Much of history has been determined by the actions of a single man. Alexander conquered most of the known world. Genghis Khan the same. Napoleon inflamed all of Europe and part of North America. Wilhelm I made a decision that brought most of the world into conflict and Hitler wanted to conquer the world. Stalin caused the Cold War and all the proxy wars fought during that period. He was also responsible for helping Hitler start WWII when he agreed to partition Poland. Plus, unknown to most of the world Stalin permitted the Germans to experiment and produce military weapons inside the Soviet Union in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and a plethora of other lesser known treaties surrounding the end of WWI.
Decisions by these men had consequences that reached far beyond the borders of their own countries and would cost the lives of billions of the earth’s population. And now Vladimir Putin threatens to plunge the entire world into a conflagration the likes of which have never been seen. He is Alexander and Genghis Khan seeing themselves as masters of the world. He is Napoleon seeking to place his relatives and loyalists on the thrones of Europe and Mexico. He is Hitler wanting to obliterate a race in Ukraine and he is Stalin wanting to recreate the boundaries of the Soviet Union ruled by one man, himself.
China is more than an interested observer waiting for the U.S. to expend the majority of its war readiness supplies before taking Taiwan. One must ask themselves, is a bit of land worth the effort? WWI was sparked because the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted a bit of Serbia and, as much as we don’t want to admit it. might still makes right. Certainly we don’t have enough military equipment to fight Russia and China nor do we have citizenry capable of undertaking such and effort.
Given the weak leadership in the U.S. currently, that is more concerned about pronouns, gender identification (which affects less than 2% of the 365,000,000 people in the country) and skin color, it is doubtful we would succeed in either. The aftermath of such an effort would lead to a social situation never experienced in the United States. There would be anarchy and those seeking non-elected power would be perfectly positioned to attempt a coup d’tat.
With all these examples one must ask, Why weren’t the instigators of these terrible wars dealt with sooner. What is the death of one man considered against the millions or perhaps billons who will perish in the war? Why do the niceties of Diplomacy stop a concerted action to isolate and remove this one man? Even many of Putin’s subjects are opposed to his actions. How can they see Russia emerging from this affair as greater or more influential?
In many cases war is the last refuge of a failing autocrat. That is the case with Vladimir Putin, and the world seems prepared to let him achieve the burning funeral pyre of a warrior, built on the bodies of the millions of dead. Rather he should just disappear, and we’ll have set a precedence for one man not being able to start a war.
Is there a single brave Russian who will save the peace?
We can only hope, and to think that the idiot in DC set all this in motion with his ball point pen. God help up us.
Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? Be careful what we wish for because what follows could even be worse–an even crazier ruler, loose nukes, complete chaos in Russia…I agree that Putin has to go but we should be under no illusions that a coup would necessarily lead to an improvement. If reports of Putin’s serious illness are correct maybe there could be a peaceful transition and restoration of sanity.
Well Written