Musings —03.03.2022 09:51 PM
—MAD
Starting a world war always seemed pretty self-defeating to me. But bombing the biggest nuclear plant in Europe doesn’t seem to suggest a lot of long-term thinking, either. #PutinWarCriminal
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) March 4, 2022
I can’t believe the upper echelon of the Russian govt/military/oligarchy cannot find some way to remove him from power. Then again, Stalin died in office. But, those around Stalin had nothing to lose at the time compared with what Russians are now losing. Surely there are hushed discussions in dark corners going on, no?
I think Putin figured out, earlier this week, that he won’t be taking Ukraine. So now he has adopted a scorched-earth policy – and will burn the entire country to the ground before he stops.
The rest of the world has some tough decisions to make, in the very near future. Putin has clearly lost his mind, and we have to figure out what to do about that. I am hopeful that there are at least a few honorable people left in Putin’s inner circle, who will see the totality of what is happening and put a bullet in his head. Not sure how else this ends well.
It is crazy now. He probably could have done some limited military action, such as taking those two Eastern regions, and more or less gotten away with it. Instead, among other things, he’s guaranteed Russia total pariah nation status for the foreseeable future, pretty much obliterated any soft power that Russia had in foreign policy and very likely bought himself a protracted and really shitty insurgent war a la Afghanistan circa the 1980s even if he “wins”.
Carl Von Clausewitz -” in the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself”. Carl was right.
Putin sat down with Xi Jinping before this attack and discussed strategic options. Ukraine will be taken by Putin and Xi Jinping will then do the same thing with Taiwan whilst NATO does nothing except arm these proxy nations with small arms.
NATO is not living up to their reputation.
As a Grumpy Marxist myself I, for one, am not surprised to see the tack Putin has taken. He is a cornered geopolitical pariha now.
NATO is complicit in the serial antagonisms levied at Putin to push him outside of diplomatic channels. Moreover, he is a tactician skilled in intel via KGB.
It takes two to tango, eh. And I’m not siding with Putin here. Putin is a player in a game of gamesmanship. The problem here is that human beings are being hurt and are indeed suffering beyond my comprehension.
RW
China’s non invasion of Taiwan thus far is actually very interesting… This actually says a lot. I think China is waiting to see what way the wind is blowing as a result of a possible Russian withdrawal / coup against Putin. As it becomes more obvious that the West / NATO is going to wreck the living shit out of the Russian economy for a long, long time, China probably smells a lot of opportunity to grow. Their most powerful neighbor / regional rival is being slowly removed from the game board and they haven’t fired a damned shot. They’d be smart to STFU, hold their cards close to their chest for a few months / years and let the prosperity from an economically destroyed Russia fall conveniently into their laps.
Putin’s biggest problem is that he is living in a different century. The world is just too connected now to facilitate his ambitions. Average people communicate too quickly for the kind of war he is trying to fight. Zelensky is appearing live on screen at a rally in Prague FFS. Since he is a former TV star he obviously understands the media game better than Putin ever will.
And the sanctions…. Unprecedented economic devastation can now be brought about through the click of a mouse on another continent. Ordinary Russians are waking up to the reality that their income / life savings / businesses are suddenly worthless. All of these things were not in the tool box during the wars of the 20th century. The internet has changed all of that forever.
In short, Putin is sending thousands of teenage Russians to die on a battlefield that doesn’t exist anymore. Ukrainians are paying a horrific price right now… But I think Russia will face a level of multi generational punishment, retribution and misery that was inconceivable only two weeks ago.
When you start using cluster bombs, deliberately target hospitals and schools and kill civilians, most especially those who are leaving areas in search of safety as refugees, you tie the noose around your neck. So, when they lose this war and they will, a lot of Russians will be held accountable not just Putin. Putin has crossed all the red lines that equate to war crimes and crimes against humanity and he’ll pay in spades, probably later rather than sooner.
This is heading ultimately for world war status and the great news flash is that Putin won’t win this one. Good will beat evil in the long run.