It looks like the narrative of “fight to the last Ukrainian” is losing ground to the reality of what war with Russia will actually entail. The NY Times, the establishment paper of record is beginning to question the wisdom of confronting Russia without limit.
Even among leftists there is a limit to self-delusion. Thinking about the consequences of baiting a nuclear power unnecessarily gives pause for even such true believers as the denizens of the Gray Lady. Maybe there is hope that the stupidity of the Biden State Department will be reined in by whoever is actually running the country. But I wouldn’t depend on our luck holding out until then. Best to lay in a supply of iodine pills.
Putin has two paths to certain victory. The first is nuclear. Whether he is crazy enough to use nuclear weapons so close to his own people is open for debate.
The second is to use artillery and air power to pound the Ukraine into the stone age.
With this option he gets to keep access to the Ukrainian natural resources.
He would die a pariah and Russia would be punished economically for decades.
That, coupled with the obvious weakness of the Russian military, might just cause his downfall and the destruction of Russia.
I think the blindness of our political leaders in not seeking a compromise with Russia is risking a terrible catastrophe if things get out of hand. But we are ruled by awful people.