

For like three months before the invasion, Western sources were egging it on with everything they had. Tankies mostly got it wrong by assuming that Putin would be smart enough not to take the bait, because we all recognized that it would be a disastrously bad idea.
Oh hey we were right about that much at least.
I think “most” people just believe uncritically the things they were taught growing up, that is until something happens that shakes that belief and they either choose to double down or reexamine their previous assumptions. All the new western tankies from the past decade-ish aren’t coming from nowhere!