mikedilger on Nostr: Let me first address the comparison of my statements to Russian statements. Nobody ...
Let me first address the comparison of my statements to Russian statements. Nobody should care. All that matters is if they are true, and that I am open for debate, allowing you to dispute them and also to enter in additional facts and references. If Russia says something that is true, does that mean I cannot say it anymore? That would be dumb. So this is a dead-end line of argumentation and I don't feel the need to defend against it any further.
I assure you I don't just repeat things I hear online, I research them through multiple avenues of fact gathering. I become aware of new things sometimes from comments on nostr (which I then go and research). Recently I've become fond of paying attention to debates and votes in the UN.
I'm glad you find my statement funny. Half of my family is from Odessa, so I find yours equally funny.
Your misquote of me saying "ukraine and russia lived peacefully together and then the evil west has taken ukraine away from russia" is not at all what I said or even implied. You should refrain from using quotation marks when you are drawing up straw men to strike down. I never said anything about the West taking Ukraine away from Russia... that is indeed a Russian talking point that I do not and have never made. What I say is that it is only recently that Russia has had reason to feel militarily threatened by Ukraine.
What I was trying to convey is that Ukraine did not present a security threat to modern Russia prior to events starting in around 2007 when disputes about their black sea fleet, Crimea, gas, etc, escalated, and then it got really serious by 2014 when the leadership switched to be very pro-Western and anti-Russian with renewed talk of NATO membership, and then Russia invaded in 2022. It took 15 years from the time when Russia sent clear signals that red lines were being crossed before Russia invaded, and they made many efforts to avoid it. I wasn't watching at the time, early on, but I tried to catch up shortly after the 2014 events. Their concerns seemed reasonable to me, and the Western involvement seemed idealistic, blinkered, and ignorant.
Now I grant that the invasion is illegal, it is immoral, and I support the freedom and independence of Ukrainians and their desire to apply to NATO (not their "right" to join, the other nations get to decide) and to fight Russia off to defend their territory if that is what they want. Just like I support Palestinians to fight against Israel (even though they had little chance to win and were just going to get slaughtered by trying).
You seem to be arguing against the view that "Russia's attack was justified" but I never made that claim. There is a difference between explaining why someone is acting a certain way and defending those actions. I'm not defending the actions of Russia. I am explaining them. And I think the explanations were obvious before the 2022 invasion, even before the 2014 events, which is why I think Ukraine should have taken a different path.
Look, I have the right to be a male stripper. Nobody can tell me otherwise. But it would be dumb. I have a huge belly. Just because I have a right to something doesn't mean it is a smart thing to pursue. Just because taxation is theft doesn't mean you should not pay your taxes - only a retarded person would try to fight the IRS. Similarly, just because Ukrainians deserve freedom, their national sovereignty, national territorial integrity, etc, doesn't mean they should invite the West into their country and thumb their nose at Russia. You can't always get what is right, sometimes you have to be more strategic.
Having an "agreement" about Sevastopol means ZILCH during a war. You think Ukraine is going to say "Oh, whoops, I guess we can't interfere with Sevastopol because you are leasing it from us" during wartime? Sillyness. By courting NATO, Ukraine put Russia's access to that port and their Black Sea fleet at risk.
You want me to show you the evidence of NATO involvement prior to Russian invasion in 2022. Here is some: The NYT article shows CIA bases were right on Russia's border before:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/world/europe/cia-ukraine-intelligence-russia-war.html
Finland's border with Russia is mountainous and does not present the same security threat. You can't move ground forces in that way.
I assure you I don't just repeat things I hear online, I research them through multiple avenues of fact gathering. I become aware of new things sometimes from comments on nostr (which I then go and research). Recently I've become fond of paying attention to debates and votes in the UN.
I'm glad you find my statement funny. Half of my family is from Odessa, so I find yours equally funny.
Your misquote of me saying "ukraine and russia lived peacefully together and then the evil west has taken ukraine away from russia" is not at all what I said or even implied. You should refrain from using quotation marks when you are drawing up straw men to strike down. I never said anything about the West taking Ukraine away from Russia... that is indeed a Russian talking point that I do not and have never made. What I say is that it is only recently that Russia has had reason to feel militarily threatened by Ukraine.
What I was trying to convey is that Ukraine did not present a security threat to modern Russia prior to events starting in around 2007 when disputes about their black sea fleet, Crimea, gas, etc, escalated, and then it got really serious by 2014 when the leadership switched to be very pro-Western and anti-Russian with renewed talk of NATO membership, and then Russia invaded in 2022. It took 15 years from the time when Russia sent clear signals that red lines were being crossed before Russia invaded, and they made many efforts to avoid it. I wasn't watching at the time, early on, but I tried to catch up shortly after the 2014 events. Their concerns seemed reasonable to me, and the Western involvement seemed idealistic, blinkered, and ignorant.
Now I grant that the invasion is illegal, it is immoral, and I support the freedom and independence of Ukrainians and their desire to apply to NATO (not their "right" to join, the other nations get to decide) and to fight Russia off to defend their territory if that is what they want. Just like I support Palestinians to fight against Israel (even though they had little chance to win and were just going to get slaughtered by trying).
You seem to be arguing against the view that "Russia's attack was justified" but I never made that claim. There is a difference between explaining why someone is acting a certain way and defending those actions. I'm not defending the actions of Russia. I am explaining them. And I think the explanations were obvious before the 2022 invasion, even before the 2014 events, which is why I think Ukraine should have taken a different path.
Look, I have the right to be a male stripper. Nobody can tell me otherwise. But it would be dumb. I have a huge belly. Just because I have a right to something doesn't mean it is a smart thing to pursue. Just because taxation is theft doesn't mean you should not pay your taxes - only a retarded person would try to fight the IRS. Similarly, just because Ukrainians deserve freedom, their national sovereignty, national territorial integrity, etc, doesn't mean they should invite the West into their country and thumb their nose at Russia. You can't always get what is right, sometimes you have to be more strategic.
Having an "agreement" about Sevastopol means ZILCH during a war. You think Ukraine is going to say "Oh, whoops, I guess we can't interfere with Sevastopol because you are leasing it from us" during wartime? Sillyness. By courting NATO, Ukraine put Russia's access to that port and their Black Sea fleet at risk.
You want me to show you the evidence of NATO involvement prior to Russian invasion in 2022. Here is some: The NYT article shows CIA bases were right on Russia's border before:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/world/europe/cia-ukraine-intelligence-russia-war.html
Finland's border with Russia is mountainous and does not present the same security threat. You can't move ground forces in that way.