Comments by "Tim Trewyn" (@timtrewyn453) on "What are current Russian military options in Ukraine?" video.
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@starchild692 I have watched several videos that recount historical invasions of Russia. The last serious one was by Germany. That was before nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons fundamentally change Russia's geopolitical situation. That is why they maintain 6500 warheads, more than any other single nation. Russia would have every right to use nuclear weapons to repel an invasion of its territory. It is reasonable to conclude that no one would invade Russia today. Would they strike Russian military targets if Russia was invading them? Yes, they recently have in Belgorod.
Russian behavior in the nuclear age is not based on being invaded. I see that as fake paranoia. Russian behavior in the nuclear age has been similar to that of the United States, that is, imperial. Through invasion and annexation, Russia seeks to improve its general economic situation and the wealth of its elite. I give no credence to Russian security concerns for its own territory, because they completely discount the deterrent value of their nuclear arsenal. It is a false argument. US borders with Mexico and Canada are now reasonably settled matters, with no material changes to them in many decades. The US and Canadian border is one of the most peaceful in the world, and has every prospect of remaining so. It is similar in length to the border Russia shares with its western neighbors. While having superior population numbers and military forces, the US has not made any effort to annex any portion of Canada. How do we do that? A measure of respect, even love of neighbor. Do not project a Russian perspective on the US and its relations with its neighbors. They are clearly different than Russia's relations with its neighbors. Do we influence them? Yes. Do we dominate them? No, e.g. Cuba.
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@starchild692 Soviet concern with American nuclear missiles in Turkey was as valid as American concern with nuclear missiles in Cuba.
The American justification for the invasion of Iraq was flawed. Iraq did not have WMD. Many Americans see the errors of that war. Hussein was a threat to his neighbors, having the world's fourth largest military at that time, but that threat, similar in some ways to the Russian threat to its smaller neighbors, could have been countered by alliances of neighbors rather than an American invasion. The American invasion of Iraq was wrong, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is wrong.
There are certainly arrogant forces in the American business community that prod the government to use the military to advance their interests, but there are also moderating forces that restrain that arrogance. The US does not invade Cuba or Nicaragua or Venezuela just because it has potential interests and could invade any of those countries. America does restrain itself.
"yet you fail to see the russians security concern in the Ukrainan scenario which is hundredfolds of that of Cuba." C'mon, that's hyperbole. It was a win-win when Ukraine relinquished its share of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Nukes in Ukraine would have been even worse than nukes in Turkey, and all parties saw that and came to an agreement. And the 1994 Budapest Memorandum by Russia, the US, Britain, and Ukraine was intended to secure Ukraine's borders and Russia's security. The US and Britain did train Ukraine's military, but pulled their advisors out when Russia invaded. That pull out was an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but has been largely ignored by Russia.
Russia has only made its security worse by invading Ukraine. All adjacent nations that value their independence will enlarge their armed forces and invite American forces to establish permanent bases. Economic sanctions will remain in place as long as Russia postpones a settlement agreement in an attempt to increase its gains in Ukraine. Rather than take responsibility for its disrespect of its neighbors, Russia projects its own arrogance onto the US and its neighbors, who did not invade Russia. Russia's "security concerns", especially in light of Ukraine's relinquishment of nuclear weapons and Russia's primacy in having the world's largest nuclear arsenal, are exaggerated to advance its own economic and imperial agenda. America, too, is an empire. I do not deny that. There are numerous domestic justice issues with First Nations and African Americans whose ancestors were slaves. We work on these things. Progress is slow, but perhaps Barack Obama was evidence that there is good will in America, not just arrogance.
One must understand how Anti-Social Personality Disorder impacts Russian leadership and its narratives. One aspect of that is blaming everyone else for one's problems, rather than facing one's own responsibility for one's problems. That is called "projection." And Russian leadership does a lot of projection. That is, in part, why the system of government they have set up is self-defeating. But, of course, they blame everyone else.
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