Putin's side of the story: Something Putin Said in His Recent Speech Caught My Eye ...

Don Surber Blog ^ | 03/19/2022

[SeekAndFind]

The cable channels have granted Zelensky billions of dollars worth of free air time to sell the public on having Americans finance his war with Russia. So far, he's received commitments to $13.6 billion in U.S. aid, money he will gladly share with the children of congressmen. Anyone who questions this is labeled a Putin puppet.

Well, I have been called worse.

There is another side of the story, weak as it may be. In a speech Power Line called, "The Madness of Vlad the Inhaler," Putin made a Zelensky-style plea to his colleagues. Most of it was BS. There is no rationalization for the invasion. See for yourself.

But this resonated with me: "I want ordinary citizens of Western countries to hear me too: they are now persistently trying to convince you that all your difficulties are the result of some hostile actions of Russia, that you have to pay for the fight against the mythical Russian threat from your own wallet. All this is a lie.

"And the truth is that the current problems faced by millions of people in the West are the result of many years of actions by the ruling elites of their states, their mistakes, myopia and ambitions. These elites are not thinking about how to improve the lives of their citizens in Western countries. They are obsessed with their own vested interests and super profits.

"Evidence of this is the data of international organizations, which directly say that social problems, even in leading Western countries, have only worsened in recent years, that inequality is growing, the gap between rich and poor, racial and national conflicts are making themselves felt."

Putin is using the left's own arguments against the left.

He lashed out at economic sanctions which he has countered by limiting grain and fertilizer exports, which will send soaring food prices even higher. $5 gasoline? Hah. Wait till we have $5 milk.

He pointed out the amorality of the economic sanctions that drew blood.

He said, "All verbal tinsel about political correctness, inviolability of private property, freedom of speech -- all this flew off overnight. Even the Olympic principles were trampled on. They did not hesitate to settle scores with the Paralympic athletes - this is such a sport outside of politics."

That is a reference to a New York Times report, "In Reversal, Paralympics Bars Athletes From Russia and Belarus."

Those cheering the firing of an opera soprano or requiring a Denunciation of Putin Card for a Russian to play at Wimbledon need to realize that they are next. You can never be woke enough because the rules are constantly changing. Tennis champ, Martina Navratilova, a pioneer in lesbian rights, is now an outcast because she dares question transgenderism.

Putin knows this and he plays against it. He lashed out at oligarchs who have been Westernized.

He said, "I am not at all judging those who have a villa in Miami or the French Riviera, who cannot do without foie gras, oysters or so-called gender freedoms. The problem is absolutely not in this, but, I repeat, in the fact that many of these people, by their very nature, are mentally located precisely there, and not here, not with our people, not with Russia."

Of course the cable channels label his nationalism as evil while Zelensky's nationalism is saintly.

I don't think this war will do in Putin or Zelensky. Patriotism rings true in sane countries.

History shows that Russians may be dumb as bears but they do love their country. They call World War 2 the Great Patriotic War. Millions of deaths did not bring Stalin down because he saved the country in the eyes of his countrymen.

Putin is of course KGB. That means he knows of the world outside of Russia. He knows it well.

His line about "so-called gender freedoms" echoes across the globe. Many see Uncle Sam now as a drag queen.

In journalism, there are at least two sides of every story or else it is not journalism.

The collapse of the Soviet Union liberated hundreds of millions of people in Poland, Ukraine and all those Stans.

But the collapse also humiliated the Russian people, just as the World War I reparations humiliated Germany.

Russia had no business invading Ukraine.

We have no business being in Ukraine. But we are up to our necks in it because a corrupt government and its corrupt corporations pay Hunter Biden and other offspring of politicians well.

Writing off Putin's speech as madness may make you feel good and superior, but it also makes you look shallow and weak.

[jpsb]

Regime change in Russia? G*d how I hate neocons. How about we just mind our own business for once.

[Prince of Space]

Such hubris. Why not start with a regime change in America if it’s so freaking easy?

[Zhang Fei]

Russia spent $450m per year funding the deaths of hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese and 58,000 GI’s during the Vietnam War:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev#The_Vietnam_War

That’s $3.6b per year in current dollars. We gave South Vietnam our best shot, but couldn’t take the losses any more, dooming tens of millions of South Vietnamese to totalitarian rule. Today, in Ukraine, we get the chance to return Russia the favor *and* help a democracy stay out of Russia’s clutches.

