Afternoon, all. Just wanted to say that I am not ignoring our discussions, but ensuring that I take breathers on alternate days as a buffer against ongoing rage and frustration.
Ukraine has well and truly forced the West, which undoubtedly thought Ukraine would roll over in a week, to confront itself. By broadcasting its unwillingness to fight unless pushed to a wall, the West basically greenlit any amount of bad behaviour on Putin's part, as long as it was contained within non-NATO territory. If Ukraine had rolled over after a week of medieval barbarism, the West could have wrung its hands and waggled its fingers, but essentially after the fact.
When Putin found that instead of a swift victory in Ukraine, he'd dug himself into a hole, he knew that if he wanted to eke out something of a victory, the only way was to dig that hole deeper with increased barbarism - which, of course, the West enabled by not even letting him sweat for awhile wondering if the West would fight if he got barbarous enough. We told him right away he had nothing to fear militarily from NATO.
So Putin got his answer early on: he had limitless carte blanch inside Ukraine absent targeted nuclear weapons - I doubt the West will move in even if he uses chemical weapons, any more than they did in Syria - Obama's infamously empty "red line in the sand".
And, thus, the West IS responsible here for cutting the rabid wolf at the door all the slack he needs to blow the house down.
Ukraine's refusal to let the rabid wolf eat it is extremely inconvenient for NATO and the West. France and Germany are allegedly already trying to find a satisfactory "off ramp" for Putin. But what would that "off ramp" look like for Ukrainians, who have so embarrassed the West, and also left the West unable to voice that embarrassment without embarrassing itself even further?
Geopolitical lines will be redrawn for the West to salvage anything like its self-respect, along who is still willing to work with Russia and who isn't?
Does anyone think that Putin will accept military defeat in Ukraine? And go home and have a rethink?
This is what happens when you keep kicking cans down the road.
Cynicism is an ugly frame of mind, but realism is, well, real. I am finding it difficult these days to acknowledge realism but avoid cynicism (and this is true of the other matter that was the genesis for this entire site by our hardworking host).
So there it is. And as this is the point I always circle back to, I am trying to refrain from inflicting it on the good folk here more than once in 48 hours.
Thank you, EL, for giving me the space to do so. I am trying not to take too much advantage to vent because NATO won't listen to me, but folk here will. TC
According to the Associated Press there are no journalists left in Mariupol. Now Putin is de-Nazifying Ukraine by murdering a 96 year old Holocaust survivor. It would be interesting to hear how Israel responds to that horrifying news. Poland and Lithuania need that defence line along their borders; they know only too well the tyranny they lived under the oppressive Soviet regime.
Afternoon, all. Just wanted to say that I am not ignoring our discussions, but ensuring that I take breathers on alternate days as a buffer against ongoing rage and frustration.
Ukraine has well and truly forced the West, which undoubtedly thought Ukraine would roll over in a week, to confront itself. By broadcasting its unwillingness to fight unless pushed to a wall, the West basically greenlit any amount of bad behaviour on Putin's part, as long as it was contained within non-NATO territory. If Ukraine had rolled over after a week of medieval barbarism, the West could have wrung its hands and waggled its fingers, but essentially after the fact.
When Putin found that instead of a swift victory in Ukraine, he'd dug himself into a hole, he knew that if he wanted to eke out something of a victory, the only way was to dig that hole deeper with increased barbarism - which, of course, the West enabled by not even letting him sweat for awhile wondering if the West would fight if he got barbarous enough. We told him right away he had nothing to fear militarily from NATO.
So Putin got his answer early on: he had limitless carte blanch inside Ukraine absent targeted nuclear weapons - I doubt the West will move in even if he uses chemical weapons, any more than they did in Syria - Obama's infamously empty "red line in the sand".
And, thus, the West IS responsible here for cutting the rabid wolf at the door all the slack he needs to blow the house down.
Ukraine's refusal to let the rabid wolf eat it is extremely inconvenient for NATO and the West. France and Germany are allegedly already trying to find a satisfactory "off ramp" for Putin. But what would that "off ramp" look like for Ukrainians, who have so embarrassed the West, and also left the West unable to voice that embarrassment without embarrassing itself even further?
Geopolitical lines will be redrawn for the West to salvage anything like its self-respect, along who is still willing to work with Russia and who isn't?
Does anyone think that Putin will accept military defeat in Ukraine? And go home and have a rethink?
This is what happens when you keep kicking cans down the road.
Cynicism is an ugly frame of mind, but realism is, well, real. I am finding it difficult these days to acknowledge realism but avoid cynicism (and this is true of the other matter that was the genesis for this entire site by our hardworking host).
So there it is. And as this is the point I always circle back to, I am trying to refrain from inflicting it on the good folk here more than once in 48 hours.
Thank you, EL, for giving me the space to do so. I am trying not to take too much advantage to vent because NATO won't listen to me, but folk here will. TC
According to the Associated Press there are no journalists left in Mariupol. Now Putin is de-Nazifying Ukraine by murdering a 96 year old Holocaust survivor. It would be interesting to hear how Israel responds to that horrifying news. Poland and Lithuania need that defence line along their borders; they know only too well the tyranny they lived under the oppressive Soviet regime.