As is typical of those who are leftists, Vladimir Putin is doing exactly that of which he has accused others. He justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine by claiming it was basically a nest of Nazis (source). Now just as the Nazis under Hitler and the commies under Stalin actually did, he plans to do and apparently has started to do, the same.
"The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots
from scum and traitors and simply spit them out like a fly that
accidentally flew into their mouths," Putin said Wednesday. "I am
convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society
will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and
readiness to respond to any challenges." More at the source. Sure sounds rather Stalin/Hitleresque does it not!
We are headed, it seems, toward WW III at a rapidly increasing pace. While Putin does more and more to fan the flames of death doom & destruction even on his own turf, let alone in Ukraine - other world leaders pile on sanctions that apparently do little more than piss him off and Russia's attacks on the Ukrainian people become more and more heinous. One of the most recent of those terrible attacks was the airstrike on the theater that was housing refugees in Mariupol. The attack was made worse by the fact that the Russians evidently had forehand knowledge that the theater was housing children as it has been reported the word children, written in Russian, had been painted on the street outside the theater. More at the source. All the while, Putin is claiming it is the West that is full of "Nazis" and that the actions of the west amount to pogroms (source) all the while as he emulates them (the Nazis) to the hilt with his invasion of Ukraine, his war crimes and his ongoing purge of his perceived enemies within Russia.
We have seen this before. We have seen the inaction, or at most the inadequate action, of other nations at times like these. We know what will be the result of such a and off until it is too late attitude and that result, in this case, likely will be exactly like those in the past. Russia under Putin will keep going and will ultimately try to conquer as many nations as possible. Then, once any expansionist goals have been achieved Putin will continue to purge those whom he considers his enemies but will do so with a ferocity that comes with the victory of a conqueror over the oppressed whom he has conquered.
If you doubt that it will happen, if Putin and Russia are not stopped dead in their tracks now, just look to history. When it comes to such purges: Germany under Hitler did it, Japan under Hirohito did it, the USSR under Stalin and Khrushchev did it, China under Mao did it, Cambodia under Pol Pot did it and sadly the United States of America, under several presidents, did it to the original inhabitants of North America. (Note, I call them the 'original inhabitants' because every person (or their ancestors) in this country/continent came here from elsewhere. In that regard we are all immigrants or the descendants of them.) If no other nations stand up to Russia now, many nations may fall to the fury of the Russian Bear.
While Putin will carry out some of his purge now, he will do it more so once he has defeated and secured the lands he intends to conquer. If you think conquest is not his intention then read the article at this link. In it, former Russian foreign minister reportedly said Putin's plans include all of eastern Europe and that he intends to:
"...attack, to pressure, to intimidate other
countries, including members of NATO." (Source.)
If that is not concerning enough, then consider what I believe was the most important thing he reportedly, that Putin has:
"...no idea of the world outside of his office in the Kremlin" or "his
bunker under the ground where he hides from COVID and probably now
nuclear bombs." (Source.)
Do you see it. Putin is, in the eyes of this former Russian foreign minister, preparing for nuclear war. How likely is that, everyone wants to believe he would never resort to nukes but it seems evident, if only to me, that he is another psychopath (or at least a lunatic) in a long line of demented wannabe conquerors. Of course, some say Putin is "rational" (source) and will not resort to nukes; yet, Putin keeps on pushing this irrational war and threatening his potential enemies with nuclear destruction. He keeps on doing things that put us potentially closer and closer to such a war; yet the so called experts cannot see it as a possibility. Sounds kind of like what Europe believed about Hitler before WW II and what the US believed about Japan as well.
I think, if Russian forces cannot take Ukraine within a time frame that suits Putin - he may well unleash a nuclear attack on a city like Kyiv. If he does that, it is all too possible nations the free-world will retaliate, if not in like fashion then with a full scale conventional invasion of Russia and Putin would in all likelihood reply with a nuclear counterattack. Once the Putin's bombs start to go off, no sanctions in the universe - no matter how severe - will prevent him from nuking other nations or another city in Ukraine. Other rogue nations with the bomb may feel emboldened by such an attack and launch nukes of their own - if there is no immediate and massive retaliation aimed at Russia. Those attacks probably would be aimed at countries like the USA, Japan, England, India or Israel. If so, an all out Apocalyptic war will be upon us.
