Mr. Erti is a victim of Putin’s version of events. His list of Putin’s litany of griefs and complaints suggests to me that he might get his information from Tucker Carlson, etc., who have softened the American public to Kremlin propaganda for years. Putin longs for the time of a mythical Russian imperial empire. Let’s not forget that the great Imperial Russia, as the USSR, worked with Germany to start World War II. He colluded with Hitler to invade Poland – part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, not Russia.
Let’s not forget that Ukraine, the land of the Cossacks, where the Nazis slaughtered 30,000 Jews in Kiev for two days and threw their bodies into the ravine named Babi Yar, was claimed not only by Russia, but also by the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. According to Mr. Erti’s reasoning, Mexico, seat of the Aztec Empire, has every right to take back Texas and New Mexico.
Yes, the countries bordering Russia are a threat. They look to Europe and struggle to rid themselves of generations of corruption and oppression under Soviet rule. It’s an alluring prospect. This idea launched the United States of America.
Putin cannot have the shiny, shiny gifts of capitalism without the freedom that capitalism demands. Democracies, whether American or European, have a lot of problems, but I’ll take them on authoritarians and kleptocrats, here and abroad. I look forward to the day when the Russian people can live without fear of death or disappearance. There is never an excuse for a war criminal.
Nina Shippen
Brevard
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