The Last War for the Neocons

Taki's Mag has always been close to the line between conservative and fascist, and with Putin's war they have crossed over to straight up neo-Nazi. "Freedom for me, but not for thee", because Ukrainians don't deserve self determination, or the right to choose their future, I guess. I'm sick and tired of "realists" telling me why its fine to sell others down the river. Nice to know that they'll never have my back, or anyone else's for that matter. Oh, and as for Russia getting credit for fighting Nazis. Never forget that Russia was bosom buddies with Hitler until he turned on them. The lesser of two evils is still evil. Turkey, Russia, China, Iran. There is no shortage of countries dreaming of reconstituted empires. The world doesn't need morally depraved apologists coming up with excuses a Hobbesian existence.

While early on architecture came close, it is too bad our government modern architecture doesn’t come close to the fifth century Greek Archtecture.

Z Man is full of BS IMHO.

What is Neo-Nazi about not wanted to get into yet another Neocon military industrial complex supporting boondoggle that will end up with lots of dead American boys and lots of money wasted? Some folks just want to fight an eternal war in which they are always framed as the good guys. Old Neocon men love sending able bodied young American men out to be blown to bits in hell holes across the globe. I wish they would stick to their Tom Clancy fantasy life. That said, nothing stopping you war hawks from picking up a gun and heading over to Ukraine to kill some Ruski kids, and most of them probably are just that. Enough American lives and treasure have been squandered by bloodthirsty Neocon SOBs on causes for which we have ZERO national security interest.

Fascinating read and great “diverse” comments. I would love to know VDH’s concerted opinion.

The Nazi ideology was essentially an ideology of race. Of the superiority of one race over others. Although I find common grounds with many of Taki's authors, I've always been nervous of the echos of race in what I read. Z Man's obsession with "Slavic" peoples and the history of "Jews and Russians", to me, betrays an unhealthy obsession with "race" as a kind of Rosetta Stone that explains his world. As someone who traces their ancestry back to Sparta and Athens, yet also has a fair amount of "Slavic" blood, I have no problem honoring my civilizational debt to my forebears while also observing that "race" counts for almost nothing. We're almost all mongrels anyway. It's culture that counts. Which is why I don't care only for dead American boys, but for dead Ukrainian boys (and girls), and even about dead Russian boys, many (if not most) who don't want to be there. I don't pretend to know how to stop the fighting, and I'm not recommending that U.S. or NATO forces invade and occupy Russia (which would be the "neocon" position, I think). But I do know that standing idly by and saying "Not my problem", or gas-lighting people by saying this is somehow Ukraine's fault or NATO's fault, or even the U.S.'s fault, is not acceptable. What Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine is the geopolitical equivalent of a mass shooting. And if that isn't obvious to people then they have serious moral issues. Oh, and while I did have Donald Kagan as instructor for Ancient Greek History, he couldn't hold a candle to Deno Geanakoplos, who did a far better job teaching Byzantine History, the foundation of the Rus, and the origins of the Orthodox Church.

If Russia is defeated (that's a mighty big ask) it'll not be the neo-cons last war because they then move on to China. That presupposes China et al do not intervene earlier. Screw ancient Greece this is about more modern history - the Brzezinski Doctrine: "The ultimate objective of American policy should be benign and visionary: to shape a truly cooperative global community, in keeping with long-range trends and with the fundamental interests of humankind. But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America." The Great Chessboard. In the words of The Highlander movie: "There can be only one." And for the neo-cons that better be the USA and they don't care whose blood and treasure they shed in achieving this end.

I love #6’s comments, ESPECIALLY his first couple of paragraphs. As an anthropology student, I agree 1000%.

I watched the YouTube video of old blood and guts Lindsey Graham on his visit to Ukraine. Graham is all in when it's someone else's blood and guts being spilled so he can be a Neocon war hawk. Does anyone believe an ally would run to save us if we were hurled into a situation like the Ukraine? We would find out who our friends are really fast. I stand with not my war, but Putin is on a death hunt which the entire world should acknowledge not just us rattling swords and bags of money.

RE #1 - Too many Americans and Russians forget that many American merchant marine men died shipping supplies to the USSR to help them fight the German NAZIs. Sorry but the USSR did not defeat NAZI Germany on its own.

We need a serious investigation...How much MONEY goes between the Defense Industry Weapons Manufacturers and Neocon Politicians?

Many Russian soldiers do not support this war but are forced to fight. Hitler ordered his SS to shoot his own soldiers if they did not toe the line or deserted and I would wager that the Russians must do the same as do the Norks and China. Why do countries so often get sucked into putting a lunatic in charge? Do they steal elections too? Oh wait, they don't have elections.

The Russians have never actually won a war unless you count the massacre of their own unarmed peasants. Their extreme weather defeated both Hitler and Napoleon. When they marched toward Germany at the end of WW2 it was after Hitler had already been beaten to a pulp by allied forces. They did the same thing by declaring war against Japan when the Japanese military forces had been thoroughly defeated and their military hardware was all destroyed by the US. Russia is not to be respected or feared but being wary of madman Putin having extreme ambition and a finger on the nuclear button is akin to walking around a rattlesnake.

The Germans used to tell me when I lived in Germany years ago, and those were Germans who fought during the Second World War, to never trust the Russians. I had no liking for those Germans, but now we can see that when it comes to the Russians that they were right.