I've been reading a lot of different opinions over the last couple of weeks and I'd like to offer my own thoughts.
We are told that NATO cannot fight Russia because it will lead to all out war. Fair enough, that's true.
We are told that all out war will result in Putin launching nuclear weapons. NATO will respond in kind and we'll all be wiped out.
We are told that if NATO steps in they'll be seen as the aggressor. Why people believe this, is beyond me to comprehend. Russian propaganda has already brainwashed Russians into believing NATO is the aggressor. The rest of the world can see it's Russia on the attack.
We are told that the best thing we can do is sanction oligarchs because they will put pressure on Putin and stop him going too far.
However, if that's true, won't those same oligarchs stop him using nuclear weapons as they'll be losing their lives, not just their wealth, if he goes that far? Or is the oligarch line just a lie that people are telling themselves to pretend they're actually doing something worthwhile?
From the way things are looking now there is little chance of Ukraine beating Russia. NATO won't intervene and Russia doesn't fight fairly, so Putin can use whatever weapons and tactics he likes. If he firebombs civilians we'll still pretend to care and then do nothing of any real value.
With all that in mind, if NATO had no plan to fight then they should never have provided weapons and support to Ukraine. All we've done is prolong a conflict that was always destined to result in a Russian victory.
If the argument against confronting Putin is that we cannot fight because it'll lead to world war and he'll launch nukes, then he has already won. What's to stop him moving west one country at a time? We have NATO agreements to fight for each other but we will be nuked by Russia, so we can't do that, no matter how much we are talking tough about protecting one another.
So, if we can't fight him and the sanctions don't work, what exactly will we do? People are already talking about how Ukraine should just make peace and become a puppet state. Well what happens when he takes the next country and the one after that? Will people be saying the same thing? Better living in chains than dead, is that what we're meant to believe? Or should we bury our heads in the sand and ignore everything until it's too late? Maybe we can give him a few countries to appease him. Appeasement always works, right?
I'm not some warhawk who's always encouraging conflict, I opposed Iraq and Afghanistan. But the same people who were telling us 2 weeks ago that Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine, are now telling us that we cannot ever face Russia. This stinks like it's 1939.
The pessimist in me thinks we may as well roll out the red carpet and declare Putin God Emperor. At this point he could demand the title and I'd half expect people to award it to him.