You can fix a lot of things with blue duct tape.
Germany has a lot at stake here - and Russia has a lot to offer.
A fifth partition of Poland is by no means out of the question.
“Russia is wrong, and Putin is a war criminal. That being said, this is not a US problem. “
Here’s the reality. According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, an attack against one member is an attack against all members. We signed up to that. If Russia takes Ukrainian territory and we don’t do everything necessary to stop them, then the next stop will be halfway through Poland. Russia is trying to reestablish the depth of field they had during Soviet times. This may be nostalgia on Putin’s part, or he may want a legacy because nobody is going to attack a country with nuclear weapons. But whatever the reason Putin is not likely to stop if he wins in Ukraine. The thinking is, stop them in Ukraine or face them on NATO soil due to article 5. The US has made the calculation that spending forty billion now may avoid countless trillions later. They are trying to avoid the mistake of caving to Hitler by ceding territory. The more “we” give up, the more Putin will want.
Failing now means Putin will salami slice his way into NATO. Also, failing in Ukraine increases the CCP’s risk level in taking Taiwan. There are a whole lot of dominoes poised the fall and the US is attempting to prevent the first one from falling. Had we done this in 2014 we wouldn’t be doing this now. But Crimean was Putin’s “last territorial demand.” (Yeah, we’ve heard that before.)
> If Russia takes Ukrainian territory and we don’t do everything necessary to stop them, then the next stop will be halfway through Poland. <
No disrespect meant, but I do not buy that argument. And that’s because I’ve heard it before. Back in the early 1960s we where told that if we don’t stop the communists in Vietnam, then Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, etc. would fall. There’d be a domino effect. The folks who told us that were wrong.
But I do not completely discount your argument. You’d be correct if Putin truly is another Hitler. I just don’t see that. I see Putin more like that opportunist Italian dictator, Mussolini. Still not a good guy, but not a crazy expansionist either.
Please permit me to add something to my post #60.
I sure could be wrong about Putin’s intentions. But it’s up to the EU to sort it out. We shouldn’t get involved until we have to get involved.
In a way it pains me to have to say that. As I noted earlier, Russia is certainly in the wrong here. But we cannot be the world’s Big Daddy forever. Europe must do all the heavy lifting on this one.
I find that I can no longer share your nostalgic view of NATO. East Germany is within the current NATO, supposedly defending other NATO countries against Russia using rusty, old GDR weapons that probably use Soviet parts. NATO is an institution trying to survive the loss of its reason for existence.
Your analysis does not include the Wuhan lab or the involvement of Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, in the Ukraine under the guise of NATO expansion. These “extracurricular activities” have more bearing on the current situation than NATO’s historical roll, in my view.
“Failing now means Putin will salami slice his way into NATO. “
I don’t know about that.
His display of conventional military power hasn’t been exactly a shining star - something to fear by NATO, or at least the US. But for the possession of nuclear weapons, and his using them against NATO to achieve the salami would be suicidal. Putin doesn’t appear to be that insane.
“If Russia takes Ukrainian territory and we don’t do everything necessary to stop them, then the next stop will be halfway through Poland.”
Link please.
“Russia is trying to reestablish the depth of field they had during Soviet times.”
Link please.
Bull, Russia stated that it would agree to the terms of the Minsk agreement. K urged on by the neocons in DC rejected this offer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_agreements
So now Russia will take procession of the Russian speaking parts of Eastern Ukraine.
Lesson: Do no listen to lying neocons.
Russia has no interest in the western Ukraine where it would face a hostile population and likely civil resistance. They learned that lesson in Afghanistan.
You can fix a lot of things with blue duct tape.
Germany has a lot at stake here - and Russia has a lot to offer.
A fifth partition of Poland is by no means out of the question.