I didn't realize how many war experts were on the DU!

[USALiberal]

Carry on!

[Ocelot II]

1. The Internet has always been well-stocked with armchair generals.

And we know that opinions are like assholes: Everybody's got one.

[AlexSFCA]

2. I learned more about war and weapon than I ever wanted to!

many suggestions discussed on DU have been implemented. We are ahead of the world in collective thinking. That’s why I still have hope embargo on russia’s energy sector imposed by EU is feasible. There may be support among EU citizens.

[Sneederbunk]

3. For what it's worth, some are left over from Vietnam.

[underpants]

4. There's plenty of good information available

and DU is always a great source. Nothing is that hard to figure out with the right sources.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

5. IKR?

These so called war experts, the majority of whom have never seen a day of combat or the horrors that go with it are clueless.

[PortTack]

13. Agree..watched one young vet say..if you haven't been in a combat zone then STFU!!

[Wingus Dingus]

16. No, we all get a say in what our military does.

[Tomconroy]

21. I'm an American citizen and have no obligation to STFU.

[Scrivener7]

35. Which is a very anti-American sentiment, really.

[lapfog_1]

39. Lets see...

My father served in WWII, was at Anzio, the North Atlantic, and flew a PBY in the pacific.

My brother served and dies in the Navy during Vietnam.

I would have gone to Annapolis except for my brother's death ( I thought the notification officers that rolled up to my house were there to tell me about being accepted into the Academy).

And we all have a right to our opinions. That is what my father and brother fought for.

[RainCaster]

6. Facebook is full of immunological & Constitutional experts

I'm amazed at how many have time free to tell us their expert opinions during the pandemic. I'm sure the same motivation exists for the martial experts.

[bigtree]

7. what kind of society doesn't have knowledge and understanding about what their military is doing?

...I'd argue that less knowledge and understanding is a bad thing.

Many posters have actual war experience - for others, this isn't the first military crisis they've experienced, some up close and personal. I value those perspectives and viewpoints.

I'd guess that's why we have a civilian Sec of Defense, because aside from technical issues and decisions, what our military does in our nation's name and presumed defense should be everyone's expertise.

Carry on, yerself.

[Scrivener7]

15. There seems to be an odd movement here lately that disdains actual discussion about events

and needs to make fun of those who engage in the discussions.

They seem to feel that most conversation is best left to the professionals.

I can't help but remember that they are free to pass on the conversations that annoy them so much. But they don't seem to. They seem to need to talk about their annoyance.

Not sure where that's coming from, but I much prefer your viewpoint.

[NutmegYankee]

29. +1.

[qazplm135]

41. Definitely

Basically a shut up follow the leaders thing where we only discuss whether things are going great or extra great or whether Republicans suck or really suck (admittedly I go with really suck).

Exchanging ideas even wrong ones has value.

[radius777]

52. Precisely. We live in a democratic republic with a civilian controlled military.

It is the duty of everyday citizens to voice their concerns and opinions regarding national and international affairs, and of the policies and workings of our government and military. Being an expert on any particular topic is not a prerequisite for democratic participation.

The founders were very clear on such principles, to prevent the democratic experiment from devolving into a military state.

A government of the people, by the people for the people - not a government of experts and generals.

It should be noted that most regular people couldn't care less about world politics or military objectives - until they are forced to because the so called experts and leaders who were supposed to prevent situations like this have failed to do their jobs - and now innocent people are being slaughtered and the security of the world is at grave risk. Putin was appeased for 20+ years and this is the end result.

[EYESORE 9001]

8. Quite a few, it seems

It reminds me of anti-intellectuals who hold high-falutin’ education in disdain. If you want your opinion on something as important as war to count for anything, you need to bring something to the table that shows you know WTF you’re talking about.

[JohnSJ]

9. Isn't that the truth. I am surprised they aren't on a plane to Ukraine to oversee the operation

[USALiberal]

10. +1000

[Celerity]

38. +1000

[Doodley]

11. If Trump is a war expert, we all are.

[Wingus Dingus]

12. I haven't seen anyone proclaiming to be war experts. I have seen

many DUer's ask for US policies aimed at stopping Putin and helping Ukraine, however dangerous or misguided those might be. There's nothing wrong with that. Joe Biden and Gen. Milley aren't reading DU for guidance, so we can talk as much as we want.

[AntiFascist]

42. Exactly, but our elected leaders can also be persuaded by public opinion...

and, at the moment, the majority of Americans don't seem to want us to get directly involved.

[Wingus Dingus]

43. Most people probably understand that we can't be actual combatants

against Russia.

[AntiFascist]

45. They understand what they are being told, ad nauseum n/t

[Celerity]

44. I am fairly sure the OP is referring to the 'cruise missile Putin's palaces and the Kremlin' and/or

the 'send US/NATO ground troops into Ukraine to directly fight the Russians' and/or 'the US and NATO must do a complete no-fly zone and shoot down Russian planes if need be' crowd.

Any one or two or all three would very likely be WWIII-inducing actions, especially the first.

