Hopefully Putin is not yet mad enough to do this, but there is sad precedent of Russians blowing up hydroelectric dams in Ukraine to disastrous consequences:
The exact number of casualties is not known because it happened in no man’s land - the Soviet government was evacuating and in no position to help or count the victims, and the incoming Nazis were probably just glad that they would have less work to do.
They’ve already taken Chernobyl, why wouldn’t they do this, too.
This.
And not just entertain it. We should welcome it to come on in, take off its coat and have a seat at the coffee klatch.
Seems like it’s beams all around
I think this is a very important point. So many people seem to get stuck on America for its imperialism or Russia for its imperialism, instead of seeing that the problem is imperialism wherever it is found.
I kinda figured Kim Jong-un might be a little starved for attention with the worlds eyes on Ukraine.
Surely this is Joe Biden’s fault! /s
(just wait 15 more minutes and you will see the tweets start coming out)
Getting tired of hearing about “holding Russia accountable”, “supporting the Ukrainian people” and demanding an end to hostilities…
If the West wanted to do any of those things they could. They could have sent in troops, arms, tanks, planes, etc. in enough numbers to ensure Russia could not succeed.
But no, that’s not what they are doing. Instead, they are standing on the sidelines, watching and wagging their fingers, as people are killed and maimed.
Pisses me off. 
I understand the impulse, but that way lies WWIII.
If the alternative is to just let well-armed dictators do whatever they please, then perhaps we should just get on with it. The lessons of WWII should not be cast aside so easily.
Except for all the weapons already sent and being sent, and the sanctions that are going into place…
Putting NATO troops in a non-NATO country would have given Putin the chance to escalate to invading other NATO countries immediately. If we can actually support Ukraine and push Putin back by doing so, that will be the best scenario in this already shitty scene. People like Putin thrive on their machismo and being humilitated and driven back will be far more effective than sending in an invasion force.
People are doing something. Invasion isn’t the ONLY option, and would in fact make things far worse.
Not an invasion force. A defensive force, one with teeth. One he wouldn’t have wanted to mess with in the first place. And, if he did, then one that could stand up to it.
Sanctions and the like are all well and good, but it’s too slow a process to do Ukraine much good right now.
If he wants to take on a NATO country near his sphere of influence, he will. All he has ever seen his whole time in power is the West turning tail and running away from every damned thing he does.
NATO doesn’t work that way, even if Ukraine invites a member state’s military in. It’s a defensive alliance based on the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Ukraine is not a member. Sending in NATO troops, especially now that the war is underway, would give Putin a pretext to escalate and go after the Baltics.
Advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons and ammunition can be sent in and are being sent in by NATO countries (including, in a major break in precedent, Germany). If Russia has only 10 days total before logistics totally grind to a halt there’s a chance it will make a difference for Ukraine without escalation.
That’s just the military support. There are also the next steps in economic sanctions, including kicking Russian banks out of SWIFT and paralysing the Russian central bank’s ability to conduct business with the rest of the world. This also does material damage to Putin’s war effort without giving him an excuse to escalate.
It can be argued that there was a degree of appeasement extended toward a known liar before the invasion. Whether or not that’s true, the West is taking action in a way that the European allies didn’t when Hitler broke the Munich agreement.
Seeing as Putin just “invaded” to “defend” something, maybe the labels should have been bigger on his tanks, huh?
“Lets just get World War Three over with,” is a fucking stupid idea. Take a breath, nobody’s calling you an idiot, we’re all understandably tense, but that idea is dumb as fuck.
I don’t think you quite understand how NATO works. If he attacks any NATO country the rest have to react. That’s the whole point of the defense alliance. Any attack on any NATO country would literally, literally, trigger WW3 immediately. Which is why it won’t happen, but also why sending NATO troops into Ukraine would be phenomenally stupid. Sending weapons and sanctioning are the best tools at the moment.
I’m aware of how NATO generally works, but article five doesn’t preclude them or member countries from helping others out.
As evidenced by what is going on at the moment he doesn’t need an excuse to escalate.
It’s nice we sent them some arms and ammo and certainly a better response than last time. I’m sure they would have preferred tanks planes, helicopters and bodies though. Maybe some boats too.
