For every nuclear weapon that gets launched FROM Russia, another gets launched back AT them. Not having access to an ATM won't matter one bit when the entire globe is a wasteland.

There is no clean solution to this mess that doesn't involve some collateral damage. Of course no one wants to cause suffering of the Russian people. As someone said here yesterday, the only sin they have committed is to exist in the wrong country. Unfortunately you can't inflict consequences on Putin without also harming the general Russian population. Although, in some ways, that is the point - to make Putin so unpopular with his own people that eventually they do something about it from within.

I'm a white Christian male, so I suppose I'm not that dissimilar from the average Russian, but there is nothing "Christian" about what Putin is doing to Ukraine. Ukraine was not threatening Putin, nor was the West. I'm not naive enough to believe that Ukraine was some utopia of virtue - their government is full of corruption - but as far as I'm concerned, they didn't do anything to provoke what Russia is doing now. There was almost zero chance Ukraine would ever go on the offensive against Russia.

I'm not going to claim the United States is perfect. But for all of the political issues we have here in our country - and we have a LOT these days - our leaders aren't looking to expand the footprint of the United States and take over other countries. Yes, we certainly meddle in the politics of other countries that we deem to be hostile to us, but if every other leader in the world simply kept to themselves and didn't make threats, I think the U.S. would generally mind its own business. We are looked at by the world as a peacekeeper, and with that hat comes the need for some messy relationships and dealings. This is one of those situations.

Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine. The rest of the world can either stand aside and set the precedent that it will tolerate such a move, or it can do something about it. Doing nothing probably leads to emboldening Putin to continue his conquest westward, so that doesn't seem like an option. Unfortunately, doing "something" about it also harms the Russian people. Is the West to blame for that? Nope, not in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, that's like saying a jury is guilty of harming the family of a murderer by convicting him/her and delivering a prison sentence. Is it the family's fault? No, but they're going to suffer, too, thanks to the poor decision of someone else.

The whole thing sucks, and it highlights the worst about humanity.
[Post edited by MP4VT2004 at 03/04/2022 01:16AM]