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Bernd Fouquet's avatar

Dear Tucker Carlson,

I'm sure Putin would never call You a racist or even threaten to fire you for disagreeing with him, but You might actually have a little accident, like falling out of a window or getting run over by a car if You disagree with him too much, let's say as much as You disagree with Joe Biden. So, for Your own good, stay in the US, where You can enjoy Your fool's freedom.

Having said that. Yes, Putin is a despicable politician and a authoritarian despot, I get that, but it's still not a good idea to corner the old bear in the way the west has been doing since the days the Cold War should have ended, since the fall of the Soviet Union. I think any other Russian leader than Putin would have basically the same objections against bringing NATO right up to the Russian border and would strive to stop that. No other Russian leader would have given up the Crimean with the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet without a fight, just like the US has its Monroe Doctrine thus rather go to war than accepting any hostile foreign troops in what the US considers its backyard, which includes the entire American Continent. The last time someone tried that our world ended up on the brink of an all out nuclear war.

Yes, Putin has overreacted vastly, but the whole conflict should have been ended long ago, by acknowledging the annexation of the Crimea after a peaceful referendum and negotiating with the breakaway regions in Ukraine's east about a status everybody can live with. And of course do not have Ukraine join NATO, that means accepting that Russia can have a "Monroe Doctrine" of its own.

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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

This is such baloney.

The war now underway was not provoked by America, NATO, Ukraine or anybody besides V. Putin. The idea that he has legitimate grievances is ridiculous. What he's mad about is that so many countries and peoples, e.g. Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine, escaped the suffocating embrace of the Russian imperium. Putin wants to recreate that imperium. Taking measures to make sure that will never happen, e.g. expanding NATO, was not some terrible act of aggression against Russia. Sure, Putin claims otherwise, but that's just propaganda. He knows that NATO doesn't threaten Russian national security. Anyhow, why should a despotic thug like him have any say at all in the composition of NATO?

So please, let's stop pretending that Putin was provoked into this act of aggression. It was his free choice, and his stated reasons for making that choice are all lies.

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Bernd Fouquet's avatar

I believe You would be amongst the first calling for an immediate intervention by the US military if, let's say Cuba, would exercise its right to choose what alliance to seek and invite, let's say China, to build a military base or two on its northern coast. The last time something like this was tried was back in 1961, if I remember it right, and the US was willing to start a nuclear war over that. One can only hope that Putin turns out to be less determined to prevent military bases of a hostile entity that close to home than Kennedy was in 1961. Because then we are right at the brink of a nuclear war.

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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

Well, there are no NATO bases on Ukrainian territory, are there? Anyhow, if V. Putin’s worried about a NATO “threat” he’s chosen a funny way to deal with it because his invasion of Ukraine has caused NATO to deploy more military forces to its front-line member states. So if we take your explanation of his actions at face value, then Putin is a fool.

But we’d be foolish to take Putin’s stated reasons for invading Ukraine at face value. He’s not fearful of NATO aggression. That’s a lie carried over from the Cold War, when the USSR made the same false claim. Putin is attempting to recreate the defunct Russian imperium. And that pattern of aggression is bound to galvanize opposition. So Putin’s actually responsible for the “threat” he complains about. But you seem determined to find excuses for what he’s doing. Why is that?

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Bernd Fouquet's avatar

I'm just trying to fill You in on the context of everything.

But at least there is some good news now, that just broke a few minutes ago. The office of the Ukrainian president announced that Ukraine agreed to peace talks with Russia now on the border between Ukraine and Belarus. Let's hope this can bring an end to this war.

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David Burse's avatar

"Putin wants to recreate that imperium."

He's putting the band back together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_7GC8SDVqA

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