Some of this stuff really seems like lame piling on just to be on the right side of the global wave of righteousness.
I had heard somebody say that Putin is scared to death of Covid, won’t get within 40 feet of anybody and has some visitors sprayed down.
Probably. But i like it. Leave no stone unturned. Obviously Putin gives no shits about this. Nonetheless, Russia needs to be cut off from the world in every possible way, no matter how small. Obviously anything that rankles the oligarchs is going to be most impactful. But economic collapse could cause civil unrest. This isn’t about the content, it’s about shutting down every inch of their economy. Businesses are already shutting down en masse just days into sanctions, they are lining up at the banks, people that can are pulling money out and fleeing Russia.
There oil is super high in sulfur and dense so it needs heavier refining? If my google fu is correct.
We don't add them - they apply or petition to be included in the alliance. If we turn down a country that otherwise has the political and economic systems that would qualify them, it signifies they are available for the taking particularly if they share a border with an expansionist country.
China's leaders do not care in the least if a few thousand Chinese are sacrificed in Ukraine if it furthers their own agenda. If it gets people riled up that the west caused this conflict that resulted in the deaths of these Chinese, then it was a good thing. They don't value human life all that much in China.
Frustrated Putin may order escalation of violence in Ukraine, U.S. officials say NBC article discussing intelligence concerns that Putin’s fears of COVID may have led him to isolate himself from the Kremlin to such a degree that he is only dealing with sycophants and was not given the information needed to have an accurate view of what was going on, and is now lashing out and becoming increasingly erratic as his frustration over Russia and him being embarrassed grows.
Im good with a pile on as much as you can approach. Everything the people there don’t get will stir more unrest.
Sounds rather familiar to what was going on here, with the “sycophants” feeding horrible info to tickle the ambitions of their “leader”. Obviously Putin had many more years dismantling what ever guardrails were in place in post-Soviet Russia. It’s probably more his delusions of grandeur/conquest, but isn’t implausible a little “COVID crazy” factored in.
Putin does not want to make Ukraine part of Russia again. He wants buffer states between Russia and NATO states. And he wants those buffer states to be afraid of Russia. This invasion accomplishes both of those things. There is no need for Russia to rebuild Ukraine after all this is over with--that's their problem. Having a country reduced to rubble next door is a positive to Russia for two reasons: getting a little wealth tends to make nations start thinking about independence and standing up for themselves, and a good thrashing will cause the Ukrainians to remember who is boss in this relationship. There is no need for Russia to prop up Ukraine in any way. The big question to me is, when Russia defeats Ukraine and eliminates the leadership of Ukraine, will they: a) back out of the country completely and allow Ukraine to rebuild under a puppet government? b) back out of the country partially, but keep military bases in Ukraine to remind the puppet government who they owe their allegiance to? c) occupy the country for the foreseeable future and run the country? Like the professor said, this is the Russian version of our Monroe Doctrine. Except in this case, it is how a mafia-type country would practice the Monroe Doctrine. No doubt, the neocons and the Obama/Hillary/Biden coalition screwed the pooch on this one.
Interesting article on Biden and the i-word (that he won't say). https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-24/joe-bidens-invasion-evasion The article implies that if Biden used the word invasion, he might be backing himself into a corner where he has to respond militarily.
