I Don't Understand it. Someone Please Explain it to Me - Putin

[What if...?]

I'm hesitant to call it instinct. The world that humans evolved in is radically different than the one we started living in about 8,000-11,000 years ago. We evolved to be at least as much cooperative as competitive. Like any organism, bands of humans would fight and compete with each other if there was real scarcity, but we dealt with this conflict in ways that were generally peaceful. We typically just moved on to the next fresh water source, the next meadow, forest, whatever.

Once we started storing grains and farming, our world changed forever. Our populations grew. We lived in much larger groups that needed specialization and special skills and knowledge in order to sustain the growing complexity to make it all work. This created inequality. It also created not just real scarcity, but perceived scarcity. When humans began living in larger, more complex, and less egalitarian society, we began to notice inequality. And ordinary folk regularly fought against their masters whenever the came to this realization. And chiefs, leaders, etc came to a counter-realization: they needed to suppress and dominate people if they were to maintain their status at apex of a complex civilization.

Ok. So we agree on the basics.

The instinct, or drive I describe began as “first at the fire”. Human beings sort into leaders and followers. But it was more fluid and not the rigid hierarchical systems we watablished after we settled down.

Being good enough to sit closest to the fire meant better food, better mates, better “jobs”. So it was desirable and encouraged bettering oneself. Pro survival. For the individual and the group.

We didn’t evolve with greed. One can only carry so much stuff. No one’s gonna carry your stuff. Food spoiled pretty quickly.

But that desire to be respected and enjoy a better “place”, which made us make ourselves better in the hunter gatherer environment got warped into the early model of what we have today: a world that exists to feed that hunger.

Because it’s a neurochemical addiction like some have for sex or risky sports or gambling.

And Tolerance develops. Which means they cannot ever get enough but won’t stop until no one has more status.

It’s a pickle.

 

[Indydave]

He had it all. He's a butcher and a sociopath, but he had it all. He could set himself up with a sweet, militarily protected island in the Pacific somewhere and live a great life now.

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

He could retire now, or continue to rule Russia for the rest of his life, but he did THIS?!!

Why? Please someone explain it to me.

the madness of having or attaining power......and all down through the history of mankind and all the madmen who sought power; in the final analysis they are just as dead as the millions they killed........the point? riches....nah.....just plain old insanity.......and the sickening thing is these madmen entice followers for their crap over and over and over......we never learn......why.....and that's the real puzzle

 

[Variant]

He had it all. He's a butcher and a sociopath, but he had it all. He could set himself up with a sweet, militarily protected island in the Pacific somewhere and live a great life now.

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

He could retire now, or continue to rule Russia for the rest of his life, but he did THIS?!!

Why? Please someone explain it to me.

Putin is naturally paranoid, just like Russia is naturally paranoid.

He sees his power as much more tenuous than it is and his borders much more insecure than they are.

Russia is also in a severe demographic decline headed for collapse in about 20 years or so, what you are seeing is a desperate attempt to seal themselves off from the world and use their "strength" which is their military to try to dominate the world stage.

 

[lurchadams]

Putin is naturally paranoid, just like Russia is naturally paranoid.

He sees his power as much more tenuous than it is and his borders much more insecure than they are.

Russia is also in a severe demographic decline headed for collapse in about 20 years or so, what you are seeing is a desperate attempt to seal themselves off from the world and use their "strength" which is their military to try to dominate the world stage.

Or, it's just one maniacal asshole being a total tool.

 

[Variant]

Or, it's just one maniacal asshole being a total tool.

I have a tendency to believe the environment helps shape the man.

Putin is a product of the KGB and an ageing failing soviet state.

 

[lurchadams]

I have a tendency to believe the environment helps shape the man.

Putin is a product of the KGB and an ageing failing soviet state.

Yeah, good point. He longs for the old days.

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

He had it all. He's a butcher and a sociopath, but he had it all. He could set himself up with a sweet, militarily protected island in the Pacific somewhere and live a great life now.

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

He could retire now, or continue to rule Russia for the rest of his life, but he did THIS?!!

Why? Please someone explain it to me.

I'm at a loss of what his end game is. I don't get it. Is he just mad? Russia is enormous, why do they need more land?

