Apologies if you’ve heard me go over this before, but sometimes I find it bears repeating. And I’ll admit I’m repeating this today because for whatever reason I find myself especially agitated about it. In late 2021 and early 2022, I was publicly skeptical
Michael, you are still very young at 35 and without the experience of our history. Please do not tell Russia what is in its best interests. This is a common American fault. Sometimes, it is necessary to fight.
I too have witnessed people too easily falling into the knee-jerk conclusion that our military industrial complex is evil, but the Russian military industrial complex is somehow good.
However, although it took two hours for Putin to answer Tuckers first question “Why did you invade Ukraine in December 2022”, Putin did finally answer “we went into Ukraine not to start the war, but to finish it “.
Certainly, that can be seen as a stretch.
But, to a degree, it can also be seen as somewhat valid. The SMO can be seen as an attempt to stop the ongoing Ukrainian civil war.
As the Minsk Agreement had also attempted to end that war, but failed.
Putin mentioned at the end of the Tucker interview that, at least early on, it looked like the SMO worked. It drove Ukraine back to the negotiating table (in Istanbul) where Ukraine and Russia appeared to have reached a Minsk Agreement 2.0.
He claims that UK then Prime Minister Boris Johnson then entered the scene and told Ukraine to withdraw from the new agreement.
I have also heard that elsewhere. But it’s very hard to know what to believe.
If true, however, it does change the picture somewhat.
I guess the question I keep not hearing answered is “what was Russia supposed to do?”
Or perhaps better yet, “what would the US have done differently if they were in a similar situation?”
It’s hard to argue that we wouldn’t have Shock and Awed.
None of this is to necessarily disagree with one of your main points - that the whole war is an unmitigated disaster. For everyone.
Michael, are YOU using a straw man here? No one is gratified or thrilled that a war is going on, but this war didn't start with Russia invading Ukraine. Just ask the thousands of ethnic Russian Ukrainians in the Donbas who lived under constant shelling and bombardment from the rabid ultranationalists and neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and killed thousands of their friends and family members for the last ten years. The special military operation was very tepid and limited and an attempt (albeit extreme) to get that ego manic midget, Zelensky to the negotiating table-WHICH IT DID, only to be sabotaged by the likes of Biden, NATO and Boris Johnson which scuttled multiple peace deals. Russia did make a mistake in underestimating the depravity of the U.S. and NATO to use Ukraine as cannon fodder but once this thing got started there was no turning back. It's obvious, as with any war, there are no winners, just a massive loss of life and resources. This whole war could have been totally avoided if Ukraine had just renounce plans to seek NATO membership and remained neutral, you know, like Austria (don't see Russia having any problems with them) and requested EU membership (and let's be honest, Brussels would never consent to allow poor, backward, massively corrupt Ukraine into their rarified club) But when NATO attempts to, or threatens to incorporate Ukraine, a country that had been used for previous invasions into the Russian heartland, the last of which was the Nazis which killed 5 million Russians, expect a little resistance and blowback and stop clutching your pearls. Again, no one is "cheering" for war but understanding motive as to how this catastrophe happened is totally acceptable and warranted.
I don't exactly cheer for Russia, but I do roll my eyes whenever I read that the invasion was "unprovoked." I also wonder why we're so busy throwing money at Ukraine. This is not our war, and it seems like Europeans need to be more involved, if they really feel threatened by Russia. I don't understand why we can't be a force for peace. (Well, I DO understand, but I don't like it.)
The political Gnosticism of the liberal imperium, as per professor Deneen, is a carbuncle on this world: so much death and destruction. Standing up to it requires violence because the western order is violence. America is a war machine. The Entire logic of America is war.
I’m not blithe about war , although it may seem like I am.
Agreed. The Russian invasion was a surprising and ill advised move. American policy of supporting and encouraging continued hostilities is immoral and disgusting. Cease fire NOW. Negotiate the border.
Mike, I feel for you, but in actuality All the wars fought in the 20/21 Century with the exception of WWI, and WWII have been a disaster for the US and humankind. Our involvement in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine serves no purpose but to line the pockets of
Americans with cash at the expense of American Military personnel lives. There’s actually nothing you can do to stop WAR as long as it’s profitable to someone. GREED is actually the root of all evil.
