My youngest is a 19 year old soph at Ole Miss, he is a Louisiana boy from head to toe. Deans list, future ahead of him. What you presented my man again is spot on, but as this shit for brains government that is bringing all of us to the brink of war, and inflation, supply chains, etc BY F IN DESIGN, no NO, you Libs you pissant Globalists won’t re start a draft and take my son for this BS. Over my dead body do these most ignorant fucks attempt this. Sorry, JS, this is getting serious and we need to figure a stop to it. And yeah, I had a few. Its gotten personal.
Americans have an obligation to stay the fuck out. The most powerful interest group in Ukraine literally call themselves Nazis. This is not a Godwin's law situation. They run the military and are holding Ukrainians hostage right now. Zelensky ran on peace in Donbas and did a 180 after meeting them. This is well documented even in the corporate media. We owe it to our ancestors that died fighting Nazis to stay the fuck out of this one at the very least.
WE owe it to our children to REMOVE ... PHYSICALLY those in power who wish to escalate this to its foregone conclusion. EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE 535 in power
If you have no realistic solution but only virtue signal and cause more suffering then no one is making anything better.
And if you personally want to go fight on the front lines in Ukraine I’ll be happy to help fund your trip. If you are just cheering human suffering from the sidelines then you are helping evil to continue, not helping to stop it.
"Evil just went away" is obviously amorphous but I am pretty sure it worked out fine for us to ignore Sino-Soviet conflicts, or the Iran-Iraq war, to name a couple of examples.
Mar 7, 2022·edited Mar 7, 2022Liked by Jordan Schachtel
Ukraine helped seal its fate by passing a law last year to try and join NATO. We put the nail in their coffin when our VP, the night before the invasion, praised Ukraine wanting to join. It didn’t help Ukraine disarmed their citizens first.
I’m no fan of what Putin is doing, but our own intervention in the short term is only going to cause more death and potentially escalate to WW III which won’t help Ukraine but will harm a lot more people. Over the long term our inhuman cheering of harming innocent Russians via economic sanctions and extra judicial asset seizures is almost sure to backfire when foreign nations move away from the US dollar and our financial transactions systems.
People have been warning since Clinton to stop western imperialism via NATO. Combining a weak president with ending energy independence and continued antagonation of Putin made this mess predictable and preventable.
So for everyone who did nothing for decades, or even a month ago, demanding we “do something” today, might I suggest volunteering on the front lines in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people would appreciate it.
This letter was written in 1997. It’s point repeated often for the last 25 years. The neoliberal and neocon imperialist didn’t care then, and they don’t really care now. The wanted Russia as a boogie man.
From my diary a week ago: I once thought TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] was peculiar, quaint, emotionally based…. and excusable since it seemed fleeting. Sadly, those afflicted were unable to stand back and observe their own bias….similar in denial to the racist pariahs in the US back in the 50s.
Then I observed the global adoption of CDS [Covid Derangement Syndrome] to be far more than I could personally comprehend. The shear level of complete detachment from reality has left me agape, wondering if this level of mob mentality has been around far longer than my general observations. This too seems to have created an impenetrable thought-fortress that views any statement, let alone individual thought, that is even mildly counter than the approved narrative treated as an assault upon humanity.
Now, the world is afflicted with PDS [Putin Derangement Syndrome] across virtually all demographics, politics, and borders. It is simply astounding to watch the perpetual one-up-manship going on by all manner of people to elevate themselves to even higher ground in their repudiation of Russia’s foray into Ukraine. It’s as if there is a clickbait generator feasting upon the primal desires of “the masses” in a quest to attain diefication…. Hmmmmmmmm
Agree. I wondered if everyone had lost their minds, or just lacked so much virtue all they had left was empty virtue signaling with being racist is the way to be anti-racists and men who can’t ever be real women are real women baloney. Then came Covid and I watched the world, particularly in the west, and most extremely in the US throw a generation of kids out like trash. Often their own parents gleefully joining in with a majority of public school parents voting to further the destroy their own children’s future and gladly inject them with experimental medicine that might harm, but won’t help, for a disease that poses no risk and to which many were already immune.
