I hate war too, but Russia started a major war for internal political points, and now is enjoying the fruits of their miscalculated aggression. Their fleet should rightly be an artificial reef for the fish of the Black Sea. Musk should be prosecuted under the Logan Act and any other applicable law.

oh, a "I just hate war" appeasement pacifist.

Pacifism is pro fascist, to placate those who could fight against fascism to inaction is to aid the fascist. the fascist cares not for moral force, the only thing a fascist understands is physical force. to stop the fascist, you must fight him.

remember Czechoslovakia, remember Poland, France and Britain both followed your logic, the results? one of the greatest losses of human life we have ever seen, the slaughter of entire ethnic groups, the destruction of Europe, completely.

you know why? because the fascist does not stop until he is stopped, or has consumed everything.

The thing I hate, is war. And would bombing the fleet ever prolong that wouldn’t it?

Taking out the fleet would reduce Russia the aggressors capability of continuing this war. If you hate war, you should absolutely support the defending side. It should not pay to be the aggressor.

So assuming Ukraine ultimately wins, this would have done the opposite of prolonging the war.

Even if Russia were to occupy Ukraine entirely they'd still lose in the end. They don't have the resources to successfully occupy a country of Ukraine's size and population if Ukrainians actively resist. Putin's plan depended on a quick installation of a puppet government and there being little to no resistance from the Ukrainian population. That didn't happen, Russia will ultimately lose. Whether they lose after a few years of a conventional military war or loses after decades of Ukraine conducting an asynchronous warfare campaign against an occupation, all paths lead to a Russian defeat.

Holding a country is significantly more difficult to achieve than invading a country. Russia hasn't even been successful in invading Ukraine, they haven't even gotten to the hard part yet.

So the idea that not supporting Ukraine will somehow lead to a faster resolution to the war is simply bullshit propaganda. The only way to end the war sooner is to expedite a Ukrainian victory. Anything else is promoting Russian occupation and very likely another Holodomor kind of situation.

Do you want another Holodomor?

It seems as it doesn't matter if I start my comment by establishing whether I hate the guy or don't,

It's not that.

There's a huge embargo on Ukrainian grains that the Russians are using to grab the world by the balls right now. They refused to renew the agreement to let ships pass last month after several months of being a pain in the ass iirc. The most affected are poor African nations on the verge of starvation and many Asian nations that gave seen skyrocketing prices. The Russians are using this as leverage, but in the meantime I don't think it's only soldiers who will be dying for this power move.

Russia has already lost the war. Even if they take the entire country, they've lost.

• They've turned the entire West against them, and they're feeling the ramifications from resultant economic sanctions.

• NATO has been revitalized, at a time where a lot of the West was beginning to doubt its necessity.

• Sweden and Finland have decided to join NATO as a direct consequence of the invasion.

• The political left and center in the West are decidedly anti Russian now. Except for the extreme far right, the right is anti Russian as well. They've left a negative impression that Zoomers and Millennials won't forget easily.

• Their military is seen as an international laughingstock. They can only make empty threats now, and their ability to project power is heavily diminished. Putin is no longer seen as a mastermind strategist.

• You could even argue the government is as seen as weak with the Wagner coup and how far they got with little resistance.

• Population collapse may be inevitable. COVID already took some of their working population. This war has taken even more of them, and they have a draft even. The working population may not be large enough to support the aging population nor the economy.

• The draft and war in general led to a good number of intellectuals fleeing the country. Their best and brightest are gone.

I think we're going to look back and see this war as the beginning of the Putin regime's collapse.

Would removing Putin's ability to effectively wage war through what would have been a modern day pearl harbour potentially up to and including the nuclear retaliation have been a good thing?

Is that the question we should be asking?

Perhaps asking why it is up to a private citizen to provide vital military infrastructure is a better question.

Just understand this headline could have just as easily read: Venture Capitalist averts Global Nuclear War.

It's all about perspective. Your opinion of Elon Musk shouldn't matter because he should have never been in this position to begin with.