I am new here, having enjoyed several appearances of yours on Glenn Greenwald's show, and deciding to subscribe. Yes, Glenn's live chat has several rude people, unfortunately. I apologize. (Oddly enough, it's always dudes. The ladies all seem to love you). I just thought you were cool, obviously a good journalist, informative and entertaining. I had to look up "NAFO," & I don't understand who is cheering this war on. Evidently I don't visit the pro-Russia alternative news sites. The people I follow are not pro-Putin; they're just anti-war.
My view is that the West/NATO deliberately provoked this war by mucking around in Ukraine, pressuring Boris Johnson to counsel Zelensky to reject any negotiations, and generally ramping up hysteria about how Putin wants to rebuild the USSR. I'm just disgusted that my country can't ever seem to be on the side of peace. There are too many war pigs pushing disastrous policies in too many places.
The most important point for Americans is that there is no upside in this war for us. It is expensive, unwinnable and potentially catastrophic if the nuclear brinkmanship gets out of hand. Prosecuting an unwinnable war is grossly immoral, no matter how holy you think your cause is.
First of all, you don't need to remind us of the horrors of war.
That said, just listen to yourself. You are more than "especially agitated." Look at what you've written. Your rhetoric is out of control. You sound hysterical.
If you are an uncompromising, absolute pacifist, your rhetorical overkill would make some sense.
Are you a total pacifist? If so, does that give you the right to pass judgment on others, whose physical security and sense of external threat are impossible for you to comprehend?
We now know that the West acted in bad-faith, in pretending to respect the Minsk agreements. Then, Biden and his cynical NATO subordinates engineered a situation in which Russia had to capitulate (and submit to regime-change and western Balkanization) OR defend itself militarily.
It's deceitful to claim that Russia still had diplomatic options. That door was closed by Blinken, Nuland and company.
The SMO -- what you and the mainstream call "the invasion" -- was a very reluctant, and measured, intervention in an 8-year civil war, with ethnic Russians defending their homeland against a NATO-armed Banderite/Nazi military.
Please, tamp down that sense of moral (and intellectual) superiority.
Micheal, you are still have a functioning brain that can hold multiple ideas at once at 35 and distill them into delightful articles about how everyone is stupid. A plain truth that is a common fault that carries over into all nationalities to not recognize.
Michael, you are still very young at 35 and without the experience of our history. Please do not tell Russia what is in its best interests. This is a common American fault. Sometimes, it is necessary to fight.
I get your overall point.
I too have witnessed people too easily falling into the knee-jerk conclusion that our military industrial complex is evil, but the Russian military industrial complex is somehow good.
However, although it took two hours for Putin to answer Tuckers first question “Why did you invade Ukraine in December 2022”, Putin did finally answer “we went into Ukraine not to start the war, but to finish it “.
Certainly, that can be seen as a stretch.
But, to a degree, it can also be seen as somewhat valid. The SMO can be seen as an attempt to stop the ongoing Ukrainian civil war.
As the Minsk Agreement had also attempted to end that war, but failed.
Putin mentioned at the end of the Tucker interview that, at least early on, it looked like the SMO worked. It drove Ukraine back to the negotiating table (in Istanbul) where Ukraine and Russia appeared to have reached a Minsk Agreement 2.0.
He claims that UK then Prime Minister Boris Johnson then entered the scene and told Ukraine to withdraw from the new agreement.
I have also heard that elsewhere. But it’s very hard to know what to believe.
If true, however, it does change the picture somewhat.
I guess the question I keep not hearing answered is “what was Russia supposed to do?”
Or perhaps better yet, “what would the US have done differently if they were in a similar situation?”
It’s hard to argue that we wouldn’t have Shock and Awed.
None of this is to necessarily disagree with one of your main points - that the whole war is an unmitigated disaster. For everyone.
