Bullies like Putin understand one language

John Micek on Feb 25, 2022

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, so that they could speak freely, said a U.S. response could start with such rapidly deployable forces as the 82nd Airborne Division, as was the case with the evacuation of Kabul Airport last year. Indeed, elements of the 82nd already have deployed to Poland, according to published reports.

A military response is surely the least palatable and most potentially catastrophic option. History teaches that ground engagements with the Russians never end well.

As one expert notes, that currently does not appear to be in the cards. Instead, "the U.S. is rallying the world to isolate Russia through economic sanctions and to respond to cyber attacks," analyst Jon Hutson wrote on Twitter.

And with Putin muttering threateningly about nuclear strikes if the west launches reprisal attacks, according to The Telegraph, the West cannot engage in similar saber-rattling. That's effectively how Europe blundered into World War I.

Still, there's no middle ground here. This is a battle between good and evil.

"Everything that the Kremlin says is a lie. Please don’t both sides this," podcaster and analyst Terrell Jermaine Starr wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Putin is killing innocent people and Ukraine did nothing to deserve it."

That's a message that needs to be repeated over and over again.

An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.