(02-28-2022, 07:34 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Things can change quickly, but as of now, this is a complete disaster for Putin and for Russia.  So far, the invasion has failed miserably, his army looks weak and incompetent, and a whole bunch of neighboring countries have pledged massive amounts of military and financial support to Ukraine.  Nato is united, and sanctions are about to cause an economic disaster in Russia.  Putin's threat of "I have nuclear weapons!" seems like the kind of move someone would make as a last resort. 

As the sanctions hit the Russian economy, and the oligarchs who support Putin pay a very heavy price, one has to wonder, what is the end game for Putin?  Can he successfully extract himself, or will he be humiliated and overthrown?  

Invading Ukraine was Putin's pet project, completely unnecessary.  The oligarchs as well as the general Russian population at some point will think, didn't we have a better life before this invasion?  This totally sucks, and what do we stand to gain?  Even if we manage to conquer Ukraine, what will we have then?  A hostile population and a never-ending insurgency.

My fear is that Putin will feel like a cornered animal and he will do something desperate and stupid. I keep reading reports that people around him are secretly saying he's becoming more and more unhinged and unreasonable. If this guy has suffered some sort of mental break or illness, will those around him have enough guts to overthrow him before he starts WW3? If you have an imperialist, power hungry leader who is no longer thinking rationally, maybe he has no endgame. Maybe his only endgame was his original plan to take over Ukraine and he hasn't even entertained any other options. How far is he willing to go to accomplish his goal, realistic or not? If he isn't thinking like the rest of the people on planet Earth, he could do virtually anything and someone needs to stop him. Will the Russians do that though?

---