# Russia has invaded Ukraine. How will the West respond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513 "2014-02-28T15:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 153
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3041 "2014-05-09T18:50:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > “said that Hitler came to Ukraine proclaiming liberation of Ukraine from bolsheviks, but people didn’t trust him and pushed the aggressor back.” > > Don’t see much offensive there, although I see how the Communists with red flags standing there could get mad. > > Anyway, here is some interesting info. Hitler’s armies had “ethnic” volunteers. Estimates are there were around 70,000 Ukrainian volunteers. In case you think “that’s a huge number, shows how Ukrainians are fascists”, the estimate of the number of ethnic Russian volunteers in Hitler’s military varies between 200,000 and 1,000,000. Well, also he’s allegedly comparing Putin’s Russia (and its excuses for invasion) to Hitler’s Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3042 "2014-05-09T18:52:45Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Previously we erroneously thought Hitler attacked because he wanted to steal our land, now we know the Nazis were liberator come to free Ukraine from the Soviet yoke. Pity he didn’t liberate England too… > > There’s a man who knows how to pour oil on the waters. So far, none of the commentators I’ve read allege he said that. Where are you getting this translation from? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3043 "2014-05-09T18:55:44Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Well, also he’s allegedly comparing Putin’s Russia (and its excuses for invasion) to Hitler’s Germany. Well, there are definitely parallels between Sudetenland/Germany and Southeastern Ukraine/Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3044 "2014-05-09T18:58:30Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Well, there are definitely parallels between Sudetenland/Germany and Southeastern Ukraine/Russia. Certainly, to me it appears an apt comparison. Evidently, the Russian commentators feel differently, though the Youtube comments screaming for his execution don’t exactly go far to dispelling the notion that it was apt! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3045 "2014-05-09T19:02:32Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Certainly, to me it appears an apt comparison. > > Evidently, the Russian commentators feel differently, though the Youtube comments screaming for his execution don’t exactly go far to dispelling the notion that it was apt! 😃 Wonder how those Russian commentators feel about the pro-Putin Russian think tank’s director comments recently that Hitler before 1939 wasn’t so bad - in fact was “a politician of the highest class”. You, know, the Hitler of Kristallnacht - not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3046 "2014-05-09T19:19:23Z")
You’re all talking about Hitler now? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3047 "2014-05-09T19:26:48Z")
No, they are talking about people talking about Hitler. You should pay more attention maybe. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3048 "2014-05-09T19:35:54Z")
Right. I woudn’t want to miss anything: yay Sudetenland. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3049 "2014-05-09T19:38:22Z")
Yeah, why bother reading when you can yip along regardless. ---
**Author:** ![alexfot55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@alexfot55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexfot55)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3050 "2014-05-09T19:42:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If there is true oppression going on, that’s one thing. But the idea that people, any people, should be able to just up and break off from their current country is a recipe for constant war. I would have thought that Europeans, especially, would understand the value of recognizing existing borders\* except in extreme circumstances. > > And such a cavalier attitude toward fomenting future wars is frightening. Let’s not do WWIII, please. Or, if you must, keep your European wars within your own borders. As an American, I’m certainly not interested in getting pulled in, yet again, to another European conflict. > > \*How many European wars were fought over the centuries to settle on where the borders should be drawn? Nobody dragged you in a European conflict.Your involvement was planned and executed in a way that gave to you the British empire and a foothold to may other countries worldwide with immense power and wealth to your Nation with minimal casualties (I am referring to the European theater of operations.) ---
**Author:** ![alexfot55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@alexfot55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexfot55)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3051 "2014-05-09T19:43:27Z")
🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3052 "2014-05-09T19:45:30Z")
I thought the US came to save the Jews. I saw that in Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers, or Bilko. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3053 "2014-05-09T19:46:16Z")
Yeah, “America had to step up and save you” is a pretty shallow read of the history. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3054 "2014-05-09T19:51:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yeah, “America had to step up and save you” is a pretty shallow read of the history. If that’s directed at me, that’s a pretty misleading paraphrase of what I said. ---
**Author:** ![alexfot55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@alexfot55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexfot55)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3055 "2014-05-09T19:52:37Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Because if you don’t, the country will cease to exist very soon. If there is no barrier to leaving the union, then people will join up when it profits them, and leave when they have to pay back to the group. By your reasoning, why can’t I secede from the U.S., Texas, and Fort Worth, and start the principality of Scabpickeristan? > I don’t like your reasoning, because it really doesn’t make a bit of sense. If you propose a viable and prosperous solution why not indeed? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3056 "2014-05-09T19:54:02Z")
> [@NotfooledbyW](#): > > That was a typo. I’ll correct it so you can concentrate on disavowing my point: > > If you can show that the Islamists in Egypt were located in a separate region of Egypt and spoke a different language and had separate cultural ties from the rest of Egypt - you might have a point. But you can’t. > > You can’t argue against the facts, can you? What makes you so certain that Ukrainian and Russian are seperate “languages” rather than “dialects”. My college roommate was a Bulgarian who like all Eastern European during the Cold War was taught Russian. He was never taught “Ukrainian” but when he sees Ukrainian politicians giving speeches of reads a Ukrainian newspaper he understands what’s being said. Russians I met at school said the same thing and pointed out that the policy of the Russian government was that Ukrainian and Russian weren’t even seperate dialects much less languages. They compared it to British English and American English, which have a number of differences yet aren’t regarded as seperate languages. Why do you feel they are not, at best, seperate dialects, but seperate languages? Do you have some expertise in the subject that would cause you to say that? Are you certain there aren’t different spoken dialects of Arabic within Egypt? Since you insist “Russian-speakers” within the Ukraine need to be given more autonomy do you feel the same regarding “Sicilian-speakers” in Italy and “cockney-speakers” in the UK or “southern-speakers” in the US? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3057 "2014-05-09T19:54:36Z")
It did at least remind me of this: - sorry, no Hitler references. ---
**Author:** ![alexfot55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@alexfot55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexfot55)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3058 "2014-05-09T19:54:53Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Because if you don’t, the country will cease to exist very soon. If there is no barrier to leaving the union, then people will join up when it profits them, and leave when they have to pay back to the group. By your reasoning, why can’t I secede from the U.S., Texas, and Fort Worth, and start the principality of Scabpickeristan? > I don’t like your reasoning, because it really doesn’t make a bit of sense. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alexfot55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@alexfot55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexfot55)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3059 "2014-05-09T19:55:55Z")
If you propose a viable and prosperous solution why not indeed? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513/3060 "2014-05-09T19:59:09Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > I thought the US came to save the Jews. I saw that in Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers, or Bilko. I haven’t seen Bilko but neither of the other two dud so respectfully your joke is not funny and extremely stupid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513.md?page=152) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-has-invaded-ukraine-how-will-the-west-respond/682513.md?page=154)