I have labeled Putin’s conduct of war in Ukraine a strategic blunder that has ever-widened the war and is on the verge of spiraling out of control if Trump delivers nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. The way Putin has conducted the war, now approaching four years in duration, has maximized Russian casualties. Putin stupidly never permitted the Russian military to cut the train lines between Poland, Lvov, and Kiev, thus permitting unrestricted inflow into Ukraine of US and NATO weapons and men to the war front as well as the Ukrainian attack and occupation of Russia’s Kursk region.
In other words, Putin did nothing to degrade Ukraine’s ability to fight a war. He even left the neo-Nazi government in Kiev unmolested.
Natural Law
Buy New $6.98
(as of 08:06 UTC - Details)
In his latest John Helmer seems to say that Putin’s unserious approach to war is becoming an issue in Russia, resulting in Putin’s removal of some restrictions on the General Staff’s conduct of the war.
Gilbert Doctorow recently reported that there is now talk in Russia about moving Putin aside in favor of a more aggressive leader who will get the war over with. On a recent program Doctorow discussed who some of these leaders might be. See also this.
I welcome the realism that Helmer and Doctorow are adding to my longtime efforts. We have progressed on a path to nuclear war because Putin never demonstrated Russian resolution by quickly terminating Ukraine’s ability to continue the war. The US took advantage of Putin’s irresolution to increase the number and severity of provocations. Putin’s response has been to deny that they are provocations. He declared the attack on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet “an act of terrorism,” not an act of war. As for Washington sending Tomahawk missiles, Putin and his foreign minister say the Tomahawks change nothing on the battlefield, an extraordinary claim as the range of the Tomahawks widens and deepens the battlefield by 1,000 miles.
These weak responses from Putin and Lavrov are not responses likely to deter more provocations. Trump now speaks of Putin as a paper tiger and of Russia as a country that Zelensky can defeat.
In the West the understanding of the dangerous situation is limited and colored by those who are willing to give Putin the benefit of the doubt on the grounds that the war was forced on him by Washington and those who believe their own demonization of Russia, aiming for Russia’s destruction. Non-partisan objective analysis of the situation has been rare. Since neither Washington nor Moscow have an understanding of the mistakes they are making, the chances are rising that war will resolve the issue.
The War Continues Because Putin Refuses to Use the Force to End It
Gilbert Doctorow declares that he has abandoned his support for the way Putin is conducting his ever-widening, never-ending war in Ukraine as it is likely leading to the outbreak of major war.
