No response about Timber Sycamore? The US spending $1,000,000,000 per YEAR for years to meddle in Syria makes no difference in your calculation? Such as - there would have been no civil war without OUR money funding and arming the most violent elements.

Which, not just by the way, is EXACTLY what we did in Ukraine. And no surprise, we got a civil war there too. Seems like the "US playbook" - to steal your term.

Apropos "US playbook." This is what we did in Libya as well, with extra help from the UK and France. And Serbia. I was just at a conference two weeks ago and I tell you what, the Serbs know EXACTLY who was responsible for destroying their country. Milosovic was a bad dude, no doubt, just like Ghadaffi and Assad, but who the fuck are we to overthrow their country? They weren't attacking the US.

I could go on for many paragraphs with examples from the "US playbook." Bottom line is that the dirtiest hands are ours.

Once Ukraine is destroyed by Russia, we'll do the same to Taiwan. Possiibly Mexico if AMLO keeps being "uppity." We've been ramping up the jingoistic rhetoric against China (and starting with Mexico) just like we did against Russia, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Serbia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile, Vietnam, Colombia, Honduras, Myanmar, etc. (that's off the top of my head). All those coups, all those attempted coups - all of them have one thing in common, and it ain't Putin or Assad - they all refused to bow to US pressure to give sell their natural resources in sweetheart deals to US multinationals and/or install a neoliberal government. Every. Single One.

The dirtiest hands are ours.