The generals promised me this would be done in a week. They were wrong.
This discounts elements of psychological warfare that may well be in play. Sure, a swift decisive action leaves an impression, but so does a slower more deliberate one. Internal to Ukraine and other former Soviet Block countries each passing day sends a clear message.
That message is, NATO and Biden are all talk, they will not fight for you. Zelensky, either through naïveté, or by design helps strengthen that message. What started out as bravado is now a constant reminder, NATO is not coming to help.
Externally there are two messages. The first is similar to the message being sent to Ukrainians. The question is how long will it take for a large number of normies to realize NATO and Biden caused this and then abandoned Ukraine. They are nothing more than paper tigers.
The second is possibly a look into the precipice. Prolonging the action tests how far NATO might go in escalating rhetoric. Will they believe the Russian Army is week and pursue their normal approach of brinksmanship. And when normies are faced with the unthinkable, being drafted into WWIII, or nuclear war, will they turn against their governments?
Finally, we must entertain the possibility we are all being played and this only benefits Putin and Russia.
The only way this would be done in a week is all out warfare. This is surgical. They are being very protective of the populace. The goal isnt conquest. I think the goal is exactly as Putin says it is, demilitarization (keeping Ukraine out of NATO, destruction of bioweapon facilities and stopping Ukraine from having independant nuclear weapons capability) and denazification.
If they wanted to conquer Ukraine this would have been over in 4 days. They would have cut electric, gas, water and communication with the outside world. They wouldnt have wasted the time on protecting the citizenry, the West made a pariah out of them regardless.
The longer this continues the more likely I think it is part of a larger plan involving the destruction of the cabal.
One point of disagreement:
This discounts elements of psychological warfare that may well be in play. Sure, a swift decisive action leaves an impression, but so does a slower more deliberate one. Internal to Ukraine and other former Soviet Block countries each passing day sends a clear message.
That message is, NATO and Biden are all talk, they will not fight for you. Zelensky, either through naïveté, or by design helps strengthen that message. What started out as bravado is now a constant reminder, NATO is not coming to help.
Externally there are two messages. The first is similar to the message being sent to Ukrainians. The question is how long will it take for a large number of normies to realize NATO and Biden caused this and then abandoned Ukraine. They are nothing more than paper tigers.
The second is possibly a look into the precipice. Prolonging the action tests how far NATO might go in escalating rhetoric. Will they believe the Russian Army is week and pursue their normal approach of brinksmanship. And when normies are faced with the unthinkable, being drafted into WWIII, or nuclear war, will they turn against their governments?
Finally, we must entertain the possibility we are all being played and this only benefits Putin and Russia.
The only way this would be done in a week is all out warfare. This is surgical. They are being very protective of the populace. The goal isnt conquest. I think the goal is exactly as Putin says it is, demilitarization (keeping Ukraine out of NATO, destruction of bioweapon facilities and stopping Ukraine from having independant nuclear weapons capability) and denazification.
If they wanted to conquer Ukraine this would have been over in 4 days. They would have cut electric, gas, water and communication with the outside world. They wouldnt have wasted the time on protecting the citizenry, the West made a pariah out of them regardless.
The longer this continues the more likely I think it is part of a larger plan involving the destruction of the cabal.
Well said.
I believe this ‘war’ is already over.
The won’t fight or they can’t fight? They’ve been defanged. I don’t think they could fight even if they wanted to.
Valid observations, nicely stated and framed...