@jsj @randahl @joshbuchea
We already did regime change in Russia.
The West called it Shock Therapy, and that's what created to opportunities for Putin to rise to power.

Why would we think another regime change by the West would improve anything? Take a look at Iran, Iraq, & Afghanistan for recent examples.

@Jeramee @randahl @joshbuchea I don’t think it will “improve” anything. It **will** change things. We’ve lived in a stalemate for three decades. If we can’t meaningfully “improve” the situation, and the status quo results in *gestures at everything* the next best thing is to force change.

And comparing Russia to Iraq or Afghanistan is like comparing a praying mantis to a red balloon. They both exist on earth, but that’s about as much as they have in common.

@jsj @randahl @joshbuchea

You forgot Iran with Iraq, Afghanistan, & Russia. And I'll spell it out for you: all 4 countries underwent regime changes because of US machinations, and all 4 are objectively worse off after the regime change.

So, your solution is continued US machinations and assassination?

If we want to improve anything at all, my country needs to change first.

Btw, when your solution is to advocate murder, you've lost.

@Jeramee The problem with each of those cases is we didn't finish the job. US official policy is that we don't conquer anymore. We're not taking over countries any longer, officially. So we have to install people, and they eventually fuck us over. That's where we screw up. We never finish the job. And we're never willing to commit what it'll take to finish the job. Even if we were willing to pay the monetary costs, the bleeding hearts would bitch and moan about a million other excuses.

And sentences like "when your solution is to ... you've lost" only show a lack of experience and/or historical knowledge, truly. Lost what, exactly? What rules are you playing by? They're certainly not the rules people like Putin are playing by. Try explaining those rules to the many people who've fallen off balconies or flown through windows or whose planes fell out of the sky.