Hacker News Reader

> regaining control of former colony

This is an oversimplification... How many countries have built nuclear power plants and missile assembly lines in their colonies?

View on HN

"It's not a colony if you build infrastructure in it" seems like the sort of oversimplification you're complaining about.

The USSR certainly didn't plan to lose Ukraine.

Unlike colonies which West always planned to lose?

The British built a sizable chunk of the indian railways. In fact to this day there are plenty of British era bridges that survive whereas modern ones crumble within 20 years. Surely you don't imply that the British were not colonizers?

Railways have strategic importance for the military. Think of the Roman empire building roads.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com