Posted on 04/30/2022 5:17:58 AM PDT by Cronos
Putin’s machismo leads him to underestimate his adversaries and show off for domestic and international consumption. Unsurprisingly, his favorite tactic is unprovoked aggression—in other words, the bluff. He got away with it in Georgia in 2008, Syria from 2012 onward, in annexing Crimea in 2014
...Yet last month, he was caught completely off guard when the West finally called his biggest raise ever. As boxer Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
The West’s reactive jab of sanctions and aggressive arming of the Ukrainians appear to have completely stalled—and now reversed—Russia’s advance on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Bruised and bloodied, his forces in retreat, Putin is cobbling together an ad hoc response. By publicly claiming to refocus his campaign on the Donbass, and implicitly the land corridor connecting it to Crimea and Moldova, he may be further bluffing when it comes to his real objectives and future tactics.
The weaker his underlying hand, the more that Putin must continue to rely on bluffs and misdirection. Hence, even though Russia is losing, it is unlikely that Putin will ever voluntarily de-escalate.
...Russian National Guard members are refusing to fight in Ukraine. Every day, new evidence appears of Russian soldiers sabotaging their own vehicles. A miscalculation or sign of weakness from Putin could engender a palace coup or mass desertion among the armed forces
During the height of the pandemic, Putin had people wear hazmat suits in order to meet him. Nowadays, he sits 20 feet away at meetings even with his own inner circle. He wants to live. He is only playing the role of being macho. He respects force and aggression
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
Really? I read a LOT of sources and, so far, not seeing any proof. Post your link(s)...
There is much more validation of Russians DYING, daily.
Sorry...not seeing the proofs of that meme. Post’em....
At the end of WWII, George Patton had the right idea.
All true.
4 million refugees:
https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine
US alone
https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-military-aid-ukraine-accelerates
$32,000,000,000 requested.
EU $1,000,000,000 and climbing.
They have taken “assymetric warfare” to new heights, with a bunch of innovative tactics that the Russians have not been able to adapt to.
…….
Very admirable, however they are suffering huge losses, land, cities, men, equipment, staggering. Thankfully, civilian casualties are , very very low.
Vlad will bury his dead, move on,Zelensky will to , but have to take decades in rebuilding…10 percent to Joe…
All for a country that has no significant value to us….Think Iraq, Afghanistan , Yugoslavia, Syria….
Neither of those links addresses your supposed point....try again...
True...and yet they are still fighting. "They" (i.e. Ukrainians) think it is worth doing in spite of the damage.
The Afghans chased the Russians out...the Ukes are apparently at least as stubborn as the Afghans. Apparently they really, really, really don't want to be part of "New Russia".
You have nothing but George Soros mouth. you’re done.
“Do we really wanna play this game with a mad man? Why? Just to protect Biden’s criminal friends in Ukraine?”
The Biden connections to Ukraine made it REALLY EASY to figure out what side not to take.
You made the claims...prove them. If anyone is "done"..it is YOU!
That would be fine if Putin were bluffing.
He is not.
All those who want war want porn.
Another “Putin is Evil” article.
Some people are not smart enough to realize Putin is just representing the will of the state of Russia.
But like ALL LEFTISTS, the fight must be personalized. And must be defined as Good vs Evil.
Pure commie approach.
Just note that support was not provided via a treaty, and which was ratified by the Senate. At the time, support for Senate ratification was not assured.
Lol, I'm sure whatever Putin wants also happens to be the "will of the state of Russia".
Putin’s hold on the state is not strong enough to piss a bunch of people off.
I believe he is effecting their collective will.
So you underestimate the USA so much that you think the USA will run?
So you prefer the Nazi Putin?
Where is there an alpha male leading a “western” nation? There aren’t any. There are nothing but feminized sissies that are more interested in cuckholding to muslims as they rape their women and worrying about offended trannies.
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