Okay, what is the deal with Seamas Milne? What am I supposed to know about this guy?
lol. Dont make me start defending him. There's been some appalling hatchet jobs about him the last while.
Lot of guff being written about Russia which completely ignores NATO and US provocation and their attempts to neutralise their military threat - going back 2 decades. The fact that Putin is a c*** doesnt change this fact.
Sure, but what would the reaction be if Mexico signed a defense pact with Russia, and Russian missiles were placed near the US border...?
The big problem here is that Russia is acting like *us* after the relative restraint of the USSR durng the late cold war.
Haha, I love the all-important qualifier "late" in this sentence.
Probably something a bit like what happened - or nearly happened - when this exact scenario occurred 50-odd years ago, but with Cuba instead of Mexico...
Look, I'm not defending American expansionism here - whereas Pilger is most blatantly defending Russian expansionism. And in the broader picture, doesn't Ukraine have the right, as a sovereign state, to align itself with whichever allies it chooses? Surely it's no big puzzle as to why the country might prefer to be part of NATO rather than fall (further) back under Russia's sphere of influence.
Why are we talking about Pilger anyway? I haven't seen the piece you're referring to, but the point stands - US/NATO putting missile defence systems designed to facilitate a first strike on Russia = no need for evil Putin to throw his toys out of the pram, but Russian missiles in mexico = a threat to civilisation and armageddon is a preferable alternative etc.
I almost left it out but I didn't want to start another digression.
BUT
Its a simple matter to compare the historical record from 1945 on, or certainly post Korea. No matter how you swing it, the USSR was a model of restraint IN COMPARISON (before you say it) to a rampant, provocative US and NATO. had the shoe been on the other foot we all would have died in a nuclear hellstorm sometime in the 80's if not sooner.
Sure, but what would the reaction be if Mexico signed a defense pact with Russia, and Russian missiles were placed near the US border ala Poland & Romania in '08 and the current plans for Lithuania, Estonia & Latvia?
...but Russian missiles in mexico = a threat to civilisation and armageddon is a preferable alternative etc.
The fact that Western governments and media are inconsistent one way doesn't oblige you to be inconsistent the opposite way.
Milne is a fantastic appointing judging by the sort of people going apeshit about it