It became clear that THIS is how Jews get loaded onto buses for death, tens of millions starve for communist virtue signaling, teenage girls get burned at the stake, and kids get sacrificed to not make it rain.
It makes me terrified now. In 2003 we inflicted incredible human suffering on a “smaller country” when we blew up Iraq for a completely fabricated WMD lie. Our military misadventures and use of economic sanctions to harm innocent people around the globe because of the geography of where they happen to live is cruel and mean spirited.
Now the drumbeats of war beat loudly. Covid just vanished. People are cheering ever more human suffering. The degree to which western governments will seize assets and cancel people for their nationality or being a Canadian trucker is terrifying and will backfire. Rather than take a step back most hapless fools are just irritated China is stepping in where western governments stepped out. What the heck did we think would happen????? The rest of the world is just going to wait for us to blow up their countries and economies because it makes a bunch or morons in the west feel better about themselves?????? It’s only ok for us to destroy millions of lives?????
Our arrogance and stupidity is going to end up backfiring on our children. The only real question is how bad will it be, and how well can those of us who see through the endless wars and harm and lies and insanity protect our own children?
Nothing like a crisis to assert emergency powers to make people sacrifice. The question is, can the deep state narrative-makers keep us in a perpetual state of emerging crises without causing burnout apathy and pushback?
They kicked all the independent thinkers and people with self respect out of the military for a reason......because they were intelligent enough not to take an unsafe and ineffective "vaccine"....
Now all they're left is complete zombies. If they ship these kids off to war. They will be coming back to attack us (the critical thinkers and peaceniks) domestically next.
I'm sure the transgenders will have no problem handling "Russia"
Agree that the average Ukrainian and Russian are the pawns in a regional conflict that is, in a word, unnecessary. I do not think it is a question as to whether Putin is mentally compromised, but how much given his feckless and reckless behavior. And disgusting…I can’t forget disgusting. Suspect though Putin’s actions may be, it is not worth one American soldier’s life to intervene, particularly given the potential for escalation to a hot nuclear war. Depending on how foolhardy Putin becomes, we may yet have to, but I am cautiously optimistic Putin won’t do anything that reckless and stupid.
As lacking in strategy as Putin’s actions appear to be, particularly given their grave costs in terms of human suffering and loss of life, I am particularly challenged to understand the Biden administration’s. They are not leading in this situation whatsoever, following the EU and seemingly without any prior discussion or coordination, and are still buying Russian oil. And, if an increasingly number of credible reports are to be believed, collaborating with Russia on Iran. Their foibles would be comedic were the stakes not so high. It is vaguely reminiscent of the bunker scene in “Dr. Stangeglove,” with no real “grown up” in charge and a patchwork of “experts” grabasstically contrive policy after carefully consulting their crotches, stomaches, and wallets to see which way to let the wind carry them.
One thing they could be doing to lead that they have curiously and studiously avoided is standing with our Russian brothers and sisters here in the U.S. Having Russian ancestry does not a Putin acolyte make, and I am likewise sickened to read stories about Americans attacking other Americans over their heritage. That behavior is beyond contempt and indulging it diminishes us as a people.
Great insights as always, Jordan, and let us all hope calmer and wiser minds prevail in this exceedingly untenable situation. This an ugly chapter in human history and I hope it concludes quickly and without further depredation of the Ukrainian people and loss of human life.
Gee wiz, the past 13 years, the same ones who have been calling US NAZls, now want US to send OUR children to fight for them, defending NAZls in Ukraine...Yet 75% of Americans are too FRIIGAN STUPID to figure this out... Good GOD please end this stupidity!
