Russia was one of the worst countries in the world for most of the 20th century.
So it is perhaps no surprise that it is still an appalling dictatorship, human rights abuser, and threat to other countries.
But it is still sad.
After the fall of the evil Soviet Empire in 1989, we had hopes of so much better.
There will not be a new Cold War
or Third World War,
because, unlike the Soviets or Al Qaeda,
the new Russia has no revolutionary ideology it wants to spread everywhere.
We should be grateful for that.
The new Russia will bully its neighbours, and it will be hard for anyone to protect them.
Russia has chosen not to join the West in freedom and prosperity,
but rather to be a thug state the West will not partner with.
After the brutal invasion of Ukraine,
the West needs to treat Russia as a terrorist state, with the most extreme forms of sanctions.
It is important to say, in case any Western leader is nuts,
that the West should not go to war with Russia.
The West cannot enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine.
The risks are too high.
What the West can do is arm Ukraine, and impose the most extreme, crippling sanctions on Russia,
to stay in place
until Putin falls.
Russia must be defeated in Ukraine.
The Putin regime must end.
The long-term consequence is the shame and guilt and pariah status
that will hang over Russia and Russians
for decades to come.
Posted here on 10 March 2022,
at the time of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine,
which some victim-blamers were trying to claim was "provoked"
by Eastern European countries wanting to join NATO.
Some appalling Westerners support or defend Russia in this war.
This shows the different types of appalling Westerners.
From NAFO.
Russia attacks Ukraine
for no reason, 2022.
Thousands dead.
Millions of refugees.
Russia is a terrorist state.
All global trade with Russia must stop until the Putin regime falls.
Graphic video shown by
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
to U.S. Congress, 16 March 2022.
The world must arm Ukraine. Russia must be defeated.
Putin is a war criminal who must be deposed and put on trial.
As Ukraine fights back:
Scenes at the liberation of Kherson
from Putin's troops in Nov 2022.
Similar to the liberation of Paris
from Hitler's troops in Aug 1944.
