I'm not going to get into the whole history leading up to the current mess in Ukraine but I do know that it's endlessly complicated and immensely convoluted with plenty of blame to be laid on all parties, including Russia, Ukraine, NATO and the EU. In all fairness, the elephant in the room is the endless provocations, machinations and interferences by a leftist/globalist controlled US government and by individual, wealthy, leftist/globalist individuals, corporations and NGOs. This crap has been going on for a long, long time. Now it has come to a head. Yet, what do we hear from FR Youkazoids? Russsia! Russsia! Ruzzziiiiaaaa!!! As if Putin's a new Hitler whose goal is world conquest. Childish and ignorant beyond belief.
I am sick of my government creating mayhem and death around the world. I am sick of it using ordinary American's money to do that. Vietnam: predicated on a massive lie. End result? Fifty thousand dead, young Americans and tens of thousands more wounded, both physically and mentally, a communist-affected genocide and an embarrassing politically-affected retreat by US forces, even while they were on the cusp of victory, plus billions of torched dollars. Iraq: predicated on either bad info or a big lie: End result: one hundred thousand dead Iraqis, thousands of dead and maimed Americans and billions of US taxpayers' dollars torched. What was gained there? Oil? Nope. Respect? Nope. Afghanistan: Well, I don't have to point out what was "accomplished" there and how that one ended. . .
Russia and Ukraine have been going at it for decades. Let 'em have at it. Let them settle it between themselves. No more of this crap where a small handful of naive or nefarious or greedy or warmongering individuals send American dollars down the toilet and good people to their deaths.
There’s a lot we can agree on. Neocon adventures, thoughtless foreign policy, globalisation, short term carpetbagging doctrines leading to offshoring/ outsourcing to China...
Fifty years of treaties like the Budapest Memorandum, which lock the USA into answering calls for help that many would rather stay out of...
Ill considered open-ended promises that were totally unenforceable even at the time they were made - like James Baker reassuring the Soviet Union that NATO wouldn’t allow Warsaw Pact countries to apply to join the alliance (unenforceable once the USSR was disbanded by its constituent republics and the Warsaw Pact agreement got torn up).
All of which doesn’t contradict the clear danger to the world presented by Putin unilaterally breaking binding international treaties, sticking his nukes in npt countries, invading other countries, threatening to launch preemptive nuclear strikes, and using grain oil and gas to blackmail Eastern Europe and Africa.
The USA took the right approach when Saddam invaded Kuwait. It’s taking the right approach now with Ukraine.
That’s not to say it’s an ideal situation. Ideally America wouldn’t need to get involved. Because ideally, Saddam wouldn’t have been a cruel despot intent on invading Kuwait, and ideally Putin wouldn’t be a totalitarian thug intent on invading other countries that have security guarantees with the USA.
But the crappy reality is, the USA offered itself to serve as a guarantor of the UN Charter, and through multiple treaties is obligated to protect its partners and allies. Ukraine has such assurances, and has been a reliable partner in NATO operations.
Putin doesn’t care that his own invasion fetish guarantees that the USA will get dragged into a conflicting with Russia. Putin actually WANTS that fight.
If anyone on the pro Putin anti war side has ever come up with a way to enable Putin’s invasion fetish without it guaranteeing a hot war between Moscow and Washington I’ve yet to hear it.