Posted on 11/04/2022 10:36:45 AM PDT by hardspunned
According to what we hear from the White House and from the television networks, the issues at stake in the Ukraine War are simple. They concern the evil of Vladimir Putin, who woke up one morning and chose, whether out of sadism or insanity, to wreak unspeakable violence on his neighbors. Putin’s actions are described as an “unprovoked invasion” of a noble democracy by a corrupt autocracy. How we ought to respond is assumed to be a no-brainer. The United States has pledged vast quantities of its deadliest weaponry, along with aid that is likely to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and has brought large parts of the world economy—particularly in Europe—to a standstill.
Now, whenever people in power tell you something is a no-brainer, there’s a good chance that it’s a brainer. And the Ukraine War is more complicated than we’ve been led to assume.
(Excerpt) Read more at imprimis.hillsdale.edu ...
Good for Hillsdale!!!!
Unfortunately, it leaves much out, in order to support its thesis.
Plenty of straw man arguments.
It mentions Ukraine corruption, but ignores Russian corruption.
It ignores China, entirely, yet they are appear to be the power to benefit the most from this war.
What does China have to do with our proxy war? What does Russian corruption have to do with our proxy war? The Massive DC/Uke independence killing joint corruption proudly on display during the “impeachment” hearings have almost as much to do with our Uke quagmire as the Bushite neoconism does. Just what did the piece leave out that’s pertinent? Enlighten me.
Quite an old article and already covered here.
Still good for a second read.
It arrived to me today by snail mail from Hillsdale. Already covered? What does that mean? Does that mean too thought provoking, so ignore it? If you have nothing to add stop wasting your time.
“… It mentions Ukraine corruption, but ignores Russian corruption.. “
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But then again we’re not figuratively parachuting oodles of free money and other stuff into Russia. Just sayin’.
It is astonishing to me that this article (and so many conservatives) have taken up a line of thinking that excuses Putin's murder, thuggery, and corruption against his own people and aggression against Russia's neighbors. Objectively, such conduct is destructive of peace and a sound international order.
It is especially odd that George Kennan gets trotted out as if he was a sage not to be ignored -- in spite of being so spectacularly wrong during the middle and concluding phases of the Cold War. Logically, this embrace of Kennan is a rejection of Reagan's foreign and strategic policies that led to the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union and America's triumph in the Cold War. Had Kennan's advice been followed, the Soviet Union and global Communism would still be in business.
US and NATO support for Ukraine is a direct extension of clear and open American (and Russian) guarantees of Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity that were made to induce Ukraine to give up the nuclear weapons that it possessed at the end of the Cold War. It is unsurprising that Putin and Russia would violate those promises. What does surprise me is that so many American conservatives seem willing to relinquish America's honor and credibility by now jettisoning Ukraine as too far away and unworthy of the support that America promised.
“What does China have to do with our proxy war?”
By prolonging this war, we pushing a weakened Russia further and further into China’s orbit. China seems to be getting a lot of benefit from this conflict with little at risk.
Nice thesis - and a steaming heap of moronic globaloid bilge.
“American interests”... in your polluted, dried up, past its expiration brain.
If, as you claim, my post is a "steaming heap of moronic globaloid bilge" and my brain is "polluted, dried up, past its expiration," a calm, reasoned reply by you ought to be an easy lift.
Or as I heard the Chinese proverb "On a mountain watching two tigers fight".
China gains a great deal by weakening Russia and the West at the same time.
Well yeah, I agree to every word but I don’t that’s the context the other guy was suggesting. You are absolutely correct though. China has one existential enemy, us. We are now involved in a generational, multi trillion dollar NEW Cold War half the planet away from China. Xi will supply Russia with all the steel to build tanks or the tanks themselves for discounted Russian oil all day long. When it gets to nut cutting time, Xi would much prefer Chinese and American troops killing each other in Poland or Belarus as opposed to Taiwan or Korea. A real bonanza for China!
Apparently, your definition of ‘unbiased’ is different from mine.
Last I checked, anyone using the term ‘evil’ is not unbiased because it is not a matter of fact, it is a judgement based upon subjective opinion, and an opinion by its very merit is biased.
That shat like you, hardspunned, calling something truth when your ‘truth’ is not my ‘truth’.
Good grief.
If you’re going to worry about corruption, you may wish to include the U.S. government in that argument.
I cannot say otherwise. The corruption in the USA has grown exponentially in the last 30 years.
But there are degrees of corruption. I would rate Russia as most corrupt; Ukraine somewhat less, and the USA somewhat less than that.
In the USA there is still a chance for corrections. But, sadly, a great deal of our ruling class has been bought off or compromised by the Chinese.
Absolute nonsense. If you disagree, make a counterpoint. I have less idea what you’re talking about than you do. Thanks for participating with the gibberish.
Sure, but I’m referring specifically to the US involvement in Ukraine — it’s highly corrupt and has been a corrupt project since 1st Obama or perhaps even Bush/Clinton eras.
It’s grotesque, and precisely why many here are, shall we say, “not in” on the Uke war.
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