U.S. Believes Putin Will Take All Of Ukraine 'In A Single Blow'

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Feb. 21, 2022

It's looking like Ukraine's decision to elect the equivalent of Jerry Seinfeld as their president and ally wholeheartedly with the West wasn't the greatest idea.

From The New York Times, "Blitzkrieg or Minor Incursion? Putin's Choice Could Determine World Reaction.":
When President Biden declared on Friday he was convinced President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had decided to attack Ukraine “in the coming week, in the coming days,” the skeptics among American allies suddenly fell quiet. Hours before, Mr. Biden had informed them that American intelligence agencies had just learned that the Kremlin had given the order for Russian military units to proceed with an invasion.

Now the debate has shifted to how Mr. Putin will do it: in one massive nationwide attack; a series of bites that dismantle the country, piece by piece; or a cobralike squeeze. That last option is made all the easier with the news Sunday morning that Belarus is allowing Russian troops to remain indefinitely, where they can menace Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Mr. Putin might be betting that he can shatter Ukraine’s economy and oust its government without having to immediately roll in tanks.

Mr. Putin’s strategic choices over the next few weeks may make a huge difference in how the world reacts.

If he strikes to take the whole country in a single blow — the approach that senior American military and intelligence officials and many outside analysts now think is the most likely — it could provoke the largest, most violent battle for European territory since the Nazi surrender in 1945.

There is little question that the full package of sanctions and technology export cutoffs would be invoked almost immediately. International condemnation would follow, though Mr. Putin may be betting that it would not last long, and that the world would gradually get accustomed to a new, larger Russia reconstituting the sphere of influence that was once the hallmark of the old Soviet Union.
Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers earlier this month that "Kyiv could fall within 72 hours if a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine takes place," according to Fox News.

"Milley told lawmakers during closed-door briefings on Feb. 2 and 3 that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could result in the fall of Kyiv within 72-hours, and could come at a cost of 15,000 Ukrainian troop deaths and 4,000 Russian troop deaths," Fox News reported.

Zekensky already left Ukraine once on Friday into Saturday and now "US officials" (probably Antony Blinken) are reportedly urging him to head to Lviv "for his own safety."






Biden seems to have given the game away (in a likely senior moment) with his "minor incursion" comments last month.


Though Biden has been terrible on pretty much all fronts, he made the right decision to pull the US out of Afghanistan.

He has also been pulling Americans and American diplomats out of Ukraine at breakneck speed -- to neocons' chagrin.


I suspect Biden is not eager to risk World War III over the Ukraine. Had the West merely backed off of Ukraine joining NATO and backed off on sending endless shipments of "lethal aid" -- effectively spitting in Putin's eye and ignoring his only two requests -- this whole war could have been avoided.













Instead, if the war goes forward, it's likely to be a repeat of the toppling of the US puppet government in Afghanistan and yet another humiliation for the US empire.

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