This is why Putin will fail

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And now there’s no way back for him and it is clear that the man has no conscience. Not even Ukranian children are spared the devastating consquences of his dastardly deeds. His threats of using nuclear weapons is not so clever either, because he if he does use them the enormous radio active wave that will hit Western Europe and other countries around the globe as well, will hit Russia too.
I’ve never liked the man. Somehow, I knew that he would one day do something inexcusably cruel.
What also bothers me is that the former US ‘president’ stated that ‘If I had been president, this would never have happened.’
So, now that even Russian extremists know and see that Putin is in fact slowly commiting suicide, they actually say: ’ He’s gone mad’. This could ofcourse be true (hahahahaha), but it certainly doesn’t justify his actions. Putin has no compassion and has destroyed what two of his predecessors, Gorbachev and Yeltsin, worked for.

P.S.: If he’s mad, shouldn’t he be institutionalised? After all he has shown that he is a danger to society and himself, n’est-ce pas?

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Black_Knight,

Putin has not won, so why should we accept it? It seems to me that you’re being very ignorant - I only want to give you the benefit of the doubt.

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Putin can’t do this alone. This is only possible if he has backing at high levels. They may even have been encouraging him. I am absolutely not defending him. But I think blaming him alone is over simplifying it. Even if he were removed, his type of thinking will not disappear.

I still have no idea what Russia is after. The only thing that makes any sense to me is that they want to keep Ukraine permanently. All the rest just sounds like excuses.

I still think they could get by with it. Supposedly the resistance is stronger than Russia or anyone else anticipated. If Russia is intent on taking Ukraine, they can overcome that resistance and take it, and the rest of the world can’t or won’t stop them.

I only hope the world’s response and the resistance by Ukraine will cause Putin and whoever else is behind it to second guess their action and try to find a way out. Finding a way out and saving face is a very real issue that can’t be overlooked. IF Russia wants to back out they need to come up with a believable reason for their actions in the first place (whether it’s true or not). Then they need a way to claim they have met their objective.

Simply saying,“whoops, we made a boo boo” isn’t enough to save face. So for this all to end, how is Russia/Putin going to save face? What excuse can they use for invading, then claiming they met their objective?

Unfortunately these things so often boil down to saving face.

If Russia is committed, the price is too high to stop them, and Ukraine will be the sacrificial lamb. Ukraine will be the price paid to avoid something much more disastrous. Putin/Russia took a gamble that this would be the case. They gambled that they could get by with it.

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I must say you have a very good point there, but it is Putin who does it, no matter who’s backing him. Perhaps he is very easily influenced by others, but this does not justify his actions and it would only make him a very incapable president or dictator. But whatever he’s called he’s a very bad Head of State, because encouraged or not, he should have the knowledge to put other people’s opninions about war aside him and if he can’t do that he should give up his leadership. It’s also possible that Putin is narcissist - which I believe strongly- and doesn’t care about anyone else, not even those who encourage him. So, as far as I’m concerned, he does this all by himself.

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I don’t think Putin is a puppet or figurehead. I don’t think he is a dictator either. But even a dictator can’t be a dictator without some strong high level backing.

Yea I do blame Putin, but not entirely. There are others behind him. My point is that as bad as Putin may be, you can’t overlook an underlying and probably deep view of a much larger number of people. Putin is the face seen by the world, but he is most definitely not alone.

People need someone to point fingers at. They need a whipping boy when something goes wrong, and they need a hero when something goes right. Because that’s much easier than understanding something that is certainly far more complex.

World leaders are in the position of whipping boy or saint, depending on which side of things you are on. It’s the same here in the US, and everywhere else.

The following is just thinking out loud…

Some people/nations point a finger at NATO. I don’t believe NATO caused this. But I DO believe that the expansion of NATO will be of big concern to Russia. The entire purpose of NATO was to oppose the Soviet Union. From the Russian point of view, they are being painted into a corner. To me it is completely understandable why they would be concerned with this.

Is it really necessary for NATO to keep expanding and pushing on the borders of Russia? Turkey has been a member for a long time. They control a very narrow and defensible choke point between the Black Sea and Mediterranean - and therefore access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. That is a major strategic choke point both militarily and economically. Ukraine, the Baltic States, and possibly Finland can further block or severely reduce access to the world’s oceans.

If NATO is a defensive organization, continued expansion in the east and control of strategic geography can be viewed as not so defensive.

I absolutely do NOT want to justify the actions of Russia. I am simply trying to understand WHY they do what they do. I might be 100% wrong about everything, but I do know that there is a reason for their actions, whether it’s readily apparent or not. I suppose my hope is that Putin really is going insane, in which case he will be ousted. But I don’t think that is the case. If it’s not the case, then what is? To try to answer that question in my own mind, I have to delve into areas I know darn well I don’t understand. But I do know there is more to it.

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