Are we as a country suppose to just let Putin commit genocide on the

[boston bean]

European continent? I think not.

I fully support helping Ukraine militarily even with troops on the ground and planes in the air.

What kind of world do we want ? A fascist tyrant is threatening the world. We must fight this with everything we can. We can’t care how or what provokes him. He gets away with this, he goes further. That is what l’il hitler does.

[msongs]

1. got yer evidence of genocide going on? nt

[boston bean]

2. When it begins.

[CrackityJones75]

26. Supposedly bombin kindergartens and orphanages today

genocide? Maybe not. But pretty fucked up war crimes.

[uponit7771]

27. The last time this happened? tia

[DenaliDemocrat]

36. Was in Syria

Putin needs to be stopped

[BlueLucy]

31. Getting close

Putin is using some oxygen sucker bomb in residential neighborhoods.

[lagomorph777]

43. Cluster bombs in Kharkiv

[Treefrog]

3. I think I'll trust President Biden on this.

That is all.

[boston bean]

4. You think he is just going to let it happen and not intervene

militarily?

[Hoyt]

5. Well, we've done it often in non-European countries.

But yeah, we might have to do something unprecedented if Putin really cuts loose.

But it still bothers me how many times we’ve sat on sidelines in Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America.

[boston bean]

7. This is another superpower doing this. It is different.

But true we have let it happen too often.

[Samrob]

13. And the non-EU countries were not even invading another country.

Seems like it's just easier to bomb the hell out of those "others" no matter what they are or are not doing.

[uponit7771]

28. +1, way too much. I do think the difference is the naked aggression against a flawed democracy

[lagomorph777]

45. Exactly. Putin's naked aggression against our flawed democracy has put us on high alert.

[uponit7771]

54. +1, well ... he has his collaborators here. We need to message what GQP is doing with anti vote laws

... is wrong

[NightWatcher]

6. We'll stand at the NATO border and strike if they cross. We have to hope internal pressure mounts

before that ultimately happens.

I don't know how long Ukraine will have to hold out on their own.

[boston bean]

9. If they start massive civilian killing we will not stand at the border.

God I hope not.

[NickB79]

8. US troops in the ground means a nuclear war

I'm convinced Putin will use nukes in that scenario. He's insane.

How many US cities are you ok seeing vaporized?

[boston bean]

10. We cannot fear that. Their cities will be worse. That is the stick we hold.

I don’t buy that any military offensive we take means nuclear war.

[NickB79]

15. Their cities will be worse?!?! Seriously?

There is no "better" or "worse" in a god-damned all-out nuclear war.

There are no winners.

[greenjar_01]

19. "There cities will be worse"

Absolutely unbelievable response.

Holy shit.

[boston bean]

20. Right. That is our only leverage. Let's be real here.

Let this fascist have his way every way to Sunday because he has nukes well so don’t we.

[NickB79]

21. FYI, the Russians have MORE nukes than the US

But that doesn't really matter, because both the US and Russia have enough nukes to hit each other's cities multiple times over.

Again, there are no winners in a nuclear war. That's why our Cold War policy was called MAD.

[boston bean]

29. We can't back,down to that threat. It is a threat.

If we do, he still has the threat.

We just gonna do,what he wants because he threatens. He will continue to. We won’t have a,choice at some point.

[Calculating]

34. That's why we need to call his bluff

That's how you stop bullies, what if Russia decides to invade Poland next, and then threatens to nuke anyone who gets involved, and then so on. Should we just let him have all of Europe because he has nukes?

[Crunchy Frog]

37. Poland is in NATO. If he attacks there, we hit him with everything, and he knows it.

That's the deterrent that NATO membership provides.

[milestogo]

11. I think you're right.

Putin will use it as an excuse to use nuclear weapons.

[qazplm135]

12. if he's insane then

he's going after the Baltics too, so what then?

[NickB79]

17. We follow NATO protocols and pray to God

[qazplm135]

18. I'll just never understand

why the west keeps thinking a leader in the mold of Hitler, Stalin, not in holocaust but in the desire to use force to expand empire is someone we have to wait until they cross the final red line before we finally deal with them.

So basically we have to wait until Poland happens again.

[Torchlight]

22. I think if he were insane, he'd have used nuclear weapons by now.

Tajikistani, South Kyrgyzstan, Abkhazia, etc were all bogged-down military operations that took more time, troops and money than he ever envisioned and would have been ripe targets for getting nuked-- were he insane.

[uponit7771]

30. Ukraine has too many proven frackable oil reserves to nuke the joint

[Torchlight]

32. And, as Europe's breadbasket

contaminating the region with nuclear fallout denies Putin one of the very reasons he began the invasion.

[Happy Hoosier]

24. I really doubt that.

I can’t imagine the Russian General Staff allowing that to happen. They know what that would mean.

I’m a little surprised Putin isn’t already taking a dirt nap. He is trashing that country

[lagomorph777]

47. Stop.

We cannot afford to cower. He must be stopped by any means necessary. He will not stop otherwise.

