After a series of air, land, and sea attacks from Russia following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s orders to attack Ukraine and destroy its military installations, NATO has stated that it has no plans to send troops to Ukraine to help repel the Russian army amidst the Russian onslaught.
Racist Ukraine coverage in mainstream Western media. Notice the racist overtones.
“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed”
“World Tour of Wars”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is both illegal and immoral. While Russia’s concern that Ukraine’s decision to join NATO which also included the prospect of NATO setting up a missile base in Ukraine, 100 miles from Russia’s border, is genuine, this by no means is a justification for invading Ukraine. Russia should have continued to explore other better and less violent options.
The Russian war against Ukraine which began on February 24, 2022, and the tenacity exhibited by the latter as it faces the Russian Armed Forces have provided opponents of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) with more fodder for criticism of the organization and its conduct. According to these opponents, HTS misled the Syrian public and even betrayed it when it acquiesced to the ceasefire agreements claiming that it didn’t have the capability to oppose the Russian Armed Forces, and that in that way it was protecting the territories under rebel control. These voices also urged “the true mujahideen” to take advantage of the fact that Russia is now occupied with the fighting in Ukraine to renew the struggle against the Syrian regime, while ignoring the restrictions imposed by HTS. Furthermore, in an apparent reference to the claim that HTS cooperates with the U.S.,[1] the same elements warned that the Americans, who abandoned Ukraine, will have no problem at all abandoning “little collaborators,” such as HTS.
On February 27, 2022, in a post on his Telegram channel, a Tunisian-born Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) cleric ‘commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to foreigners to come to Ukraine to join its fight against the Russian Armed Forces in a special new unit, dubbed the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.”[1]
There is already pressure to get involved if there is a full-scale invasion, but our history with proxy wars is littered with folly.
Editor’s Note, 2/24 6 a.m. EST: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine Thursday morning local time and his forces have been entering the country and attacking military infrastructure across Ukraine, drawing international condemnation. This is a developing story.
The US and Russia both have integrated doomsday weapons into conventional war plans. The risk is low but it isn’t zero.
If you are frightened by the current crisis in Ukraine, you are having a rational response.
The hawks are already trying to exploit the Russian invasion, saying a shortfall in spending is leaving us vulnerable. Not true.
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a growing chorus of pundits and policy analysts have been advocating for large increases in America’s enormous budget for national defense, on top of the $778 billion Congress has authorized for Fiscal Year 2022. These calls are both misguided and counterproductive.
For those who understand Moscow’s establishment and view of their country’s vital interests, none of this should be a surprise.
The illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine has shocked the West and many ordinary Russians. But for those who understand the Russian establishment and its view of Russia’s vital interests, it should not have come as a complete surprise.
Such measures are critical to holding Moscow accountable for its actions — but they are not a longterm fix and must be carefully calibrated.
From the beginning of the crisis sanctions have been assumed to be both the central deterrent to Russian aggression, and the critical punishment if it violated international law. In response to the invasion, the Biden Administration (wisely) ruled out the direct use of U.S. military forces in Ukraine and instead announced an unprecedented package of hard-hitting economic sanctions.