Every day I read reports in the media that are completely worthless. In the days before the internet, these are the articles that would have been described as "not worth the paper on which they are written." The latest in this series comes from a site called The Fiscal Times. It appears under the headline "Why Putin's Adventure in Ukraine is Doomed" and was written by David Francis.
Since I am quite interested in events in Ukraine, I made the mistake of reading the Fiscal Times story. Here is a synopsis: the Russian moves in Ukraine are doomed because polls in Ukraine show that the majority of people oppose having Russian troops in Ukraine or any related moves. That's it. According to the reporter, Putin's moves are doomed because a poll shows that they do not have majority support. Amazing!
This kind of reporting (and I use the term loosely) is terrible. Does Mr. Francis really believe that Vladimir Putin cares about poll results in Ukraine? Does he really think that the poorly armed Ukrainians who cannot even buy guns from the West will VOTE the Russians out of their country should the full invasion come? Does Francis live in such a fantasy world that he cannot recognize that Russian imperialism contains within it the desire to subjugate the neighboring countries? Putin does not want those in Ukraine to vote Russia into power; he wants Russia to take power by whatever means possible. The goal is control of Ukraine, not victory in an election. Certainly, Putin would recognize that it will be easier to maintain control in Ukraine if the people there vote to join Russia; that much is true. Putin, however, has been the head of the larges secret police organization in the history of the world, and, as such, he knows full well how to control populations that may not be totally friendly towards the government.
The only thing that will "doom" the Russian adventure in Ukraine is the use of (or threat of use of ) superior force that would inflict unacceptable costs on Moscow. With the current stance of the rest of the world, the chance that such force will be employed is very slim. By writing stories of this sort, however, people like Francis spread misinformation that lets people around the world believe that in some magical way, the will of the Ukrainian people will prevail. It just is not so!
Since I am quite interested in events in Ukraine, I made the mistake of reading the Fiscal Times story. Here is a synopsis: the Russian moves in Ukraine are doomed because polls in Ukraine show that the majority of people oppose having Russian troops in Ukraine or any related moves. That's it. According to the reporter, Putin's moves are doomed because a poll shows that they do not have majority support. Amazing!
This kind of reporting (and I use the term loosely) is terrible. Does Mr. Francis really believe that Vladimir Putin cares about poll results in Ukraine? Does he really think that the poorly armed Ukrainians who cannot even buy guns from the West will VOTE the Russians out of their country should the full invasion come? Does Francis live in such a fantasy world that he cannot recognize that Russian imperialism contains within it the desire to subjugate the neighboring countries? Putin does not want those in Ukraine to vote Russia into power; he wants Russia to take power by whatever means possible. The goal is control of Ukraine, not victory in an election. Certainly, Putin would recognize that it will be easier to maintain control in Ukraine if the people there vote to join Russia; that much is true. Putin, however, has been the head of the larges secret police organization in the history of the world, and, as such, he knows full well how to control populations that may not be totally friendly towards the government.
The only thing that will "doom" the Russian adventure in Ukraine is the use of (or threat of use of ) superior force that would inflict unacceptable costs on Moscow. With the current stance of the rest of the world, the chance that such force will be employed is very slim. By writing stories of this sort, however, people like Francis spread misinformation that lets people around the world believe that in some magical way, the will of the Ukrainian people will prevail. It just is not so!
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