Rooting for a Quick Russian Victory

Not only were Afghanistan and Yugoslavia NATO operations, so was Libya!  NATO basically bombed a country back to the stone age for no good reason.  And that's what also happened in parts of Iraq like Faluja.

Lots of respectable people, even lots of leftists, are calling for sending arms to Ukraine.  That's a fundamentally wrongheaded idea, of course, like pouring gasoline on fire.

Not only that, but I plan to go way out on a limb and say that, while I would not have my country interfere in this conflict in any way (of course they are...they've convinced Zelensky not to negotiate and promising more "support"...the worst possible thing to do), I'm actually rooting for Russia (and especially, of course, a quick Russian "victory"--that is to say a negotiated settlement permanently satisfying Russia--as compared with quagmire...which looks to me the only alternative).  A satisfactory settlement could include recognizing DPR and LPR and Russian annexation of Crimea, implementing Minsk, and/or making Ukraine neutral by treaty. 

This is not because I especially identify with Russians, but because I think it's better for everyone in the long run to settle this and move on.

If there is an ending that Russia can set the terms on, and I don't like the way that is done, I might change my mind.  I didn't like the idea of this kind of attack in the first place, and that could well be a Russian mistake, and maybe I'm also not properly imagining the way they would freely settle it.  Or perhaps less freely, but then there would be other blame to go around.

But I'm rooting for Russia because, in short, nationalism isn't a thing that deserves any respect.  The US used nationalism to screw up Ukraine to make a proxy battleground (pure evil).  The Ukrainians who signed up for that project are collaborators with Washington DC, the most evil government on earth.  I want US imperialism to end, as it's the most destructive force on earth, not to mention wasting my money and hope for life on earth. So in collaborating with Washington DC, those Ukrainian collaborators were doing me--and the rest of the world--harm.  (Though not uniquely...you could say I contribute to the Imperial project too...but I don't do it by choice.)

Nevertheless, I hope Ukrainians live rather than die for their mistakes.  But some may have to make those decisions.  If they're going to kill and destroy for Nation, Freedom, and Democracy, basically all those things are fake in the Imperial context anyway.  There is no "freedom and democracy" if you are client state of the USA.  You may even become an endless battleground like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.

I don't think Nazis and Jihadis elsewhere should be encouraged to collaborate with US to achieve their goals either.

If Russia is perceived as more of a counterbalance to the USA, that might be a good thing too.  (In fact, while 99% of the people in the west are rooting for Ukraine, it is certainly different in Russia, China, and Iran, if not other places that have been screwed by USA.)

In fact, if Russians want to take over the "policeman job" the US does, I'd be very happy with that too, in principle.  The US has been doing it horribly, and it's nothing but a dead weight loss to everyone but weapons makers.  Of course the best solution is true multilateralism, with all international "policing" done by globally representative international organizations.  But certainly as long as the USA is the "sole superpower" that isn't going to happen in any sort of truly multilateral way.

Meanwhile, some Americans are fulminating so much they hope to throw Russians out of the Security Council.

Americans need to study themselves carefully in the mirror.

The best way to struggle for freedom and democracy is Non-Violence.

Any violent struggle raises issues, and those issues are pushed to the extreme by Support by the Global Hegemon.

NOTHING supported by the Global Hegemon can be considered a true struggle for freedom and democracy at all.  The Global Hegemon supports one thing and one thing only: Global Empire.  So being supported by the Global Hegemon means you are willingly becoming part of the Global Imperial Project, the antithesis of freedom and democracy, and deserve no respect.

Regional support is fundamentally less malign.

NOW if we go back to the Maidan Revolution, we can see it wasn't even remotely about freedom and democracy anyway.  It was opposed to the actual democratic and constitutional processes of Ukraine.  It was a project to make a Ukraine militarily aligned with the Global Hegemon instead of a regional power.  This murderous imperial project immediately began de-recognizing domestic language and speech.  Breaking away from this project as DPR, LPR, and Crimea did was fully justified, even if aided by a regional power.

In the end, if there is going to be peace and survival on earth, there must be no grand imperial projects.  The Global Hegemonic Forces must be rendered into ploughshares, along with their ancilliaries.  Signing up with the Global Hegemon is a ticket to hell for oneself and possibly humanity itself.

Meanwhile, Russia is not merely fighting for Russians inside Ukraine, Russia is opposing the Global Hegemon itself.  This is a noble struggle, and we can hope it leads to freedom from Global Hegemony--the worst form of tyranny.