(02-19-2022, 04:36 PM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(02-19-2022, 12:15 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote: Biden has been 'warning' us for weeks/months that Russia will invade Ukraine. It's not necessarily what he says but the way he says it that makes it look like he's goading Putin to invade. Even people on the street who support Biden are starting to think he's pushing for a fight.

I think what's happening is, in the past, Putin has prided himself on being unpredictable and catching us off guard.  What Biden is trying to do is basically tell Putin, in front of the whole world, we know what you're going to do before you do it.   It unites the opposition to Russian aggression, and unmasks any false-flag incidents Putin is planning as a pretext to invade Ukraine.  It's proactive, instead of the usual reactive.  And it enables western Europe and the US to have sanctions and other counter-measures prepared in advance.  

Contrast that with the usual: some autocrat does something, catches the whole world off guard, we convene emergency meetings, try to figure out what's going on, try to agree on an opposition strategy, and it's a mess.  

Biden's not pushing for a fight.  He's trying to get across to Putin that he will pay a very high price if he does what we think he is planning to do.