Sure, unlike Russia during the 60’s, we’re not sending the Ukrainians our best stuff, and we’re not spending nearly as much money. But given the decrepit state of the Russian military, even half a loaf may be enough for the tough and resourceful Ukies. And if they play their cards right, and manage to capture an entire Russian army the way the Poles did in 1920, Ukraine may well get several decades of peace before the Russians give this another try.

[Prince of Space]

They forget, or are completely unaware of the facts, that Zelenskyy came to power with the help of a billionaire oligarch. He’s not Mother Teresa, FFS!

[SeekAndFind]

RE: We gave South Vietnam our best shot, but couldn’t take the losses any more, dooming tens of millions of South Vietnamese to totalitarian rule. Today, in Ukraine, we get the chance to return Russia the favor *and* help a democracy stay out of Russia’s clutches.

Here’s the difference:

I’m not sure if Putin cares about how many Russians are killed as long as he eventually reaches his goal. Also, Putin controls the media in Russia and all means of disseminating information unlike our Vietnam experience whenre guys like Walter Cronkite were endlessly telling everyone that the USA is losing ( even when we were not ) and numerous celebrities ( like Jane Fonda ) were openly siding with the Vietcongs and rooting for our defeat.

On the other hand, The Walter Kronkites and Jane Fonda’s of Russia are either being jailed, threatened or killed. Therein lies the difference.

At this point it is a war of attrition and Putin is willing to wait this one out.

[eyedigress]

You seem to have a vested interest in this action.

Would you be so interested if it were South Africa vs Namibia?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: that Zelenskyy came to power with the help of a billionaire oligarch

Therefore, what follows, that the invasion of Ukraine and the bombing and killing of thousands of innocent people is justified?

[Prince of Space]

I never said that. But I’m not the one posting that Russians should die a miserable death at the hands of Ukrainian missiles and bombs. I want this to be over, hopefully with a cease fire and a resolution of their differences. I’m simply pushing back against the ridiculous notion that Ukraine is an innocent party in this war because it’s not. Look into the 14,000 ppl, Russians and Ukrainians, who have been killed in the Donbas area over the last 8 years at the hands of the Azov Battalion and other Ukrainian militias. Do you GAF about those victims?

[datura]

I know you’re not a Putinista - you post a ton of stuff from varying viewpoints.

Plus I know your time in Asia, and your balanced POV. It was very interesting to watch you learn from your own postings thru the plandemic.

Thank you for all your work here.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Look into the 14,000 ppl, Russians and Ukrainians, who have been killed in the Donbas area over the last 8 years at the hands of the Azov Battalion and other Ukrainian militias.

Ok, so what follows? That it is therefore JUSTIFIED to expand this battle further west so that more Russians and Ukrainians will die?

If any, your observations about the Donbas region should be an argument for the OPPOSITE - No invasion, but more negotiatons.

However you look at it, Putin is wrong ( an understatement ).

[Zhang Fei]

[I’m not sure if Putin cares about how many Russians are killed as long as he eventually reaches his goal. ]

---

Sure he cares. The Russians lost 13,000 dead in Afghanistan and bailed. Heck, the Russians lost a few thousand men in the Russo-Japanese war and quit. Large casualties ignite mutinies and revolts. It happened during the Russo-Japanese War. It happened during WWI, triggering the Bolshevik Revolution which ended badly for the Romanovs.

If the Russian appetite for casualties were unlimited, Poland and Finland would not be independent countries today:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War

Russia has almost never had a completely free press. But the press today is way freer than it was during the Soviet era. And Putin doesn’t have quite the hold over the Russian population his Soviet predecessors had, because of the market economy. In Soviet Russia, you could literally starve dissidents by depriving them of ration cards. That’s not an option available to Putin.

Note that Russia’s is ultimately an Oriental army. And by Oriental, I mean both the Near and Far East. In the Near East, Turkish generals ran the show. In Iraq, Egypt and Libya, officers removed the ruler and put themselves in charge.

