Good article, Tom. I agree we should be approaching this differently, and, yes, what can be used on them can be used on anyone. I do see a difference between us and them, though, in terms of populace reaction. We already had great animus to those behind 9/11. The Russians, by and large, do not appear to have the same thoughts to Ukrainians, or the West. In fact, Putin sold them on brotherhood, and the fact that his rhetoric then is mismatched to his actions now, appears to me, to be squaring Russians’ hatred on him. Putin has always had a tight control on their freedoms, and he’s tightening it further. Do they blame him or the West? We’ll see.
All of that aside, the way we are proceeding is just not the right way, for so many reasons.
Good article, Tom. I agree we should be approaching this differently, and, yes, what can be used on them can be used on anyone. I do see a difference between us and them, though, in terms of populace reaction. We already had great animus to those behind 9/11. The Russians, by and large, do not appear to have the same thoughts to Ukrainians, or the West. In fact, Putin sold them on brotherhood, and the fact that his rhetoric then is mismatched to his actions now, appears to me, to be squaring Russians’ hatred on him. Putin has always had a tight control on their freedoms, and he’s tightening it further. Do they blame him or the West? We’ll see.
All of that aside, the way we are proceeding is just not the right way, for so many reasons.
Great article, Tom!