[jollybean]

"What does Ukraine really have, that Putin so desperately wants? "

It's not 'what it has' it's 'what it is'.

Putin views the Ukraine as 'part of Russia' - that's it.

I don't understand why people have such a hard time with this.

Imagine if Mexico invaded Texas in 1950 and 'won'. A lot of Americans would want to 'take it back'.

Now I don't believe that this analogy is real in terms of the Ukraine situation (Imagine if those Mexicans wanted to be Mexicans and definitely did not want to be part of the USA...), but you can see how Putin + Co. propaganda would like you to see it.

I'm wary that there will be much of an insurgency in Ukraine - it's big, open, spread out, there are few places to hide.

We'll see.

[magpi3]

Not a very good analogy. No western country ever invaded Ukraine. When the Soviet Union collapsed Ukraine was granted its independence without a shot being fired.

A better analogy would be Australia and Canada. Both were part of Great Britain and both became independent after the British Empire collapsed.

[sofixa]

Eh, independent is a stretch. Both have the Queen as head of state, and her representative, the governer-general, has some powers.

Example of the Queen's representative interfering in local politics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional...

[throwrqX]

If Australians so wished they could have voted for a republic and to become fully independent several times yet they have chosen not to so far.

[sofixa]

Yes, but that doesn't in any way change the fact that they aren't really independent if an official appointed by a foreign power can dismiss and appoint cabinet ministers at will.

[throwrqX]

Well they are if they can vote to get rid of this official at any time they choose.

[ant6n]

> Imagine if Mexico invaded Texas in 1950 and 'won'. A lot of Americans would want to 'take it back'.

Ironically it happened the other way round.

[vinay427]

Yes, but this quote leaves out the distinction they made. The GP goes on to note the difference caused by who the people in the region support. In real life, as far as I can tell, most people in that region ended up supporting independence or later accession to the US, which seems slightly more similar to the more complex Ukraine situation in the GP comment than Mexico simply wanting Texas back.

[ant6n]

Most people in that region (Northern Mexico) were immigrants from the US.

[jessaustin]

Yeah we pulled that trick in Hawai'i too. Viewed a certain way, the whole nation was built through settler colonialism.

[vinay427]

Yes, thanks for clarifying, that’s what I was referring to.

[oblio]

Urban resistance is a thing. It's super painful as you're destroying cities, but it's a thing.