It is the year 2022 and the world is faced with the prospect of a powerful nuclear armed country, Russia, invading its sovereign smaller neighbor, Ukraine, based solely on the complaint that its neighbor does not seek any current or future affiliation with the Communist nation of Russia.
The instigator, the rapist, is the Thug Putin who advances the quaint notion that his desire to be surrounded by friendly nations is sufficient justification for him to rape Ukraine — to unleash a modern army equipped with missiles, cyber weapons, air power, naval power, a massive armored army, infantry, tanks, artillery on a peaceful nation that seeks only to live in peace while sharing a border with Russia.
The world has responded to this with the seriousness of a bad Tinder first date story.
The Evil Intent of Tyrants
The seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia depicts the Roman goddess Virtue prevailing with sword and staff over the defeated tyrant with his chain, whip, and fallen crown. The vanquished tyrant is the British King after the American Revolution.
Sic Semper Tyrannis means “thus always to tyrants.”
America was created in revolt against tyranny and won its freedom at the point of a bloody bayonet wielded patiently from 1775 to 1783 — a period of eight years of hard war and privations visited upon the Colonies by a harsh king, his army, and his navy.
From that violent beginning, America became the beacon of light, the righter of wrongs, the world’s savior in dark times, and the guarantor of the freedom of friends and allies.
Russia under Communism has been an oppressor of people, an expansionist, imperial nation seeking to spread its Communist rule over innocent and free people.
The Thug Putin’s Beef
Putin is romantically attached to the nostalgia of the grandeur of the USSR and believes that the implosion of the USSR was a tragedy of gargantuan proportions.
He lusts after the days when Russia ruled the USSR behind an Iron Curtain that held in and suppressed the yearnings for freedom of the people of Russia and its attendant vassal states.
Putin intends to rebuild the USSR and has begun an orchestrated campaign of doing just that. The seizure of Crimea was part of that scheme and its successful conclusion has buoyed his optimism that the West does not intend to oppose him in any meaningful way.
This success was further buttressed by the faux invasion of the Donbas region by Russian troops posing as “separatists.” It is important to acknowledge that Ukraine and Russia are currently at war right now.
This fighting is no small matter as more than 14,000 have died — more than all US troops losses in the last two decades of ill-advised adventurism in the Middle East.
What does Putin really want, Big Red Car?
Putin wants the following:
1. A guaranty from the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Ukraine that Ukraine and other sovereign nations bordering Russia will not join NATO.
When Putin says “will not join NATO” he means “station intermediate or long range nuclear weapons.”
On the map below, note the distance from Ukraine to Moscow — think in terms of minimal traveling time for nuclear weapons.
2. More subtly, Putin wants Ukraine to turn toward Russia as an ally rather than looking to the comfort of civilized nations to the west. Good luck with that, Bad Tinder Date Guy.
3. Putin wants to destroy the NATO alliance and has identified Germany as being the weak link in that alliance. He has already compromised Germany through trade and energy independence.
The Germans are bad NATO allies and have crawled so far into the sack with the Russians, it may be too late for them to crawl out.
4. Putin wants to drive the United States out of Europe and to diminish its influence within NATO.
5. Putin wants to be the leader of a great nation, but his economy is as big as Italy’s, but he has nuclear weapons.
6. On a personal level, Putin is a thug, an egomaniac, a small man who knows he is headed to the ash bin of history.
Why not give Putin what he wants?
Haha, you crack me up. Let’s get real, shall we?
1. Tyrants do not grow out of their tyranny. They do not go to Confession or rehab. The do not “see the light.”
Hitler died in defeat as did Mussolini.
2. Free men must confront and defeat tyranny before it is allowed to take root.
In the late 1930s when Hitler was already in full-throated roar, they had a very small and poorly equipped army.
Instead of dealing with Hitler — evil, tyranny, despotism — when he was a lizard, a complacent, cowed, and timid world let him become a dragon and when they finally did neuter him, it cost millions and millions of lives.
3. Russia is a tiny country with a small economy. Their only super power is their nuclear arsenal.
4. If we don’t deal with Putin now, he will become bolder and more demanding. Georgia >>> Crimea >>> Ukraine >>> eastern Europe, Germany. This doesn’t die a natural death.
OK, so Big Red Car, what do we do?
Herein lies the real issue, what do we do?
1. Let’s top pretending Putin and Xi are anything other than thugs. Let’s stop the charade they are rational, civilized leaders. Cut the crap.
2. Stop trading with the enemy. Did you know the US imports 600,000 bbl/day from Russia, 7.5% of our total oil demand?
Stop. Trading. With. The. Enemy. — talking to you, Germany and you, Hunter Biden.
3. Stop manufacturing goods for American consumption within the territorial borders of our enemies. Bring home all American manufacturing.
4. In the 1950s, the US had more than 500,000 troops in Europe and if the Russians had come across the Iron Curtain, they would been met by substantial American force. Today, we have 10% of that number and not a single tank.
5. If Russia is going to push westward, then we need to forward deploy some of our Army and make our NATO allies do the same thing.
Sell Poland 1,500 American M1A2 SEPv3 tanks.
Forward deploy mobile launcher intermediate range nuclear weapons aimed at Moscow.
6. The US military must be doubled in size. In the Obama admin, we abandoned the US doctrine that served us well since WWII — the US military must be big enough to fight and win two wars simultaneously.
It is time to reverse that ill-fated policy blunder and double the size of the US military and we have to demand NATO allies meet their Atlantic Charter obligations — meaning they need to increase their military forces.
7. All these “extreme sanctions” we are threatening Russian with? Deploy them today, right now.
Russia has placed its army on the border of a sovereign nation and publicly threatened them with war — the redrawing of national borders by violence something unheard of since World War II until Crimea.
Sanction Russia right now and tell them, “If you want us to consider returning to the sanctions regime before Ukraine, then you have to return to the military posture of two years ago. End of discussion.”
8. Since Russia funds its economy and its military adventurism with oil revenues, let’s break them. Just like the USSR went broke — let’s break Putin and Russia financially.
Drive crude oil prices down to $20/barrel as it was during the Trump admin.
9. Dismantle Nordstream I and Nordstream II now.
10. Arm the Ukrainian military with vital combat wizardry, the good stuff. Hold back nothing.
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
Putin and Russia are on the march while we pretend they can be cajoled out of an attack. If not Ukraine, then somewhere else, sometime soon.
We can control the fate of the world if we act in concert and do the right things. I have identified some of them.
Perhaps, the hardest thing is the simplest — reverse course on American energy independence. This is the low hanging fruit. Pick it.
The Weak Link