Why Putin's Options In Ukraine Are 'Extremely Limited'

[L. Coyote]

Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey joins Morning Joe to discuss the latest developments in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why he says Vladimir Putin's conventional options in Ukraine are limited.

[ffr]

1. What a stupid way to frame it. He has many options, conventional or otherwise.

He can pack up and leave. That's one option.
He could take himself out, Hitler style. That's another.
He could put it to a vote in his country. That's another option.
He could go to the front lines to show support for his genocide Nazi murderous brigade.
He could flush his head down the toilet. That's one I'd like to see.

He probably won't do any of them though, because they all would take a level of courage that he doesn't have.

[Martin68]

2. I believe the point is that if Putin retreats now, he will personally be toast. Putin has no option

other than to do what he did in Chechnya and Syria: bomb Ukraine cities into dust. If he does anything else, he will lose everything: position, power, money and his freedom or his life.

[ffr]

3. I understand what you're saying, but you're also making a leap of judgement

Putin has no option? You imply he has no good options and therefore since no GOOD options, he has NO options.

He and everyone else have the choice of taking good or bad options. So there are always options available. Some are just more painful to accept than others. So to conclude that choosing a bad option isn't a possibility, is to ignore that doing so may turn out better for him in the long run, than making what he or you feels are good options, at this point.

He cannot put the manure of this Ukrainian genocide back into the cow. This war of aggression on his behalf is making Russian militarily might appear third rate. The longer he drags this on, the more he will embolden his adversaries and the more he will appear to be nothing more than a weak old has-been tyrant whose only true weapons are those of mass destruction.

[Martin68]

4. From Putin's point of view, his only option is to bluff it out. He'll keep pulverizing Ukraine's

civilian infrastructure in an attempt to force a negotiated end to the conflict with at least his gains in eastern Ukraine to show for it. Unless his generals, security services, or the Russian people revolt and remove him from power.