At the very least, you have to give the propagandists some credit for the smoothness of their pivot from covid to war. We live in a sea of propaganda, and, as we've seen with our masked and meek population, it works well for TPTB. Would that more people could disconnect from the media tether that strangles their ability to think for themselves. Sadly, that won't happen anytime soon, if ever.
Spot on! The same media that lies and and lies, are supposedly to be listen to now because of the Ukraine russia conflict. These news agencies, globalists and political leaders are all shameless.
The country has gone koo-koo for cocoa puffs as the result of propaganda the past two years. Repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act is a little known big deal.
There's a book from the 1970's titled, "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" by Jerry Mander. Jerry Mander nailed it and his parents were witty naming him.
When you figure that the Ukraine and Chinese government was illegally bribing the Biden crime family while Biden was VP, you can then understand why all of this is happening. Putin and Xi form an alliance, Putin invades Ukraine and Xi invades Taiwan.
Ukraine saw this coming and wanted the bribes to save their arses. Bad thing is Putin and Xi saw it coming and knew Biden would do nothing major to stop it. The Biden/Obama regime is cluelessly inept and corrupt.
I’m not sure Xi will immediately move on Taiwan. He wants another term, which might be up in the air (per Epoch Times anyway). He’d rather be patient and take it peacefully with economic domination. Russia and its satellites have a huge number of people. So does South America and Africa where we have sent NGOs to keep them impoverished, while China has sent belt and road money to build them up, and give China economic dominance.
This entirely preventable Russia/ Ukraine debacle is an opportunity to accelerate a China centered, or at least co-centered, global economy. China is brutal to its own people, but prefers economic imperialism to our mixture of military and economic imperialism. The South Korean election will be interesting to watch.
China will use this opportunity to genuinely rival the U.S. economically, in cross border transactions, in being the currency of choice, and denominating global commodities transactions. Our mean spirited escalation of economic sanctions and extra judicial asset seizures targeted at innocent civilians has accelerated this.
My husband and I take our kids to Jamaica about every year. To see how quickly the belt and road project has expended there should give all Americans pause. The Jamaicans prefer American culture. But they are well aware it’s the Chinese building their roads, grocery stores, and gas stations. Investing in their country. Westerners go play on their beaches, and if so inclined smoke their weed. We don’t invest in their people or their country. As one of the diving guides said “with China we might have made a deal with the devil, but it’s the only one we were offered mon.”
While we’ve made Russia the boogie man for 25 years, China has purchased influence around the globe including on hundreds of islands right off our southeast coast, with billions in Chinese investments, and most Americans don’t have a clue.
While many of our NGOs have perpetuated poverty to ensure a never ending stream of funding, the Chinese have invested to help build countries up. Our arrogance blinds us to this reality from their perspective. Free shoes to Africa only drives African shoemakers out of business. New roads makes trade more available. We send the free shoes to destroy their shoe makers, China builds the new roads to help food distribution.
We had better wake up and start competing on merit because our arrogance and misuse of our economic dominance is going to harm our children and they deserve better, especially after we just spent 2 years subjecting to mass child abuse and have allowed teacher’s unions to repurposes schools from places to learn into places to be indoctrinated with useless theories.
I agree with everything said here. America needs more carrot and less stick. Our corrupt oligarchy of politicians, defense industry dominance, and corporatism hamstring our foreign policy and domestic policy.
The corruption has gotten so bad that it will become our demise. No way to get rid of it except for a hard reset and not a great one.
Maybe you aren't aware of the Budapest Memorandum from 1994. The UK, Russia, and the USA all jointly promised to protect Ukraine as a sovereign nation. Ukraine agreed to return its Russian nuclear warheads to Russia that were left in Ukraine (when the USSR dissolved) and dismantle its ICBM silos ... in return for monetary assistance and protective assurances by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty members. So technically all of the NNPT members are on the hook to protect Ukraine ... which includes the USA and UK.
In 1991 we also promised not to expand NATO to former Soviet block states out of recognition for Russia’s legitimate national security issues. We made this deal in 1994 only to continue our expansion eastward under Clinton in 1997.
