Originally Posted by
Melchett01
Imagine if this thread was on PPRuNe-ski about a C-17 EFATO from BZN.
It was such a thought that made me start the thread. The Americans used to say "A good Commie is a dead Commie" but, as we are an educated people, we know that we shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush.
Not everyone in Germany in WWII was a Nazi; we know that not all Russians are in support of Putin's "Special Operation" and remember, for citizens in a totalitarian state to oppose the war, it takes far greater courage than we give credit for.
References to barrel bombs in Syria related to an IL-76 is like comparing a JDAM from a Typhoon in Iraq with an A400M out of BZN. The pilots of the heavy are not doing what the pilot of the FJ is doing so to tie them together on the basis that they are both in the military that happens to be led by a madman, thereby making them equally culpable, is extraordinary.
I abhor all that is being done to the Ukrainians; I wish western powers would say 'enough is enough' and ignore protocols and pacts and give Russia a good taste of its own medicine. But in all of this, let's not become part of the baying crowd and lose our own sense of humanity and respect for fellow aviators who may just have been resigned to doing another task that they didn't agree with.