They don't fully control the skies, despite possessing one of the world's most advanced...
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The next time the warhawks in both parties suggest unilateral US intervention in some crisis (e.g. Syria, Libya, etc.), I want to remind them this is the world they built.
P5 members of the Security Council get to do whatever they want.
Russia has been saving up the precedents for decades.
The US said Kosovo should be independent. Russia said Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia. The West held a referendum, and voila, Kosovo is independent. Russia annexed an integral part of Ukraine, held a referendum and voila, Crimea is independent.
Russia said do not invade Iraq. The US invaded anyway. Being a P5 member of the UNSC, we vetoed Russia's objections. Russia saved the precedent. Now they veto our UNSC objections on Ukraine.
The bottom line is that if you want a rules-based international order, you have to respect the rules you want others to respect. The intentions of the US in Iraq were fairly benign. The Iraqis have their country back, and Saddam is gone.
The Russians' intentions in Ukraine are not so benign. If the Ukrainians lose, their country will go away forever.