Michael Tracey Profile picture
Feb 26 4 tweets 1 min read
The blame for this nightmare is 100% bipartisan. Trump started sending weapons, abrogated major treaties, and relations with Russia cratered. All while Dems/media obsessed with a deranged “collusion” conspiracy, poisoning the well for any real diplomacy. Which Biden refused to do
You have to be dangerously simple-minded to not understand what the US proudly declared: that it turned Ukraine into a client state, subsidized its military, and was the only relevant diplomatic player in this entire situation. Acknowledging reality doesn't "excuse Putin," idiots
If you don't think the recent radicalization of the US foreign policy establishment against Russia had any affect on how the US carried out its self-proclaimed central role in this situation, I don't know what to tell you

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More from @mtracey

Feb 25
US hegemony is rapidly weakening but US officials are politically and/or ideologically constrained from acknowledging this, so they still constantly use maximalist rhetoric about the efficacy of US power. When the rhetoric inevitably does not match the action, chaos ensues
How many times have US politicians (both parties) declared their unflinching resolve to defend Ukraine? Well, all they've done is turn Ukraine into a battleground for US proxy warfare with Russia, while Ukraine itself gets destroyed
The more US hegemony recedes, the more incoherent the maximalist rhetoric becomes -- and the more chaos this incongruity is likely to produce. Acknowledging hegemonic decline will be considered a non-starter for US politicians until further notice, so expect the chaos to escalate
Read 5 tweets
Feb 25
US-trained soldiers in a US-funded military are currently waging large-scale hot war with US-made missiles, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers against the country with the world's largest nuclear arsenal. Another flawlessly executed A+ intervention by the US
Clearly, flooding this US client state with weaponry and bringing it into "partnership" with the Pentagon successfully achieved the stated policy objective of "deterrence." Anyone who'd dare suggest that the objective seems more akin to "deliberate antagonism" must be nuts!
Even on its own terms, interventionist US policy toward Ukraine -- of course supported on a sacrosanct Bipartisan Basis -- has been an abject failure. Which is shocking, because who could've ever thought that an interventionist US policy would result in abject failure
Read 4 tweets
Feb 25
What I Got Wrong About the Invasion of Ukraine mtracey.substack.com/p/what-i-got-w…
Doing a Callin at 8pm EST with @I_Katchanovski on the Ukraine situation, feel free to come tell me how even *more* wrong I was callin.com/link/hKcLGYFdpw
Thanks to everybody who tuned in, especially caller Matthew who said his initial plan was to “vilify” me, but ended up (tepidly) praising me 😂 callin.com/link/pEkpyGozGN
Read 4 tweets
Feb 23
Pentagon spokesman was just asked whether Russian troops have entered the Donbas. Couldn't give a firm answer -- says troops are "moving into" the region (which doesn't mean they've breached the territory) but he "can't confirm with any great specificity." Vaguest "invasion" ever
"What we see is that Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border," according to John Kirby. Very strange way to characterize an "invasion" that we've been told with such certainty has *already occurred*
You'd think if the most harrowing invasion in Europe since World War II was underway, the Pentagon could confirm its existence using clearly identifiable evidence for all to see, and respond to simple "Yes/No" questions on the subject instead of playing convoluted word games
Read 4 tweets
Feb 23
But remember, several years of nonstop Russiagate propaganda definitely did not prime huge swathes of the US public for what's unfolding mtracey.substack.com/p/if-world-war…
Pelosi declared: "This is our moment. This is a Sudetenland." So that's the Speaker of the House saying we're on the cusp of World War III, due to an "invasion" which nobody can show has even taken place yet. Yeah, definitely a sane political environment cultivated over the years
US troops are stationed in Poland on the Ukraine border, just miles away from what we're told is about to become a cataclysmic war-zone. Secretary of State threatens unspecified US "escalation." Yes, Russiagate absolutely set the stage for idle acceptance of this insane scenario Image
Read 4 tweets
Feb 21
Putin declares Ukraine a "puppet" or "colony" of the US. Seems like an overstatement, but it's true that for years the US has been funding/training the Ukraine military and bragging about its singular influence on Ukraine's affairs. Perhaps this US intervention was ill-advised
In 2021, the US conducted an exercise *in Ukraine* featuring "joint jumps of Ukrainian and American paratroopers from a US Army C-130 aircraft." Does this excuse any insane actions Putin may take? No. But the US thinks it can do this stuff anywhere in the world without blowback
If you never heard about "Rapid Trident 21," the exercise designed to "enhance interoperability" between the US/NATO and Ukraine, you're not alone: but the US does this all the time, virtually wherever it pleases, with no regard for how other states could find them "provocative"
Read 4 tweets

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