I understand that DU is just a chat board, and people are free to suggest most anything, but given that, valid criticism of those proposals is definitely something that is going to occur as well.

[Wingus Dingus]

46. There's a difference between proposing something and having that

proposal torn to shreds, argument-wise, on a forum...vs. "Unless you're an expert/served in combat/are in the State Dept. you should STFU!" DU is an outlet for regular people to not have to STFU.

[Celerity]

50. I have never told anyone here to STFU, and certainly am not doing so now. Any posters doing so are

way out over their skis, and I condemn that level of vitriol.

[drray23]

14. First of, it's a discussion board

People are there to discuss, give their opinions and debate it. As it happens sone of us are also veterans but regardless, we live in a democracy and are entitled to have an opinion on the conduct of a war where we might get involved. Carry on.

[EYESORE 9001]

18. I'm a veteran too

but I don’t believe it endows me with expertise in geopolitical machinations- up to and including warfare. It’s galling when people second-guess the decisions of those in President Biden’s chain of command. I leave that to the fools who find fault with everything the man does.

[drray23]

22. read the last part of my post.

We are absolutely entitled to have an opinion positive or negative on anything our government does in our name . We don't live in Russia, we live in a democracy.

Are some of these opinions misguided or plain wrong ? Sure but that is what happen in a democracy. It's up to elected officials to convince us of their course of action.

Millions watch the super bowl and definitely have an opinion on how the play should have been conducted even thought most people aren't former NFL players. Sane thing.

[EYESORE 9001]

23. Football vs nuclear war

Totally the same.

[NutmegYankee]

30. Perhaps you should work on not finding it so galling.

This is America, and this is also a discussion board. People will sometimes express opinions you find stupid or ill informed. Rather than be annoyed or desire to shut them up, debate or discuss with them and persuade them.

[Scrivener7]

32. Then it would be best for you if you simply stayed out of the conversations. Because most of us

are capable of understanding that that is what they are. Conversations. You seem to think they are some kind of order being issued.

Which, of course, is just silly.

[highplainsdem]

17. Some DUers have a lot of military experience. Some have civiilian experience dealing

with military equipment and issues. Some have experience with public debates on defense issues.

All have access to a lot of information, and they have every reason to want to talk about this.

I noticed that in the "Where does DU stand?" poll in GD now, you were in the small minority voting to "stay out of it."

Which I'm guessing explains your OP ridiculing discussions of the conflict here.

[USALiberal]

19. The poll made no sense....

What does “We got to do more” mean?

[highplainsdem]

24. Sigh. I think it was clear. It's also been a major topic of discussion in the media.

It doesn't have to be exactly defined.

It was at least as clear as "stay out of it," which was the option you voted for, as if the invasion is happening in a bubble with no effects outside the borders of Russian and Ukraine.

If you're unhappy with the perfectly understandable concern of people here, and their wish to talk about it, then just skip those threads.

[EYESORE 9001]

25. That is pretty nebulous

A reason why I don’t vote in half-baked polls.

[LakeArenal]

55. Besides the bad grammar?

Seriously, threads that serve to rile us all up over opinions and unsubstantiated facts serve their own purpose.

If you think a thread or comment is stupid, pass on it.

[demmiblue]

26. Meta!!!1!1!11!1!

[doc03]

27. We have experts here for any subject. nt

[marie999]

28. I was a Russian linguist in the 528th Military Intelligence Company in the 60s.

I knew a lot about the Soviet Union. There isn't the Soviet Union anymore. I don't have a clue about what is going to happen now.

[USALiberal]

47. I bet that was an interesting job though. Nt

[marie999]

54. It was, but there were some scary times like the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Funny thing though sometimes you learn something that isn't important at the time and 20 years later you read something and it all comes back. Don't know what is classified but basically, we were discussing a certain Russian bomber and 20 years later I was reading an article on Grenada in a magazine about how it was doing some construction on its airport and it immediately hit me that we were probably going to do something about it. I was not surprised when we invaded Grenada.

[dalton99a]

31. You don't need to be a chef to recognize a shit sandwich

[Mr.Bill]

33. And a lot of us are old enough

to remember the old Soviet Union doing in other countries exactly what Russia is doing to Ukraine while we did not militarily intervene.

[mcar]

34. War experts, political experts, governance experts

You name it, we got 'em.

[USALiberal]

48. +1000

[fescuerescue]

36. The same people are also infectious disease experts

[USALiberal]

49. True!! Nt

[Whiskeytide]

37. In the marketplace of ideas, some people are wealthy. Others, not so much. n/t

[IBEWVET]

40. I have been in combat

But I have no knowledge of what is going on except from news. I do know war is far worse than what is shown on the news and my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine.

[48656c6c6f20]

51. Yakov Smirnoff says, In America we let civilians run the military.

In Russia we let an ex KGB agent run our military and he kills us if we argue about it. Russia is fun! America not so much fun.

[lame54]

53. Newly appointed from the pandemic ward

[Torchlight]

56. ok lol nt

[USALiberal]

57. I got a stalker! Nt