Putin Ukraine Blitz Repeats History, WWIII Not Inevitable

Unique “Nuclear Age” implications aside, history repeated itself as Putin invaded Ukraine ala Hitler in Poland. Why didn’t today’s West see the Neanderthal brute force coming when Russia’s blitzkrieg is a page out of Germany’s WWII playbook to, the propagandists ironically say, fight “Nazism,” & some think threatened a WWIII?

Ask Mr. Churchill how the severe economic sanctions imposed on a defeated Germany circa 1920 helped pave the way for a maniac to gain control of an embittered people against the rest of the world. Ask Mr. Reagan if he could have predicted Russia would not forget its Soviet dismantling after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Fast forward to Wednesday. Putin’s move against Ukraine under Mr. Biden’s watch eerily follows his move against Crimea under Obama’s. And, he’s doing it, not with nukes, but with conventional (if modern) weaponry. AND while an impotent Chamberlain-like West belatedly imposes some irritating sanctions, Putin plays real old-fashioned hard ball by threatening it in turn with “counter-sanctions” & no longer selling the oil & gas it’s become dependent on (with an earlier naive pipeline assist from Joe).

The media is filled with calls for the West to finally impose the fire & brimstone “sanctions” Mr. Biden & EU leaders had promised. Yet, as it was too late to help Poland after Hitler’s entirely predictable move against it with tanks & planes, the train rescuing Ukraine has likely left the station, too. Can we get Mr. Biden’s 300 or so “advisors” out of Ukraine without triggering an all-out WWIII, i.e., if one Russian missile hits an American rescue aircraft? Then, can our foreign policy wonks work with NATO allies to finally pay their fair share as Mr. Trump had demanded in SERIOUSLY defending their homes?

Davd Soul