To: skinowski who wrote (757449 ) 2/18/2022 10:11:18 PM From: Bruce L 2 RecommendationsRecommended By lightshipsailor THE WATSONYOUTH
Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 793597 Esteemed doctor, <<<...."everything falls into place if one accepts....that the Russians.... are really troubled by the possibility of facing (NATO)....without having Ukraine as a barrier....">>> Yes, true! Everything would fall into place. ....if it were true!! But it's unreasonable to believe that that is the case.. First of all, Russia is in no sense a democracy so it's entirely irrelevant what "Russians" are "troubled" by. Putin's motivations are all that matter and why would he be concerned for the safety of Russia from a loose alliance of 21 disparate nations who together lack even the military potential of Turkey or Isrrael? In 2008, were "Russians" concerned about facing NATO across a border without Georgia "as a barrier?" Putin then huffed and puffed, claimed he was withdrawing troops from the border.... and then invaded! Putin has often said that the greatest tragedy of he has known (as a former KGB officer) was the dissolution of the once mighty USSR. He openly has spoken of his wish that it be reconstituted. It is irredentism of the most basic sort. He desires above all else the reconstruction of an empire that would be a validation of his own - and Russia's - glory. Putin last month sent troops into Kazakhstan to support what will henceforward be a puppet totally under his control. Look at a world map. Kazakhstan is both rich and huge. Hitler did not fear Poland in 1939 as a threat....and "Germans" were not "troubled" at the prospect of facing the British and the French "without Poland as a barrier." I admire, doctor, your intelligence and writing skill - on so many issues - but our world is getting to be more dangerous, and less liberal, in so many ways, and it does not help any of us to live with false illusions about Putin's real nature.