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Michael Tracey Profile picture
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Feb 28 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Why Wouldn’t the US Negotiate With Putin?
mtracey.substack.com/p/why-wouldnt-…
The real question: why did the US so obstinately refuse to even entertain giving Putin a "concession" on something they simultaneously insist would never have happened anyway? They said they knew an invasion was coming, but didn't do the one thing in their power to avert it? Image
The ideological narrative spawned in the US since 2016, which painted Putin as the puppet-master of a global right-wing extremism and subversion movement, poisoned the well for any offering of concessions that could be seen as "appeasing" him: especially for a Dem Administration Image
Due to its policy of aggressive interventionism, the US was the only country which could have conceivably addressed the core grievances that Putin repeatedly said were driving his behavior. The US refused to do this, and there's very strange incuriosity as to why
Maybe, but the core grievance about NATO expansion and turning Ukraine into a US military outpost has been consistently expressed for years and years. The US had the ability to potentially avert war by addressing this core grievance -- and refused
This little line of argument is getting very popular, but it's also a total deflection: who's denying anyone else's agency? I've never once done it. The claim that agency is somehow being denied is a clever way to deflect from the topic at hand, however

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More from @mtracey

Michael Tracey Profile picture
Mar 1
There's a disturbing lack of clarity about what this EU supply of "fighter jets" precisely entails. Ukraine fighter pilots will now "base on" Polish airports, meaning "combat tasks" will be launched from a NATO member state? Hello, anyone see the glaring escalatory danger here? Image
I have asked the Polish Defense Ministry for comment. I also received a cryptic statement from an EU spokesperson today. Will publish tomorrow: mtracey.substack.com
Also, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria denied claims that it was giving fighter jets to Ukraine. So something is off about these statements from Ukraine military sources, not surprisingly novinite.com/articles/21400…
Read 4 tweets
Michael Tracey Profile picture
Feb 26
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
Read 4 tweets
Michael Tracey Profile picture
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
Michael Tracey Profile picture
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
Michael Tracey Profile picture
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
Michael Tracey Profile picture
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

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