In my opinion, his comment about responding “in kind” showed a real lack of understanding (I hope) about what that term means and required an immediate clarification from him, not that clown playing National Security Advisor who has largely been behind all of the bad advice the President has been getting. The key point, which I think needs to be stated again even more clearly, was the U.S. will act if Russia uses WMD, and Russia risks bringing the U.S. directly into the war if it does. On the President’s words to the 82nd, I’m less concerned. It was pretty clear in context that he was referring what the Soldiers would be possibly be seeing in the faces of the Ukrainian refugees in Poland. In that case, I have no problem with the White House reiterating the stated policy of no troops in Ukraine. On the President stating that Putin “cannot remain in power,” the President was obviously correct. We cannot deal with this man ever again, and even negotiations for lifting sanctions should be predicated on Putin being dead, imprisoned, or exiled. Absolutely no room for Putin to be leading a shadow government. The President was right, and I say Amen. Then the White House “walked back” his words to the point where they had no meaning. The White House had no business doing that, and it causes serious questions with our allies and enemies about who’s really in charge.
Big difference is that Assad didn’t have his finger on the trigger of thousands of nuclear warheads, some of which we have no defense against giving them first strike capability. Back a guy like Putin into a corner where he feels that he’s threatened with no way out and…..BOOM.
News commentators can say it, congressmen and senators may voice it, but the president should not be saying that we need to get rid of Putin even though it’s obvious that’s what he wants. One, it can galvanize the Russian populace to support their threatened president, and two, having the president of the USA acting as a proponent for your downfall tells you that you’re very powerful #1 enemy is looking for ways to expedite your demise. That kind of thing can tend to make someone act desperately.
The last part had been a point of contention for much of Biden's presidency & yes it absolutely raised questions for me. He spoke well, made some off the cuff comments and the only real cringe for me was the whole Putin needing to be gone. That's the type of slip up/thoughts that everyone thinks but don't say things that you'd expect from Trump. Now instead of owning it or expanding on it, the WH walks it back. Who is running the ship at such a critical time? If he's the leader then he needs to LEAD. If he's nothing more than a figurehead, then 25th him & put someone else in there and Biden can be an advisor.
Maybe because you are not Russian? Maybe because you don't it have drilled into your head, to this day in some primary schools, the EVILS of the NAZIs. And, have not heard for years the propaganda spread among the Russia soldiers about NAZI groups in Ukraine killing Russians all over again. Very similar to how Republicans scare the cr@p out of ignorant voters in the US by spreading lies about the supposed "SOCIALISTS" in this country. Hell, several thousand in-bred morons stormed the Capital and tried to over throw the government of the United States based largely on that type of blatant lie promoted propaganda about the great socialist take-over. How much more do you think Russian soldiers are brain washed with similar propaganda about the evil NAZIs in Ukraine and their horrible supporters in the US??
Let’s not confuse saying a Russia with Putin at the helm has no future with the West with demanding Russia’s unconditional surrender. Putin isn’t backed into a corner by saying we won’t deal with him. But Russia’s leadership and its people should know what it’s going to take to restore favor and normal trade relations with us again.
IDK if it was the stupidest thing in 20p years, but it's not smart for sure. This will most likely harden Putin's position, as he probably won't believe that any negotiation with Zelensky is useful if the American goal is to remove him from power. I mean, if it is our goal to play hardball and this is indeed what we aim to accomplish, then fine, we can talk about the pros and cons of it. But you can't just say stuff like that without having a plan to back it up. It seems like his speech is otherwise aimed to soften Putin's resolve, but this one line completely ruins it.
Korea part deux....CNN live "Putin eyeing "Korean scenario" for Ukraine, says Ukrainian military intel chief From CNN's Andrew Carey and Yulia Kesaieva in Lviv .... Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russia’s operations around Kyiv had failed and it was now impossible for the Russian army to overthrow the Ukrainian government. Putin’s war was now focused on the south and the east of the country, he said. “There is reason to believe that he is considering a 'Korean' scenario for Ukraine. That is, [Russian forces] will try to impose a dividing line between the unoccupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine.” Budanov said Russia remained intent on establishing a land corridor from the Russian border to Crimea, and said he expected to see an attempt to unite Russian-occupied territories into a single entity. “We are already seeing attempts to create "parallel" authorities in the occupied territories and to force people to give up [the Ukrainian] currency,” Budanov said, adding that he expected Ukrainians to resist Russia’s political efforts. "
Cnn live "Russian media watchdog forbids distribution of Zelensky interview From CNN's Nathan Hodge in Lviv Moscow's media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, issued a statement Sunday warning Russian news outlets against rebroadcasting or distributing an interview between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of independent Russian journalists. The lengthy video interview, posted in full on Zelensky's Telegram channel, featured questions from some of Russia's most prominent independent journalists, including author Mikhail Zygar and Tikhon Dzyadko, the editor-in-chief of the recently shuttered channel TV Rain. .... Roskomnadzor followed with a statement on Telegram noting that some of the outlets have formally been branded as "foreign agents" by the Russian government. "Roskomnadzor warns the Russian media not to publish this interview," the statement said. "The media outlets conducting the interviews will be subject to scrutiny to determine the extent of responsibility and the appropriate response to be taken.""
Cnn live "Red Cross rejects claims it's deporting Ukrainians to Russia From CNN's Andrew Carey and Olga Voitovych in Lviv ..... “We never help organize or carry out forced evacuations. This is true in Ukraine. This is true for everywhere we work around the world. We would not support any operation that goes against people’s will,” the Red Cross tweeted. On Friday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused ICRC head Peter Maurer of taking a “very questionable decision” to open an office in Rostov – which lies about 37 miles (60 kilometers) from the border with Ukraine. Such an office “legitimized” Russia’s deportations, she suggested. In its statement, the Red Cross said it had no office in Rostov, but was, “scaling up our regional set up to be able respond to needs where we see them. Our priority is to ensure a steady supply of lifesaving aid reaches people, wherever they are.” On Saturday, Vereshchuk accused Russia of creating an “alternative humanitarian reality” by forcibly deporting 40,000 people from occupied parts of Ukraine. Last week, a senior Russian official said more than 62,000 people had been evacuated from Mariupol to protect them from what he said were the "bandits" fighting to keep the besieged city in Ukrainian hands. "
The other posts tell the worse part of it, as in areas near Chernobyl involved, fire/smoke kicking up radioactive dust, etc.
Missing defense minister surfaced... Sergei Shoigu: Amid speculation over his whereabouts, Russia's defense minister resurfaces - CNN
