US Politics |OT|

[Ryuu96]

zeldaring said:

SvennoJ said:

That's a healthy attitude as long as you apply that to all media. And no doubt Russia has a more positive appearance in Middle Eastern media atm as it's still a semi super power demanding a ceasefire and supporting Palestine. But make no mistake, Putin doesn't do this out of empathy for Palestinians. Prior to the current war Russia had a deal with Israel not to sell weapons to Ukraine and Georgia, for Russia not to sell weapons to Iran.

https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/91073

In 2019, Netanyahu even launched his election campaign with large posters of himself shaking hands with the Russian president. Netanyahu sought to portray himself as a leader of the same standing as Putin—perceived in Israel as the head of a great power—and to convey the message that his close ties with Putin would help ensure Israel’s security following Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria. The Israeli leader had long boasted that his alleged “personal friendship” with Putin was key to ensuring limited Russian support for Iran and getting Moscow to turn a blind eye to Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria. 

Unlike other Western states, Israel did not fundamentally change its approach to Russia following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Israel did not impose any financial sanctions on Russia, declined to send weapons to Kyiv despite repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and failed to name Russia when addressing attacks against Ukraine. Israel was unwilling to sever ties with Russia, and even started to adopt a cooperative approach in the second half of 2023 by signing new bilateral agreements in nonsensitive sectors, such as the cultural field.

Currently Russia sees an opportunity to gain more influence in the Middle East by isolating the USA in the UN and world opinion by appearing to be against genocide, while actively engaged in their own genocide.


The US has made many mistakes in the Middle East, mostly while cleaning up the mess the UK and other imperialist countries left behind. The UK 'gave' Palestine to the Jews to get their support. In 1917, in order to win Jewish support for Britain's First World War effort, the British Balfour Declaration promised the establishment of a Jewish national home in Ottoman-controlled Palestine.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration

The British government hoped that the declaration would rally Jewish opinion, especially in the United States, to the side of the Allied powers against the Central Powers during World War I (1914–18). They hoped also that the settlement in Palestine of a pro-British Jewish population might help to protect the approaches to the Suez Canal in neighbouring Egypt and thus ensure a vital communication route to British colonial possessions in India.

Britain gained Palestine from the French in the Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-curse-of-sykes-picot-still-haunts-the-middle-east

The Sykes-Picot Agreement launched a nine-year process—and other deals, declarations, and treaties—that created the modern Middle East states out of the Ottoman carcass. The new borders ultimately bore little resemblance to the original Sykes-Picot map, but their map is still viewed as the root cause of much that has happened ever since.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Sykes-Picot-Agreement

secret convention made during World War I between Great Britain and France, with the assent of imperial Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas.

And In 1947, Britain handed the 'Palestine problem' to the United Nations, which voted for partition into Arab and Jewish states.

The year after Israel was created

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel

Which led to the Nakba in 1948

https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1651256



And thus we have two traumatized populations fighting over the same land. Which turned into an asynchronous endless conflict as indeed the US uses Israel as a way to exert their control over the Middle East.

History teaches many lessons yet also keeps conflicts going. As long as each side refuses to see things from the other side, it will never end. As long as people keep thinking in terms of us and them, conflicts will keep happening. Those seeking power know all too well how to exploit people and blind them with hatred for the others.

The only solution is learning to live together and let go of the past, without forgetting the past. Bring the leaders to justice, but don't hate the people. It's an unfortunate evolutionary trait that anger trumps empathy, a trait that is abused by politics to get people's support.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/confessions-of-a-psychological-first-responder/202304/the-politics-of-anger
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/327/

Mobilize out of empathy, not out of anger. Anger only clouds judgement, causes tunnel vision and leads to what we're seeing unfolding right now. Netanyahu is using anger to get his way, Trump did the same, Putin no different. The shift to the right in Europe, also fueled by directing anger towards immigrants. And yes, it's very hard not to get angry with everything going on :(

Douglas Abbott Macgregor is a retired U.S. Army colonel and government official, and an author, consultant, and television commentator. He was a leader in an early tank battle in the Gulf War and was a top planner in the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. also Blames america for the war and he says US doomed Ukraine for it's own benefit.  at 8:00 he asks what the united states could have done to not have this war.

I could find you over a dozen ex-Army dudes who would call this dude a clown.

Ben Hodges, a retired United States Army officer who served as commanding general, United States Army Europe or Mark Hertling, a retired United States Army officer who served as Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army or the many army officers in eastern Europe are both good sources and would likely strongly disagree with this dude.

