Look, before we even get into the meat-and-potatoes, get that out of your head. I’m not talking about nuclear war. Putin talking about putting his nuclear forces on high alert was just Putin licking his nuts. If  nuclear forces go on high alert, things happen. Fuel trucks, maintenance vehicles, and support equipment all move into position around the silos to prep the weapons. All of which shows up on satellite imagery. And there is no evidence anything is happening. Putin was blowing off steam.

But I’m getting a bad feeling that things are going horribly awry. I wrote a week or so ago that this war was going to be a real problem for the FUX News empire and the pro Putin Trombies for the simple reason that unlike Iraq 1-2, then Afghanistan, for the first time since Vietnam, the military would not be able to control the images coming out of a live fire war zone.

And today we got one, on steroids. A 6 year old girl, in the grocery store with her mother, was hit. The video shows the paramedics trying every trick in the bag, including CPR to save her.  Tragically they failed. This is exactly what I was talking about.

But it turns out that even I can underestimate. When I wrote the article I was thinking purely in terms of the FUX News empire, Traitor Tot, Pimp-eo, and the rest of the GOPtards who support them. But I’m starting to think that I might have underestimated the power of those images in influencing US sentiment even where the US government and ANTO when it comes to Putin’s aggression.

Putin has a serious problem on his hands, like a 15 mile long convoy stalled out on the road on the way to Kiev, with reports that some of it is due to Russian soldiers deserting, and disabling their trucks before they go. But Putin has no choice but to go on, and even double down. This is his very survival at stake.

Which only makes it worse. A poll released yesterday showed that 70% of Americans support the US using military intervention if a NATO member is attacked. Americans are already sickened by the graphic images of war, and they know that Putin is unlikely to stop with Ukraine. And the don’t want to see innocent people suffer.

Biden has been more successful in pulling the entire world together to back the Ukraine than anybody could have expected. Not only is NAYO united, but even non NATO countries like Monaco, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, Japan, Australia are matching sanctions, and in some cases sending lethal defensie aid into Ukraine. The world has recoiled at Putin’s narnarity.

Which puts additional pressure on the Biden administration and NATO. The only time that NATO’s article 5 was used was when NATO came to the United States aid after 9/11, but the entire reason for the creation of NATO was to protect Europe from Russia. Biden ands NATO have made it clear that they will not put NATO or US troops on the ground in Ukraine, since it is not a NATO member. They will give it all the support they can, but no troops.

The problem as I see it is that Biden didn’t just activate the US and NATO in the fight against Putin in the Ukraine, he mobilized the world. But now the world has skin in the game, and they want to see results. And while Ukraine is not a member of NATO, they are a democratic European nation, and they are under assault.

And the entire premise of NATO was to protect Europe from cheap thugs like Putin. Global countries even historically neutral Switzerland have joined the fight. But let me ask you this. How many more 6 year old girls do they have to see bleed out in a grocery store before they begin to demand action from the organization that was specifically built to stop Russia? How many more collapsed buildings, and bomberd out cars before the world starts demanding action from the US and NATO.

The middle cannot hold. Biden and NATO have marshalled worldwide support to stop Putin from digesting Ukraine whole. But that infers action. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the wake of the Hussein led Iraq invasion of Kuwait, then President George HW Bush marshalled the world against Hussein, and shoved him back behind his borders. They will do the same now.

Both the US as well as NATO will be loathe to get involved in overt military operations against Russia. But as Putin accelerates his atrocities, the pressure is going to grow for them to do something. And one nice thing. The Russian advance into Ukraine has already shown in spades that the Russian army’s heart isn’t in it. Just for once, let’s do the right thing, and not the politically correct thing.

 

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7 COMMENTS

  1. Putin can keep going as long as he’s alive and can get fools to fight for him. But the experts in the rest of the world think that he can’t win, even if he could manage to keep it going for a decade.
    He won’t quit and take the L. His ego is like the former guy’s, losing isn’t possible for them.

