Jimmy Higgins
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Why do you think it is still part of Russia?
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Russian Invasion of Ukraine - tactics and logistics
- Thread starter Rhea
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Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
Kaliningrad? The last time I checked, that old capital city of Prussia is still marked on all the maps as being in Russia, not Lithuania or Poland.
Elixir
Made in America
So what? Ukraine is marked as “not Russia” and tha doesn’t seem to matter.
Taking Kaliningrad would at least make Pootey spread his military thin. Make a deal to give it back when he gets tf out of Ukraine.
For that matter, the US should start taking over Pacific ports like Vladivostok, just to keep him busy.
I am convinced that Pootey is either going to start nuking stuff regardless, or isn’t going to nuke anything no matter what.
If I’m right, there’s no downside to putting him back in his place.
Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
I've only ever seen one map that marks it as "not Russia", and that was an error in a joke map meme that went viral on the internet. Anyway, most of us are not in the mood to commit suicide just yet.
Elixir
Made in America
Mine was a a joke map meme-type quip. Even if every entity with a stake in the game agreed that action X was advised and indicated, I sincerely doubt that any decisive military action would come to pass. Such is the degree to which Putin seems to have convinced NATO leaders that he's perfectly willing to commit genocide, even suicidal global genocide. Daydreaming about hamfisted vengeance is about all that's left. /meme
I think Putin is going to go full wmd if necessary to continue to wage campaigns of conquest, for the rest of his life if he's not stopped.
Has that become a point for letting Ukraine take it on the chin? Let the Ukrainian resistance make the Russian Army wear itself out?
Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
None of us can predict what Putin is going to do, probably not even Putin. It just seems very likely that everyone else around him must now be questioning the faith that they put in him in the past. He is an angry, desperate man.
US view of Putin: Angry, frustrated, likely to escalate war
If Putin were a strong leader or a courageous man, he wouldn't be sitting at the end of a mile-long table in every meeting and spreading that bizarre image all over the news media. It is prudent for him to be fearful, but not to show his fear. He may like to threaten that he's going to push the nuclear button, but would a man who is afraid to let anyone near him really be the one to start a nuclear war? Anyway, this ex-KGB agent thinks that Putin, like Trump, is just one of those leaders who thinks he is always the smartest person in the room. So he has dug himself into a very deep hole.
US view of Putin: Angry, frustrated, likely to escalate war
If Putin were a strong leader or a courageous man, he wouldn't be sitting at the end of a mile-long table in every meeting and spreading that bizarre image all over the news media. It is prudent for him to be fearful, but not to show his fear. He may like to threaten that he's going to push the nuclear button, but would a man who is afraid to let anyone near him really be the one to start a nuclear war? Anyway, this ex-KGB agent thinks that Putin, like Trump, is just one of those leaders who thinks he is always the smartest person in the room. So he has dug himself into a very deep hole.
Ex-KGB agent weighs in on 'bizarre' Putin photos
SLD
Contributor
Then there’s this article that contradicts the one I posted earlier, showing ways in which Putin can hold on to power.
Could Putin actually fall?
What history teaches us about how autocrats lose power — and how Putin might hang on.
www.vox.com
Still, I’m optimistic that severe economic sanctions coupled with military setbacks would do the trick. It may take both the Army and the people together to rise up against the security state that Putin has created.
Harry Bosch
Contributor
It's interesting to me as to why Putin is so angry. He's one of the richest people in the world (if not the richest). Assets all over the place (being taken back though!). He's angry because he's losing the war. Well fine, quit fighting a war! The Russians are not good at conquering (luckily for the world.) Return to your home, and all will be better. I promise!
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Toni
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I don't understand the desire for power over others but apparently some people are so afflicted. From what I can tell and have read, Putin has delusions of restoring the great Russian Empire. I don't think he'll call it the Soviet Union but I think he wants as much of anything that was ever part of Russia back. BTW, from what I've read, there are those in Russia for whom that includes Alaska. Even though we bought and paid for Alaska, fair and square. From Russia, not from the indigenous peoples who lived there.
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Ukrainian refugees. Heartbreaking.
Jimmy Higgins
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Fair and square in the sense that Russia was broke post Crimean War. Yes, it was a bit "out of the way" for Moscow to defend it from Britain. But Russia needed the money. Much like how we got a great deal on the Louisiana Purchase. And in selling to the US, they didn't to worry about their arch-nemesis gaining control over it. Well... arch-nemesis at the time.
Jimmy Higgins
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And they think that is going to work?
T.G.G. Moogly
Traditional Atheist
Would not she represent the enemy? Why isn't she killed?
Jimmy Higgins
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Lack of resources, bigger fish, Povich is on.
Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
It didn't work so well in Norway. These are little quislings, but Putin needs a big quisling for Kyiv. I don't really see how that is going to work for him, because a popular revolt tossed the last quisling out in 2014. Ukrainians are not likely to forget any of this for a very long time. And there are now over 3 million Ukrainian refugees living in exile in the West. Even if Putin achieves a full military victory, which is looking doubtful in the near future, this war won't be over. It will only become a smoldering guerilla war.
He doesn’t need to impose a quisling. He just needs the Ukrainians to say uncle.
Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
Nobody can say uncle for an entire population, and the current government is likely to die rather than surrender. If they weren't willing to die, they would all be sitting in Lviv or a NATO enclave by now. Martyrs don't say uncle.
Then they’ll never get the territory they recently lost back. They’ll say uncle. They already nixed NATO membership.