I just think it comes back to that equation about not wanting to start all out war with a nuclear armed state. If Russia do use chemical weapons in Ukraine (like they assisted Assad to do in Syria to break the resistance in Aleppo) will the US step in then ? They didn't last time btw, even though Obama said use of chemical weapons was a red line.
He would have done. In lots of ways I agree with why Putin was pissed off, the West has been taking the piss for ages. However, as I said, he had not right to invade, he overstepped the line by doing that, but I suppose that's what all terrorists do, when you don't listen. Why do we consider the West is better than China or Soviet Union, we aint no better, in fact we are proabably the biggest trouble makers on the planet.
We've picked and chosen where to drop our bombs, and when to stay schtum. Like you say, we don't really have any moral authority given our ability not only to sit back and watch Israel illegally occupy and persecute Palestinians, but also finance and arm the aggressors. Putin is paranoid about the west and the expansion of NATO and you can see why he's jittery about missiles parked on his doorstep. But the one thing you can say about NATO is that they wouldn't strike first. And in that respect, those missiles are designed as a deterrent.
Thing is with Putin, if he had kept his head, he would have got a fair amount of support from Westerners, now he's blown it all, because no one can support him now, I thought he was supposed be good at all this communications game, instead it's like he's totally lost it. He can never win now, he's caused so much harm to Russia, when so many bridges had been built, shame really.
The West were falling over themselves to bring him into their capitalist free market club after Yeltsin drank himself into oblivion. But Putin has got a different narrative. He sees the expansion of the EU and NATO as a threat to Russia and so he's pursued a similar stance, wanting to expand Russia to counter it. It feels like a massive missed opportunity, because a peaceful collaboration stretching right around the world from the UK, across Europe, across Russia, all the way to Canada could have acted as a catalyst for peace elsewhere. That said, I'm a glass half full type of person and it sometimes only takes a change of 'boss' to change the whole landscape again. Putin might want to hold onto power forever, but the man is nearly 70 and he won't be around forever. Hopefully he doesn't cause too much of a ****storm that can't be put right again someday in the future.
Hard to know what's gone on in Putin's head, but age can be a big factor for change of personality and unusual behaviours. We tend to be wiser, but in a position of power, can also be very dangerous if you hold certain ideology's deep inside, and he obviously did.
I think it's something he's probably been planning for a long time. He's seen the West sit back and do nothing when he invaded Georgia, invaded Chechnya, supported Assad and when he annexed Crimea. He's also seen the UK leaving the EU project and probably taken that as a sign that the EU is weak and he's seen the abject failure of the Americans in their botched retreat from Afghanistan. He's probably looked at that, and the fact that he's 70 and thought this is the time to strike. He doesn't seem like the sort of bloke who will mellow with the wisdom of age
Yeh coz every single Arab lives in Mecca they all called Abdul too bet you didnt know that Duggie Willis
