Thread by @AVindman

So, just listened to #Tuckyorose @TuckerCarlson. I’ll explain it, since you have no clue. There are several reasons why the U.S. now faces the prospect of a major war in Europe, initiated by your idol, Putin.

https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1496593198914887684

For more than two decades Putin has been trending authoritarian. He destroyed Russia’s fledgling democracy and sown chaos in his neighborhood to reestablish Russian power. For Putin, this is a zero-sum game. Putin wins if his opponents loose. Russia views the U.S. an enemy.

His increasing belligerence & efforts to upend the international order—an order that enabled decades of US prosperity—have largely gone unchallenged. The West looked the other way on hopes of cooperation with Russia. That’s misplaced because our interests & values never aligned.

The reason we are at a crisis point is that inevitably, Russia was going to read the lack of consequence as a lack of resolve to protect our alliances and partnerships and even democracy. The bill has come due. We failed to hold Putin accountable and failed to deterrence.

This is were you & Trump come in. The reason they are acting now is because of the chaos & division you have sown. They’ve long wanted control over a rising Ukraine & you offered them the opportunity. You drive hyper-partisanship, you attack Americans and call them the enemy.

You cheerlead for authoritarians. You pander to their most bellicose and belligerent, Putin. You and Trump are play on Russian state-run media on a loop. You entice and embolden Putin. Your suggest America is distracted and vulnerable.

No one wants war. I’ve seen war & can envision the human toll & the geopolitical catastrophe that will ensue. The way we prevent war is by defending U.S. interests & values. What you don’t appreciate is that this country is wonderful, it’s the greatest country in the World.

We need not be bullies, we just need to be confident and defend our interests. If we do that, Russia won’t dare challenge us directly.