Washington’s criticism is misplaced: attacks on oil refineries will not have the effect on global energy markets that U.S. officials fear. These strikes reduce Russia’s ability to turn its oil into usable products; they do not affect the volume of oil it can extract or export. In fact, with less domestic refining capacity, Russia will be forced to export more of its crude oil, not less, pushing global prices down rather than up. Indeed, Russian firms have already started selling more unrefined oil overseas. As long as they remain restricted to Russian refineries, the attacks are unlikely to raise the price of oil for Western consumers.
You’re asking so many questions that it’s borderline gish gallop. I’ll just focus on one:
This is likely why you’re getting down votes. You’re making two false assumptions with this question that seems to sorta sum up your whole point: first that Russia is willing to sacrifice everything and second that it would take us sacrificing everything in kind to push them back. Russia is running low on war machine fodder and is now resorting to tricking people into coming to Russia for economic opportunity only to be thrown to the frontlines. To my knowledge, no Americans are fighting in Ukraine. It’s also worth noting that America is not the only country who should or is doing anything to help Ukraine; pretty much all of Western Europe is on board, and that’s good news because it’d be pretty fucking dumb to ignore a raging fire next door when your house is mighty flammable; if Russia takes Ukraine, they won’t just stop there.
At the end of the day, yeah I could see this escalating to a direct war with Russia, and I have very few concerns about that. I don’t think that what we’re doing is so little that we might as well do nothing and watch Ukraine fall. That’s the most defeatist, futile, pointless exercise of a thought experiment I can imagine. That’s like deciding to never eat again just because you didn’t have time to eat breakfast this morning.
How irrational is the idea that Russia won’t stop at Ukraine? These guys don’t have the logistics to extend 100km from their border. You lying or a bot? What you’re saying is a plain contradiction of reality.
I hate the internet where people say the most obvious lies with complete conviction. This stuff has to be fake content produced by somebody with an agenda. It’s on both sides. Sure. This is war in 2024. But here we are, the small people trying to eat and pay rent while our masters are telling us it’s worth sacrificing it all for some country that doesn’t affect us. Why? So Haliburton et al can get another trillion? But the cost is that we’re cut off from honestly discussing the life or death issues of our class.
I’m poor and it sucks! It sucks more when gas prices go up and nobody hears me because I’m under a mountain of propaganda and botted down votes.
Because I know my history. Nazi Germany expanded little by little. And we let Hitler do it several times, thinking he would stop after this one or after that one.
Good thing Russia stopped after Georgia… /s
Your economic hardship does not excuse a torrent of war crimes. I agree that there are war profiteers making out great right now, but it’s silly to think that allowing Russia to do whatever they want and kill everyone in their path is somehow sticking it to the billionaire elite class and helping you somehow. And calling me a bot for pointing that out makes you seem even less credible.
It’s not. Crack open a history book, there’s a non-zero chance you might learn something.