Victimhood, Excuses and Hate
We all have been watching Russia for two-plus years blame everybody for their failures. Yes, it’s always the pesky Anglo-Saxons that, like Scooby-Doo and the gang, stop them. The glorious Russian empire, forgive me, the Russian World, will soon overcome these meddling children.
If the Russians fail, well, there is always that nuclear threat they continue to issue every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The story of Peter and the Wolf comes to mind. And yes, the Wolf may still show up.
However, this is one way Russia has always explained defeats. They have gone so far as to withdraw from wars they were already losing and blaming the previous ruler. See, for example, the Crimean War. Yes, after Tsar Nicholas I died, reportedly from a cold, his son withdrew and, of course, blamed his dad for it.
This is one of the reasons I have posited that the death of Vladimir Putin could end the war. Whoever succeeds him could withdraw the army and blame the whole enchilada on Putin. It would not be unprecedented, and it’s part of the pattern.
The country I grew up in did the same. It was always an external force that was guilty of all the issues. In the case of Mexico, it was the United States. Before the North American Free Trade Agreement that married our economy to Mexico’s at the hip, it was always the dastardly Americans.