For more than 30 years, Russia tried in vain to convince the West to refrain from surrounding the country with military forces through diplomacy, dialogue, negotiations...
Diplomacy was a miserable failure, a big waste of time.
Ukraine was becoming a DE FACTO NATO member, as you can see by the amount of weapons the country already possessed before the war.
Breaking stuff in Ukraine was a desperate last resort.
Ok, let me make sure I understand this. Switzerland has a lot of weapons, and is or was, technically neutral. So Switzerland, is making a mistake, by having lots of weapons. They would be better off unarmed and at the mercy of the proven liar Putin.
NATO was little more than a Country Club. Most nations were not spending their fair share, even by the agreements, on their Military. Our forces in Germany were down to 30,000, and Trump ordered an additional 10k out. But we were āsurroundingā Russia. Or something.
NATO had not done any real training. We have to pull out the deployment we are doing right now, out of our ass. We are sending troops, but we donāt know where to send them, and we have no idea what mission theyāre going to have, or what positions theyāre going to take. Because we havenāt done a Reforger drill since the 1990ās.
The Military of our nation, and most nations, has been focused on Counterinsurgency for a long time. We havenāt done any real training for full scale Armored or Territorial combat in a couple decades. But we were somehow a threat to Russia.
Actually, on that last point, I can see how Russia saw us as a threat. I mean, their Military is so ill prepared for combat that they make even the most unprepared National Guardsmen look like serious combat veterans waiting for the chance to kick ass.
It is all an excuse. A lie. Putin has lied consistently, and constantly. First he assured the world he wouldnāt invade. Then he ārecognizedā the puppet states of the disputed territories. The puppet states each naming themselves the Peoples Republic. Always a sure sign of a Soviet influence. Peoples Republic.
Then he invaded, to get the NAZIās, or the Corrupt, or something. Every day for a week or so, in between threatening the world with Nuclear Holocaust, he would come up with a different excuse, each one more lame than the one before.
Ukraine was no threat to Russia. Ukraine was never going to invade Russia. We are watching a High School Bully stomp the shit out of a Middle School kid, and just like that scenario, the middle school kid is putting up a good fight, and the crowd is cheering that kid. Except for the minions of the Bully.
No, we need to oppose Russia, and the new Soviet Empire, at every front, at every opportunity. We need to starve the nation, force them to submit to the will of the world. And that will isnāt domination by NATO. Because all the assurances of the west were that Ukraine wasnāt going to get into NATO. At least not before.
Now, Putin being a pathological liar would see everything everyone else says, as a lie too. We always project our own flaws and failures on others. The more flawed we are, the greater the projection.
So fuck Russia. I hope that millions starve over the next year. I hope that millions more die from lack of proper medicine. I hope that the people are wiped out from the face of the earth. They canāt live in peace, so they donāt deserve to live.