Quick note: I'm sure I'll have occasional comments on Russia's invasion of Ukraine over the next few days and weeks, but only if I have something interesting to say. Beyond that, I'm no Ukraine expert and won't be writing about it more generally. You can get that from dozens of regular news sources.
My basic take remains: Putin is a thug; Ukraine is more or less blameless in all this; Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself; ditto for much of the Republican Party and its poltroonish "Putin is only doing this because Biden is weak" crap; every Western country should toss out Russian nationals and restrict visitor visas to one week; Europe needs to get more serious about military power; this is the first major European war since WWII in which one country has invaded another with the intent of permanently taking its territory.
Russia under Putin is a pariah nation. Whatever else you can say about the US invasion of Iraq—and you can say plenty—it was never an attempt to annex territory permanently. This is. Russia needs to be isolated from the rest of the world as long as it pursues this kind of war.
The American thugs who murdered Qasem Soleimani are still members of good standing in the US war machine. The American thugs who devised the rationale of preemptive war and declared torture legal are still plying their strategic crafts. Thugs Otto Reich and John Negroponte still participate in representing US foreign affairs. Thug Juan Guaidó is still recognized as Venezuela's president by the Biden administration. Thug Victoria Nuland is this week in Colombia to reinforce Democratic liberal support for a narco-state's violent suppression of its citizens.
While neither Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, or Venezuela could ever threaten the national security of the US, Democratic liberals deny the legitimate threat NATO's embrace and arming of the former Warsaw Pact states threatens the national security of Russia. Democratic liberals deny these 'democratic' states devolution into ethnic nationalism and participation in the American project to threaten Russian sovereignty. Accepting Russia's demand Ukraine never become a member of this axis is unacceptable despite being an opportunity to avoid the war. A war Biden and his followers desperately want and provoked.
You know what else is a serious threat? My hemorrhoid, which is just as likely to invade another country with cruise missiles, tanks and the Russian army as Victoria Nuland.
Now that I think of it I'm going to name my hemorrhoid Vladimir Putin, because it adds exactly as much value to life as he does, in every possible way.
I'll let you know about it's future adventures.
Lol!
I’ve long maintained a mental list of Boils on the Ass of Humanity (BAH!). Trump and Putin, longtime members.
So what you’re saying is that if Putin feels insecure, Russia is entitled to conquer as much adjacent territory as will make him feel better. And the people of Ukraine or the other “buffer states” have absolutely no say in the matter? As a practical matter is their any limit that you might impose on Russia’s security needs?
The other point I think needs addressing is the issue of NATO expansion. The West has basically rolled over and played dead for Russia ever since the rise of the oligarchs. Early on, I thought NATO expansion was a mistake but in light of the past decade of Russian aggression against NATO countries, the advocates of expansion seem remarkably prescient.
Well, Putin just gave any insecure DEMs the guidebook to get what THEY want.
Puerto Rico and District of Columbia are now to be invaded by our armed forces and turned into states within the U.S. They are very much like us and are somewhat adjacent to us. And the United States is feeling particularly entitled these days so, why not?
It would be a classy move according to Trump. Very smart.
I believe the Democrats are already occupying the District of Columbia. They only lack the will to make it a state and put Manchin and Sinema out of our misery. Timidity is the credo of the Democratic Party.
If the Democratic Party wants to make a bold move it could tell the financial sector to either get behind sanctions on Russia or have the DOJ go through Wall Street like Sherman through Georgia. And it could start congressional and grand jury investigations about whether Fox News should register as a foreign agent and pass legislation forbidding cable providers to carry Fox News.
Going forward, can we apply the same rules as Putin? So, the next time a U.S. naval vessel is buzzed by one of their aircraft, or near-sideswiped by one of their ships, we regard that as a threat answerable with deadly force?
We could but we won’t. For basically the same reasons why we aren’t imposing meaningful sanctions. The Northern part of NATO is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. France is the playground for free spending oligarchs who shop at the finest stores, dine at the finest restaurants, and have homes in Paris and the South of France.
In the US and England, Russia enjoys the support of two extremely powerful Fifth Columns. The Republicans and the financial sector which is addicted to the vast wealth that the oligarchs are looting from Russia and investing in the West (where it is safe). Even president Biden has imposed the most meaningless of extremely narrowly targeted sanctions for fear of the backlash from Putin’s powerful followers and servants in this country.
"Beyond that, I'm no Ukraine expert and won't be writing about it more generally. You can get that from dozens of regular news sources."
The New York Times, for example, where you can get analysis from its Ukraine round table discussion including renowned experts Frank Bruni and Ross Douthat.
You are absolutely right. But here is another example not so different from what we are seeing today: The Bay of Pigs incident early in the Kennedy administration*. I agree that the Irak war is different in an important way from the Ukraine situation. Cuba however: A small country adjacent to a major power (in fact a colony of that power) dares choosing its own government. The difference is only of scale and of competence. Putin probably also phantasises about the "silent majority" in Ukraine that is just waiting for him to "liberate" them. The US has not much grounds for moral grandstanding. I do think Biden has taken the correct course about Ukraine but we should really house clean our foreign policy establishment and instill some sound moral judgement.
* I am somewhat surprised Putin has not brought up the incident in his self justification speeches. But maybe he is so caught up in "great power" thinking that the parallel does not occur to him. Still: If the UK tried to meddle in internal affairs of Kenya or to invade the country, would Putin approve or would he object.
There are a number of ways in which the Bay of Pigs incident as you call it and
Putin's armed invasion of Ukraine are different, not the least of which that the US Army did not send 200,000 troops to Cuba to aid the "rebels".
But there's a larger problem with your whole point, that somehow or other the US needs to have moral purity now and in all it's history in order to object to Putin's aggression otherwise it's "moral grandstanding". When Hitler sent his troops into Poland, after a warmup in the Sudetenland, was it "moral grandstanding" for France and the UK to object ? Certainly both of those countries had plenty to apologize for ? And yes, I think Hitler's move into Poland is a much better comparison to Putin's move into the Ukraine.
+1
You think that there are current State Department staff who were in top positions during Bay of Pigs?
If a country can never regain any moral standing, I’m going to call out Sweden for invading my ancestral homeland, Pomerania, during the Thirty Years’ War.
Sincere apologies from Sweden... 🙂
Leaving aside the merits of sponsorship of an invasion of Cuba by what was essentially the losing side in a recent civil war, I’m not sure how what you’re saying offers guidance for US policy in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. You seem to be saying that the bloodshed and subjugation of the Ukrainian people is somehow either the consequence of American imperialism or a punishment that Ukrainians must endure as our proxy.
As us hippies used to say, this is the here and now. What do you think the west should do now and why!
+1
There are a number of ways in which the Bay of Pigs incident as you call it and
Putin's armed invasion of Ukraine are different, not the least of which that the US Army did not send 200,000 troops to Cuba to aid the "rebels".
But there's a larger problem with your whole point, that somehow or other the US (and the West in general) needs to have moral purity now and in all it's history in order to object to Putin's aggression otherwise it's "moral grandstanding". When Hitler sent his troops into Poland, after a warmup in the Sudetenland, was it "moral grandstanding" for France and the UK to object ? Certainly both of those countries had plenty to apologize for ? And yes, I think Hitler's move into Poland is a much better comparison to Putin's move into the Ukraine.
True, but if Putin was just trying to install yet another Russian puppet, would you feel better about all this?