I too was once like you: pro West, anti-Putin. On the Ukraine affair way back in 2014, I was outraged that Putin took Crimea etc etc.
So what changed my point of view? Russiagate. That nonsense the Democrat Party propagated about Putin interfering in the election to get Trump elected. I also found out that it wasn't Russian operatives shooting at the Maidan protestors from the top of a building. It was neo Nazi Ukrainians. They are small but ruthless so their influence belies their size. But I should've known better because I already knew about the lies the West told to go war in Iraq in 2003. WMD's in Iraq was a big fat lie. And US Officials went on television and told these lies to the whole world. Knowing they were lies.
So my point? The West does Propaganda too. Stephen Kotkin works for the Hoover Institute. The Hoover Institute has an agenda to promote American "free-market" capitalism around the world.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hoover-institution/
Why do you dismiss anyone in the West who is against what the West is doing in Ukraine as "Russian mouthpieces"? But you never question whether Western sources as "American Hegemonic" propaganda? Is it not possible for Westerners to look at what is happening in Ukraine and conclude that it is folly?
Surely, you are aware of PNAC? (Project for a New American Century).
>Sovereign countries got fed up with Genocide and aggression at the hands of Russians, who now believe that multipolarity is a rightful green card for unchecked coercion of neighboring countries.
--Gaza? To tell you the truth I'm fed up with American backed Genocide. What has Russia (under Putin) done that is worse than this? Do you not think that what goes on in Gaza is an all time low for the West? Surely you do.
To come to an understanding of what's been happening to Ukraine -- you need to focus on Ukraine, and its history, along with the history of the region. Especially in regard to what all of these countries have had to put up with for the past 400 years.
Not the US, and its never-ending internal scandals and naval-gazing shenanigans. The idea that stuff like the Russiagate can begin to matter in comparison to what's actually happening in Ukraine ironically reflects a profound Western-centric bias.
Your secondary error is to adopt as an axiom that "anti-Putin" and "pro-West" are on a common axis, and part of a zero-sum game.
And hence to be anti-Putin is to be "pro-West", and a sucker for its propaganda.
I also found out that it wasn't Russian operatives shooting at the Maidan protestors from the top of a building. It was neo Nazi Ukrainians.
Except you didn't "find this out". Your read it on a blog somewhere, and it never occurred to you to dig behind this assertion and fact-check it.
Edit: it looks like your account is using HN primarily for political/ideological battle, which is also a line at which we ban accounts. I don't want to ban you, so if you'd please correct for this, that would be good. See https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme... for past explanations of this point.
Edit: you've been breaking the site guidelines in other places too, unfortunately, and it also looks like your account is dangerously close to using HN primarily for political/ideological battle, which is also a line at which we ban accounts. I don't want to ban you, so if you'd please correct for this, that would be good. See https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme... for past explanations of this point.
I too was once like you: pro West, anti-Putin. On the Ukraine affair way back in 2014, I was outraged that Putin took Crimea etc etc.
So what changed my point of view? Russiagate. That nonsense the Democrat Party propagated about Putin interfering in the election to get Trump elected. I also found out that it wasn't Russian operatives shooting at the Maidan protestors from the top of a building. It was neo Nazi Ukrainians. They are small but ruthless so their influence belies their size. But I should've known better because I already knew about the lies the West told to go war in Iraq in 2003. WMD's in Iraq was a big fat lie. And US Officials went on television and told these lies to the whole world. Knowing they were lies.
So my point? The West does Propaganda too. Stephen Kotkin works for the Hoover Institute. The Hoover Institute has an agenda to promote American "free-market" capitalism around the world. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hoover-institution/
Have a look at Professors Meersheimer and Stephen Cohen. For an alternative view on the Ukrainian situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mciLyG9iexE
Why do you dismiss anyone in the West who is against what the West is doing in Ukraine as "Russian mouthpieces"? But you never question whether Western sources as "American Hegemonic" propaganda? Is it not possible for Westerners to look at what is happening in Ukraine and conclude that it is folly?
Surely, you are aware of PNAC? (Project for a New American Century).
>Sovereign countries got fed up with Genocide and aggression at the hands of Russians, who now believe that multipolarity is a rightful green card for unchecked coercion of neighboring countries. --Gaza? To tell you the truth I'm fed up with American backed Genocide. What has Russia (under Putin) done that is worse than this? Do you not think that what goes on in Gaza is an all time low for the West? Surely you do.