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

Remember the movie "American Gangster" based on a true story? The gangster had it all. Millions and millions of dollars, power beyond imagination, all the riches anyone could have. But he had to go back for one more run. A run that meant nothing. A run with no apparent profit. Why? Why risk it all?

What such people are addicted to is not the riches. It's not the fame. It's the power rush. It's the thrill of getting away with something. It's why rich people steal and powerful people commit crimes.

It's a power rush and nothing will ever satisfy it. That's why Putin does what he does. He rides a dragon.

Yup, can be said about every criminal organization, particularly the cartels. They get heat on them with the violence. They make so much money, yet they want it all. Plenty of money to go around to everybody, but they get greedy and power hungry, want it all. And it ends up being their downfall.

 

[lurchadams]

I'm at a loss of what his end game is. I don't get it. Is he just mad? Russia is enormous, why do they need more land?

Someone else eluded it it in this thread. Putin's a product of the KGB, a nefarious force that held the USSR together for years using fear and intimidation. How dare those Ukrainian upstarts declare their independence from the empire? **** them all, I'm killing them. <--- I'm pretty sure that's about his thought process now.

 

[Variant]

I'm at a loss of what his end game is. I don't get it. Is he just mad? Russia is enormous, why do they need more land?

Strategically this is why:


Note the presenter here also mistakenly thought that Russia could take Ukraine with their current army.

 

[joluoto]

I'm at a loss of what his end game is. I don't get it. Is he just mad? Russia is enormous, why do they need more land?

Because Russia was "humiliated" in the 90s and lost land they think was rightfully theirs (the other Soviet republics). See the 90s as Russia's Weimar and you get the picture.

 

[pantofel]

Putin clearly wanted Russia to be in the European club. He, like his 2 predecessors, imagined Russia part of Europe, with a new security arrangement that would replace NATO. The dissolution of the USSR & Warsaw Pact should've obviated NATO. Biden in his 1997 speech to the Atlantic Council spelled out the problem, which is that NATO had to redefine its purpose. Inertia & a commitment to US military presence in Europe (which for some reason included unreserved expansion) is the purpose. That covers the "get off my lawn" bit.

Everything else is inside-out. Putin is extremely risk averse. Very cautious by nature & from his KGB training, which was in law/bureaucracy. (The KGB isn't the simplistic comic book caricature it's made out to be.) And he personally loves Germany, that's his second home. Disrupting "liberal democracies" couldn't be further from his vision of Russia or of his career. Doing business with the rest of Europe, that's more his game. Like any level-headed bureaucrat. It's difficult adopting a realistic view of the "enemy", but these sanguine descriptions of Putin's career are what's there, in full view. Minus the filter from some incompetent biographers & MI6 fantasists.

Someone mentioned oligarchs. Putin dispatched several of them. There's a pattern here: he saw domestic assets being grabbed by a handful of Yeltsin-era billionaires, and he saw these assets being broken up & auctioned off to foreign buyers, for the personal enrichment of said oligarchs. Just as happened with regular Russians' savings during the economic 'shock therapy' under Yeltsin. Millions of Russians died prematurely, starved, became homeless, etc. Putin was for undoing that damage & securing Russia's assets for the benefit of the people & domestic industry. That explains his popularity for most of 20 years. Shaky early on, plus wars in Chechnya & Dagestan, and terrorist attacks. Economic recovery was slow but steady.

Putin has probably never been as popular in Russia as he's been lately. That extreme caution? That was the 7 years spent trying to get European partners to help enforce the Minsk accords. His popularity dipped, the reason is simple: Russians were seeing Russian-speaking people in eastern & southern Ukraine being targeted with violence, arrest, routine harassment, since 2014. For being "Russian". A couple million refugees will drive the point home, literally. It makes it personal. Plus many of them have relatives in Russia. Their refugee status was supposed to be temporary, and they were owed recognition from Kyiv (under Minsk), which they never got - ID cards, formal registration, pensions, etc. It was a de facto expulsion. Yet another reason to conclude the Minsk accords were never going to translate into a final settlement.

