I readily admit I was wrong about Putin and Russia. I didn’t think he’d go for a full-scale invasion. I figured he was going to continue his Crimean strategy of having Russian regulars hide their uniforms and pose as local separatists to chip away a couple more eastern sections of Ukraine. The SCLM is alleging how Biden and US intelligence predicted correctly what’s happening while the EU remained very skeptical. In Europe’s defense I easily understood their doubt. About 20 years ago, Amerika under Dubious and Darth Cheney got a respected war criminal to cry wolf at the UN over Iraq having nuclear and chemical weapons. Despite the European intelligence agencies calling bullshit, the US with the UK , Italy and Australia stitched to its ass, illegally invaded anyway. We know how that movie is going, especially the comedic part involving a shoe being thrown at Dubious.
No idea what Putin’s objective is. He may try to absorb the country since he recently said Ukraine is a fiction made up by the West. History disagrees since the people called Ukrainians have been around for 1000-plus years. He might just topple their elected government and install a puppet who will do his biding, then leave. This is what the Russians tried with Afghanistan in 1979, Georgia in 2008 (I think), Chechnya around the Nineties, Hungary in the Fifties and the former Czechoslovakia in the Sixties. Their track record has been mixed so how it will play out is anybody’s guess. The Internet is a major element past attacks didn’t have to sweat and could be a deciding factor. He certainly succeeded in spreading stupid over here.
One thing I’m certain of, taking the large Ukrainian cities will be difficult. All the big stuff the Russian forces have (tanks, helicopters, missiles) just aren’t practical when the fighting grinds down into a block-to-block struggle as Stalingrad was. We learned this the hard way with the urban pockets in Iraq and Afghanistan too.
In time, I believe the West will fold. The US and the UK don’t have the stomach for a prolonged conflict, morally justified or not, thanks to Dubious and Blair’s lies (they should be in prison). Key members of the EU are too dependent on Russia’s natural gas as the alternative sources coming from the Middle East and (I’m guessing) North America won’t be enough nor in time. Europeans don’t like paying higher utility prices any more than my fellow Americans. Most importantly, Putin doesn’t give two shits how much the Russian people suffer as the West crushes their economy into the Stone Ages. He will push until he gets what he wants and he can since he will never be up for re-election. The only immediate hope the Russians and Ukrainians have is a coup. Not a great option.
Lastly, I do want to go on the record for posterity to remind the world about all those traitorous Republicans, American Fascists and Evangelicals who gave Putin moral support and encouragement since 2016, probably sooner. Should this unfortunately spiral out of control into what we all fear, World War III, it’s on them and we should start arresting them or better, deporting them to go live in the despotic regime they oh so love. Cancun Cruz proved he can turn on a dime to kiss Girth Vader’s ass so giving Putin a handy won’t be a difficult shift. We won’t be so lucky in the end. Much like the America First assholes who admired Hitler, the majority changed their tune once Nazi forces began killing our soldiers in North Africa at Bloody Kasserine.