[dlilafae]

14. don't want to see mass genocide

but we have to trust the President. He's doing a remarkable job keeping us safe right now, and rallying other countries to aide Ukraine. We can't put boots on the ground, we will risk WWIII. And, who knows, this might be madman's Putin's plan.

[peggysue2]

39. I don't want to see mass genocide either

I also don't want to see mass suicide by provoking a nuclear war.

POTUS has managed to bring most of the world together, an amazing accomplishment in itself. The Alliance will be sending supplies and arms to Ukraine to fight the good fight. We're isolating Putin economically and culturally while Zelensky and his compatriots are electrifying the world with their courageous words and action.

Right now we're doing everything we can short of direct intervention. At this point, I think that's the right position. In addition, I think President Biden is exactly the right leader, someone steeped in foreign policy who can exhibit a calm, firm demeanor.

Are these sanctions and condemnations enough or in time to turn the tide inside Putin's head?

Unknowable. But I think we need to give the world's pivot away from Putin and his regime to have maximum effect, then go from there. That includes, btw, Ukraine's continued defiance and resistance which appears to have no chance of diminishing even with increased casualties. It's hard to watch; it also further isolates Putin and his schemes.

IMHO, the best scenario would be the Russian people rising up in full disgust and fury. Throw the bum out before he throws the world into the dustbin.

[BradAllison]

16. Then WWIII probably starts

Are you willing to get nuked?

[Happy Hoosier]

25. That is, of course, what Putin wants you to feel.

He wants us to be thinking about how he threatens us. Remember: he did psyops in the CIA.

[EX500rider]

40. "Remember: he did psyops in the CIA" I assume you mean the KGB nt

[lagomorph777]

49. From the looks of the posts here, he's succeeding.

Very disappointing. Assuming the posts are real.

[Emile]

23. I would rather see a world wide effort on an

assassination of the terrorist who is threatening a nuclear war.

[BlueLucy]

33. I agree with you. We can not fear the threat of Nuclear war.

It's cowardice. I would normally say no but in this case we need to. We need to prevent a Hitler.

[herding cats]

35. I think we're sending them another $350 million in weapons.

We can't send them troops, but I do think we're aiding them.

I feel all your emotions and mirror them, but we can't put our manned planes in the air nor can we put boots on the ground here and now. This will have to get much, much worse before we're engaged militarily. I hope it doesn't.

Unlike in WWII when we dragged our feet, this time there are treaties and protocol in place we cannot be the one to breach. Yet, there's things we can, and are, doing.

[AmBlue]

38. I agree... Ukraine's fight is our fight.

If Putler is not stopped in Ukraine he will be emboldened. The fight is coming to us either way.

🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦

[MineralMan]

41. Let's You and Him Fight, Eh?

I say, thank goodness you are not in charge of such decisions.

Finis

[boston bean]

42. May I say the same to you sir.

[MineralMan]

44. You may say whatever you wish, of course.

[boston bean]

46. Well why thank you for the permission, sir.

[MineralMan]

55. Quite obviously, you do not need my permission.

This is not my website, so...

You also have my opinion, as always.

[boston bean]

56. Yes, sir.

[WarGamer]

48. Not a single boot on the ground.

Weapons, intel... sure. No WW3.

[lagomorph777]

51. Our cowardice only emboldens the terrorist.

[WarGamer]

53. Hey the volunteers can sign up and fly to Lviv...

So many people don't understand that WW3 means "lights out" for the world.

Done, gone, poof.

For 50+ years American leaders have understood this... the whole concept of MAD.

[SoonerPride]

50. You are welcome to go fight in Ukraine. They have a foreign legion. Go volunteer! They need you.

Stop the genocide first hand!

Thanks for your sacrifice.

[boston bean]

52. And thank you for your support of Ukrainian people.

[cemaphonic]

57. We're doing a lot (and not just the US)

Ukraine has a blank check for as many weapons as we can get across the border, and is clearly getting nearly unfettered access to our satellite and other intel. And the economic penalties are unprecedently harsh - even if they were reversed tomorrow, Russia will be feeling their effects for years, if not decades. And their foreign policy/security goals are crumbling to bits - Germany and Japan are talking rearmament, Sweden and Finland are talking NATO. And even if Russia prevails at toppling Ukraine's government, they are looking at facing the most well-funded insurgency ever in a huge country with a large population. This isn't like Czechoslovakia, Russia will be in no shape to look around and say "who's next" even if they somehow manage to defeat and pacify Ukraine. Doubly so, because almost all of their other neighbors (at least on the European side) are already in NATO.

I get it - it's heartbreaking to see the carnage, and the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance and to not be able to help more. But avoiding direct military confrontation between the US and Russia has been part of the rules that MAD has operated on since the 60s, and it's always been a terrifyingly fragile equilibrium to begin with. One would hope that merely being frustrated in conquering Ukraine wouldn't be enough to launch nukes, but as erratic and irrational as Putin has been lately, no one wants to find out.