Biden's stance on NATO hasn't changed since 1997. He filled his State Department & advisory staff with NATO hardliners from a parallel universe, like himself. The State Department agreement with Ukraine for eventual NATO accession was announced in September 2021, signed in November - which is when the diplomacy became more frantic, and Putin started demanding direct involvement from Biden, seeing as Macron's purpose was to stall. Biden refused. Another missing piece: Merkel, who had a way of whipping Ukrainian presidents into line. She's replaced around the same time, by a pushover. Without strong European counterparts, the US runs the show. The US doesn't want, and never wanted, the Minsk accords (which were a pure European product) to lead anywhere. So they don't. Instead, you get escalation at the line of contact, a twenty-fold increase in shelling between December and February, mainly from the government side. (Recall L.Graham in 2017, promising "the year of offense"? And that was after Minsk.) This was the signal to stop being as cautious & to intervene.

Very cautious also in preparing for economic sanctions, nullified by financial restructuring & commodity sales to "friendly" nations. The sanctions will mostly hurt Europe; and developing countries that'll feel a severe food shortage. The Russian economy is ramping up domestic consumer goods production, and there are several partners it can call upon to fill some voids, such as consumer electronics. Inflation over time... but no worse than everywhere else.

Western economic response is deranged. Freezing Russia's foreign reserves caused permanent loss of trust in other govts, twd US/UK/EU banks. That will never be restored, period. Irreversible damage. Energy sanctions are also deranged, as there are other markets. And EU govts disagree on these. It's debatable if even the EU will survive intact. Two self-owns, and Putin + his ambitions had no agency in either one.

 

[lurchadams]

Putin clearly wanted Russia to be in the European club. He, like his 2 predecessors, imagined Russia part of Europe, with a new security arrangement that would replace NATO. The dissolution of the USSR & Warsaw Pact should've obviated NATO. Biden in his 1997 speech to the Atlantic Council spelled out the problem, which is that NATO had to redefine its purpose. Inertia & a commitment to US military presence in Europe (which for some reason included unreserved expansion) is the purpose. That covers the "get off my lawn" bit.

Everything else is inside-out. Putin is extremely risk averse. Very cautious by nature & from his KGB training, which was in law/bureaucracy. (The KGB isn't the simplistic comic book caricature it's made out to be.) And he personally loves Germany, that's his second home. Disrupting "liberal democracies" couldn't be further from his vision of Russia or of his career. Doing business with the rest of Europe, that's more his game. Like any level-headed bureaucrat. It's difficult adopting a realistic view of the "enemy", but these sanguine descriptions of Putin's career are what's there, in full view. Minus the filter from some incompetent biographers & MI6 fantasists.

Someone mentioned oligarchs. Putin dispatched several of them. There's a pattern here: he saw domestic assets being grabbed by a handful of Yeltsin-era billionaires, and he saw these assets being broken up & auctioned off to foreign buyers, for the personal enrichment of said oligarchs. Just as happened with regular Russians' savings during the economic 'shock therapy' under Yeltsin. Millions of Russians died prematurely, starved, became homeless, etc. Putin was for undoing that damage & securing Russia's assets for the benefit of the people & domestic industry. That explains his popularity for most of 20 years. Shaky early on, plus wars in Chechnya & Dagestan, and terrorist attacks. Economic recovery was slow but steady.

Putin has probably never been as popular in Russia as he's been lately. That extreme caution? That was the 7 years spent trying to get European partners to help enforce the Minsk accords. His popularity dipped, the reason is simple: Russians were seeing Russian-speaking people in eastern & southern Ukraine being targeted with violence, arrest, routine harassment, since 2014. For being "Russian". A couple million refugees will drive the point home, literally. It makes it personal. Plus many of them have relatives in Russia. Their refugee status was supposed to be temporary, and they were owed recognition from Kyiv (under Minsk), which they never got - ID cards, formal registration, pensions, etc. It was a de facto expulsion. Yet another reason to conclude the Minsk accords were never going to translate into a final settlement.

Biden's stance on NATO hasn't changed since 1997. He filled his State Department & advisory staff with NATO hardliners from a parallel universe, like himself. The State Department agreement with Ukraine for eventual NATO accession was announced in September 2021, signed in November - which is when the diplomacy became more frantic, and Putin started demanding direct involvement from Biden, seeing as Macron's purpose was to stall. Biden refused. Another missing piece: Merkel, who had a way of whipping Ukrainian presidents into line. She's replaced around the same time, by a pushover. Without strong European counterparts, the US runs the show. The US doesn't want, and never wanted, the Minsk accords (which were a pure European product) to lead anywhere. So they don't. Instead, you get escalation at the line of contact, a twenty-fold increase in shelling between December and February, mainly from the government side. (Recall L.Graham in 2017, promising "the year of offense"? And that was after Minsk.) This was the signal to stop being as cautious & to intervene.

