^ Quick take, with disclaimer that I’m no expert (obviously) on any of this:
Years before corporate media decided to start manufacturing consent for this war (proxy war with Russia via Ukraine), some of us were aware of what was going on in Ukraine with Nazis. Not that there were Nazis in Ukraine – rather that Nazis in the Ukraine military. Much of this news was connected to the Maiden revolution in 2014. Of course there are Nazis in Russia as well. But I think the “we’re funding Nazis” thing has something to do with the fact that our tax dollars are funding Nazis.
But that isn’t really where my interest lies. Rather, I live in a country that has had its hand in overthrowing democratically-elected governments and invading countries outright. I’m hypersensitive to our imperial ambition, and have plenty of experience in seeing how corporate media beats the drums of war to get the public on board. This was no exception.
People in the US are notoriously disinterested in foreign policy and brutality done on our behalf or with our tax dollars. So, when people are suddenly passionate about a country they didn’t know existed up until now, I know where this is headed. How passionate are people in the US about the atrocities going on in Yemen or Palestine or anywhere where an official enemy isn’t the ones doing it? Hell, we walked into Iraq with little dissent from the people crying for Ukraine right now. We supplied weapons and air support to drop on school buses in Yemen and there wasn’t a peep from those people on Twitter with the Ukraine flag symbol.
Anyway, for a long time we have been concerned that the US and NATO has been forcing a conflict by forcing Russia’s hand. The US would have invaded Ukraine a long time ago if it had been geographically swapped with Russia. There’s no way the US would allow that kind of threat. But from what I can tell, there were chances to avoid this via diplomacy, but the US and Ukraine blocked it at every move.
So now we’re dumping endless billions of dollars on a proxy war with Russia that legitimately could turn into WW3. This would include nukes, and it would likely be the end of everything we know. Where are the antiwar voices? Where the shit is the fucking so-called squad? The only people making any critiques of the US actions are right-wing maniacs, leaving the left and antiwar voices even more isolated.
I don’t want my tax dollars going to fund an effort to bring about the apocalypse. And it would be nice if we had any “leaders” who would bring some sanity to the conversation.