As Russian President Vladimir Putin follows through on his plans to invade Ukraine — despite his assurances that he had no such intention to do so — retired U.S. Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor has blamed the attack on U.S. President Joe Biden for refusing to acknowledge what is most important to Putin: keeping NATO away from Russia’s back door.
The first thing we have to do is acknowledge that Putin’s basic point, not just his point, the Russian government’s point, which they’ve made for 25 years, is valid. They don’t want U.S. forces and missiles and NATO troops immediately across the border in eastern Ukraine. Absolutely. We didn’t want them in Cuba; he doesn’t want them in eastern Ukraine. We should acknowledge that. Stop pretending it’s a non-issue. It is a major issue for them. Let’s acknowledge it and then let’s get down to business and tell them, fine, our concern at this point is we don’t want you to proceed west towards the Polish border over the Dnieper River in Ukraine.
For his part, Putin has said the ”denazification” of Ukraine is a goal, referring to Ukrainian leaders as neo-nazis, placed in power with the support of western nations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is of Jewish heritage, cited Ukraine’s losses and his own grandfather’s service in World War II to push back against that claim.
In launching a “special military operation,” Putin claimed that he needed to defend the people in the “new republics” within Ukraine that he recognized Monday from “persecution and genocide by the Kyiv regime.” He called for “demilitarization” of Ukraine, demanding that soldiers lay down their weapons and saying that any bloodshed would be on their hands.
Biden responded to Russia’s multiple bombings throughout Ukraine by saying, “The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
North Atlantic Treaty Organization ambassadors held an emergency meeting this morning to pledge NATO will defend alliance members and support Ukraine, which is not a member. The U.S. and its allies have been beefing up their military presence in the NATO countries that border Russia — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia —as well as Romania and Bulgaria, newer NATO members that face Russia across the Black Sea.
Hence Macgregor’s statement likening the buildup to the Cuban Missile Crisis when the Soviet Union placed missiles just off the coast of the United States until President John F. Kennedy stood up to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and forced the Kremlin to back off.
“It’s ironic that what Putin didn’t want to see is a stronger NATO on his flank,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a visit to Poland last week. “And that’s exactly what he will see going forward.”
Biden has been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but has refused to acknowledge Putin’s fears about NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe. His focus on diplomacy over war has angered many in the Republican Party who are calling him spineless and blaming him for the escalation of tensions.
Yet former President Donald Trump has called Putin’s strategy “genius” and called him “very savvy” for his handling of the invasion. Steve Bannon said, “It shows you the new right, or the new Republican Party, versus the neocons that are still there. We don’t have any interest — no one in the Trump movement has any interest at all in the Russian-speaking provinces of eastern Ukraine. Zero.”
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