Posted on 04/18/2022 7:23:58 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
You give too much credit to our spooks.
Yes. Zelenskyy is a Soros and WEF darling. Nothing more.
There’s no point in making rational points on these threads.
Everything is binary in their minds.
This means as we up the arms deliveries Putin ups the ante in terms of the forces he uses to respond. With more losses and no conclusive victory neither side wants to negotiate. Meanwhile the West's credibility is put more and more online as well as Russia's.
So a policy of gradual escalation will reach a stage where Putin will eventually threaten NATO.
A short, sharp escalation by the West to make it clear that we will not allow Putin to win while putting pressure on Ukraine to make concessions (such as recognition of the Crimea annexation) would give Putin a way out. Meanwhile our idiots make shambolic gestures like cancelling Minuteman tests or exercises with South Korea which only broadcast weakness and encourage further escalation by Putin.
People in the west feel compelled to do something already. They feel that way because allowing Putin to once again break his peace agreements and invade a former client nation has become a repeated pattern. Like Hitler, everyone wanted to look the other way with first Austria, then Czechoslovakia, until he enough raw materials to go after Poland with the Help of the Soviet union.
I agree, this is the most dangerous problem for the last 30 years, and some bad decisions away from Nuclear. The only winners here are the Chinese....and I don’t think that is an accident. The best and safest thing for everyone, is the Russian to return to their border and quit threatening their neighbors. They are justified invading when they are attacked first, which hasn’t happened since Adolf Hitler and operation barbarosa.
I am not ideologically linked to Ukraine, but I see the actions of Putin as a pattern. He didn’t act while Trump was POTUS because he was 1) Uncertain of the Response 2)Certain Trump would be definitive in it.
The Russians are not going to take all of Ukraine. Only Russian Speaking Separatist Republics. Ukraine will not get them back because they’ve already seceded (since 2014)
Thank you.
bmp
I’m old. Have zero interest in being involved in that snaky mess in the Ukraine.
I feel very sorry for the civilians and the Ukrainian people have had terrible blows in the past. Their current leadership sucks.
I don’t know his history.
My gut tells me he is better than most of our State Department or the spooks.
“My gut tells me he is better than most of our State Department or the spooks.”
Well, certainly better than the losers at State.
I’m not there.
Don’t want to be.
And you and I don’t know the reality on the ground.
We are very much behind it. It is a proxy war that we can only pray won’t escalate to full American troopinvolvement.
Our guys need to stop fighting and dying for Deep State activity and their desire for domination.
I’ve had my fill of propaganda. From every source.
Neither the Globalist supported Ukraine leadership or Putin are good choices.
Just love it when people obscure the issue by conflation. Thanks Putinista!
I don’t know if Putin has an off-ramp any longer even as you mention the logical choices. The Ukraine is making it clear that they will not concede territory and a large part of that is their continued belief/hope that the West will defend them.
I also can’t see any outcome that will be a win for Putin after the past few weeks.
Had the offensive gone as well as he clearly believed it would he would have a claim to victory but given their economic situation and sanctions it is pretty obvious that Putin has weakened his power with the oligarchs who have to be fuming given what this conflict has cost them.
Putin has weakened his nations reputation, economy, and military. He has strengthened China and NATO. He has harmed the oligarchs who have little to gain in the Ukraine but much to lose financially in the West. His own government has been weakened as purges have and will occur. He has harmed the Russian people as they will bear the brunt of sanctions for many years to come.
At this point the smart play would be to push for the concession you discuss but Ukraine is not offering it and I am uncertain that a “small gain” is worth all the negatives Putin brought upon himself.
It is frightening to me that someone whom I have always viewed as careful and calculated made such a poor decision. Russia is a weak country in many ways but they do have a large nuclear arsenal and if Putin becomes desperate who knows what he will do.... I fear if its a matter of life or death for him and a million(s) lives are required to balance the scale he would choose himself.
“Yes. 1/2 of them are embedded enemies within, seeking our total destruction.”
And they persecuted Joe McCarthy for bringing this to everyone’s attention.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.