This is an excellent, informative article (as usual!). I served with USAFSS Intel overseas in the mid-1960s. Russia was the archenemy then. Russia (and China) is the archenemy now. I continue to ask myself if "we" missed something along the way, with regard to Vladimir Putin. GW Bush said when he looked into Putin's eyes, he could see Putin's soul; that Putin was a good man. Bill Clinton lauded Putin's intellect. And then, along came Donald. Yes, "that" Donald! He would sell his own mother or father to better his life situation. He damned near sold the U.S., what with his siege of the Citadel on January 6th.
My fear/concern is that the U.S. no longer has the stones or grit to get down and dirty with Putin or his kind. Every retired Military officer I have listened to of late does NOT believe Putin would push the nuke button. Yet, while I have faith in our Generals and Admirals, I also see in Putin a deranged megalomaniac on steroids who might well destroy the world to sate his appetite for conquest. A pyrrhic victory. (Dr. Strangelove, with characters' roles reversed.)
The world has been placed in a terribly perilous and precarious point in the world's history: Will he, or won't he? There is a solution to Putin, but we cannot discuss that in polite circles.
As to the Germans (thank you for that splendid rendition of "Das Lied der Deutschen". I was stationed in North Germany for two years. I learned the language, befriended the local culture and fell into a pattern where many Germans and Americans alike mistook me for being a German youth (Jugend). Perhaps, just perhaps, Germany once the pariah of the world will become the world's latest savior. I see my own country, the U.S., as having become weak. We dilly/dally. So much calculus is put in play that I fear we may have miscalculated or will do just that. In the meantime, Ukraine will be laid waste, with nothing left to redeem or reclaim. Putin will continue to hold the world hostage, while the “West” continues to head scratch and brain fart.
Can't stop the thought that they are putting domestic electoral politics 1st.
This is an excellent, informative article (as usual!). I served with USAFSS Intel overseas in the mid-1960s. Russia was the archenemy then. Russia (and China) is the archenemy now. I continue to ask myself if "we" missed something along the way, with regard to Vladimir Putin. GW Bush said when he looked into Putin's eyes, he could see Putin's soul; that Putin was a good man. Bill Clinton lauded Putin's intellect. And then, along came Donald. Yes, "that" Donald! He would sell his own mother or father to better his life situation. He damned near sold the U.S., what with his siege of the Citadel on January 6th.
My fear/concern is that the U.S. no longer has the stones or grit to get down and dirty with Putin or his kind. Every retired Military officer I have listened to of late does NOT believe Putin would push the nuke button. Yet, while I have faith in our Generals and Admirals, I also see in Putin a deranged megalomaniac on steroids who might well destroy the world to sate his appetite for conquest. A pyrrhic victory. (Dr. Strangelove, with characters' roles reversed.)
The world has been placed in a terribly perilous and precarious point in the world's history: Will he, or won't he? There is a solution to Putin, but we cannot discuss that in polite circles.
As to the Germans (thank you for that splendid rendition of "Das Lied der Deutschen". I was stationed in North Germany for two years. I learned the language, befriended the local culture and fell into a pattern where many Germans and Americans alike mistook me for being a German youth (Jugend). Perhaps, just perhaps, Germany once the pariah of the world will become the world's latest savior. I see my own country, the U.S., as having become weak. We dilly/dally. So much calculus is put in play that I fear we may have miscalculated or will do just that. In the meantime, Ukraine will be laid waste, with nothing left to redeem or reclaim. Putin will continue to hold the world hostage, while the “West” continues to head scratch and brain fart.