Against the Warmongers
On the tragedy in Ukraine.
I was on Tucker Carlson’s show tonight to talk about Ukraine: how we got to this point, who is to blame, and why it is a tragedy.
Like I said at the outset, I feel immensely sorry for Ukrainians, who continue to fight valiantly after being used as pawns for NATO expansionism. All of this could have been avoided.
But the same liberal internationalists and their spokespeople who brought us—and Ukraine—to this point remain unrepentant and unreflective. We who dare disagree are branded pro-Putin or, as David Frum at The Atlantic has said, Nazis.
Ironically, while complaining about being called a coward (by me) tonight for demanding others fight wars that he won’t, Frum ascribed my comments to Tucker in a long thread without mentioning yours truly.
The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 @ColumbiaBugle
Well, @davidfrum? https://t.co/lTMJJw23WiThe good news is that you don’t have to take people like this seriously. Because when they get on their high horse about “democracy,” beneath them is a mountain of blood and bone, mass graves and ruined cities. But the democratizers don’t have time to look down; they have to move on to the next project. It’s never their fault.
It’s always Putin or the Nazis under their beds. It’s your fault for not sacrificing what they themselves are not willing to give.
Here’s some related reading.
Winning the War Against War | Chronicles
by Tom Piatak
If conservatives actually want to stop war with Russia, they need to realize that there is one, and only one, reason to oppose it: a war with Russia would hurt America and Americans.
Right Again, Unfortunately, On Russia | The American Conservative
by Bradley Devin
Paleocons were right about endless wars in the Middle East, right about the dangers of a rising China and have, disappointingly, been proven right again.
We watched you on TC tonight and once again, a great job. You always go much deeper in thought and history than most.
I already found the Devin article through another substack, but it is really thoughtful and persuasive. Thank you for also sharing it here.
I saw your appearance on TC also. I always enjoy your takes because you do seem to have a clearer-eyed take drawing from a much deeper and varied foundation.
Watching this unfold, I think what is making me the angriest is that while Putin did indeed invade Ukraine, this is ultimately on him, I think that far from being unpredictable, this was totally predictable, and not because of anything you've seen in the media. The "elite" in this country have always used conflict in and with other countries to distract from our problems at home; that's been true for some time. But the change now is that there is such a tidal wave of dissatisfaction and our "elite" are so desperate trying to please their own masters and keep the peasants quiet that they have become even more unpredictable than Putin. I suspect a lot of promises have been made to Ukraine (and Zelensky) about how the West will come running if Russia attacks, and Zelensky didn't stand up to Biden nor negotiate with Putin because of that. That the Ukrainians have been left to their own devices shouldn't surprise them if they study history. There is a strong disconnect between what our "leaders" promise and what the American people would promise if asked, and I think the people have grown weary of cleaning up our "leaders' " messes and think it's time for our elite to start serving us or go. Putin meanwhile has seen how fond our presidents are of "regime" change, particularly the Democrat ones when they're in trouble with the population. (In fact, I'm not sure how Asaad has managed to stay on his throne this long.) Combine it all, and this makes sense. I am sorry for the Ukrainian people, but they along with the population of the US and, yes, perhaps even the Russians are victims of an American and perhaps Western elite desperate to find any way not to account for their crimes at home.