Pegojack
Roger Freestone
There's a very interesting opinion piece in the Guardian today by regular columnist Simon Tisdall re Putin's aggresion.
He's basically saying sanctions aren't working, the Russians are taking ever more territory, killing more and more civilians, meanwhile the dictator is holding the Western world to ransom with a stranglehold on energy, stifling world food supplies and flooding the west with refugees. He's caused rampant inflation and the winter in prospect is a cold and miserable one for everyone opposing him. He thinks the strains will inevitably cause the western alliance to fracture, which will lead to even more aggression. Maybe the Baltic states next.
What he argues is that the time has come to actively oppose Russia with the West's overwheming military might.
Now he doesn't say how to go about this, and there's no mention of Putin's nuclear weapons. What do people on here think of this point of view?
I'm not sure. I see the logic of his arguement, but it's an incredibly dangerous one.
I suppose the first step would be to declare a no fly zone over the whole of Ukraine, but that would have to be followed by a no missile and no artillery zone, which implies hitting non complying Russian assets outside Ukraine, and on the sea. What next? Drive the Russians out of the country completely? Would Putin's own side get rid of him if faced with military defeat and humiliation? I think this debate is going to get louder as the year progresses.
He's basically saying sanctions aren't working, the Russians are taking ever more territory, killing more and more civilians, meanwhile the dictator is holding the Western world to ransom with a stranglehold on energy, stifling world food supplies and flooding the west with refugees. He's caused rampant inflation and the winter in prospect is a cold and miserable one for everyone opposing him. He thinks the strains will inevitably cause the western alliance to fracture, which will lead to even more aggression. Maybe the Baltic states next.
What he argues is that the time has come to actively oppose Russia with the West's overwheming military might.
Now he doesn't say how to go about this, and there's no mention of Putin's nuclear weapons. What do people on here think of this point of view?
I'm not sure. I see the logic of his arguement, but it's an incredibly dangerous one.
I suppose the first step would be to declare a no fly zone over the whole of Ukraine, but that would have to be followed by a no missile and no artillery zone, which implies hitting non complying Russian assets outside Ukraine, and on the sea. What next? Drive the Russians out of the country completely? Would Putin's own side get rid of him if faced with military defeat and humiliation? I think this debate is going to get louder as the year progresses.
