Ever heard of diplomacy? Of political, economic, industrial pressure? What about all the wars that were prevented due to clever people making some clever moves that did not involve murder on a systematic scale.
There are times where none of this works, then what?
Take Ukraine for example. They gained their independence peacefully and democratically. After their independence, their talented diplomats and leaders made the unpredencted move to diplomatically negotiate a deal with their former oppressors to give up their entire nuclear arsenal in exchange for a promise of peace, and they even leveraged Western powers to serve as mediators and witnesses to showcase that their intentions genuine to the world. Russia signed the agreement with a smile, and then on to invade annex Crimea in 2014 as well as start the war in Donbass in 2014 in complete violation of the agreement.
The West saw this violation as an insult against their goodwill and their diplomacy as well as a challenge to their power so they backed Ukraine and applied severe political and economic sanctions on Russia. This forced Russia to come to the negotiation table in September of that year where they, again, promised to cease all hostilities against Ukraine if Ukraine agreed to freeze the conflict on the current frontlines. Ukraine agreed and the ceasefire was violated by Russia immediately.
At that point, Ukraine wanted to fight back with the help of the West, but Germany and France loved Putin, so they split off from the US and pressured Ukraine into signing a new ceasefire agreement with Russia under similar terms a few months later in early 2015. Russia once again agreed, but this time they held true to their word because the EU powers basically legitimatized Russia’s claim that the frontlines are the new borders.
Not even a decade later in 2022, Russia amassed the largest troop build up in Europe in decades and launched the largest and most brutal invasion in the continent since WWII… in blatant violation of their previous agreements. The invasion is unprovoked and is done purely for the imperial ambitions of Putin. He wants reestablish the borders of the Soviet Union and the glory of the Russian empire through military might.
So now Ukraine has spent over 3 decades trying to use diplomacy, they have tried the most extreme and clever political tactics, they have rallied the West to turn Russian into an economic and political pariah in the world, they have use the UN and other global institutions to apply pressure… yet here we are. Four years later of nonstop war, and millions of Ukrainians displaced, hundreds of their settlements are razed, 1/5 of their country is still occupied, a million of their young men are killed or wounded, and their economy is in shambles. The only thing stopping them from complete annihilation as a nation is their military.
Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that the Ukrainians are evil for using their military to defend themselves? Are you seriously going to try to wag your finger about Ukrainians needing to try other avenues? Are you seriously going to tell Ukrainians to hit back against Russia who wants to genocide them? You would have to a complete clown to do that. There’s no way you can see what’s happening there and think that their military and their use of it is not justified.
There are times where none of this works, then what?
Take Ukraine for example. They gained their independence peacefully and democratically. After their independence, their talented diplomats and leaders made the unpredencted move to diplomatically negotiate a deal with their former oppressors to give up their entire nuclear arsenal in exchange for a promise of peace, and they even leveraged Western powers to serve as mediators and witnesses to showcase that their intentions genuine to the world. Russia signed the agreement with a smile, and then on to invade annex Crimea in 2014 as well as start the war in Donbass in 2014 in complete violation of the agreement.
The West saw this violation as an insult against their goodwill and their diplomacy as well as a challenge to their power so they backed Ukraine and applied severe political and economic sanctions on Russia. This forced Russia to come to the negotiation table in September of that year where they, again, promised to cease all hostilities against Ukraine if Ukraine agreed to freeze the conflict on the current frontlines. Ukraine agreed and the ceasefire was violated by Russia immediately.
At that point, Ukraine wanted to fight back with the help of the West, but Germany and France loved Putin, so they split off from the US and pressured Ukraine into signing a new ceasefire agreement with Russia under similar terms a few months later in early 2015. Russia once again agreed, but this time they held true to their word because the EU powers basically legitimatized Russia’s claim that the frontlines are the new borders.
Not even a decade later in 2022, Russia amassed the largest troop build up in Europe in decades and launched the largest and most brutal invasion in the continent since WWII… in blatant violation of their previous agreements. The invasion is unprovoked and is done purely for the imperial ambitions of Putin. He wants reestablish the borders of the Soviet Union and the glory of the Russian empire through military might.
So now Ukraine has spent over 3 decades trying to use diplomacy, they have tried the most extreme and clever political tactics, they have rallied the West to turn Russian into an economic and political pariah in the world, they have use the UN and other global institutions to apply pressure… yet here we are. Four years later of nonstop war, and millions of Ukrainians displaced, hundreds of their settlements are razed, 1/5 of their country is still occupied, a million of their young men are killed or wounded, and their economy is in shambles. The only thing stopping them from complete annihilation as a nation is their military.
Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that the Ukrainians are evil for using their military to defend themselves? Are you seriously going to try to wag your finger about Ukrainians needing to try other avenues? Are you seriously going to tell Ukrainians to hit back against Russia who wants to genocide them? You would have to a complete clown to do that. There’s no way you can see what’s happening there and think that their military and their use of it is not justified.