On 03Aug2024 0629, Phil Pugliese - philpugliese at yahoo.com (via tml
list) wrote:
> On Friday, August 2, 2024 at 08:18:57 AM MST, Rupert Boleyn -
> rupert.boleyn at gmail.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
>
> But it was NOT Zhodani land, except maybe in their minds.
> BOTH polities were settling (occupying) areas that were unoccupied.
> Chronor & other systems in the 'Marches had been 3I for quite a while
> before the Zhodani decided to take them.
> (a lot of this sounds like attempts to justify Putin's recent behavior,
> doesn't it?)
> It was the Zhodani that decided that 3I presence was too close & thus
> intolerable (sounds like Putin, doesn't it?)
> So they started each & every Frontier War.
> But, hey, maybe it ALL is just propaganda, right?

Define 'starting' a war. Yes, the Zhos and allies started overt naval
actions first each time (often catching the Imperium with its pants
down, which doesn't say much good about the 3I's military, intelligence
community, or government). However, that doesn't mean that they started
the 'unofficial' shooting, backing of guerillas, etc.

I'm not saying the Consulate is blameless - they definitely started the
shooting a number of times. However, the Imperium has never accepted
that it's unreasonable for it to just keep expanding wherever it can and
wants to. It can't expand into the Consulate directly, so it just flow
around the rimward edge, into areas full of Zhodani allies and client
states. And guess what will happen in the 3I is allowed to do that
unopposed? Yes, they'll start claiming it's theirs, and that the Zhodani
are the bad guys for shooting at them.

 From the non-expansionism Zhodani perspective the 3I probably seems
like an existential threat, given the age of the Consulate and the
tendency of its leaders to plan in very long terms.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>