    The Russians who are surrendering are going to be better off fighting for Ukraine. And the Ukrainians are very, very good at this.

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  2. Joe, I agree that putin has people wondering about his plan for Russian expansion. When u step back & realize the damage propaganda has done to our democracy, we are not united in a way that war demands. I almost got drafted out of college for Vietnam & remember clearly how crazy the country was. It’s very clear Biden has done a ton of things behind the scenes to revive NATO. Trump not only damaged NATO, he denigrated the military at every turn & we now have a number of military & exmilitary who supported the treasonous insurrection. I think Biden is smart enough & experienced enough in foreign affairs to pull together whatever needs to happen. Timing is everything. He’s still catching shit 4 pulling us out of the quagmire in Afghanistan & pulled off a miracle in the evacuation with hostile forces occupying the airfields. I think putin had to hear there’s a line he better not cross. I do hope there’s more happening to arm Ukraine. People here need2 pay attention to their sacrifice for freedoms WE TAKE FOR GRANTED. I think we’re too soft, distracted, & have a culture that expects convenience at all times. War is the most inconvenient reality there is. I cry everytime I see children hurt. I’m the surrogate parent of a 6 year old girl who’s father died when she was 3. I can’t tell you how heart wrenching it is to see a child try2 come to grips with death. I grew up with daily violence so I know some of what those poor souls are experiencing. Whatever Biden decides to do I will support. Meanwhile all of us need to cherish our children & country. Sooner or later WE may be under fire. We need2 deal with our traitors. If not, the country will have no stomach for any kind of war. Ukraine is a beacon of what real passion for freedom means & what average folks are willing to do to preserve it. Can u imagine where we’d be if that evil toddler was still in office?

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    • Scott, it has nothing to do with expansion, it has to do with a world that has united against Putin who want to see him stopeed…And the only logical candidates are the US and NATO…If they go inb, other countries will kick in, just like in the first Gulf War…

      • NATO’s revival is suspect. Germany and other members were funding Putin’s war chest by depending on his oil for years. Germany’s former chancellor has been leading the construction for the pipeline and Putin is his friend. Orban of Hungary is also Putin’s friend and France was supplying Russian military projects only a few years ago. All of this predates Trump. He didn’t help but can’t lay all the blame in him either. Never mind that Germany, Europe’s richest country only recently decided to up their military budget to the minimum NATO requirement because of this crises. Yes, they’re reacting now, but they’ll soon forget and go back to the old habits. Putin knows this. He knows the long term resolve is weak and that our press has a short attention span. Only another pandemic away from turning it’s focus. If we are to gleam anything from these war images it should be that weakness invites something similar to our doorstep and next time that could be an American child. Strength cannot be conjured out of thin air. It comes with hard work over time. Biden’s failures in Afghanistan and his blame put on the US military does not inspire confidence and is not strong leadership, and it’s unlikely his 40% approval rating will galvanize Americans to war. Especially those segments preoccupied with toxic masculinity, identity politics, and a general disdain for the values of western civilization.

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  3. What we and NATO COULD be doing in Ukraine vs. what we’re actually (only) doing terrifies the Russian military and to a degree even Putin. I have no doubts that plans have been drawn up (just in case a “go order” comes down) and there are enough aircraft already in range to rip up every concentration of Russian armored and supply concentrations and a substantial number of their troops. While THAT would be going on Special Ops troops could be making HAHO (high altitude high opening – of their chutes) all over the eastern half of Ukraine. You be shocked how far someone can fly from where they are dropped and open their chute to where they land. With satellite transmitters and target marking lasers they can blend into the background and provide still more targeting of smaller pockets of Russian troops and equipment. And while all THIS was going on NATO armor could dash through all the way to the Dneiper in a day or so. With stuff that is superior to the lion’s share of what Russia has sent in or that Belarus could send in.

