The Azov militants were involved in regime change in Ukraine. They showed up at the Maidan and other public places, and carried out violence. They became the henchmen of the nationalist movement.
They are more than just hateful toward non-whites, and have race-hatred toward ethnic Russians who are one third of the country's population, as well as hatred toward Jews and other inferior untermenschen. They want ethnic cleansing.
The reality of Ukraine is that it has various ethnic groups, and meanwhile the most famous and beloved names in Ukrainian nationalism have a history of expressing Nazi ideology, including hatred toward Jews.
I was actually chatting online with a guy in Ukraine when he was livestreaming while marching in that annual event to honor their favorite hero Stepan Bandera, whom they regard as the founding father of their country. He took us on their march through Kyiv, while they all held candles, torches, phone lights, etc. It gave me a front row seat to their national celebration. I didn't diss them or say anything against their hero, even though he was responsible for a lot of deaths, and I could see various flags & symbols in their procession. Hey, I get it - everyone is entitled to ethnic pride - including the Germans.
Stepan Bandera led the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which fought alongside Nazi Germany during the Second World War, killed thousands of Jews and Poles
www.timesofisrael.com
During World War II, Bandera led the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, whose men killed thousands of Jews and Poles, including women and children, while fighting alongside Nazi Germany against the Red Army and communists.
At the march, many participants waved banners carrying the symbol of the far-right Svoboda party, whose leaders have often made anti-Semitic comments, and banners reading: “Nationalism is our religion. Bandera is our prophet,” Pravda Ukraine reported.
Some Americans want to "make Ukraine the next Afghanistan for Russia" -- but when I think of Afghanistan, I also think of 9-11, and also the Taliban.
If an Afghan-style jihad were supported in Ukraine through supply of arms and insurgency training -- then what could go wrong? Nah, nothing could go wrong -- why would it?
The one silver lining in this Ukraine invasion, is that it's jolted the Germans into radically boosting their military spending to 2% of GDP, suddenly giving them them the 3rd-largest military budget in the world. Their military budget will be larger than any European country's, and also larger than Russia's.
Theodore Roosevelt supported Imperial Japan in the Russo-Japanese war, because he felt they could tie down the Russians in a war in the far east. The idea that the nationalists of Imperial Japan would then embark on conquest of other countries in the Asia-Pacific didn't really occur to him. Bah, why worry about future hypotheticals? You can just cross(burn?) that bridge when you come to it.
But one Pearl Harbor attack later, and another world war later, along with 2 atomic bombings later, that stunt did perhaps look like an idea that could have been passed over.
The Afghan jihad was another bright idea originating from Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski -- an East European / Polish mind, no less -- who happened to be Jimmy Carter's national security advisor.
Like Teddy, Zbig and Carter were able to bleed the Russian troops (and also Ukrainian ones) in Afghanistan through the jihadists. Being an east european, he had some candid views about his priorities:
www.sourcewatch.org
Brzezinski: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?
Le Nouvel Observateur, Interview with Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paris, January 15-21, 1998
That interview was just a few years before the unfortunate events of 9-11, whereupon Zbig quickly ran to testify in front of Congress, speaking about how it could be a 'false flag' attack.
Another East European was Dr Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State for President Nixon to thaw ties with China. Being an East European, he too may have been interested in using China to tie down USSR in the east, however he may not have considered the consequences of that US tilt toward China on the rest of Asia. Taiwan may not be remembering that historic shift very fondly.
How do so many Europeans all get to be national security advisors, anyway? Must be some kind of affirmative action program for people who don't like Russians.
But I do want to say I'm most impressed with retired NATO general, General Breedlove who's advanced the
Strange suggestion that the US can impose a No Fly Zone on Russian forces in Ukraine: