Comments by "Tim Trewyn" (@timtrewyn453) on "Putin's Actions Today Could Have Sparked WWIII" video.

  1. You are right. As it was in the 1980s, so it likely will be again, self-defeat. It is a regime characteristic.
    4
  2. Small percentages can probably be adjusted to, but yeah, at some point those lower priorities, that were still priorities, don't get fueled.
    3
  3. Hard to get NATO to agree on a NATO action. However, the UK might consider taking next steps on providing Ukraine with improved intelligence on Russian forces in and near Ukraine. The courageous thing would be to fly F-35s near enough to the front to provide Ukraine targeting information on Russian artillery, aircraft, and moving vehicles that Ukrainian drones don't have the range to see. Important to stay over Ukrainian held territory and have rescue forces nearby. When there's only small changes to the front, the side with the better ISR can turn things their way. It would be a bold UK step, perhaps achievable by longer range surveillance drones, but the F-35 is designed for this scenario. It keeps being held back for something in the future. Isn't this the future we've been holding it back for? Maybe it is time to play the card.
    2
  4. Putin might want NATO retaliation to confirm a larger war to the Russian people and use that to mobilize them. The strategy seems to be to let him think he is gradually winning while his military and economy are reduced. Ukraine is right to go after Russian oil. The 1980s fall in oil prices contributed to the breakup of the USSR.
    1
  5.  @fjkelley4774  Putin probably believes that any replacement leader would always see him as a potential rival and seek his demise. He would not agree to step aside without a potent praetorian guard, and a new leader would be hesitant to let him have that. The nature of the regime is to command until death. Yeah, he's stuck in this war and the need to suppress any substitute for himself. Any competent younger military leader is a potential threat. Doesn't help Russia self-correct. Formula for the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 21st Century. Self-defeat, again.
    1
  6. Maybe that's what Putin thinks he needs to rile up his population enough to get more volunteers for the Russian army.
    1
  7. Huge European investment in a new high-speed railway linking the Baltics to Poland underway. Why just hand that over to the Russians? When Russia starts exercises near the border, that railway will be bringing in troops and supplies. Railways are hard to keep out of service.
    1
  8. Putin is out to rile up the Russian people into a long-term war mentality. Long enough for him to live out his days with the privileges he is accustomed to. He is the agent of Russian self-defeat.
    1
  9. Putin kept his plans to himself for too long. And others saw bluffing for concessions. So the opportunity for corruption offset any concern for actual deployment. And here he is eeking out the rest of his life. A retired dictator is always a threat.
    1