Moreover we promised to bring Russia into the international fold economically, yet we have mostly wanted a boogie man, and that boogie man has been Russia.
In 2007 Germany started pontificating about brining Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. In response, Russia invaded Georgia (and went no further) in 2008. Obama continued the neoliberal/ neocon western imperialism and in response Russia took Crimea in 2014. Again, Russia went no further. Trump wasn’t imperialistic and didn’t buy into the idea it was in our national security interest to continue antagonizing Putin. Putin made no effort to invade anything. Zelenskyy locked up his political opposition thus silencing the voices that considered things from Russia’s perspective. Ukraine disarmed their citizens. In 2019 Ukraine passed a law seeking EU and NATO membership.
Then Biden was elected and the same pro intervention, antagonize Putin war mongers came into power. They made clear their incompetence in Afghanistan. They started musing about letting Ukraine into NATO. The night before the invasion our VP “admired” their desire to join.
This war was both predictable and preventable. We are not the world’s daddy. We should not be the world’s policeman - particularly when we’ve mostly just created a lot more suffering over the last 2 decades.
Trying to understand the opposition is critical to preventing and solving international armed conflict. By picking out a single document, ignoring the context, and ignoring the other agreements we made and blatantly violated, you are simply advocating a position through bias that would result in more dead humans. It’s intellectually lazy and incredibly dangerous.
My youngest is a 19 year old soph at Ole Miss, he is a Louisiana boy from head to toe. Deans list, future ahead of him. What you presented my man again is spot on, but as this shit for brains government that is bringing all of us to the brink of war, and inflation, supply chains, etc BY F IN DESIGN, no NO, you Libs you pissant Globalists won’t re start a draft and take my son for this BS. Over my dead body do these most ignorant fucks attempt this. Sorry, JS, this is getting serious and we need to figure a stop to it. And yeah, I had a few. Its gotten personal.
1776 is how you stop it!
Americans have an obligation to stay the fuck out. The most powerful interest group in Ukraine literally call themselves Nazis. This is not a Godwin's law situation. They run the military and are holding Ukrainians hostage right now. Zelensky ran on peace in Donbas and did a 180 after meeting them. This is well documented even in the corporate media. We owe it to our ancestors that died fighting Nazis to stay the fuck out of this one at the very least.
WE owe it to our children to REMOVE ... PHYSICALLY those in power who wish to escalate this to its foregone conclusion. EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE 535 in power
If everyone minded their your own business, would Evil just go away?
In fact, has that ever happened in history? Countries just minding their own business, isolationists, and then Evil just went away?
If you have no realistic solution but only virtue signal and cause more suffering then no one is making anything better.
And if you personally want to go fight on the front lines in Ukraine I’ll be happy to help fund your trip. If you are just cheering human suffering from the sidelines then you are helping evil to continue, not helping to stop it.
One way ticket only.
this = ‘evil v. evil’ ... don’t touch with a zillion foot pole...
NO! "WE" minded our business, and "ignored" the lunatic left for the last 30 years, now they are in control... Its time to REMOVE them... PERIOD
From where? Here, I agree. Russia, that’s not our place.
"Evil just went away" is obviously amorphous but I am pretty sure it worked out fine for us to ignore Sino-Soviet conflicts, or the Iran-Iraq war, to name a couple of examples.
Or Indo-Chinese conflicts. Or Indo-Pakistani
Ukraine helped seal its fate by passing a law last year to try and join NATO. We put the nail in their coffin when our VP, the night before the invasion, praised Ukraine wanting to join. It didn’t help Ukraine disarmed their citizens first.
I’m no fan of what Putin is doing, but our own intervention in the short term is only going to cause more death and potentially escalate to WW III which won’t help Ukraine but will harm a lot more people. Over the long term our inhuman cheering of harming innocent Russians via economic sanctions and extra judicial asset seizures is almost sure to backfire when foreign nations move away from the US dollar and our financial transactions systems.
