The troop withdrawal created a ton of surplus armament. Through the so-called “1033 program,” police departments can acquire excess military gear from the Pentagon for free.
Source: https://www.stephensemler.com/p/how-the-iraq-war-turbocharged-police
So this guy has been getting a lot of traction lately because they basically predicted not only that the US would attack Iran, but also the specific mechanism which would cause it to happen.
I linked to the next video in the series and I think it’s worth watching, especially in the context of the above figure. I think the professor is pretty cherry picked in their examples and what they choose to bring forwards as data and evidence, however, their opinion on why Putin is doing what they are doing is especially worth considering. Effectively, the professor argued, Putin is trying to use a constant state of war to reshape the Russian self image into that if a warrior nation. You can agree or disagree with the professor, which is neither here nor there.
However, and this is why is sat their examples are cherry picked, let’s look at the parallels to the US with regards to using war to transform a people. I think the above point highlights the issue excellently, and those who can remember a time before 9-11 can attest. The US people changed after the war on terror; or perhaps, had change thrust upon them by a government interested in cultivating a police state style authoritarianism.
Before 9-11, maybe a few police forces has something akin to a special SWAT unit. It was headline news if they were ever utilized. Now every small town practically has a bearcat, and through the use of copaganda, the oppression of citizens with no due process and no probable cause is practically the point of one lice forces. Forces within the US used militarism, they used the war on terror to subvert the US constitution in a multi decade process to convert local police into military forces, which can easily be swept under federal control.
So when we criticize Putin for using war to remake the identity of a nation throughout the war, we should at least be consistent and consider how the US identity was remade through war. These p organs are the kinds of slippery slopes that those interested in bipartisanship committed us to over the previous two and a half decades.
I checked it out and his conclusions are idiotic. He’s saying Russian demography is bad because of no democracy lmao. But most EU and US are below replacement levels, the only reason this is not visible in US - immigration.
Hard epic fail. Over 1 million russian casualties. Tank reserves mostly depleated. Huge losses of military vehicles and gear.
If anything, I’d say russia has proved that they aren’t even a country. They’re a gas station with nukes that may or may not work.
I mean it’s kind of the professors point. He says that Putin is doing this to kill off and redefine the identity parts of the Russian population, whom Putin identifies as lazy, drunkard, directionless young men.
Ah, great plan! When they return they can be disabled, traumatized men who are drunk dealing with PTSD.
It’s a warrior state, they just happen to be very bad at it