America caused Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. Because reasons.
The extreme lengths that some American conservatives will go to blame America for Russia's invasion of Ukraine--back to World War II decisions!--is just astounding. Seriously?
The U.S. did not deal with Russia [after winning the Cold War] in the same spirit as it dealt with Japan and Germany.
FFS. We were missing a step to getting to that spirit:
[America] could be generous with rebuilding Germany and Japan after World War II because we crushed them in war. Absolutely smashed their military power, pummeled their homelands, and physically occupied them to purge their societies[.]
All these arguments that exonerate Russia from their decisions to invade Ukraine--which three times Russia admitted was independent and owned its territory--boil down to blaming us for not appeasing Russian objectives at the price of free people who wanted the protection of NATO to prevent the Russians from returning.
All the authors' talk about what America would do if Mexico invited a hostile power in ignores a few things. One, America was not hostile to Russia after the collapse of the USSR. We cut our military (and the rest of NATO cut even deeper), pulled most of our military and all of our tanks out of Europe, and we tried to help Russia. Two, Mexico didn't have much fear of America returning to occupy it, did it? And three, the Zimmerman Note was about Germany trying to get Mexico to wage war on America--not to accept German troops to prevent the non-threat of an American invasion and conquest.
And as for Cuba? Well, we left it as an ally of the Soviet Union, didn't we? Notwithstanding the confrontation over Soviet nukes in Cuba.
So by our example, Russia could have been really unhappy at the prospect of neighbors allying with America. But they could endure it.
And boy, have the Russians wanted a lot.
Just let the Wookie win, these apologists for Russia keep saying.
Russia has agency. They are not a mere object that reacts to what
America does or does not do. Russia is a brutal, dictatorial aggressor now. That's on
them. They chose this path. I guess blaming America isn't just a left-wing obsession now. I just don't understand why conservatives stopped wanting to stop Russian aggression in Europe.
But fine. After Russia is crushed and broken, let's be as generous as we were to Germany and Japan after World War II, as I wrote in that post of mine I quoted above:
Unless Russia is crushed in Ukraine, there will be no chance of a door opening for military and political alliances with the West. It will just be a period for Russia to reload and nurse grievances with a new "stabbed in the back" theory for their failure to win. Just like what happened after the West defeated the USSR in the Cold War.
Let's take Vienna. That's the only path to rehabilitating Russia and getting them into the West.
But not a moment before that.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.
