I am absolutely sick of America condemning Russia's violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity. In the recent past America has broken the principle of territorial integrity multiple times. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
The U.S. recognized Kosovo as an independent state, violating Serbia's territorial integrity.
The U.S. refuses to recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, violating China's territorial integrity.
The U.S. just sent a Congressional delegation supporting the self-determination of Tibet, violating China's territorial integrity again.
The U.S. recognized Western Sahara as part of Morocco, violating Western Sahara's territorial integrity.
The U.S. recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, violating Syria's territorial integrity.
The U.S. currently occupies a large portion of Syria militarily, and will kill any official members of the Syrian government, recognized by America and the U.N. as the official government of Syria, intruding on what is officially territory belonging to that very Syrian government. This of course violates Syria's territorial integrity again. (What is with America's vendetta towards Syria?)
The U.S. condemned Azerbaijan and insisted they cease and desist the restoration of governmental control over the rebel province of Nagorno-Karabach, which the U.S. and all other nations agreed was part of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory. Why was it okay for Armenia to violate Azerbaijan's territorial integrity? Why did we support Armenia in this conflict just a few months ago?
The U.S. has recognized new independent states like East Timor, South Sudan, etc., all in the recent past, all of which violates the territorial integrity of the nations they seceded from.
Each time the United States has given all sorts of justifications why there were extenuating circumstances or overriding priorities that required territorial integrity to temporarily vanish into thin air. Most of these justifications are far less justified than the justifications Russia put forward before their invasion of Ukraine.
Time and time again America sends out these memorandums about how Russia must respect the principle of territorial integrity, while simultaneously, right now, not respecting that very principle by occupying, with our very own military, a large portion of Syria. This is schizophrenic. This is an impossible position to uphold. It is impossible for any sane or knowledgeable person to believe what the U.S. is saying. The U.S. is in the last position possible to be complaining about anyone.
The entire United States of America is built out of land grabs that violated other people's territorial integrity. There isn't a square inch of America that wasn't in violation of this principle. It all belonged to someone else before we violently took it from them. If we truly feel that the principle of territorial integrity mustn't be violated, then we should abolish the entire country and give it back to the American Indians. There are still millions of them in America right now, we could hand the whole country back to them if we feel so deeply about this principle, but somehow no one ever suggests this.
There is no such thing as a 'principle' that can be broken in all places at all times, except when Russia does it, in which case the 'principle' must be respected. The actual principle, de facto, is not the principle of territorial integrity, but the principle that Russia, unlike say Morocco, or Israel, or Armenia, is not allowed to expand. Why don't we just condemn Russia for this actual principle, then, instead of a fake one nobody actually cares about or upholds, and we are currently in brazen violation of right now? Is it perhaps such a ridiculous and unpersuasive principle, so obviously discriminatory, that we'd be too embarrassed to say it?
In that case, why is anyone not embarrassed by the lie that we care about territorial integrity? Why is one more embarrassing than the other? How is it possible to get away with one but not the other?
The reason America doesn't actually care about territorial integrity is the same reason nobody cares about territorial integrity, because caring about it is insane. Obviously God did not come down and paint the borders between nations on Earth, they are accidents of history, and oftentimes those borders are nonsensical and unjust. Borders change all the time, like with the dissolution of Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union or Sudan, and no one thinks twice about it. Nations grow and shrink across the entirety of world history, like the very breathing of a human's lungs. It is enshrined in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, that any people, every people on Earth, have the right and the duty to throw off far-off tyrants and create new nations that better serve the people living in said region. The British did not abuse America remotely as much as Ukraine abused the people of Donetsk. At no time did King George brag about shelling American kindergartens. And yet we had the right and the duty to violate the territorial integrity of Britain. But Donetsk doesn't have the right and the duty to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine?
In the recent past Canada and the United Kingdom allowed independence referendums which, if they had passed, would have resulted in the violation of their own territorial integrity, creating new lines on the map and the new nations of Quebec and Scotland. They explicitly acknowledged that self-determination trumps territorial integrity. How can they possibly ignore, then, the independence referendums of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaphorozia? If they lie and say it's because they don't trust the voting process in those regions, then why not administer a new referendum overseen by the Canadians and the Brits? Why don't they offer that if that's their only concern? I guarantee you Russia would happily accept, and I guarantee you the referendums would pass again without issue. The reason Canada and Britain doesn't offer this deal is because they also know what the results would be. So that isn't their true objection. So what is their objection?
What principle is actually the principle here?
