https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/11/not-long-ago-bloomberg-likened-putins-attack-ukraine-americas-annexation-california/#click=https://t.co/W3Jo7ZSdeK
Not long ago, Bloomberg likened Putins attack on Ukraine to Americas annexation of California
Josh Rogin
....
But before he was running for president, Bloomberg spoke about foreign policy off the cuff in interviews. The comments he made show a different side of the former New York mayors worldview specifically, sympathy and understanding for authoritarian leaders and their aggressive or repressive actions. Bloomberg has already received significant criticism for saying that Xi Jinping is not a dictator in a September interview with PBSs Firing Line. He also
described the Chinese leader as responsive to the democratic wishes of his people.
Now another interview has surfaced. In remarks Bloomberg gave at the Aspen Institute in February 2015,
he described Putins invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and hostility to the West as not only understandable but also equivalent to actions the United States has taken over its 200-plus-year history.
....
Bloomberg then explained that
Putin has good reason to be aggressive in Europe because, according to Bloomberg, the West provoked him by expanding NATO.
....
Bloomberg then went on to suggest that the United States was guilty of hypocrisy because it led an expansion of Western power and influence up to Russias borders while objecting to the Soviet Unions attempts to place strategic weapons in the Western Hemisphere in the 1960s.
And we did the same thing that he insisted on, not letting another country come near us with their weapons when we stopped Russia from putting missiles in Cuba, he said.
.... Bloombergs misunderstanding of history, false equivalence and sympathy for Putins perspective is troubling as he now vies to be the leader of the free world.