jfish26 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:31 am
It is simply
true that you have more or less adopted each of the major pillars of his case for making war on Ukraine.
To wit:
“Russia is seeking peace” [in your last post, you talk about "when Putin tried to engage us about it diplomatically, [we told] him to pound sand"]
“Russia has a moral obligation to do something about security in the region” [in many posts, you accept Russia as being at least partly justified in making war on Ukraine]
“Ukraine is aggressive” (including attempts to associate Ukraine with terrorism, Nazis, and weapons of mass destruction) [you have supported Russia's association of Ukraine with Nazis and defense contracting firms]
“The West is creating tensions in the region” [see, among many other things, your quoted post]
“Ukraine is a puppet of the West” [see, among many other things, your quoted post]
You might not like it. I wouldn't, either. But if you cannot see that you are pretty much falling in line behind Putin here, you are simply choosing not to see it.
you've brought this up several times, so let's break each point down, one by one:
“Russia is seeking peace”
This sounds Orwellian. Russia is seeking peace so they declare war? Yeah right.
But, as far as diplomacy goes, there have been reports published, and shared here, that Putin tried to engage the West diplomatically about the Ukraine situation. The West, particularly Biden, not only told Putin to shove that diplomacy up his ass. The water also shunned the one western leader, Emmanuel "The Human Macaron" Macron, who DID think diplomacy was worth a try. It's almost like the West WANTED Putin to escalate war in Ukraine. Almost like they
provoked him, just like the Obama administration said would happen. You are simply choosing not to see it.
But heck, "seeking peace," though bullshit rhetoric, is still better bullshit rhetoric than "...for no matter how long it takes." At least Putin is willing to say "peace" out loud, right?
“Russia has a moral obligation to do something about security in the region”
this is the same shit any country would say if the security in the region (militancy on their doorstep) became an issue. It gets back to the US's long-standing policy of "do as I say not as I do" global militancy. You are simply choosing not to see it. If Russia tried the same thing on us, we would, and DID, do the exact same shit - and likely with even less thought given to diplomacy.
ohh, and btw, and AGAIN, I've never said Russia is justified about shit. That's you, AGAIN, putting words in my mouth.
“Ukraine is aggressive” (including attempts to associate Ukraine with terrorism, Nazis, and weapons of mass destruction)
Ukraine IS aggressive. You are simply choosing not to see it.
There's been some sort of civil war, guerrilla fighting, "if brown folks were doing this we would call it terrorism" going on there for years now, particularly since that coup that...well...
somebody staged. I'm not saying the US DID do it, but I'm saying that the coup, despite further destabilizing Ukraine, somehow also made Ukraine a safe enough place for none other than the Joe Bidens of the world to suddenly start holding political pep rallies there, and for U.S. corporations to treat the place as yet another investment opportunity. You are simply choosing not to see it.
And, yes, there are nazis in Ukraine! I think Putin pointing to is it more bullshit Putin rhetoric to help him try and justify his bullshit invasion. But, that doesn't change the fact Ukraine very much has a far right, Uber-nationalist, ethno-militant presence there, up to and including this critical mass of concerning nostalgia for Nazi fucking Germany. Yes, THAT Nazi fucking Germany. (even though we all know Putin is literally Hitler anyway)
Remember that time NATO tweeted a photo of a Ukrainian fighter with a Sonnenrad on her uniform? Remember those times (plural) Zelensky posted social media pics of himself surrounded by his security detail of Ukrainian soldiers wearing nazi insignia? Remember that time a Ukrainian general posted a pic of himself wearing swastika jewelry? Remember that time DCHawk1 posted a pic of a Ukrainian tank decked out in Third Reich symbols? Remember that time the New York Times wrote an article like," yes Ukraine really is full of nazis, and we've been intentionally misleading about that to make Ukraine appear otherwise"? Remember when each of those things was shared here?
Of course you don't. Because you are simply choosing not to see it.
oh, and WMDs, lol. That's not me puppeting Putin. That's Putin puppeting the United States.
“The West is creating tensions in the region”
this feels gross to say, and it is no doubt going to blow your western-propaganda-poisoned mind, but, I agree with Putin here. The West IS, and for decades HAS BEEN, creating tensions in the region. Ever hear of NATO expansion? Ever hear of Project Aerodynamic? Heck, ever hear of the Cold War?
You are simply choosing not to see it.
“Ukraine is a puppet of the West”
Let's go for devil's advocate downer pity on this one. What if Ukraine IS a puppet of the West? What if "the West" cares about the people of Ukraine about as much as they care about the people of Afghanistan or the people of Iraq or the people of Vietnam? Which is to say, what if the West doesn't give one flying fuck about the people of Ukraine? (come on bro, don't act like you had any concern for Ukraine, at all, until the Western war rhetoric suddenly convinced you to.)
(I know I know, "this is nothing like the other wars!" Okay, please demonstrate that. It's been suggested, but to date, I don't recall anyone actually trying to distinguish the purported differences, even after I identified so many similarities between Ukraine and those other wars...wait, nm, I guess the other day someone said it's different because at least it's minimal US lives on the line. Cuz who cares about Ukrainian lives? Oh.)
The point is, I think "the West" is interested in Ukraine less for the liberation of the people of Ukraine, and more using Ukraine as a pawn for things like - as you yourself have championed! - creating MIC economic windfalls, and weakening Russia, and sending a signal to China, and global energy markets (for real could you imagine how pissed we'd be if it really was Russia who blew up an international gas pipeline instead of our Ukraine puppets doing it?), and oil, oil, oil! (Halliburton lulz), and various other "free market capitalist" investment opportunities (gee I wonder why Zelensky's been meeting with Blackrock).
overall, and as much as it pains me to say it, and this is in no way an endorsement of Putin, but I think Putin's talking points here make a tad more sense on some objective global level than the "Ukraine good Russia bad, this is a simple battle between good and evil, no matter how long it takes! We really do care about the Ukrainian people, it's so totally different than the other wars!" And somehow, despite the US war machine's credibility otherwise being at least a little compromised of late, the western hawks just can't get enough of it.
But in a sense, any war against Russia may be an easier sell than war against places like Iraq and Afghanistan - even with the WMDs rhetoric, even with the "but they're harboring bin Laden" rhetoric. It's cuz we've all been conditioned by imperial Cold War rhetoric for our entire fucking lives to hate Russia unconditionally, no matter how rotten "the West" is acting ourselves.
You are simply choosing not to see it.
If you don't believe me, consider that when I asked over and over, "why do we think the "WMDs In Iraq" dipshits are suddenly playing us so straight about Ukraine?", no one could even attempt to answer but you, and your only answer was, "but Russia is a boogeyman!" Which, of course, is your perception formed overwhelmingly by the dipshit rhetoric.
You are simply choosing not to see it.
now, quick! Tell me something like, I'm overcomplicating a a complex geopolitical issue that's actually quite simple, but don't bother articulating why!
cuz, of course a complex issue can appear simple, when you are simply choosing not to see it.