"Threaten our homeland, our way of life, and most importantly our leader, and yes, we will nuke the sh-t of out you. I guarantee it.” That’s what a senior retired Russian diplomat told me on the sidelines of a Track 2.0 dialogue in 2012 when I asked him what would happen during a NATO-Russian war or a threat to the Russian government itself.
He was pretty clear: Threats Russia’s sovereignty, ability to control its territory, run its economy—and most of all, ensure leadership survival—were all things it might go to nuclear war over. Isn’t that what we are doing today regarding the Ukraine crisis?
While surely we should do all we can to help Ukraine in its time of need, we should also ask how far are we willing to go in that effort. To be clear, we are putting a historic amount of pressure on Russia, more than some countries endure in a real, kinetic war. In the months to come, that pressure will have a combined impact, and we have not stopped at all to consider the ramifications.
In fact, we have chosen by accident a new de facto Ukraine strategy. It’s so terrifying and stupid that it’s never been tried before on a nuclear-armed superpower capable of ending nearly all human life in 30 minutes.
The West’s undeclared goal is simple: Putin has to go. Or, Putin has to die, as some on right are now cheerleading.
read more:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/03/14/the-wests-real-ukraine-strategy-is-russian-regime-change/
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