The western powers led by the US use tanks far more often also. The US never gets accused of being tankies, even tho it used tanks in almost every one of its wars, including the wars on Iraq, Panama, Grenada.

It also uses tanks domestically against the people (police in every city have tank-like vehicles). They also used tanks in the waco standoff also where they burned ~100 people alive.

Of course the US prefers bombing people from the sky, but that's not considered an atrocity by western chauvinists.

Like tankie never really meant anything before

I mean, its historically described Soviet policy in Eastern Europe and Chinese domestic policing (Khrushchev putting down the Hungarian fascist revolt with armored infantry and Deng sending tanks into Tienanmen Square).

Now it just means whatever the opposite of neoconservative policy is, updated daily.

Being against tanks makes you a tankie at this point.

Everyone knows that if you're against US tanks, you must be in favor of non-US tanks. You're either with US or you're with the Tankie-rists