I think there really are people who reckon that support should be pulled from Ukraine because it’s had a win here and there. And they really should go and learn some military history.
If the UK and USA had taken that attitude in World War 2, then Hitler would’ve won. If we’d said to Russia, “you’re doing fine without our help”, then maybe Stalin would’ve fought the Nazis to a stalemate but the Jews in eastern Europe would’ve been completely wiped out.
But the biggest thing of all, the thing that really shows up the nonsense thinking, is the idea that actually we could negotiate a peace deal with Russia and expect Putin and his Mafia lot to honor it.
America pretty much saved Russia’s ass in World War 2. What did Stalin do in return? Started the Cold War which menaced the world long after his death.
Nobody in their right mind would ever do a deal with Medvedev/Putin because they’re revanchists who’ve broken every pledge Russia made at the end of the Cold War. For longer than they’ve been trying to break Ukraine, they’ve been fighting a cyber war against Europe and the USA. For longer than they’ve been attacking Ukraine, they’ve been blackmailing Europe by turning the oil and gas supplies on and off.
The leader Putin reminds me of more than any other is Enver Hoxha, who revered Stalin, thought Khrushchev was a “revisionist, an anti-Marxist and a defeatist”, fancied himself to be a bit of a genius, and totally bankrupted his country building 173,371 one-man concrete bunkers because he feared invasion from every direction including from the USA and Russia. He was a bit obsessed with “Illyrianism” just like Putin’s got his ethnonationalist obsession.
In short, Hoxha was a paranoid rashist nut and Putin’s no better.
Agreed, there are such fools - but those aren't the ones here on FR, mocking and taunting us when they say, "Yeah, Ukraine sank a landing craft, so can we finally turn off all the aid now?" Rather, that is pure sarcasm.
But the biggest thing of all, the thing that really shows up the nonsense thinking, is the idea that actually we could negotiate a peace deal with Russia and expect Putin and his Mafia lot to honor it.
True! All of their nattering is predicated upon the ridiculous assumption that Putin would suddenly prove to be a man of his word. Whereas, in fact, the only way to ensure a lasting peace and equitable reparations for the war damages in Ukraine is to present Russia with an undeniable defeat (probably coupled with Putin being deposed).
America pretty much saved Russia’s ass in World War 2. What did Stalin do in return? Started the Cold War which menaced the world long after his death.
Indeed! But the Soviet Union was like a man who has suffered truly catastrophic injuries, and who - without medical attention - would have lost all four of his limbs, but who - with medical attention - has been able to retain at least his left arm, from just above the elbow. Such a man isn't going to be gifting the surgical staff a fruit basket in gratitude!
My Soviet-born wife explains to me that the 300,000+ war dead Russia has recorded thus far due to Putin's adventurism won't have made anywhere near the same emotional impression on the Russian populace as the approx. 1 million casualties that America (with roughly three times the population) would have to suffer in order to experience a comparable loss.
For one thing, the killed and injured men are disproportionately from remote rural areas with predominantly non-Russian ethnicities. If the sons of elite Moscow or St. Petersburg residents were dying in proportionate numbers, the outrage would be greater. Secondly, in the backwaters of the Russian Federation, a zinc coffin and $3,000 in cash are viewed as equitable compensations for the loss of a son.
Regards,