We all know what the actual principle is here: Allies of America not only get the 'right' to their borders, they even get the right to expand their borders, like how Israel can annex portions of Syria. Non-allies of America don't get to expand their borders, worse, they don't even get to keep their own borders, as shown by our willingness to occupy Syria now for over a decade. That is the principle. That is the real principle. China can't have Taiwan because Taiwan is an ally of America that shares our values. Russia can't have Ukraine because Ukraine is an ally of America that shares our values. Syria can't have Syria because the Kurds are an ally of America that share our values. Palestine can't have Palestine because Israel is an ally of America that shares our values. Serbia can't have Kosovo because Serbia is an ally of Russia that shares their values. Quebec and Scotland can violate Canada and Britain's territorial integrity because they would still be allies of America who share our values. Slovakia can secede from Czechia because Slovakia is still an ally of America that shares our values (except when they elect the wrong Prime Minister, in which case it's okay to assassinate him). Panama can secede from Colombia because Panama was an ally of America who shared our economic interests. Puerto Rico can be conquered from Spain because America is an ally of America and shares America's values.
The whole west actually agrees on a single, coherent, consistent principle, but it isn't territorial integrity. The actual principle is that America gets to reward its friends and punish its enemies, because we're America, our military is the biggest on Earth, and fuck you. So why do we keep mentioning territorial integrity? Why do we keep talking about this principle which we don't believe and don't uphold? Why don't we admit to our actual principle which we actually abide by and have followed since the beginning of time?
If people would just honestly argue from the beginning that America supports their friends and opposes their enemies, on the grounds that they like their friends more than their enemies, they would be more sympathetic than they are now. I detest hypocrites with a fiery passion, and I'm not the only one. The Qu'ran actually spends more time condemning hypocrites than nonbelievers. Jesus spends more times condemning Pharisees than Greeks. Everyone hates hypocrites who say they stand for some glorious moral principle when actually they're only in it for themselves. Compared to Atilla the Hun, who just honestly says 'woe to the conquered', anyone would pick Atilla. Everyone has picked Atilla across all time. Humans instinctively despise hypocrites who speak with forked tongues the same way they are repelled by cockroaches and vermin. There is nothing remotely similar when it comes to an honest barbarian, or honest anybody, who just honestly says 'I'm for me and mine, and if you don't like it try and stop me.'
What's even more aggravating is that even though America is brazenly, openly violating territorial integrity every day, people still nod along and swallow this bullshit about how America opposes Russia not because it opposes Russia, but solely and only because it wishes to enforce the international rules-based order that declares territorial integrity to be inviolate. While camping out in Syria. While handing portions of Syria to Israel. Who are these people nodding along? How stupid can they be to believe this bullshit? How can they possibly have followed geopolitics for the last 50 years, or the past 200 years of American history, and believe for one moment we have ever respected the principle of territorial integrity? Who are the people who were taught in school the words of the Declaration of Independence, and then nod along when we make grandiloquent speeches about how territorial integrity mustn't be violated? Who are these people? Who? Who could be this dumb?
So let's for five seconds act like sane people and stop lying, for five seconds, and say 'we should support Ukraine because they're allies of America who share our values.' Okay, the problem with this is, Ukraine doesn't share our values. They don't have elections, they target civilians and do mass terror attacks against women and children, they've abolished freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of the press, they jail and torture to death American citizens. Last I checked none of those were American values. But okay, let's pretend they really do share our values. If that's true, isn't it our values that are the problem? No, seriously, look at Ukraine. It is an evil place, it has been a complete wreck of a nation for the last thirty years. Its population has been in perpetual decline, its economy has only ever gone down since leaving the Soviet Union (practically the only nation on Earth who can say that), it has undergone continuous undemocratic coups and civil wars, it has shot down airplanes full of innocent civilians, it has bombed Poland and blamed Russia for it, it has consistently scored as one of the most corrupt countries on Earth -- are these really our values? Why are these our values? Why is this what we want to expend our blood and treasure to preserve?
What's wrong with Russia? Why do we hate Russia so much? Look at what Russia has done during that same time! Their fertility rate is almost as high as ours, a big rebound from the 1990's. Their economy has tripled. Their crime rate is lower than ours. They are innovators in several scientific and technological fields. They have a long and glorious record of artistic and athletic achievement. They have beautiful, well upkept architecture and infrastructure. What's not to like? Kudryavka, Elina, Alya and Illyasviel are all Russian. Who doesn't like these anime characters? Who doesn't like all the girls dressed up in the Russian clothing fashion like Ai Yashajin? Has anyone ever glorified Ukrainian fashion? Has there ever been a Ukrainian anime character? Why are we trying to kill Kudryavka by providing Ukraine with long range missiles and saying it's okay for them to shoot them deep into Russia? Why is Ukraine our values instead of the obviously, objectively superior Russia? If you say you support democracy, why don't you support Russia, who had elections, as opposed to Ukraine, who banned them? If you say Russia's elections aren't free and fair, how do you square that with the regular polling data which shows Putin really is as popular in Russia as the votes show he is? And if you say his popularity is built upon unfair manipulation of the press or oppression of opposition political parties -- well guess what, Ukraine has done by far more of that than Russia. It's unquestionable that simply abolishing the press and all opposing political parties is more draconian than whatever you claim Putin is doing.
