My many undying thanks to my friend and reader Denis Eliot. In a comment on my recent article on Russia, he replied that he had seen an article that said that Putin had complete control of the special military operation in Ukraine.
If that’s true, then it casts a whole new light on the Ukraine operation, and not a good one for the Russian military or the russian people. I’ll explain.
This is not good news. Adolf Hitler was a corporal in the German army in WW I. Hitler’s job was a runner, he ran messages from the front lines to the field headquarters, and then ran new orders back to the front lines. There is no proof that Hitler ever fired a shot in the war. However, he received the Iron Cross, First Class from being wounded in a mustard gas attack on his position. Keep in mind that Crown Prince Rupprecht used to go down a line of German soldiers, handing out Iron Crosses like candy from a basket held by two aides.
But in Hitler’s mind, this made him a military genius. When Germany went to war in WWII, Hitler took complete control of the German forces. He, and he alone approved all battle plans for the German army’s assaults came directly from him. And we all saw how that turned out.
Putin really had no choice here. This invasion is his baby, and nobody else’s. Reports show that Kremlin insiders, including the military, counseled against going into Ukraine. And now that it’s falling apart, and the rest of the world is lining up against him, he has no choice but to take personal control. This is no longer just his leadership legacy at stake, it may well be his own personal survival.
But now it gets even worse. Teri just found an article on Flipboard that says that Putin is suffering from some type of cancer, as well as early onset of Parkinson’s disease. This would explain why, in his televised conference with his Defense Minister, his right hand never stopped gripping the table. Maybe he was afraid that the hand would tremble, making him look weak to the public? According to the report, Putin has delayed the stomach surgery until after the May 9th celebration.
I cannot overemphasize how dangerous this whole situation is, if the reporting is true. With Putin, we have an aging dotard, possible delusional with a strong desire to recreate the glory of the Soviet Union. There is no one to oppose him in the Kremlin , and he has access to the nuclear codes. With possible Parkinson’s disease.
If only the former is true, then the Ukraine is almost assured of complete victory. Nobody knows the military and battle plans better than career military officers. If the latter is true, then we have a whole new, unexpected risk on our hands. An unstable leader with nuclear codes. Don’t touch that dial.
Two things to remember (and make you breathe easier):
1) Kamil Galeev has repeatedly emphasized that Putin only knows how to do “special operations”, never wars. It’s how he got in power, after all, “avenging” Russian honor with the Second Chechen War. That was his equivalent of Hitler’s Iron Cross and the same level of meaningful.
2) Galeev also reports that a) nuclear crews are just as exploited and abused as conscripts and b) engineers and techies are held in such low esteem (unlike the USSR period, where they were king) that such exploiters and abusers would override any genuine concerns they have for proper maintenance of the nukes. Add in how the parts and components need periodic replacement (hello, tritium-3 gas!) and firing a nuke requires more than just pushing a button and…well, Russia might actually nuke itself first.
This is all true, and it is this idea that makes me very nervous about the course of this war. If Putin’s rich puppets have been skimming money from their nuclear forces along with all of the rest of the military, then there is no telling what condition their nuclear weapons are in. Imagine Putin attempting to launch an unmaintained nuclear-armed cruise missile at Ukraine only to have it explode upon launch, or worse, veer off course into Germany, France, Poland, Finland, Sweden, or God knows where else. That would be WWIII.
My bet is it blowing up on the launchpad. You may recall that their supposedly improved nuke did just that a few years back.
Kevin, a very interesting observation.
When it comes to nukes, my question has always been: Where would he aim it at?
I haven’t heard a single reply to that that makes any sense.
Any takers?
I honestly don’t see how sense comes into it when you are talking about an actual madman who is desperately trying to cling to power.
A friend who’s up on all the medical news that’s fit to print (and some that’s not, she’s a retired nurse), told me the other day that it’s common knowledge in the cancer community that Putin has advanced stomach cancer, so this comes as no surprise. Hmmm…
I just said to my hubby the other day – Putin’s face looks puffy. Wonder if he is on some sort of chemo drug.
We can only pray that this needless war ends soon. So many lives lost, destroyed over propaganda. Salva ukrainia ???☦️
Stomach surgery? This would mean anesthesia. He would be completely unconscious. What a great chance for someone to make sure that he never wakes up.
What if Putin were to have a “stroke” or a “heart attack” while on the operating table…nudge nudge, wink wink. Who’s next in line?
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Who IS next in line? Or does that matter? I could see a coup take place there quite easily, so maybe the military? Hopefully not that lethal guy Putin just brought in to take over the war.