A disaster not worth cheerleading for.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Michael, are YOU using a straw man here? No one is gratified or thrilled that a war is going on, but this war didn't start with Russia invading Ukraine. Just ask the thousands of ethnic Russian Ukrainians in the Donbas who lived under constant shelling and bombardment from the rabid ultranationalists and neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and killed thousands of their friends and family members for the last ten years. The special military operation was very tepid and limited and an attempt (albeit extreme) to get that ego manic midget, Zelensky to the negotiating table-WHICH IT DID, only to be sabotaged by the likes of Biden, NATO and Boris Johnson which scuttled multiple peace deals. Russia did make a mistake in underestimating the depravity of the U.S. and NATO to use Ukraine as cannon fodder but once this thing got started there was no turning back. It's obvious, as with any war, there are no winners, just a massive loss of life and resources. This whole war could have been totally avoided if Ukraine had just renounce plans to seek NATO membership and remained neutral, you know, like Austria (don't see Russia having any problems with them) and requested EU membership (and let's be honest, Brussels would never consent to allow poor, backward, massively corrupt Ukraine into their rarified club) But when NATO attempts to, or threatens to incorporate Ukraine, a country that had been used for previous invasions into the Russian heartland, the last of which was the Nazis which killed 5 million Russians, expect a little resistance and blowback and stop clutching your pearls. Again, no one is "cheering" for war but understanding motive as to how this catastrophe happened is totally acceptable and warranted.
I don't exactly cheer for Russia, but I do roll my eyes whenever I read that the invasion was "unprovoked." I also wonder why we're so busy throwing money at Ukraine. This is not our war, and it seems like Europeans need to be more involved, if they really feel threatened by Russia. I don't understand why we can't be a force for peace. (Well, I DO understand, but I don't like it.)
Solid and my goodness you write well.
I’m guilty of cheerleading for Russia.
The political Gnosticism of the liberal imperium, as per professor Deneen, is a carbuncle on this world: so much death and destruction. Standing up to it requires violence because the western order is violence. America is a war machine. The Entire logic of America is war.
I’m not blithe about war , although it may seem like I am.
Agreed. The Russian invasion was a surprising and ill advised move. American policy of supporting and encouraging continued hostilities is immoral and disgusting. Cease fire NOW. Negotiate the border.
Mike, I feel for you, but in actuality All the wars fought in the 20/21 Century with the exception of WWI, and WWII have been a disaster for the US and humankind. Our involvement in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine serves no purpose but to line the pockets of
Americans with cash at the expense of American Military personnel lives. There’s actually nothing you can do to stop WAR as long as it’s profitable to someone. GREED is actually the root of all evil.
I am new here, having enjoyed several appearances of yours on Glenn Greenwald's show, and deciding to subscribe. Yes, Glenn's live chat has several rude people, unfortunately. I apologize. (Oddly enough, it's always dudes. The ladies all seem to love you). I just thought you were cool, obviously a good journalist, informative and entertaining. I had to look up "NAFO," & I don't understand who is cheering this war on. Evidently I don't visit the pro-Russia alternative news sites. The people I follow are not pro-Putin; they're just anti-war.
My view is that the West/NATO deliberately provoked this war by mucking around in Ukraine, pressuring Boris Johnson to counsel Zelensky to reject any negotiations, and generally ramping up hysteria about how Putin wants to rebuild the USSR. I'm just disgusted that my country can't ever seem to be on the side of peace. There are too many war pigs pushing disastrous policies in too many places.
The most important point for Americans is that there is no upside in this war for us. It is expensive, unwinnable and potentially catastrophic if the nuclear brinkmanship gets out of hand. Prosecuting an unwinnable war is grossly immoral, no matter how holy you think your cause is.
Keep on doing your stuff Michael! It's fucking good journalism.
First of all, you don't need to remind us of the horrors of war.
That said, just listen to yourself. You are more than "especially agitated." Look at what you've written. Your rhetoric is out of control. You sound hysterical.
If you are an uncompromising, absolute pacifist, your rhetorical overkill would make some sense.
Are you a total pacifist? If so, does that give you the right to pass judgment on others, whose physical security and sense of external threat are impossible for you to comprehend?
We now know that the West acted in bad-faith, in pretending to respect the Minsk agreements. Then, Biden and his cynical NATO subordinates engineered a situation in which Russia had to capitulate (and submit to regime-change and western Balkanization) OR defend itself militarily.
It's deceitful to claim that Russia still had diplomatic options. That door was closed by Blinken, Nuland and company.
The SMO -- what you and the mainstream call "the invasion" -- was a very reluctant, and measured, intervention in an 8-year civil war, with ethnic Russians defending their homeland against a NATO-armed Banderite/Nazi military.
Please, tamp down that sense of moral (and intellectual) superiority.
Micheal, you are still have a functioning brain that can hold multiple ideas at once at 35 and distill them into delightful articles about how everyone is stupid. A plain truth that is a common fault that carries over into all nationalities to not recognize.
Thank you for this.