People have been warning since Clinton to stop western imperialism via NATO. Combining a weak president with ending energy independence and continued antagonation of Putin made this mess predictable and preventable.
So for everyone who did nothing for decades, or even a month ago, demanding we “do something” today, might I suggest volunteering on the front lines in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people would appreciate it.
This letter was written in 1997. It’s point repeated often for the last 25 years. The neoliberal and neocon imperialist didn’t care then, and they don’t really care now. The wanted Russia as a boogie man.
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/1997-06/arms-control-today/opposition-nato-expansion
Meanwhile Millions of Americans were sacrificed to the Big Pharma. Globalist depopulation agenda in action.
More revaluations from Pfizer documents
Pfizer/FDA Corruption: 2.8 Million Was Transferred from Pfizer to the FDA for “Priority Licensing” of Comirnaty
According to the Pfizer Global Regulatory Affairs document
https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/pfizerfda-corruption-28-million-was
Great article.
From my diary a week ago: I once thought TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] was peculiar, quaint, emotionally based…. and excusable since it seemed fleeting. Sadly, those afflicted were unable to stand back and observe their own bias….similar in denial to the racist pariahs in the US back in the 50s.
Then I observed the global adoption of CDS [Covid Derangement Syndrome] to be far more than I could personally comprehend. The shear level of complete detachment from reality has left me agape, wondering if this level of mob mentality has been around far longer than my general observations. This too seems to have created an impenetrable thought-fortress that views any statement, let alone individual thought, that is even mildly counter than the approved narrative treated as an assault upon humanity.
Now, the world is afflicted with PDS [Putin Derangement Syndrome] across virtually all demographics, politics, and borders. It is simply astounding to watch the perpetual one-up-manship going on by all manner of people to elevate themselves to even higher ground in their repudiation of Russia’s foray into Ukraine. It’s as if there is a clickbait generator feasting upon the primal desires of “the masses” in a quest to attain diefication…. Hmmmmmmmm
Agree. I wondered if everyone had lost their minds, or just lacked so much virtue all they had left was empty virtue signaling with being racist is the way to be anti-racists and men who can’t ever be real women are real women baloney. Then came Covid and I watched the world, particularly in the west, and most extremely in the US throw a generation of kids out like trash. Often their own parents gleefully joining in with a majority of public school parents voting to further the destroy their own children’s future and gladly inject them with experimental medicine that might harm, but won’t help, for a disease that poses no risk and to which many were already immune.
It became clear that THIS is how Jews get loaded onto buses for death, tens of millions starve for communist virtue signaling, teenage girls get burned at the stake, and kids get sacrificed to not make it rain.
It makes me terrified now. In 2003 we inflicted incredible human suffering on a “smaller country” when we blew up Iraq for a completely fabricated WMD lie. Our military misadventures and use of economic sanctions to harm innocent people around the globe because of the geography of where they happen to live is cruel and mean spirited.
Now the drumbeats of war beat loudly. Covid just vanished. People are cheering ever more human suffering. The degree to which western governments will seize assets and cancel people for their nationality or being a Canadian trucker is terrifying and will backfire. Rather than take a step back most hapless fools are just irritated China is stepping in where western governments stepped out. What the heck did we think would happen????? The rest of the world is just going to wait for us to blow up their countries and economies because it makes a bunch or morons in the west feel better about themselves?????? It’s only ok for us to destroy millions of lives?????
Our arrogance and stupidity is going to end up backfiring on our children. The only real question is how bad will it be, and how well can those of us who see through the endless wars and harm and lies and insanity protect our own children?
this = radioactive monster mash
Nothing like a crisis to assert emergency powers to make people sacrifice. The question is, can the deep state narrative-makers keep us in a perpetual state of emerging crises without causing burnout apathy and pushback?
so far, so good
They kicked all the independent thinkers and people with self respect out of the military for a reason......because they were intelligent enough not to take an unsafe and ineffective "vaccine"....
