Wolff Responds: Taking Positions on Ukraine 

Hahaha Smedley.

The only victor is the banking cartel and military industrial complex! But this time it is different. War in Ukraine is escalating! Nuclear WW3 is closer than psychopaths without conscience think!!!

can't be anti-war if you're pro-war for _Ru_ssia

the only place its a "RACKET" is the US and UK.......you know the ones fostering wars globally 24/7....GTFO with that US garbage.

It usually is a racket . But sometimes even against all odds people MUST fight for their homes and their right to choose their own form of government.

AND 48 PEOPLE BURNED ALIVE IN ODESSA .

Unfortunately MSM spews their Blood thirsty, warmongering, one sided propaganda.

@@ananke2104 48 is just the official figure, the real number was more than 100.

And the people massacred in Maidan

No most of thouse people are armed combatants of Russia and Ukraine fighting in the illegal invasion that Russia conducted in 2014. Their were also of many deaths of non-combatants mostly by shelling at the hands of both sides but Russia has consistently tried to falsly claim the deaths IT CAUSED as they were an ethnic clensing conducted against Russian speakers alone at the hands of Ukraine.

While I ordinarily very much am in favor of diplomatic solutions, I'm not sure there's a lot of diplomacy to do in the current situation. Putin is trying to rebuild the territory once held by the USSR, he's obsessed with it, and he's old and won't probably live too much longer to see it. This is his legacy he's working on, which is why they haven't cut their losses. Diplomacy would only be a way that Russia distracts us or extracts concessions only to continue to push afterward in this scenario. Diplomacy can only work if Putin is ousted and this old-fashioned dream of war-based imperialist conquest dies with his reign. I say this objectively with what I know of the situation.. I support Ukraine fighting them off at the moment, defensively. It's painful and costs lives but it would probably cost more lives and do more long-term damage to people to let them trample through the country. That said, this is far from an ideal scenario to have in the first place. I'm no fan of the US, of NATO, of Zelensky, of liberalism or conservatism. I mention that because often when I say anything about this conflict I somehow get called a Russian bot or a CIA shill or etc. for not being extreme enough in one direction or the other, so I figured I'd just head it off. If I had my way there'd be no US, no Russia, no Ukraine, no NATO, just people deciding what to do to better their lives in this world as equals sharing their resources and skills.

@@UdderlyEvelyn Very well said!

Great comment and so true. No talk of peace

​@@UdderlyEvelyn "Putin is trying to rebuild territory once held by USSR" I mean it's the same song sung by the MSM 24/7 without any logic behind it. If that's the case, Russia won't pursue the Minsk agreement for 8 years which would end the war that started in 2014 and turn Ukraine into a buffer state. And Russia wouldn't have sat by for 8 years while the Ukrainian government shelled thousands of Russian ethnics in Donbas. They would instead interfere with the local election like what Victoria Nuland did in 2014. Or bomb Kyiv to smithereens like what NATO did in Syria. But Russia didn't do all of that. They preserved the railroads, bridges, and power plants when they came in with a small force. It's the same "Sadam has WMD" all over again before it's been revealed as fake propaganda resulting in a million Iraqis dead. And MSM saying Putin has cancer this and that is childish and has no basis. He looked perky and energetic during their V-day celebration. If that's the case, NATO expanding 5 times (not the opposite) since the fall of the soviet union and off-loading massive weapons there could be interpreted as trying to encircle and eliminate Russia, no? After all NATO's boogieman is Russia and NATO did bomb Syria and Libya to ashes. What would the US do if Russia has a presence in Mexico? The best way to end this conflict is not to continue sending arms so that the west can fight to the last Ukrainians. The best way is for NATO to come into a peaceful agreement with Russia.

Diplomacy was be conducted on a basis of unconditional recognition of and respect for international law. Potsdam declaration 2.0

It is not surprising that hate speeches have become so common recently including the paper politicians and heads of states.

No thank you to Marxist appeasers. Wolff talking about Eugene Debs shows how out of touch he is. He is a child of communists with a soft spot for Moscow. Glory to Ukraine! Death to Moscow!

