“Ukraine is the last line of defense before Neo-Soviet Russia...”
Just... “Neo-soviet”?? Bill Kristol; izzat you?
There IS, in fact, a dangerous cabal that have dragged us to this precipice, but it’s not “neo-Soviets.” Rather, those who well-and-truly comprise today’s “Evil Empire,” are this noxious nest of nutty Neocon nincompoops who have, for more than 30 years, utterly FAILED to grasp the immensely desirable international seismic shift in geopolitical alignments that was laid before, and rejected by, them after the Soviet Dissolution. Had the West put these nutjobs on “HOLD” [preferably by beating them into unconsciousness with tightly-rolled Sunday Editions of The New York Times and stacking them in a basement custodial closet] and, instead, sanely rejected their freeze-dried Cold War mind frame, by now not only the Ukraine, but also the Russian Federation could be part of NATO, and the collective mass of international cooperation properly trained upon the more pressing global issues that bear upon the survival of humanity: virulent Islamism and the airtight containment of Communist China and its satellite states.
Instead we have this sh** show.
History will record that, when Russians ceased thinking of themselves as Soviets, the greatest failure of Western diplomacy in general, and of NATO in particular, was the cataclysmic failure to also cease thinking of Russians as Soviets. The objection may be raised that it would not have been wise to too-readily accept their sincerity, but this wry maxim is the prescriptive for the case: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” Had we done so, we could have discovered the true depth of the sincerity of Russian overtures of comity and cooperation with the West. Instead, we listened to naysaying Neocons, snubbed and shunned the Kremlin, and an historic opportunity to massively advance global peace and human harmony was flushed down the crapper.
And the flushing continues to this very hour, as those who simply will not entertain the reality that the Russians really did cease being Soviets, have steered US Foreign Policy so as to ensure that now-not-Soviet Russians nonetheless continue to get treated like Soviets; presumably because they might someday so resent these unrelenting insults as to react in some Soviet-looking fashion, whereupon Bill Kristol, the Neo-Con King, can leap to his feet, cry out, “AH-HA! WHAT DID I TELL YOU?” and keel over dead in a smiling fit of giddy, self-fulfilled apoplexy.
If anyplace on Earth really does end up getting nuked, pray to God the Neocons are all at the epicenter of the blast.
So you want people who believe in defending the national security of the United States, to be killed.
Including your fellow Freepers.
Take your long diarrhea article of apologies for the ridiculous Russia dictatorship, and shove it.
Russia, Russia, Russia…you may have missed it but Hillary Clinton and her trolls really did win in 2016.
Perhaps there was a brief time when Russia could have become a cooperative friend with the rest of Europe, but by 1999 that time had slipped by. In 1997 Alexandr Dugin had already published his book, which was probably a significant influence on Putin’s quest for power. It sets out a 21 point plan for Russia taking over power in Europe, and then expanding power and control in the rest of the world, including the United States. Read it and worry, the plan is definitely in motion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics
In the crucial year of ‘99 a series of bombings of apartment buildings which killed over 300 people provided the opportunity. Putin was able to use this to enhance his power, blame Islamists, and begin the second Chechnyan war. The FSB, Putin’s source of power, was involved in a number of questionable actions as described below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings#cite_note-amyknight2012-16
Yeltsin who had seemed more receptive to democratic change was suffering from poor health and alcoholism, and was yielding power to Putin. For example after a Sept. 9 bombing that killed more than 100 the article reports:
“The FSB declared the bombing a terrorist attack the following morning, 10 September 1999. That day, Vladimir Putin was due to fly to Auckland for the 1999 APEC summit; after a brief consultation with Boris Yeltsin, it was decided that the trip go ahead as planned. Yeltsin had originally intended to go himself, but reasoned to Bill Clinton that Putin would almost certainly be President himself by the year 2000, contrary to speculation over Yeltsin’s successor. Prior to his flight, Putin telephoned Clinton and claimed he had “every reason to believe” that Chechen extremists were not only behind the attacks but had links to the Al-Qaeda group which had perpetrated the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam the previous year. Putin and Clinton would have their first face-to-face meeting in Auckland the following day, and Putin flew back shortly afterward.[48]
Yeltsin ordered the search of 30,000 residential buildings in Moscow for explosives.[49] He took personal control of the investigation of the blast.[30] Putin declared 13 September a day of mourning for the victims of the attacks.[44]”
Even more deadly bombings occurred not long after, and in 2000, Putin was indeed the president. The bombings, prevented bombings, and other events made 1999 a very busy and upsetting year for Russian events. This is laid out in great detail in this Wiki article.