<Had to delete to make room>

This is all great information - but it's heavily biased with YOUR opinion. I copied this excerpt from one of your paragraphs above:

"Putin was for undoing that damage & securing Russia's assets for the benefit of the people & domestic industry. That explains his popularity for most of 20 years. Shaky early on, plus wars in Chechnya & Dagestan, and terrorist attacks. Economic recovery was slow but steady."

That might have been true at one point but you know it's not anymore. The people don't get wealthy, Putin and his klepto buddies do.

Putin's nothing but an evil thug. He's not popular. He steals elections and jails his opponents.

 

[Fabiusbile]

He had it all. He's a butcher and a sociopath, but he had it all. He could set himself up with a sweet, militarily protected island in the Pacific somewhere and live a great life now.

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

He could retire now, or continue to rule Russia for the rest of his life, but he did THIS?!!

Why? Please someone explain it to me.

Because if they were really interested in something beyond the HBO and Netflix series... you wouldn't ask yourself that question.

Do you know who Alexey Arestovich is? This is one of the most trusted people of Mr. Zelensky, his adviser and one of the most public people of the current government of Ukraine, back in 2019 he gave an interview to Apostrophe, explaining the prospects for the future of Ukraine, and in this interview he directly told the journalist that Ukraine cannot exist as an independent state, it will have to go into alliance with NATO, but the price of it... guaranteed invasion of Russia, then he said that most likely 21-22 years or 2024 there will be a war
Russia cannot allow Ukraine to join NATO, it is contrary to national interests.
If you want, I can give you a link to this interview.

I will add from myself. The problematic situation is that Ukraine has become a provocateur state, I have been consciously looking for a conflict with Russia for many years, if Russia had allowed Ukraine to join NATO, then provocations were already from the bloc country, which is already a nuclear war.

This war was being prepared for many years and there were attempts to negotiate, but the politicians could not do it.
Now everyone will suffer.
The Europeans will become poorer, because the price of supporting Ukraine is the exclusion of Russian energy, and the replacement that the United States offers is more expensive, i.e. European industry, which is already hard to compete with Asian industry... in fact, he is living out his last days. The world is ruled by the market and the market does not care about the lyrics.
The Russians will become poorer, because the war will come out of our pocket.
Ruins will remain of Ukraine. Zelensky had a choice, to save the country and people by surrendering or to fight... if we cannot capture Ukraine, we will destroy it, bomb it to the state of Somalia and Dresden... so that Ukraine is no longer interesting to anyone as an ally.
There will be fewer residents of third world countries, because because of the war in Ukraine, sowing takes place in it, and even those grain reserves that are in it, it is not possible to withdraw... and even if it turns out, this grain will go to the white West, certainly not to Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East.
And the other largest grain producer, Russia, has imposed a ban on the export of food from the country, because world hunger is on the threshold.
China, India, the United States will not receive investments from the defeat of European industry, because in the light of the coming famine... with the famine, the term will be slightly tightened, third world countries will starve, in other places, food will simply rise in price... what is happening will cause a global crisis, and with the fall of European purchasing power, it will intensify.

 

[Indydave]

Putin is guilty of mankind's ultimate curse..........PRIDE......

 

[RaleBulgarian]

Do you know who Alexey Arestovich is? This is one of the most trusted people of Mr. Zelensky, his adviser and one of the most public people of the current government of Ukraine, back in 2019 he gave an interview to Apostrophe, explaining the prospects for the future of Ukraine, and in this interview he directly told the journalist that Ukraine cannot exist as an independent state, it will have to go into alliance with NATO, but the price of it... guaranteed invasion of Russia, then he said that most likely 21-22 years or 2024 there will be a war
Russia cannot allow Ukraine to join NATO, it is contrary to national interests.
If you want, I can give you a link to this interview.

In the 2019 interview, Arestovich said that Ukraine needs to join NATO to prevent Russia from invading and occupying the country within the next 10-12 years, but noted that Russia would invade and destroy much of the country’s infrastructure before Ukraine could join NATO, making the country “so NATO won’t be interested in us”.