'slow genocide' - an oxymoron. Either it's a genocide or it isn't.

@@manco828 of course a genocide can be slow tf are you saying.

Palestinians continue to self-destruct. The answer is the same as it has been since 1948. Repudiate Hamas and the policy of destruction of Israel.

@@robokugel3383 If you takke many years to kill everybody, it isn't genocide?

you will never hear that in the MSM it'll be called communism

Lets not forget the 3-5 million killed in South east Asia, and the 3+ million killed in Korea. How much does that still effect people to this day? Most Americans don't even know that people are still dying every month from American dropped bombs in south east Asia. Children, farmers, ordinary folks, or the children still to this day born with horrible birth defects from the enormous amounts of agent orange sprayed over Vietnam. Or the extermination of 500,000 to 1 million people in east Timor, and let us not forget the millions more effected in smaller massacres, coups, staged by the United States throughout central and South America and Africa. The hypocrisy of the United States to talk about human rights is almost incomprehensible.

Blame Yemeni on the Saudis. Afghanistan had a GDP of only $1 billion before USA went in, so it was broken long before America got involved.

@@tradeprosper5002 Really shows where your morals (lack of)and mindset is, you focus on the GDP instead of the tens of thousands dead in a military invasion. Human lives are more important than the all mighty dollar you worship.

👍👏

I couldn’t agree more. America invades Iraq and it is seen as unqualified capitalist evil. Russia invades Ukrainian and “mistakes were made on both sides”.

Andy remember Cuban crisis in 1962.Read up on it.This is the same only the shoe is on the other foot.

I agree. Putin is clearly the aggressor in this war. Oh, sorry - I meant to say “special operation” to rescue the Ukrainians from the Nazis. I love Professor Wolff. He is smart, thinks clearly, speaks concisely, but right now he’s sounding like an apologist for Putin.

Russia is based

@@rjh7728remind me again iraq, vietnam, libya, syria, korea which one is on american border and actively killing their pro american population and forcing america to take influx of refugees? Dumb yanks

Russia has invaded a sovereign nation and committed atrocities there. They still occupy 3 oblasts of Ukraine (4 + 1 if including Crimea and Sevastopol). Should Russia be rewarded for imperialism?

@@bladedevaporite8969 USA was rewarded for invading Iraq and Afghanistan.

We can talk all we want about how wrong its. But we would do the same, if we was in russias position. Not to mention that the us has invaded counties with far less convincing reasons

@@NarutoSSj6 there where far less americans in Mexico when US invaded.

@@NarutoSSj6 There is no convincing reasons for Russia to invade Ukraine

Take the side of working people. All of these governments were and are corrupt

@@Lucas-sc6lr Sorry, but Ukrainian workers are getting shelled by Russia, not vice versa.

@@rafaelkesic I really don't get it why you people have such a limited and tunneled vision of this conflict, that you can't understand how it developed to this point. All you have is this reductionist point that Russia is shelling civilians and the moral high ground, when this isn't even the information I'm trying to convey. Are you deeply aware how this conflict started, or you got the TLDR versions and took them as gospel? Because I'm getting pretty tired of having to sail through a sea of conflicting biases in order to find some semblance of actual info, in order to EXPLAIN (not pass judgment) of what position to take in this conflict. This is a response to a 3 month old comment, and I still have the same position. Support the workers, not their government. The US has pitted Ukraine against Russia in a proxy war, and Russia saw the civil war that the US started there as an opportunity to expand. The only people suffering right now due to the consequences of the war are the people and the workers, and this consequences are a destroyed economy, a highly corrupt government, and the weakening of labor protections due to the privatization of several areas.

@@Lucas-sc6lr My man, I spent eight years straight following the whole crisis from several standpoints. It's the most one-sided conflict since WW2. A corrupt country with democratic aspirations, willing to change on one side, and a brutal imperialistic remnant of a dead empire on the other. But of course, you're sitting comfortably one whole ocean away. Russian drones aren't crashing down on your capital and there's no columns of war refugees flowing over the border. Your entire country isn't recognizing itself in this war. We went throught the same exact thing 30 years ago. Everything is there: - false accusations of nazism and ethnic cleansing (ustaše - ukronazis) - ethnonationalist puppet states installed by the enemy (DPR/LPR - Krajina) - technically superior but incompetent enemy (Russian army - JNA) - an enemy who claims we're the same people (Catholic Serbs - Little Russians) - accusations of western aggression when there was none You won't understand until it happens to you. And I hope it never does.

