Hubcapped

Oh the irony of correcting apc iphone typing whilst having a typo…..this has been fun today! Lots of spice for the russian bots to chew on

METO Guido

Are you crazy or something?

Lazarus of Bethany. Resurrected twice. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. No disrespect. Compliance with the commandments, easier for some than others.

Hubcapped

Its not me you owe the apology to friend

Yes im crazy,

not the person that cant string coherent sentences together, talks about himself in the 3rd person, insults people who have given no reason, refuses to answer direct valid questions, and cant figure who Lazarus is……not that guy…me

christ this is fun, however um finally out if the van and need to sleep. Good night meto, and you too other meto.

METO Guido

Que the violinist.

MaxQ

NATO expansion is not the reason for this war. It has more to do with Putin's desire to ressurect the former Russian Empire, with the core being Russia with the siblings of Ukraine and Belarussia-----Great Russians, Little Russians, and White Russians.

Sometime after Putin's rise to power he came under the influence of the thinkers Aleksander Dugin and Ivan Ilyn. They suggest the core positions that Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church are the bulwark against Western depravity and hence the savior of Civilization. Similar hints of this show up in the mysticism of Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn's later essays/interviews. Putin's views evolved with these changes and can even be seen in his speeches as they became more anti-west with an increase in references to Russia as herioc, pure, and always the innocent sufferer. It is also fundamental to Dugin's call for an Eurasian Empire to be unified and led by the Great Russians, as they are the only People with the moral purity fit to lead such. A Purity tempered by their suffereing. Somewhere in their writings are the ideas of protecting the people from the hordes of Asia and the Turks. So it's not just protection from Western moral decay, but also Eastern races and false religious infections. Now it's not just Jews who threaten Holy Russia.
Think Project New American Century on steroids.

Putin, and his like minded allies, are in a tizzy that Ukraine managed to oust his puppet government in 2014. This threatened to make Ukraine a truly sovereign Nation. Being unable to accept that the majority of Ukrainians think of themselves as Ukrainians, seperate from Russia, they have chosen to force Ukraine back to it's colonial staus by military invasion. If Mankind wants to continue the post WW2 stability of countrys (mostly) abiding by established borders, then it is critical that Russia fails in their attempt.

There is much, much more. Russia's(Putin's) propagada of false history. (some facts jumbled together with some lies, and an overall misrepresentation).
The big lie told after Yalta about Russia's need of "buffer zones". This was largely to provide a cover for the West's acceptance, after Yalta, of Soviet subjugation of over 100 million people in the countries that the Red Army occupied on the way to Berlin. It is a lie that has been taught and accepted as an objective fact. (my parents were appalled that I was taught this bull**** in jr. high school. apparently we still teach it to our military officers)
The lie that Russians suffered most of the depravities of the Nazi's. (not true, it was their colonized people who did most of the suffering)
The redrawing of the borders of the USSR and it's occupied neighbor states. Combined with the ethnic cleansing of millions as they were relocated to accomodate the new borders. Not to mention the murders and deportations east.

Most of Russia's former Eastern Block colonies wanted to join NATO because they understand what it is like to live in a neighborhood of cobras, hyenas and vultures. Russia resents this, not because they are parnoid of NATO aggression, but because it limits their ability to do as they please with their neighbors. They resent the limits it puts on their piracy. Thugs always chaffe at the idea of the rule of law.

I haven't touched on how Russia is a criminal enterprise as opposed a normal government. This is a factor to Russian aggression in Ukraine also. But have written enough for now.
The bottom line is that NATO expansion making Russia feel threatened is a crock. NATO expansion made Russia restricted to Her own borders. This hasn't been the case since Ivan the Terrible. That is what ****es Putin off, not paranoia as so many assert.

Excargodog

NATO expansion is PRECISELY what this is all about. The US came close to going to war over the Cuban missile crisis - he , we DID do a proxy war with the Bay of Pigs invasion - because we didn't want a Russian ally 90 miles away from our border. Do you seriously believe that the Russians are LESS paranoid than we are?

Throuout the Cold War Russia pretty much ignored neutrals like Austria and Switzerland. Even let Yugoslavia do its own thing. Russia was already restricting itself to its own borders before NATO expansion. As has been aptly shown by the decrepit shape of the military equipment most of our European allies "gifted' to Ukraine, most of the new NATO countries simply wanted Uncle Sugar to pay THEIR defense bills like we have been doing for decades for the older NATO states. Already Germany, the largest economy in NATO excepting the US, is trying to renegotiate what 2% means to avoid meeting their promised defense expenditures.

https://www.politico.eu/article/berl...tary-mobility/

Tfork

You can't seem to read. Did you notice two question marks in my post?????? Get serious.

METO Guido

Yes. I can read. Leading questions are inadmissable. Restate your question. Good grief.

CLazarus

Great post Max, thanks for taking the time to write it. 100% agree that whining about NATO expansion as a threat to Russia was a total crock. I got a good up close look at NATO back then, it was more of a social club than a serious military force.

Tfork

Ha, I knew you wouldn't answer the question. It's a simple question and you won't answer...Tells anyone all they need to know.