US foreign policy is a mirror of US domestic policy. We are hostile to the world to the extent that we are hostile to our own citizens. But we are not the world, and the world is not us. We have a system of government we call "democracy" which, though imperfect, suits us more or less. However a nation like Egypt (for example) has never had, and might never have, nor ever want to have, a system of government like ours.
Why must we be so hostile to Russia now? Are her ruling elites so very different from our own, or are they simply a different set of elites? Who pushes for conflict with Russia, them or us? The Russian people seem to think Russia deserves to claim maybe a third of Ukraine. Maybe they do. Is it for Kiev to to determine that? Is it for the USA to determine it? The idea that Putin is an interloper in this dispute, acting as an outside force, is absurd. This dispute has existed for decades or longer, long before Putin came to power, and the Donbas region has always leaned more toward Russia than to Europe. Why must the USA insist upon contesting this claim?
Russia: Still the enemy, if only for old time's sake. Two square meters of formerly Ukrainian soil is far too much for Russia to claim, let alone the whole of Crimea. All of it is supposed to belong to Western bankers, not the so-called "Russian State" -- which is just another word for Putin's private bank account. Yeah. Putin's an evil motherfucker, never mind that most Russians love him because he gave them a decent standard of living for the first time since anyone can remember.
Ordinary Russians? Fuck them, they've all been brainwashed by RT. As if we hadn't all been brainwashed by CNN. So what, if the Russian version of our MIC has enough nuclear weaponry to blow America off the face of the map? They wouldn't dare. Wanna bet? I'll give you three to one odds. Loser picks up the tab, if he's got any fingers left.
And why. Why???? Does some farmer in Iowa or Missouri actually fear that Vladimir Putin poses some kind of serious threat to his well-being? How in the world could he have been convinced to believe such an outlandish thing? Because Putin snipped off a corner of Ukraine, to the applause of many if not most residents there, and refused to cede it to a rival set of oligarchs?
Right, OK Mr Kerry. Why not ignite a trade war about this? That way you could prove the moral superiority of your position vis a vis Ukraine. You'd also get to push European bankers around, which is always fun. Hell, you might even be able to put some juice into a lethargic NATO.
Assad's Syria: The enemy, without Americans ever considering how or why. Or who might be able to rule this multi-ethnic, multi-religious conglomeration of tribes and sects any more mercifully, or effectively than Assad has. The FSA? What, all mounted on unicorns with Arab Spring emblazoned on their breastplates?
The main points to keep focused on are: Putin bad, NATO good. Iran bad, Israel good. Assad bad, Iraq good. This is how America, as the pre-eminent and self-proclaimed indispensable nation, shall dispose of her power, according to the dictates of CNN, Fox, NBC, and affiliated networks.
Assad's Syria has been portrayed as "the enemy", without Americans ever considering how or why. Without ever considering who else might be able to rule Syria's multi-ethnic, multi-religious conglomeration of tribes and mutually hostile sects any more mercifully, or any more effectively than the Assad dynasty has. The FSA? Yeah sure. What, all mounted on unicorns with Arab Spring emblazoned on their breastplates?
No matter. The USA hates Iran, and Iran supports Assad. Not to mention that Russia supports Assad too, so Assad has to go -- if that is, you intend to remain the one and only indispensable nation on the planet, with more money than anyone else. Which the USA obviously is, and has been ever since the USSR collapsed into a well-deserved Communist pile of dust and rubble.
Me, I yearn for a global truce. I believe that all wars, without exception, must cease. They are all obsolete. I also believe that the ones we are fighting now are meaningless and futile. That Russia is not our enemy, that Bashar Assad is not our enemy, that ISIL is not our enemy, and that China is not our enemy, and that in fact we have no enemies, other than ourselves.