Macgregor is a tool, a political commentator now who is a far right idiot and firmly in the Trumpism camp, lots of those people love Putin and Russia because of the "strong man, anti-PC" image that Russia displays which is basically code for "Fuck gay people, fuck women's rights, fuck trans people, fuck black people, fuck everyone who is different to me!"

The nationalism that Russia displays is stuff that these types of Republican drool over, a "YEAH AMERICA! FUCK EVERYONE ELSE!" attitude. I don't know why anyone who dislikes what America does right now, would want them to go like that, it's that nationalism which makes Russia think it can just invade any country it likes with no reason. America's support of Netanyahu is a big mistake both morally and politically (Imo) but if America was like Russia they'd probably be flying alongside Israel and bombing the Palestinians with them.

"In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and during a conflict with Ukraine over its eastern parts, Macgregor appeared on Russian state-owned network RT where he called for annexation of Donbas and said residents of the region "are in fact Russians, not Ukrainians, and at the same time, you have Ukrainians in the west and in the north, who are not Russians".

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Macgregor appeared on three Fox News programs in February and early March to speak in support of Russia's actions. Three days after the war began, he said "The battle in eastern Ukraine is really almost over," and predicted "If [Ukraine] don't surrender in the next 24 hours, I suspect Russia will ultimately annihilate them." Macgregor said he believed Russia should be allowed to seize whatever parts of Ukraine it wanted.

In his second appearance, he revised his prediction: "The first five days Russian forces I think frankly were too gentle. They've now corrected that. So, I would say another 10 days this should be completely over... I think the most heroic thing he could do right now is come to terms with reality. Neutralize Ukraine." After one of his appearances, Macgregor's comments were characterized by veteran Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin as "distorting" and "appeasement" and that he was being an "apologist" for Putin.

In a fourth appearance in early March, Macgregor said a ceasefire was close as Ukrainian forces had been "grounded to bits. There's no question about that despite what we report on our mainstream media"

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

He parrots Russian propaganda stuff as the 'lovely' comments which imply either Ukrainians don't exist or the Ukraine state shouldn't exist and is rightfully Russia's so that gives Russia the free reign to go in and kill them all...Of course he also appears on RT (Russian-state owned network) and Fox News.

And FWIW, I barely watch or read mainstream media, I do look around a lot at different sources but I can mostly form my own opinions based on fact, history, law and basic morality. You don't need ANYONE to tell you that what Russia is doing is wrong. You know how some people are criticised for believing everything the media tells them? How is it any different from believing what some random Youtuber tells you without doing the research yourself? Lol.

I can see for myself that the "NATO fear" was horseshit, I can see for myself that the "nuke fear" was horseshit, I can make the opinion that even IF the fear was real, that it does not excuse the invasion of another independent country and attempted genocide of an entire population, I can see for myself, that even Russia themselves, are bragging openly about how they're killing Ukrainians and how Ukrainians don't deserve to live or that Ukraine isn't a country, these are things Russia's own state owned media have said in the past.

The West pleaded with Russia, practically begged them to not invade Ukraine, we had Macron almost on his damn hands and knees begging Putin not to go through with it, then the threats of sanctions came but none of it worked, Russia went through with it, and we tried to sanction Russia and tell them to stop, they did not listen, and so we did the only right thing left which was to supply Ukraine to give them a fighting chance.

The only way the West "screwed" Ukraine was when they told Ukraine to give up their nukes in the promise of security guarantees, we had a legal and moral obligation to protect Ukraine and yet we looked the other way when Russia took Crimea and we looked the other way at Russia's shit in the Donbas and it wasn't until Russia finally decided they want all of Ukraine until we started stepping up but even then we've been slow as fuck in supplying Ukraine with what they need and need I remind people that Russia also signed this security guarantee.

And all of this is "what America could do, what America wants, blah blah blah" What about what Ukraine wants?! Ukraine is its own country, they have their own independence, America does not control them, Ukraine was fighting back with or without America and rightfully so, when someone comes in and tries to take everything away from you and tries to slaughter your family, you're going to fight back.

If Russia invaded UK tomorrow I would not want UK to stop until every last Russian soldier on UK soil is either jailed or killed, I would want UK to take back every last bit of territory no matter how small and I wouldn't not give a shit what USA or anyone else thinks, this is our home and morally the right thing to do is to stand up against evil.

I'll say again but it frustrates me to no end that certain political commentators in the West, particularly in Western Europe/America, seem to think that every country in eastern Europe who dislikes Russia is an idiot who can't think for themselves and must be being controlled by America. It's just sheer arrogance that Americans believe they have this much power over countries, when in fact it's more simple than that, the reason why eastern Europe mostly despises Russia is because of what Russia has done to them in the past and what Russia continues to do in their own back-yard along with the constant threats.