Washington's Newest Worry: The Dangers of Cornering Putin

[Celerity]

Surprised by the speed at which sanctions have been poured on Russia, Biden’s top aides suspect that Putin’s reaction will be to double down and lash out — and perhaps expand the war.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/us/politics/biden-putin-sanctions.html



WASHINGTON — Senior White House officials designing the strategy to confront Russia have begun quietly debating a new concern: that the avalanche of sanctions directed at Moscow, which have gained speed faster than they imagined, is cornering President Vladimir V. Putin and may prompt him to lash out, perhaps expanding the conflict beyond Ukraine.

In Situation Room meetings in recent days, the issue has come up repeatedly, according to three officials. Mr. Putin’s tendency, American intelligence officials have told the White House and Congress, is to double down when he feels trapped by his own overreach. So they have described a series of possible reactions, ranging from indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities to compensate for the early mistakes made by his invading force, to cyberattacks directed at the American financial system, to more nuclear threats and perhaps moves to take the war beyond Ukraine’s borders.

The debate over Mr. Putin’s next moves is linked to an urgent re-examination by intelligence agencies of the Russian leader’s mental state, and whether his ambitions and appetite for risk have been altered by two years of Covid isolation.

Those concerns accelerated after Mr. Putin’s order on Sunday to place the country’s strategic nuclear weapons on a “combat ready” alert to respond to the West’s “aggressive comments.” (In the ensuing days, however, national security officials say they have seen little evidence on the ground that Russia’s nuclear forces have actually moved to a different state of readiness.)

snip

[calimary]

1. Dear God...

[BlackSkimmer]

2. This is why we need to be very careful.

Not this headlong rush into war as some would like.

[betsuni]

4. Who wants a headlong rush into war?

I have't seen it from the news I've seen.

[durablend]

10. The keyboard brigade here is itching for it

[betsuni]

11. I don't know what you mean.

I've seen people upset about it and wanting to help Ukrainians, but nobody wanting war for the sake of war. What are they saying that makes you think they're itching for war?

[BlackSkimmer]

21. I've seen it here. Only here.

[Aviation Pro]

3. Fuck you, NY Times

Try supporting the President instead of this cowardly, fifth column bullshit.

[Raven123]

5. Agree

[gab13by13]

6. 100% agree,

Fuck trying to get inside Putin's head, I'm an internet psychiatrist, Putin is a sociopathic butcher.

Gee maybe we need to take it a little bit easier on him?

[Boomerproud]

8. K&R

[dalton99a]

12. +1. The New York Times has always been in the corner of dictators and oligarchs

There is a long tradition

[localroger]

7. How is Putin supposed to expand the war beyond Ukraine

...when the reason he is in a corner is that he is running out of resources to press the invasion of Ukraine itself?

[LuckyCharms]

9. How? Lob one missle into a NATO country. n/t

[Buckeyeblue]

13. I would disagree

Putin is usually allowed to do things at his own pace. I like pushing him outside his comfort zone. I think he'll make mistakes. Maybe even with his own security and he'll be more suspectible to an inside attack.

The team that's the most aggressive usually wins.

[dalton99a]

14. No one in the world should be allowed to hurt Putin's feelings

[Renew Deal]

15. I've been thinking about this too.

Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2022, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)

What if he decides to go after logistics in Poland or Turkey? Turkey also controls a waterway and isn’t allowing warring parties to pass through. What if Russia decides to force the issue?

Those attacking the article are wrong and should consider the points. What is Putin going to do to win if he can’t afford to lose?

[Blasphemer]

20. Since he can't afford to lose, we can assume that everything is on the table

My only issue with the article is the implication that the world should have gone slower with the sanctions. I can't see how that would have helped. There needs to be pressure inside Russia to oust Putin. That's the only way to avoid a larger war. Putin has made it so that there was no choice but to act swiftly and corner him.

[samsingh]

16. so is their answer to just give him whatever he wants?

we need to go full out

[Blaukraut]

19. That's probably where this is headed

And more because of the sanctions inconveniencing us and our allies than anything else. But we'll blame it on Putin's irrationality.

[samsingh]

23. not sure about the sanction inconvenience. its the putin the butcher who attacks first and then lies

since he's going to do it anyway, it's time to put a stake in the ground - say any bullet that goes into Poland or a nuclear reaction going into code red and then we need to escalate.

Putin is to blame for everything.

[DFW]

17. I hope the closed doors in Langley are hiding some serious clandestine Kremlin activity.

The best and safest tactic is not to wait until Putin is frothing at the mouth wondering whether to first nuke Paris or London. The best outcome--for Russia, too, by the way--would be for Putin to be replaced by his own inner circle (method of their choosing), and for his successor to use the occasion of being the "new kid in town" to immediately cease all hostile activity in and against the Ukraine. All hostile troops recalled, Lukashenko gagged and chained, negotiations on Crimea, and the two "people's (yeah, right) republics" being restored to Ukrainian sovereignty.

Then--immediate work on getting sanctions removed, commerce restored, and Russians and Americans can jointly celebrate the formal end of the dark, awful Trump-Putin era.

[BlueIdaho]

18. If he thinks sanctions are tough

Let him try entering a NATO country.

[JoanofArgh]

22. Oh , brother,

So why not just declare Putin Leader of the World and go cower and cry in the corner? Putin’s just loving all this fear because he’s weak. Sanctions need to be a lot stronger.