Originally Posted by
Big Pistons Forever
Putin may be evil but I don’t think he is stupid. He floated the nuke issue to see what the response will be. It sounds like he got his answer and not in a way good for him so the real question is how does he up the ante without risking an overwhelming response that will be unrecoverable by Russia.
I think the sabotage of the Nordstream pipe line is a signal of his intent to go after European energy infrastructure. There is lots of room for mischief with wink wink nudge nudge deniability.
If he can get the EU to crack he thinks he can leverage imposed negotiations on Ukraine with terms favourable to him…..
He’s not stupid, but he is foolish and operates with a self-created and false version of reality. He’s not insane and insanity will be no defense for the evil, heartless, atrocities he has committed. He is is immoral, has no respect for the lives and happiness of others. Whether he is bluffing about the nuclear option is hard to say, but I doubt he has any moral inhibitions about it. What he did with the gas lines he is just as capable of any evil act. We are foolish for trying to explain it, when we should be putting an end to it. The caution and timidity of inaction with which the west responded to the Crimean episode now has led to the death and destruction we have seen this year in Ukraine.