The idiosyncrasies of conflict are such that it’s rare to find leaders or warriors who think of themselves as evil. They think the others are evil. They think they are the protectors of decency. Adolf Hitler did not think he was immoral, nor did millions of others. Putin would say that the U.S. violated fundamental understandings with Russia made at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union and that the evil arrogance of the United States is responsible for all that has followed. He would say that the ruthless American actions of overthrowing a constitutionally elected president in Ukraine violated all norms of decency. This is not a hypothetical argument; it’s one that I’ve heard from numerous Russians.
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