Russia begins moving troops into eastern Ukraine

[Dill]

(03-04-2022, 10:44 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I was watching it on the news last night with Sheppard Smith, then switched and heard a different take. Our media sucks. Sorry for throwing that in there but I'm exhausted by the L/R news outlets. It's frustrating we get lied to with so-called facts everyday. Soooo...

I really think we need to just go in and take care of this situation. I know, I know, it's going to create WWIII. But, I'm not sure about that. The stuff that is going down right now is going to eventually lead us to war anyway if the Ukrainians are able to keep the fight because Putin is going to be Putin and (many have said he's different and maybe losing his mind) continue to lie to his people while bombing civilians. Our best strategy might be to act now instead of later. Our military can outfight these guys easily. Our strategies and tactics are more advanced. 

I also think this would shrug China off the Taiwan idea. Of course, it's not entirely our decision and NATO is involved. Yet, remember, General Patton wanted to fight the Russians at the end of WWII because he knew in his heart days like today would come. Even though we were supposedly allies, they were snakes in the grass and proved it by dividing Berlin.

Rereading my post, I see I sound slightly like an American version of Putin. However, do we really want more bloodshed and death of innocent women and children again like Nazi Germany? We took too long getting involved in WWII. The history of human suffering and death is too great to even grasp. I don't want a repeat. 

I always appreciate your take on stuff, H-Dog, but I disagree with some of your reasoning here, so some quick points in response: 

1. So long as we have a decentralized "free press" separate from the government, then there will be "different takes" on news events. This should be regarded as a strength of our system, as opposed to the current system in Russia, where different takes from the government are not allowed.

2. That the "facts" presented by Fox et al. do not always jive with the rest of the US/international media does not mean that ALL news sources are equally unreliable. It is a goal of propaganda to create uncertainty about news sources, to foster an inability to vet them effectively.

3. You do sound rather like Putin, in the sense that your solutions are authoritarian and presume a capability we may not have. If we go to WWIII, we will not have stopped "more bloodshed and death of innocent women and children," we will have moved the numbers from hundreds and thousands to millions, perhaps hundreds of millions or even a billion. The world on the other side of that conflagration will probably have no UN and no international legal system. 

4. NOT following Patton's advice led to 50 years of peace in Europe and 70+ years without a world war. Very doubtful the US could have won a land war against the USSR, in any case. In any case, the president who started Patton's war would be out of office quickly enough. 

5. Putin, I think, is not Putin anymore. The first 15 years of his political life showed a shrewd and effective leader. The last 2-3 years we have seen a rather different Putin emerge, one isolated and erratic, no longer good at assessing risks and reading his own citizens. The steps the US and allies have taken in response to Putin's aggression seem a better alternative to WWIII at the moment, and have good chance of effecting regime change in Russia.