When all that Sabina Higgins Ukraine business happened, I thought not enough people appreciated the stupidity and bad faith in the [pro-Russian article by Geoffrey Roberts](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022/07/13/ukraine-must-grasp-peace-from-jaws-of-unwinnable-war/) that she praised.
Fair enough, being thick wasn’t the worst aspect of that story, but now that the predictions of the Roberts article have been put to the test, I think it’s fun to revisit it:
> Because of its overwhelmingly superior firepower, Russia is winning a war that Ukraine cannot but lose, irrespective of the amount of western military aid or “wonder weapons” it receives.
Lol.
On what Ukraine would get out of the author’s imaginary peace deal:
> There is little or no chance Russia will withdraw from the territories it has occupied so far
Lmao
> but Ukraine would retain control of the great majority of its territory, including Kharkov, Odesa and Dnipro. If the war drags on, these key cities will be among the Russians’ next targets.
This was extremely dumb even when Roberts wrote it! It was already clear that Russia had little hope of taking those cities. Now these suggestions are just laughable.
Oh and for a refresher, here’s what Sabina had to say about this article:
> For people grieved by the suffering and longing to hear some mention of peace or negotiation it was so welcome to read the deeply concerned and thought-out article by the historian Geoffrey Roberts, emeritus professor of history at UCC, saying that now is the time for peace negotiation
Anyway just wanted to get this off my chest and point and laugh at people who believed this crap.
9 comments
Bit early to celebrate winning the war?
Unfortunately many on the left were happy to surrender prematurely. It’s a consequence of Russian propaganda seeping into their information bubble.
Many on the hard-right are just flat out pro Putin.
Ukrainians starting to make a lot of people look really foolish. Sometimes you just have to stand up to the bully.
Russian conscripts have no desire to fight Ukrainians fighting for their homeland backed up with a now non stop supply of NATO weapons. This could turn into a rout.
Yeah, if it wasn’t for citing Roberts, I could have given her the benefit of the doubt and assumed her calls for peace were just the usual, anodyne and nice but pointless tweets that some people made without understanding anything about the conflict. Naive rather than dangerous.
But citing Roberts made it proper tankie territory given he urges Ukraine to sacrifice their sovereign territory to Russia. And I’m not sure why so many tankies see a historian who specializes on Stalin as having any expertise on contemporary international relations, geopolitics or military affairs.
She should know her role and stfu
>but now that the predictions of the Roberts article have been put to the test
Do you think you actually know what happening in this war? I feel I don’t, it is mainly a stream of constant ‘good news’ from the front. I’d like to know what is going on with the Russians forces in Ukraine from a non-biased perspective. To their credit back in 2014 Vice News had a reporter (Simon Ostrovsky) who done excellent reporting of what was actually happening on the ground in Ukraine, mainly because he had access to both sides. This current conflict it is virtually impossible to get any reporting that isn’t purely from the Ukrainian perspective.
In a free and open democracy it’s ok to voice opposition but it’s also acceptable to mock an opinion. This post is freedom.
In a drawn out war territory goes back and forth as each side occassionally launches big prepared attacks.
We really don’t know enough to say that Ukraine will win.
Didn’t we already absolutely beat this topic to death? Is it really necessary for everyone to be like “Look at me! I need to show everyone that *I* hate Russia and Sabina the most!” all over again?
And before anyone suggests otherwise, I’m very glad Russia is getting it’s arse kicked. It’s what all far-right loons deserve.