful about its rules of engagement.