We always knew that Vladimir Putin was evil. He ordered the murders of dissidents and journalists in Russia, and he caused countless other deaths in Chechnya, Syria and other places.
But this terrible war in Ukraine takes him to a despicable new low.
The death toll would have been in the thousands under the best outcome, and now we see that the carnage will be far worse. Thanks to the courageous resistance of the Ukrainian people — and the incompetence of the Russian army — many, many more people will die and more of Ukraine’s cities will be destroyed.
Having been slowed or stopped on almost every front, Putin is resorting to even more brutal tactics. He has ordered the indiscriminate bombing of apartment houses, villages, hospitals, etc. to try to bludgeon the Ukrainian people into surrender. Civilian deaths are not just collateral damage now, they are a targeted population.
It is unspeakably evil and destructive, and it is all happening because of one deluded man. Yet in doing all this, Putin has revealed himself to be amazingly stupid as well.
He believed his own propaganda and thought the war would be a cakewalk. He didn’t realize how much Ukrainians value their independence and don’t want to be part of his country.
He thought the West would slap a few sanctions on him and he would ride it out. Instead the shaky Russian economy has been hit with devastating penalties that will probably push it into a recession.
He thought he would show NATO who’s boss and rattle the organization as never before. Instead he has united a once-divided alliance and shown exactly why its core mission — protecting Europe from Russia — is as vital as it’s ever been.
All of these miscalculations and blunders have left Russia isolated on the world stage and reviled in academia, sports, the arts, etc. The decent Russians who can get out are fleeing in a massive brain drain, and many of those who have to stay have finally seen what a thug and a fool Putin is.
Some day, somehow, the Russian troops will eventually leave and Ukraine can begin to heal. Some day, it will once again be a prosperous and joyous nation.
Whenever that happens, Vladimir Putin will probably no longer be the leader of Russia. He will meet the fate that befell so many other tyrants, and it will be the best thing that has happened to Russia and the entire world in decades. Let us all pray it happens as soon as possible.
— Tribune News Service