I think you meant "enlightening". I hope you don't mind my correction ; it's meant to be helpful & not rude.

Yes shout the water supply while the house is burning.

I think we all know which nation could solely end war with a national strike, to pretend the weight or responsibility is somehow evenly distributed and/or global is holding water for Putin.

I agree, make capitalism scream and die once and for all.

To stop the war or wars ? There are wars going on in other part of the world , not only in Ukraine .

@@ananke2104 All the wars; USA bombed Somalia the same day Russia invaded Ukraine.

That makes Russia right in a way, because they were cornered and not left with any other option, which nobody wants to admit...doesn't sound politically correct, I guess.

@@rashmigupta9 Oh that's been plainly clear to anyone with an open mind, no prejudice and a look at history. You are quite right Rashmi.

No, Russia conducted an invasion and anexation of it's neibhor and Ukraine along with the rest of the world refused to accept this illegal act.

@@kennethferland5579 Nope. Not true at all. It's been well documented even in the MSM.

I understand what you mean, but next time better take gloves off before writing 😉

They definitely did some stuff that they knew would piss Russia off, but that doesn't justify Russia killing civilians and trampling Ukraine. If you look at Ukraine as part of Russia's slice of the world being made neoliberal and aligned with NATO then you're looking through an imperialist lens in one direction. If you look at Ukraine as a part of Europe under threat from Russia to become part of an enemy, you're looking at it from a US/European imperialist lens in the other direction. It's important to remember that these are human beings just trying to live their lives who are suffering here, and in that I include the Russian troops being sent to do things that most of them probably wouldn't agree with as well as the Ukrainian troops (except Azov..), not just the civilians. Imperialism is what happens when capitalism hits a wall and needs more resources to fuel itself, it's when a nation reaches out to grasp at something nearby to pull itself up rather than let the way things run change. Soft imperialism from the west might not be as deadly but it's also wrong. That doesn't justify hard imperialism from Russia, though. Both sides can be in the wrong at the same time, there's no good guys here, just marginally less bad ones.

​ @Udderly Evelyn 14'000, mostly civilians, mostly killed by Ukraine before Feb 24. fyi

@@felixrabe Yeah I know. Fucked up unofficial war for 8 years after an election didn't go their way and they annexed Crimea to keep offshore oil away from Ukraine while they try to take control again, only to mask off invade..

Isn't Russia still socialist? I think I would rather live in the USA still, where such worker is treated better than in Russia and has more freedoms there regardless of the political climate.

another _Ru_ssia denier

Agression by the United States? Agression by NATO? That is an oxymoron.

Thank you

@@absoluteset not all of us in the US have lost our minds, I did my own research. Articles, documentaries, videos, a bunch of war crimes reports over the last 8 years, the roses have Thorns series on RU-vid is a 25 hour long series just by itself. I didn't buy what our media was saying. No need to thank me for doing what everyone should have done.

Thank you for that. No one else was protecting the Donbas region while thousands died. Asking politely wasn’t going to do it.

Amen.

Very well said . My exact sentiments .

Learn about the Minsk agreement first.

@@user-od6ck9pj6y Eat more vegetables.

@Ludwig Nickles "excellent point"? That completely misses the point of the original comment : /

It's a f..ing genocide.

Or Yemen

@@RogerCillion agree

To understand the answer to your question I would suggest you read Lenin's "Imperialism...The Highest Stage of Capitalism" and then follow up with an understanding of Mackinder's "Heartland Theory" component of his larger "World Island Theory"...

I don't get the impression that he was insinuating it was, or that he was being "nice" to them in any way. Why do you say this? I'm not being incredulous, I mean it, I don't see what you do.