If you say Ukraine supports gays and transgenders and Russia doesn't, I will agree with you. But I will not agree with you that this is a reason to support Ukraine over Russia. I will agree with the past ten thousand years of human history that says this is a sinful abomination, which all the major religions declare -- and supposedly America consists of these very religions, so what the hell is going on here? Why do American values automatically mean Satanic values? And if they do, why do people wish to uphold American values? Why do we want to spread them across the world? Perhaps if you're a Democrat and you just openly worship Satan, like Hillary Clinton does, this would make sense. But how, how can a Republican, a Christian, possibly support Ukraine over Russia?
So yes, in abstract, I could see a nation that says 'our foreign policy is to reward our friends and punish our enemies.' But when it turns out the best friend of that nation is Satan, and their greatest enemy is God, then I start to wonder if I should really be supporting my country's foreign policy. In abstract it makes sense, but when you actually look at 'America's values,' it turns out that they are the exact antithesis of 'human values.' And guess what, the whole world is quickly learning that 'American values' are indistinguishable from Satan's, and virtually the whole world thinks as highly of us as Satan now. You cannot provide bombs to a nation that openly drops them on kids and then brags about it and then go on about your wonderful values. Both Ukraine and Israel have done this, brazenly, unapologetically, and these are our weapons, made in America, given by America to these countries, for the express purpose that they use them in this way -- because otherwise why are we still giving them more????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
If you're smart enough to see through America's lies, that there is no abstract moral principle we're upholding, that we just support our allies and oppose our enemies, then you should also be smart enough to realize that America is a deeply immoral nation and we have chosen deeply immoral nations as our allies, and as an individual who has to decide for the sake of their own soul whether they want to worship God or Satan, it is unconscionable to support America's choices of allies and enemies. I'd be fine with supporting our allies and undermining our enemies -- if we had good allies and evil enemies. But when we choose open targeters of civilians who have violated every freedom we supposedly believe in for decades -- how can you continue down this road? How can you swallow this shit? How can you stomach it? There is absolutely no reason for Israel to be restricting U.N., even American food aid to the Gaza Strip, other than their desire to starve to death the population of the Gaza Strip. Period. No matter what excuse you make for their bombing campaign, you cannot excuse their blockade of the entire civilian population of the Gaza Strip, which every organization on Earth, from the U.N. on down, has said is suffering from starvation as a result.
Why are American values slowly starving to death millions of women and children who never did anything to anyone? If these are our values, why do you still wish to support America against her enemies? Shouldn't you instead support our enemies against America? Do you have a soul? This is really simple stuff. This moral calculus, like, I'm not talking about the doctrine of transubstantiation here. I am saying I do not want to repeat the Holodomor in the modern era. I don't want to be responsible for a modern Holodomor. This should not be controversial. This should not be difficult. It should not be so very hard to figure out whether 'American values' are worth supporting, and as a result it should not be difficult to figure out whether 'American allies' are worth supporting.
I cannot believe anyone can be so stupid as to actually believe America cares about territorial integrity. I cannot believe anyone can be so evil as to actually support 'American allies who share our values.' So. . .why do Americans keep cheering on our foreign policy? Who are these people? Do you think the world isn't watching? Do you think they will ever forget or forgive us for this? We are going to lose their respect forever, which means, next time, when an actual 'American ally' or 'American value' is actually at stake, no one will care, and no one will support us. Which means we have lost the ability to be a force for good in the world, forever. The whole world will automatically side with anyone who opposes America, for any reason, because anything that hurts America is good. This is the obvious rational response to any non-brainwashed person on Earth from here on going forward. They will support Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, China, Afghanistan, anyone who hurts America, anyone who weakens America, because America is forever discredited, because we just helped cause a Holodomor in front of the whole world, cameras rolling.
Even if you somehow actually believed in the necessity of supporting American allies who share our values, you would for that very reason not support Ukraine or Israel, who discredit America by doing obvious atrocities in the broad light of day and then brag about them. You would want to preserve America's reputation, so that she can expend that soft power when an actually deserving entity needs it. The most iron-hearted son of a bitch American patriot who thinks of nothing but American interests still wouldn't endorse this foreign policy. Never mind that we're risking nuclear war and the end of the world over a few square miles of a country poorer than Africa. You can make a long-winded argument over how you can't give in to nuclear blackmail because then it would be used again and again and you'd end up having to give the whole world over to evil dictators blah blah blah. So never mind. But how do you think a neutral observer -- some dude in Bhutan or whatever, is going to feel when America says 'x's brutal repression of y must be stopped,' after we helped starve to death a million women and children? Do you think Bhutan Citizen A is ever going to listen to you again? And do you think America can really continue to control the entire world if it makes an enemy of the entire world? There is a limit to hubris.
No one in their right mind would be aping the U.S. State Department. This is insane, evil, dangerous, stupid and counterproductive. There isn't a metric left by which our actions are justified. Can we please stop now?
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