"(who was their friend when the guns were manufactured)."
Absolutely not. Ukrainians, like all non-russian nationalities colonized, raped, murdered, tortured, stolen from, starved, annihilated, disappeared, russified, by the Russian empire, Soviet Union, and Russian "Federation" were not "friends". We were enslaved, colonialized, and brutalized.
After the First World War, Liechtenstein was left at something of a loss. The break-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire it saw as cataclysmic. Little did they know it would get more so much later. They turned to the one European nation that abhors empire for its alliance and security: Switzerland. It asked to come within Switzerland's fold ... of 1.
When the Second World War broke out, all of Europe stood at readiness to repel an invader, any invader. Liechtenstein took this philosophy to extremes, by forbidding the troops of even its guarantor of security, Switzerland, from entering onto its territory. So neutral was Liechtenstein, it excluded its own army in the middle of a world war. That's funny. And it is a mark of principle in which it is hard to find a chink.
Whatever Liechtenstein hoped to preserve by not defending itself is pretty much what Ukraine, Lithuania, and anyone else who's forced to choose alliances for the best, also hopes to preserve, by defending itself: life, and prosperity. But sometimes friends are not chosen; and sometimes we choose the wrong ones, and must live to rue it.
Liechtenstein chose to have one friend, and to keep it at bay in Europe's darkest hour. The prince of Liechtenstein is now the richest monarch in Europe.
The point is, of course, that old technology is still technology and, in the case of the Russo-Ukrainian War, we're seeing that it isn't technology that hits the mark, it's good marksmanship.
Old technology that still functions can itself be viewed as a kind of progress, ironically. It falls so out of use that its redeployment gets lauded for what the new technology that replaced it does not offer. So, I can more quickly type an envelope for a letter on my typewriter than set up an envelope template for the computer to do it (and, to my great surprise, recently was easily able to buy replacement ink ribbons). I can have my 33-year-old car, whose sole electronic component is the radio, repaired and serviced by a back-street garage which has no computerised analytical equipment. Other motorists have to make a main dealer appointment to change the spark plugs. (One day, people will ask what a spark plug is, like someone once spied a piece of furniture in my basement and, upon their enquiring, I told them, "It's a telephone table." He was 22 years old and had no conception of why one would have a table set aside for a telephone. But, if you do that, you'll always know where the telephone is when it rings, and won't drop it in the loo when you stoop to brush afterwards.) Vinyl is a popular music-recording medium for those DJs who like uncomplicated scratching techniques or for jazz fans who see technique in uncomplicated scratches. The road from Dallas to Denver was until a few years ago closed to electric cars, simply because no car had a battery that could cover the longest distance between two charging stations on the route, effectively making it a pair of cul-de-sacs for them.
"(who was their friend when the guns were manufactured)."
Absolutely not. Ukrainians, like all non-russian nationalities colonized, raped, murdered, tortured, stolen from, starved, annihilated, disappeared, russified, by the Russian empire, Soviet Union, and Russian "Federation" were not "friends". We were enslaved, colonialized, and brutalized.
Never friends.
This (on the matter of old technology) may also interest you. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/graham-vincent-93254526_honest-is-honest-activity-7078605344444166144-_XeW.
And this (on the matter of what a national border is) may likewise: https://endlesschain.substack.com/p/anarchy-in-the-uk-raine-pondering.
After the First World War, Liechtenstein was left at something of a loss. The break-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire it saw as cataclysmic. Little did they know it would get more so much later. They turned to the one European nation that abhors empire for its alliance and security: Switzerland. It asked to come within Switzerland's fold ... of 1.
When the Second World War broke out, all of Europe stood at readiness to repel an invader, any invader. Liechtenstein took this philosophy to extremes, by forbidding the troops of even its guarantor of security, Switzerland, from entering onto its territory. So neutral was Liechtenstein, it excluded its own army in the middle of a world war. That's funny. And it is a mark of principle in which it is hard to find a chink.
Whatever Liechtenstein hoped to preserve by not defending itself is pretty much what Ukraine, Lithuania, and anyone else who's forced to choose alliances for the best, also hopes to preserve, by defending itself: life, and prosperity. But sometimes friends are not chosen; and sometimes we choose the wrong ones, and must live to rue it.
Liechtenstein chose to have one friend, and to keep it at bay in Europe's darkest hour. The prince of Liechtenstein is now the richest monarch in Europe.
Let's say they fought on the same side.
The point is, of course, that old technology is still technology and, in the case of the Russo-Ukrainian War, we're seeing that it isn't technology that hits the mark, it's good marksmanship.
Old technology that still functions can itself be viewed as a kind of progress, ironically. It falls so out of use that its redeployment gets lauded for what the new technology that replaced it does not offer. So, I can more quickly type an envelope for a letter on my typewriter than set up an envelope template for the computer to do it (and, to my great surprise, recently was easily able to buy replacement ink ribbons). I can have my 33-year-old car, whose sole electronic component is the radio, repaired and serviced by a back-street garage which has no computerised analytical equipment. Other motorists have to make a main dealer appointment to change the spark plugs. (One day, people will ask what a spark plug is, like someone once spied a piece of furniture in my basement and, upon their enquiring, I told them, "It's a telephone table." He was 22 years old and had no conception of why one would have a table set aside for a telephone. But, if you do that, you'll always know where the telephone is when it rings, and won't drop it in the loo when you stoop to brush afterwards.) Vinyl is a popular music-recording medium for those DJs who like uncomplicated scratching techniques or for jazz fans who see technique in uncomplicated scratches. The road from Dallas to Denver was until a few years ago closed to electric cars, simply because no car had a battery that could cover the longest distance between two charging stations on the route, effectively making it a pair of cul-de-sacs for them.