It’s escalatory to send in troops - and probably weapons that could quickly be used offensively.
Cuba is further from the US than Ukraine is from Russia. Moving additional troops and weapons there almost turned the earth into a glowing cinder.
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He actually does, though. You can see a crack in his control with this…even with a pre-emptive crackdown against protests, Russians are opposing the war. If he tried to go all in on a fight with NATO that would be so much worse, maybe to the point where he would lose power. If that fight is to happen he needs it to look like it’s NATO at fault.
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Yeah, it is. A bit of hyperbole.
Putin’s definition of “invade” and “defend” aren’t really relevant.
Had we buffed up Ukraine’s defensive position there is every chance the (actual) invasion never takes place. Yeah, there might have been a lot of yelling and accusations in the media and at the U.N. But I don’t really think Putin wants a WWIII anymore than the west does.
It’s more likely that if that had happened- Putin would have seen it as a pretext to attack sooner. His complaints were western intrusion into the area and his loss of power.
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He wouldn’t have been ready sooner, I think he attacked as soon as he could. They were moving troops and material into the area right up until the attack.
Only the Watcher knows for sure. It’s a pointless discussion outside of Disney Plus.
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If it won’t happen why are we bothering to send troops to NATO member countries in the area to bolster their defenses?
Well - we will go to war over a country that is part of NATO. We won’t over ones that aren’t.
I think someone may have mentioned that.
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Tanks, planes, and helicopters aren’t strictly defensive weapons and require highly trained personnel to operate (contrast to a shoulder-fired anti-tank or AA weapon). That personnel would have to be Ukrainian, since there was no way NATO countries were going to put troops of any sort, including training advisors, into Ukraine and give Putin a pretext for invading and escalating earlier than he did.
The Ukrainian government, as desperate and determined as it is right now, still isn’t asking for what you’re demanding. Consider why that is.
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It’s because they’ve already been told it won’t happen. It’s not much of a mystery.
And, again, he needs no pretexts. If he wants one he’ll make it up.
Maybe let’s take a break on this back-and-forth?
Given all that’s going on right now, I don’t want to have to set this thread to slow mode, but I will.
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It’s true. Governments and leaders always accept the first response they get. Even if circumstances change.
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It’s because they understand it won’t happen and, more importantly, the valid reasons why it won’t happen. Which is the reason they’re not whinging about it publicly despite having the ability and occasion to do so.
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Agreed, I’ll bow out now. It’s getting hard to keep up with the replies anyway.
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if you’re referring to the crimean peninsula, that was a move which was extremely popular with the majority of people in the crimean who readlly did consider themselves as misplaced russians. the rest of ukraine has no such population of russian chauvinists.
regarding your point about sending in nato troops is an incredibly dangerous idea. the difference between sending weapons and weapon systems to the ukrainian government and inserting nato troops making use of the same weapons is this: many of those systems can be used to fire tactical nuclear weapons. the russians know that nato would not give ukraine nuclear-tipped weapons but they would have no such assurance about what nato troops might carry with them. that would create an intensely destabilizing ambiguity. it’s one thing to move the hands of the doomsday clock a minute closer to midnight. it’s a different matter to beat on the hands with a sledgehammer to try and get it all the way to midnight.
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Unlike Russia and China, North Korea is no real threat to the U.S., and a general free-for-all WW3 scenario would be unlikely to leave KJU in power
Maybe he should wait his turn
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Okay - I ordered those iodine tablets.
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I’m hoping that move makes the Russian generals very nervous. It’s one thing for them to be indoctrinated with Dugin’s grandiose pipe dreams, quite another to contemplate the real-world consequences of using nukes.
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