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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   1394 thread views

Transnational Thursday for July 9, 2026

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Interesting that the landing craft crash happened just five days after Russian forces broke through at Mariupol....

I'm honestly unsure of what you're trying to imply here.

That the importance of a person’s martyrdom is often only visible in the light of history, and isn’t controlled by the number of tasteless bon mottes belched out by soulless haters. On April 5, 1968, it looked pretty definite that the Civil Rights movement had been killed with Dr. King. In hindsight, that is obviously not the case. We won’t know the verdict on Charlie Kirk until at least 2050.

I think you responded to the wrong comment? Charlie Kirk sure wasn't on that landing craft (although it would be an even funnier conspiracy theory...)

God damn it sorry, I had a post replying to the post in the main culture war thread discussing his Kirk’s death. I got your reply notification and thought you were asking for clarification on that.

To answer your question, There were persistent rumors that a large contingent of NATO advisors got trapped in Mariupol because the city was encircled faster than anticipated. So it’s interesting that you have a mass casualty producing event just at the right time you would need an excuse for casualties from that.

There are also rumors that Biden’s trade of Britney Griner for Viktor Bout was to secretly get back high-ranking American POWs from that battle, hence why it looked like such a hilariously unfair swap on paper.

That there is big unofficial US personnel presence on the ground in Ukraine as advisors and if you squint there is pattern where USA training accidents in conus happens soon after massive Russian missile attacks in Ukraine.

Judging by how well Ukraine's best pilot their F16s, the idea that there are people that help with stuff like Patriot at critical points is not unthinkable.

That'd have to be a lot of people in on the coverup... the other 12 landing craft and support ships/personnel involved in the exercise, the half the crew that did survive...

Technically possible, as you said, if you squint.

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