A catch 22 for Ukraine. Either way, Russia would illegally attack/invade it’s neighbor sovereign country.

Arestovich also said, given the two options, he preferred his country defeat Russia in war, “joining NATO on the basis of victory over Russia”.

I will add from myself. The problematic situation is that Ukraine has become a provocateur state,

How so?

if Russia had allowed Ukraine to join NATO, then provocations were already from the bloc country, which is already a nuclear war.

Russia doesn’t have authority to “allow” any action of another sovereign country.

This war was being prepared for many years and there were attempts to negotiate, but the politicians could not do it.
Now everyone will suffer.
The Europeans will become poorer, because the price of supporting Ukraine is the exclusion of Russian energy,

Yes, there is already temporary economic pain in Europe and in the United States, to a much lesser extent.

A price worth paying though.

The Russians will become poorer, because the war will come out of our pocket.

Yep. Not Putin’s pockets.

Ruins will remain of Ukraine. Zelensky had a choice, to save the country and people by surrendering or to fight... if we cannot capture Ukraine, we will destroy it, bomb it to the state of Somalia and Dresden... so that Ukraine is no longer interesting to anyone as an ally.

Zelensky, and the people of Ukraine are absolutely doing the right thing in fighting. They are supported (literally and figuratively) and admired by other freedom living democracies around the world.

There will be fewer residents of third world countries, because because of the war in Ukraine,

There are already fewer residents in at least one 2nd world country.

“The pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article claiming 9,861 members of the Russian armed forces had been killed and another 16,153 had been injured, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to an archived version of the article and screenshots from Wall Street Journal and ABC News reporters.”

500 Or 10,000 Deaths? Russian Media Finally Seems To Report Dire Troop Casualty NumbersâAnd Then Deletes Them

Russia has remained secretive about its military losses since it first invaded Ukraine last month.

www.forbes.com

sowing takes place in it, and even those grain reserves that are in it, it is not possible to withdraw... and even if it turns out, this grain will go to the white West, certainly not to Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. And the other largest grain producer, Russia, has imposed a ban on the export of food from the country, because world hunger is on the threshold.
China, India, the United States will not receive investments from the defeat of European industry, because in the light of the coming famine... with the famine, the term will be slightly tightened, third world countries will starve, in other places, food will simply rise in price... what is happening will cause a global crisis, and with the fall of European purchasing power, it will intensify.

Horse shit apocalyptic drivel.

 

[Mircea]

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

To prevent Russia from being carved up by the US.

The US intends to put air bases in Ukraine and then use those bases to enforce a No-Fly Zone over western Russia while the US and Britain carve up eastern Russia get control of all the oil and natural gas and metal/mineral ores there.

If Russia illegally overthrew the Mexican government like Bush illegally overthrew the Ukrainian government in 2004, and Russia did so to put air bases there so it could enforce a No-Fly Zone over the eastern US while it carved up the western US with the help of the Reconquista Movement, the US would invade Mexico.

Anyone who says the US would not invade Mexico in that hypothetical scenario is a disingenuous hypocrite.

And, no one is being cleansed.

The US killed 14x more Iraqis between April 2003 and September 2004, than Russia has killed Ukrainians so far.

The US would not allow the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights investigate in Iraq, but watch the US push for an investigation in Ukraine. In fact, the US already is.

 

[Manc Skipper]

He has for a long time had this compulsion to be the saviour of Russia that brings back the USSR/ Russian Empire and corrects the big unjust wrong that was the "geopolitical disaster" that the collapse of the USSR was. It's basically always been about making "Russia great again". For Putin and his ideologues only Great Powers are real nations with real intentions. The nations that broke off from the USSR are not real, and doesn't have their own identity or even political ambitions, they are just manipulated by the West. The whole idea that Ukrainians are an own people and not Russians, is a ideology in it's core hostile to Russia and thus it's Nazism. The historical wrong must be corrected, and Russia must reabsorb the Russkiy Mir (Russian space) and denazify the lost brothers who are deceived into believe they are not Russians.

He's also dying, and wants to build a legacy. That legacy is turning out to be losing about a third of his invasion force so far, not to mention numerous tanks guns and convoys of supplies, several ships too. Maybe he'll let off a nuke on Britain, as he has threatened again this week.