Now all they're left is complete zombies. If they ship these kids off to war. They will be coming back to attack us (the critical thinkers and peaceniks) domestically next.
I'm sure the transgenders will have no problem handling "Russia"
Virtue signaling is worth the sacrifice
Agree that the average Ukrainian and Russian are the pawns in a regional conflict that is, in a word, unnecessary. I do not think it is a question as to whether Putin is mentally compromised, but how much given his feckless and reckless behavior. And disgusting…I can’t forget disgusting. Suspect though Putin’s actions may be, it is not worth one American soldier’s life to intervene, particularly given the potential for escalation to a hot nuclear war. Depending on how foolhardy Putin becomes, we may yet have to, but I am cautiously optimistic Putin won’t do anything that reckless and stupid.
As lacking in strategy as Putin’s actions appear to be, particularly given their grave costs in terms of human suffering and loss of life, I am particularly challenged to understand the Biden administration’s. They are not leading in this situation whatsoever, following the EU and seemingly without any prior discussion or coordination, and are still buying Russian oil. And, if an increasingly number of credible reports are to be believed, collaborating with Russia on Iran. Their foibles would be comedic were the stakes not so high. It is vaguely reminiscent of the bunker scene in “Dr. Stangeglove,” with no real “grown up” in charge and a patchwork of “experts” grabasstically contrive policy after carefully consulting their crotches, stomaches, and wallets to see which way to let the wind carry them.
One thing they could be doing to lead that they have curiously and studiously avoided is standing with our Russian brothers and sisters here in the U.S. Having Russian ancestry does not a Putin acolyte make, and I am likewise sickened to read stories about Americans attacking other Americans over their heritage. That behavior is beyond contempt and indulging it diminishes us as a people.
Great insights as always, Jordan, and let us all hope calmer and wiser minds prevail in this exceedingly untenable situation. This an ugly chapter in human history and I hope it concludes quickly and without further depredation of the Ukrainian people and loss of human life.
Gee wiz, the past 13 years, the same ones who have been calling US NAZls, now want US to send OUR children to fight for them, defending NAZls in Ukraine...Yet 75% of Americans are too FRIIGAN STUPID to figure this out... Good GOD please end this stupidity!
At the very least, you have to give the propagandists some credit for the smoothness of their pivot from covid to war. We live in a sea of propaganda, and, as we've seen with our masked and meek population, it works well for TPTB. Would that more people could disconnect from the media tether that strangles their ability to think for themselves. Sadly, that won't happen anytime soon, if ever.
Spot on! The same media that lies and and lies, are supposedly to be listen to now because of the Ukraine russia conflict. These news agencies, globalists and political leaders are all shameless.
Elites are taking us for fools. This is not our conflict. Beware that our greatest enemies are trying like hell to drag us into war.
The country has gone koo-koo for cocoa puffs as the result of propaganda the past two years. Repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act is a little known big deal.
There's a book from the 1970's titled, "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" by Jerry Mander. Jerry Mander nailed it and his parents were witty naming him.
When you figure that the Ukraine and Chinese government was illegally bribing the Biden crime family while Biden was VP, you can then understand why all of this is happening. Putin and Xi form an alliance, Putin invades Ukraine and Xi invades Taiwan.
Ukraine saw this coming and wanted the bribes to save their arses. Bad thing is Putin and Xi saw it coming and knew Biden would do nothing major to stop it. The Biden/Obama regime is cluelessly inept and corrupt.
I’m not sure Xi will immediately move on Taiwan. He wants another term, which might be up in the air (per Epoch Times anyway). He’d rather be patient and take it peacefully with economic domination. Russia and its satellites have a huge number of people. So does South America and Africa where we have sent NGOs to keep them impoverished, while China has sent belt and road money to build them up, and give China economic dominance.