    They could rip up the Russian advances within two to three days. Russian Generals know it, and again even Putin probably knows it. He’s bet (and so far correctly) we won’t do that, largely due to his nuclear sabre rattling or perhaps fear he will use bio and chemical (including nerve gases) to do a scorched earth thing like Saddamn did lighting oil wells on fire during Desert Storm. But go back and look at all the Iraqi death and destruction on the main route they tried to use to get back to Baghdad. THAT is what things would be like on a lot more roads in Ukraine as Russian forces did what the Iraqis did – turn around and run like hell for home after realizing they had a motivated enemy with great troops and equipment that wasn’t afraid to stand toe to toe with them and kill them dead. Which happened and happened quickly.

    Frankly, I wish the U.N. would call on those who can to do the same thing that happened with Kuwait – kick the invaders the hell out and kill enough troops & destroy every tank and vehicle they have. Now, just as was the case then the invaders learned a bitter lesson – don’t fuck around like that again. And Russia is less capable of replacing what it would lose in Ukraine than Iraq was. It was a lot of years before they were able to be a threat to their neighbors again. It would have in this case I believe the added benefit of Putin as in his never breathing again. Of course, it would also create chaos in Russia and the consequences of that are quite possibly pretty bad. There are crime lords like Putin’s oligarch pals and then there are crime lords who have personally done plenty of maiming and killing. Having a small network of them forming a Russian version of drug cartels south of our border AND possibly getting their hands on at least some weapon of mass destruction is a sobering thought. There’s already a long, troubling history of members of the Russian armed forces taking money (and it doesn’t take much because pay is frequently sporadic at best) to allow thefts of some pretty serious stuff. But that’s a question for down the road.

    Best case scenario is Putin suffers a 9mm heart attack or massive stroke and another asshole oligarch takes his place. One who takes a hard look at things and chooses a slightly less dictatorial way of ruling than Russia has been getting.

  4. This might actually be a good time for the UN Secretary General to step up and talk to the 5 permanent members of the Security Council and hold a VERY serious discussion to end the absolute veto power of the 5 permanent member countries. I can’t recall the exact story, but a motion had been put before the Security Council that would basically condemn Russia formally and Russia, of course, exerted its veto which killed the measure completely. The US has used its absolute veto (mostly to protect Israel) time and time again over the decades but so have Russia, the UK, France and China (when represented by both Taipei and Beijing).

    Of course, I’m not sure of the exact process needed to expel members, especially a founding member (Russia inherited the USSR’s “founding member” status after the dissolution of the USSR) but now would be a very good time to start finding out. When I read that story about the Russian Security Council veto, ending the “Permanent Member Automatic Veto” and expelling Russia from the UN seemed like a couple of pretty good ideas.

    There’s already been some penalties tossed at the Russian athletic programs. FIFA (the international soccer group) has already barred Russia from any games for the rest of the year (at least) and several countries that were supposed to play Russia already refused to take the field against any Russian team (even if they play under some fake name, as the Olympics have done). Now it’s time for ALL international athletic programs to do the same. And the IOC needs to come down hard on the Russians–bar ALL Russian athletes and not just for their cheating (pardon me, their “performance enhancement actions”) but to punish the country’s leaders. Russian athletic groups are already complaining about the “politicizing” of the events as though any other contests have been 100% free of politics. (Hell, the 1980 Moscow and 1984 LA Olympics were affected by politics–the US refused to go to Moscow as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the USSR and most of its allies refused to go to LA in pure retaliation. If we want to play the “politics” card, the Soviet withdrawal from the LA games was nothing but politics; the US decision in 1980, at least, had a moral basis to it.)

  5. A quote attributed to Ron Livingston (yes, the actor): “Life is not always like chess. Just because you have the king surrounded, don’t think he is not capable of hurting you.”
    Putin is “surrounded” by most of the world (except for cowardly holdouts like Mexico and India) but he appears willing to inflict as much pain as possible. Can the West maintain its strength and resolve? We’ll see.

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