On Sun, Feb 27, 2022 at 10:37 PM John Clark <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 26, 2022 at 6:13 PM Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> > wrote: > > *> What would happen if NATO launched an all-out cruise missile assault on >> Moscow and Petersburg? Not nuclear, purely conventional.* >> > > The short answer is I don't know. Nobody can say for sure what would > happen if NATO launched an all-out cruise missile assault on Moscow and > Petersburg, just as nobody can say for sure what would happen if Russia > launched a all-out cruise missile attack on Manhattan and Chicago, but one > outcome that is not at all unlikely is that it would start World War III > and result in the destruction of civilization and possibly the extinction > of the entire human race. I am not a big enough gambler to want to take > that risk. > > *> Putin might respond with a nuclear assault, but that would certainly >> render his empire plans futile.* > > > It's true that starting World War III would not be in Putin's long-term > best interests, but recent events indicate that Putin may no longer be an > entirely rational actor. And for some dictators bringing about the > extinction of the human race would be less undesirable than being > personally embarrassed, and at this point backing down would be personally > embarrassing for Putin. > > *> I think the odds would be in favour of making Putin pause rather than >> escalating further.* > > > Perhaps so, but what are the odds that what you think is correct? And are > you willing to face the consequences if you are wrong? Are you so sure > that you're correct that you're willing to bet your life and the life of > everybody you know on it? > Perhaps the old saying: "Better dead than red." is relevant here. Appeasement of tyrants is never in the best interests of anyone. The brave people of Ukraine are facing this decision every day -- do they resist, and throw Molotov cocktails at tanks in the knowledge that they may be shot? Or do they lie down and submit to Putin's tyranny? Bruce -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLQd3gdLmffBrKqbseJ64s2C3PFwbkK7_AKQeXvN0dh1%3DQ%40mail.gmail.com.
