American Right being primed now too
The US has been warning allies that Russia may soon invade Ukraine after Russian troops, tanks, and artillery were seen gathering at the border.
www.businessinsider.com
I wish people would stop doing this. I do not know who Bill Bostock is, but I gather he is not a fan of Tucker Carlson and has fallen victim to the temptation of mis-stating the position of someone he disagrees with so he can pillory that person. It is as honest as going to Republicans or to Fox News and asking them to honestly state the Democrats' position on, well, pretty much anything. It is entertaining, and it bolsters our prejudices, but it is not particularly honest.
I had not seen the Tucker Carlson segment on Ukraine, so I went and watched it.
Carlson's first take is that NATO has served its purpose. (Questionable assertion, but not crazy).
He said a "NATO takeover" of Ukraine is unacceptable to Russia. That's an odd way to phrase that. If I could pose a question to Carlson I would ask, "What if the people of Ukraine
want to join NATO?" And, for the record, NATO has not even submitted a Membership Action Plan (MAP, a mandatory intermediate step to NATO membership) to Ukraine because they have an
unresolved territorial dispute.* Ukraine is pursuing closer ties with the
EU (and maybe eventually EU membership, although that I still a long ways off, I would think.) Are the Ukrainian people allowed to pursue closer economic ties with the EU? I wish someone would ask Carlson that question.
What Carlson was getting at was this (his words): "The only question that matters is how does intervening in Ukraine help the core national interests of the United States?" That is not a crazy question either. Lots of people on both sides of the aisle have suggested that the U.S., before a foreign military intervention, should make sure that the proposed policy is tied to supporting U.S. national interests. If it is not, then do we really want to intervene? (The Powell Doctrine)
So, are Americans generally willing to go to war with Russia if they invaded Ukraine? Are you
personally willing for the United States to go to war with Russia? If Russia were to invade Ukraine and conduct a "punitive raid" (kill Ukrainians and destroy stuff) before withdrawing, would you be willing to go to war with Russia? If Russia were to invade and seize the aqueduct connecting the Dnieper to Crimea and stop there, would you be willing to go to war with Russia? If Russia were to invade Kharkiv and start ethnic cleansing of all Ukrainians, would you be willing to go to war with Russia over that? What if Russia were to invade and entirely annex Ukraine? Context would seem to be key to the determination.
Then Carlson goes on to criticize the military-industrial complex and its willingness to urge America to go to war. This has also found supporters on both sides of the political spectrum. (Smedley Butler's "War is a racket," and all that.) Carlson then goes on to show politicians on both sides of the aisle who seem to be unthinkingly sliding towards a military conflict with Russia, including, in the case of one Republican senator,
nuclear weapons.
The upshot is not that Carlson is priming the right for a war with Russia. He is arguing the opposite. He is arguing then U.S.
not to get involved militarily with Russia in a country where core U.S. national interests are not at stake. It seems hard to argue that core U.S. national interests are at stake in Ukraine.
* In the April 2008 NATO Summit, the Bush Administration was pushing for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Georgia. France and Germany opposed. Rather than openly disagree, the diplomats agreed to characterize it this way, "No applicant country can have a MAP if they have an unresolved territorial dispute." In August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and, voila, Georgia has an unresolved territorial dispute. Thus no MAP.
