Tiamat
I've seen the future...
We're getting off topic, but I'll go ahead and reply. If the moderators want to move this to another thread that's fine.
It's more like Russia was an absolute mess after the fall of the USSR, it was hard to know whose one's "friends" really were with shifting power vacuums. Granted old habits die hard, but truth is? The Russians aren't happy that the Soviet Union is gone, and they blame the US for it. Well, Gorbachev too, but that's another story. Gorby wanted to keep the USSR intact, but hard to do so when the reforms end up killing a patient that had too many damn health problems to begin with.
No, Bush going into Iraq didn't help, but look at Russia's history, they would have begun expansion again at some point, and historically their own expansions tend to be done at the business end of a rifle. As for Ghaddafi? He was living on borrowed time. The "Arab Spring", however it ultimately turned out, did him no favors. He was a scumbag and everyone wanted him gone. Please do not forget this is the same Ghaddafi who wanted to export "revolution" worldwide by setting up training camps for terrorist groups, and often did, while clashing with the Egyptians and invading Chad. The reason the French opposed Reagan's bombing of Libya back in the 80s turned out to be because the French felt it didnt' go far enough, they wanted Ghaddafi GONE.
Again, Russia is slicing up other countries again, and the West and NATO is supposed to be appearing irrational in these circumstances? How? Why?
Russians are paranoid about being invaded. Problem is? They tend to provoke this response because they have a tendency to invade and slice up territories themselves. For example in recent history, everyone loves to point out how the Soviets rightly defended themselves when the Nazis invaded with Operation Barbarossa...conveniently forgetting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that was formed previously between Nazi Germany and the USSR which allowed both countries to divvy up Poland among themselves. If anything both countries feared invading the other and Hitler just happened to take the initiative first.
Then there's talk again about the "evil U.S. military industrial complex", the same "complex" that keeps the world trade routes open, American borders (mostly) secured (with possible exception to the current mess on the southern border, but I digress), helps render humanitarian aid around the world, keeps certain countries from going utter blitzkrieg on other countries, etc. etc. Is there corruption? Absolutely. Just like there is corruption in education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. etc. etc. Why do you think the damn Mob was invested so long in sewage and construction in the major cities like NYC? And said "complex" is easily dwarfed spending-wise by the gigantic social spending and healthcare in the US budget.
Obama may have Biden's ear, but Biden and Harris remain the problem and again, their ratings are currently shit and won't be getting better. You want things to get better? Vote them and their ilk out and support those who are working to do just that and opposed their policies. Then again, I've heard plenty of blackpilling (without pointing fingers, mind you) on this forum about how "Votes don't matter, the game is rigged! We're screwed! Conservatives are controlled opposition! China is inevitable! Life is Pointless!" Etc, etc. ad nauseum.
And consider this? The "little green men" and unrest tactics Putin is employing in the Eastern countries? Well, if no one is stopping him or slapping his hand away, eventually he's going to be like those looters in San Fran who just keep looting stores wholesale and keeps coming back for more because no one does anything about it. What's to stop him in the future from employing similar tactics against the Baltics? There are "ethnic Russians that need to be protected" after all. There might be ethnic Russians who live close to Poland who feel "threatened by the Poles and need protection" etc. etc. And the cycle repeats, and Russia expands, and the Russians feel like the grand olde days of their empire are coming back again...nevermind Russia is beset by a number of problem just like the Chinese, and just like the Chinese, may be building a grand house out of glass with sand as the base.
It's more like Russia was an absolute mess after the fall of the USSR, it was hard to know whose one's "friends" really were with shifting power vacuums. Granted old habits die hard, but truth is? The Russians aren't happy that the Soviet Union is gone, and they blame the US for it. Well, Gorbachev too, but that's another story. Gorby wanted to keep the USSR intact, but hard to do so when the reforms end up killing a patient that had too many damn health problems to begin with.
No, Bush going into Iraq didn't help, but look at Russia's history, they would have begun expansion again at some point, and historically their own expansions tend to be done at the business end of a rifle. As for Ghaddafi? He was living on borrowed time. The "Arab Spring", however it ultimately turned out, did him no favors. He was a scumbag and everyone wanted him gone. Please do not forget this is the same Ghaddafi who wanted to export "revolution" worldwide by setting up training camps for terrorist groups, and often did, while clashing with the Egyptians and invading Chad. The reason the French opposed Reagan's bombing of Libya back in the 80s turned out to be because the French felt it didnt' go far enough, they wanted Ghaddafi GONE.
Again, Russia is slicing up other countries again, and the West and NATO is supposed to be appearing irrational in these circumstances? How? Why?
Russians are paranoid about being invaded. Problem is? They tend to provoke this response because they have a tendency to invade and slice up territories themselves. For example in recent history, everyone loves to point out how the Soviets rightly defended themselves when the Nazis invaded with Operation Barbarossa...conveniently forgetting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that was formed previously between Nazi Germany and the USSR which allowed both countries to divvy up Poland among themselves. If anything both countries feared invading the other and Hitler just happened to take the initiative first.
Then there's talk again about the "evil U.S. military industrial complex", the same "complex" that keeps the world trade routes open, American borders (mostly) secured (with possible exception to the current mess on the southern border, but I digress), helps render humanitarian aid around the world, keeps certain countries from going utter blitzkrieg on other countries, etc. etc. Is there corruption? Absolutely. Just like there is corruption in education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. etc. etc. Why do you think the damn Mob was invested so long in sewage and construction in the major cities like NYC? And said "complex" is easily dwarfed spending-wise by the gigantic social spending and healthcare in the US budget.
Obama may have Biden's ear, but Biden and Harris remain the problem and again, their ratings are currently shit and won't be getting better. You want things to get better? Vote them and their ilk out and support those who are working to do just that and opposed their policies. Then again, I've heard plenty of blackpilling (without pointing fingers, mind you) on this forum about how "Votes don't matter, the game is rigged! We're screwed! Conservatives are controlled opposition! China is inevitable! Life is Pointless!" Etc, etc. ad nauseum.
And consider this? The "little green men" and unrest tactics Putin is employing in the Eastern countries? Well, if no one is stopping him or slapping his hand away, eventually he's going to be like those looters in San Fran who just keep looting stores wholesale and keeps coming back for more because no one does anything about it. What's to stop him in the future from employing similar tactics against the Baltics? There are "ethnic Russians that need to be protected" after all. There might be ethnic Russians who live close to Poland who feel "threatened by the Poles and need protection" etc. etc. And the cycle repeats, and Russia expands, and the Russians feel like the grand olde days of their empire are coming back again...nevermind Russia is beset by a number of problem just like the Chinese, and just like the Chinese, may be building a grand house out of glass with sand as the base.
