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2022-12-30 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

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Posted by Besoeker 2022-12-30 10:43|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

#1 A very useful piece for clarifying my thinking. Thank you, Besoeker.

I believe that this war is unusual in its moral clarity. Russia’s case for invasion was flimsy and fabricated. Even if the case had been stronger, neither the original act of aggression nor the cruelty and brutality of Russia’s methods could be justified. I felt sure from day one that this was not a war Russia could actually win, in the sense of being able to conquer, subjugate, and pacify Ukraine, and that its defeat is vital not only for the future of Ukraine but also for the future of European security and international order. Its military performance has been consistently poor. But none of that translates easily into a Ukrainian victory and even when Ukrainian forces have come out on top, the battles have been gruelling. The damage done by this unnecessary war will take years to put right. So when people ask me if I am optimistic, I say that I am in believing that Ukraine will prevail in the end but not when I think about the additional suffering this will entail.

.... Since early September my analysis of Putin and his strategy has become much bleaker. He has come to frame this war as a sort of civilisational struggle, far more than an effort to protect Russian-language speakers in the Donbas. As soon as the annexation of the four Ukrainian provinces were announced in September it was evident that he was making a serious peace deal almost impossible.

Posted by trailing wife 2022-12-30 16:02|| 2022-12-30 16:02|| Front Page Top

#2 unusual in its moral clarity.

"And then I saw it. Like I was shot with a diamond. A diamond bullet..."

Col. Walter E. Kurtz, Apocalypse Now

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-12-30 16:28|| 2022-12-30 16:28|| Front Page Top

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