A bit more reading on the Ukraine situation

[Craig234]

First article is from right-wing Libertarian Cato that's about the most critical I've seen toward US support for Ukraine, blaming it for the war, just to understand those arguments; second is background on the history of giving weapons to Ukraine; third is the wiki article on what led to Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 and the start of the war with Ukraine.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/nato-arms-sales-ukraine-spark-starts-war-russia

Lethal Weapons to Ukraine: A Primer

On December 22, 2017, the Trump administration approved supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, capping a nearly three-year debate in Washington

www.atlanticcouncil.org

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think what becomes clear from a lot of this is how complicated the issue has been for well over a decade with the tensions clear the whole time, with some recklessness and lack of diplomacy by different actors for a very difficult situation of varying loyalties in Ukraine, that all led to Putin thinking that becoming a monstrous war criminal more than he already was was a good plan. It's good to understand more how that happens.

 

[Craig234]

It's alleged that Bush was aggressive about Georgia and Ukraine, pushing NATO to admit them, pushing them to be confrontational with Russia, leading Putin to invade Georgia, leading Georgia to essentially surrender as the west was not going to go to war with Russia to protect them - see any lesson from that experience Putin might have learned that applied to Ukraine?

 

[jnug]

First article is from right-wing Libertarian Cato that's about the most critical I've seen toward US support for Ukraine, blaming it for the war, just to understand those arguments; second is background on the history of giving weapons to Ukraine; third is the wiki article on what led to Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 and the start of the war with Ukraine.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/nato-arms-sales-ukraine-spark-starts-war-russia

Lethal Weapons to Ukraine: A Primer

On December 22, 2017, the Trump administration approved supplying Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, capping a nearly three-year debate in Washington

www.atlanticcouncil.org

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think what becomes clear from a lot of this is how complicated the issue has been for well over a decade with the tensions clear the whole time, with some recklessness and lack of diplomacy by different actors for a very difficult situation of varying loyalties in Ukraine, that all led to Putin thinking that becoming a monstrous war criminal more than he already was was a good plan. It's good to understand more how that happens.

Does not change how bombastic Putin's miscalculations about the capability of his Military, the effect 22 years of absolute power had on him and his aides and the degree to which Zelensky would rally his people and that Biden would rally the western democracies.

The only issue WE in the United States have to deal with is a comment about the United States attributed to Winston Churchill that Churchill may not have actually made in public. Whether he did or not it is not just rhyming as it usual does in history, its ringing in our ears: Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities.