Russians desperately want to present the idea that they truly fight powerful US and NATO and still pushing; and not getting kicked ass by Ukraine getting 5% of US defense budget.
Do you believe that enabling the Russians in preventing countries around them from becoming more aligned with the EU would benefit Europe?
Do you think the US is the only NATO country?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/feb/07/eu-us-di...
> Do you think the US is the only NATO country?
in the same way that ussr was the only country that mattered in the warsaw pact
Could you then explain why it would be in the interest of European countries not to react to Russia invading countries on their doorstep? It seems inconceivable to me that European countries wouldn’t have reacted with sanctions and arms for Ukraine even if the US had kept completely out of it.
It seems crystal clear to me that making sure that Russia cannot win this war is both in the interest of the US but also and especially the interest of European countries. You don’t want a dictator that invades neighbors and is successful at that at your doorstep.
The list of NATO interventions are: former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, and counter-piracy in Yemen.
The list of Warsaw Pact interventions: invading Hungary and Czechoslovakia when they wanted to leave.
Quite a distinction. Only one of the NATO interventions was driven by the foreign policy of the US--all of the others were being driven more by Europeans' foreign policy concerns.
> Anything else is just victim blaming Russian propaganda that tries to justify Russia's naked imperialism.
That's such a narrow and poor way to talk about international politics, and it is exactly the reason why we have a war in Europe, and broken countries like Syria and Libya on our doorstep. Even if your intentions are good, it is worthless if the consequences are terrible. In general the "everything that doesn't align with my worldview is propaganda" is a pretty good sign someone loves eating propaganda.
Russia invaded Ukraine because Putin is a lunatic who wanted Ukrainian land to be part of Russia because he things that would cement his legacy. That is the only reason. Everything else is lies. The invasion has caused Finland to join NATO, which was a predictable consequence of the invasion.
Because Germany was dumb enough to make itself energy dependent on gas from Russia, a warmongering country lead by an autocrat, that having invaded several countries in recent years (Ukraine, Chechnya, Georgia, Syria) and supporting military separatists in various European countries (Transnistria in Moldova), and despite the US warning them several times about this risk.
But chasing the sweet teat of cheap Russian gas like a dog in heat was too good too pass for German industrialists who saw only easy money, so all national security concerns went out the window.
Maybe Germans will vote better next time and realize you can't have a heavy industry while being non-nuclear and also energy dependent on an adversary.
If you use your brain for a second, the answer is easy.
Chechnya is part of Russia. Country can not invade itself. It can commit atrocities against their own and this is what Russia did during the war. This happened because Chechnya tried to secede. Unilateral secession of the region will not be appreciated in any country and will likely lead to internal war and this is what did happen.
In Syria Russia was invited by their official government. You might not like the government and for good reasons but it is irrelevant. Btw what legal basis other countries have being in Syria?
Try doing a bit of fact checking when posting.
And while you bitch about Germany - The US and Canada for example had industry / manufacturing largely destroyed by moving it to China. If for example China disappears tomorrow we are fucked big time for a while. Not sure how long it'll take to restore our independence from 3rd world manufacturing. It is general trait - if companies can earn extra buck doing something they would do it no matter what unless stopped by Government (which they largely own).
when thinking about syria please remember that ASSAD MUST GO
And yes, no real difference from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc.' If those places wanted to secede, and the US bombed them flat, would many be supportive of the US "legal right" to do so?
If you want to go that far come back to me when you return California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming to Mexico. And this is a beef just between 2 countries. There are many more.
Besides nobody gives a fuck about your "not really". What matters is what is recognized by the other countries and they accept Chechnya being part of Russia
No, that doesn't matter. It's still an occupation. Many people in the Caucasus gave and do give a "flying fuck."
It's also why they campaigned in Georgia, and in Ukraine, and why all the ex-USSR states are convinced that they are targets.
Your logic seems to be completely twisted. Good luck. I've lost interest to this conversation.
I do not think the US would give a flying fuck about any country being un-supportive in this particular matter.
1. With US diplomacy this war could have been avoided.
2. The US could fund and arm Ukraine entirely by itself if it wanted
The EU benefits in 0 ways from this war, which could have been avoided. German industry, the driver of the EU economy is basically destroyed without cheap Russian energy. Some say this is WHY the US provoked this war, to destroy the alliance between Russian energy and German industry.
Now knowing this, joining sanctions against Russian which barely work, for a continent that doesn’t have its own energy (unlike the us), is basically suicide. India, China, lots of other countries are still buying Russian energy.
Sending arms to Ukraine - by the EU it’s unnecessary. The US could do it, and they are part of this war. It’s also completely neutered EU defense by now.
I’m not pro Russia. I think the Russian army is one of the most inhumane and evil on earth. Putin is evil and a psychopath. The Russians deserve to be destroyed.
But - this is about US geopolitics, so the US should be doing the destroying. The EU leadership is committing geopolitical and economic suicide right now, which will make us way more vulnerable and poor.
Let the US sanction Russia, arm Ukraine, etc. great. The EU should meanwhile stand up for its own long term interest.
This entire war is like your average guy standing up to a bully and getting beat pretty bad, while the martial arts expert standing next to him is egging him on but not really joining. It’s ridiculous by the martial arts expert not to really commit, and send someone else instead. I know it’s not a perfect analogy as the US is taking part, but it’s close.