> You forgot the Irak war and Afghanistan and the fake WMDs. It's funny how people are quick to point that Russia is the aggressor but when the US was invading countries, few people opposed them.
Pretty facetious comparison. Iraq and Afghanistan were on the whole a mistake, but completely different from Ukraine. There was never any idea that the US would take the territory. It was just a huge waste of money for the US.
The very best case scenario for the US (which everyone realized was never going to happen within 2 years) was something like Japan and South Korea, setting up US-friendly democratic governments and corporations. There was absolutely no element of expansionism. Ask the Japanese and the South Koreans whether they are mad about being oppressed under the thumb of "US imperialism".
Contrast this with Russia's actions in Ukraine. They are taking over economically and militarily valuable lands, directly expanding their borders, expelling or re-educating Ukrainians who won't pretend to be Russian, and nakedly pursuing the revanchist fantasy of reclaiming lands that were ruled brutally by a totalitarian Muscovite empire for hundreds of years.
Conflating the two situations betrays an extremely shallow understanding of current events and a complete ignorance of history.
> Pretty facetious comparison. Iraq and Afghanistan were on the whole a mistake, but completely different from Ukraine.
When I step in dog poo on my way to work, that's a mistake. When hundreds of thousands of people are killed by your actions, that is not a mistake as you put it. Especially when your legal standing to do so is shaky if not downright illegal.
My guess is that you agree with the saying: the death of 1 man is a tragedy but hundreds of thousands of them is a statistic.
> setting up US-friendly democratic governments and corporations.
Ok, lets flip the script here. When the US sets up government for their own interest, it's just helping democracy. When Russia does it, we call them puppet governments. Double standards much?
> There was absolutely no element of expansionism.
You are right, the US coalition simply installed military bases there for 20 years and propped up a government that was not capable of doing the job and was not popular either but all that mattered was that it was friendly to the US.
In Lithuania, when the Germans invaded in WW2, they consider that they were occupied by Germany for about 2 years.
The US stayed there for 20 years but according to you, this was not an occupation. You just ran it, tried to change it according what the west thought was acceptable, and interfered in every possible aspect.
I guess I got confused between the two, after all the difference is rather slim.
> Ask the Japanese and the South Koreans whether they are mad about being oppressed under the thumb of "US imperialism".
I am sure the Japanese are rejoicing knowing the US turned two of there cities into ruble in order to test a new weapon.
Pretty facetious comparison. Iraq and Afghanistan were on the whole a mistake, but completely different from Ukraine. There was never any idea that the US would take the territory. It was just a huge waste of money for the US.
The very best case scenario for the US (which everyone realized was never going to happen within 2 years) was something like Japan and South Korea, setting up US-friendly democratic governments and corporations. There was absolutely no element of expansionism. Ask the Japanese and the South Koreans whether they are mad about being oppressed under the thumb of "US imperialism".
Contrast this with Russia's actions in Ukraine. They are taking over economically and militarily valuable lands, directly expanding their borders, expelling or re-educating Ukrainians who won't pretend to be Russian, and nakedly pursuing the revanchist fantasy of reclaiming lands that were ruled brutally by a totalitarian Muscovite empire for hundreds of years.
Conflating the two situations betrays an extremely shallow understanding of current events and a complete ignorance of history.