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Comment by enkid | Hacker News Reader

The US did not make Putin invade Ukraine. That's like saying Iran made the US invade Iraq, because Saddam didn't give up WMDs because he was scared about Iran. The only person who made Putin invade Ukraine is Putin. The US and West are not the ones that are upping the confrontation. Putin has invaded his neighbors multiple times, is interfering in internal political processes of democracies, and is threatening nuclear weapon use constantly. You can't look at this from one side and say it's the "West's" fault without looking that the Russian actions that were just as, or more escalatory.

Edit: Also, I haven't flagged a single comment today, nor do I think I can flag a reply to my comments.

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> The only person who made Putin invade Ukraine is Putin.

Well, yes; but when dealing with such high-stakes international politics you need to consider what consequences your actions will have, even if you think your actions are completely justified and the consequences are stupid. To say "Ukraine is the West's Fault" is a bit clickbait-y, and the actual content is more nuanced, but I do think there's truth in that we ("the west") could and should have acted with more caution and consideration of the possible consequences rather than operate on grand ideals.

In addition to the other response you've received, NATO is the US, for all intents and purposes. If you watch the video I linked, you'll see that most (all?) countries Russia has invaded in the past was because of NATO involvement, e.g. dangling NATO membership over their heads.

NATO is not the US. This is such an absurd statement considering the measures all of the other members have been taking over the last few days, often well before the US. Saying something like that totally discounts the rest of your argument in my mind.

Well, I 've already sourced my comments. I encourage you watch the talk given by the professor.

Lets be real - NATO is effectively the US with a few European "puppet" states. Without the leadership or the military of the US military, NATO is dramatically and significantly weaker.

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