@@UdderlyEvelyn There's an overwhelming trend among Socialists to defend Russia at the most, and downplay Russian fascism and imperialism at least. Often with whataboutism. Wolff has been doing that with regard to this war

@@duderdude4831 I am aware of the trend in general, some act like Russia is still the USSR.. but I haven't really seen Wolff do it.

Is it a misdeed to intercede to prevent what would have been mass slaughter? It was well known that Ukrainian forces lead by Azov were preparing for a massive attack on Donbas & Luhansk. The sensible option via representation at the UN had been ignored for the past 8 years. Don't forget this happened on a smaller scale when the Zelenski Ukrainians trapped & burned Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity in a building.

@@spidermann1256 So naturally Russia attacked Kiev, flattened Mariupol, severely damaged Kharkiv, wiped hundreds of villages and dozens of smaller cities across Ukraine off the map, committed multiple war crimes to include the invasion itself, killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced millions, just happened to secure all of the Crimean gas fields, is now trying to split the country and land-lock it, Moldova is next, and Finland had better watch out? But - but in a nation of 44 million people, there may be at most 50,000 Nazis total (0.001%) and guys - they're everywhere and doing everything!?! Bad maps? Trying to prove the Russian army can do it far bigger and far worse? Spare me your tears. Save it for The Hague.

@@carycunningham9510 I think you're being selective on the events leading up to Russia recognising Donesk & Lughansk. Main issues - Zelensky was elected on a 'peace & reconciliation' platform embracing all ethnicities than comprise the present Ukraine*. However, this overnight billionaire was totally sidelined by the Azovs, Banderites, etc which was the main reason why the Minsk agreements were ignored & those of Russian ethnicity & other slavs were slowly being genocided [Azov's words, not mine]. You are also mistaken if you think the 'tiny' minority of nazis in their various guises cannot be THAT influential over the populace. Their proportions are similar to the original Nazis in WW2 - it's not their proportionate size that counts, it's their POSITIONING where they lead most of the initiatives. There's footage of Zelenski 'ordering' the Azovs to lay down their arms [following the 2014 attack on Russian ethnics], only to be laughed out of town. As for the strategy & tactical movements of the Russian army - it was simply that. In any conflict on this scale, you need to deny the opposite side the means of re-supplying the essentials like fuel, munitions, etc. They did NOT target civilians, unlike the Azovs who deliberately attacked non-military areas. Not forgetting that Ukraine was de facto part of NATO in many ways. *The present Ukraine was expanded by previous USSR leaders like Lenin & Krushchev to incorporate regions not originally part of the more 'western' Ukraine. Eg: Crimea was originally part of Russia & it has gone full circle when the majority of Ukrainians of Russian origin decided to vote to be returned back to the motherland.