This entirely preventable Russia/ Ukraine debacle is an opportunity to accelerate a China centered, or at least co-centered, global economy. China is brutal to its own people, but prefers economic imperialism to our mixture of military and economic imperialism. The South Korean election will be interesting to watch.
China will use this opportunity to genuinely rival the U.S. economically, in cross border transactions, in being the currency of choice, and denominating global commodities transactions. Our mean spirited escalation of economic sanctions and extra judicial asset seizures targeted at innocent civilians has accelerated this.
My husband and I take our kids to Jamaica about every year. To see how quickly the belt and road project has expended there should give all Americans pause. The Jamaicans prefer American culture. But they are well aware it’s the Chinese building their roads, grocery stores, and gas stations. Investing in their country. Westerners go play on their beaches, and if so inclined smoke their weed. We don’t invest in their people or their country. As one of the diving guides said “with China we might have made a deal with the devil, but it’s the only one we were offered mon.”
While we’ve made Russia the boogie man for 25 years, China has purchased influence around the globe including on hundreds of islands right off our southeast coast, with billions in Chinese investments, and most Americans don’t have a clue.
While many of our NGOs have perpetuated poverty to ensure a never ending stream of funding, the Chinese have invested to help build countries up. Our arrogance blinds us to this reality from their perspective. Free shoes to Africa only drives African shoemakers out of business. New roads makes trade more available. We send the free shoes to destroy their shoe makers, China builds the new roads to help food distribution.
We had better wake up and start competing on merit because our arrogance and misuse of our economic dominance is going to harm our children and they deserve better, especially after we just spent 2 years subjecting to mass child abuse and have allowed teacher’s unions to repurposes schools from places to learn into places to be indoctrinated with useless theories.
I agree with everything said here. America needs more carrot and less stick. Our corrupt oligarchy of politicians, defense industry dominance, and corporatism hamstring our foreign policy and domestic policy.
The corruption has gotten so bad that it will become our demise. No way to get rid of it except for a hard reset and not a great one.
Agree!!!
Maybe you aren't aware of the Budapest Memorandum from 1994. The UK, Russia, and the USA all jointly promised to protect Ukraine as a sovereign nation. Ukraine agreed to return its Russian nuclear warheads to Russia that were left in Ukraine (when the USSR dissolved) and dismantle its ICBM silos ... in return for monetary assistance and protective assurances by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty members. So technically all of the NNPT members are on the hook to protect Ukraine ... which includes the USA and UK.
In 1991 we also promised not to expand NATO to former Soviet block states out of recognition for Russia’s legitimate national security issues. We made this deal in 1994 only to continue our expansion eastward under Clinton in 1997.
Moreover we promised to bring Russia into the international fold economically, yet we have mostly wanted a boogie man, and that boogie man has been Russia.
In 2007 Germany started pontificating about brining Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. In response, Russia invaded Georgia (and went no further) in 2008. Obama continued the neoliberal/ neocon western imperialism and in response Russia took Crimea in 2014. Again, Russia went no further. Trump wasn’t imperialistic and didn’t buy into the idea it was in our national security interest to continue antagonizing Putin. Putin made no effort to invade anything. Zelenskyy locked up his political opposition thus silencing the voices that considered things from Russia’s perspective. Ukraine disarmed their citizens. In 2019 Ukraine passed a law seeking EU and NATO membership.
Then Biden was elected and the same pro intervention, antagonize Putin war mongers came into power. They made clear their incompetence in Afghanistan. They started musing about letting Ukraine into NATO. The night before the invasion our VP “admired” their desire to join.
This war was both predictable and preventable. We are not the world’s daddy. We should not be the world’s policeman - particularly when we’ve mostly just created a lot more suffering over the last 2 decades.
Trying to understand the opposition is critical to preventing and solving international armed conflict. By picking out a single document, ignoring the context, and ignoring the other agreements we made and blatantly violated, you are simply advocating a position through bias that would result in more dead humans. It’s intellectually lazy and incredibly dangerous.