I think Rus lays things out well. When Putin was mounting up massive troops along the Ukrainian border, I thought it was bluster, saber-rattling, bravado aimed toward negotiations. I never thought he’d actually invade. I was wrong. And I was disappointed. Putin’s invasion brought NATO closer together, actually inspired new countries to join NATO, and gave the West a new reason to hate Russia.
But isn’t that what NATO wanted and needed? NATO was dying on the vine. Seeing Trump sit at the table across from Jens Stoltenberg and tear him a new rectum was a thing of beauty. The alliance was shown to be a waste of $$$$ and the dues paid from member nations was supremely uneven and inequitable. But, darn, it's funny how this manufactured war changed all that in the absence of Trump, isn't it? So odd! You have a dying alliance that is quickly showing itself to be useless and irrelevant suddenly show it is more relevant than ever!
It really reminds me of an old show called The Outer Limits. I'm sure of anyone here, Rus would most likely recall it. There is an episode that comes to mind---The Architects of Fear. Robert Culp. The world is a mess and they need unity, so they need to create a boogeyman. They need a common foe, a villain, a foil, in whom the world can pour its collective disdain and disgust to distract from their own problems and failures. As a result, these scientists draw lots and Culp is chosen to undergo this awful surgery wherein his final destination is to become a hideous alien. They turn him into this vile creature and build him a spaceship. They have him land on earth as this foreign and malignant force for the world to hate....together.
We don't have alien surgery....yet, so we do the next best thing---create a foe through goading and persecution and isolation along with threats.
I don't want to sound like Rod Serling, but, imagine, if you will......Russia has been wanting a war with the U.S./NATO, so in 2010 he convinces Mexico to enter into an alliance with the Russian Federation. He infuses money into the Mexican economy, helps them tap into their energy potential, provides them with weapons, opens up businesses and manufacturing there, and helps facilitate trade with them as well. The United States isn't happy, but does nothing. Then, Russia does the same with Guatemala and Honduras, and you see Russians marching around Panama.....Pretty soon Russia gets so daring that they meet with Canada and have talks, very vocal talks that they are offering Canada a massive defense, economic, and trade package along with military garrisons if, and only if.....Canada will join their Collective Security Organization and declare themselves independent of the Commonwealth and NATO. The Canadian government starts publicly declaring this is tantalizing and a distinct possibility they're considering.....
Nobody likes this war. I don't. And when I saw the story about the cathedral in Ukraine getting bombed, my heart sank. Beyond sad. Disgusting. But are we surprised? Russia is using primitive munitions and bombs from the Leave it to Beaver era as they, like us, are getting low on weaponry. The wood-chipper of death is draining. They're using nasty bombs that have no precision---just hapless havoc takes place. And we're sending in cluster bombs, something we previously claimed was barbaric and off the table. Apparently barbarism has its place after a while? Russia is a careless and havoc-creating nation. They always have been. They don't mind some catastrophic collateral damage. Sad.
What would the United States do? <
cue the Gomer Pyle music here> Are we really stupid enough to think that the U.S. would NOT invoke
Monroe Doctrine long before any of this even happened? Would the U.S. not invade Mexico or Guatemala or Canada on some trumped-up excuses just to ensure Russia never got a foothold in the Western Hemisphere? As
@Nick1000 might say, "DUH!" The Monroe Doctrine was and still is the policy of the United States. Nobody. I repeat, NOBODY, runs this part of the world except the gringo empire of the U.S. The rest of these poor slobs in Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, they're under the dominion of the mighty empire, the U.S. The Russians see the same thing in their part of the world----Bulgaria, Serbia, the Baltics, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Romania, Hungary, Poland, that area is the Eastern dominion traditionally held by Russia. And in the past few decades we've dangled out the candy bar on a stick getting many of those countries to join NATO. Monroe Doctrine in reverse. This has been about hegemony in the region. Yeltsin, being a weak drunk, would've allowed all this to happen possibly (although even he kept warning against NATO incursion!), but Gehenna would freeze over before a tough guy like Putin would permit this nonsense and hypocrisy to kick in.
At a political level the U.S. has been beyond hypocritical with all this. At a spiritual level this was always aimed at splitting and hurting and frustrating the Orthodox Church. There will be those who accept this phony graceless non-canonical farce of a "church" in Ukraine to exist that Mike Pompeo and our illustrious Ecumenical Patriarch created (sigh). And there will be those who support the real Church in Russia. There are Orthodox Christians, sometimes even in here, who love to attack Patriarch Kyrill in Russia. While I don't agree with some of his oddities like promising soldiers martyrdom salvation and a few other things, he obviously sees the forest for the trees better than the EP. Splitting and weakening and wounding the Orthodox Faith was a huge component of this conflict. And IT'S WORKING!
Putin is a tough guy. I'm a teacher, as most of you know. This will be year 26 for me. When you have a tough kid in your class who gets in trouble from time to time, let's call him Mike, and you tell all the good kids in your class, "Hey, Mike is a little thug. Don't play with him on the playground. Don't talk to him. Don't help him. Don't look at him!" what will inevitably happen is Mike will find all the worst kids on the playground who are in the same boat as he is. Mike will seek out like-minded trouble-makers, and as he perceives the teacher and other kids ganging up on him, he'll develop a chip on his shoulder becoming worse. Putin will only behave with more naughtiness and seek out more Iranian, Cuban, North Korean, and Chinese help in the coming months and years as we further isolate, humiliate, and try to crush Russia. If we're the good teacher, we'll try to end this war and drop the sanctions, try to rehabilitate and build bridges. But that isn't going to happen....because America is not the good teacher. We're the spiteful one. And we want to see the playground fight. We've been building it up for about 8-9 years now. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
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