rightly see this “stand with Ukraine” bandwagon as just another neocon ploy to get the US involved in another forever war.
You seemed to be rather clearly implying that those of us who support sending Ukraine aid were just trying to get us into a shooting war. You don't think that was unfair?
If you want to be taken seriously, just use reason to make your case, rather than doing a lousy job of poking holes in mine.
My case is twofold. First, I think war in general is sufficiently horrible and destructive, especially when engaged in by major powers, that countries should not be permitted to profit from it. The amount we're spending to help Ukraine eviscerate Russian's military is a drop in the bucket compared to the many trillions we've spent over the last 70 decades on our military. It's probably the best bang for the buck we've ever gotten.
Second, I believe the Chinese are absolutely watching the western response to Russia's aggression, and if they detect weakness or passivity, they'll start the exact same thing in the Pacific. Being the linchpin of western resolve against military adventurism could save us uncounted dollars and lives in discouraging similar aggression by China.
“You don’t think that was unfair?”
Perhaps it is a bit unfair for me to assume I know people’s motives for getting involved with Ukraine. I apologize - and I’ll rephrase:
I don’t think it’s a ploy - I just think it’s another mistake. The kind of foreign entanglement the Founders warned us about.
But you do make a good point about China watching.
My opinion is that the time to draw a line in the sand with China is not when Russia oversteps, but when China oversteps, which they have been doing a lot.
President Trump understood that China was the real threat - and that this Russia hype is a distraction.
When I see the Democrats and other Trump enemies turning up the heat on the anti-Putin rhetoric, it doesn’t reassure me at all that the US is prepared to stand up to a real threat from China. It tells me the opposite, that they want to avoid the subject.
I also believe Trump’s political enemies think they are scoring points by focusing on Putin’s tyranny because they believe their own lies about Trump Russia collusion.
Very soon, China will test our resolve with regard to Taiwan. When that time comes, do you think the Biden administration will be as hawkish about that as they are about Putin? I guarantee they won’t.
Look, Russia is bad, China is bad, Iran is bad. But for the Democrats - who are far more interested in scoring political points against Trump and cutting side deals with oligarchs than they are in protecting US national interests - Putin makes a much better boogie man than China.
I just think if it was really about national interests and national security - we’d be focused elsewhere.