Of course, there are slight glimmerings of hope that nuclear war can be avoided. First of all, we can hope that sanctions will bring Russia and thus Putin to their knees. Russia's economy was already failing badly and the sanctions must indeed hurt but remember, sanctions work over time and for the people who are dying now there is no luxury of time. Also bear in mind, a terrible economy did not stop Hitler and Nazi Germany from almost conquering the world. Germany was the most debt ridden country in the northern hemisphere prior to World War II; yet, Hitler built up one of the strongest military forces in the world and commenced to conquer much of Europe before he was finally defeated after a long, brutal and very destructive war in which tens of millions lost their lives. As for the current sanctions, I fear they may not be enough fast enough but I at least, in part, understand why President Biden is reticent to involve the United States more so in the current conflict. While I do not agree with the amount of restraint using restraint in the hope of preventing WW III is understandable to a point. The thing is, I think, he is not doing enough that could be done right now to stop the ongoing slaughter that is happening right now as obviously evidenced by more and more civilians being targeted and killed on a daily basis. Biden giving his support to Poland for them to deliver the desired Mig fighters to the Ukraine would be one way to vastly improve our assistance to Ukraine and to help prevent Russia from winning this conflict. It may be enough to tip the scales and to make Russian military leaders realize Putin must e stopped before WW III is upon us.
Some other glimmerings of hope emanate from two additional sources. The first, of course, is Ukraine, the people of Ukraine may hold Russia off long enough. Long enough for what you may be wondering since I just said in essence that Putin may unleash the Apocalypse in the form of a nuclear attack on Ukraine if Russia cannot defeat it with conventional weapons soon enough to please him. Well, long enough for enough of the people of Russia to oppose him strongly enough so that Russian military leaders realize this has gone on more than long enough and needs to be stopped immediately. Stopped how - not by the unleashing of the demons of a nuclear world war but rather by the assassination of Vladimir Putin. Is there any hope for that - I think so.
It was reported today that Russian General Roman Gavrilov was arrested by Russia''s federal security service. It is not clear why he was arrested. Maybe it was merely due to Putin needing a scapegoat or maybe it was due to one, two or both of purported charges, those being: squandering of fuel and the other leaking information that led to loss of life. More at the source. Of course maybe (and hopefully) it was due to Gavrilov realizing that the war must stop and in order to do so that Putin must be terminated. I think if it was the latter, Putin would not want it made known there were traitors among his high ranking military officers. Now, it may have nothing to do with Gavriov being a traitor, he may just be the fall guy. Regardless, Putin starting to purge the military could basically result in one of two things. Military leaders fall in line behind Putin for fear of losing their lives if they in anyway even so much as seem to oppose him OR high ranking military officers realize this is madness that likely will lead to nuclear war and thus to the end of civilization as we know it and they will take action to prevent that. Again, that action being the termination of Putin. One can hope but if those hopes fail - then other nations must step up and defeat Russia now and sadly that would likely involve a nuclear war.
Of course, there is one other hope, if and when other nations declare war on Russia or their actions provoke Putin into escalating this to a world war. That hope is that any order to deploy nuclear weapons by Putin are disobeyed and that leveler heads with the Russian military from high commanders down to conscripts will prevail. Then again there are those in Russia who are salivating over the prospect of a third world war such as Russian parliament member Oleg Matveychev. He stated that Russia should reclaim Alaska, former Russian settlements in California and should take over the Antarctic among other things. More at the source. Additional attempts at conquest would only equal more war and in the event of Russia trying to take Alaska it would assuredly result in world war. So, while there is some hope this may work out without a world war erupting and thus avoiding a global catastrophe taking place, there also is an awful lot of foreboding of gloom & doom of the most terrible type.
All the best,
Glenn B