In Oriental armies, soldiers view themselves as contenders for the throne. They are robotically obedient on their face, yet will move against their ruler when given the chance. Whereas Western armies are independent-minded on their face, yet robotically obedient in political terms, with no thought given to seizing power for themselves. If Putin missteps by getting too many Russians killed, there are plenty of his underlings waiting to be saviors of the Russian people by replacing Putin on the throne and stopping a pointless war.

[datura]

The argument regarding the poor innocent people of Eastern Ukraine fails to mention that the Russian separatists invaded those areas, violating Ukraine’s borders.

But the same people who quote this as reason for Russia’s invasion will complain about our southern border in the same sentence.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The Russians lost 13,000 dead in Afghanistan and bailed.

Putin was not the leader of Russia then. Different leader, different attitudes towards human life.

[Norski]

From Vimeo:

“Is the War in Ukraine Part of the Great Collapse before the Great Reset?”

https://www.jamesjpn.net/war/is-the-war-in-ukraine-part-of-the-great-collapse-before-the-great-reset/

The above link is to a lecture given by a South African Christian minister, posted March 15, 2022, to the JamesJapan blog.

“This is an excellent lecture about Russia and Ukraine from a Bible believer’s perspective. The speaker is Dr. Peter Hammond, a missionary who has pioneered evangelistic outreaches in the war zones of Mozambique, Angola, and Sudan.”

On the website provider, James Japam Arednt:

“About James Arendt

I was raised in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, and became a full-time missionary for Christ living 40 years in Japan, 3.5 years in Russia, and a few months in other countries such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China where I also served the King of Kings, Jesus, as an Ambassador for His Kingdom. My full bio.

(Note: large and generous Christian blo

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Note: Two items in particular stood out in the lecture - that of the attempt of Mr. Putin to apply for Russia to join NATO at one point (refused) and the icon purported to be of the Lord Jesus Christ in his meetings upon the wall over his head.

[eyedigress]

I can see it.

Russia will take Ukraine and the NWO will be set back.

This fight is going to kill many souls but it is orchestrated by none other than Schwab and Soros.

Those cheering for Baal are very misguided.

[Zhang Fei]

[Putin was not the leader of Russia then. Different leader, different attitudes towards human life.]

---

The Soviets were much more indifferent to friendly casualties. And yet when you compare Afghanistan to Vietnam, it’s remarkable how much less punishment in body count terms the Russians were able to take before hitting their uncle point. The official Russian KIA number in Afghanistan was 13,000 over about 10 years, which is roughly 1/5 the US number in Vietnam. When you think about the coercive powers of the totalitarian Soviet state vs the anything goes milieu of 60’s and 70’s America - it’s amazing the US hung in there so long.

At the present time, Ukraine has inflicted 7,000 killed on Russia (US estimates) or 14,000 (Ukraine estimates). Either way, the toll on Russia has been significant. If you take the US estimate, the Russians have taken half of all the KIA they lost in a decade of Afghan fighting only after 3 weeks in Ukraine. And Russia has half the population it had in the Soviet-Afghan War.

Russian formations are taking WWII scale casualties in a war of choice. In WWII, their choice was to fight or be killed by the Nazis, who aimed to exterminate the Russians and repopulate the land with Germans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_Plan

The German government was riddled with Soviet spies, so Stalin had a pretty good idea of Hitler’s post-victory plans. The average Russian soldier also knew that the Nazis had made huge down payments on this intent by starving 2/3 of the Russian POW’s to death and slaughtering Russian civilians randomly.

So morale wasn’t a problem. If you’re going to die anyway, why not take one of them with you before going down? Whereas in Ukraine - why not desert and move to the EU, apply for political asylum and get government bennies or find a job while waiting for family reunification visas to be approved?

[antceecee]

Neo Nazi lover

[BeauBo]

“Putin is not the bad guy”

You seem to have a very high threshold for badness.

[Zhang Fei]

[Putin was not the leader of Russia then. Different leader, different attitudes towards human life.]

---

It’s not so much that he cares about their lives. He cares about his life. He doesn’t want to be deposed and have his entire family killed like the Russian royal family. Casualties can trigger mutinies and successful revolutions.

[antceecee]

The name calling goes both ways and does not advance the conversation…