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| Image for illustration purposes (NBC)Updat |
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday in a massed assault by land, sea and air, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two.
Missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus, and landing on the coast from the Black and Azov seas.
Ukrainian troops fought Russian forces along practically the entire border, and fierce fighting was taking place in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa and at a military airport near Kyiv, an adviser to the presidential office said.
Explosions were heard before dawn and throughout the morning in the capital Kyiv, a city of 3 million people. Gunfire rattled, sirens blared, and the highway out of the city choked with traffic as residents fled.
Putin now joins Hitler and Stalin, 2 of the bloodiest megalomaniacs in recent history. They both cared little about human life in their quest for the greater glory of their nations. This is how history will now judge Putin.
(I should clarify that Hitler is indeed in a class all by himself. The atrocities of the Holocaust are unparalleled. His systematic extermination of 6 million of our people speaks for itself. My comparison of Putin to Hitler and Stalin is only in the sense of their determination to build an evil empire regardless of the human cost.)
There will surely be thousands of people dying as a result of this war. On both sides. Soldiers and civilians. And it will surely include many Jews. The Ukraine has a fairly large number of Jewish citizens.
Putin knows that carnage will ensue by his incursion but doesn’t care.
I have to admit I did not believe that about him. He has been President of Russia for a long time and never once indicated he would go to war with a neighboring country that did not attack Russia or harm it in any way.
Even after his invasion of Crimea, I actually believed that was a ‘one off'’ based on his claim that Crimea had been part of Russia before the war (WWII); that it was populated mostly by Russians and identified as such and sympathized with Putin; and that he was just restoring Russians ‘legitimate’ claim to that area. Right or wrong, I thought that would be the end of Russian aggression. If I recall correctly there was no resistance by the Crimeans and no one died. But this is different. No such claim can be made. Ukrainians are resisting big time!
Putin is the leader of one of the one of the most powerful nations on earth. Second only to the United States. He could have led his people to great prosperity via international commerce. Perhaps even gaining some international respect for achieving that. Instead he has chosen the carnage of war with a nation that did nothing to him. That is insanity!
Putin must know how history will judge him. He has done exactly the same thing Hitler did. Only instead of invading Poland, he invaded the Ukraine. Hitler didn't stop with Poland. Putin will not stop with the Ukraine. Both sought greater glory for their Fatherland. Hitler for a greater Germany. Putin for a greater Russia.
Putin has obviously never given up the dream of returning to the glory days of the former Soviet Union. His visions of grandeur has blinded him the the carnage that will entail - or he just doesn't care. There was absolutely no reason to attack a country that has been independent of Russia for over 3 decades. A peaceful democracy that elected its leaders in free and fair elections. All Putin sees - is a Ukraine that was once part of the Soviet empire and he is determined to rebuild it regardless of the human cost.
If I am right about my assessment (not that I have such a great track record on the subject) this is only the beginning of Putin’s insane quest for European domination He may very well attack other former satellite nations that were once part of the FSU. He wants to remove the ‘F’ from that acronym. And he may not stop there!
The fact that the Ukraine will not surrender is why there will be so much carnage. Russia’s military might is so superior to the Ukrainian military - there is not the slightest question that they will prevail. The only question is how long it will take and how many people will die. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is probably a dead man, too. He deserves a better fate.
The supposedly harsh sanctions the US and our European allies will now impose is meaningless to a megalomaniac like Putin. He will withstand them all no matter how much hardship it causes to his own people.
The impact on the US will be huge. Gas prices will soon be higher than they have ever been. The price of all goods will go up accordingly as will the price of travel. Recent inflationary trends will surely seem like child’s paly in very short order. Inflation? You ain’t seen nothin yet! This is going to hurt. And the people being hurt the most will be the middle class.
The question is what are we (the US - and our allies) going to do about it? Are we just going to let it happen? Is the US the paper tiger it has been accused of in the past?
I’m afraid the answer is yes. President Biden has said numerous times that he will not send in troops to fight the Russians and save the Ukraine. Not even to save Americans that have not evacuated. I think Putin probably counted on that.
Another question is this: What is it to us what happens in a country on the other side of the Atlantic? Why should we care? Why should one drop of American blood be spilled on foreign soil protecting a country from which we have no material benefit?
I think the answer is as follows. As a nation that believes in freedom and democracy we should not allow the tyranny of a megalomaniac destroy a fellow democracy. We cannot allow a man like Putin to control increasing numbers of people and gain increasing power in the world. Don't we have a moral obligation to intercede and end this tyrant's carnage and quest for power?
Putin will not go gently into the night. Russia is a nuclear power and Putin may not hesitate to use that power if he smells defeat at any level. This is how an insane megalomaniac might think. If he can’t get what he wants by conventional means – he will use unconventional means. And in the process destroy the world.
That being said, I do not want to see American blood being spilled in yet another foreign war. Especially with the potential of the massive loss of life and limb that a war like this carries. On the other hand how can we allow a man like this to basically do what he wants in the world knowing that no other country will have either the ability or will to stop him? Is any European country safe? Is the US safe?
Until this morning, I would have never thought this suggested scenario possible. Until this morning, I really thought this was all one big bluff!
How wrong I was! And I am scared to death about the consequences either way.