 

[Indydave]

To prevent Russia from being carved up by the US.

The US intends to put air bases in Ukraine and then use those bases to enforce a No-Fly Zone over western Russia while the US and Britain carve up eastern Russia get control of all the oil and natural gas and metal/mineral ores there.

If Russia illegally overthrew the Mexican government like Bush illegally overthrew the Ukrainian government in 2004, and Russia did so to put air bases there so it could enforce a No-Fly Zone over the eastern US while it carved up the western US with the help of the Reconquista Movement, the US would invade Mexico.

Anyone who says the US would not invade Mexico in that hypothetical scenario is a disingenuous hypocrite.

And, no one is being cleansed.

The US killed 14x more Iraqis between April 2003 and September 2004, than Russia has killed Ukrainians so far.

The US would not allow the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights investigate in Iraq, but watch the US push for an investigation in Ukraine. In fact, the US already is.

whatever......imo the main point is Putin started this war and now thousands on both sides are dead.....thousands that would today be alive going about their lives in peace as they were before......it's Hitler and the Nazis all over again......it's stupid, it's needless, it's insane.......why and why.......all people want is to live in peace and prosper yet we keep worshiping our stupid pride and listening to madmen.......why and why

 

[WillyPete]

He had it all. He's a butcher and a sociopath, but he had it all. He could set himself up with a sweet, militarily protected island in the Pacific somewhere and live a great life now.

But NO! He decided to attack/level/murder. Why? What have the Ukrainian people done to him that they deserve to be "cleanesed"?

He could retire now, or continue to rule Russia for the rest of his life, but he did THIS?!!

Why? Please someone explain it to me.

My best guess is it's a legacy play. He wanted to secure his place in the history books by reuniting old Russian territories.

It's better than just being known as a self-serving murderous dictator who died rich.

But now he gets to be the self-serving murderous dictator that lost the old mystique of the USSR, and bricked Russia's economy for a decade (or more) and then died rich.

 

[lurchadams]

My best guess is it's a legacy play. He wanted to secure his place in the history books by reuniting old Russian territories.

It's better than just being known as a self-serving murderous dictator who died rich.

But now he gets to be the self-serving murderous dictator that lost the old mystique of the USSR, and bricked Russia's economy for a decade (or more) and then died rich.

He's getting his ass kicked so bad and it's rumored he's dying from cancer - I hope his last act isn't to take the entire world with him. I'm kinda serious!

 

[WillyPete]

To prevent Russia from being carved up by the US.

The US intends to put air bases in Ukraine and then use those bases to enforce a No-Fly Zone over western Russia while the US and Britain carve up eastern Russia get control of all the oil and natural gas and metal/mineral ores there.

If Russia illegally overthrew the Mexican government like Bush illegally overthrew the Ukrainian government in 2004, and Russia did so to put air bases there so it could enforce a No-Fly Zone over the eastern US while it carved up the western US with the help of the Reconquista Movement, the US would invade Mexico.

Anyone who says the US would not invade Mexico in that hypothetical scenario is a disingenuous hypocrite.

And, no one is being cleansed.

The US killed 14x more Iraqis between April 2003 and September 2004, than Russia has killed Ukrainians so far.

The US would not allow the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights investigate in Iraq, but watch the US push for an investigation in Ukraine. In fact, the US already is.

Does "If you can't beat them, join them." not translate into Russian?

There was a winning strategy. Those goofs blew right past it.

 

[WillyPete]

He's getting his ass kicked so bad and it's rumored he's dying from cancer - I hope his last act isn't to take the entire world with him. I'm kinda serious!

It's a legitimate concern, but what's to be done?

If Putin's that far gone then our best hope is his inner circle. He's not capable of launching a nuclear attack all by himself.

We stick to the MAD doctrine, so no surprises for Putin. Whatever happens, they'll see it coming way in advance.

 

[lurchadams]

It's a legitimate concern, but what's to be done?

If Putin's that far gone then our best hope is his inner circle. He's not capable of launching a nuclear attack all by himself.

We stick to the MAD doctrine, so no surprises for Putin. Whatever happens, they'll see it coming way in advance.

Lets just hope there's a "General Miley" in there somewhere that can stop him.

 

[Dayton3]

But, Bush said he did.

The Bush Admin. never claimed that.