It took 34 years to get rid of Gaddafi. Mussolini was in power for over 20 years and did not fall until there was a World War. I will say this.... Mussolini and Hitler were both like Putin in that they believed in there ethnic superiority and they all three preached about the need for more land for their people.
Basically we can get involved now or let Putin and China continue to take more territories and have an even harder fight down the road.
Absolutely. Do not mistake my comments as condoning his actions. I was simply responding to an earlier comment made that this was the first time Russia has attacked a democracy. That's true, but didn't tell the whole story. I felt it was important to put this attack into a larger context of Putin's reasoning and logic (as twisted as it is). I'm not convinced Putin has designs on attempting to take more territory beyond Ukraine and the comment @Major made indicated to me he thought Putin was just getting started. But from what I understand, Putin's trying to re-create the former Soviet Union. Obviously, this is bad, but something we lived with for 50+ years already and there isn't any solid indication he has designs beyond that. Regardless, nobody knows his ambitions except Putin so we're all just guessing here. This is an opinion, one shared by many and you could be right. I'm not at the point I necessarily agree with it...yet. I would urge caution but being VERY clear on what we're prepared to do in the Baltic states and Taiwan by building up our capabilities in and near those places and insuring the Russians and Chinese see it. After watching the last 5-6 days, I'm surprised to hear you say you don't believe there will be an insurgency in Ukraine. In a sense, it's already started and the atrocities committed will steel the Ukrainian resolve. While I agree Ukraine and Soviet occupied Afghanistan are 2 different situations, I've seen a LOT of fight and righteous anger in Ukraine and indications of war weariness already among Russians. So I would agree to disagree on this point. As far as toppling Putin I agree it is unlikely and difficult...but the possibility remains as long as the world isolates his country. Either way, he will be severely weakened and less capable of attempting something like this again with much hope of success with the added benefit of reducing risk of escalation with a nuclear armed madman.
This is going to be a repeat of Russia in Afghanistan. They will be fighting for years over this. Even if Putin wins now and puts in a puppet regime, Ukrainians will keep fighting.
Putin is already talking about invading Finland if they join NATO. It could just be rhetoric, but who knows?
He still has a lot of support from Russians that are over 40..... the demographics that rely on state ran television to get their news. He has displaced the powerful oligarchs that were a treat to him and replaced them in many cases with long time friends of his. I suppose someone at some point could stand up and assassinate him but he is very hard to get to, and as of 5 years ago no one got close to him without being fully strip searched and gone through other procedures.
A lot of them do. I know we get a lot of political divides and rhetoric from the news here, but we get to see multiple viewpoints. Russia only sees one and that is what the State decides they see.
I don't think you are justifying his actions and I don't think you agree with his actions. As far as him recreating the USSR. He has said many negative things about the former USSR and has claimed he is re-creating a traditional Russian empire. He was in the KGB but was quite poor before his rise in politics. However, for the sake of argument lets say he wants to end with taking back all former Soviet States..... there are still like a dozen of them he can target, and that doesn't even include Poland and part of Germany. Do I believe that the world will sit by and let him take Poland and Germany? No, but I don't know when the world will decide enough is enough. Also consider when we dealt with the Soviet Union, we were not also dealing with China as a massive superpower. A strong coalition between China and Russia with a number of former Soviet states added to Russia may be too much to handle. The concern is real, we have Japan for the first time discussing letting the USA put nuclear development on their island.... we have Germany jumping their spending to the 3rd highest in the world. We are, but if we are not willing to stand up to a nuclear threat, what is the point? Ukrainians will fight, they are a very tough and strong people.... but they also in many cases speak Russian and culturally are similar. With enough time I think that they will acculturate. That is the hope, but the control of the Ukraine will be a huge financial boon from him because it is incredibly resource rich.
possible end-game scenarios: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/four-ways-the-war-in-ukraine-might-end/
I heard that the The Adventure in Ukraine is costing Russia 20 billion a day. The question is how many days can Putin take that haircut. Another question is how long will Putin live with the US/EU sanctions. It might take months or even years before Putin and his fellow kleptocrats start feeling the pain, while the Russian people will not last that long. I find it curious that Putin is talking ceasefire with Ukraine. Where is the win for Putin? It is just a question of when before Ukraine Army capitulates. When must be the issue. Putin may have planned for days not weeks (or months). Or maybe it is the end game? Russia controlling the capital Kyiv, but little else, will mean that the Russian army will be fighting insurgences, for what can be a very long time. 20 billion dollars a day. The US/EU will be supplying the Ukraines an endless supply of javelins and stingers. Weaponized drones can not be that far away from delivery. Putin may get the Pyrrhic Victory that he is looking for.
If I see a future post from you like that I will call it out, fair? Tbh I do group you in with some of the other prolific right wing posters as it gets hard to tell you all apart.
