"Perhaps I should have prefaced it with IMHO."
;-) ;-) ;-)
As I've said before, a lot of what bothers me about the situation is that Russia -- post USSR -- really wanted to be accepted as a "westernized" country. I obiously can't speak for Putin, as I never spoke with him. However, I have spent time in Russia, as well as Ukraine, and I have a boots on the ground perspective.
So, did we welcome Russia to join other western nations on a semi-respectful basis? No. From the beginning the west, and the US in particular, looked to make Russia (and Ukraine) their "b*tch". All the deals were stacked, and everyone from the Bidens to the Clintons tried to find some way to graft out of the situation.
Compare and contrast that to how we treated China, in particular, and I think the difference in "respect" couldn't be more evident. We gave EVERYTHING to "red" China - especially things like technology and industry dominance we never, never, never, never should have.
It's really frustrating, as I said. The country we OUGHT to have demonized was China. The country we CHOSE to demonize was Russia. In making that massive mistake (for GRAFT reasons, I am sure, and probably because Russian society was more open to causcasian westerners) we drove Russia into China's sphere of influence. Two countries which we should have worked hard to keep separated were driven to put their VAST cultural and ethnic differences aside and become united against the United States.
China PLAYED us masterfully; they bought the US for mere plastic trinkets. The geopolitics couldn't have been moe idiotically bungled if we tried.
Or maybe we DID try. The idea that the folks running the US government and the US MILITARY have any allegiance whatsoever to the US best interest, is -- in retrospect -- laughably false. Maybe China took over the US military and the US government 50 years ago and has just been playing the long game?
In retrospect that is EXACTLY how it looks to me. IMHO. ;-/
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