@@spidermann1256 Actually, I think you are the one being selective. This mess all started when oil and gas reserves were discovered in 2010, NOT 2014. Squeaky clean and free of outside influence Yanukovych (NOT), who is presently hiding out in Russia (because he's so popular) was the leader then. The Ukrainian Army, with the broad support of the people, are SUPPORTING the fruits of the CIA coup?!? And I'll grant you the coup; CIA - always up to something. But why the support? Again, I know, the Nazis. They are the "special sauce" that is poured on the whole discussion. You are bolt wrong about how many Nazis it took to control Germany. Hitler, in peacetime, required well in excess of 2 million men to secure the country. Ever heard of the SA? Prewar Germany had a population about 50% larger than present day Ukraine. Based on that math it would take well over a million men today to achieve the same results in Ukraine. I generously turned the Azov battalion (which is about 400 guys) into FIVE DIVISIONS or 50,000 men. I'm not saying they have that many but I just don't want to argue it so lets round way up. Now I'm supposed to believe that these super-commando, ultra-ninja Nazis (they do have smartphones) are: Controlling the government, controlling the army now in excess of 300,000 and compelling them to fight like mad, controlling the general population to the point that they broadly support the government, the army, and the war even to the point of keeping silent about all the butchery the Nazis are doing against them by provoking the poor Russian Army into massive artillery barrages and airstrikes and false-flagging slaughter after slaughter? All this during wartime where the invading Russian Army (they don't like Nazis) would shoot them on sight? All this while the Azov Regiment (at this point probably back down to a battalion) is engaged in savage combat in Mariupol against the Chechens and the Russian Marines? They aren't getting any relief down there are they? Hmm.... Look, if they are that good, just give up, you can't possibly win. Hitler could only dream of having Nazis that are this effective. I'll grant you that the Ukraine is corrupt. Kindly show me the major country that is not? Russia is not? Why is the former chief of Russian intelligence now sitting in the worst gulag Russia has to offer? Bad dancing? When Russia sent airborne troops to their slaughter around Kiev they thought they would be greeted as liberators, or that at least they would be greeted by sympathetic militia - didn't happen. Why? Now I just know it wouldn't be because all the money in years prior that was supposed to "cultivate" these hoped-for movements was instead pocketed by corrupt intelligence officials who nevertheless assured Putin that the plan for a swift decapitation of the government would work. Similar to the MO Russia did in Georgia when they "liberated" the mineral rights there. See a pattern? Ah, the Minsk agreements. Rather than argue that one and whether Lincoln got the Civil War wrong, I'll just give you that one. And raise you the Budapest Memorandum, a non-aggression pact (Russia was a signatory) whereby the Ukraine would give up it's nukes in exchange for security. How did that one work out? Why in the world would a bunch of corrupt Nazis give up their nukes?!? Hitler would never have approved of this. And to wrap up: Hard to say you are not targeting civilians when you flatten entire villages, towns and cities. You don't assault the capital at great cost as either a feint or to cut off supplies. Nope, that's just BS. You can rewrite the map of Europe just about any way you want if you go back far enough - should Italy get it all? I mean the Roman Empire, right? I tend to look at the living and where they are presently. Keeps it simple.

@@carycunningham9510 My recollection of the Budapest Memo is that it had a proviso for self-defence. Putin had warned in countless speeches that Russia will not tolerate any further expansion of NATO (also an anachronism) towards its borders. He stated time & again that this represents an existential threat. Pretty much all the video of the Ukraine troops feature nazi symbols, including those supping with Nuland & the Vietnam hero McCain when the "Yats is our man" strategy was being played out. The nukes for security exchange was a red herring - Russia controlled the launch codes. I repeat, Zelensky was elected on a peace & reconciliation platform, which he was powerless to implement. The Russian strategy was NOT shock & awe, which is the province of the brave US & NATO forces. This means you flatten everything, as in Iraq. Not so in the current conflict. Glasses houses & the hunt for natural resources - it's the rapacious US & cohorts that are blacker than black on this. This is all shenanigans of the floundering hegemon. I repeat, the original 'Ukraine', meaning the West leaning region, was expanded significantly to incorporate others in the days of the USSR. It's the extremists leading the charge that has brought this about. Post mortem - the Ukraine before Feb 2022 is no more. If they'd kept to the Minsk agreements & desisted in hosting NATO (plans to develop naval facilities with the Brits, bio-chem labs, amalgamation of NATO weaponry, etc), we'd still have a healthy multi-cultural nation blessed with wonderful natural resources, etc benefiting from relationships with both sides. Instead of which we are mired in this dreadful inextricable mess. This was not started by Putin but I think he'll finish it. On his terms.

Don't sell a small person weapons just because you want someone to poke the person next to them for you.

As an observer who favors peace you hold the aggressor up and force them to let their prey go, then disarm them. The problem is if we extend the metaphor to match the real world the aggressor also has a suicide vest rigged to go off if their heart rate goes too high, which is a bit of an issue.

Dont be the patsy who accepts money to take on a guy with a knife and gun... Hope it's not too late to make peace.

Not currently, any time.

Oh an overlander.. beats 4wd all to pieces.

I hope you enjoy the serenity of camping in Ukraine!

Deep state cheeply interfering free speech. Thank you, troll, your babbling is counted.

@@NN-ul4oy free speech means free speech. That's not complicated.

I'm an abruptly retired nâtø general on holiday in mârîûpøl (sightseeing near a steel plant) in a helicopter, when it got diverted. I genuinely have no idea why. Thankfully I'm now extending my vacay in Russia, please ask mom to come get me soon.