this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
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What's the societal context for defending genocides and excusing imperialism (specifically, Russia)?
Opposition to American imperialism isn't support for Russian imperialism.
The simple truth is that this prolonged war is worse than a quick defeat for the people living in Ukraine; millions are displaced, hundreds of thousands are dead, the rightwing is stronger than ever in both countries, and Ukraine will never be safe again within either of our lifetimes.
3 parties can unilaterally end the war right now, Russia, Ukraine, and America. As an American, the only way I can meaningfully oppose the war is to oppose America's involvement. That would be reversed if I was a Russian.
Rewarding imperialism because war is bad. Fantastic. I'm going to move next door and annex your backyard because you rolling over and letting me have it is better than a prolonged legal fight.
In this analogy you've created, that user would get me or another to take pot shots at your children while you kill their children for years and years until finally you or they give up, both worse than just accepting that the separatist governments were legitimate and the insanely corrupt zelensky government was probably in the wrong.
And definitely in no way funded or supported by Russia, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/russia-admits-soldiers-in-ukraine
https://youtu.be/xV0FUx5i9eA
https://www.vice.com/en/article/selfie-soldiers-russia-checks-in-to-ukraine/
Russia indisputibly fired the first shots, and the so-called genocide in donbas was about 3k civilian deaths over 8 years of conflict. Not ideal, but still miles better than the 12k civilians killed (often deliberately) in the almost 3 years since the full scale invasion by Russia. Not to mention the cities literally shelled to rubble.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. Like when the CIA supported the Maidan coup or any other color revolution, the GRU taking advantage of very real grievances of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass to advance its own geopolitical interests at the expense of those same people doesn't mean those grievances didn't exist or that those people were happy being part of a Ukrainian state that made them second-class citizens.
Yes exactly the same. I remember the Abrams and us soldiers rolling through the streets in support of the coup of the totally not russian puppet.
But hey, if you think the CIA can literally psyop 70+% of a country into supporting EU membership, then you might be more of an American exceptionalist than the liberals you hate.
If you think the US doesn't fund and arm right-wing factions and media in adversarial (and sometimes "friendly") countries, IDK what to tell you.
Obviously they fund groups to further their interests. You still can't compare it to active Russian soldiers on the ground pretending to be separatists.